The current dangers of Rockbox.

[Febs]

Originally Posted by metallica15

but still u have to admit that its a sh*t user interface compared to normal IRIVER firmware............ ...

I disagree. I'd rather be able to see more of my music while scrolling than to have pretty--but functionally useless--pictures. I also like the ability to put the information that I want to see on my WPS.

In any event, there are discussions happening literally at this moment about how to improve the Rockbox interface.

[Ego]

for many of us, rockbox plays music fine, and there's no reason it should disable USB entirely. can you tell us what you are doing when poblems occur?

[metallica15]

When I booted up my iriver (with RB)with the USB cable in the player and in the pc it didn't say on the screen "USB MODE" it just booted up into the wps, so I couldn't access the files on my Iriver.

[metallica15]

One other thing.........why sacrifice a color display 4 a black and grey screen............ur just degrading the player(u can't watch videos,u can't view pictures,iriver won't have anything to do with it and most of ur music won't play AND its still being developed SO it can 'BRICK' ur player at any time!)

[Ego]

it's black and white because rockbox has never been used on a player with a color screen before. there is a color changing patch around here somewhere - it's still two color, but it's any two colors you like. a more advanced GUI is being worked on.

as to everything else:

-your music that it won't play is likely .wma. there are many codecs that rockbox is compatible with, including MP3 and Ogg/Vorbis. you should probably re-rip to mp3, as they are higher quality anyway.

-JPG viewing will come with time, and video probably will. if you want to use either of these while using RB, you can boot iriver firmware by holding record as you turn the player on

-not one H300 has been permanently bricked by trying rockbox

-try booting RB then plugging in the cable. worst case, you can load the iriver FW and then plug in

-the main appeals of RB are its playlisting functions, crossfade, gapless playback, many plugins, and cutomization possibilities. if you are using bootloader v5, it sounds like you're experiencing a bug with the USB issue. with the music, sorry, there probably won't be support for wma anytime in the future.

[metallica15]

But there's always an 'IF' so..........If it bricks ur player wat u gonna do?

[metallica15]

If u want a 2 color screen,games,easy navigation,playlist functions just get yourself a pink ipod mini

[Ego]

if the bootloader works, there's no way anything else RB does can brick your player. i recall there was one player that had an issue with an early bootloader, and Linus offered to have the player mailed to him for re-flashing (he's got eh hardware for that). even in the very worst case, you're covered.

ipods don't have gapless, crossfade, H300 sound quality, etc., etc. no-one's telling you to use Rockbox, and whether you do or not doesn't concern me. these are the reasons people use it, and there is no or virtually no risk of bricking your player.

[digitalb0y]

Originally Posted by metallica15

If u want a 2 color screen,games,easy navigation,playlist functions just get yourself a pink ipod mini

The new bootloader appears to be totally stable. I still have jpg and movie support in iRiver firmware, which are two features I almost never use. Conversely, I have yet to find an audio file that won't play after finding a codec or two, I have a handful of games that I have to admit I find highly addictive, I can play them while I listen to my mp3s, my player now runs apps that are constantly being developed. It has multiple recording options and the list is growing everyday. It's an mp3 player, a PDA, a gameboy (literally, as of today), a movie player, a 20G usb hard drive and a high-quality digital recorder (that made my similarly priced minidisc recorder totally obsolete). And I got it for $200. Arguing that ROCKbox is a bad idea, or that I should have paid twice as much for an iPod with a 10th of the features is ludicrous. And are you really gonna try and tell me you wouldn't like to be able to make playlists or at least queue files without stopping playback? That was my only gripe with this player before I knew what was possible with ROCKbox but I mean, maybe you're right, that does sound hella inconvenient.

But I digress. My point is, you can do as little or as much to your player to enhance it as you want, and nobody is going to care if you're afraid of ROCKbox, but preeching to other people that they're making a mistake is just foolish. In my eyes, I've more than doubled the value of my iRiver in the last week, and it blew other players out of the water before I made any changes at all. If you can find a brick that does what my iRiver does, then I'm sure glad my player is finally as useful and fun as that brick. And do you by any chance live in Korea? No? Than why would you flash to Korean firmware, knowing you'd void your warranty and well could have "bricked" your player doing it? By your own logic, if you want video support, get yourself a pink portable dvd player. But really, I'm glad you're so proud of not using ROCKbox that you include it in your sig. You're sooooooo defiant!

C

[caligula]

Originally Posted by metallica15

but still u have to admit that its a sh*t user interface compared to normal IRIVER firmware............ ...

Speaking from a non techie perspective:

To use a car analogy, I like the fact that rockbox makes me feel like im viewing the engine as opposed to just the bodywork which the iriver firmware is like.

[tawie]

the more you use it, the more you like it, it's Rockbox, a great product!

[NPswimdude500]

Originally Posted by metallica15

But there's always an 'IF' so..........If it bricks ur player wat u gonna do?

If you're that worried, then don't use it until it's completed. And there's no reason why it won't be full color when it's finished.


Now, maybe I'm completely wrong, but I think I smell a hint of troll (Lanesra-style)

[savagenator]

lol, does he even own a iriver??

[swunk]

One other thing.........why sacrifice a color display 4 a black and grey screen............ur just degrading the player(u can't watch videos,u can't view pictures,iriver won't have anything to do with it and most of ur music won't play AND its still being developed SO it can 'BRICK' ur player at any time!)

Which part of still in development don't you understand? Of course the interface hasn't any fancy pictures- the code get's done first. I would hardly call using RB 'degrading the player'. The videos and pictures will come eventually, but someone has to write the code for it. I don't know what type of music files you use, but all of my music works fine.

Now, maybe I'm completely wrong, but I think I smell a hint of troll (Lanesra-style)

I think I also smell a troll product of some type.

[munkymonkjr]

my take on rockbox....

i have only been using it for 3 days...at to say the least, not much is missed about original iriver firmware.

i agree on the layout and the pretty UI.... although I also understand that rockbox is still being worked on and at this point, a pretty UI is at the bottom of a to-do list.

otherwise, rockbox ....rocks! I never do pic viewer / movie anyway.... i've owned my H320 for well over a year now...only seen like 3 movies on it...not important. What is important is that it plays all my music (and actually sounds pretty good), and if i am really bored i can always fire up brickmania and have fun with that

[curtain]

Rockbox has more functionality than chic right now but much preferred to looking good and adding little else.

FLAC and gapless is superb.

[Membrillo]

If you think of it realistically: as Rockbox now has a new USB bootloader mode, your more likely to brick your player without Rockbox.

And I did overhear a little birdy last night with words of UI in progress.

[swunk]

And I did overhear a little birdy last night with words of UI in progress.

Who? Where? When? How long?

[Membrillo]

Those questions are exactly why im not saying anymore hahaha. I dont even know the whole deal. but ive overheard a bit

[Febs]

Originally Posted by metallica15

But there's always an 'IF' so..........If it bricks ur player wat u gonna do?

First, please type in standard English.

Second, bootloader v5 is in some ways safer than the iriver bootloader.

Third--because I can't stand seeing it any more--please spell check your signature. "Droped" is not a word.

[CyberFoxS2]

^^; Thats funny, I dont know if I should laugh though.
Anyway, I agree, Rockbox isnt for the weak hearted (those who think, I might brick my player).
Plus, If you dont like it, you dont have to advertise it. -_-;
I personally, havent even reset it once.

[weatherman]

I've read this debate with interest, and I find it impressive that those who have installed and used RB are so helpful and charitable to those who haven't yet taken the plunge.

These people have been brave enough to use their expensive machines as trial guinea pigs and are sharing their findings so that the rest of us can enjoy a better experience. Hats off to them.

What is more amazing is that some people are apparently never happy. As far as I have learned, you can use RB if you want to make use of its better and ore expansive feratures, and put up with a limited GUI If you weant to view video or pics, you can simply switch on and use the iriver firmware anyway!

The best of both worlds I'd say.

Instead of griping or worrying, we should give Thanks to the devs, and thanks to the people who have stuck with RB and tried it out, so that the rest of us can jump on the band wagon once it's safer to do so!!

As the other threads say, no