Why no flashing of rockbox to rom?

[sduck409]

So I'm curious, as a longtime ihp140 owner, and a new 320 owner, and using rockbox on both. For about a year I've been able to flash the rockbox firmware to the rom, making the start up and general performance much better. Why isn't that available with the 320? I don't know enough about the differences in the hardware to know if there's some big hardware problem, so if that's it, then, well, shoot. Any ideas?

[Llorean]

It requires testing, as flashing to ROM is much more dangerous than the original install, since you're removing the original firmware entirely, so someone with the H300 hardware has to do this. The person who developed it for the H120/140 doesn't have an H300, so someone with one needs to do it.

[spiral]

so let's buy a h300 for this person
i would also like to get rid of the OF for the benefit of an even faster boot

[Kezza]

@spiral
linus already has an H300, and most of us still want the dual boot, so your chances are butkiss and no hope at the moment, but I heard another bootloader is being made for the H300's so you never know?

Kezza

[pwhodges]

Originally Posted by Kezza

I heard another bootloader is being made for the H300's so you never know?

I note that a few days ago a fix was committed for the long-standing problem of USB boot mode not working on quite a lot of machines (like mine), so maybe the next bootloader is suddenly a lot closer.

Paul

[muesli]

theres a complete rom-flash for 1xx?? wow..tempts me to sell my h330..i loved my h120 *sigh*

[Dunno]

Originally Posted by muesli

theres a complete rom-flash for 1xx?? wow..tempts me to sell my h330..i loved my h120 *sigh*

It's been available for ages for the H1xx.

Link for Rockbox H1xx flashing below.

http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/vie...IriverFlashing

[Ragnarok]

The Way it works at the most is the best way! The bootloader needs Tweeking Like being able to make it boot Rockbox apon plugging in the AC adapter as default but thats about the only fault.

Like mentioned above it's much safer to have the Rockbox OS installed on the Disk.

[sduck409]

Ragnarok - this isn't a poll. I was just trying to find out if such a thing could be possible. You should be aware of some things before being a luddite, such as - 1. the old bootloader/hd loading model won't get discontinued, it's still available for the ihp1x0 for people who don't want to ditch the original firmware option - 2. flashing the rb to rom will only be available when the rockbox firmware can take care of all the normal hedware system needs (I believe it can do this now) - 3. even after flashing rockbox to rom, you can still restore the original iriver firmware if you've done the backup you're instructed to do - 4. My ihp140 w/ flashed rockbox is amazingly fast at bootup, runs faster and smoother, and makes me feel much cooler (even though I'm just another geek in real life)!

[Ragnarok]

Of course it's possable. but currently the flash routienes are part of the original firmware. Naturaly Rockbox for the H3x0 will also need to include a reliable eeprom flasher ( which may or may not be different to the ihp1x0) before anyone can safely remove the original firmware without access to a J-tag or EErpom programing equipment.

[Step666]

Originally Posted by sduck409

You should be aware of some things before being a luddite

His opinion differing from yours does not make him a luddite.

Both methods have their advantages and their disadvantages but the long and the short of it is that a full ROM-flash for the H300s isn't available.
And you being rude isn't going to change that.

[sduck409]

Sorry, Jenny and Ragnarok. Didn't mean to be rude, just typed in a word without really thinking of the consequences. I see now that Ragnarok is mostly in the same camp as me - sorry if i offended.

Ragnarok, the flash routines you are speaking of can be a part of the patched bootloader. The way the current ihp1X0 works is there is a slightly modded bootloader, that allows the rockbox software to be booted from the disk, or rom, or ram. There is also a plugin included that does the eeprom/ram flashing. The current builds include flashable versions of rockbox that'll work from rom, ram, or the same disk style we know and love on the 3x0. I'm hoping that someone's working on developing this for the 320 - while I like my new 320 a lot, it still feels pretty clunky compared to my 140, which boots in about 3 seconds. Now that the usb power issues are pretty much worked out, it's just a matter of some minor modification of the bootloader, and the iriverflash plugin. Yes, it's not available. Yet.

Edit - I disagree with your tag. See my first paragraph. However, I respect your right to put whatever you want in your tag - and I've seen a lot worse.

[Ragnarok]

I still don't think i'd be happy unless the rockbox bootloader on the H3x0 has a Reliable Bootloader USB mode( it would help if it works) and A reliable EEprom Flasher built in. With Rockbox itself being unstable at times it seems like a bad idea to flash it within rockbox.

Idealy the Bootloader/ rockbox or iriver software are in seperate area's of the EEprom and the Rockbox Bootloader won't touch the bootloader area of the flash except for restoring the original firmware or Installing a new bootloader.