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Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +00001Q1. What is a FAQ?
2A1. A rare small animal of the species 'Textius Electronicus'. It is known for
3 its helpful attitude and vicious misspellings.
4
5Q2. Okay, fine, what is _this_ FAQ?
6A2. This FAQ is for questions (that we have answers too) that have been asked
7 repeatedly either in emails or on IRC.
8
9Q3. What is Rockbox? What is it's purpose?
10A3. The purpose of this project is to write an Open Source replacement
11 firmware for the Archos Jukebox 6000, Studio 20 and Recorder MP3 players.
12
13Q4. I want to write code for my Archos, how do I proceed?
Robert Hakdb96b1f2002-08-21 11:06:32 +000014A4. First make sure to read the file CONTRIBUTING in the docs directory
Robert Hak54099ba2002-08-22 07:02:03 +000015 on Sourceforge. See http://rockbox.haxx.se/docs/contributing.html
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +000016 if you do not want to have to wade through the CVS directories.
17
Robert Hak09499b52002-08-22 07:03:17 +000018Q5: What is CVS?
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +000019A5: Concurrent Versions System (http://www.cvshome.org). We have a small
20 help page about how to use this to get, update and commit files on the web
21 at http://rockbox.haxx.se/cvs.html
22
23Q6. What exactly is the CONTRIBUTING file?
24A6. Just like the name implies, it lists conventions that the project follows,
25 and in turn asks you to follow, for the formating of source code in
26 general.
27
28Q7. Okay, so I read CONTRIBUTING and although I don't agree with all your
29 conventions, I am going to be sensible and follow them anyway. Now what?
30A7. Start by reading up on the information about the jukeboxes on our web page.
31 Then go into CVS and look at the code we've written. Then take what you
32 need and start writing.
33
34Q8. Okay, so how do I submit a patch?
Björn Stenberg10fc53c2002-08-23 20:49:12 +000035A8. Run: "diff -ub oldfile newfile > patchfile" against the file(s) you have
Robert Hak63bfcef2002-10-01 08:39:48 +000036 changed. Then submit the patch to the project via Sourceforge's patch
37 tracker. See: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=44306&atid=439120
38 Your patch will be taken under consideration. Please remember that all
Björn Stenberg10fc53c2002-08-23 20:49:12 +000039 submissions are not automatically accepted. This is nothing personal.
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +000040
Björn Stenberg10fc53c2002-08-23 20:49:12 +000041 Preferrably, run the diff against the current cvs code:
42 cvs diff -ub > patchfile
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +000043
Robert Hak63bfcef2002-10-01 08:39:48 +000044 One last note. We would appreciate it if *all* patches, files and fixes
45 that are meant for inclusion in the sources would be posted to the patch
46 tracker. Patches sent to the mailing list are quickly lost in the
47 traffic of the list itself. (And looking back in the archives for
48 missed patches quickly becomes a nightmare.)
49
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +000050Q9. I want to join the development team, but don't have a SourceForge account,
51 what should I do?
Björn Stenberg10fc53c2002-08-23 20:49:12 +000052A9. You don't need a SourceForge account to help developing Rockbox. Just
53 submit patches to the mailing list as per the instructions above.
54
55 If your patches are consistently well-written and thus accepted, you may
56 ultimately be offered CVS commit access. If that should happen, you will
57 need to get a Sourceforge account:
58 http://sourceforge.net/account/register.php
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +000059
60Q10. Do you have a mailing list?
61A10. Sure do! As a matter of fact, we have several of them for specific
Robert Hakf5a9a722002-08-21 17:33:56 +000062 things. Please check out: http://rockbox.haxx.se/mail/
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +000063
64Q11. Great you have a mailing list! Is there anyway for me to catch up on
65 past posts?
Robert Hak16aae472002-08-21 11:22:59 +000066A11. Check out the archives at: http://rockbox.haxx.se/mail/
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +000067
68Q12. How can I meet the developers working on the project?
69A12. One way is by visiting us on IRC. Head on over to the server
70 irc.openprojects.net, and then join "#rockbox". There is usually at
71 least one person there. If you don't see any activity, feel free to post
72 questions anyway, serveral of us log the channel and will get you answers
73 when we unidle.
74
75Q13: Wow, you guys talk on IRC alot? I wish I had been around for those
76 conversations to see what happened.
77A13: We are glad you mentioned that! http://rockbox.haxx.se/irc happens
78 to have a list of various logs we have recorded of events in the channel.
79 Feel free to read up, and ask questions on what you find.
80
81Q14. What is this "SourceForge" you keep mentioning?
82A14. http://www.sourceforge.net
83
84Q15. Can the changes or the software that Rockbox suggests or offers
85 possibly damage my Archos Player?
86A15. All firmware mods that are presented are still highly experimental.
87 Try them at your own risk. We offer no guarantee that this software, or
88 the hardware modifications we show, will not damage your player or void
89 your warranty. That said, we have not been able to damage any of our
90 units by modifying only the firmware. You can accidentally password
91 protect your harddisk, but there are ways around that. (See below.)
92
93Q16. I want to see what the inside of my player looks like, but I would really
94 like to avoid voiding my warranty. Is there anything you can suggest?
95A16. We have a collection of photos of both the player and recorder. Look at
96 http://rockbox.haxx.se/internals/
97
98Q17. What exactly are you trying to achieve with this line of development?
99 (A.K.A. whats your purpose for being here?)
100A17. Firstly, we wouldn't start something like this if we didn't simply enjoy
101 it profusely. This is great fun!
102 Secondly, we feel the firmware is lacking some features and contain a
103 number of annoying bugs that we want to fix.
104 Some ideas would include (in no particular order):
105 - No pause between songs
106 - Mid-song resume
107 - Mid-playlist resume
108 - No-scan playlists
109 - Unlimited playlist size
110 - Autobuild playlists (ie: "all songs in this directory tree")
111 - Auto-continue play in the next directory
112 - Current folder and all sub-folder random play
113 - Full disk random play
114 - REAL random
115 - Multi song queue
116 - Faster scroll speed
117 - More cool features with the wire remote control (including
118 controlling your Archos from your car radio (req hw mod))
119 - Support playing of other files types (ie: Ogg Vorbis support)
120 - Support for megabass switch (req hw mod)
121 - Player control via USB
122 - Memory expansion?
123 Note: Just because something is on this list, does not mean that it is
Robert Hakf5a9a722002-08-21 17:33:56 +0000124 technically feasible. (But hey we can dream) And something not
125 being on the list does not mean it isn't a neat idea. Bring it to
126 the list.
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000127
Björn Stenberg92408562002-09-07 12:13:40 +0000128Q18. You mention supporting Ogg Vorbis and other file types on your list of
129 ideas. What is the status on that?
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000130A18. Pessimist's Answer: At the current time we belive this is not very likely
131 The Micronas chip (MAS3507) decoder in the archos does not natively
132 support decoding and there is very little program space in the player to
133 implement it ourselves. The alternative would be to write a software
134 decoder as part of the RockBox firmware. However, as much as we love
135 our players, the computing power of the Archos (SH1 microcontroller) is
136 not fully sufficent for this need.
137
138 Optimist's Answer: We can play any format if only we can write code for
139 the DSP to decode it. The MAS 3507 (and 3587) are generic DSPs that
140 simply have MP3 codecs in ROM. We can download new codecs in them and
141 we will be the first to celebrate if we can get OGG or FLAC or anything
142 into these DSPs. Unfortunately, we have no docs or tools for writing new
143 MAS DSP code and Intermetall is very secretive about it. If anyone can
144 help, please get in touch!
145
Björn Stenberg92408562002-09-07 12:13:40 +0000146 The recent release of Tremor (integer Ogg decoder) indicates it uses
147 around 100 KB for lookup tables. That's not unreasonable for a decoder,
148 but we only have 4 KB for both code *and* data. So the grim reality is
149 that Ogg will never be supported by the Archos Players and Recorders.
150
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000151Q19. What about supporting playing of WMA files?
Robert Hak54099ba2002-08-22 07:02:03 +0000152A19. Dear Mr. Gates, you have two options. Re-read question #18, or go buy
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000153 your own project.
154
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000155Q20: But you don't understand, I'm not talking about decoding here,
156 since the data we want may already be in the decoded format (PCM).
157A20: Okay, last time. No. We have no problems whatsoever reading different
158 file formats, call it PCM, WAV, GRI, PQR or whatever. The problem is
159 that the CODEC only accepts MP3 data and nothing else. We could write a
160 new CODEC if we knew how to do it, but there is no documentation on the
161 DSP. Please note that we have no access to the DAC, so we can't send the
162 data directly to the DAC.
163
164Q21. What is the most recent version of Rockbox?
165A21. We recently released version 1.3, so head on over to
Robert Hak7bf657a2002-08-28 09:45:09 +0000166 http://rockbox.haxx.se/download/ and pull it down.
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000167 Make sure to read the release notes.
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000168 (http://rockbox.haxx.se/download/rockbox-1.3-notes.txt).
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000169
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000170Q22. What do you plan to add to coming versions?
171A22. We have a rough idea of which features we plan/expect/hope to be included
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000172 in which versions. Once again, remember that none of this is written in
173 stone (noticing a pattern yet?)
174
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000175 Version 1.4
Daniel Stenberg758e8792002-08-27 12:18:28 +0000176 Autobuild playlists, Recording, Loadable fonts, Customizable WPS
Daniel Stenbergb4d281e2002-08-27 12:16:40 +0000177
178 Version 1.5
Daniel Stenberg758e8792002-08-27 12:18:28 +0000179 File/directory management
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000180
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000181Q23. I tried one of your firmware files and now I can't access my harddisk!
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000182 When I turn on my jukebox, it says:
183 Part. Error
184 Pls Chck HD
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000185A23. Your harddisk has been password protected. We're not 100% sure why it
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000186 happens, but you can unlock it yourself. Look at:
187 http://rockbox.haxx.se/lock.html
188
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000189Q24: This FAQ doesn't answer the question I have. What should I do?
190A24: You have a couple options here. You could forget the question, find an
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000191 easier question, or accept '42' as the answer no matter what. We don't
192 really recommend any of these (though I do opt for '42' often myself).
193 What we do recommend is stopping by IRC, reading
194 http://rockbox.haxx.se to see if the question was answered else
195 where and just not included here, or ultimatly dropping an email to the
196 mailing list (rockbox@cool.haxx.se) or the FAQ maintainer listed on the
197 project homepage.
198
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000199Q25: Are there other ways to contact the developers?
200A25: Yes.
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000201
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000202Q26: Are you going to tell us what they are?
203A26: No. Post to the mailing list and we will get back to you.
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000204
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000205Q27: But I _really_ want to talk with you in person.
206A27: I'm sorry. My girlfriend/boyfriend/pet says I'm not allowed to, and the
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000207 doctors here won't let me have pens or pencils. They say its some rule
208 about us not having sharp objects. I'm sorry. Now please stop calling me
209 here.
210
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000211Q28: Will you ever port Quake II to the Archos?
212A28: If you ask that again, I'm sending your address and phone number to the
Robert Hakd2fb0a02002-08-29 14:52:02 +0000213 guy that mailed us with question #25.
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000214
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000215Q29: Umm, was that sarcasm?
216A29: That's it, I'm mailing him now.
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000217
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000218Q30: Is this legal? I mean, I'd just hate to see something like that
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000219 challenged under the DMCA in all its ridiculousness. Any thoughts or
220 ideas?
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000221A30: We believe we are in the green on this. We are not violating anyone's
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000222 copyright and we are not circumventing any copy protection scheme.
223 This has been a big point for the project since its inception. Some
224 people wanted us to distribute patched versions of the original firmware,
225 but seeing as that _would_ have violated Archos' copyright, we didn't
226 follow that course of action.
227
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000228Q31: On the website [and various information postings] you state
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000229 "Every tiny bit was reverse engineered, disassembled and then
230 re-written from scratch".
231 If it was rewritten from scratch then why was it first reverse-engineered
232 and disassembled? Instead this sounds more like someone disassembled it
233 then used the understanding that they gained to create a new version,
234 which is not quite the same as "from scratch".
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000235A31: Don't confuse the terms. Reverse engineering means examining a product
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000236 to find out how it works. Disassembling the firmware is merely one tool
237 used in that examination. Oscilloscopes and logic analyzers are other
238 tools we have used. We have written every single byte of the Rockbox
239 firmware. But we could not have written the software without first
240 researching how the hardware was put together, i.e. reverse engineer it.
241 All of this is completely legal. If you define "from scratch" as writing
242 software without first researching the surrounding interfaces, then no
243 software has ever been written from scratch.
244
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000245Q32: Wait a minute here. When you released version 1.0 you did not have a
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000246 single one of the ideas you have mentioned on your website actually
247 implimented! Calling this version 1.0 is really misleading. Whats the
248 story?!
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000249A32: In simple terms, the first release was called 1.0 because it had a basic
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000250 working feature set that worked and had no known bugs. That is what 1.0
251 meant. It is true that Rockbox 1.0 lacked most of the feature set that
252 every sane user wanted. However, we never said it was more
Robert Hak11f2c3c2002-08-24 03:52:01 +0000253 feature-complete or better in any way then the original firmware that
254 early in the project. The first release was done as a proof of concept
255 that our ideas are moving in the right direction. We also hoped that it
256 would help bring the project some attention, and some additional
257 developers. Adding the missing features was just a matter of time. In
258 more recent releases we have completed many of our desired goals, and
259 several new ones that were implimented to fullfill user requests.
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000260
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000261Q33: I've heard talk of a 'Rolo'. What is that? (Or 'All you ever wanted
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000262 to know about Rockbox boot loaders')
Robert Hak9756cb02002-09-03 19:41:49 +0000263A33: Rolo is our bootloader. Currently it is only available in CVS and daily
264 builds, but will be standard in release 1.4. It works by basically
265 having a file with the same extension of the firmware (.ajz on Recorder,
266 .mod on Player) 'run' from within Rockbox. Just scroll to the firmware
267 you wish to switch to and press play.
268
269 *Poof* You will reboot to that firmware. (Note that in order to return
270 to Rockbox you may need to reboot manually if the new firmware you loaded
271 does not have a bootloader itself.)
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000272
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000273Q34: I was thinking about making the USB a bit more usable. What are the
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000274 chances of using the USB port to [play games / share files / list
275 the device as something other then a hard drive / sell my soul to you
276 for a nickel]. What do you think?
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000277A34: You really don't want to know what I think, it involves road flares,
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000278 microwave ovens and shaved cats. Enough said. But regarding the USB
279 portion of your question, this is not feasible. First, any ideas
280 regarding special communications over the USB port will not work because
281 we have no control over the USB port itself. We are capable of
282 dectecting if it is in use (so we know which mode to switch to) but that
283 is it. Second, if you would like to have your Archos as a harddrive for
284 another device, know that this will not work either. The Archos unit is
285 a slave. Most other USB devices are slaves as well. So without some
286 master involved there can be no communication. Sorry. Now about your
287 soul. Would you settle for 3 cents and a small wad of belly button lint?
288
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000289Q35: When I use RockBox my jukebox's red "error" light turns on a lot, but this
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000290 doesn't happen on the factory firmware. Why?
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000291A35: Rockbox uses the red LED as harddisk activity light, not as an error
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000292 light. Relax and enjoy the music.
293
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000294Q36: How do I use the loadable fonts?
295A36: Loadable fonts are a work in progress. We do not have full documentation
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000296 for it. The best we can do now is tell you that you need a valid .bdf
297 font, and to use the tool "bdf2ajf" from CVS to conver to the .ajf format.
298 The final .ajf font must be stored in the archos root as 'system.ajf'
299 We do expect more documentation on this process shortly.
300
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000301Q37: I have a question about the batteries...
302A37: STOP! We have put together a completely different FAQ for battery
Robert Hak35c04802002-08-21 11:07:28 +0000303 related questions.
304 Check out: http://rockbox.haxx.se/docs/battery-faq.html
Robert Hak019203b2002-08-21 10:36:05 +0000305
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000306Q38: What is the WPS?
307A38: That is the 'While Playing Screen'. Basically this is what is shown on
Robert Hakfac78522002-08-22 03:00:12 +0000308 your player's display while we are playing your song.
309
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000310Q39: What good is the WPS? How usable/flexible is it?
311A39: It is very good if you want information about the current item playing ;)
Robert Hakfac78522002-08-22 03:00:12 +0000312 Currently the WPS on the Player is very flexible. By using the file
313 'wps.config' you can manage exactly how/what you want data displayed on
314 your Archos Player. Currently this feature has not yet been added to the
315 Recorder version of Rockbox. Please see
316 http://rockbox.haxx.se/docs/custom_wps_format.html for more information.
317
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000318Q40: Can the Player LCD font be modified?
319A40: The simple answer is no. This is because the Player font is character
Robert Hak0dbcb432002-08-26 23:58:05 +0000320 cell based (as opposed to the Recorder's bitmap based display). This
321 means that we are able to choose what characters to display, but not how
322 to display them. We do have the ability to change/create up to 4 chars
323 on one model and 8 on another, however we are currently using several of
324 these 'letters' to store icons for the player.
325
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000326Q41: Why don't you have any games available for the Players?
327A41: The display on the Players is character cell and not bitmap based.
Robert Hak0dbcb432002-08-26 23:58:05 +0000328 This means we can only control what characters get displayed, not
329 what pixels are shown. This makes the prospect of game play very
Linus Nielsen Feltzing800d27d2002-08-27 10:01:38 +0000330 slim (at least for anything involving graphics).
Robert Hak5d3a0d32002-08-27 13:50:00 +0000331
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000332Q42: When recording is finally implimented in Rockbox, will it be possible to
Robert Hak5d3a0d32002-08-27 13:50:00 +0000333 use custom codecs (like LAME) or is there a built in codec in the Archos?
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000334A42: The MP3 encoder is in the MAS3587F chip, and nothing we can change.
Robert Hak5d3a0d32002-08-27 13:50:00 +0000335
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000336Q43: What are the max/min bitrates for recording on the Recorder's encoder?
337A43: The builtin encoder is variable bit rate only with a max of 192kbit/s,
Robert Hak5d3a0d32002-08-27 13:50:00 +0000338 and a min of 32kbit/s.
339
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000340Q44: I have a question about the id3v1 and id3v2 tags...
341A44: Stop! Here is all the information about that (if you still have
Robert Hak5d3a0d32002-08-27 13:50:00 +0000342 questions when done, ask then.)
343
Robert Hakccedcdb2002-08-27 14:29:02 +0000344 - Rockbox supports both id3v1 and id3v2
Björn Stenberg3478d9b2002-08-27 22:20:14 +0000345
Robert Hakccedcdb2002-08-27 14:29:02 +0000346 - The id3v2 support is limited to the first 300 bytes of the file. Some
Björn Stenberg3478d9b2002-08-27 22:20:14 +0000347 ripper programs tend to add very big tags first and then the important
348 ones Rockbox wants to read end up beyond the first 300 bytes and then
349 they remain unknown.
350
Robert Hakccedcdb2002-08-27 14:29:02 +0000351 - If you believe that the tags you don't see *are* within 300 bytes, then
Björn Stenberg3478d9b2002-08-27 22:20:14 +0000352 please make the mp3 file available for one of the developers to try out.
353
Robert Hakccedcdb2002-08-27 14:29:02 +0000354 - The 300-byte limit is subject to be removed in a future version
Robert Hak7f7851a2002-08-27 14:14:18 +0000355
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000356Q45: Would it be possible to record from line in on the player?
357A45: No.
Robert Hakd4d71d12002-08-27 16:40:32 +0000358
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000359Q46: Where exactly did the name 'Rockbox' come from?
360A46: Well you can follow the full line of emails at
Robert Hakd4d71d12002-08-27 16:40:32 +0000361 http://rockbox.haxx.se/mail/archive/rockbox-archive-2002-01/0062.shtml
362 However, the brief rundown is that it was recommended first by
363 Tome Cvitan, and put to a vote (which it lost).
364
365 Funny thing about democracys. This isn't one ;) Our beloved project
Björn Stenberg92408562002-09-07 12:13:40 +0000366 leader vetoed the winning name and chose Rockbox instead.
Robert Hakd4d71d12002-08-27 16:40:32 +0000367 http://rockbox.haxx.se/mail/archive/rockbox-archive-2002-01/0134.shtml
368
Björn Stenberg3478d9b2002-08-27 22:20:14 +0000369 There you have it. Recommeded by users, decision by dictator.
Robert Hak49c2fda2002-08-29 13:36:05 +0000370
Robert Hak9756cb02002-09-03 19:41:49 +0000371Q47: Why is there a limit of 400 files in a directory?
372A47: We have answered this question numerous times. It is mentioned in the
373 release notes, and in the mailing list archives
374 (http://rockbox.haxx.se/mail/archive/rockbox-archive-2002-08/0448.shtml).
375 But, hey, we wouldn't want people to have to work to get an answer.
376 (If you are reading this, feel proud, for you are the exception).
377
378 We settled on 400 files in a directory because file listings take up
379 memory on the unit, and we felt that 400 is significantly large enough
Björn Stenberg92408562002-09-07 12:13:40 +0000380 for a majority of the populace. We prefer the option of limiting
Robert Hak9756cb02002-09-03 19:41:49 +0000381 file limits in order to provide a greater amount of memory for buffering
382 of files being played.
383
384Q48: Okay, I understand your 400 file limit. But why hardcode? Why not
385 have this be dynamically allocated?
386A48: Because it's useless. Dynamic memory is only ever useful if you have
387 memory consumers (tasks) that run at different points in time, and thus
388 can reuse the same memory for different purposes.
389
390 We don't have that. We must be able to show a big dir, index a big
391 playlist and play a big mp3 file, all at the same time. They cannot use
392 the same memory, and thus dynamic memory buys us nothing but extra
393 complexity. If we used dynamic memory for this, we would get all kinds
394 of odd bugs. Playlists that only got half-loaded if placed in certain
395 directories. Parts of the disk you couldn't go to if playing a certain
396 playlist etc.
397
398 We have a number of tasks that consume memory. They can all run at the
399 same time, using all of their alotted memory. Therefore it is much better
400 to allocate that memory to them beforehand and not pretend that anyone
401 else is able to use it. This is standard practice in memory-limited
402 systems.
403
404Q49: Why is there a 10,000 song limit on playlists?
405A49: This is another hardcoded limit. We feel that as bigger disks arrive
406 that this limit will increase. Because of the way that playlists are
407 stored, it tends to be a bit more maleable then the directory file limit.
408 For further detail, look at questions 47 and 48 and replace any instances
409 of '200' with '10,000'.
410
411Q50: You don't understand! I _really_ need to have more then 400 files
412 in a directory!
Björn Stenberg1d8ac3e2002-09-07 09:58:00 +0000413A50: The use of really big directories was a workaround for the poor playlist
414 capabilities of the original Archos firmware. With Rockbox, you no longer
415 need this workaround. Organise your files in directories, then build
416 playlists for all collections you want to shuffle-play.
Robert Hak9756cb02002-09-03 19:41:49 +0000417
Björn Stenberg1d8ac3e2002-09-07 09:58:00 +0000418Q51: How can I make playlists on my PC?
419A51: There are many programs that can create .m3u playlists. WinAmp is one.
420 Another simple method, that requires no extra software, is to use dir:
421
Björn Stenberg361546d2002-09-07 18:07:29 +0000422 dir /b /s X:\ > X:\allfiles.m3u
423 dir /b /s X:\Pop > X:\pop.m3u
424
425 ...where X: is your archos drive.
Björn Stenberg1d8ac3e2002-09-07 09:58:00 +0000426
427 Linux users can use the 'find' command:
428
429 cd /mnt/archos
430 find . -name "*.mp3" > all.m3u
431
432 Remember that playlists are simple text files. You can edit them with any
433 normal text editor.
Robert Hakc5740ad2002-09-04 08:24:11 +0000434
435Q52: How can I find out about all the neat features that Rockbox has?
436A52: This information is in our manual (It sometimes gets a bit out of
437 date, so please bear with us.) The information you are most likely
438 looking for is a bit down the tree, so the heres the url:
Björn Stenberg1d8ac3e2002-09-07 09:58:00 +0000439 http://rockbox.haxx.se/manual/rec-general.html
Linus Nielsen Feltzing4854a2c2002-09-18 09:25:55 +0000440
441Q53: How does the shuffle work?
442A53: It sees the playlist as a deck of cards, shuffling the entries using a
443 pseudo-random generator called the Mersenne Twister. After shuffling,
444 the list is never changed again until you reshuffle the list, by
445 stopping the playback and restarting. If the repeat mode is enabled,
446 the list will simply start over from the first file again, without
447 reshuffling.
448 The random seed is stored in the persistent setting area, so that the
449 resume feature can shuffle the playlist in exactly the same way when
450 resuming.
Robert Hakcd3efa62002-10-01 08:58:56 +0000451
452Q54: How can I see what bugs are currently open/being worked on?
453A54: Check out http://rockbox.haxx.se/bugs.shtml for a listing of bugs
454 that have been reported.
455
456Q55: How can I report about bugs in Rockbox?
457A55: If we were better programmers we would take that as an insult. But we
458 aren't, so we won't. The first step in reporting a bug is to review
459 the rules we ask you to follow in your submission (listed at:
460 http://rockbox.haxx.se/bugs.shtml#rules).
461
462 Please note that we ask reports of bugs in CVS/daily builds to be sent
463 to the mailing list, and bugs in released versions of Rockbox to be
464 submitted through SourceForge's bug tracker. (A link to the bug tracker
465 can be found under our bug submission rules.)
Linus Nielsen Feltzing180485c2002-10-01 09:37:34 +0000466
467Q56: I keep shutting off my player in my pocket. Can the OFF (Recorder) or
468 STOP (Player) key be locked?
469A56: No. Unfortunately, the ON/OFF mechanisms are handled entirely in
470 hardware. The firmware can read the keys, but can't prevent them from
471 shutting off the player.