Rockbox Technical Forums

Installation / Removal => Manual Installation => Other - Installation/Removal => Topic started by: wdeprez11 on March 16, 2019, 01:20:53 AM

Title: AGPTEK Rocker Manual Install
Post by: wdeprez11 on March 16, 2019, 01:20:53 AM
Hi, so I just received my AGPTEK Rocker from amazon and I've been recommended to use install Rockbox as it allows for a much better experience.

I've downloaded the dev build (from http://build.rockbox.org/) and noticed there wasn't a manual for the AGPTEK Rocker. What's the proper method for installation here? Apologies for the stupid question, I'm sure its asked frequently...
Title: Re: AGPTEK Rocker Manual Install
Post by: gomezz on March 16, 2019, 05:37:51 AM
I just copy the whole .rockbox directory to the root directory of the SD card then reboot.  Seems to work for me.  Though you lose any custom settings which you need to change again every time you do this.
Title: Re: AGPTEK Rocker Manual Install
Post by: wdeprez11 on March 16, 2019, 12:44:11 PM
I just copy the whole .rockbox directory to the root directory of the SD card then reboot.  Seems to work for me.  Though you lose any custom settings which you need to change again every time you do this.

Does turning the power off and back on constitute rebooting? Do I need to access the bootloader?
Title: Re: AGPTEK Rocker Manual Install
Post by: gomezz on March 16, 2019, 01:00:42 PM
Yes, just power it off and on.  The built-in bootloader will then offer you the choice of using the native UI or Rockbox.
Title: Re: AGPTEK Rocker Manual Install
Post by: johnb on March 16, 2019, 01:37:55 PM
Looks like you haven't installed the bootloader yet, have you?
Title: Re: AGPTEK Rocker Manual Install
Post by: wdeprez11 on March 16, 2019, 03:34:48 PM
Yeah, I haven't. I know of the existence of the bootloader but I'm not sure about how I'm supposed to go about changing the bootloader. I'm guessing that's a preface to any 'drag and drop' of the .rockbox directory...
Title: Re: AGPTEK Rocker Manual Install
Post by: gomezz on March 17, 2019, 05:56:05 AM
The native bootloader already installed is all you need.  It is all I needed anyway.  Changing bootloader is a bigger deal that should only ever be approached with extreme caution and in dire need whatever the device (computer, phone, PMP etc).
Title: Re: AGPTEK Rocker Manual Install
Post by: johnb on March 17, 2019, 11:11:34 AM
gomezz, you are wrong. Of course you need a patched bootloader to support the dualboot into RB/Original Firmware.


Quote from the mailing list:
Just read through the whole forum topic first
(http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php/topic,51653.0.html). There are
about 3 builds linked on the forum. Don't forget to install both. The
"bootloader" as well as the .rockbox folder.
Title: Re: AGPTEK Rocker Manual Install
Post by: wodz on March 17, 2019, 12:06:37 PM
From technical point of view we DO NOT patch bootloader (uboot). We patch firmware image to run rockbox bootloader instead of hiby player binary.
Title: Re: AGPTEK Rocker Manual Install
Post by: wdeprez11 on March 17, 2019, 04:19:49 PM
I'm assuming the later builds will be more stable, correct? I noticed the one including the Dockerfile but I'm not too confident in modifying all of their script myself...

gomezz, you are wrong. Of course you need a patched bootloader to support the dualboot into RB/Original Firmware.


Quote from the mailing list:
Just read through the whole forum topic first
(http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php/topic,51653.0.html). There are
about 3 builds linked on the forum. Don't forget to install both. The
"bootloader" as well as the .rockbox folder.
Title: Re: AGPTEK Rocker Manual Install
Post by: gomezz on March 17, 2019, 06:05:36 PM
gomezz, you are wrong. Of course you need a patched bootloader to support the dualboot into RB/Original Firmware.
I am pretty sure I did not knowingly do anything to change the bootloader before copying .rockbox over and getting it to boot up.
Title: Re: AGPTEK Rocker Manual Install
Post by: wodz on March 18, 2019, 05:08:56 AM
Let me elaborate a bit to clarify situation (please refer to https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/AgptekRocker for additional info). Agptek first loads tiny bit of binary code (SPL) into cold cache which main role is to configure PLL (aka clocks) and RAM controller. Then it loads bootloader (uboot) into ram and passes control to it. Uboot loads linux kernel either from mtd2 or mtd3 (normal kernel or recovery kernel) and passes control to linux. If it is normal boot, kernel mounts UBIFS rootfs from mtd4, if it is recovery boot, kernel loads rootfs from concatenated to itself image. Kernel (both normal and recovery) calls init process (the parent of all processes). Init runs startup scripts to run various services and finally runs hiby player binary which presents GUI for the user.

Now after this lengthy introduction - we patch normal rootfs to call rockbox bootloader binary instead of hiby player binary. So from the technical point of view we DO NOT patch bootloader (uboot) and we do not touch recovery image. This makes all process pretty safe.
Title: Re: AGPTEK Rocker Manual Install
Post by: Hyewiz on June 12, 2019, 11:21:01 AM
Is there a way I can remove Rockbox completely and then do fresh install? I tried to update to daily build and now I'm getting script error and while on Rockbox cannot connect to any Bluetooth.
Title: Re: AGPTEK Rocker Manual Install
Post by: wodz on June 12, 2019, 02:23:34 PM
Of course you cannot connect - rockbox does not support BT.
Title: Re: AGPTEK Rocker Manual Install
Post by: Hyewiz on June 12, 2019, 03:06:12 PM
Of course you cannot connect - rockbox does not support BT.

Thank you this shows how newbie I am :) How can I update daily builds, do I use same update.upt I used before?
Title: Re: AGPTEK Rocker Manual Install
Post by: wodz on June 13, 2019, 01:47:17 AM
To update daily build you ONLY need to update .rockbox folder on SD card.