Rockbox Technical Forums

Third Party => Unsupported Builds => Topic started by: TAC109 on March 19, 2006, 01:29:16 AM

Title: Archos Recorders and Player: TAC109's "Rockbox 2.5.1 build"
Post by: TAC109 on March 19, 2006, 01:29:16 AM
Introduction  

This release is based on the 2.5 general release of Rockbox.

This is not an official release of Rockbox by the developers, and will not be supported by them. It is being made available for download here as some people have expressed interest in using it.

I and many others have been using this version of Rockbox for over a year without problems. If you encounter any problems, post a message to this thread on this forum. In the unlikely event of a serious problem, you can always revert to the official version 2.5 or earlier.


Original Changes

This release has the following major enhancements:-


Changes 5th Jan 2007

For a complete list of changes, see the v2.5.1_ReadMe.txt file, below.


Installation

1  Download "v2.5.1_ReadMe.txt" and the appropriate "Rockbox-2.5.1-.....zip" file for your Archos, below.

2  Read the contents of the "v2.5.1_ReadMe.txt" file.

3  The "Rockbox-2.5.1-.....zip" file is a complete installation of Rockbox, so you should save your configuration settings in a .cfg file.

4  Unzip all the files to the root or top level directory of your Archos, preserving the directory structure in the zip file.

5  Follow the normal procedure for flashing, if required.  (See the Flashing Guide, below, for more details).

6  Restore your configuration settings from the .cfg file you created, above.

7  People using VoiceBox .talk files can download and use the contents of "VoiceBox2.5.1.zip" to create your .talk files. This has coded in, the modified Lame parameters mentioned in the "V2.5.1_ReadMe.txt" file. You should regenerate your .talk files with this version to allow smooth voicing from the Bookmark screen. See the file "V2.5.1_ReadMe.txt", and the "Read_Me_Please.txt" file within "VoiceBox2.5.1.zip" for more details.

8  For completeness I have included MakeVoices.2.5.1.zip for people who wish to generate their own voice files for speaking the menus. These files will also be compatible with version 2.5 of Rockbox. Replace the included "english.lang" file with your own amended file if necessary.


Files

The files for this release are available from «here» (http://rasher.dk/rockbox/tomcole/).

Thanks to Rasher for kindly offering to host the files.


WPS Syntax (added 28th July 08)

The WPS (While Playing Screen) documentation and syntax for this release can be found «here» (http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/CustomWPS?rev=7).





Short Guide to Flashing Your Archos (added 4th Nov 07, last updated 9th Nov 07)

Warning: Flashing Rockbox is optional. It is not required for using Rockbox on your Archos Recorder or Player, however Rockbox will load much faster when it has been flashed. Please read the whole section thoroughly before flashing.

Before you start, you need to check that your Archos can be flashed. Press F1/Menu -> Info -> Debug -> View HW Info. Look for the line starting with "Flash". If this is shown as "Flash: M=?? D=??", you're out of luck (The "??"s mean that your unit is not flashable). If something other than question marks is shown, your unit is flashable and you can carry on with this section.

There are two procedures to follow to flash your Archos. If you haven't flashed your Archos before or you are not sure that your Archos is flashed with "Bootbox", follow both the Initial and Update procedures, Otherwise you can just do the Update Procedure.


Initial Procedure

To see if you need to perform this procedure, with the Archos powered off, press and hold  F1 (- on Player) then press On. If you see "Bootbox Rescue Boot" appear briefly then you don't need to perform this procedure and can skip down to the Update Procedure.

1 Power on your Archos normally. Install the version of Rockbox you intend to use by unzipping it to the root or top level directory of your Archos, preserving the directory structure in the zip file.

2 On the Archos set the File View option to "All" by pressing F1/Menu -> General Settings -> File View -> Show Files -> "All".

3 Back up the current firmware, using the first option of the debug menu (Info -> Debug -> Dump ROM Contents). This creates 2 files in the root directory, which you may not immediately see in the Rockbox browser. The 256kB-sized internal_rom_2000000-203FFFF.bin one is your present firmware. Back both up to your PC. You will need them if you want to restore the flash contents.

4 On the web, go to the bottom of Â«this page» (http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/BootBox) and download the appropriate zip file for your Archos. Unzip it to the root or top level directory of your Archos.

5 Connect the charger and make sure your batteries are in good shape. That's just for security reasons, it's not that flashing needs more power.

6 Using the File Browser on the Archos, "play" the ajbrec.ajz file (archos.mod file for the Player). This will load the current version of Rockbox which is necessary for the next step.

7 From the menu screen -> Browse Plugins -> Firmware_Flash. Follow the prompts. (For the Recorder, F1 - check, F2 - "are you sure?", F3 - do it. For the Player the keys are Minus, On, and Plus.) In the unlikely event that something goes wrong, do not switch off your Archos, but follow the procedure below to restore the original firmware.

8 On the Archos delete the *.bin files you installed in step 4.

9 You also need to carry on with the Update Procedure, below, to complete the initial updating of your Archos.


Update Procedure

1 If you haven't done so already, install the version of Rockbox you intend to use by unzipping it to the root or top level directory of your Archos, preserving the directory structure in the zip file.

2 On the Archos set the File View option to "All" by pressing F1/Menu -> General Settings -> File View -> Show Files -> "All".

3 Connect the charger and make sure your batteries are in good shape. That's just for security reasons, it's not that flashing needs more power.

4 Using the File Browser on the Archos, "play" the ajbrec.ajz file (archos.mod file for the Player). This will load the current version of Rockbox which is necessary for the next step.

5 Using the File Browser on the Archos, enter the .rockbox directory and "play" the rombox.ucl file. Follow the prompts. (For the Recorder, F1 - check, F2 - do it. For the Player the keys are Minus and On.) If the rombox.ucl file is not available, play the rockbox.ucl file.

6 Disconnect the charger, and switch off, then switch on your Archos to load Rockbox from flash. If Rockbox loads up correctlly, then you have successfully flashed your Archos.

7 The ajbrec.ajz file (archos.mod file for the Player) is no longer needed on the Archos, and can be safely deleted.


Restoring The Original Firmware

If you'd like to revert to the original firmware, you can do like you did when you flashed Rockbox for the first time. You simply use the backup files you saved when flashing Rockbox for the first time and rename "internal_rom_2000000-203FFFF.bin" to "firmware_*.bin" (name varies per model, use the filename which "firmware_flash.rock" asks for) and put it in the root.

Title: Re: Archos Recorders and Player: TAC109's "Rockbox 2.5.1 build"
Post by: Llorean on January 15, 2007, 04:33:49 PM
Minor correction: If people have problems while running your build, they are to ask them here. The problems should not be posted in any other forum or elsewhere unless they happen in an official build.
Title: Re: Archos Recorders and Player: TAC109's "Rockbox 2.5.1 build"
Post by: TAC109 on January 15, 2007, 06:12:56 PM
Llorean, I have made this change.
Title: Re: Archos Recorders and Player: TAC109's "Rockbox 2.5.1 build"
Post by: Llorean on January 15, 2007, 07:02:16 PM
Thank you.
Title: Re: Archos Recorders and Player: TAC109's "Rockbox 2.5.1 build"
Post by: telliott on March 19, 2007, 12:43:23 AM
This is a great build.  I have been using it for a while now.  I really haven't been following Rockbox development that much since the V1 recorder code has pretty much matured.

The only thing I noticed is that pitch control improvements, and placing it in the hold-play quick menu, that had been in newer daily builds is not in your build.  You still have to hold the on button while adjusting pitch.

I use pitch sometimes when adjusting an otr program that may have been recorded a bit slow.  Sometimes I like to relive my childhood when I would play an album at 45 rpm or a single at 33 1/3 rpm.

Thanks,
Tim
Title: Re: Archos Recorders and Player: TAC109's "Rockbox 2.5.1 build"
Post by: TAC109 on March 19, 2007, 05:32:06 PM
Thanks for your comments.

I'm not planning any further enhancements to this version at present, although I'll keep your comments in mind if I *do* make any further changes.
Title: Re: Archos Recorders and Player: TAC109's "Rockbox 2.5.1 build"
Post by: videoot on November 09, 2007, 07:34:54 AM
Hi TAC109,

thank's for helping me implement this 2.5.1. load, and for updating the procedure to make it more appropriate for 'dummies'.

In case somebody wants improved battery behaviour and wants to monitor the charging / discharging behaviour of his Archos, I can recommend this load.

Regards,

Pieter
Title: Re: Archos Recorders and Player: TAC109's "Rockbox 2.5.1 build"
Post by: TAC109 on November 09, 2007, 04:05:05 PM
You're welcome!
Title: Re: Archos Recorders and Player: TAC109's "Rockbox 2.5.1 build"
Post by: doldi on June 27, 2008, 04:12:24 AM
THX,
great Work - it's stable on my Players and Recorders.
Sometimes I've little Problems with current builds - with your Rockbox 2.5.1 build
it's possible to flash some of my difficult, touchy Archos.

Here in Germany i make some remanufacture (hobby)

kind greetings

doldi ;-)
Title: Re: Archos Recorders and Player: TAC109's "Rockbox 2.5.1 build"
Post by: TAC109 on June 27, 2008, 05:52:54 PM
Thanks for your kind comments. :)

Edit: I have added a link to the main entry, for the WPS syntax which can be used in this release.
Title: Re: Archos Recorders and Player: TAC109's "Rockbox 2.5.1 build"
Post by: torne on June 06, 2010, 11:12:50 AM
Is this build still needed? It's extremely old and I would hope any problems it fixes are fixed by 3.6 :)

If nobody has a reason to keep it, then I'll delete it at some point.
Title: Re: Archos Recorders and Player: TAC109's "Rockbox 2.5.1 build"
Post by: Llorean on June 06, 2010, 04:20:44 PM
This build should be kept around. A lot changed between the 2.5 release of Rockbox and 3.0 for the Archos devices, and this basically fixes a potentially harmful bug (the old charging algorithm) while allowing them to keep a relatively small Rockbox (which matters more for the older devices).

The fact that he persisted on naming it "2.5.1" is still somewhat frustrating, since it's not an official release and not even all the changes are in official builds I think, but other than that it could be considered a good upgrade path (or "end" of an upgrade path) for the Recorder/Player.
Title: Re: Archos Recorders and Player: TAC109's "Rockbox 2.5.1 build"
Post by: saratoga on June 06, 2010, 05:36:40 PM
For what its worth I still think we should have forked the HWCODEC targets a long time ago, since we mostly just seem to be bloating the bin size on them now without actually improving them very much . . .