41
Repairing and Upgrading Rockbox Capable Players / Re: Sansa Fuze V2 dead after a few minutes of listening from MicroSD
« Last post by jsr_278 on March 21, 2024, 08:41:30 AM »The battery should be discharged already. Plug it into your pc just for a few seconds to see if it works.
42
Repairing and Upgrading Rockbox Capable Players / Re: Sansa Fuze V2 dead after a few minutes of listening from MicroSD
« Last post by Bilgus on March 20, 2024, 08:13:57 PM »Unequivocally yes Dev is now more stable minus bootloaders than 3.15 and we aren't fixing bugs for 3.15 either
43
Feature Ideas / Digital communication thru analog 3.5mm plug with modem
« Last post by cleansugar on March 20, 2024, 07:41:38 PM »https://hackaday.io/project/186309-simple-universal-modem
In early days, modem was used to both DAC and ADC.
If Rockbox device has only one analog plug, it can be used as digital communication with ADC or DAC converter.
And we are likely to have external ADC converter to decode analog signal from inside device.
Keyboards, mice, other external expansion devices could be attached via this manner.
For example, some guaging sensors like thermometer, luxmeter communicate via Android phone 4 pin jack.
Two Rockbox devices can communicate each other like old calculators or Gameboys.
There is PSP keyboard hack which converts to serial signal.
https://forums.ps2dev.org/viewtopic.php?t=11001
In early days, modem was used to both DAC and ADC.
If Rockbox device has only one analog plug, it can be used as digital communication with ADC or DAC converter.
And we are likely to have external ADC converter to decode analog signal from inside device.
Keyboards, mice, other external expansion devices could be attached via this manner.
For example, some guaging sensors like thermometer, luxmeter communicate via Android phone 4 pin jack.
Two Rockbox devices can communicate each other like old calculators or Gameboys.
There is PSP keyboard hack which converts to serial signal.
https://forums.ps2dev.org/viewtopic.php?t=11001
44
Hardware / Re: New cheap portable player in the market
« Last post by rockcandy on March 20, 2024, 07:00:27 PM »Great discussions, insights, and information you have all provided above.
Seems like this thread lost momentum over the uncertainty and variability of the hardware inside various brands/models/iterations of the media players.
So I just wanted to point out, there exists a HUGE and consistent supply of complete finished devices, in new condition, which are ALWAYS powered by a Spreadtrum SC6531
along with 4MB of RAM. You DO NOT need to order large quantities, you can buy just one, no problem.
They are CHEAP. They regularly go on sale for less than seven USD shipped, and their usual retail price is still under ten dollars shipped. Another good news: they even have
REMOVABLE rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries.
They are LEGIT, and readily available on Aliexpress. Furthermore, they're "Choice" items, meaning they're ready for immediate shipment, and will therefore arrive much faster.
The catch is, they come in the form of a feature phone.
Yes, I'm talking about the 2G GSM phones. Typically they look like the kind of candy bar style Nokia handsets you may remember from the 2000's. Probably not the most attractive,
nor very light, nor so small. But acceptable, super durable, and portable enough IMO.
I've bought a few of those before, set them up and given them away as FM radios. They were some of the cheapest FM radios I could find which came with a stereo 3.5mm
output jack and a rechargeable (800 to 1800 mAh) Li-ion battery that is actually managed by a proper power management unit.
I myself have been using Rockbox on a Sansa clip+, now with its battery health in decline. My search for the next Rockbox player has led me here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One example: MKTEL OYE 3 - $6.22 sale price for the Red color (there's an Aliexpress "anniversary sale" going on now through March 27, 2024)
(save another 2% using Aliexpress coins) = $6.10
(Spreadtrum SC6531EFM), 1800 mAh battery. Rubberized plastic back plate. The main body looks and feels like ABS plastic. Large quantities (1200+ units available as of this writing, and they do get replenished regularly) between the 3 different colors
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805015455298.html
You might get them for even less if it's offered to you as part of a personalized "Super Deals" on the homepage (search for it, add to cart, show some interest in the item etc., and eventually the algorithm might offer it to you). If you're new to Aliexpress, they may be bought as a "Welcome Deal" for as low as $1.24 (or about five dollars off). If you miss the anniversary sale, being Choice items, they'll be on sale again at the beginning of every month.
I never opened up the devices physically, but dialed the "secret" code below and it reported SC6531.
#*8378#4# (#*test#4#) - uptime/charge/IMEI/chipset information
<CHIP TYPE>
SC6531EFM_AB
The same seller (Desoon) also has MKTEL M2023 with a smaller (but not that much more portable) 800 mAh battery, for around the same price, in large quantities (1600+ units available). M2023 also reported the identical string for its chip type as OYE 3.
I have no affiliation with Aliexpress/Mktel/Desoon, other than having bought from them before. They just seem widely available on Aliexpress. There are also other brands such as PLUZZ and more, although it's probably wise to stick with the most available brand/model for consistency.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another way to look at it: 2G feature phones must have sold in the hundreds of millions by now globally. It's ancient technology, to be honest. By market share, MediaTek and Spreadtrum/Unisoc appear to have a strong duopoly when it comes to 2G handset SoC. MediaTek MT626x family are ARM7, and Spreadtrum SC6531x family are ARM926EJ-S. These phones usually advertise either 32 "Mb" or "mb" or "MB" of RAM and ROM, more likely than not, it's the small b for bits, not Bytes. (32Mb = 4MB).
The mp4 players at the start of this thread may have been Shenzhen's attempt to leverage existing/surplus feature phone parts into creating newer sleeker media players based on the same 1.77 inch screen. Unfortunately their components were all over the place. I just thought it's probably worthwhile to target the phones themselves instead, given how abundant/available/affordable they are.
Thank you!
Seems like this thread lost momentum over the uncertainty and variability of the hardware inside various brands/models/iterations of the media players.
So I just wanted to point out, there exists a HUGE and consistent supply of complete finished devices, in new condition, which are ALWAYS powered by a Spreadtrum SC6531
along with 4MB of RAM. You DO NOT need to order large quantities, you can buy just one, no problem.
They are CHEAP. They regularly go on sale for less than seven USD shipped, and their usual retail price is still under ten dollars shipped. Another good news: they even have
REMOVABLE rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries.
They are LEGIT, and readily available on Aliexpress. Furthermore, they're "Choice" items, meaning they're ready for immediate shipment, and will therefore arrive much faster.
The catch is, they come in the form of a feature phone.
Yes, I'm talking about the 2G GSM phones. Typically they look like the kind of candy bar style Nokia handsets you may remember from the 2000's. Probably not the most attractive,
nor very light, nor so small. But acceptable, super durable, and portable enough IMO.
I've bought a few of those before, set them up and given them away as FM radios. They were some of the cheapest FM radios I could find which came with a stereo 3.5mm
output jack and a rechargeable (800 to 1800 mAh) Li-ion battery that is actually managed by a proper power management unit.
I myself have been using Rockbox on a Sansa clip+, now with its battery health in decline. My search for the next Rockbox player has led me here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One example: MKTEL OYE 3 - $6.22 sale price for the Red color (there's an Aliexpress "anniversary sale" going on now through March 27, 2024)
(save another 2% using Aliexpress coins) = $6.10
(Spreadtrum SC6531EFM), 1800 mAh battery. Rubberized plastic back plate. The main body looks and feels like ABS plastic. Large quantities (1200+ units available as of this writing, and they do get replenished regularly) between the 3 different colors
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805015455298.html
You might get them for even less if it's offered to you as part of a personalized "Super Deals" on the homepage (search for it, add to cart, show some interest in the item etc., and eventually the algorithm might offer it to you). If you're new to Aliexpress, they may be bought as a "Welcome Deal" for as low as $1.24 (or about five dollars off). If you miss the anniversary sale, being Choice items, they'll be on sale again at the beginning of every month.
I never opened up the devices physically, but dialed the "secret" code below and it reported SC6531.
#*8378#4# (#*test#4#) - uptime/charge/IMEI/chipset information
<CHIP TYPE>
SC6531EFM_AB
The same seller (Desoon) also has MKTEL M2023 with a smaller (but not that much more portable) 800 mAh battery, for around the same price, in large quantities (1600+ units available). M2023 also reported the identical string for its chip type as OYE 3.
I have no affiliation with Aliexpress/Mktel/Desoon, other than having bought from them before. They just seem widely available on Aliexpress. There are also other brands such as PLUZZ and more, although it's probably wise to stick with the most available brand/model for consistency.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another way to look at it: 2G feature phones must have sold in the hundreds of millions by now globally. It's ancient technology, to be honest. By market share, MediaTek and Spreadtrum/Unisoc appear to have a strong duopoly when it comes to 2G handset SoC. MediaTek MT626x family are ARM7, and Spreadtrum SC6531x family are ARM926EJ-S. These phones usually advertise either 32 "Mb" or "mb" or "MB" of RAM and ROM, more likely than not, it's the small b for bits, not Bytes. (32Mb = 4MB).
The mp4 players at the start of this thread may have been Shenzhen's attempt to leverage existing/surplus feature phone parts into creating newer sleeker media players based on the same 1.77 inch screen. Unfortunately their components were all over the place. I just thought it's probably worthwhile to target the phones themselves instead, given how abundant/available/affordable they are.
Thank you!
45
Hardware / Re: Cheap Chinese MP3 Player Support?
« Last post by cleansugar on March 20, 2024, 03:38:29 PM »Ruizu X02 Partial Disassembly and Notes
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/ruizu-x02-partial-disassembly-and-notes.7697/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/ruizu-x02-partial-disassembly-and-notes.7697/
46
Unsupported Builds / Re: Firmware support for ruizu x02
« Last post by cleansugar on March 20, 2024, 03:37:28 PM »Ruizu X02 Partial Disassembly and Notes
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/ruizu-x02-partial-disassembly-and-notes.7697/
ATJ2127 SoC looks like that RAM is integrated into MCU.
This US212A manual 298 page memory map in github https://github.com/Suber/PD196_ATJ2127/tree/maint/Doc page shows.
And the manual says that there is 512KB VRAM(flash memory) room can be allocated for all program.
US212A is Windows version toolkit of UCOS II OS for ATJ212x Soc.
So there is no sufficient room for Rockbox OS.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/ruizu-x02-partial-disassembly-and-notes.7697/
ATJ2127 SoC looks like that RAM is integrated into MCU.
This US212A manual 298 page memory map in github https://github.com/Suber/PD196_ATJ2127/tree/maint/Doc page shows.
And the manual says that there is 512KB VRAM(flash memory) room can be allocated for all program.
US212A is Windows version toolkit of UCOS II OS for ATJ212x Soc.
So there is no sufficient room for Rockbox OS.
47
Repairing and Upgrading Rockbox Capable Players / Re: Sansa Fuze V2 dead after a few minutes of listening from MicroSD
« Last post by cdubbleyoo on March 20, 2024, 02:27:31 PM »I tried holding the power switch for 5 minutes, and that didn't work, so I'm just going to leave alone for a few days and then try plugging it in to the PC.
Would a Dev release be a better bet than just using an older stable release ?
Thanks a lot for the responses - cw
Would a Dev release be a better bet than just using an older stable release ?
Thanks a lot for the responses - cw
48
Other Utilities / HiBy R2ii - Change Main menu list
« Last post by box-o-nails1 on March 20, 2024, 08:25:21 AM »Hello, my name is Manohar, and I'm just now getting into modding firmware. Well, it;s the first time I touched any code. I usually just play around with gui elements and leave the rest of it alone.
However, I have recently got my hands on the HiBy R2 Gen 2, and I have modified some of the gui elements to make it look more pleasing to me. I also wanted to replace some of the buttons to something more useful to me.
For example replacing the "Books" to "Playlists" or atleast replace "Album Artist" to "Playlists".
Currently the Playlists option is hidden under 2 menus and it's a hassle to get to it.
I have managed to unpack the entire firmware file including the system.ubi.
I have managed to change the text of said menu options to "Playlists" but they seem un-functional.
I would really appreciate it if you helped me understand how the code works, or where the actual "apps" for these menu options are in the filestructure, or atleast point me towards resources to read up on.
Attached are the latest v1.2 firmware from hiby and the theme tool I used to unpack the firmware (it unpacks system.ubi too)
Thank you.
PS: Sorry about the images I didn't know what else to do without them taking over the entire page
However, I have recently got my hands on the HiBy R2 Gen 2, and I have modified some of the gui elements to make it look more pleasing to me. I also wanted to replace some of the buttons to something more useful to me.
For example replacing the "Books" to "Playlists" or atleast replace "Album Artist" to "Playlists".
Currently the Playlists option is hidden under 2 menus and it's a hassle to get to it.
I have managed to unpack the entire firmware file including the system.ubi.
I have managed to change the text of said menu options to "Playlists" but they seem un-functional.
I would really appreciate it if you helped me understand how the code works, or where the actual "apps" for these menu options are in the filestructure, or atleast point me towards resources to read up on.
Attached are the latest v1.2 firmware from hiby and the theme tool I used to unpack the firmware (it unpacks system.ubi too)
Thank you.
PS: Sorry about the images I didn't know what else to do without them taking over the entire page
49
Rockbox Utility / Re: iPod Newbie - Install query
« Last post by Dark2024 on March 19, 2024, 08:25:25 PM »Hi,
THanks for the reply.
I am not planning on having anything over 128g fitted - was'nt aware that the installer gave the option! All the posts that I have come across, seem to suggest its a manual installation affair, but I will have a further look
Thanks!
THanks for the reply.
I am not planning on having anything over 128g fitted - was'nt aware that the installer gave the option! All the posts that I have come across, seem to suggest its a manual installation affair, but I will have a further look
Thanks!
50
Repairing and Upgrading Rockbox Capable Players / Re: Sansa Fuze V2 dead after a few minutes of listening from MicroSD
« Last post by jsr_278 on March 19, 2024, 06:01:08 PM »Maybe the player is hung and the reset is not working. If that is the case, the battery will be discharged in one or two days and after that it will turn off. Then, as soon as you plug it into a PC it will work again.