Rockbox Technical Forums
Rockbox General => Rockbox General Discussion => Topic started by: sandwich600 on April 29, 2011, 04:46:06 PM
-
Hi,
Apologies if this has been asked before. Is there a quick way (or indeed any way) to switch between random play and sequential play in Rockbox ?
So if I am listening to a shuffled playlist of my whole music collection, and suddenly think "oh yeah, I like this song. In fact I want to hear the rest of this album right now". Can I do that? If so, is there a way to switch back too ? I mean after listening to a few tracks from that album, can I go back to random ?
Jim
-
Hi,
Apologies if this has been asked before. Is there a quick way (or indeed any way) to switch between random play and sequential play in Rockbox ?
So if I am listening to a shuffled playlist of my whole music collection, and suddenly think "oh yeah, I like this song. In fact I want to hear the rest of this album right now". Can I do that? If so, is there a way to switch back too ? I mean after listening to a few tracks from that album, can I go back to random ?
Jim
Like...."Shuffle"? ;)
You can bring up the Quick-Screen to enable/disable shuffle quickly.
So you can insert the playlist ordered (bring up the context menu on the root of what you want to insert in the Database or Filebrowser and choose "Playlist->Insert (not "Insert Shuffled"!), now you can apply shuffle at will after that to mix things up, then disable shuffle when you want to go back to the ordered playlist.
[St.]
-
Thanks ST. You are saying I need to do this from the WPS screen:
Press the Home key to get to the Main Menu (on a Sansa Clip+)
Scroll to "Database" or "Files"
Drill down to the album, assuming I know the Album name
Long press on Select the bring up the context menu
Select "Playlist" from the context menu
Select "Insert", the first item in the context->Playlist menu
Press Hold and Select keys simultaneously to get back to the WPS screen.
To verify the operation, again from the WPS screen:
Long press the Select key to bring up the Context menu
Select Playlist, the first item in the Context menu
Select "View Current Playlist"
Scroll down a few lines to see the album tracks have been inserted, in order
Press Hold and Select keys simultaneously to get back to the WPS screen.
To get back from Album to random play, click "Next Track" key a few times from the WPS, until the selected album tracks are exhausted.
Yes, that works. Is there an easier/quicker way of doing it ? How about when I am driving ?
-
No, just turn the shuffle setting off from the quickscreen. The playlist will go back to its original order, such that once the current track finishes the next track in the album will play, assuming the playlist was in order to begin with.
-
Okay thanks. I am recording the answer here for other newbies. This is for a Sansa Clip+ but should apply to other players.
1. Make a playlist of all the music on your player. From the main menu, select Playlists->Create Playlist. This will create a playlist called "root" in the top level of your player's disk, containing all tracks found on the player.
2. To listen to music randomly, Click on Files->root. The playlist created above will load and start playing.
3. While music is playing, toggle between random and sequential play by bringing up the Quick Screen and changing Shuffle mode to either "Yes" or "No". ie. Long press the Home key then single click on the rewind (<<) key.
If you were listening to music in order, the next song and subsequent songs will be randomly selected (shuffle mode). If you were already in shuffle mode, the player will switch to non-shuffle mode and tracks will be played in directory order, starting with the currently playing track. In other words, you will be listening to the rest of the album that was randomly stumbled upon. Exactly what I was interested in above.
Eg. With my original scenario, if the track "Walk of Life" comes up in your shuffle play, and you decide to listen to the rest of that album (Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits), just switch to non-shuffle as above. "Walk of Life" is track 4 on that album. When it finishes, the album will continue from track 5 onwards. To hear earlier tracks, use the rewind key (<<). To go back to random mode, do another Home key long press followed by rewind key (<<). If the album finishes and you are still in non-shuffle mode, the next album in directory order will start to play. This will be the next album in your collection in alphabetical order by artist then album name. For me, that is "Making Movies" also by Dire Straits.
Swapping into and out of shuffle mode is simple enough to be done in a pocket, or while driving without taking your eyes off the road. Enabling the menu voice gives further reassurance.
Note that for players with SD cards, the step (1) above will put music residing on the SD card into the list first, followed by music found in the player's internal flash. That is the wrong way round for me, I put artists A-J on the internal 8Gb flash and K-Z on the 16Gb SD card. Artists are therefore not in correct alphabetical order. It makes little difference though.
There are other ways to make a comprehensive playlist. Eg by using the Files Browser. Browse to "Music" (or an album or artist directory for a shorter list), press the select key to bring up the Context Menu and choose Playlist->insert or Playlist->insert last. Keep doing that for all the music you want in the list. This method can be used if your music is distributed like mine and you want the Artists in strict alphabetical order.