changes to the Gigabeat button mappings

[markun]

I changed the button mappings yesterday and basically switched POWER and A to prevent accidental shutdown when holding POWER to do a key combo (for doing a pagedown for example: POWER+DOWN).

Now I'm not so sure it was the best solution. Someone suggested we could also fix it by making A the shutdown button and leaving the layout as it was before, but I though it was a bit weird because that's what you would expect from the POWER button (because of the icon on the button)

So, what are your opinions on it?

[Llorean]

I think the idea to make one button turn it on (the button labelled "Power" on the unit) and a different button turn it off is incredibly counterintuitive.

People who don't like the possibility of their button maps being changed shouldn't use pre-release software.

[copskid44]

I think he has something.

POWER
Turn On - Hold
Menu

A Button
Mute and move to menu
Turn Off - Hold

[johnson4]

 Thank you Thank you Thank you
I was so annoyed by the accidental shut-down, this is much better.
My biggest problem was with moving the cursor in the text-editor, I'm very thankful

[copskid44]

what! ive never accidentally shut my gigabeat down! I maybe am stubborn but I still hate it.

Could someone make a patch to where it changes it back so I dont have to change the code every time i update?

[markun]

If you've downloaded the source with svn it's very easy to make your own patch. After changing it the way you want, you go to the root of the source tree and do "svn diff > old_buttons.patch".

[mannequin]

markun,

thanks for the changes. it was very uncomfortable to page scroll or use the text editor with the old mappings due to the accident shutdown issue.

however, we have the VOL buttons idling most of the time. wouldn't it be a good idea to use them for page and text editor scrolling?

[johnson4]

however, we have the VOL buttons idling most of the time. wouldn't it be a good idea to use them for page and text editor scrolling?

I like the sounds of that too

[lights0ut]

I just got an F40, but I've used both buttonmappings, I like the new one better because it seems to be more intuitive. I don't use the paged list scrolling function because I have my music quite organised, but if I did, I could see where I'd get the accidental shutdown (database browsing, right?). I always thought the power button shouldn't be used to go back to the filebrowser/wps, that's not what a power button does.
Just my thoughts, and thanks for the changes.

[Nate!]

Ooh, good idea.  I second or third that request to use the VOL rocker for paged scrolling and text editing.

[lights0ut]

Doesn't having the vol. buttons always on volume function mean that one could change the volume from anywhere on the player? I like this functionality, but I could see where using the vol buttons as paging scrollers it would aid those with very long lists. Maybe a new setting is in order?

[Mad Cow]

I changed the mappings to have the volume buttons for paged scrolling a while ago because it was similar to how the H10 does it. IMO it's much better than using them to change the volume from the menus.

[ilikedirt]

I don't quite like the new mapping. It makes using the player with one hand a whole lot harder and pushing the A button when the player is in the dock is fiddly too.

I did not know, that the page-scroll was on power-up/down so I never experienced accidential shutdowns - but now that I know that would propably be a problem with the old layout So I do not know, what would be the best solution, either, but I still prefer the old layout.

[Llorean]

I'm still of the opinion that in the WPS, A should be play/pause, and 'select' should go back to the filetree. It brings back easy (easier at least) one handed operation, and brings the target in line with the other targets in regards to button map consistency between screens.

With that, you can then, from WPS, using only the cross, insert and manipulate the playlist. Getting back to the WPS is slightly harder (Hold left, then tap left once, then choose the Now Playing entry) than a single button press, but you get the added functionality, and the cross-platform consistency of not having a button change functions between screens (change functions relative to the other targets, that is).

[Nate!]

Now I understand.  Uniformity is the desired goal.  I was thinking what Llorean described was an attempt to get the Gigabeat to behave like the iriver platforms.  This didn't seem right since some of the Gigabeat community have only had the Toshiba device and have grown accustom to its navigation style.  (Hence my feature request for the addition of the sliding cross navigation.)  But, I for one, do admire how Rockbox works for a miriad of platforms and Rockbox on one device operates much the same way as Rockbox on another.

Like I've mentioned before, the new mapping took just a few minutes to get used to so changing it again wouldn't be a big deal.  (For Me anyway)

Although, can we get a dev to revisit the sliding cross navigation feature request? lol