returning to "now playing" screen

[bblackmoor]

I am a new (and quite enthusiastic) Rockbox user, so please forgive me for what is probably an obvious newbie question, but I haven't found a way to do this and it's starting to really bug me.

Is there a toggle or timeout setting for the player to return to the "Now Playing" screen? When I am done with the playlist, or fiddling with the settings, or what have you, I want (and I think most people would want) for the player to return to the "Now Playing" screen. But no matter how long has passed since I was on some other screen, the player never returns to the "Now Playing" screen. I have to tediously surf through the menus to find that option and then manually select it.

Am I missing something obvious?

[GodEater]

You should just be able to press the "Play" button for your target from wherever you are to get back to the WPS.

This definitely works on both my iPod and H140, but come to think of it, I'm not sure of the button on my Gigabeat. It's in the manual somewhere.

[bblackmoor]

You should just be able to press the "Play" button for your target from wherever you are to get back to the WPS.

That does work. Thanks! It's not as simple as just having the screen go back to the "Now Playing" screen after a timeout (which I would still prefer, and which I think most people would expect), but it's certainly easier than what I had been doing.

[bluebrother]

Am I missing something obvious?

Yes, the explanation of the Rockbox user interface in the manual

[AlexP]

It's not as simple as just having the screen go back to the "Now Playing" screen after a timeout (which I would still prefer, and which I think most people would expect)

Really?  I would find that incredibly irritating.  I want it to stay in the screen I put it in.

[bblackmoor]

I would find that incredibly irritating.  I want it to stay in the screen I put it in.

So I guess you find every DVD player, stereo, VCR, microwave oven, computer monitor, cell phone, and MP3 player (other than Rockbox) annoying. Different strokes for different folks, I guess: I certainly would not want anyone to be forced to use something they find irritating. Still, I would like the option of having Rockbox UI act like virtually every other piece of consumer electronics on the planet.

It probably sounds like I am complaining now, and I'm not: perhaps your comment aroused my defensive instincts. I am just saying that the normal, expected behavior is that a device goes back to its default screen after a timeout, and I, personally, would prefer to have that option in Rockbox. For what little that may be worth, coming as it does from someone who has contributed nothing to the project.

[frause]

I would find that incredibly irritating.  I want it to stay in the screen I put it in.

So I guess you find every DVD player, stereo, VCR, microwave oven, computer monitor, cell phone, and MP3 player (other than Rockbox) annoying.

I /would/ find it very annoying if my cellphone or dap did it. The microwave to a lesser extent. The reason for that is that I'm never (or extremely rarely) forced to put the microwave in my pocket to continue setting the cooking time later. A dap or cellphone is a tool used on the go and that means you cannot always be paying full attention to it. Sometimes it's better to just pay attention to the surrounding world and continue later where you were.

I know many cellphones and daps works like you describe, but that doesn't make it any more right in my opinion.

Also, having a timeout doesn't eliminate the need for a dedicated button. You still have the "I want to go to WPS *NOW* situation"

[GodEater]

So I guess you find every DVD player, stereo, VCR, microwave oven, computer monitor, cell phone, and MP3 player (other than Rockbox) annoying.

What an over generalisation - NONE of the items I own in the above list act as you describe - when I enter the menu, it STAYS in the menu until I say otherwise, and that's the way I like it!

[Llorean]

The only device I have that leaves the screen I left it in is my phone, and that's because I've explicitly set it to lock the screen when I leave it for a certain period of time. Unfortunately the screen lock sucks, and restores it to the 'main' phone screen, rather than locking but leaving you in the other screen, so when I unlock it I have to get back to where I was.

[AlexP]

So I guess you find every DVD player, stereo, VCR, microwave oven, computer monitor, cell phone, and MP3 player (other than Rockbox) annoying.

I own a DVD player, stereo, VCR, microwave, computer monitor, mobile phone, and three mp3 players, and none of them do what you are describing - they all stay where I put them.

Still, I would like the option of having Rockbox UI act like virtually every other piece of consumer electronics on the planet.

What a massive generalisation!  I have not owned a single device you mention that does this.  I don't know where you are from, but consumer electronics that I am familiar with (in the UK), do not do this.  I leave my phone in a menu, it stays there.  Same with everything else.

[bblackmoor]

...having a timeout doesn't eliminate the need for a dedicated button. You still have the "I want to go to WPS *NOW* situation"

I agree with that completely, of course.

[bblackmoor]

What an over generalisation

It is a generalization, but that is because it is generally true. Even the antique IBM monitor I am using at the moment does this. I push the "contrast" button. The "Contrast" overlay shows in the middle of the screen. I wait a few seconds without touching the monitor. The overlay goes away. This is normal, virtually universal, behavior on any device with a screen and menus.

I am sure that there are exceptions, of course. There are exceptions to everything. And I am sure that, as with anything, people's preferences will differ, and there is nothing wrong with that. But surely we can agree that it would be a user-friendly option to provide? After all, most users don't install Rockbox to look at the "database settings" screen, do they? I would have thought that most people install it to play music. That seems a fairly reasonable assumption to me, at any rate.

But it's a small matter. One extra button-press is not a huge issue. I am sure that the people who contribute their time to the project have much bigger fish to fry.

[Llorean]

A monitor is a completely unrelated case.

A monitor display an input from somewhere else. The menu is device adjustment, rather than relating to what's showing on the screen. Basically, the monitor, and the device it's connected to, have to share a screen. If the monitor had a second screen, just for the menu, there'd be no reason at all for it to reset on idle because it wouldn't be conflicting with anything.

[bblackmoor]

If the monitor had a second screen, just for the menu, there'd be no reason at all for it to reset on idle because it wouldn't be conflicting with anything.

I suppose that's true. If iPods had two screens, it would cease to be a concern.

[Llorean]

Thank you for missing the entire point of comparison.

On a monitor, the menu controls the device, rather than the menu controlling the input software.

On the iPod, the menu controls the whole of the software, which is in control of the device.

Tell me, when you open "Control Panel" in windows (or your operating system neutral equivalent), does it disappear after 15 seconds? That's a much more valid comparison, since the menu is in the software driving the display, rather than being an arbitrary part of the display independent of the software.

I imagine if you hook your iPod up to a monitor with a composite to VGA adapter (in the retail firmware, since ours doesn't support the video out yet), you'll find the monitor's menu still disappears just fine.