e260 boots into RockBox fine, but won't boot into original firmware

[Freedom_XXXX]

UPDATE

I installed the unofficial reverse bootloader (loads OF first, hold select to load RockBox), and it works great. I'd prefer that I could load RockBox first, but I think I can live with this.

Located here:
http://e200.digerati1338.googlepages.com/reversebl

oranges2 ...  fairly a newbie here. Have the white screen of death when i try to boot up my OF. I tried to follow the procedure mentioned in the site, but without much success.

The problem is my sansa is not at all recognized on the first hand (when i'm in Rockbox firmware and obviously I'm unable to boot the OF) . Can you explain in detail what you exactly did?

I'm really worried that I could not transfer any files in my rockbox mode.


Here is the instructions from the site you mentioned.
Download the ReverseBL below.
Download sansapatcher.
Run "sansapatcher.exe -a ReverseBL.mi4"
Reboot your player to update the bootloader.

Do I have to be in any recovery mode or something? By stating  ' Run "sansapatcher.exe -a ReverseBL.mi4" ' what does it exactly mean? Do I have to run my sansa patcher first and then click on the mi4 file? My sansa patcher says that my my player is not connected:

[err] no e200s found, aborting
[err] please connect your sansa and ensure it is in ums mode
[err] please refer to the Rockbox manual if you continue to have problems.


can some guru out here help me?

[Freedom_XXXX]

sansapatcher just puts the bootloader in place and obviously it works since it boots and it can load rockbox.

I'm leaning towards that some of the (newer) mi4 firmwares want more magic done by the bootloader, like the newly added stuff for the c200 OF.

I (among others here) went back to the oldest firmwares, and still had the same problem. So no, there's nothing new.
Seeing as how most of us have tried to install RB within the last week- there's a current problem with the bootloader being able to load the OF.
I'm also using an alternate bootloader as a temporary solution.

Can yo please tell me how to use /load alternate boot loader?

[open]

Reverse BL doesn't work with my player. Pressing left button during the boot puts me into the manufacturer's firmware.

[infirit]

Got my e280 yesterday and have the same problem. The version of the OF is the latest available from sandisk 01.02.18e.

Using the older version 0.2 of the sansapatcher I got this working so it is pretty obvious the patcher is at fault here. You do get the funky screen but then it starts the sansa firmware. I used the same OF version as I stated above.

PLEASE DO NOT SEE THIS AS AN OK TO DO THE SAME!! And wait for an actual developer to comment.

UPDATE: FS#7806

[ghoti]

UPDATE

I installed the unofficial reverse bootloader (loads OF first, hold select to load RockBox), and it works great. I'd prefer that I could load RockBox first, but I think I can live with this.

Located here:
http://e200.digerati1338.googlepages.com/reversebl

thanks oranges2, first of all for your hint how to restore the original firmware ... and then for this great hint. it does work perfectly.

thanks again.

[Freedom_XXXX]

UPDATE

I installed the unofficial reverse bootloader (loads OF first, hold select to load RockBox), and it works great. I'd prefer that I could load RockBox first, but I think I can live with this.

Located here:
http://e200.digerati1338.googlepages.com/reversebl

thanks oranges2, first of all for your hint how to restore the original firmware ... and then for this great hint. it does work perfectly.

thanks again.

ghoti,

can you please tell me how you installed? please...........

[Dima]

@Freedom_XXXX:

I haven't tried the reverse bootloader. But in any case, you'll need to be running the OF first - otherwise, the USB doesn't really work at all.

And yes, you do need the recovery mode. The official instructions aren't that clear, I guess. Basically, get the PP5022.mi4 from http://daniel.haxx.se/sansa/mi4.html, and put it on the partition in the recovery mode. It should install the OF.

[ghoti]

hello freedom_xxxx,

i think you have to reinstall the original firmware as described in the wiki article on unbricking the sansa (http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/SansaE200Unbrick)
then the OF should boot again and you can switch the usb-mode to msc and the sansa should be recognized again by your pc (and thus by the sansapatcher later)

to run the sansapatcher as proposed (sansapatcher.exe -a ReverseBL-2007-07-31.mi4)  you have to say good-bye to your mouse for a moment and go into good old command shell window and cd to the directory in which the sansapatcher.exe is living.
assuming windows (xp) you get a command shell by typing windowskey-r and then entering 'cmd ' (without the quotes) into the execute dialogbox. then you have to do a cd to the directory where the sansapatcher is living (so assuming it is in C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop you have to type
'cd C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop' (without the quotes))
beware that the ReverseBL-2007-07-31.mi4 file has to live there too of course.
then you can type sansapatcher.exe -a ReverseBL-2007-07-31.mi4 and that should be that....

it has worked with my player and so there is real hope you get it running again
good luck.


update: yes dima is right, i forgot to mention that, it should not worry you that usb is not working under rockbox because it is not (yet) supposed to.

[ghoti]

Reverse BL doesn't work with my player. Pressing left button during the boot puts me into the manufacturer's firmware.

yep, you should try holding the "select"-button (that's the big one in the middle) as it says on the reversebl website.

good luck

[Freedom_XXXX]

hello freedom_xxxx,

i think you have to reinstall the original firmware as described in the wiki article on unbricking the sansa (http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/SansaE200Unbrick)
then the OF should boot again and you can switch the usb-mode to msc and the sansa should be recognized again by your pc (and thus by the sansapatcher later)

to run the sansapatcher as proposed (sansapatcher.exe -a ReverseBL-2007-07-31.mi4)  you have to say good-bye to your mouse for a moment and go into good old command shell window and cd to the directory in which the sansapatcher.exe is living.
assuming windows (xp) you get a command shell by typing windowskey-r and then entering 'cmd ' (without the quotes) into the execute dialogbox. then you have to do a cd to the directory where the sansapatcher is living (so assuming it is in C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop you have to type
'cd C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop' (without the quotes))
beware that the ReverseBL-2007-07-31.mi4 file has to live there too of course.
then you can type sansapatcher.exe -a ReverseBL-2007-07-31.mi4 and that should be that....

it has worked with my player and so there is real hope you get it running again
good luck.


update: yes dima is right, i forgot to mention that, it should not worry you that usb is not working under rockbox because it is not (yet) supposed to.

Ghoti,

That will help me a lot. I'm sad that I had to reformat my player and loose all my songs....but hey therez hope. Lemme try it and see if it works. Thanks for the info.

Edit1: Succesfully brought back my sansa to OF. BTW is the latest sansapatcher ok to use for reverse BL? I don't want to mess it up again.

Edit2: Got rockbox to load by holding the select button.loaded a couple of themes. 'Rockbox' rocks!!

Wish I could make rockbox to load by default and change to OF when needed...but hey I cannot complain

Thanks again Ghoti

[dana7]

Hello, I am very new here.  I successfully loaded and ran RockBox on my brand new e280 -  and I would very much like to do so again, but after experiencing the subject  problem and having to  use the "recovery mode" to install a .mi4 file that I hoped would work was about all my poor heart could take.

Thanks to the information in this forum and on the Wiki I now can boot the original firmware.  RockBox seems to still be installed, but I do not have a way to boot into it anymore.

In the one day I was able to run RockBox, I became its biggest fan.

I do not want to do anything stupid, and frankly a lot of the discussion here is a bit cryptic and hard  for me to follow.  If I can get this problem fixed, a donation surely follows!

Questions:

1)  How will I know when the bug in the sansapatcher has been identified and fixed?


2)  Once that happens, and I rerun the sansapatcher, will Rockbox boot normally again, or do I have to reinstall it?

Thanks!

[Dima]

1)  How will I know when the bug in the sansapatcher has been identified and fixed?

Looks like infirit filed a bug: http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/7806
So watch for changes there... And also read this thread

2)  Once that happens, and I rerun the sansapatcher, will Rockbox boot normally again, or do I have to reinstall it?

Rockbox should boot normally. That is, installing Rockbox involves creating the .rockbox folder, and installing the bootloader using sansapatcher. So unless you deleted .rockbox, you just need to rerun the sansapatcher.

[infirit]

1)  How will I know when the bug in the sansapatcher has been identified and fixed?

Looks like infirit filed a bug: http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/7806
So watch for changes there... And also read this thread

I was hoping a dev to confirm the problem and suggest to use the 0.2 patcher in the mean time but that has not happened. So I will post a link to the version 0.2 patcher so people at least can get their sansa running rockbox.

win32
Linux x86

[alaron]

Hey Oranges,

Is it working the same way with a Rhapsody version of the player (E280R) with regards to the reversible bootloader?

I tried it and wasn't booting at all

ty

[oranges2]

Hey Oranges,

Is it working the same way with a Rhapsody version of the player (E280R) with regards to the reversible bootloader?

I tried it and wasn't booting at all

ty

You have to disable the security present on the R version before installing the bootloader.

http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/SansaE200RBootloaderPatching