Rockbox as an Application (Android, WebOS etc.)

[Chronon]

djp518, regarding non-displaying characters, you should ensure that the font you are using contains the characters you need and that your codepage is set correctly.

[dip]

I finally managed it to compile and build an Rockbox.apk file on my Ubuntu machine based on the current svn version. However, wenn starting Rockbox on my Samsung Galaxy S running Android 2.1 it hangs immediately after showing the splash screen (like the prebuilt version does).

Any ideas what I could try?

And could someone please explain how I control for which Android version the Rockbox.apk was built? I did not use Eclipse since I could not figure out how it works.

Edit:
Still no luck with the android built on my Galaxy S. Today I built a new version based on svn rev. 28058. It compiled without problems but after running on my phone only the Rockbox splash screen is shown and that's all.

I am totally lost without any help. Gurus PLEASE give me a hint what I could try.

And how can I check that the built in principle is ok and that it is built for the correct Android version (2.1)?

Any help would be much appreciated!

[nagyi]

Hi dip!
I made some corrections in the source code for the Galaxy S, i've already posted them to the maintainer, but if you don't wan't to wait for a new official build, try downloading my build from here: http://www.mediafire.com/?qauqpgwkv2pov2u  It works for me very nicely.

[educator]

Hi dip!
I made some corrections in the source code for the Galaxy S, i've already posted them to the maintainer, but if you don't wan't to wait for a new official build, try downloading my build from here: http://www.mediafire.com/?qauqpgwkv2pov2u  It works for me very nicely.

I installed it on my Samsung Vibrant.  It installed ok and opened but I cannot figure out how to use it.  The rockbox menu is in very small type at the top of the screen.  I can make the cursor go up and down by tapping on it but I cannot figure out how to select anything.  some tips would be most appreciated.

[nagyi]

Imagine that your screen is a 3x3 grid, where the middle is used as the selector, left-right-up-down are used as cursor keys. The other directions have special functions in some screens, e.g. in Now Playing screen with the upper left you can access some playback mode settings.

You can increase the font size in the settings by chosing an other font, and you can also change from grid-control style to normal touch mode, but be aware that some UI's can't do anything with this mode (e.g. in the EQ settings page you can't exit when you're using the non-grid touch mode).

[dip]

Hi dip!
I made some corrections in the source code for the Galaxy S, i've already posted them to the maintainer, but if you don't wan't to wait for a new official build, try downloading my build from here: http://www.mediafire.com/?qauqpgwkv2pov2u  It works for me very nicely.

Thanks a lot, it works for me too! Great to have Rockbox on my Galaxy S.

One further question: On my iPod I used the database to browse. On the Galaxy browsing by directory works but when I want to browse by database it says database not ready. When I then want to generate it rockbox starting to count entries and finally crashes with "*Panic* Stkov tagcache" when count exceeds 100000 (which is much to high since at the moment I have only about 10 albums on my internal sd card.

The question is: How can I set the music folder in Rockbox or what folder is automatically search?

And another question: How can I install additional fonts on the Galaxy S? On my ipod I just downloaded the font package and copied the fonts in the .rockbox/fonts directory, but where do I find the .rockbox directory (and the font directory) on my Galaxy S?

[Chronon]

Try putting an empty file called "database.ignore" in the root of your file tree.  Then put another empty file called "database.unignore" in the base directory of your music collection.  Certainly, no spurious files will be added to the database if you do this, though it's not clear to me that this will work around the overflow you are seeing.  Still, it's worth a shot in the short term.

[dip]

Try putting an empty file called "database.ignore" in the root of your file tree.  Then put another empty file called "database.unignore" in the base directory of your music collection.  Certainly, no spurious files will be added to the database if you do this, though it's not clear to me that this will work around the overflow you are seeing.  Still, it's worth a shot in the short term.

Do you mean with the root of your file tree the root of my SD card? And what is the base directory of my music collection in the application version of rockbox.

In a "normal" installation (as on my ipod) it is the music directory under the .rockbox directory, but which directories are searched for music by rockbox in the application version (since there is no .rockbox directory or at least I don't know where I can find it)?

[Chronon]

I'm not very familiar with the details of this port but it shouldn't hurt to put it in both places.  This will guarantee that Rockbox will only index files located in your music folders (as opposed to ringtones or other phone-related media that may be stored in other locations).

You can generally put your music directory wherever Rockbox can find it, though inside of the .rockbox directory is never something that we recommend.  It's good practice to keep system files and user files separated. 

Assuming that there's a .rockbox directory somewhere on your phone, you shouldn't need to worry about it since it should contain a rockbox.ignore file by default.

[dip]

Sorry, of course the music directory on my ipod is not within but in parallel to the .rockbox directory. That's only for clarification.

I have now created a database.ignore file in the root of my internal SD card and a database.unignore in the Sounds directory of my internal SC card in which my music is stored. Creating the databse again leads to the *panic* error message, which came now already after a count number of about 70000.

Could it be that rockbox in addition searches not only my internal (and probably external) SD cards but also the flash memory in which the Android system is stored. I cannot add a database.ignore file in the root of the system since my phone is not rooted and so I have not permission to create files in this part of the phone.

Short explanation: As far as I understand the Samsung Galaxy S hat an internal memory which is partially used for the system and which comprises a further part which is usable as "internal SD card". In addition I have a regulare external SC card, but at the moment all my music is only stored on the internal SC card.

[torne]

The database scanning process still counts files which are in ignored directories, since it still has to traverse the whole lot looking for database.unignore files, so the number will go up to something large whatever you do.

[dip]

Thanks, this explains why the count increases (but not why rockbox crashes).

And I still do not understand where I find the rockbox system directories, e.g. where to store additional fonts, wps files, an custom tagnavi file and so on.

[droidhacker]

This is fascinating.
Program seems to run. Can't try out sound though since I don't have any sound files on my phone at the moment.

Use of the touchscreen is completely unintuitive. And I mean absurdly so.
I suggest either segmenting off the bottom of the screen for a joystick control pad, or using gesture recognition. It would also be a good idea to look into using the trackball/dpad/trackpad. Practically all android phones have them.

[JdGordon]

noone said it was ready for users... and read the manual which has probbaly linked in this thread already

[mbbda]

Manual for RaaA or Android?  Tell me where it is because I can't find it.

This is the best help I've found which makes it quite usable:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/08/31/rockbox-for-android-now-semi-functional/