Charge or Sync

[GuitarRocker2562]

With the new usb stacks for Rockbox, when i plug in my iPod running rockbox it just charges, I must reboot into the apple OS to sync, I think that when we plug it in under rockbox it should ask weather to charge or sync, iPod Lunux style. What do you think?

[bascule]

It will... just not yet. See this thread for details

[GuitarRocker2562]

Just out of curiosity is this a hard thing to implement, easy, or somewhere in the middle?

[AlexP]

USB Stack = Hard
Question about charging once it is done = easy

[GuitarRocker2562]

I am not a programmer so I don't know the validity of my below statement, please don't flame.

I know this isn't iPodLinux, but in iPL when you plug your iPod into the computer it asks if you want to charge or go into diskmode, that would, to me, seem like an easy feature to add into RB. My guess is that because RB is for many players, you guys are trying to not need the iPod's disk mode and just use a rockbox disk mode of sorts. Is this correct?

[AlexP]

Many rockbox players have a hardware USB chip and therefore do not need any software USB modes - it is only the portalplayers that we need the new USB stack for.  Currently on players with hardware USB that have USB charging (not all do), you hold a button whilst inserting the cable to do USB charging, otherwise you get USB mode.

This should be the same on iPods at least - hold a button to charge, if not it will reboot to the Apple emergency disk mode.  I'm not sure about Sansa's, and I don't have an iPod to check that this is working at the moment, but I think it is.

Personally I see no need for a question, it just wastes time - just hold the button if you want to charge.

We would like to not depend on the OF for USB on portalplayer targets as well as all the others, and thus a USB stack is under development.  However the button to charge or reboot on iPods should work independently of that.

Edit:  The automatic rebooting doesn't work anymore, as it isn't possible to do that + use our in development stack for charging.  Once our stack works for diskmode too, I imagine the choice via button will be reintroduced (and I remember talk about an option that would let you chose which way that worked, or ask a question).  In the interim, you will need to do it manually.

[Multiplex]

Speaking as someone who started looking into providing the Ask option I have to say that I agree with Big Bambi almost completely. The way Rockbox works it is not at all easy to have the user prompted to ask if they want to connect or charge.

There is already the button option that tells Rockbox to not connect, just change on most if not all players that have USB charging capability - possibly pending the USB the changes already noted.

There certainly is an valid argument that the button that triggers charging not connect needs looking at for various players.

There may be a valid argument for saying that we aught to provide a switch so that the default becomes charge and you press a button for connect.

I agree "it would be a nice idea" to have the ask option but it's not simple and I don't think it's worth the effort. Someone with much more Rockbox knowledge and/or software skills than me (neither is very difficult) will need to care enough for this to be implemented.