Quick! Advise me before the ebay auction ends!

[daveky]

Hia all. My iriver h320 died. I'm looking at a (refurbished) 5th Generation ipod video on ebay that ends shortly.

Would that be OK to run rock box (The build for ipod video does not specify a generation)?

Will I be able to copy files directly to it via usb (as a hard drive) without all that fecking about with itunes?

Any other warning and advice appreciated. Hurry!

[mophead]

Is it an ipod video? if it is, it is good 4 rockbox

[LambdaCalculus]

The 5th Generation iPod is the iPod video. Purchase!

To answer your questions: yes, Rockbox runs very well on the iPod video, and yes, you can use it as a regular USB device. Drag and drop, baby... drag and drop.

And if it's not too much to ask, daveky... what happened with your iriver?

[daveky]

Ah super. Thanks for the replies. I hate the idea of itunes and I DID use my h320 so much at work for moving big files about. I couldn't have something that didn't fullfil that purpose. And all my music is in ogg vorbis format too!

@LambdaCalculus379: I may well do. It's currently at £50 delivered!

@mophead: 5th gen == video. Good. But tt seems there was more than one version of the 5th gen ipod with later ones a having a brighter screen. I shall have to be carefull. Would rockbox care about that?

[LambdaCalculus]

No, Rockbox will happily run on the 5.5G iPod video (which is what the later videos were dubbed). My iPod is a 30GB 5.5G, running Rockbox as we speak.

[daveky]

Whoohoo. That's what I wanted to hear.

I'm getting all excited now. I'm having a bit of a pre-auction end heart-flutter. My head is saying. "Stay away, it's refurbished!" and "Wait till after Christmas, they'll be cheaper." But what the heck, eh?

Your advice will still stand then I take it? These ipod things keep changing all the time!

[LambdaCalculus]

As long as it's not the new iPod Classic (which has an aluminum front and metal backing), and it's most certainly a video (black or white plastic front and metal back), then Rockbox awaits!

What are you going to do with your iriver in the meantime?

[daveky]

@LambdaCalculus379: stop mentioning my iriver! I begin to cry. Oh, there I go... sniff. I got quite attached. Only had it two years.

On charging it got hot. Screen did not got to "charging". Got stuck on boot half way through rockbox with a whirring and clicking disk. Thought it was a ballooning battery but it shows no signs (I was getting 8+ hours from 17mAh).

The PCB shows slight signs of burning. So it looks like it fried. but I DIDN'T put in the wrong charger. I am really miffed. I've taken advice and read all the forums on misticriver but there does not seem to be a solution.

As a second hand h320's are going on ebay from £80-£180 (yeah, I know!) I started looking at anything else that will run the beloved rockbox.

[daveky]

10 mins left. £55 delivered. What's should be my top limit then...? Decisions, decisions. (There are are three or four due in the next couple of hours too.)

[LambdaCalculus]

daveky: I only asked about your iriver to see if maybe it would've been a simple fix that we could've easily guided you though. But a burnt board? Either sell it for parts or send it off to be recycled, and make a bid on the iPod!

[daveky]

Thanks for your caring thought. I wish it was that easy. I'm still hoping it can be repaired but from what I've been able to work out it can only be the board. Thing is it still tries to boot but gets stuck. And it's gets red hot if you try to charge it right at the bit of the board that everyone says gets burned out.

There's a picture of my board on misticriver
http://www.misticriver.net/forums/iriver-h1xx-series/44799-repair-fried-players-maybe-possible-5.html#post583972

I let the ipod go at £90. Silly money for refurbished. It may have to wait till after Christmas after all.

[LambdaCalculus]

If you still really, really want to have a DAP that's supported by Rockbox, why not search for a Gigabeat F on eBay? They come a dime a dozen, and are very very easy on the budget.

[daveky]

ahaha... As I have some more time to research (no major ebay panic) I've started to trawl the forums for more info. I've seen you recommend the gigabeat a lot. Are you on commission? How many mp3 players have you got? Did you ever get an h320 to play with (ie Roadster's)? (See. I HAVE been reading...)

I just looked; there are none. Boo hiss.

Another ipod just went for £85. darn. It's just too much. One more this evening though...

[LambdaCalculus]

Don't I wish I were on commision? In reality, I'm just another Rockbox user like you are, learning the ins and outs of this wonderful open source project.

My personal DAPs are my iPod, a Sansa c240 with a 1GB microSD card, and my Archos Jukebox Recorder. My girlfriend has her own H320. I'm going to end up with an iPod color after the holidays, so that'll make 4 DAPs.

I really want to get either a Gigabeat or iAUDIO X5, but the X5's are rare as hen's teeth, and holiday shopping prevented me from getting the Gigabeat I wanted. But there's always next year...

[daveky]

Hmm, yes. Silly me. It says so in your signature. And I was about to ask which ipod you have too. Doh! I'm tired...

I think I'll stick with an ipod. Only because there are so many of them that the price should be less and ongoing rockbox support more readily available. Unless I can find a good h320, of course.

Oh no! I'm turning into a DAP geek. You mentioned your girlfriend but my attention was peaked by her working h320...   (sometimes just one 'ckle man just isn't enough, is it?)

Thanks for the timely help and chat. I'm off to restore the balance by watching Die Hard...