Boot chose between Ipod and Rockbox

[Insane]

Is it possible to chose, when i boot my 5G ipod 80 Go, between Ipod and Rockbox?

Because, i use it for my work, and and Rockbox is a little bit too slow.
I wanna use Ipod when i work and Rockbox for anothers occasions.

Is it possible? if Yes, How to?
Thanks for your attention!

[Chronon]

The instructions for this can be found in the manual.

[Nateloaf]

The instructions are indeed in the manual, but they aren't as clear as they could be.  If I recall correctly it says something about toggling the hold switch briefly while it boots.  I've found that the hold switch needs to be ON in order to flip to iPod mode.  After fiddling with the hold switching for a while thinking that I had the timing wrong, I noticed that my iPod (also a 5g 80gb) boots into the old firmware when I dock it with the hold switch on...

Short answer, boot it with the hold switch ON (as in on-hold) and you will get the old firmware...

[AlexP]

We are always looking to improve the manual where it needs it.  Perhaps you could write a quick patch (if you don't want to latex, even plain text would be helpful) to clarify the instructions if you feel they are unclear?  I personally don't have an iPod, so can't really comment.

[Febs]

Here's exactly what the manual says:

3.1.3.  Starting the original firmware

Rockbox has a dual-boot feature. To boot into the original firmware, shut down the device as described above. Turn on the Hold switch immediately after turning the player on. Once Rockbox displays the message “Loading original firmware ...” you may turn the Hold switch off. Rockbox will boot into the original firmware.

Note: The described method of dual-booting works with Rockbox bootloader version 2, which was released 16 December 2006. If you have the older bootloader, boot the original firmware by pressing Menu immediately after turning on your Ipod. Do not release the Menu button until you see the “Loading original firmware...” message on the screen.

Regardless of which method you use to boot to the original firmware, you can return to Rockbox by pressing and holding Menu and Select simultaneously until the player hard resets.

What do you find unclear about that?

[eeminy]

I'm reading this thread a month and a half later, so I hope it's not too late to comment. I wasn't confused at all by the manual's instructions on booting into the Apple firmware -- it's clear enough what to do. But I was still uncertain the first few times I tried it, because it took so long for the Apple firmware to load -- it sat there with just the Apple logo on the screen for nearly two minutes. I thought that something must have gone wrong somewhere, and the iPod had frozen.

I'm working with an 80Gb 5.5G MacPod that I reformatted to FAT32, and maybe smaller-disk iPods and/or native WinPods are quicker to reload the original firmware. But I think it would improve the manual to add a line warning users that it may take more than a minute for the Apple firmware to load initially, though it runs at fairly normal speed after that.

Also, and this is just a tiny detail but one that may unnerve new users, my iPod never did say "Loading original firmware". It went from being off to the Apple logo, and then just sat there with the Apple logo for a long time until finally the original firmware's main menu suddenly came up. So that's not quite accurate either, at least for my iPod.

I'm happy to write a patch, but I haven't done that before, so I'll have to read up on how.

[robin0800]

If you have the older bootloader, boot the original firmware by pressing Menu immediately after turning on your Ipod. Do not release the Menu button until you see the Loading original firmware...” message on the screen.

This is the part that I think is confusing as this suggests it only works for the older bootloader, in fact this functionality has been carried over to the new bootloader, IMHO this is a much easier way to load the original firmware.

[hendersj]

The thing that I find is if you move the hold switch at the wrong time or press the menu button at the wrong time, it resets Rockbox's settings to defaults.  I've done that a couple times by mistake now on my 1G Mini.

What works consistently is as soon as I turn my iPod on, I move the hold switch to the "on" position and leave it there until after the backlight goes off with the Apple logo.

[robin0800]

Use Select to turn on, then only use Menu to load the Apple Firmware.

[dreamlayers]

The thing that I find is if you move the hold switch at the wrong time or press the menu button at the wrong time, it resets Rockbox's settings to defaults.  I've done that a couple times by mistake now on my 1G Mini.

I've done that too.  I don't think the same keys should be used for both actions.

Right after that I reset the iPod (by holding menu+select) and my settings weren't lost.  So apparently this resets settings in memory and as long as you don't do something that causes them to be saved, you won't lose settings.  It's ok to let Rockbox finish booting.