long installation writing time to e260?

[Sammytheorangutan]

I'm trying to install Rockbox (duh) to my e260.  The first time I tried, it didn't take.  Now, it seems to be taking forever (45 minutes as of this posting) to load the installer.  The screen (on the e260) still says, "Writing".  Is this unusual?  If not, what may I have done wrong and how can I correct it?

[saratoga]

It only takes a couple seconds to install rockbox, but without any sort of description of what you tried to do, I can't say why its not working for you.

[Sammytheorangutan]

This is my second attempt at installing Rockbox.  Both times, the device claims it can't find Rockbox and therefore can't run it.  (Plain text on a black screen if it matters.)

[saratoga]

Usually that means the .rockbox folder hasn't been put in the root of the Sansa.  How exactly did you install?

[Sammytheorangutan]

I used the Rockbox installer.  The first time I tried it in the automatic mode.  Didn't work.  Next, I tried the manual mode.  Still didn't work.

[MarcGuay]

The screen (on the e260) still says, "Writing".  Is this unusual?  If not, what may I have done wrong and how can I correct it?

This is not unusual, the device doesn't seem to receive a "done writing" command from sansapatcher so you have to disconnect it when you know it's done.  And with RBUtil, are you making sure to install both the bootloader and the current build?  They're both necessary.  Perhaps being more specific about how exactly it "didn't work" might help to troubleshoot your problem.

[Sammytheorangutan]

I d/l'ed and opened the Rockbox Utility (installer) and the Rockbox program itself.  I then clicked on "Quick Start/Complete Installation", which didn't recognize my Sansa.  I then went to the "Installation" tab and clicked on "Install the Bootloader", then "Install Rockbox".  I got the "Writing" screen on the Sansa.  After 45 minutes or so, I simply unplugged the Sansa.  I tried turning on the Sansa, but only got a black screen with plain, white text.  The screen didn't stay on long enough to copy everything that was there, but a couple of the things I recall said that it couldn't open Rockbox because the file wasn't there.  Then it would shut down.  I had the Sansa in MCF (?...whatever the instructions said) mode.  I ended up rebooting (that's not the right word but I can't think of it at the moment) to the original firmware both times which is where I'm at now.

I don't understand why my computer/Rockbox won't see my Sansa and why it won't take Rockbox.  It's not the end of the world if I have to use the original firmware and I'm not a code writer by any means so I can't rewrite something to make it work.

[MarcGuay]

You have successfully installed the bootloader, and now you need to install the build itself.  Choose the "Install Rockbox" option again and verify that there is a folder on the Sansa's drive called ".rockbox".

[Sammytheorangutan]

How would I see if the folder is on the Sansas drive?  For some reason, my computer doesn't see the Sansa.  (Sort of.)  For everything other than Rockbox, it knows it's there although it doesn't show that there's anything on the Sansa (if that makes any sense).  I've verified (with the Sansa) that it has the same songs on it that were on it prior to this.  Odd?

[MarcGuay]

Go into the Sansa firmware an change the USB mode to MSC, then connect it to your computer via a USB port in the back.  You should see 2 drives pop up in Windows.  The first one is the main flash memory.  Set Windows to View All Files through the Tools -> Folder Options settings.  If there is no ".rockbox" folder on the drive, then the build it has not been installed.

[Sammytheorangutan]

There is no .rockbox folder that I can see although the Sansa screen still says, "Writing", and has been (this time) for approx 5 minutes.  Maybe it's just time for me to forget the whole Rockbox thing and stick with the original firmware.  I'm beginning to think it's not worth the hassle.  On a good note, plugging the cable in to one of the rear USB ports (as opposed to one of the front ones) seems to cause the computer to recognize the Sansa.  Thanks for that.

[MarcGuay]

When does it say "Writing"?  After clicking "Install Rockbox"?  You could always try the manual install as described in the manual but I think that the problems you're having can be solved very easily. 

[Sammytheorangutan]

After clicking on either "Install Bootloader" or "Install Rockbox".  Maybe there's something wrong with my Sansa.  It's a refurb now that I think about it.  Could that be an issue?  I always assumed that hardware would be the only things affected by a refurb.

[MarcGuay]

When you turn it on do you still get the black screen with the small white text?  That is the Rockbox bootloader.  If it is installed, you don't need to do it again, and the error message it displays is most likely "i can't find the .rockbox folder."

When you click "Install Rockbox", does a Window appear that allows you to choose what build to install?  After you pick one and say "Ok", do you see it downloading and extracting rockbox.zip?  Does it complete with a "Installation finished successfully" message?  Please state exactly what you are doing and what messages the software is giving you, it's quite helpful to help you.

And I don't think there is anything wrong with your device.

[Sammytheorangutan]

When I click on "Install Rockbox" I get everything except, "Installation finished successfully".  Hmmm...