radio issue on sansa c250 with rockbox 3.0 release

[samich]

hello to y'all. first of all, i want to say that this release simply rocks! there are so many little tweaks that make huge difference for me. for example when the LCD back light is disabled, the LCD is disabled too. with this, i was able to reach nearly 1 hour of extra battery power.
i started using the rockbox because i was sick of the dullness of the original firmware. the biggest surprise for me when i installed rockbox was the radio function. since i bought a Europe version, radio was disabled on original firmware. i was so happy to have a radio. But the new rockbox 3.0 release took that joy away from me!
is there a way to bring back the radio option in the main menu or do i have to install an old build of rockbox? waiting for your help guys.

[gevaerts]

Radio on sansa sometimes doesn't get detected for some reason. Have you tried rebooting a few times?

[samich]

yes, i tried rebooting. and i tried installing rockbox both manually and automatically(with the rockbox installer). nothing worked so far. maybe i should just forget about the sweet 3.0 release and install an old build  :'(

[pixelma]

This has happened to me too sometimes, regardless of Rockbox version (at least I didn't notice any scheme to it). What I want to say is that it's not even sure installing an old version would solve the problem - but - the one thing that always helped me was manually booting into the Sansa firmware and start the radio in it, stop and on the next reboot into Rockbox the radio was there again. Hope this helps you too.

[AlexP]

I guess he would have to put a different version of the original firmware on it first, seeing as he currently has the European non-radio version?  Would that work, or would the OF still not see the radio?

If you do do this, you will have to then reinstall the Rockbox bootloader.

[MarcGuay]

The bug report:

http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/7515

[Chronon]

This has happened to me too sometimes, regardless of Rockbox version (at least I didn't notice any scheme to it). What I want to say is that it's not even sure installing an old version would solve the problem - but - the one thing that always helped me was manually booting into the Sansa firmware and start the radio in it, stop and on the next reboot into Rockbox the radio was there again. Hope this helps you too.

enginerd says that just a USB connection (without any special actions) will also make the radio appear.  http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?topic=16538.msg127965#msg127965

[enginerd]

Yep still works that way on my e280. Make the USB connection rockbox does the reboot then when you disconnect it reboots back to rockbox with the radio back into the menu. Works every time no matter if i add/remove files or just hook up to charge...

Very frustrating to have to use the OF if im not close to the PC. The reboot.... reboot.... doesn't work for me if it came up with no radio it stays that way till i plug into the usb. Booting into OF and back doesn't do it either.

I wish i were a programmer, as this has quickly become the one thing i don't like about RB, otherwise i would never see the OF again.

[Chronon]

It's not clear if one method only works on the e200 series and the other method on the c200.

[Llorean]

I have to ask, if your OF doesn't have radio anyway, why is this "something I don't like about Rockbox" instead of simply "Something I should've liked more about Rockbox"?

I mean, it's not like this problem costs you something you had before, or anything...

[Chronon]

I think enginerd is referring to pixelma's suggestion to boot into the OF and use the radio and then shut down from there to get the radio to appear in Rockbox's menu.  I don't think enginerd means that there's no radio in the OF.

[Llorean]

I'm just confused how "having a new feature some of the time" is something not to like. It's certainly better than not having the feature at all, right?
 We can all admit it's not ideal, but to go and say it's something he doesn't like about Rockbox...

[AlexP]

I think enginerd is referring to pixelma's suggestion to boot into the OF and use the radio and then shut down from there to get the radio to appear in Rockbox's menu.  I don't think enginerd means that there's no radio in the OF.

No, there is no radio in the OF:

the biggest surprise for me when i installed rockbox was the radio function. since i bought a Europe version, radio was disabled on original firmware.

[Chronon]

Maybe I did a bad thing by referencing enginerd's comments, then.  Enginerd has a different model and apparently there's a bit of variation in the appearance (or lack thereof) of FM Radio in Rockbox's menu.  You may ignore enginerd's comments and mine in this thread -- or prune them out for clarity, at your discretion.

[enginerd]

Sorry was away from the computer for awhile. I have a US e280 It has the FM on the OF... However the only way i can get RB to register the radio is to plug into the USB cable then after it shows a connection (RB reboots to OF for USB) unplug and let it reboot into RB then TADA FM radio in the menu and functioning.

If i just boot the player into RB from off, it will not give me the radio option in the menu and the debug shows no HW detected. Yet i can immediately boot into OF and it will have the FM without fail.

The frustration comes from that fact i much prefer RB to OF but i listen to the FM daily, oh well still a great product and worth the hassle. I am in awe of the ability of those that can program something like this.

On a side note my wife has a c250 i will test it when i get home and report if it has the same issues as the e280....if she will let me