Sansa Clip+ Stripped Down Firmware?

[AliL]

Hi all,

First of all, can I say to the developers what a ridiculously amazing job you've done in creating this software!

Having installed RB on my Clip+, I have to say that it is very good and certainly comprehensive, but would it be worth my time in trying to create a stripped down version specifically for the Clip+? I don't have much programming experience (just a short course in Python), but am graduating university this Summer coming and will have plenty of free time to put to projects such as this, and learning C/C++ at a basic level too.

Would creating a stripped down version give me any performance benefit, such as extended battery life? Having looked at the root of the Clip+ with RB on it, it seems a lot can be achieved by simply deleting things like the game/viewer/app/language files I will not make use of; but my main reason for posting here is that I would like to be able to remove/hide some of the settings and simplify the menus as they can get quite confusing (at least to me as in different places, maybe only in the apps/viewers there seem to be non-standard button mappings). Is this something that can achieved by simple tinkering or would I need to really wade through the source to do this?

Essentially, would I be putting in a lot of effort for very minimal gain (simplification) or would it be a fairly straightforward task/project?

Thanks all,

Al

[saratoga]

Would creating a stripped down version give me any performance benefit, such as extended battery life?

No.

Is this something that can achieved by simple tinkering or would I need to really wade through the source to do this?

Yes thats pretty simple.  Just comment out menus you don't want.

[AlexP]

Removing plugins/languages/fonts etc. would have no effect on battery as they are not loaded when not used.

If you disabled features that you don't use such as the database you would free up a small amount of RAM, and so might gain a very (very) small amount of battery life.  Note that you would have to actually disabe them, and not just remove the menu item.

Whether it is worth it or not depends on a number of factors - why you are doing it, how long it will take etc.  To try and gain performance - no not worth it.  To learn things - sure, go for it.

[AliL]

Whether it is worth it or not depends on a number of factors - why you are doing it, how long it will take etc.  To try and gain performance - no not worth it.  To learn things - sure, go for it.

It's half an exercise of doing it because I love the idea of limitless customisation and being able to make it exactly how I want it, and it's half because I can and want to learn new things and generally tinker and fiddle and break (then unbreak ) stuff.

In a way, it's quite satisfying to know that it's so simple to change as it would show you guys have put a lot of effort into designing and writing this software, but also frustrating that it may not be as difficult as I had first imagined - I was up for a challenge. Ah well, knowing me, I'll break something anyway or in my own little world get carried away and try to rewrite the whole thing

Thanks for the advice