Rockbox Display Utility?

[redblade8]

What would you guys think of a Rockbox Display Utility?
This would show on your computer screen the display of your target MP3, from the intial boot up
( as it is turned on ) screen to the default rockbox screen/ OF screen if you boot into that. This could be useful for many different things.

Is this possible?

[bluebrother]

What are those "many different things" that should be useful for? If you want to try Rockbox on a PC (or debug code that is not hardware dependent) you can already use the simulator.

[gbl08ma]

Anyways, even if it was possible to develop such a thing, it would only work inside Rockbox after it has started, not while the device is booting with factory bootloader (that part immediately after turn on, when e.g. the Apple logo appears on iPods) or while you're using the OF - we have (almost) no control over what the OF does.

[redblade8]

True, we may habe the simulator, but this is not real-time of what the MP3 is doing nor are you interacting with it in real-time. But interacting with it in real-time could have disadvantages as well.

It could be useful. Or perhaps a way to make a virtual disk image copy of your mp3. This can then be loaded into the simulator, where you could work with your mp3 in a sand box kind of mode. This way would show the boot, and it would be shown as you had your mp3, just like a .vhd in virtual pc.

This could also help making a video of your mp3, as it would be shown on your computer screen instead of trying to video it & getting video footage of the screen that's barely visible.

[AlexP]

How do you propose this would work?

[Chronon]

The only way I can see this working is by emulating the actual hardware of a given player.  The broad range of hardware supported by Rockbox makes a general utility seem rather intractable.

[redblade8]

Aye. This would be hard to deal with considering the amount of hardware, & it would work through hardware virtualization. It's just an idea I had, but VM's could prove to be very useful.

[saratoga]

Aye. This would be hard to deal with considering the amount of hardware, & it would work through hardware virtualization. It's just an idea I had, but VM's could prove to be very useful.

You're thinking of emulation, not virtualization.  Running an operating system for an mp3 player on a computer requires an emulator since the hardware is different.   We've discussed emulation a lot before, and theres a fairly advanced (but still incomplete) one on the tracker.  Do a search.  

[redblade8]

Oh, cool. Thanks for that.
This one, I take it?
http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/11205?string=emulator

[redblade8]

What are those "many different things" that should be useful for? If you want to try Rockbox on a PC (or debug code that is not hardware dependent) you can already use the simulator.

Sorry if this is a bit dated, but I am bumping this to see what you guys would think about this now.
Another thing that my initial idea would be very useful for would be if your mp3's screen has gone completely black, or if it's smashed. Then, you could on your computer select what you'd want your mp3 to do/play before you go out.

Or simpler, possibly a command line utility that could send commands to your mp3 that would give you a menu tree to select what options that you'd want.

Another thing could be a file that you'd drag and drop onto your mp3 to tell it what it should be doing/what menu to be on/what music to play etc.