MP180

[Bagder]

Motorola MC68 Dragonball EZ 328 seems to have an internal LCD controller ( http://svn.navi.cx/picogui/trunk/pg1/server/video/ez328.c) which hopefully is used.

On Freescale's site I could only find info about SZ 328 and VZ 328, so I figure EZ is an older model or similar to one of those. There are lots of docs to get there if the latter.

Oh, and you really should try to use a flatbed scanner instead of a digital camera. If possible.

[tomservo]

Here's a list of what I believe are the right data sheets for some of the components.

Motorola/Freescale DragonBall EZ MC68EZ328PU16V
Main processor, looks to be an older 68k derived chip.  The iRiver port targeted a Coldfire processor, so that might be a start.

PTC PT8406-LQ
MP3 and WMA decoder chip

ISSI IS41LV16100A-50T
16 Mbit DRAM chip

SST39VF800A
8 Mbit flash chip

Philips 74LVC245A
Voltage level converter?

[Platin465]

Awesome, thanks for looking this up!

Here's a list of what I believe are the right data sheets for some of the components.

Motorola/Freescale DragonBall EZ MC68EZ328PU16V
Main processor, looks to be an older 68k derived chip.  The iRiver port targeted a Coldfire processor, so that might be a start.

PTC PT8406-LQ
MP3 and WMA decoder chip

ISSI IS41LV16100A-50T
16 Mbit DRAM chip

SST39VF800A
8 Mbit flash chip

Philips 74LVC245A
Voltage level converter?

[saratoga]

It looks like the decoder chip handles all the heavy lifting, the 68k core is extremely slow compared to the ones used in most players.   I'm not sure how much you'll actually be able to do with the player.

[Llorean]

Considering how slow the Archos' cores are, at the very least you'd be able to get that level of performance I should think, no?

[saratoga]

Considering how slow the Archos' cores are, at the very least you'd be able to get that level of performance I should think, no?

If that link is the correct CPU, the Archos is 10x faster then the moto chip. 

[Llorean]

Aren't the archoses 12mhz chips, and that one is 16.5ish? I mean, yes, they're different architectures so performances are different, but it's not 1/10th the speed.

[saratoga]

Aren't the archoses 12mhz chips, and that one is 16.5ish? I mean, yes, they're different architectures so performances are different, but it's not 1/10th the speed.

I'm not comparing clock speed.  The link above says 2.7MIPS at 16MHz.  Googleing the chip listed in the wiki for the Archos turns up 27 MIPS.  Thus, 10x slower.

Compare that to 150 MIPS (per processor) on the Ipod IIRC.

Obviously I haven't tested the chips, so I can't confirm the numbers.

[Llorean]

Hm,  I couldn't find the MIPS for the archos, so I'd just assumed to estimate. My apologies if it's actually 27mips. Okay, I see it's 26mips at 20mhz, but doesn't the archos run it at 12?

I dunno. I would expect that they'd be able to get the basic UI, and text-based WPSes running even at quite low speed processors.

[Bagder]

With a separate HW decoder chip, why would the CPU need to be very fast?

And guys, we stopped talking MIPS in the 90s. :-)

[M. Gonçalves]

I did some diging around and found the firmware. They have it on the chinese site.

http://www.argosy.com.tw/chinese/product-detial.php?prod_id=67

I upgraded my iNOI MP180 with this firmware (1.50 vs the original 1.00-3). All works well with some improvement.

The point wich refers this topic is the method of instalation.

You got to put the firmware update file in the root of the music folder (MUSIC_ME), unplug the player form the PC and access the menu, navigating to the info option, wich usually shows the firmware version.

If the player encounters an firmware upgrade file in the location above when you choose the info option, it goes to the updating routine.

I'm guessing that the firmware has a bootloader/updater part and the OS part itself.

I'm more of a webmaster and high-end solution developer, so the programming part for the firmware is beyond me, but any kind of info like this that I obtain, I'll certainly share.

[Platin465]

I upgraded my iNOI MP180 with this firmware (1.50 vs the original 1.00-3). All works well with some improvement.
[/quote]

Last one I downloaded was the same as I had already. I had 1.20-00, and am about to do the update.  Worked!

As soon as I hit the -> key, the screen changed to some information with big words saying ERASE, then PROGRAMING, then COMPLETE.

Then it has to find/scan all the music again, and works fine.  I'm not noticing any differences yet.  I wish they stated what was changed.

Although... I think the scrolling while the song is playing might be slightly faster.  I'll have to compare it to the other one I have at home (for my father-in-law).

[indiraider]

Hey I just found out about this project and I think that the mp180 would be a good addition for the rockbox firmware.
This is my first mp3 player, and I can tell you that for the price i paid ($99) it is fantastic.

Funny Enough, most of the work for this mp3 player is already done but never finished
http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?topic=3116.0

Reply if you are interested in seeing this project get off the ground again!

[indiraider]

I just started an official page to port the firmware to the MP180

http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?topic=4585.0

[Wiz99]

I also have an MP180 (INOi Branded).  I had kind of given up on this player and just pulled it back out of my drawer today.  Came across this post looking for any new information or updates for this player.  The link in the above post for the "official" page for a port to the MP180 appears to be dead.  Does anyone know if the information contained in this post was ever captured anywhere?  Did you any more development on an MP180 port ever take place?
Thanks.