New Clip Zip Rockboxer

[pjnoxon]

Hi all - used to (2001) have the Archos with Rockbox, but it died in 06' (although the HD lives on!)
Been using my Nokia E61 phone for a player ever since (lame, but the speaker is surprising!).

So I'm getting ready to rockbox my new Clip Zip and had a few questions.

I wanted to get the fonts in the install, which I downloaded from the DKFT website, and they
were not in there. The manual for the Clip Zip (all 219 pages!) directed me to the wrong place
but I found the fonts here:  http://www.rockbox.org/download/byhand.cgi
So I assume these are the fonts for my use, that there is not a special fonts for this tiny screen?

I was curious about the technical aspects of the install. I believe that I just put this clpza.bin file
and the .rockbox folder (with the fonts folder added) into the "root" area of the Clip Zip and reboot.

Is that right?

I wonder because I would like to understand what happens. This clpza.bin file is a filename that
the Sansa is expecting to look for then? And when it sees it, it 'does it's thing' which results in a
new bootloader, right? And this new bootloader then ends up in the flash memory inside the SoC?
Because I don't see anything xxx.bin in the 'root' folder of the Clip Zip. There are folders for each
function, and some .sys files and a .sdk file assuming that I am looking at the correct 'root' place?

Have I got this much right?

I realize that no matter how careful I am, I could turn my new $35 Clip Zip into a paperweight.
And it wouldn't make a very good paperweight, as I have eaten cookies that weigh more than that!

It seems like the Clip Zip is in limbo on the 'stable label' and this is due to some silly game and
more importantly, the USB is really not reliable. And then there is the periodic clicking possibly?
But if I don't get clicking, I can always use the native mode for USB and be happy as a clam!

I'd be very interested in working on the I2C possibility for the clicking. What language is used?

thanks - PJ

[saratoga]

You can just run rockbox utility.  It handles installing rockbox, fonts, etc.

Rockbox is written in c.

[pjnoxon]

Hi Saratoga,

Thanks for the info. I had read the rockbox utility only works with the stable releases
and I also read that the Sansa is not currently listed as a stable release. So this is
contradicting the things I read. But I still have these questions:

1) the fonts found at http://www.rockbox.org/download/byhand.cgi are the only ones?

2) I can rockbox my Clip Zip by putting clpza.bin and .rockbox in the Sansa flash drive
where there are folders for each function, three .sys files, and one .sdk file are located?

3) After the Clip Zip reboots, the native OS with modified bootloader will be inside the SoC?

4) The .rockbox folder contains everything that rockbox uses and it stays in the flash chip?

Sounds like the utility would be cool if it does work with unstable releases.

And thanks for the tip about the source being in C. What IDE are you using, or is this
typically done with emacs and gcc?

[saratoga]

1) probably
2) I can't make sense of this question
3) on the flash memory rather then the soc.
4) correct

Edit:  ok fixed your post and noticed the rest of your text

Sounds like the utility would be cool if it does work with unstable releases.

Sounds like you didn't read my reply? 

And thanks for the tip about the source being in C. What IDE are you using, or is this
typically done with emacs and gcc?

I don't think people generally use IDEs with c, but yes we do use gcc.  Link on the left side of your screen. 

[[Saint]]

I had read the rockbox utility only works with the stable releases...<snip>...So this is
contradicting the things I read.

This is erroneous, where did you read this?

1) the fonts found at http://www.rockbox.org/download/byhand.cgi are the only ones?

No, I offer an anti-aliased font pack based on the Ubuntu and GNU Unifont font families via the "Extras" section that you will see on the left of your screen. I will link it here for your convenience.

2) I can rockbox my Clip Zip by putting clpza.bin and .rockbox in the Sansa flash drive
where there are folders for each function, three .sys files, and one .sdk file are located?

If I parse this correctly, no.

The manual for your device clearly lists instructions for both automated and manual installation. Placing an un-patched original firmware on the device will only ever perform an upgrade of the original firmware, regardless as to whether or not the rockbox related files are present.

3) After the Clip Zip reboots, the native OS with modified bootloader will be inside the SoC?

Answered by saratoga

4) The .rockbox folder contains everything that rockbox uses and it stays in the flash chip?

Not entirely, no.

All of the files required for basic operation will be present, but there are several files required for plugins that are not included either due to copyright/licensing restrictions or binary size constraints. If you perform a full installation via Rockbox Utility or by installing manually and/or copying the packages available from the Extras section, you will get most of these additional files, but not all.

If it is your desire to do so you would still need to provide your own ROM files for the Pacman Instructional Emulator (Pacbox) and the Dictionary plugin.

For the former, you would either have to dump the original ROM files from your own arcade machine, or figure out an alternative method to acquire the files yourself (MD5 sums are provided in the linked wiki page...work from there). For the latter, detailed instruction is given on how to generate your own dictionary files from the WordNet sources.


[Saint]

[pjnoxon]

Cool, and thanks.

This forum has various sections where rockbox users report their experiences and
it was in there somewhere that I read about the Utility. This was probably months
ago, possibly even years? So I gather the Utility is now functioning properly even
with the unstable Zip Clip. Thanks for the clarification.

I noticed the anti-alias font pack, thanks. Was wondering how if, in general, there
were specific font packs for specific devices like this Clip Zip which has such a tiny
display. I gather there are not specific font packs. Thanks for the clarification.

I think the Clip Zip 'native OS' is looking for this filename (clpza.bin) so every file we
put in to make things happen will have this filename, sorry for confusion. The one
I was referring to is the one I downloaded from AnythingButIpod website. It seems
to be the latest Clip Zip OS and everything already packaged ready to go. That's
very interesting that once rockbox is installed and running, the native OS is no longer
tucked away in the SoC but now in the flash chip (I think that's what was said).
The main question along these lines was trying to insure I had identified the correct
mount point within the Clip Zip flash memory. Plugging the Clip Zip into a Windows
PC it shows up as two devices, one device has folders for each Clip Zip function and
those three .sys files and one .sdk file and I gather this is the mount point or in other
words where I put the clpza.bin and .rockbox folder, the other device is the SD card.
Whatever flash memory might be inside the SoC is not visible to Windows (it's OK).
I'm a hardware nuts/bolts kind of guy. The install instructions are clear except the
part about where you put these files and what happens after it reboots into rockbox.

I am not interested in any games, so PacMan etc. of no interest to me, but thanks.

I'll look into the Dictionary. Sounds really far out, way beyond the stock OS here!

As for IDE, that was concerning cross-compiling for the ARM, but I guess that must
be something that is already available in gcc then. Thanks I appreciate your time.

- PJ

[pjnoxon]

Oh yes, and it works very well too!

Thanks one and all, nice to be back on the 'box.

oh and someone might want to put the Sansa Clip Zip in this page

http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/TargetStatus#New_Platforms_Currently_Under_De

 - PJ

[pjnoxon]

Clip Zip is running great. Thanks everybody who works on this.
Since this is still unstable, of course there are some problems.
Should I be making note of things and report them or is that
just noise to the developers? Like the pitch function is broken.

I read some have audio artifacts with Rockbox on their Clip Zip
that might be related to the I2C implementation, but I have so
far not experienced any of these artifacts with my Clip Zip.

I got the spec sheet on the SoC and it turns out there is no
flash inside that chip - just RAM and OTP ROM, so that explains
things I was not clear about.

yours - prof james

[saratoga]

Like the pitch function is broken.

What is broken about it?  Pitch change is just a software feature, it should work fine on any target that can play audio.

[pjnoxon]

On the Clip Zip Rockbox 449dff4M-120414 if I play a file and
go into the Context Menu and choose Pitch, the file continues
to play and the pitch screen shows, but at this point none of
the buttons will do anything except the power button which
will enable shutting the Clip Zip down.

[saratoga]

That's a 9 month old custom build. We only support the current official build.

[pjnoxon]

I downloaded the Rockbox Utility and ran it. It seems to have
created the bootloader and downloaded the .rockbox folder
and fonts but it did not put them into the Sansa Clip Zip. I
don't know where it put them. I believe that you indicated
the Rockbox Utility would do this for the Sansa Clip Zip.

So I downloaded the current 3.12 build for the Sansa Clip Zip
and transferred it to the Sansa manually, and it did not work.
It says checksum does not match and asks for the USB cable
to be connected, which also does not work. So I went back to
the DKFT .rockbox folder and fortunately the Sansa is working.

[gevaerts]

I It says checksum does not match.

That usually means you installed a build for a different player model.

[bluebrother]

I downloaded the Rockbox Utility and ran it. It seems to have
created the bootloader and downloaded the .rockbox folder
and fonts but it did not put them into the Sansa Clip Zip. I
don't know where it put them. I believe that you indicated
the Rockbox Utility would do this for the Sansa Clip Zip.

It does. However, this requires you to configure Rockbox Utility correctly -- such problems usually indicate that you configured Rockbox Utility to use the wrong drive letter. You need to point it to the players internal memory, not the SD card.

It says checksum does not match and asks for the USB cable
to be connected, which also does not work. So I went back to
the DKFT .rockbox folder and fortunately the Sansa is working.

Which raises the question which player you actually have. Post the output of the About / Troubleshooting / System Info dialog and System Trace so people can look into the details.

[red_demon]

I read on the home page that Clip Zip are stable but when i download rockbox utility, Zip are still unstable @@
p/s: Sorry about my bad english T.T