AGPTEK Rocker

[Gomas]

I have a limited window to open a dispute, and will start the process if we can't resolve this problem.

I'm on same boat than this mate. All in all I would be able to use it as normal player, althought I didn't buy it for that. Also there's people on the AliExpress page who put rockbox on it so we should be able to.

You may have better luck attempting to get a downloadable 1.08b firmware image from Benjie, as it stands to reason that folks with older T6 firmware would want to upgrade.

Maybe this is our best option. We could even try to go 1.06 and 1.2 afterwards.

[speachy]

I'm on same boat than this mate. All in all I would be able to use it as normal player, althought I didn't buy it for that. Also there's people on the AliExpress page who put rockbox on it so we should be able to.

The thing is, unless the device was specifically advertised as "rockbox compatible" by the manufacturer or the seller, you're not going to have much grounds to complain.

Maybe this is our best option. We could even try to go 1.06 and 1.2 afterwards.

No, the idea here is that we'd patch the 1.08b image to include the rockbox bootloader, rather than attempt to downgrade to an older firmware image or one intended for a different product.  There's even a non-trivial possibility that the hardware itself has changed, rendering the older images completely incompatible.

It's a shame there's no simple way (ie not requiring disassembly and minor soldering) to dump out the flash contents.

[Gomas]

@pizza
The idea behind the 1.2 firmware is that even if I can not get Rockbox on it, I would still like to have the latest firmware so I can enjoy updated codecs and stuff.

Also got a reply from them which goes like this:

Hi my friend, sincerely thanks for your kindly reply, but if you update here have problem,then we kindly do not update it, you also can use this item, and the functions are all workable, sincerely hope you could kindly understand.
Any question, please feel free to contact with us, nice day.

So good luck to the people which is still trying.

[speachy]

@pizza
The idea behind the 1.2 firmware is that even if I can not get Rockbox on it, I would still like to have the latest firmware so I can enjoy updated codecs and stuff.

The 1.2 firmware is the latest for the Rocker, not the Benjie T6.  That the firmware files were interchangeable between the units was fortunate, but nothing that was ever guaranteed, and indeed looks like it is longer the case.

(Heck, this  could have easily been done at AGPtek's request -- after all, it's clear that AGPtek has invested a lot more in firmware improvements, and they understandably want folks to buy AGPtek hardware in order to utilize it..)

[shikotee]

I am also wondering if this was deliberately done by Agptek's request.
They've clearly invested in firmware development, and distribution through Amazon (albeit through a shady process of lumping 4 different devices with differing functionality under 1 umbrella, making it a major pain in the butt to access specific user feedback).
Benjie sales are considerably cheaper.

If this is deliberate, at the least they should be upfront about it.
Had I been aware of this limitation, I would have purchased AGPTek through Amazon and paid more in order to have the ability to change firmware. It really seems like a dick move to do this without mentioning.

Lol - my latest reply requested that I make a video of the problem and send it to a couple of emails.
Pretty much impossible to tell if they are sincere, or just stalling so that the short dispute window closes.

As pizza mentioned, nowhere in the posting is it mentioned that the device would be able to flash Agptek firmware. Hence why my argument is that they need to prove that Benjie firmware upgrades works.

Another possible argument could focus on a listed feature that does not seem to work - lyric display.
My songs have lyrics embedded, and the settings set to display, but I have not been able to get this to work (could be possible I just haven't figured out something).

Mostly, I'm really bummed out because I was looking forward to once again playing with Rockbox.
I used it in early Archos days, as well as with a Fuze+ (whose touchpad interface limitations and instability became way too annoying).

My biggest annoyance with Benjie BT functionality is that I am forced to keep the display permanently on in order to be able to skip songs through my headset. When the display blacks out, only play/pause and volume control work. My fingers are crossed a future firmware update would fix this (along with 15000 song limit), as this obviously lowers battery time. My hope is to use this as a cyclist, where I can't safely ride and play with the device to skip songs.

@pizza
The idea behind the 1.2 firmware is that even if I can not get Rockbox on it, I would still like to have the latest firmware so I can enjoy updated codecs and stuff.

The 1.2 firmware is the latest for the Rocker, not the Benjie T6.  That the firmware files were interchangeable between the units was fortunate, but nothing that was ever guaranteed, and indeed looks like it is longer the case.

(Heck, this  could have easily been done at AGPtek's request -- after all, it's clear that AGPtek has invested a lot more in firmware improvements, and they understandably want folks to buy AGPtek hardware in order to utilize it..)

[wodz]

It's a shame there's no simple way (ie not requiring disassembly and minor soldering) to dump out the flash contents.

Without someone skilled with 'unupgradable T6' at hand acting up we really don't know why it doesn't want to accept updates. I am even not sure it doesn't accept only Agptek updates or updates in general (Did Benjie ever published update image for T6?). Gaining access to serial console is pretty simple (soldering 3 wires to test points + 3.3V usb-to-serial converter) if they didn't removed support for this. From there it is pretty easy to extract recovery firmware. I can help if someone with 'faulty' T6 is willing to take the risk.

[dhartmei]

I just upgraded the firmware on two newer AGPTEK Rockers (silver, light) which came with firmware 1.2.
The first one simply worked. On the second one, with the same SD card, when choosing the upgrade firmware, the confirmation screen (with a cross on the left and a check on the right) came up, but pressing the center button did simply close it.
I retried about a dozen times, trying different key presses (like pressing right, then center), and eventually it also worked.
So, if you have an 'unupgradable' device, please describe what you're seeing and doing that doesn't work. It might just be a UI fluke or user error

[Experiment]

Hello,
I just bought à Rocker and would like to experiment with Rockbox.
I managed to follow the instructions and used the Docker to generate the upt file and rockbox.zip.
However before I do the big jump, it is not quite clear how to revert to the old firmware in case something goes wrong ?
All relevant post I found are related to Sansa Clip.

Thanks

[Milardo]

Hello,
I just bought à Rocker and would like to experiment with Rockbox.
I managed to follow the instructions and used the Docker to generate the upt file and rockbox.zip.
However before I do the big jump, it is not quite clear how to revert to the old firmware in case something goes wrong ?
All relevant post I found are related to Sansa Clip.

Thanks

Hi,

     I managed to mess up my agptek rocker where it would only display the loading screen when turned on and i could turn it off. This happened after I messed up the rockbox firmware upgrade. However, I was told by agptek to prepare a sd card and put the official agptek firmware update

https://www.agptek.com/blog/agptek-rocker-firmware-download-2/

in it and then insert sd card into player, then push the power button and the volume - button to initialize the firmware update from sd card. That restores the original agptek firmware i believe. Also to note that the rockbox firmware update is dual boot, meaning you have your choice of booting to rockbox or the original agptek firmware. Hope this helps

[Experiment]

Thanks a lot.
Then I did the update and it updated without problem.
The 2 first time boot, I got a message that Rockbox cannot boot. And the third time it worked.
So far it seems to work, except that I cannot use the power button to switch if off. It seems that the power button is behaving like a "Go Back" button.
So I have to hold it down to force shutdown.
Perhaps it is the way Rockbox is behaving ? Anyway I will then go over another topic to ask about Rockbox behavior.

[Milardo]

Thanks a lot.
Then I did the update and it updated without problem.
The 2 first time boot, I got a message that Rockbox cannot boot. And the third time it worked.
So far it seems to work, except that I cannot use the power button to switch if off. It seems that the power button is behaving like a "Go Back" button.
So I have to hold it down to force shutdown.
Perhaps it is the way Rockbox is behaving ? Anyway I will then go over another topic to ask about Rockbox behavior.

I'm not sure how to edit the behavior of the power button, for me it unlocks/locks the buttons and yes if you press and hold the power button that's how it shuts off on mine as well.

[underst0rm]

Without someone skilled with 'unupgradable T6' at hand acting up we really don't know why it doesn't want to accept updates. I am even not sure it doesn't accept only Agptek updates or updates in general (Did Benjie ever published update image for T6?). Gaining access to serial console is pretty simple (soldering 3 wires to test points + 3.3V usb-to-serial converter) if they didn't removed support for this. From there it is pretty easy to extract recovery firmware. I can help if someone with 'faulty' T6 is willing to take the risk.

I have opened up my unupgradable T6 and got RS232 access.

Notes:

• Hardware is labeld K1-V4.0 2016-12-13. So hardware probablz did not change
• When flashing an older File, the recovery code complains with version too old:1.0.0.0. See https://pastebin.com/ZjrAHZXY
• The complaint only goes away when changing the version in the iso file to 2.0.0.0
• When changing the Rocker 1.2 firmware to this new format. The bootloader sas an additional compile:2018, 6, 30, version:2, 10, -2146731964. However on the screen it still complains with v_v failed . See https://pastebin.com/VyeD38Ks
• Layout of mdts did not change, see https://pastebin.com/cR3ka6Y5
• Standard boot looks like this https://pastebin.com/BnE6Vxbm

I did not get ADB over USB to work to get the recovery mdt and analyze what else it needs to be happy.

[underst0rm]

Silly me... Why do I have sdcard in that system to copy data onto  Hint's on how to get ADB working would be helpful still though.

Anyways. I now have the whole set of mtd devices mirrored on SD card. I'll try to extract the recovery image and see where to go from there.

EDIT: I got so far as to getting the decompressed Image of the recovery file.

dd if=mtdblock3 of=Image.gz bs=64 skip=1
gunzip Image.gz

However I do not know how to get the initramfs from this..

EDIT2: I got to the initramfs by using binwalk. However, it looks like the actual bootloader (recoveryd, initated by /etc/init.d/S90user)is a binary file..

EDIT3:  Got it! The version format changed from a simple version code to a date, as shown here: https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/ShanlingM2sPort

That's also why it did show a date when changing to version 2. - the year starts with 2 also :-D. Putting in todays date updates the player. I'm no being shown a chinese USB info. Will put it back together but I believe I'm on the rocker firmware 1.2 now:

Code: [Select]

(GUI:D)lg_activity_usb: on_create
Device setup complete
Name: HibyPlayer-888888 -> AGPTEK ROCKER
Agent registered

EDIT4: Applying the date fix to a rockbox enabled 1.2 AGTPEK image gave me working rockbox and a better AGTEK firmware. I do not believe these changes to be malicious. They just updated their kernels and bootloader. Unfortunately, this breaks firmware images since the boot loaders are not compatible anymore. But hey, we got it working again :-)

[A_Bone]

Joe Average here! I just bought the Rocker and am pretty happy with the original software.
However, I miss Rockbox (from the Cowon X5 and Sansa Clip+ days). I browsed the forums with regard to the Rocker but am still not 100% sure:

- Does Rockbox work on the Rocker already?
- Can Joe Average install it already? I'm not a developer but can usually follow power user instructions.
- My device came with firmware ver 1.2. Is that a problem (how do I tell if my device is upgradeable)?

Any help or pointers would be appreciated!

[wodz]

Joe Average here! I just bought the Rocker and am pretty happy with the original software.
However, I miss Rockbox (from the Cowon X5 and Sansa Clip+ days). I browsed the forums with regard to the Rocker but am still not 100% sure:

- Does Rockbox work on the Rocker already?
- Can Joe Average install it already? I'm not a developer but can usually follow power user instructions.
- My device came with firmware ver 1.2. Is that a problem (how do I tell if my device is upgradeable)?

Any help or pointers would be appreciated!

1) Yes rockbox works on Agptek Rocker
2) That depends. If your device is 'upgradable' (and so far only Benjie T6 appears to change update process) you can follow instructions in this thread and use prebuild update images linked there. Main binary can be taken from http://build.rockbox.org/data/rockbox-agptekrocker.zip
3) So far the only way to know is to try updating. If device refuses to update you have infamous unupgradeable device. The issue with this seems to be sorted out but none prepared ready to use images so far.