build that doesn't crash/freeze

[mojohand]

I have given up on Rockbox for the iPod 4g color...  Unless someone can  recommend a build that doesn't freeze/crash routinely.  I can't take it anymore.  All I want is a build that plays 190k vbr lame mp3s without freezing/crashing!!  Is that too much to ask!?!?

[Llorean]

Yes, it is too much to ask.

Seriously, don't talk that way unless you're willing to do something about it yourself. With a little research you can find out that iPod work is on hold until the 3.0 release gets out the door for iRivers. So, no bugs have been fixed on iPod for MONTHS and they won't be until other, currently more important, things are done.

So either have patience, work on it yourself, or switch back. But yes, asking for a stable version when people are specifically NOT supposed to be working on it is indeed too much.

[mojohand]

That's about what I expected to get in response from you.  After a period of cooling off, I realized just how ridiculous a post that was.  In all honesty, I wasn't trying to be a dimwit or break anyone's balls.  I'm justing trying to track down the most stable build.  I don't need any bells and whistles.  I just want to be able to play some gapless audio.  Thanks kindly.

[Llorean]

I don't think there's yet been a *truly* stable build for the 4G.

But, some of the developers have a few ideas where to look, and once 3.0 is out the door, I'm sure this issue will be one of the major concerns, as before you can work on improving the performance, you have to have it actually performing.

[crescentfresh]

I've been having very good luck with the 6-08-06 build.  It went from freezing 2-3 times an hour with the most current builds to maybe 2-3 times a week when I reverted back to it.

I need gapless playback as well, or I would consider my ipod an extremely expensive paper-weight 

[mojohand]

Don't know what you go til it's gone...   I got my ass in gear and got myself set to make my own CVS builds.  (Even successfully applied some patches!)  I've been trying to figure this crashing problem out by trying different things to trigger it using a CVS build (no patches).  What I've found is that FLACs seem to play just fine, while the 192k vbr MP3s I'm playing seem to crash.  Various experiments with playback leads me to believe that there may be a memory/buffer problem.  I realize that this is far from being a groundbreaking technical observation on my part, but I've noticed crashes during playback of longer tracks.

Q1: Would adjusting the Anti-Skip Buffer help aleviate this buffer problem?

Q2: I'd like to sign up as an official 4G tester.  Who would I get in touch with to volunteer?

edit: I can't code anything, so instead of complaining, I figured I could at least offer up my services to help test.

[Llorean]

Q1: Actually, the problem seems to relate to the act of un-boosting the CPU. At least that's the most likely cause. Check to see if when playing the FLAC files that work, your iPod is boosting or not. People have worked around the freeze by having their iPod remain boosted the whole time.

Q2: There is no official tester signup or anything, but your best bet is to go into the IRC channel and see if Linuxstb is around. Ask him if he has any ideas relating to the 4G freezes that seem to be related to CPU boosting, and if there are any tests you can run to help him track it down. Other devs might have ideas too, but I think he's the most likely to give you a good starting point.