HiBy R1

[7o9]

The new HiBy R1 might be a candidate for running Rockbox.

It is running an Ingenic X1600 SoC using a Cirrus Logic CS43131 DAC with a 3" 800x480 on a Linux-4.4.94+ kernel.

Product information: https://store.hiby.com/products/hiby-r1

Like other Ingenic devices, it supports the USB boot mode. When holding down the 'next' button and plugging the USB cable, the device identifies as 'Ingenic USB BOOT DEVICE' with USB ID A108:EAEF.

A first firmware update is available here: https://store.hiby.com/apps/help-center

The firmware file is a renamed .iso file which can be extracted. It contains the Linux kernel (xImage) and a root filesystem in SquashFS format.

Drivers included (in directory 'module_driver') include axp2101, cw2015, lcd_lg35583, tcs1421, cst8xx_touch, codec_cs43131 and others. Most drivers include a script to load them which provides some helpful parameters (like gpio's).

For example:

lcd_lg35583.sh: insmod lcd_lg35583.ko gpio_lcd_power_en=-1 gpio_lcd_rst=PA31 gpio_spi_cs=PA30 gpio_spi_sck=PA00 gpio_spi_mosi=PA01 spi_bus_num=5 vcc_regulator_name=bldo1 vccio_regulator_name=bldo2

codec_cs43131.sh: insmod codec_cs43131.ko cs43131_i2c_bus_num=3 cs43131_pwr_gpio=PB02 cs43131_pwr_en_level=1 \
 cs43131_rst_gpio=PB21 cs43131_rst_en_level=1 \
 cs43131_mute_gpio=-1 cs43131_mute_en_level=-1 \
 cs43131_po_sel_gpio=-1 cs43131_po_sel_en_level=-1

The attached picture is of the HiBy R1 next to a Sansa Clip+ for size reference.

[dconrad]

Certainly an interesting device. The more similar the X1600 is to the X1000 the easier it would be, if we wanted to do a native port. Probably still a fair amount of work to get it on the X1600 regardless.

[emilyinspace]

I am guessing that the biggest problem would be the touch driver, no? since most rockbox devices don't have a touch screen :'(

[7o9]

I have been playing with the firmware update file, trying to see if I could modify it a bit.

Unpacking the firmware and repacking it without making changes is not a problem. The update ISO file is not identical (though the contents are) but still valid and flashing the firmware worked fine.

I tried making changes to the rootfs.squashfs file (extracting it using unsquashfs, rebuilding it using mksquashfs) seemed to work fine. Creating an r1.upt ISO file from it worked like before and the player successfully flashed the modified file.

Unfortunately, the device no longer started after that. The changes to the rootfs.squashfs file or the way I rebuild it using mksquashfs must have broken it.

However, I learned that if you put a working (i.e. the official one from HiBy ) firmware file on the sd card and hold volume+ while powering it on, it will flash it back into life.

My HiBy R1 lives again and I learned that it is hard to really brick.

In between attempts to revive it, the USB boot mode of course still worked but I have no way to run anything using that yet.