Query about rockbox on H120

[siminone]

I am new to HDD portable music players and bought a new Iriver H120 specifically as it was compatibalbe with Linux and rockbox. It did help that it had universal good reviews!!

I've just downloaded rockbox onto my player and I am really impressed with it.

The only concern I have is that I can't find a 'release version', only a daily build.

I can't see any bugs affecting normal running of the hardware but I am worried that maybe in the instance of low power could cause damage to the hard disk in some way, due to a bug or an unfinished feature.

I realise its a case of either using great firmware or play safe and go back to below par manufacturer firmware but could someone please confirm that rockbox that these issues will not arise or supply a link to a release version of the H120 version of rockbox.

[petur]

There is no official build for the iriver players yet, but the dailies or even CVS builds should be stable enough. I don't think there's any more risk running rockbox.

Critical stuff such as battery is handled in hardware anyway.

[Mikerman]

I think that you will find that H1xx users who have employed Rockbox typically are happy that they have done so, even in these "pre-release" days (there has not yet been an "offical release" for the iRiver players).  I don't recall hearing of a single "bricked-player" issue for the H-1xxs, or any other hardware damage issue.  (There have been a few reports concerning player shut-down issues when the battery has run down.  I don't recall what player platforms this was with, and the solution, if there is an issue, is simple:  don't let you player battery run down to near-empty.)

The most that I have faced in a year of using multi-user-patched bleeding-edge builds is an occasional player freeze, fixed by pressing the play or record button, or using a paperclip on the player's hard reset button.  A paperclip is a nice thing to have around--I keep one in my case, just in case.

Actually, there has been another issue:  untold time spent in getting improved versions of the software and in personalizing the player to my (as versus iRiver's) pleasure, including designing While Playing Screens and adding patches (learning how to compile code in the process).

More info. (loads, actually) can be found at Misticriver.net, in the Rockbox forums.

Enjoy!

[siminone]

thanks guys for replying on this.

I know that these issues would have been ironed out by now but I was concerned that there was no offical release.

I've been told that you are supposed to let mobile phones batteries fully drain before charging it as it reduces active battery life if you don't. I take it this doesn't apply to portable music players?

[dunno]

most modern gizmos, including cell phones use Lion, lipoly batteries, these batteries don't like being discharged completely, in fact recharging them when they're at 50 %, or therabouts is the best way of managing them.

Read this excellent article for the full explanation

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/