Rockbox Development > New Ports
Rockbox Player - Project to design and build a Free/Open hardware audio player
betoqp:
Why not take the project to other sites/forums? After all, its supposed to be open. Maybe some subreddit? And once there is an initial design, Kickstart it? Or Indiegogo?
nick_p:
--- Quote from: betoqp on July 16, 2015, 04:06:41 AM ---Why not take the project to other sites/forums? After all, its supposed to be open. Maybe some subreddit? And once there is an initial design, Kickstart it? Or Indiegogo?
--- End quote ---
I can't think of a reason why you shouldn't do these things.
dired:
Hey there!
Only registered here to share an -i think so- sophisticated idea to revive rockbox, maybe something similiar or even enable original rockbox to evolve.
We want a real free, open-source mp3-player that is not functionally crippled in some way like "smart"phones are etc., you know the point.
Nowadays, there are some promising single-board solutions that could fit our needs, after some investigation, I would recommend: https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/iMX233/iMX233-OLinuXino-NANO+i/open-source-hardware
The things that would have to be done hardware-sides:
* 3.5 audio jack to be connected with the i/o, maybe fixated on the board else on the casing
* make a casing
* sd card for operating system (and some free space)
* get a 3.7v lipo battery and just connect it (built-in battery charger)
* a display (suggestion: https://www.olimex.com/Products/Modules/LCD/MOD-OLED-128x64/open-source-hardware)
* if not a touch display: some switches (anyone knows a good fit for an electronic part with some arrows and knobs?)Software-Sides, I don't have too much experience, but I would guess that having an open-source single-board makes the porting action quite enjoyable with early results if you are into such things as I am. I guess it will be more like making a distribution fit for specific hardware. No custom firmware anymore, we need a "generic" firmware to make it fit the open and well-described hardware.
Another piece of hardware that would fit our needs is the raspberry pi zero but I don't think it's complete open-source so not that thrustworthy a thing to build our project on. Olimex says that as long as they "live", they will support and manufacture their hardware (-> forever). Not so sure about Raspberry Foundation.
Also I found http://nanopi.org/ about which i know as good as nothing about.
If I had time and stuff I would try this myself, a single humans effort might be enough to somehow get a specific rockbox for specific but genuine hardware done. Done correctly, with some guys into manufacturing (knowing what hardware fits the most and will be available forever), we might have the "best" version of rockbox soon
I hope there are some people out there sharing the vision, this could be real fun again.
Best Greetz from Berlin
squarefoot:
I believe I'm not the only one who came to this thread after my beloved player went FUBAR, and noticed how this and similar Rockbox-able players prices skyrocketed during the years. I paid my refurbished Sansa Clip Zip less than €30 about 4 years ago, now it's over 2 times that price for a used one. That's crazy! If I needed a reason to consider making my own player now I have one.
What do you think about the ESP32? I did a quick search on the forums here and unless I missed something it is never mentioned anywhere.
That chip today could be an interesting platform to port Rockbox on; although it is commonly known for being a WiFi+BT "thing", it is actually a very fast and powerful microcontroller packed with peripherals and i/o ports, plus having wireless connectivity on board opens new possibilities.
http://esp32.net/
This project might be interesting as it uses an audio development board available for purchase with included external DAC, LiPo battery charging circuitry and OLED. https://github.com/possan/csid-esp32
wodz:
--- Quote from: squarefoot on September 25, 2017, 12:51:10 AM ---IWhat do you think about the ESP32? I did a quick search on the forums here and unless I missed something it is never mentioned anywhere.
--- End quote ---
The main problem is RAM size. Rockbox needs more then 2MB of ram (I'd say 4 is bare minimum). Ah, and porting to new architecture (Xtensa) is *a lot of* work.
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