A few questions about flashing to EEPROM

[Ton]

I am considering to do it, but I still have a few questions:
1) Do I understand it correctly that it is indeed also possible to return to the original iRiver firmware if needed, by making a backup first of the ROM ?
2) After flashing: How do you update Rockbox with a more recent build ?
Although I read the instructions, it's still not completely clear to me. Should I only download the newer build and unzip it to my H120, replacing the existing files ? Or should I flash again ?

[Slasher]

1. It is possible to restore the original firmware generated by the backup rom function or decrypting ihp_120.hex to ihp_120.bin provided by iriver. Then just open either one of these files with iriver_flash plugin and firmware section is restored (bootloader is kept for extra safety but can be removed too by flashing again using the original firmware).

2. To update rockbox builds, the recommended sequence is to do the following:
- Shutdown player and plug in usb cable
- Hold REC button and press PLAY to enter bootloader usb mode
- Update files on disk normally
- Unplug usb cable and rockbox boots from disk
- Wait until HD is spun down
- Open rockbox.iriver with iriver_flash plugin to update the flash image

[Ton]

Thanks Slasher.
Meanwhile I made a backup of the rom. However that produced 2 files,
1) internal rom 000000-1FFFFF.bin (2048kb)
2) internal eeprom.bin (1kb)
Do I need both then or only the 1st ?

[Slasher]

Only the first file is necessary to restore original firmware. EEPROM contains only settings used by the original firmware and will get replaced by Rockbox when running from flash.

[Ton]

Thanks again Slasher. One more question though.
I am at the point of selling my H120, because I will probably buy a H320 (and of course will put Rockbox on it immediately).
In case  a potential buyer does not want Rockbox, I will have to return to the original iRiver firmware.
What is the safest way ? The backup.rom or the "ihp_120.hex to ihp_120.bin" way ? Or isn't there any difference ?
And if it is the "ihp_120.hex to ihp_120.bin" way, what do you mean with decrypting ? Is it simply a way of renaming the ihp_120.hex file to ihp_120.bin ?

[Slasher]

If you have both files available, just pick the one you can easier put to the player. Decrypting means that the .hex file needs to be converted to the .bin format using a command line tool found from tools/ directory in Rockbox cvs. Instructions using that tool can be found from the IriverBoot -wiki page. So it's probably easier just to use the ROM dump if you have it available.

After you have flashed the original firmware back, you will need to remove Rockbox and bootloader. To remove the bootloader, boot up the original firmware and flash the unit one more time now using the official ihp_120.hex and then Rockbox should have been completely removed.

[belly917]

I have flashed to ROM on my h120 and it works great!

Is there any chance of getting this to work on the h3x0 series?

disclaimer - just before hitting the post button I realized that rockbox on the h3x0 series hooks into the original firmware for things like charging/etc.  So I guess my answer is "when rockbox stops relying on the original firmware."  Which then begs the question.. is getting rockbox to be independant of the OF on the todo list?

[Llorean]

Seeing as Rockbox is intended to be a "replacement" firmware, getting it to a state where it's independent is pretty much always on the todo list.