Where are the older builds?

[Mr_Samsa]

I've been having severe problems with the battery life on my iRiver h140 for the past few months. I only get two hours or less of power out of my player before it shuts down, or crashes completely and won't start up until i recharge it.

To solve this i've started using the iRiver firmware, which is something i never thought i'd have to do again. But iit works. The iRiver firmware will run just fine where the Rockbox firmware won't, so it doesn't seem to be a problem with my player. I'd like to fix this by using an older rockbox build, possibly one from this past summer, but they don't seem to be archived anymore. Is there any way to access these older builds? They worked just fine for me, and i really prefer the rockbox firmware.

[AlexP]

Daily builds are archived for the previous month.  To go further back you will have to check out the CVS for the desired time and compile it yourself.

[Llorean]

How long is the battery lasting in the retail firmware?
At the moment, Rockbox on H120/140 should be lasting longer than the retail firmware, not significantly shorter. Have you checked to make sure you aren't using any power-intensive options?

[pabouk]

On November the 11th Rockbox was extended to disable some functions when the battery is low and to shut down gracefully when it is at 2.99 V or below (on H100s). Maybe the limit 2.99 V is higher than in the original firmware.

[Mr_Samsa]

That could be the problem if the battery life issue has been more recent than i remember it being, which is possible (before the 11th i may have been frustrated with some codec issues). All i know is that most of the time right now the player won't even run if i don't switch it over to the iRiver firmware right away.

For instance, last night when driving back from a friend's house (a 40 minute ride) if i would try and use the rockbox firmware the player would tell me that the battery was too low and it had to shut down. But the iRiver firmware would not only work fine, but it would tell me that i had a full battery, and stay that way for the entire ride home. (minus maybe one battery bar)

If i were to try and continue using the rockbox firmware, what usually happens is the player will "blank out" completely and not respond to any button commands until i connect it to the charger again.  

I'll be making a 6 hour trip up to Rochester ny today, so i'll time how long a full charge will last for under the rockbox firmware and let you know.

[Llorean]

If you're getting less than 6 hours under either firmware, your battery is quite old, and could probably do with replacing.

[Mr_Samsa]

I think you're right about the battery. I got 4 hours of play time under the Rb firmware, before i got a phone call and had to pause the player. When i came back to it, the player was off. I started it back up, and the opening screen gave a voltage reading of 3.66V. I tried to play something and right away it said it had to shut down and then crashed outright (totally shut off) and wouldn't respond to any button commands to turn it back it.
I used the AC adapter to give it a little jump, just long enough to turn it on and boot up the iRiver firmware, then disconnected it and got an additional 30 minutes of playing before the battery completely died.

So i do have a battery problem, but the rockbox firmware is still killing the player before its time is up. Take that for what it's worth. I'm buying a new battery. Thanks for the help.


PS: Where should i buy a new battery and what kind does it use?

[michael.conner]

This thread may be of some use to you:
http://www.misticriver.net/showthread.php?t=45787&highlight=h1xx+battery

[AlexP]

So i do have a battery problem, but the rockbox firmware is still killing the player before its time is up.

What does that mean?  In what way is Rockbox killing your player?

[Mr_Samsa]

So i do have a battery problem, but the rockbox firmware is still killing the player before its time is up.

What does that mean?  In what way is Rockbox killing your player?

Forcing it to turn off and not letting it turn back on. Don't take it too literally.

[Mr_Samsa]

This thread may be of some use to you:
http://www.misticriver.net/showthread.php?t=45787&highlight=h1xx+battery

Many thanks.

[AlexP]

Forcing it to turn off and not letting it turn back on. Don't take it too literally.

Aha!  Surely that is a good safety measure if the battery is very low (and it won't turn on even to the bootloader not even Rockbox's doing)?