H300 Bottloader GUI

[DJRed2000]

Hi,

About a week ago I was introduced to Rockbox and installed it on my Iriver H320.  I really love it and will never go back to Iriver firmware.  The only thing I don't like is the bootloader.  It's verbose and not very nice looking.  I was wondering if it would be possible to write a GUI based bootloader, something kind of like GRUB.  I am fluent in C but have no knowledge in writing GUI's.  If it is possible, are there any websites you would recommend as far as learning to write GUIs? Also, is there anyway to test the code on a computer instead of flashing the H300 and using a BDM interface if it doesn't work?

Thanks

[Llorean]

Why does the bootloader need a UI?

If you want a nicer one, why not just a loading bar or a splash screen? The user doesn't actually need to interact with some sort of graphical interface, do they?

[DJRed2000]

Well I was thinking instead of having to hold down play and record to load the Iriver firmware you could just select what you want to start from a menu.  I know I said I will never go back to Iriver firmware but I do use it for video.

[Llorean]

So, slow startup times *every* time you turn it on, are worth it so you don't have to hold a button down?

[DJRed2000]

It would only add an extra second or two.  You turn the device on, a nice UI comes up asking what firmware you want to start (Rockbox or Stock), you select it and it loads.  I just want to know if it could be done and how I would go about doing it.  I don't care if I'm the only one that uses it.

[Llorean]

It can be done. Modifying the bootloader on the H100 and H300 series is NOT SAFE though. If you do *anything* wrong, you can permanently disable your player.

[DJRed2000]

Was the Rockbox GUI written from the ground up? Libraries and all.  Or did u use already existing libraries, ie. GTK.

Also, is there anyway of testing the code on the computer instead of the device?

[Llorean]

Rockbox was written from the ground up. It is not linux based or anything else.

No, there is not an effective way to test the bootloader code on the computer. Unless you have hardware to restore your device, you get to flash it, and then either succeed, or no longer have an MP3 player.

[DJRed2000]

Ok.  Thanks for all your help.