Recent Posts
1
Other - Installation/Removal / Re: Surfans F20 v2.7: Getting started (pardon my initial caution!)
« Last post by Abscissa on Today at 04:56:34 PM »Thanks. I think the main mistake I made was trying to dive into this before actually checking the Surfans website to see how updating the official (non-rockbox) firmware is even done in the first place (my other mistake was trying to do this entirely too late at night!!) After taking care of all that, and getting hold of the device's official firmware update files, things started making more sense to me. (And looking back now, I see my previous post above was...very confused. So nevermind that post now!!)
As I'm understanding things now, the .upt image files are the standard firmware update file format for this particular device (and all the other Aigo ErosQ/K-based ones), and isn't really a rockbox-specific filetype, right?
Ok, so I was able to get jztool working and running the v7 bootloader on my device. I used it to make a backup of my pre-installed bootloader and stored it away elsewhere. I'm not sure how to extract the bootloader from the official (non-rockbox) .upt file (or if that's even something we're able to discuss here) so that I can verify they match (just for my own peace of mind).
I didn't do anything else via jztool just yet. But I did go ahead and try installing the patched v2.5 .upt image from the option in the original firmware. That seems to work exactly as expected - I get a boot menu to choose between rockbox, or the stock player, or a small util suite (which I noticed also lets me invoke the firmware update process, which is nice). The stock player, as expected, now reports v2.5 instead of v2.7 and no longer outputs anything through line-out. It looks like installing the actual rockbox player software is separate from that .upt installation...which all makes sense to me now: If I understand correctly, the .upt images are updates for the device's internal flash memory, which stores both a bootloader and the stock (non-rockbox) player software. That bootloader can be either stock, or one that's been patched with the ability to run rockbox, which is stored on the SD card.
So I went and tossed rockbox onto the SD card (I used Rockbox Utility to do this, just to try it out that way. I unchecked the bootloader option, since I'd already installed it directly.) Aside from the line-out issue of course, rockbox is running fantastically now for me too. And I guess, the way I have it set up right now, rockbox is running hosted, not native, right?
Ok, so my questions now, before I go trying out any other images, or native, or anything just yet:
1. Regarding both the device's USB boot mode, and also the device's flash update process: Do we know whether those abilities are stored as part of the bootloader in the internal flash (and could potentially get clobbered by a bootloader update gone wrong, bricking it), or whether they instead live somewhere lower-level that can't get nuked by a bad flash update? (Although, it seems unlikely to me that the flashing process would live on a lower-level than the bootloader since it would require at least the ability to read a fat32 filesystem. Maybe exfat, too. The usb boot mode would seem more likely to be safe from a bad update, but I wouldn't really know for sure.)
2. Are we able to discuss extracting the bootloader from a .upt file so that I'd be able to double-check the backup I made?
As I'm understanding things now, the .upt image files are the standard firmware update file format for this particular device (and all the other Aigo ErosQ/K-based ones), and isn't really a rockbox-specific filetype, right?
Ok, so I was able to get jztool working and running the v7 bootloader on my device. I used it to make a backup of my pre-installed bootloader and stored it away elsewhere. I'm not sure how to extract the bootloader from the official (non-rockbox) .upt file (or if that's even something we're able to discuss here) so that I can verify they match (just for my own peace of mind).
I didn't do anything else via jztool just yet. But I did go ahead and try installing the patched v2.5 .upt image from the option in the original firmware. That seems to work exactly as expected - I get a boot menu to choose between rockbox, or the stock player, or a small util suite (which I noticed also lets me invoke the firmware update process, which is nice). The stock player, as expected, now reports v2.5 instead of v2.7 and no longer outputs anything through line-out. It looks like installing the actual rockbox player software is separate from that .upt installation...which all makes sense to me now: If I understand correctly, the .upt images are updates for the device's internal flash memory, which stores both a bootloader and the stock (non-rockbox) player software. That bootloader can be either stock, or one that's been patched with the ability to run rockbox, which is stored on the SD card.
So I went and tossed rockbox onto the SD card (I used Rockbox Utility to do this, just to try it out that way. I unchecked the bootloader option, since I'd already installed it directly.) Aside from the line-out issue of course, rockbox is running fantastically now for me too. And I guess, the way I have it set up right now, rockbox is running hosted, not native, right?
Ok, so my questions now, before I go trying out any other images, or native, or anything just yet:
1. Regarding both the device's USB boot mode, and also the device's flash update process: Do we know whether those abilities are stored as part of the bootloader in the internal flash (and could potentially get clobbered by a bootloader update gone wrong, bricking it), or whether they instead live somewhere lower-level that can't get nuked by a bad flash update? (Although, it seems unlikely to me that the flashing process would live on a lower-level than the bootloader since it would require at least the ability to read a fat32 filesystem. Maybe exfat, too. The usb boot mode would seem more likely to be safe from a bad update, but I wouldn't really know for sure.)
2. Are we able to discuss extracting the bootloader from a .upt file so that I'd be able to double-check the backup I made?
2
Hardware / Re: New cheap portable player in the market
« Last post by pmp4 on Today at 03:09:18 PM »Not sure if it's useful but some Spreadtrum 6531 related sources can be found here:
Huge find.
It seems almost the same version firmware than player complete source code, with a lot of extra tools.
with the tool /MOCOR_12C.W13.04.23.BTDialer.20_Source/tools/DEBUG_TOOL/ResOver/Bin/ResOver.exe I can view the res.bin file (and it can modify too).
As example I put here the first 4 menu icons, extracted from res.bin using ResOver.exe
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Other - Installation/Removal / Re: Surfans F20 v2.7: Getting started (pardon my initial caution!)
« Last post by amachronic on Today at 10:29:55 AM »Installing the bootloader with a .upt file should work exactly like flashing the original firmware, that will give you the "hosted" port which runs on top of the original firmware's Linux kernel. speachy prepared a patched v2.7 .upt image in this thread but it hasn't been tested yet.
Using the patched v2.5 image is also possible, I think -- but line out will not work in the original firmware or Rockbox. IIRC whoever tried that was able to revert back to vanilla v2.7 afterwards. Line out definitely doesn't work in Rockbox no matter what, unfortunately, the hardware and ALSA controls have apparently both changed since the previous hardware revision.
If you want to use the "native" port you should follow the jztool install instructions on the wiki for installation, but use the v7 bootloader from this thread, not the release bootloaders linked on the wiki page.
Using the patched v2.5 image is also possible, I think -- but line out will not work in the original firmware or Rockbox. IIRC whoever tried that was able to revert back to vanilla v2.7 afterwards. Line out definitely doesn't work in Rockbox no matter what, unfortunately, the hardware and ALSA controls have apparently both changed since the previous hardware revision.
If you want to use the "native" port you should follow the jztool install instructions on the wiki for installation, but use the v7 bootloader from this thread, not the release bootloaders linked on the wiki page.
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Hardware / Re: New cheap portable player in the market
« Last post by Bilgus on Today at 10:27:36 AM »bahus yes that appears to contain the headers
It was quite a large amount of files but I think I have the relevant part contained here
http://www.mediafire.com/file/j4e6xx28fhbrzg2/6531_chip_drv.zip
there appear to be several versions of each with different base addresses so might still need some figuring
It was quite a large amount of files but I think I have the relevant part contained here
http://www.mediafire.com/file/j4e6xx28fhbrzg2/6531_chip_drv.zip
there appear to be several versions of each with different base addresses so might still need some figuring
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Other - Installation/Removal / Re: Surfans F20 "NAND open error"
« Last post by amachronic on Today at 10:06:01 AM »I bought a Surfans F20 Player as well and I want to install the native port on it.
[...]
Is it save to proceed with the installation of the native port with the latest (v7) bootloader from this thread?
[...]
Flash info:
readID opcode = FF C8 D1 C8
readID address = C8 D1 C8 D1
readID dummy = D1 C8 D1 C8
[...]
This shows you have the GigaDevice flash (same as JosephM's) so yes it's safe to install with the v7 bootloader.
Quote
I installed the ROCKbox native port from the v7 bootloader, after a success message I first booted into ROCKbox from the BOOT Menue, this worked.
Then I rebooted and I just got a flickering screen.
So I powered the device off by long pressing power.
A new press on power just gives me the flickering screen again...
So I loaded the v7 bootloader from command promt again...
I reinstalled ROCKbox and powered off after.
I pressed power again and all I got is a flickering screen again.
So I started the bootloader again and created a Flashdump and the info files again.
here are they https://mega.nz/file/jTQS1K6Y#2OMx0mlbN7KqH24NBsz7AEeZqBCtWyXwTirj_9ecDxM
Then I restored the original bootloader. Now the player is working again with its original Firmware (not with ROCKbox sadly). I hope you will have success in getting the thing working with ROCKbox! If you need something else from me I try to provide it to you.
I don't know what the issue is, but if you try a few things it might help narrow things down:
- Go into the bootloader menu (hold volume up when powering on) and boot Rockbox - see if the LCD flickers
- Boot the original firmware from the bootloader menu - check if the LCD works
- Boot the original firmware by holding PLAY when powering on
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Hardware / Re: New cheap portable player in the market
« Last post by pmp4 on Today at 09:14:21 AM »Pmp4 have you verified that you can repackage the extracted bins and write back to the device?
I didnt try to flash anything yet.
I'm trying to understand firmware structure first.
I found this url with "Spreadtrum Research Download Tool" source code (2.9.7007 version)
https://files.elektroda.pl/798976,researchdownload_r2.html
I'm dont know yet if it can be useful.
"Spreadtrum Research Download Tool" uses another format of firmware, in .pac files.
Once I understand it better, I'll try a flash, it would be cool change intro/end logo or menu icons.
If it's possible I'd like to keep using open source free tools like bzpwork and uniflash software.
uniflash allows flash write, and bzpwork allows lzma compress.
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Hardware / Re: New cheap portable player in the market
« Last post by bahus on Today at 05:04:56 AM »Unfortunately outside of baidu and cdsn (need wechat to download) I can't seem to find any headers
Not sure if it's useful but some Spreadtrum 6531 related sources can be found here:
https://cloud.mail.ru/public/8EPC/b3kQ4AuRf
Mirror: https://mega.nz/file/cf5BXBoT#_5onK5_GHdjcykgo47AmtmTdgT7aWWO-GJWYri_jHa8
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Other - Installation/Removal / Surfans F20 v2.7: Getting started (pardon my initial caution!)
« Last post by Abscissa on Today at 12:55:53 AM »Ok, so I now have a Surfans F20 in-hand, and I've verified through the pre-installed firmware what I expected - it reports itself as v2.7. My understanding, IIUC, is that this device, or at least this iteration of it, seems to be sort-of somewhere in between "experimental" and "out-of-the-box" support from Rockbox? It's been...quite a few years...since the last time I used rockbox (let alone installed it)...so at least for just getting started, and getting at least some form of rockbox running, I'm trying to be extra-careful and try to avoid too much guesswork or assumptions, at least just for starters...
Ok, so...factory new Surfans F20 v2.7. First round "getting started with rockbox" would seem to be trying the rockbox installer. For me, this would be the "Linux (64-bit x86)" version (on Manjaro, personally). I'm not familiar with "AppImage", but I seem to be able to run the installer and its GUI anyway. It seems to want an image of my original firmware's bootloader. Should I just grab and use the "bootloader.erosq" image from ( https://download.rockbox.org/bootloader/surfans/f20.zip ) even though the links to it on ( https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/AIGOErosQK ) say that it's for v2.2 and v2.5? Or should I instead do...something?...to extract the bootloader from my device? Or...should I just not be bothering with the rockbox installer at all and do something else entirely for a manual install? (Although when I look at the "Rockbox Manual Install" page at https://www.rockbox.org/download/byhand.cgi I don't see any links for this device or for any of its "siblings", like the Aigo Eros or Hifi Walker, etc...)
Based on the first couple posts in the thread here: ( https://forums.rockbox.org/index.php/topic,54228.0.html ), it sounds like I should just go ahead and use the bootloader image in the zip listed for v2.2/v2.5, but I wanted to ask here first to be sure. It also sounds from that thread that I should install the bootloader manually without using the rockbox installer, and I may very well be overlooking something obvious, but I'm not seeing documentation on how to do that.
So again, pardon my newbie questions, but I just wanted to double-check on all my initial steps here and make sure I didn't do anything too terribly stupid straight out of the gate.
Ok, so...factory new Surfans F20 v2.7. First round "getting started with rockbox" would seem to be trying the rockbox installer. For me, this would be the "Linux (64-bit x86)" version (on Manjaro, personally). I'm not familiar with "AppImage", but I seem to be able to run the installer and its GUI anyway. It seems to want an image of my original firmware's bootloader. Should I just grab and use the "bootloader.erosq" image from ( https://download.rockbox.org/bootloader/surfans/f20.zip ) even though the links to it on ( https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/AIGOErosQK ) say that it's for v2.2 and v2.5? Or should I instead do...something?...to extract the bootloader from my device? Or...should I just not be bothering with the rockbox installer at all and do something else entirely for a manual install? (Although when I look at the "Rockbox Manual Install" page at https://www.rockbox.org/download/byhand.cgi I don't see any links for this device or for any of its "siblings", like the Aigo Eros or Hifi Walker, etc...)
Based on the first couple posts in the thread here: ( https://forums.rockbox.org/index.php/topic,54228.0.html ), it sounds like I should just go ahead and use the bootloader image in the zip listed for v2.2/v2.5, but I wanted to ask here first to be sure. It also sounds from that thread that I should install the bootloader manually without using the rockbox installer, and I may very well be overlooking something obvious, but I'm not seeing documentation on how to do that.
So again, pardon my newbie questions, but I just wanted to double-check on all my initial steps here and make sure I didn't do anything too terribly stupid straight out of the gate.
9
Hardware / Re: New cheap portable player in the market
« Last post by Bilgus on August 06, 2022, 07:50:30 PM »Unfortunately outside of baidu and cdsn (need wechat to download) I can't seem to find any headers so I guess one of the first orders of business will be going through that datasheet and grabbing all the hardware registers and offsets and start building up a toolchain for it
Pmp4 have you verified that you can repackage the extracted bins and write back to the device?
Pmp4 have you verified that you can repackage the extracted bins and write back to the device?
10
Repairing and Upgrading Rockbox Capable Players / Re: Cowon iAudio X5:Problems with 32 GB CF Cards and Original Firmware
« Last post by Festivus on August 06, 2022, 05:13:14 PM »Just as an update to this, there might be something about the 32GB CF cards in general and the custom dual-boot bootloader has nothing to do with it. I did try switching the 32GB CF card into the X5 that has the 256 GB CF card and dual-boot. The X5 still throws up the HDD error with the 32GB card when trying to boot into the original firmware. It did not throw up the HDD error with the 256 GB CF card.
Further, I bought a CF/SD card adapter from iFlash and put a 32 GB SD card (full size SD card, not micro SD with an adapter) into that and it boots into the original firmware just fine.
Bottom line, 32 GB CF cards might be trouble or at least the ones that I bought and linked to above.
Further, I bought a CF/SD card adapter from iFlash and put a 32 GB SD card (full size SD card, not micro SD with an adapter) into that and it boots into the original firmware just fine.
Bottom line, 32 GB CF cards might be trouble or at least the ones that I bought and linked to above.