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-------------------------------------------------------------------
__________ __ ___.
Open \______ \ ____ ____ | | _\_ |__ _______ ___
Source | _// _ \_/ ___\| |/ /| __ \ / _ \ \/ /
Jukebox | | ( <_> ) \___| < | \_\ ( <_> > < <
Firmware |____|_ /\____/ \___ >__|_ \|___ /\____/__/\_ \
\/ \/ \/ \/ \/
$Id$
Copyright (C) 2002 by Robert E. Hak
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Rockbox FAQ
-----------
Q1. What is a FAQ?
A1. A rare small animal of the species 'Textius Electronicus'. It is known for
its' helpful attitude and vicious misspellings.
Q2. What is Rockbox? What is it's purpose?
A2. The purpose of this project is to write an Open Source replacement
firmware for the Archos Jukebox 6000, Studio 20 and Recorder MP3 players.
Q3. I want to write code for my Archos, how do I proceed?
A3. First make sure to read the file CONTRIBUTING in the firmware directory
on Sourceforge. See http://bjorn.haxx.se/rockbox/firmware/CONTRIBUTING
if you do not want to have to wade through the CVS directories.
Q4: Whats CVS?
A4: Concurrent Versions System (http://www.cvshome.org). We have a small
help page about how to use this to get, update and commit files on the web
at http://bjorn.haxx.se/rockbox/cvs.html
Q5. What exactly is the CONTRIBUTING file?
A5. Just like the name implies, it lists conventions that the project follows,
and in turn asks you to follow, for the formating of source code in
general.
Q6. Okay, so I read CONTRIBUTING and although I don't agree with all your
conventions, I am going to be sensible and follow them anyway. Now what?
A6. Start by reading up on the information about the jukeboxes on our web page.
Then go into CVS and look at the code we've written. Then take what you
need and start writing.
Q7. Okay, so how do I submit a patch?
A7. Run: "diff -u oldfile newfile" against the file(s) you have changed. Then
mail the output to any member of the development team and we will take it
under consideration. (Please remember that all submissions are not
automatically accepted.)
Q8. I want to join the development team, but don't have a SourceForge account,
what should I do?
A8. Head on over to http://sourceforge.net/account/register.php and create an
account for yourself.
Q9. Do you have a mailing list?
A9. Sure do! The list is rockbox@cool.haxx.se. To subscribe, you need to
send a message to majordomo@cool.haxx.se with the words "subscribe rockbox"
in the body.
Q10. Great you have a mailing list! Is there anyway for me to catch up on
past posts?
A10. Check out the archives at: http://bjorn.haxx.se/rockbox/mail.cgi
Q11. How can I meet the developers working on the project?
A11. One way is by visiting us on IRC. Head on over to the server
irc.openprojects.net, and then join "#rockbox". There is usually at
least one person there. If you don't see any activity, feel free to post
questions anyway, serveral of us log the channel and will get you answers
when we unidle.
Q12: Wow, you guys talk on IRC alot? I wish I had been around for those
conversations to see what happened.
A12: We are glad you mentioned that! http://bjorn.haxx.se/rockbox/irc happens
to have a list of various logs we have recorded of events in the channel.
Feel free to read up, and ask questions on what you find.
Q13. What is this "SourceForge" you keep mentioning?
A13. http://www.sourceforge.net
Q14. Can the changes or the software that Rockbox suggests or offers
possibly damage my Archos Player?
A14. All firmware mods that are presented are still highly experimental.
Try them at your own risk. We offer no guarantee that this software, or
the hardware modifications we show, will not damage your player or void
your warranty. That said, we have not been able to damage any of our
units by modifying only the firmware. You can accidentally password
protect your harddisk, but there are ways around that. (See below.)
Q15. I want to see what the inside of my player looks like, but I would really
like to avoid voiding my warranty. Is there anything you can suggest?
A15. We have a collection of photos of both the player and recorder. Look at
http://bjorn.haxx.se/rockbox/internals/
Q16. What exactly are you trying to achieve with this line of development?
(A.K.A. whats your purpose for being here?)
A16. Firstly, we wouldn't start something like this if we didn't simply enjoy
it profusely. This is great fun!
Secondly, we feel the firmware is lacking some features and contain a
number of annoying bugs that we want to fix.
Some ideas would include (in no particular order):
- No pause between songs
- Mid-song resume
- Mid-playlist resume
- No-scan playlists
- Unlimited playlist size
- Autobuild playlists (ie: "all songs in this directory tree")
- Auto-continue play in the next directory
- Current folder and all sub-folder random play
- Full disk random play
- REAL random
- Multi song queue
- Faster scroll speed
- More cool features with the wire remote control (including
controlling your Archos from your car radio (req hw mod))
- Support playing of other files types (ie: Ogg Vorbis support)
- Support for megabass switch (req hw mod)
- Player control via USB
- Memory expansion?
Note: Just because something is on this list, does not mean that it is
technically feasible. (But hey we can dream) And something not
being on the list does not mean it isn't a neat idea. Bring it to
the list.
Q17. I don't see you mentioning ogg files on your list of ideas. What about
supporting those?
A17. At the current time we belive this is not very likely (though
we are not completely closing out this possibility). The Micronas
chip (MAS3507) decoder in the archos does not natively support ogg
decoding and there is very little program space in the player to
implement it ourselves. The alternative would be to write a software
decoder as part of the RockBox firmware. However, as much as we love
our players, the computing power of the Archos (SH1 microcontroller) is
not fully sufficent for this need (Once again, this is not a definative
no. The world is full of brilliant people. We just aren't hunting
down all the ones not already involved with the project right this
instant).
Q18. What about supporting playing of wav files?
A18. No Bill. We have no intention of that. Go buy your own project.
Q19. When do you think there is a version available for my Archos?
A19. The developers have discussed this. There has been a variety of
dates bantered about. The truth is we don't really know, but a good
guestimate would be 1 to 3 months before we have full working source
for the Archos (as of late April 2002). Following that, we figure it
should only be a week or two before we finish porting Quake II to the
platform. (Please see question 25 regarding this issue).
Q20. I tried one of your firmware files and now I can't access my harddisk!
When I turn on my jukebox, it says:
Part. Error
Pls Chck HD
A20. Your harddisk has been password protected. We're not 100% sure why it
happens, but you can unlock it yourself. Look at:
http://rockbox.sourceforge.net/rockbox/lock.html
Q21: This FAQ doesn't answer the question I have. What should I do?
A21: You have a couple options here. You could forget the question, find an
easier question, or accept '42' as the answer no matter what. We don't
really recommend any of these (though I do opt for '42' often myself).
What we do recommend is stopping by IRC, reading
http://bjorn.haxx.se/rockbox to see if the question was answered else
where and just not included here, or ultimatly dropping an email to the
mailing list (rockbox@cool.haxx.se) or the FAQ maintainer listed on the
project homepage.
Q22: Are there other ways to contact the developers?
A22: Yes.
Q23: Are you going to tell us what they are?
A23: No. Post to the mailing list and we will get back to you.
Q24: But I _really_ want to talk with you in person.
A24: I'm sorry. My girlfriend/boyfriend/pet says I'm not allowed to, and the
doctors here won't let me have pens or pencils. They say its some rule
about us not having sharp objects. I'm sorry. Now please stop calling me
here.
Q25: Will you ever port Quake II to the Archos?
A25: If you ask that again, I'm sending your address and phone number to the
guy that mailed us with question #23.
Q26: Umm, was that sarcasm?
A26: That's it, I'm mailing him now.
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