rockbox/www/docs/FAQ

-------------------------------------------------------------------
              __________               __   ___.
    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. When do you think there is a version available for my Archos?
A18. 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 24 regarding this issue).

Q19. 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
A19. 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

Q20: This FAQ doesn't answer the question I have.  What should I do?
A20: 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.

Q21: Are there other ways to contact the developers?
A21: Yes.

Q22: Are you going to tell us what they are?
A22: No.  Post to the mailing list and we will get back to you.

Q23: But I _really_ want to talk with you in person.
A23: 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.

Q24: Will you ever port Quake II to the Archos?
A24: If you ask that again, I'm sending your address and phone number to the 
     guy that mailed us with question #23.

Q25: Umm, was that sarcasm?
A25: That's it, I'm mailing him now.