rockbox/www/docs/FAQ

Rockbox FAQ

$Id$

Q. What is a FAQ?
A. A rare small animal of the species 'Textius Electronicus'. It is known for
   its' helpful attitude and vicious misspellings.

Q. What is Rockbox?  What is it's purpose?
A. The purpose of this project is to write an Open Source replacement 
   firmware for the Archos Jukebox 6000, Studio 20 and Recorder MP3 players.

Q. I want to write code for my Archos, how do I proceed?
A. 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.

Q: Whats CVS?
A: 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

Q. What exactly is the CONTRIBUTING file? 
A. 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.

Q. 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?
A. 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.

Q. Okay, so how do I submit a patch?
A. 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.)

Q. I want to join the development team, but don't have a SourceForge account,
   what should I do?
A. Head on over to http://sourceforge.net/account/register.php and create an
   account for yourself.

Q. Do you have a mailing list?
A. 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. 

Q. Great you have a mailing list!  Is there anyway for me to catch up on
   past posts?
A. Check out the archives at: http://bjorn.haxx.se/rockbox/mail.cgi

Q. How can I meet the developers working on the project?
A. 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.

Q: Wow, you guys talk on IRC alot?  I wish I had been around for those 
   conversations to see what happened.
A: 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.

Q. What is this "SourceForge" you keep mentioning?
A. http://www.sourceforge.net

Q. Can the changes or the software that Rockbox suggests or offers 
   possibly damage my Archos Player?
A. 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.)

Q. 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?
A. We have a collection of photos of both the player and recorder. Look at
   http://bjorn.haxx.se/rockbox/internals/

Q. What exactly are you trying to achieve with this line of development?
   (A.K.A. whats your purpose for being here?)
A. 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.

Q. I don't see you mentioning ogg files on your list of ideas.  What about
   supporting those?
A. At the current time this is not considered a possible option.  The 
   Micronas chip MAS3507 decoder in the archos doesnt support ogg decoding
   and there is too 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 sufficent for
   this need. 

Q. 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
A. 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

Q: This FAQ doesn't answer the question I have.  What should I do?
A: 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).

Q: Are there other ways to contact the developers?
A: Yes.

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

Q: But I _really_ want to talk with you in person,
A: 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.