rockbox/manual/getting_started/main.tex

% $Id$ %
\chapter{Getting started}
\section{Welcome}
This is the manual for Rockbox. Rockbox is an open source firmware replacement
for a growing number of MP3 players. Rockbox aims to be considerably more
functional and efficient than your device's stock firmware while remaining easy
to use and customizable. Rockbox is written by users, for users. Not only is it
free to use, it's also released under the GNU public license, which means that
it will always remain free both to use and to change.

Rockbox has been in development since 2001, and recieves new features, tweaks
and fixes each day to provide you with the best possible experience on your MP3
player. A major goal of Rockbox is to be simple and easy to use, yet remain very
customizable and configurable. We believe that you should never need to go
through a series of menus for an action you perform frequently. We also believe
that you should be able to configure almost anything about Rockbox you could
want, pertaining to functionality. Another top priority of Rockbox is audio
playback quality -- Rockbox, for most models, includes a wider range of sound
settings than that device's original firmware. A lot of work has been put into
making Rockbox sound the best it can, and improvements are constantly being made.
All models have access to a large number of plugins, including many games,
applications, and graphical ``demos''. You can load different configurations
quickly for different purposes (e.g. a large font for in your car, different
sound settings for at home). Rockbox features a very wide range of languages, and
all supported models also have the ability to talk to you -- menus can be voiced
and filenames spelled out or spoken.

\section{Getting more help}
This manual is intended to be a comprehensive introduction to the Rockbox
software. There is, however, more help available.  The Rockbox website at
\url{http://www.rockbox.org/} contains very extensive documentation and guides
written by members of the Rockbox community and this should be your first port
of call when looking for further help.

\section{Naming conventions and marks}
We have some conventions especially on naming that are intended to be
consistent throughout this manual.

Manufacturer and product names are formatted in accordance with the standard
rules of English grammar, e.g. ``\playerman{} playback is currently
unsupported''. Manufacturer and model names are proper nouns, and
thus are written beginning with a capital letter.

% write a bit more about names etc. here.
\ifpdfoutput{
This manual has some parts that are marked with icons on the margin to help
you finding important parts or parts you could skip. The following icons
are used:
\note{This indicates a note. A note starts always with the text ``Note''.
  For easier finding of notes we have put this an icon in the margin like
  here. Notes are used to mark informations that could help you
  or indicate a possible ``weirdness'' in rockbox that would be explained.
}
\warn{This is a warning. In contrast to notes as mentioned above a warning
  should be taken more seriously. While ignoring notes won't cause any serious
  damage ignoring warnings \emph{could} cause serious damage. If you're new to
  rockbox you should really read the warnings before doing anything that is
  warned about.
}
\blind{This icon marks a section that are intended especially for the blind
  and visually impaired. As they can't
  read the manual in the same way seeing people can do we've added some
  additional descriptions. If you aren't blind or visually impaired you most
  likely can completely skip these blocks. To make this easier, there is an
  icon shown in the margin like here.
}
}{}% end ifpdfoutput

\section{Installing Rockbox}\label{sec:installing_rockbox}
\opt{MASCODEC}{
  \subsection{Using the windows installer}
  Using the Windows self installing executable to install Rockbox is the easiest
  method of installing the software on your Jukebox.  Simply follow the
  on-screen instructions and select the appropriate drive letter and Jukebox
  model when prompted.  You can use ``Add / Remove Programs'' to uninstall the
  software at a later date.

  \subsection{Manual installation}
  For non{}-Windows users and those wishing to install manually from the archive
  the procedure is still fairly simple.
}
\opt{SWCODEC}{
\subsection{Introduction}
	There are two separate components of Rockbox that need to be installed in order
	to run Rockbox.
	\begin{enumerate}
	\item The Rockbox bootloader. This is the component of Rockbox that is installed
	  to the flash memory of your \playerman. The bootloader is the program that tells
	  your \dap\ how to boot and load other components of Rockbox.
	\item The Rockbox firmware. Unlike the \playerman\ firmware, which runs entirely
  	from flash memory, most of the Rockbox code is contained in the build that
  	resides on your jukebox's hard drive. This makes it easy to update Rockbox. The
  	build contain a file named \firmwarefilename\ and a directory called
  	\fname{.rockbox} which are located in the root directory of your  hard drive.
	\end{enumerate}
	\opt{h1xx,h300}{\input{getting_started/iriver_install.tex}}
	\opt{ipod4g,ipodcolor,ipodnano,ipodmini,ipodvideo}
		{\input{getting_started/ipod_install.tex}}
	\opt{x5}{\input{getting_started/iaudio_install.tex}}
   
  \subsection{Installing the firmware} 
  
	After installing the bootloader, the installation becomes fairly easy.}  
	
	Go to \url{http://www.rockbox.org/daily.shtml} and download the latest 
	Rockbox daily build for the \playertype{}.  Connect your \playerman\ to the 
	computer via USB as described in the manual that came with your \playerman{}. 
	On Windows, the	\playerman\ drive will appear as a drive letter in your 
	``My Computer''	folder. Take the file that you downloaded above, and unpack 
	its contents to	your \playerman\ drive. You can do this using a program 
	such as \url{http://www.info-zip.org/} or \url{http://www.winzip.org/}.

	\nopt{player}{
	\note{If this is the first time you are installing Rockbox, you should also 
	download the ``Fonts'' package available on the Daily Builds page.}
	}

	You will need to unpack all of the files in the archive onto your hard disk. 
	If this has been done correctly, you will have a file called 
	\fname{\firmwarefilename} in the main folder of your \playerman\ drive, and 
	also a folder called /\fname{.rockbox}, which contains a number of system 
	files used by the software. 
	
	\note{Please note that the firmware folder starts with a leading dot. You may 
	experience problems when trying to create such 	folders when using Windows. 
	Directly unzipping to your \daps drive works flawlessly; it is only Windows' 
	Explorer that is limited in handling such 	files.}

\section{Enabling Speech Support (optional)}\label{sec:enabling_speech_support} 
If you wish to use speech support you will also need a language file, available 
from \wikilink{VoiceFiles}.  For the English language, the file is called 
\fname{english.voice}. When it has been downloaded, unpack this file and copy it 
into the \fname{lang} folder which is inside the /\fname{.rockbox} folder on 
your Jukebox. Voice menus are turned on by default. See 
\reference{ref:Voiceconfiguration} for details on voice settings.

\section{Running Rockbox} 
Remove your \dap from the computer's USB port. Unplug any connected power supply 
and turn the unit off. When you next turn the unit on, Rockbox should load. When 
you see the Rockbox splash screen, Rockbox is loaded and ready for use.

\opt{ipod}{
\note{Rockbox starts in the \setting{File Browser}.  If you have loaded music 
onto your player using Itunes, you will not be able to see your music because 
Itunes changes your files' names and hides them in directories in the 
\fname{Ipod\_Control} folder.  You can view files placed on your \dap{} by Itunes 
by initializing and using Rockbox's Tag Cache.  See \reference{ref:tagcache} for 
more information.}
}

\section{Updating Rockbox} Updating Rockbox is easy.  Download a Rockbox build. 
(The latest release of the Rockbox software will always be available from 
\url{http://www.rockbox.org/download/}.)  Unzip the build to the root directory 
of your \dap.  If your unzip program asks you whether to overwrite files, choose 
the ``Yes to all'' option.  The new build will be installed over your current build.

\note{Settings are stored on an otherwise-unused sector of your hard disk, not 
in any of the files contained in the Rockbox build.  Therefore, generally 
speaking, installing a new build does \emph{not} reset Rockbox to its default 
settings.  Be aware, however, that from time to time, a change is made to the 
Rockbox source code that \emph{does} cause settings to be reset to their 
defaults when a Rockbox build is updated.  Thus, it is a good idea to save your 
settings using the \setting{Manage Settings} $\rightarrow$ \setting{Write .cfg 
file} function before updating your Rockbox build so that you can easily restore 
the settings if necessary.  For additional information on how to save, load, and 
reset Rockbox's settings, see \reference{ref:SystemOptions}.}

\section{Uninstalling Rockbox}
If you would like to go back to using the original \playerman\ software, then
connect the \playerman\ to your computer, and delete the
\fname{\firmwarefilename} file. If you wish to clean up your disk, you may also
wish to delete the \fname{.rockbox} folder and its contents. Turn the
\playerman\ off and on and the normal \playerman\ software will load.