202 lines
9.5 KiB
Text
202 lines
9.5 KiB
Text
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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__________ __ ___.
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Open \______ \ ____ ____ | | _\_ |__ _______ ___
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Source | _// _ \_/ ___\| |/ /| __ \ / _ \ \/ /
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Jukebox | | ( <_> ) \___| < | \_\ ( <_> > < <
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Firmware |____|_ /\____/ \___ >__|_ \|___ /\____/__/\_ \
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\/ \/ \/ \/ \/
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$Id$
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Copyright (C) 2002 by Robert E. Hak
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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Rockbox FAQ
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-----------
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Q1. What is a FAQ?
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A1. A rare small animal of the species 'Textius Electronicus'. It is known for
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its' helpful attitude and vicious misspellings.
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Q2. What is Rockbox? What is it's purpose?
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A2. The purpose of this project is to write an Open Source replacement
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firmware for the Archos Jukebox 6000, Studio 20 and Recorder MP3 players.
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Q3. I want to write code for my Archos, how do I proceed?
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A3. First make sure to read the file CONTRIBUTING in the firmware directory
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on Sourceforge. See http://bjorn.haxx.se/rockbox/firmware/CONTRIBUTING
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if you do not want to have to wade through the CVS directories.
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Q4: Whats CVS?
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A4: Concurrent Versions System (http://www.cvshome.org). We have a small
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help page about how to use this to get, update and commit files on the web
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at http://bjorn.haxx.se/rockbox/cvs.html
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Q5. What exactly is the CONTRIBUTING file?
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A5. Just like the name implies, it lists conventions that the project follows,
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and in turn asks you to follow, for the formating of source code in
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general.
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Q6. Okay, so I read CONTRIBUTING and although I don't agree with all your
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conventions, I am going to be sensible and follow them anyway. Now what?
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A6. Start by reading up on the information about the jukeboxes on our web page.
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Then go into CVS and look at the code we've written. Then take what you
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need and start writing.
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Q7. Okay, so how do I submit a patch?
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A7. Run: "diff -u oldfile newfile" against the file(s) you have changed. Then
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mail the output to any member of the development team and we will take it
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under consideration. (Please remember that all submissions are not
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automatically accepted.)
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Q8. I want to join the development team, but don't have a SourceForge account,
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what should I do?
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A8. Head on over to http://sourceforge.net/account/register.php and create an
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account for yourself.
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Q9. Do you have a mailing list?
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A9. Sure do! The list is rockbox@cool.haxx.se. To subscribe, you need to
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send a message to majordomo@cool.haxx.se with the words "subscribe rockbox"
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in the body.
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Q10. Great you have a mailing list! Is there anyway for me to catch up on
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past posts?
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A10. Check out the archives at: http://bjorn.haxx.se/rockbox/mail.cgi
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Q11. How can I meet the developers working on the project?
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A11. One way is by visiting us on IRC. Head on over to the server
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irc.openprojects.net, and then join "#rockbox". There is usually at
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least one person there. If you don't see any activity, feel free to post
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questions anyway, serveral of us log the channel and will get you answers
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when we unidle.
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Q12: Wow, you guys talk on IRC alot? I wish I had been around for those
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conversations to see what happened.
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A12: We are glad you mentioned that! http://bjorn.haxx.se/rockbox/irc happens
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to have a list of various logs we have recorded of events in the channel.
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Feel free to read up, and ask questions on what you find.
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Q13. What is this "SourceForge" you keep mentioning?
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A13. http://www.sourceforge.net
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Q14. Can the changes or the software that Rockbox suggests or offers
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possibly damage my Archos Player?
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A14. All firmware mods that are presented are still highly experimental.
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Try them at your own risk. We offer no guarantee that this software, or
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the hardware modifications we show, will not damage your player or void
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your warranty. That said, we have not been able to damage any of our
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units by modifying only the firmware. You can accidentally password
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protect your harddisk, but there are ways around that. (See below.)
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Q15. I want to see what the inside of my player looks like, but I would really
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like to avoid voiding my warranty. Is there anything you can suggest?
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A15. We have a collection of photos of both the player and recorder. Look at
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http://bjorn.haxx.se/rockbox/internals/
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Q16. What exactly are you trying to achieve with this line of development?
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(A.K.A. whats your purpose for being here?)
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A16. Firstly, we wouldn't start something like this if we didn't simply enjoy
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it profusely. This is great fun!
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Secondly, we feel the firmware is lacking some features and contain a
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number of annoying bugs that we want to fix.
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Some ideas would include (in no particular order):
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- No pause between songs
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- Mid-song resume
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- Mid-playlist resume
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- No-scan playlists
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- Unlimited playlist size
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- Autobuild playlists (ie: "all songs in this directory tree")
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- Auto-continue play in the next directory
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- Current folder and all sub-folder random play
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- Full disk random play
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- REAL random
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- Multi song queue
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- Faster scroll speed
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- More cool features with the wire remote control (including
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controlling your Archos from your car radio (req hw mod))
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- Support playing of other files types (ie: Ogg Vorbis support)
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- Support for megabass switch (req hw mod)
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- Player control via USB
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- Memory expansion?
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Note: Just because something is on this list, does not mean that it is
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technically feasible. (But hey we can dream) And something not
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being on the list does not mean it isn't a neat idea. Bring it to
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the list.
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Q17. I don't see you mentioning ogg files on your list of ideas. What about
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supporting those?
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A17. At the current time we belive this is not very likely (though
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we are not completely closing out this possibility). The Micronas
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chip (MAS3507) decoder in the archos does not natively support ogg
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decoding and there is very little program space in the player to
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implement it ourselves. The alternative would be to write a software
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decoder as part of the RockBox firmware. However, as much as we love
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our players, the computing power of the Archos (SH1 microcontroller) is
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not fully sufficent for this need (Once again, this is not a definative
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no. The world is full of brilliant people. We just aren't hunting
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down all the ones not already involved with the project right this
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instant).
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Q18. What about supporting playing of wav files?
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A18. No Bill. We have no intention of that. Go buy your own project.
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Q19. When do you think there will be a version available for my Archos?
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A19. We recently released version 1.0, so head on over to
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http://bjorn.haxx.se/rockbox/download.html and pull it down. This first
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version is more a proof-of-concept than a serious replacement for the
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stock firmware, so make sure you read the release notes
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(http://bjorn.haxx.se/rockbox/rockbox-1.0-notes.txt).
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* NOTE *
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This first version will _note_ work on Archos Recorders yet. We plan/hope
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to get Rockbox working on Recorders around version 1.2.
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Q20. What do you plan to add to coming versions?
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A20. We have a rough idea of which features we plan/expect/hope to be included
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in which versions. Once again, remember that none of this is written in
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stone (noticing a pattern yet?)
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Version 1.1
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Playlist support, scrolling, UI improvements
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Version 1.2
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Recorder support, UI improvements
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Version 1.3
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Resume, persistent settings, autobuild playlists, UI improvements
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Q21. I tried one of your firmware files and now I can't access my harddisk!
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When I turn on my jukebox, it says:
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Part. Error
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Pls Chck HD
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A21. Your harddisk has been password protected. We're not 100% sure why it
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happens, but you can unlock it yourself. Look at:
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http://rockbox.sourceforge.net/rockbox/lock.html
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Q22: This FAQ doesn't answer the question I have. What should I do?
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A22: You have a couple options here. You could forget the question, find an
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easier question, or accept '42' as the answer no matter what. We don't
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really recommend any of these (though I do opt for '42' often myself).
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What we do recommend is stopping by IRC, reading
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http://bjorn.haxx.se/rockbox to see if the question was answered else
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where and just not included here, or ultimatly dropping an email to the
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mailing list (rockbox@cool.haxx.se) or the FAQ maintainer listed on the
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project homepage.
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Q23: Are there other ways to contact the developers?
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A23: Yes.
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Q24: Are you going to tell us what they are?
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A24: No. Post to the mailing list and we will get back to you.
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Q25: But I _really_ want to talk with you in person.
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A25: I'm sorry. My girlfriend/boyfriend/pet says I'm not allowed to, and the
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doctors here won't let me have pens or pencils. They say its some rule
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about us not having sharp objects. I'm sorry. Now please stop calling me
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here.
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Q26: Will you ever port Quake II to the Archos?
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A26: If you ask that again, I'm sending your address and phone number to the
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guy that mailed us with question #23.
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Q27: Umm, was that sarcasm?
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A27: That's it, I'm mailing him now.
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