Flashing in the sense used here and elsewhere in regard to Rockbox, means +
Flashing in the sense used here and elsewhere in regard to Rockbox means reprogramming the flash memory of the Archos unit. Flash memory (sometimes -called "flash RAM") is a type of constantly-powered nonvolatile memory that -can be erased and reprogrammed. It is a variation of electrically erasable -programmable read-only memory (EEPROM). +called "Flash ROM") is a type of nonvolatile memory that can be erased and +reprogrammed. It is a variation of electrically erasable programmable +read-only memory (EEPROM).
When you bought Your Archos, it came with the Archos firmware flashed. Now, @@ -122,10 +122,11 @@ in. If the chip is blank, you'll need the UART boot mod as well. The vast majority of the Player/Recorder/FM all have the same boot ROM content, differenciation comes later by flash content. So far very few people had a different, presumable later boot ROM. It uses a different flash layout. -For these the tools will refuse to work, the only -way to find out is to try if the sanity check fails. +The Hardware Info screen tells the boot ROM version in the ROM CRC line. +You need a value marked with "V1". +For V2 boxes the tools will refuse to work for the time being. Flashing these is not impossible, but the firmware authoring has to be -different. It takes a developer with the UART boot mod to go ahead with it. +different. It takes a developer with the serial mod to go ahead with it.
Short explaination: very easy, just play "rockbox.ucl" from the download +or build. Long version: +
The second image is the working copy, the "rockbox_flash.rock" plugin from this -package reprograms it. I suggest to place the plugin to where you keep the -others, "/.rockbox/rocks/". The plugin needs to be consistant with the Rockbox +package reprograms it. The plugins needs to be consistant with the Rockbox plugin API version, otherwise it will detect mismatch and won't run.
It currently requires an exotic input, a UCL-compressed image, because @@ -217,8 +215,10 @@ href="http://www.oberhumer.com/opensource/ucl/">www.oberhumer.com/opensource/ucl and Cygwin I can do that, so the executables are in the package. The sample program from that download is called "uclpack". We'll use that to -compress "rockbox.bin" which is the result of the compilation. If flashing -becomes very popular, this could be a part of the build process. +compress "rockbox.bin" which is the result of the compilation. This is +a part of the build process meanwhile. If you compile Rockbox yourself, +you should copy uclpack to a directory which is in the path, I recommend +placing it int the same dir as SH compiler.
Don't flash any "old" builds which don't have the latest coldstart ability I @@ -230,21 +230,27 @@ Here are the steps:
The latest ATA init fixes seemed to have solved early adopter's problems. However, the wait for the harddisk is longer, you're unlikely to reach the 3 -seconds boot time. I hope it will improve one day again. If there should still -be ATA errors on startup, use F1-On for the Archos image. Then you can either -reprogram the original firmware from your backup, or live with F1-On until a -better Rockbox build resolves it, or program the Archos software in the second -image, too. +seconds boot time. I hope it will improve one day again.
Loading the original Archos firmware via rolo may hang, if Rockbox is started from flash. This is some initialization problem which I hope to fix, rolo-ing -Rockbox versions works OK. If you feel homesick, hold F1 during powerup. +Rockbox versions works OK. If you feel homesick, move away ajbrec.ajz and hold +F1 during powerup.
Latest Rockbox now has a charging screen, but it is in an early stage. You'll @@ -277,13 +280,17 @@ get it when the unit is off and you plug in the charger. The Rockbox charging algorithm is first measuring the battery voltage for about 40 seconds, after that it only starts charging when the capacity is below 85%. You can use the Archos charging (which always tops off) by holding F1 -while plugging in. +while plugging in. Some FM users reported charging problems even with F1, +they had to revert to the original flash content.
The plugin API is currently changed often, new builds may render the plugins -incompatible. When updating, make sure you grab those too, but don't -overwrite the rockbox_flash.rock yet, since you still need it matching the -currently running Rockbox to flash. +incompatible. When updating, make sure you grab those too, and rolo into +the new version before flashing it. + +
+Two people have an issue with recording, it freezes after a few minutes or so +(statistically). The use F1 to record with Archos software as a workaround.