Rockbox for MP3 players
In 2006 I bought myself a Toshiba Gigabeat F40.
It's a great device, but it came with terrible firmware and all tracks had to be converted from mp3 into a proprietary "secure" format which was a real drag.
My solution was to look on wikipedia....
To quote from Wikipedia-> Gigabeat "In November 2005, Toshiba released a firmware upgrade to the Gigabeat F and the Gigaroom software. An American version was released in March 2006. However, a CD must be ordered by calling Toshiba. The upgrades have fixed up Gigaroom's image transferring problems, but gave it lags and reportedly some minor crashes. They also add an equalizer and distortion problems have been resolved.a As of April 2007, the multi-platform, open-source firmware called Rockbox can be downloaded onto the Gigabeat F to give it video support, in MPEG-1/MPEG-2 formats with MP2/MP3 audio."
I have installed Rockbox onto my gigabeat F40, and am very impressed.
Now files can be dragged and dropped straight into it, and more importantly it works with stardard .mp3 and .wav formats.
Actually any files you like because it's now seen by the computer as a external disk :) The video feature is nice, and overall Rockbox is hugely customisable, select your favorite font, in any colour you like. Apply background images to have your friends as wallpaper.... etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockbox Rockbox on Wikipedia
rockbox.org Rockbox is an open source replacement firmware for mp3 players
I have now been running RockBox, for 5 years, and still love it :)
The installation has been improoved, and is now handled by an installer program that guides you through the process.
And if something goes wrong.....
Toshiba Gigabeat "NO SYSTEM FOUND IN HDD" error
No system !
NO FIRMWARE FOUND
This is a great wee blog on how to rescue a non responding Gigabeat if the Rockbox installation goes wrong, or if you accidentally format the harddrive.
It's a great device, but it came with terrible firmware and all tracks had to be converted from mp3 into a proprietary "secure" format which was a real drag.
My solution was to look on wikipedia....
To quote from Wikipedia-> Gigabeat "In November 2005, Toshiba released a firmware upgrade to the Gigabeat F and the Gigaroom software. An American version was released in March 2006. However, a CD must be ordered by calling Toshiba. The upgrades have fixed up Gigaroom's image transferring problems, but gave it lags and reportedly some minor crashes. They also add an equalizer and distortion problems have been resolved.a As of April 2007, the multi-platform, open-source firmware called Rockbox can be downloaded onto the Gigabeat F to give it video support, in MPEG-1/MPEG-2 formats with MP2/MP3 audio."
I have installed Rockbox onto my gigabeat F40, and am very impressed.
Now files can be dragged and dropped straight into it, and more importantly it works with stardard .mp3 and .wav formats.
Actually any files you like because it's now seen by the computer as a external disk :) The video feature is nice, and overall Rockbox is hugely customisable, select your favorite font, in any colour you like. Apply background images to have your friends as wallpaper.... etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockbox Rockbox on Wikipedia
rockbox.org Rockbox is an open source replacement firmware for mp3 players
I have now been running RockBox, for 5 years, and still love it :)
The installation has been improoved, and is now handled by an installer program that guides you through the process.
And if something goes wrong.....
Toshiba Gigabeat "NO SYSTEM FOUND IN HDD" error
No system !
NO FIRMWARE FOUND
This is a great wee blog on how to rescue a non responding Gigabeat if the Rockbox installation goes wrong, or if you accidentally format the harddrive.
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