From a475898f8c96dd722eed5f083d0f059cccdae9d5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Robert Hak Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 10:51:03 +0000 Subject: file moved to ../../docs/ git-svn-id: svn://svn.rockbox.org/rockbox/trunk@1860 a1c6a512-1295-4272-9138-f99709370657 --- www/docs/FAQ | 280 ----------------------------------------------------------- 1 file changed, 280 deletions(-) delete mode 100644 www/docs/FAQ (limited to 'www/docs') diff --git a/www/docs/FAQ b/www/docs/FAQ deleted file mode 100644 index 8f522c84d8..0000000000 --- a/www/docs/FAQ +++ /dev/null @@ -1,280 +0,0 @@ -Q1. What is a FAQ? -A1. A rare small animal of the species 'Textius Electronicus'. It is known for - its helpful attitude and vicious misspellings. - -Q2. Okay, fine, what is _this_ FAQ? -A2. This FAQ is for questions (that we have answers too) that have been asked - repeatedly either in emails or on IRC. - -Q3. What is Rockbox? What is it's purpose? -A3. The purpose of this project is to write an Open Source replacement - firmware for the Archos Jukebox 6000, Studio 20 and Recorder MP3 players. - -Q4. I want to write code for my Archos, how do I proceed? -A4. First make sure to read the file CONTRIBUTING in the firmware directory - on Sourceforge. See http://rockbox.haxx.se/firmware/CONTRIBUTING - if you do not want to have to wade through the CVS directories. - -Q5: Whats CVS? -A5: 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://rockbox.haxx.se/cvs.html - -Q6. What exactly is the CONTRIBUTING file? -A6. 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. - -Q7. 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? -A7. 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. - -Q8. Okay, so how do I submit a patch? -A8. Run: "diff -u oldfile newfile > patchfile" 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, this is nothing personal.) - - Of if you would like to run the diff against the current cvs code: - cvs diff -ub [file(s)] - -Q9. I want to join the development team, but don't have a SourceForge account, - what should I do? -A9. Head on over to http://sourceforge.net/account/register.php and create an - account for yourself. - -Q10. Do you have a mailing list? -A10. Sure do! As a matter of fact, we have several of them for specific - things. Please check out: http://rockbox.haxx.se/mail/ - -Q11. Great you have a mailing list! Is there anyway for me to catch up on - past posts? -A11. Check out the archives at: http://rockbox.haxx.se/mail.cgi - -Q12. How can I meet the developers working on the project? -A12. 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. - -Q13: Wow, you guys talk on IRC alot? I wish I had been around for those - conversations to see what happened. -A13: We are glad you mentioned that! http://rockbox.haxx.se/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. - -Q14. What is this "SourceForge" you keep mentioning? -A14. http://www.sourceforge.net - -Q15. Can the changes or the software that Rockbox suggests or offers - possibly damage my Archos Player? -A15. 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.) - -Q16. 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? -A16. We have a collection of photos of both the player and recorder. Look at - http://rockbox.haxx.se/internals/ - -Q17. What exactly are you trying to achieve with this line of development? - (A.K.A. whats your purpose for being here?) -A17. 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. - -Q18. I don't see you mentioning other file types on your list of ideas. What - about supporting those? -A18. Pessimist's Answer: At the current time we belive this is not very likely - The Micronas chip (MAS3507) decoder in the archos does not natively - support decoding and there is very 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 fully sufficent for this need. - - Optimist's Answer: We can play any format if only we can write code for - the DSP to decode it. The MAS 3507 (and 3587) are generic DSPs that - simply have MP3 codecs in ROM. We can download new codecs in them and - we will be the first to celebrate if we can get OGG or FLAC or anything - into these DSPs. Unfortunately, we have no docs or tools for writing new - MAS DSP code and Intermetall is very secretive about it. If anyone can - help, please get in touch! - - -Q19. What about supporting playing of WMA files? -A19. Dear Mr. Gates, you have two options. Re-read question #17, or go buy - your own project. - -Q20. When do you think there will be a version available for my Archos? -A20. We recently released version 1.2, so head on over to - http://rockbox.haxx.se/download.html and pull it down. - Make sure to read the release notes. - (http://rockbox.haxx.se/download/rockbox-1.2-notes.txt). - -Q21. What do you plan to add to coming versions? -A21. We have a rough idea of which features we plan/expect/hope to be included - in which versions. Once again, remember that none of this is written in - stone (noticing a pattern yet?) - - Version 1.3 - Persistent settings for Player, UI improvements - - Version 1.4 - Recording? - -Q22. 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 -A22. Your harddisk has been password protected. We're not 100% sure why it - happens, but you can unlock it yourself. Look at: - http://rockbox.haxx.se/lock.html - -Q23: This FAQ doesn't answer the question I have. What should I do? -A23: 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://rockbox.haxx.se 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) or the FAQ maintainer listed on the - project homepage. - -Q24: Are there other ways to contact the developers? -A24: Yes. - -Q25: Are you going to tell us what they are? -A25: No. Post to the mailing list and we will get back to you. - -Q26: But I _really_ want to talk with you in person. -A26: 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. - -Q27: Will you ever port Quake II to the Archos? -A27: If you ask that again, I'm sending your address and phone number to the - guy that mailed us with question #23. - -Q28: Umm, was that sarcasm? -A28: That's it, I'm mailing him now. - -Q29: Is this legal? I mean, I'd just hate to see something like that - challenged under the DMCA in all its ridiculousness. Any thoughts or - ideas? -A29: We believe we are in the green on this. We are not violating anyone's - copyright and we are not circumventing any copy protection scheme. - This has been a big point for the project since its inception. Some - people wanted us to distribute patched versions of the original firmware, - but seeing as that _would_ have violated Archos' copyright, we didn't - follow that course of action. - -Q30: On the website [and various information postings] you state - "Every tiny bit was reverse engineered, disassembled and then - re-written from scratch". - If it was rewritten from scratch then why was it first reverse-engineered - and disassembled? Instead this sounds more like someone disassembled it - then used the understanding that they gained to create a new version, - which is not quite the same as "from scratch". -A30: Don't confuse the terms. Reverse engineering means examining a product - to find out how it works. Disassembling the firmware is merely one tool - used in that examination. Oscilloscopes and logic analyzers are other - tools we have used. We have written every single byte of the Rockbox - firmware. But we could not have written the software without first - researching how the hardware was put together, i.e. reverse engineer it. - All of this is completely legal. If you define "from scratch" as writing - software without first researching the surrounding interfaces, then no - software has ever been written from scratch. - -Q31: Wait a minute here. When you released version 1.0 you did not have a - single one of the ideas you have mentioned on your website actually - implimented! Calling this version 1.0 is really misleading. Whats the - story?! -A31: In simple terms, the first release was called 1.0 because it had a basic - working feature set that worked and had no known bugs. That is what 1.0 - meant. It is true that Rockbox 1.0 lacked most of the feature set that - every sane user wanted. However, we never said it was more - feature-complete or better in any way then the original firmware that early - in the project. The first release was done as a proof of concept that our - ideas are moving in the right direction. We also hoped that it would help - bring the project some attention, and some additional developers. - Adding the missing features was just a matter of time. In more recently - releases we have completed many of our desired goals, and several new ones - that were implimented to fullfill user requests. - -Q32: I've heard talk of a 'Rolo'. What is that? (Or 'All you ever wanted - to know about Rockbox boot loaders') -A32: The developers have discussed the possibility of a boot loader. (Mainly - because having one sounds cool, and isn't Rolo just a great name?) - The idea would be that a user could use the load to choose between - different verions of Rockbox or the Archo firmware itself. We have a - working version of ROLO implimented for the players, and a version in - development for the recorders. However, at this time, the patch for ROLO - is not optimal for use and is not part of the main branch of the CVS. - Once this improves and has been tested sufficently, it will become part of - the main release. Please check the mailing list logs and irc logs for more - information. - -Q33: I was thinking about making the USB a bit more usable. What are the - chances of using the USB port to [play games / share files / list - the device as something other then a hard drive / sell my soul to you - for a nickel]. What do you think? -A33: You really don't want to know what I think, it involves road flares, - microwave ovens and shaved cats. Enough said. But regarding the USB - portion of your question, this is not feasible. First, any ideas - regarding special communications over the USB port will not work because - we have no control over the USB port itself. We are capable of - dectecting if it is in use (so we know which mode to switch to) but that - is it. Second, if you would like to have your Archos as a harddrive for - another device, know that this will not work either. The Archos unit is - a slave. Most other USB devices are slaves as well. So without some - master involved there can be no communication. Sorry. Now about your - soul. Would you settle for 3 cents and a small wad of belly button lint? - -Q34: When I use RockBox my jukebox's red "error" light turns on a lot, but this - doesn't happen on the factory firmware. Why? -A34: Rockbox uses the red LED as harddisk activity light, not as an error - light. Relax and enjoy the music. - -Q35: How do I use the loadable fonts? -A35: Loadable fonts are a work in progress. We do not have full documentation - for it. The best we can do now is tell you that you need a valid .bdf - font, and to use the tool "bdf2ajf" from CVS to conver to the .ajf format. - The final .ajf font must be stored in the archos root as 'system.ajf' - We do expect more documentation on this process shortly. - -Q36: I have a question about the batteries... -A36: STOP! We have put togeather a completely different FAQ for battery - related questions. Check out: http://rockbox.haxx.se/docs/battery.html - -- cgit v1.2.3