elinenbe writes "Rockbox, the open source firmware for the Archos Recorder, Player, FM, Recorder V2, and now the Neo can play grayscale videos at over 60FPS. A demo version of the DOOM3 intro along with a few other sample clips have been made so far. This is the Archos that was NOT designed for movies, but for MP3s -- go Rockbox!"
.. "that's neat, but if that would have been a standard feature everyone would have said it sucked", on the other hand as it's not designed to play video, it's neat alright.
Is the LCD on that thing supposed to be able to keep up with 60fps? I mean, I don't think they were designing the LCD on the MP3 with Video playback in mind...
Actually according to the site, they've been working on high performance blits for the LCD screen. Thus they have sped up the refresh rate significantly over the original Archos firmware.
But increasing the blit rate is still not going to do you any good if the LCDs can't physically "turn on" that fast. All you're going to get is a blurred mess.
They're probably just using one of the plethora of grayscale lcds on the market, rather than designing their own "slower" lcd because they don't need the extra response. I don't remember where but I saw a website where you can just buy screens used in the myriad of consumer electronics, they have a pretty good refresh rate so they can be used in more applications, like Gameboys and whatnot.
Interesting page, thanks for the link. However... there is a mistake on the page. Duct/duck tape is NOT the same as 100 mile an hour tape. There is a lot more that is different than just the color. Oh well, can't win 'em all.
No, if you look at the package you will never see anywhere listed for putting it in your ear. They avoid law suits that way when you cause damage to your ear drum.
Does it do DivX? No doubt a firmware hack will allow that:)
I'm quite doubtful of that actually. I haven't yet seen firmware that will make a cheap DVD player play MPEG4 files, so it's not always as easy as a firmware update.
I have a Archos Multimedia jukebox... it can play divx files that have been resized to fit on the screen (comes with the program to do it, too), along with the audio being mp3... took me an hour to yank the AC3 audio out and encode it back into an mp3 format... ah, what I will do to keep my home video backups accessable...;)
Apparently the hardware decoders are not immediately able to play vorbis or anything other than MP3, and the processor is too slow to allow software conversion on-the-fly. That said, they're still working on a way to do it.
From Rockbox FAQ [rockbox.haxx.se] 17. You mention supporting Ogg Vorbis and other file types on your list of ideas. What is the status on that?
Pessimist's Answer: At the current time we believe 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 pow
According to the IRC logs of last week some guy claims that he has access to the neccessary docus, but the rockbox-developer don't even consider looking at it, unless they get official permission to use it. They just want to get sure that they don't break any (ie. DMCA) laws.
some guy claims that he has access to the neccessary docus, but the rockbox-developer don't even consider looking at it, unless they get official permission to use it.
Why not use the old, tried-and-tested method of clean-room reverse-enginering? Recruit several people with no Rockbox programming exposure to look at the documents and write their own version of the specs, noting entry points, API calls, and so on. Get them to publish the documentation using some version of the GPL. Then fire them, put the
I can attest to the superiority of the RockBoxx firmware. The list of features keeps growing when other commercial vendors would have stopped implementing new features. I use RockBoxx for its great handling of VBR MP3s for instance.
I only hope the RIO Karma team is listening! I just bought one for my girlfriend and I plan to get one once my archos gets dropped too many times.
RockBox is great. I bought an Archos about 8 months ago because it was more than $100 dollars cheaper than an iPod at that time, and RockBox has made it usable. I hate trying to work with my friend's Archos as he still has the original firmware. I consider my inability to convert him to RockBox to be my worst failing in the open source zealotry field, worse than the number of people I know who still are using IE instead of Firebird. Some day I should just steal it from him, install the software myself, and
Well it would be nice if there was firmware for the Archos Jukebox Multimedia but speaking to the people who devloped Rockbox they said that its just to hard. Have to wonder why. Oh well its all fun
The fact of the matter is that none of the developers (myself included) own a Multimedia unit to work with. The possibility is always there, but for us, right now the _need_ isn't there.
As cool as this sounds, you really can't appreciate what these guys have done until you see the video running. It's far more watchable than I thought at first.
Now to figure out how to convert video to.rfv for some late-night porn^H^H^H^HDivX viewing!
I have been a long time evangelist for Rockbox. They have really made the Archos a wonderful device. Far better than the official firmware.
That said, the quality assurance portion of Archos has really gone downhill. My local BestBuy stopped carrying the Archos due to too many returns. My old Player (6GB) is sound as a pound, and about as heavy. But, my FM Recorder (20GB) is an unmitigated POS. It has had a lovely clicking sound (HD, I assume; however, I returned it and had the HD replaced. Still clicks. Archos Return-guy said they were getting a ton of returned FM Recorders) And, the FM Recorder will occasionally go into a "never-ending reboot" cycle. Where it partially boots, then reboots, and repeat, until after being left alone for a few hours it decides to work properly. So, the FM Recorder (out of 90 day warranty) is now treated with kid gloves as a home stereo MP3 player, and the old Jukebox is for the car and airplane. Someday I'll replace the HD in the Player.
So, Archos is nice, if it works. Looks just like a USB HD without any needed proprietary software like the other HD MP3 players. I just suggest you stick with the Player or plain-old Recorder and avoid the FM Recorder. If I had to do it again, I'd still get the Player but the SliMP3 (or newer) would work better than what I use the FM Recorder for.
Your experience with the FM Recorder does not match mine. My FM/R has been rock solid. The battery lasts long enough to handle the Denver/Tokyo flight. The drive does click on occasion, but I have to hold the thing near my ear to hear it -- or be recording with the built-in mic. It's barely audible. The FM/R has been with me on 10-12 transatlantic/transpacific flights and has never had a problem. I take the thing everywhere in my briefcase and use it as an external drive at home and at work. It's even been dropped a number of times. Never a problem.
The thing I like most about the FM/R is that I can recharge the it from the USB port. The charger that was shipped with the unit was a real POS and fried the first week I had it. I've never missed it.
The RockBox upgrade is a must though. These guys have done an awesome job.
It was the first place I got the hardware mod instructions for my old 6gb archos mp3 player (nothing like having a 20gig version before you can even buy one in the store).
Somebody else mentioned it... the charger that came with the archos really was a POS... the wires frayed on mine, and I ended up cutting them and attaching spade connectors (yeah, I know... unsafe, but it was all I had at the time). Soon after that, the transformer went out entirely, and now I have to change batteries.
Yes, there are some (design) problems with Archos FM Recoder.
Probably the most important one is that you can't change the (Li-Ion) batteries. And unfortunately Li-Ion batteries degrade after 2-3 years due to a chemical process, regardless how often you use/recharge the batteries. Look at your mobile telephones, and you know what I mean...
BTW, this problem also affects the Archos 'Recorder V2' (which is basically a FM Recorder without the FM Radio) and the Apple IPod and actually most MP3 Players/Jukebo
Why throw it away when the batteries wear out? Just buy new ones [pdainternalbattery.com]. Lithium batteries aren't terribly rare these days. The replacement process looks at least as simple as swapping screw-secured AA's on my 3-year-old kid's toys.
That's ONE company specializing in selling "custom"[1] batteries to end users. They're actually manufactured by God-knows-who in some far-eastern sweatshop, just like almost everything else small and toxic that we buy these days.
No matter. $5 says that the Archos battery is not anything of any remarkable uniqueness, anyway. The greatest involvement Archos had in the design of this battery was the shape and color of the plastic shell that it comes in[1]. Otherwise, it's
And by the way, you can't make up an new argument by simply referencing other arguments.
You must be new here.
I'm not primarily interested in (USB) charging systems, or that the device is the smallest and lightest possible when looking for a portable device. It's nice if it has these features, but the most important part is that I can use it (does the job), and use it while travelling, and use it as long as possible!
The only application I can think of where recharging is not an option while one sleeps,
What you people should be doing is hacking one of those DVD-based video players with the 10 inch screens, adding a USB port or something.
Every time the great Rockbox guys get a mention on/. there's always some poster who tells them to go do something that the poster is more interested in.
If it means so much to you then why don't you go do something with one of these DVD players? Nobody's stopping you. The Rockbox code is even GPLd so you can start from there.
what can i say (Score:5, Funny)
Re:what can i say (Score:1)
Re:what can i say (Score:2, Funny)
Re:what can i say (Score:1, Funny)
Re:what can i say (Score:2)
i hate to break it to you..
but opera for series60 and gprs..
well you should get the idea, i just wish i would have had that army.
nice work though!
Re:what can i say (Score:1, Offtopic)
All I can think of is (Score:4, Interesting)
Go non-corporate developers.
LCD Response Time (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:LCD Response Time (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re:LCD Response Time (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:LCD Response Time (Score:1)
Not so big (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Not so big (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
s/DUCT/DUCK/ (Score:2, Interesting)
Get a load of all the uses for Duck Tape:
and
Re:Not so big (Score:2)
Re:Not so big (Score:2)
Duck Tape, from Duck Products. (Score:2)
Re:DUCK Tape (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:DUCK Tape (Score:2)
Re:Not so big (Score:1)
Re:Not so big (Score:1)
Re:Not so big (Score:3, Informative)
No, if you look at the package you will never see anywhere listed for putting it in your ear. They avoid law suits that way when you cause damage to your ear drum.
Nice one (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.archos.com/products/av300_series.html?
80 hours? Yeah right. Does it do DivX? No doubt a firmware hack will allow that
Re:Nice one (Score:2)
I'm quite doubtful of that actually. I haven't yet seen firmware that will make a cheap DVD player play MPEG4 files, so it's not always as easy as a firmware update.
Re:Nice one (Score:2, Informative)
I really do like it though, nice bright screen.
Re:Nice one (Score:2, Funny)
Yah I just hate that too... Sometimes I think my home AC3 encoder is just too much of a hassle.
Re:Nice one (Score:1)
Re:Nice one (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Nice one (Score:2)
Does Archos play non-evil formats? (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Does Archos play non-evil formats? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Does Archos play non-evil formats? (Score:1, Informative)
17. You mention supporting Ogg Vorbis and other file types on your list of ideas. What is the status on that?
Pessimist's Answer: At the current time we believe 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 pow
Re:Does Archos play non-evil formats? (Score:1)
Reverse Engineering (Score:3, Interesting)
Why not use the old, tried-and-tested method of clean-room reverse-enginering? Recruit several people with no Rockbox programming exposure to look at the documents and write their own version of the specs, noting entry points, API calls, and so on. Get them to publish the documentation using some version of the GPL. Then fire them, put the
Re:Does Archos play non-evil formats? (Score:1)
RockBoxx is a OSS posterchild. (Score:5, Informative)
I only hope the RIO Karma team is listening! I just bought one for my girlfriend and I plan to get one once my archos gets dropped too many times.
Re:RockBoxx is a OSS posterchild. (Score:2)
Archos Jukebox Multimedia (Score:1, Offtopic)
Rus
Re:Archos Jukebox Multimedia (Score:1)
Impressive. (Score:4, Insightful)
Rockbox == great!; Archos == questionable (Score:5, Insightful)
That said, the quality assurance portion of Archos has really gone downhill. My local BestBuy stopped carrying the Archos due to too many returns. My old Player (6GB) is sound as a pound, and about as heavy. But, my FM Recorder (20GB) is an unmitigated POS. It has had a lovely clicking sound (HD, I assume; however, I returned it and had the HD replaced. Still clicks. Archos Return-guy said they were getting a ton of returned FM Recorders) And, the FM Recorder will occasionally go into a "never-ending reboot" cycle. Where it partially boots, then reboots, and repeat, until after being left alone for a few hours it decides to work properly. So, the FM Recorder (out of 90 day warranty) is now treated with kid gloves as a home stereo MP3 player, and the old Jukebox is for the car and airplane. Someday I'll replace the HD in the Player.
So, Archos is nice, if it works. Looks just like a USB HD without any needed proprietary software like the other HD MP3 players. I just suggest you stick with the Player or plain-old Recorder and avoid the FM Recorder. If I had to do it again, I'd still get the Player but the SliMP3 (or newer) would work better than what I use the FM Recorder for.
I Love my FM Recorder (Score:5, Insightful)
The thing I like most about the FM/R is that I can recharge the it from the USB port. The charger that was shipped with the unit was a real POS and fried the first week I had it. I've never missed it.
The RockBox upgrade is a must though. These guys have done an awesome job.
Parent
great stuff on that site (Score:3, Interesting)
Somebody else mentioned it... the charger that came with the archos really was a POS... the wires frayed on mine, and I ended up cutting them and attaching spade connectors (yeah, I know... unsafe, but it was all I had at the time). Soon after that, the transformer went out entirely, and now I have to change batteries.
Oh well... at le
Re:Rockbox == great!, but get the right Archos! (Score:3, Informative)
Probably the most important one is that you can't change the (Li-Ion) batteries. And unfortunately Li-Ion batteries degrade after 2-3 years due to a chemical process, regardless how often you use/recharge the batteries. Look at your mobile telephones, and you know what I mean
BTW, this problem also affects the Archos 'Recorder V2' (which is basically a FM Recorder without the FM Radio) and the Apple IPod and actually most MP3 Players/Jukebo
Re:Rockbox == great!, but get the right Archos! (Score:2)
Re:Rockbox == great!, but get the right Archos! (Score:2)
That's ONE company specializing in selling "custom"[1] batteries to end users. They're actually manufactured by God-knows-who in some far-eastern sweatshop, just like almost everything else small and toxic that we buy these days.
No matter. $5 says that the Archos battery is not anything of any remarkable uniqueness, anyway. The greatest involvement Archos had in the design of this battery was the shape and color of the plastic shell that it comes in[1]. Otherwise, it's
Re:Rockbox == great!, but get the right Archos! (Score:2)
You must be new here.
I'm not primarily interested in (USB) charging systems, or that the device is the smallest and lightest possible when looking for a portable device. It's nice if it has these features, but the most important part is that I can use it (does the job), and use it while travelling, and use it as long as possible!
The only application I can think of where recharging is not an option while one sleeps,
A better idea (Score:3, Interesting)
What you people should be doing is hacking one of those DVD-based video players with the 10 inch screens, adding a USB port or something.
Future PDAs will be converged devices, with phones, cameras, and DVD....at least until MRAM arrives.
Do It Yourself (Score:2)
Every time the great Rockbox guys get a mention on
If it means so much to you then why don't you go do something with one of these DVD players? Nobody's stopping you. The Rockbox code is even GPLd so you can start from there.
This is analogous to what happens when
and version 2.1 was released too! (Score:2)