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I know lots of people will argue the merits of the iPod vs. some new “iPod killer”, but let’s face it, the iPod is one slick piece of hardware. In my opinion the form factor and input are amazing and it has major sex appeal. The software however, has never seemed to hold it’s own. It feels like a children’s toy in a convertible sports car. Sure it will play media, but it will never empower you to unleash the full capability of the iPod as an audio device.

For me, the apple firmware was not an option because a lot of my music is formatted in OGG or FLAC. However, I wanted the video iPod so bad. The solution: Rockbox, an open source firmware replacement for many different mp3 players including the Apple iPod. In this article I’ll highlight some of the reasons why I use Rockbox and some of the cool and often overlooked features.

Rockbox

I’m not into feature bleed. I like my mp3 player to play my music (and video), but i’m not too interested in the fact that it can display images or be an address book; so I will be avoiding those features and concentrating on the audio ones. While Rockbox is remarkably easy to install, it is so feature rich that it has a steep learning curve with operation. Also, the Rockbox website is not well laid out, so I will try and provide some guidance starting where the developers leave off.

I won’t lie to you, you are going to have to put some time into learning how to use Rockbox. Fortunately, the more time you put in, the more you will get out of it. The manual is the official documentation and it is a great place to start. It is built daily, just like the software, and will get you started. Also, now that you know someone who uses Rockbox, you can always ask me.

Installation

The installation is remarkably easy and is very clearly explained in the manual. When you look at a brand new iPod, it is hard to bring yourself to modify it at all. However, Rockbox is very non-invasive and easy to reverse if something goes wrong (very unlikely). Also, after it is installed, your iPod is dual bootable (!) so you can use both Rockbox and the Apple firmware.

Before you decide to install, there is a simulator available for demo on your pc. It is fun to play with for me after using Rockbox on the iPod, but I’m not sure how useful it would have been to deciding whether to install or not. First, it is ugly because it only has the default themes. Second, since you can’t play music with the demo (well I couldn’t), you don’t get to see the majority of the cool features. The simulator is pretty cool, but my recommendation is to just go for it!

After you get the base software installed there is the fun of customizing it with themes and fonts and adding extras such as movie playing, or Doom. Adding all of this functionality and eye candy is as easy as installing the software itself: just copy the files over to the appropriate directories. Personally, I like Theme X (I have used the Aardvark themes in the past as well and like them) and fonts, and movie player for extras.

Accessibility

Speaking of extras (pun is so intended), there are some that add major functionality for some people. Specifically the voice extra and some specific large text themes. The voice extra enables the reading of directory names as you navigate through the menus. This means that Rockbox can turn any (supported) mp3 player into a accessible device for the blind. I think that’s pretty cool.

An upcoming project of mine is to install the voice extra and a large print theme so that I can use my iPod in a safe manner while driving. Like a handicap ramp, accessibility helps everyone: wheelchairs, pregnant women, movers, even kids with skate shoes. I’ll let you know how much safer I feel behind the wheel with these modifications.

Using Rockbox

Now I want to get into the meat of using Rockbox. Be patient. At first it will seem like feature overload (because it is) especially if you are used to using something as simple as the iPod firmware. I kept coming back to the manual every now and then to brush up and learn more…I’m still doing this and don’t anticipate stopping soon. It does get easier and it is totally worth it.

As you would expect with any self-respecting open source project, everything is configurable. Everything. Almost everything can be done on the iPod itself as well; for the stuff that can’t, the configuration files are easy to read and easy to edit. As an example of what I mean when I say everything: Rockbox will build a database of the audio files (based on their tags) much as iTunes does (then imports it to the iPod when syncing) but on the fly. There is an option for this database to keep it in the RAM (faster searching) or to keep it on the disk (longer battery life). You can decide how your iPod behaves with this level of granularity (if you choose) all from the iPod interface.

Here are some other features I enjoy:

• Queue vs. Insert vs. Select vs. Play
  Rockbox makes a distinction between these four options when play music. It treats all music played as being added to a dynamic playlist (which you have the option to save if you like) and makes a distinction based on how you add it:
  • Queue means it will add it to the dynamic playlist and then remove it from the playlist as soon as it is finished playing
  • Insert means it will add the track or tracks to the dynamic playlist and keep them in the playlist after they are done playing
  • If you just select a file or song to play, it will clear the dynamic playlist and add all the songs in the directory you choose the file from. It will begin playback with the song you selected.
  • The play option is much like select except it will completely clear the dynamic playlist except the currently playing song, which it will allow to finish before beginning playback from the new directory starting with the song you selected play on.
• Rockbox is great for listening to books on as well. I was recently hipped to Podiobooks which is a cool concept and I’m trying it out to see how I like it. There is a built in bookmarking system for your longer files that makes it easy to resume a book if you’ve taken a break to listen to something else. (Maybe something you bought on Magnitude?)
• Rockbox will allow you to continue to listen to music while plugging in the usb cable to give the battery some extra juice. Just hold down menu when you insert the usb cable.
• Crossfeed is a playback option that makes listening to music on headphones just a bit nicer. See, when you listen to music in front of your HIFI system, you hear sound in both ears from both channels (your left ear hears music from the right speaker, and your right ear hears music from the left speaker). You still get a stereo experience because it takes longer for the far ear get the music than the near ear. On headphones you get a physical separation and a harsh stereo experience. Crossfeed is an option that helps you recreate the stereo experience of two monitors (that’s how the music was mixed and mastered, btw). There are also awesome EQ options as well, but the official manual handles that discussion quite well.
• Do you use last.fm? I do. Thanks to Rockbox, all the music I play on my iPod get’s formatted and saved in a text file called .scrobble that I can upload to my last.fm account. I have lots of issues with last.fm but I still use it. I like this feature of my iPod a lot.
• There is a playback mode called Karaoke that does a pretty good job of removing the vocals from your music. I don’t have much experience with this but from what I’ve heard, I think I will plan an entire party around it.
• Party Mode turns your iPod into a jukebox: add songs, but don’t change the order, pause, or stop the music…on and on till the break of dawn.

Summary

So this barely scratches the surface. I hope these cool features encourage you to try Rockbox and get more out of your hardware. It’s fast and easy to get started and there’s no limit to what you can do from there…I haven’t found it yet at least.

Resources

• Rockbox Official Site
• Wikipedia: Rockbox

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