Improve Your iPod with Rockbox 343
polar_bear` writes "The allure of the iPod is undeniable -- they're well-designed, sleek little music players that pack a lot of features into tiny packages. However, iPods fail to deliver when it comes to support for free codecs like Ogg Vorbis, and -- let's face it -- iTunes leaves a lot to be desired. If you'd like to enjoy the hardware goodness of the iPod with GPLed firmware, give Rockbox a try. Tim Lord explains how over on NewsForge.com." NewsForge is also a part of the OSTG network, and Tim Lord is "timothy", one of our own editors.
Also consider iPod Linux (Score:5, Interesting)
downhillbattle.org? (Score:2, Interesting)
Not only that, but their $.11 figure is not a realistic picture of the artist's compensation. It does not consider the risk the label takes in publishing the music (which the artist does not have to take), or the cash advance paid by the label to the artist at signing. Moreover, the actual commission varies from artist to artist (and from song to song if the artist has been around long enough to get different contracts). Many labels on itunes pay their artists more commission, while offering less promotion. Of course, that model is likely to make the artist less money overall, but it does show that the $.11 figure is bullshit.
Don't ever believe anything you read on that website, it's propaganda at best, blatant lies at the worst.
Am I the only one that actually likes iTunes? (Score:5, Interesting)
I've used MusicMatch, MediaPlayer, SonicStage, RealOne, and Anapod. I prefer iTunes by far.
Re:seriously, what does this offer? (Score:1, Interesting)
I would like to note, however, that Rockbox is improving by bounds daily, wheras the iPod firmware is pretty static and slow moving. People are in the progress of porting a wiki viewer to rockbox, and video is well on its way. An "ad" for this project is important because the only way Rockbox is going to get better is through coders, many of which reside on this forum.
Winamp Folks, Winamp for crying out loud (Score:4, Interesting)
1. Download and install Winamp 5.21
2. Get ML_IPOD 1.31 plug-in - do not use 1.3 provided on the Winamp plug-ins page. The an improved version of this is supposedly to be included in the next release of Winamp. Native Winamp support is limited without the plug-in to enabling you play the tunes off your iPod only. ML_IPOD 1.31 allows you formatting, creation of playlists most importantly maintaining your iPod.
3. Sorry, but right now you still have to pay for Winamp PRO version to be able to rip OGG, WMA, etc., to
And get the ClearOne skin. And get the Winamp CD Case RC3 from Aqua-soft or NeoWin.
My Point? ANYTHING is better that the bloated CPU stealing piece of SHIT that iTunes has become...
Mike H. - Columbus, Ohio
Re:Denied! (Score:1, Interesting)
Media Center (Score:3, Interesting)
That's just because you haven't tried Media Center [jrmediacenter.com]. I enjoy its more expressive SmartLists, and use it to sync between the Archos, iRiver, and iPod players. MC is what iTunes wants to be when it grows up.
Re:Finally... (Score:2, Interesting)
I haven't jumped into the rockbox pool yet, but I've been watching it for a long time.. I'm almost ready to take the plunge.. Almost.. Just afraid of bricking my iRiver.. I use this thing *EVERY* day!
Re:Learn to Link (Score:5, Interesting)
Why not do something useful and try to get minidisc players to support mp3? I loved the features of that thing, but that god-awful software just ruined it (having to transcode from basically the world standard for portable audio to some limited-transfer proprietary thing was easily the worst idea in the history of portable devices).
It's not worth their time. Even if Apple adds ogg support by means of general-purpose CPU decoding, the people bitching for it will find something else to bitch at. Apple's doing well and people need a reason to hate them for it. Just give it up, people!
To parent poster: I tried the same argument about a week ago. I was just bitched at too. You can't win this one, so I'd just give up before you get modded down.
Re:Winamp Folks, Winamp for crying out loud (Score:1, Interesting)
I haven't used WinAMP for 4 or more years (funnily enough for the same reasons you put down iTunes) so I'm not too familiar with how they've developed, but I do find it distasteful if, from what you say, they really are charging for encoding to ogg vorbis.
Re:Why All the Hate for Rockbox? (Score:2, Interesting)
The music geek in me thinks that these guys don't understand music. The music geek has a long list of iPod improvements he'd like to see, relating to music organization, selection, and randomization. When he compares his list of improvements to what is offered by Rockbox (and others), he laughs and wonders why these people waste their time.
Re:Am I the only one that actually likes iTunes? (Score:1, Interesting)
I don't want all the small menus to click through, taking forever to do anything, and then organizing the music itself, rather than following the organization I've used for some time, which minimizes depth. I also want to use whatever other app I want to transfer music (which are Explorer and Konqueror, BTW).
The default iPod firmware is bad enough that I simply could not use one. My father got a free Nano, and ended up having the same frustrations with it that I'd noticed using others' iPods. He's now much happier with the Rockbox firmware, and I would now consider an iPod when I want to get a new player (I currently have an iAudio I5).
I've used Winamp, XMMS (and BMP, and Audacious), tried to use emotion (silly sgfaults), Amarok, iTunes, Kaffiene, Noatun, and several others I don't recall the names of. None yet touch FB2K for my wants (the XMMS derivatives are nice, though).
It's getting there... (Score:2, Interesting)
I understand that it's still a work in progress, and I admire the work that's obviously gone into this. Just not ready for primetime yet. I'll check back in a few months and see where it is then. Meanwhile, Apple's own OS is working fine for me.
BTW... FWIW, I'm not using iTunes at all. I'm a Gentoo Linux user that alternates between Amarok and gtkPod for interfacing to my iPod. Right now, Amarok is my favorite. Just right-click to choose (an album, song, or playlist) and transfer.