I posted a post about 5 or so days ago about how I'm looking for people to help with the build. In addition to it being nice to having the build monitored if I'm away, it'd be nice to have someone help out. So far, Maddler is the only one to contact me about helping with the build. It seems there won't be a problem, as he knows about Linux/SSH/patching/etc., and already has higher capabilities here on the site, but if anyone has any comments, or would like to help out, send me an email at wordpress AT chrisjs DOT com. As of right now, Maddler could be helping with the build after a minute of adjustments, but if anyone thinks they could help, feel free to let me know.

Maddler - I'm probably going to wait about another day before adding your public key. That time will be used for helping to secure the account, and make sure everything's ready.

I'm thinking/planning of also having another copy of the build - one that has a few extra files in it for users who are trying out Rockbox for the first time, those who formatted their Sansa, etc. It's rather large in size, 19MB, and includes the two files needed for the dict plugin, the freedoom wads, a few themes, and all the Rockbox fonts. The file would only need to be downloaded once (assuming the .rockbox directory isn't deleted) and would probably be good for new users who want to see the full potential of Rockbox.

I already have a copy of it ready for those who want to test it out, and see if I should add or remove anything from it. Keep in mind, for normal use, only the regular build is required - this one is only as a "restore" build to allow you to go back to Rockbox'ing after a problem, or for those who otherwise do not have a .rockbox directory.

http://chrisjs.com/rockbox-full.zip

It does not auto update like the rest of the build, though it wouldn't be hard for it to do so. For now, I think I will see how active that is (and read comments) and will see if it's worth keeping.

I possibly have a failing hard drive right now - between the low pitched noise, tons of messages showing up on all my terminals, and two freezes in the past few days, I think the end of my hard drive is near. However, I'm hoping to get a 500GB hard drive soon for an NAS, so I'm sure getting a 20GB or 40GB (anything important will go on the NAS, so would only need the hard drive in this computer for Ubuntu and programs) wouldn't be too hard. Since the build is compiled on another computer, the build won't be affected by this.

I have changed the path for where screen dumps are stored. Instead of in the root directory, they are now stored in a directory called 'screendumps'. If anyone has a problem with this, or would like the directory name to be something different, let me know.

I've been starting to fall behind with updating patches, but hope to update them in a few hours.

I seem to be doing a lot of testing lately. JdGordon created a custom copy of e200tool to make the process very easy. Now, all that needs to be done is run "./et2 bootloader.bin" (as root) and it automatically patches it. JdGordon is planning to clean it up and release it, so you should see it soon.

Due to something unexpected, I may be away from the build for an unknown period of time. I do not know for sure if this will happen, but for the moment I figured I'd let everyone know. Since I do not know how long I will be away, I may need someone to take over the build while I'm gone. If I do find that I will be away, the user will have all Wordpress privileges, which would allow them to edit/moderate comments, write posts/pages, etc. They will not have SSH/FTP access, so they won't be able to add new plugins or be able to damage the site too badly. In addition to Wordpress access, they will have access to the build user account, and will be able to add/remove/modify patches, manually update the build, etc. I'm planning on removing FTP access to the build user, since it's insecure and isn't needed, which means the user will need to know how to use SSH and the commands needed to add/remove/fix patches. Since a user could easily exploit this, I plan to do two things:

1. Allow any user to ask for access to both of these, though they will need to show some sort of proof that they have an understanding of Rockbox, patches, etc. Those that are thinking of asking, I suggest you write a decent paragraph or so explaining why you think you should have this, because I will post all of them on here, and allow all other users to choose. Of course, after the users choose, I will pick one of the top two (or three) to manage everything.
2. While the password for the build account could be changed, I will monitor it when possible (or set up a way to automatically monitor it) and will disable all access to the account if it is needed. This of course would prevent both me and the user from accessing the account, though I would be able to re-enable it if needed.

Hosting for both this site and the build user (as well as other users) are covered until March or May (can't remember) of 2008.

I hope I covered everything, otherwise I will edit this post later. Those who think they could run the build should email me at wordpress AT chrisjs DOT com.

I've added FS#7555, which allows you to "double click" which would allow one button to be used three different ways: short press, long press, and double press. However, this patch seems to add a delay when selecting, which is annoying. Right now, no keymaps have been configured for double press, so I think is what I'll do is see if anyone has any suggestions as to what could use a 'double click' (works for all buttons, from what it seems) let me know. I think I may try changing the code a little, to see if I can speed it up a little.

Due to a commit yesterday, the database will cause a data abort if you try to use a build from today, or possibly yesterday. To fix this, please use a build from September 2nd, or September 3rd. Both of those, as well as other older builds, can be found at http://chrisjs.com/?page_id=17

I wrote a guide for converting e200Rs into e200s, which can be found at http://chrisjs.com/?page_id=57. For those that want Rockbox on their e200R's, I made a bash script to help automate the process to some degree. The only non automated part is putting the Sansa into Manufacturing mode, copying files to it, and unmounting it. If you have any questions on using it, leave a comment. Also, there's an article on the Rockbox Wiki on installing Rockbox on the e200R (http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/SansaE200RInstallation).

WARNING: Before doing ANY of these steps, read the FULL instructions first. My bash script can't be stopped (with the exception of CTRL+C) so please be careful while using it. What it does is the same process as described in the Wiki article, just automated, meaning you should still read the wiki article, even if you plan on using the script.

Bash script to help get Rockbox on E200Rs

Short howto on using: Download the file to your home directory, run "chmod +x rockbox.sh" from the Terminal (Applications, Accessories, Terminal on Ubuntu) and run "sudo bash rockbox.sh" (or however else your distro allows you to run it via root)

Using a modified Rhapsody bootloader (which removes the signature check) I was just able to boot into Rhapsody using a modified copy of the Rockbox bootloader. While e200tool was required, it was definitely a lot simpler than before, as all that needs to be done is boot the vanilla bootloader to write the modified Rhapsody bootloader.

Well, we managed to do the same thing that was done back in March - convert the e200 to an e200R, and then convert it back. e200tool was required, but it wasn't hard. Using a modified R bootloader, we tried to get Rockbox to load, but the Sansa froze. However, the Sansa did not say load main image failed, so I'm going to try again and see if I can get it working.

What I've found:
Rhapsody seems to be able to find the hidden partition, as it says the disk has 20.4 MB of used disk space, right after formatting. Windows says that 440 KB is used.

Rhapsody doesn't seem to be able to license the "e200R" saying the license is corrupt.