Rockbox

From The Apple Wiki
Rockbox
Rockbox main menu
DeveloperRockbox contributors
Written in
Working stateCurrent
Source modelOpen source
Initial release2 June 2002; 21 years ago
Latest previewDaily development builds
Repositorygithub.com/rockbox/rockbox
Update methodRockbox Utility desktop software
PlatformsPortable media players
LicenseGNU GPL v2 or later
Official websitewww.rockbox.org

Rockbox is an open source embedded operating system for portable MP3 media players, including the iPod, iriver, Creative Zen, SanDisk Sansa, Toshiba Gigabeat, and Philips GoGear lines, among others. The project was founded in late 2001 to provide an open source alternative to the proprietary operating systems found on such MP3 players, given these low-power, low-cost devices have unique input (buttons, click wheel, touch screen, etc.) and output (black-and-white LCD, color LCD, no display, etc.) designs, and are not able to performantly run a more complete operating system such as Linux.

The project was co-founded by Björn Stenberg (zagor), Daniel Stenberg (bagder), and Linus Nielsen (LinusN) to support media players by Archos, a market leader prior to Apple's introduction to the market. Support for PortalPlayer-based iPods appeared in 2006.[1]

Compatibility

Rockbox lists current device compatibility on its homepage, with further details on its Target Status page.

iPod

Rockbox provides support for the following iPods:[2]

Despite being internally similar to the iPod classic (6th generation), the iPod nano (3rd generation) is not supported.[3] Likewise, despite sharing the S5L8720 SoC with the iPod touch (2nd generation), the iPod nano (4th generation) is also not supported.[4]

Customization

Rockbox provides significant customization options, including themes, fonts, and numerous settings to control the operating system's behavior.

Several themes created by the community are displayed below.

  • Default theme on iriver H300

    Default theme on iriver H300

  • Amarok_Plus4 on Cowon D2

    Amarok_Plus4 on Cowon D2

  • Black Glass MGr on iPod nano (1st generation)

    Black Glass MGr on iPod nano (1st generation)

  • Cabbie on SanDisk Sansa Fuze

    Cabbie on SanDisk Sansa Fuze

  • DGT on iriver H320

    DGT on iriver H320

  • ipodVision on iPod with video (5th generation)

    ipodVision on iPod with video (5th generation)

  • LlamaBeta on iriver H120

    LlamaBeta on iriver H120

  • Minty on iPod with video (5th generation)

    Minty on iPod with video (5th generation)

  • Pen&Paper Plus on iPod with video (5th generation)

    Pen&Paper Plus on iPod with video (5th generation)

  • photoSkins-road on iPod with video (5th generation)

    photoSkins-road on iPod with video (5th generation)

  • retroTape on SanDisk Sansa Fuze

    retroTape on SanDisk Sansa Fuze

  • Tango on iPod nano (1st generation)

    Tango on iPod nano (1st generation)

External Links

Wikipedia has an article about Rockbox

References

  1. ^ https://github.com/Rockbox/rockbox/blob/e122243bb0c80e582c15360d4c334345aefdc9c9/docs/HISTORY
  2. ^ https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/TargetStatus
  3. ^ https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/IpodNano3GPort
  4. ^ https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/IpodNano4GPort
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