LINUX on miniplayer

jbernardo · 10-23-2007

Originally Posted by Lexridge

The Rockbox project is already in existence, and uses the same license as Linux, the General Public License (GPL).

Why re-create the wheel? Perhaps as a group we could take donations in order to send an M6/M6SE to the developers of Rockbox, in order to help them develop RockBox for the M6.

I didn know Rockbox was GPL (I didn't know much about Rockbox before today), but the feature set seems interesting. The only thing we might lose is SRS, as even video and wma seem to be advancing fine.

Of course, with Rockbox the hissing and the end of track / track resume skipping will probably disappear.
How do we go getting cash to buy one of the cheaper M6 (2GB perhaps) to send to the Rockbox developers? I am setting my aims on one of the cheapest ones to make things happen earlier.

stranded · 10-23-2007

lol im not confusing ubuntu with linux as a kernel. besides ubuntu isn't that good, it's just popular cause it's being shipped for free to anyone

dravik · 10-23-2007

Originally Posted by stranded

lol im not confusing ubuntu with linux as a kernel. besides ubuntu isn't that good, it's just popular cause it's being shipped for free to anyone

All linux operating systems are free, linux is opensource, you are only allowed to use opensource and change it if the app/operating system you create is opensource as well. but sometimges like (mandriva linux) you can buy a power pack with non opensource software in it... of cource you have to pay for this...

mcmichal · 10-23-2007

hmm... i think it will be better to port Linux to M7 because of Touch screen. Controling of M6 is not enough for anyone OS.
sry for my english

shadowness · 10-23-2007

Originally Posted by mcmichal

hmm... i think it will be better to port Linux to M7 because of Touch screen. Controling of M6 is not enough for anyone OS.
sry for my english

There are already ports to ipod... and it has the same control interface as m6. so.. its definitely possible to control player throught rockbox

Lexridge · 10-24-2007

Originally Posted by 048135

I totally agree. i am not a kernel hacker either, but if we have enough people we can all work on this together. having linux will be an amazing advantage. please can all the experienced specialist help, if we have linux, there could be hope. thanx

I agree....Linux would be an incredible advantage. But, you have to realize unless a custom interface was completely developed, we would be stuck with either an XFree86/Xorg interface, or Qtopia, the embedded version of QT (think KDE). None of these interfaces are really suitable for a music player without a keyboard, IMO, as you would need to run apps like XMMS or Amarok.

Rockbox already has a nice interface. Again, no need to reinvent the wheel. If the M6 had a keyboard, running Linux could turn the M6 into a nice PDA with music playback. It doesn't. Of course, one could install the embedded version of VNC on it, and access the GUI from a PC, but that seems ridiculous.

I have owned a Sharp Zaurus 5500 for many years. It runs Linux, and I had purchased a music player from "The Kompany". I have used this as my main portable music player (using CF cards) until I found the M6. The Zaurus had a wireless CF adaptor, so I could play MP3s/Oggs wirelessly from my server...AWESOME. I miss that with the M6. The Zaurus also had a full qwerty keyboard, making it very easy to customize via scripts.

Unless a thoughtful GUI is written from scratch, fully utilizing the available interface, Linux on the M6 is a bad idea.

Please don't misunderstand me. I love Linux. It is the only OS I have used in my home environment for many years. I only use Windows when I absolutely have to....which is generally always work related.

With that said, I want to mention I have been developing a Linux platform for home and auto audio/video that is basically a WRAP box (think VERY SMALL PC) that boots from a CF card, has WIFI access (copy songs/videos to your car from your livingroom) and an LCD touchscreen interface (in the vehicle), running Amarok and VLC, which boots automatically, in about 10 seconds. A few friends who have seen this thinks it's marketable, but I disagree. It's a fun personal project, but I see no profits in it. Besides, it's still in very early beta form.

048135 · 10-24-2007

thanx for agreeing with me dude, is there anyway someone can post up a open source firmware of the meizu and then someone can intergrade it into linux?

LTourist · 10-24-2007

I'm really interrested in any open source firmware project, whenever it be linux or not... I think we jsut need an open architecture so that we could read all audio formats :D But Rockbox will definitly be a better solution because the GUI already exist, what Rockbox team need is a meizu to make drivers...
The only problem is that analyzing hardware and make drivers is very very long, so they wouldn't do it for a player that is not a best seller...

Unless we have a m6 fan/liveless man, we can't do that...

Fergal · 10-25-2007

Meizu seem to be open to the open source scene, using the open source Virtual Dub as thier video converter and all that.

Hopefully they could release the source for drivers, to allow someone get rockbox ported over.

Or even adopt Rockbox as thier official GUI.

Not saying the one they have is bad or anything. I do like the way my miniplayer works, but choice is everything.

More choice = more sales

martinioz · 10-25-2007

What a nice tread, many good ideas! We just need someone to make this real!!

mbarry · 10-25-2007

I really do hope Linux or Rockbox will be avaialable for the M6. I tried it on an iPod lately and it adds a new dimension to the player. There are countless things you can do. If we can add a donation link to the front page, I wouldn't be surprised if in a month, we have enough money to buy a M6 to send it to the developers at Rockbox.

nice2know_u · 10-25-2007

Originally Posted by mbarry

I really do hope Linux or Rockbox will be avaialable for the M6. I tried it on an iPod lately and it adds a new dimension to the player. There are countless things you can do. If we can add a donation link to the front page, I wouldn't be surprised if in a month, we have enough money to buy a M6 to send it to the developers at Rockbox.

hey, that's a great idea!

Fergal · 10-25-2007

Originally Posted by mbarry

I really do hope Linux or Rockbox will be avaialable for the M6. I tried it on an iPod lately and it adds a new dimension to the player. There are countless things you can do. If we can add a donation link to the front page, I wouldn't be surprised if in a month, we have enough money to buy a M6 to send it to the developers at Rockbox.

I've read a few things on the Rockbox forums and from what I understand is that there is no actual set of "developers" that you could send a M6 to.

Usually what happens is a person/persons who already own a certain media player, will do the hard work in reverse engineering and creating a basic firmware, which can then be used by the Rockbox people who will have a less difficult job of implementing a version for that media player.

I may be wrong but I think thats how it works.

I think a more useful venture to persue instead of comming up with funds for a player, would be to petition Meizu to release the full spec and source code of the M6 to allow the possibility to Rockbox being ported over.

048135 · 10-25-2007

all this only seems like a dream at the moment. how can anyone make this into a reality or how would any one be able to?

LTourist · 10-25-2007

I'll follow you if you want to do this... But keep in mind that we're definitifely not the only ones who want this, I think many people want their player firmware became open source, so why they are so few firmware in open source ???

048135 · 10-25-2007

Well. thats a very good question. Many people want credit for their work and simply do not want everyone else taking their work and improving it making a profit. on the other hand. people like you and i who personally are not amazing at software writing or that kind of things would benefit greatly from other's work without paying anything at all. Ubuntu...made by linux is one of the most used...thing. its because its so easy to customize and its free and quick. i hope that kind of answers your question. please if you dissagree with me, feel free to correct. thanx

048135 · 10-28-2007

Can someone please give me a bit more information about linux, i know what it is but i dont know how it works. thanx

Hendrik · 10-28-2007

Originally Posted by LTourist

I think many people want their player firmware became open source, so why they are so few firmware in open source ???

Very simple. You may damage your player by using another firmware. So there is no warranty anymore and you probably have to pay for the repair. You'll tell that to your friends and they will probably not buy a product of this company.

Next argument against open firmware: People of other companies will use this firmware for their players (very simple ripoff, they buy the hardware once and rebuild it) and therefore they can sell their players with the same features for less money.

So a non-open firmware is to protect the company which invented this firmware. It's closed to make sure that this company gets money for their work.

And this is totally fine! I support that!

(And don't come with "Linux is free" - sure, it's free - and it's free of charge. So you can't lose money)

mfb · 10-28-2007

Originally Posted by Hendrik

Very simple. You may damage your player by using another firmware. So there is no warranty anymore and you probably have to pay for the repair. You'll tell that to your friends and they will probably not buy a product of this company.

Bullshit. You are very much aware that you bricked your player by messing around with stuff your not supposed to.

Next argument against open firmware: People of other companies will use this firmware for their players (very simple ripoff, they buy the hardware once and rebuild it) and therefore they can sell their players with the same features for less money.

You would need exactly the same hardware. That's illegal even in China. They could use snippets of the code for certain hardware etc., but if it's licensed under the GPL they would need to open-source their entire firmware aswell.

So a non-open firmware is to protect the company which invented this firmware. It's closed to make sure that this company gets money for their work.

Again bullshit. Money is made on selling the hardware, there are numerous M6-clones in China and eventhough Meizu reigns.

The opposite could be through: Open firmware is a pro. Look at the popularity of rockbox or iPodLinux for example. Sales could actually increase.

Hendrik · 10-28-2007

Originally Posted by mfb

Bullshit. You are very much aware that you bricked your player by messing around with stuff your not supposed to.

No. People will try to get a free repair though. I've seen a lot of people doing things on their hardware and then, when they damaged it, tried to get a new one for free. There was even one person who drilled holes!!! into his wlan router and he claimed free repair!

Originally Posted by mfb

Again bullshit. Money is made on selling the hardware, there are numerous M6-clones in China and eventhough Meizu reigns.

Writing the software: x people for x months. They want their salary, too. So with every sold piece of hardware you will pay for the salary of the software developers, too.
If a company doesn't have to pay for the software they can build the same player and can sell it for less money. So the first company which developed the software will not sell their players anymore because they can't offer the same price because there are more people who want to get their salary.

Originally Posted by mfb

The opposite could be through: Open firmware is a pro. Look at the popularity of rockbox or iPodLinux for example. Sales could actually increase.

Yeah, for sure. Try selling an mp3player without software. Only the hardware but no mp3 playback. Good luck!