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uClinux Ported to the iPod
ucdot writes "Here is the announcement for a port of uClinux to the Apple iPod, checkout the project page for extra details. Currently the frame buffer, audio and IDE devices are working. Still plenty of work to do."
It plays Ogg at about 80% realtime - hopefully not too long before that's up to 100% and an iPod will become acceptable to open source fasc^H^H^H ^H advocates.
... this seriously rocks!
All thats needed now is a port of libogg, and away we go! Well done Bernhard!!!
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Now this is an impressive development.
The iPod can be improved dramatically with custom configurations the likes of which couldn't be done before.
Along with correct Ogg support, comes full control over a very good piece of hardware inside. It's a pity about the lack of features on the buttons at the front, but I'm sure a good coder can knock up something useful from that. Perhaps even a firewire keyboard hack to help searching tunes?
This will give Apple a run for their money.
Easy: Half-sized music at very good quality means more music on my small iPod-hard drive.
when i got the nomad jukebox it was ok, but i had to trade up for the beautiful UI of the iPod.
the only thing i miss about the NJB is the ability to make realtime playlists, and to be able to delete songs away from the computer. i would love to see that come to my iPod via this port!!!
also a dual boot would be incredible, but doubt the 2 firmwares could co-exist unless the firmware would be a booter (ala lilo or grub), and the iPod/Linux firmware be made virtual and put onto the ide harddrive.
once more mature, wonder how the legal implications of "look n feel" would be determined since you are confined to such a narrow user input. apple made the UI so sexy, that it would be hard not to emulate it.
I think an important question is (and I didn't find the answer in the article) that can I put back the original software?
Szo
Red Leader Standing By!
1. Get it to continue working with iTunes. Imagine, once this matures and the music capabilities are running at full speed, how nice it will be to be able to sync and use both your ogg vorbis and mp3 files on the iPod using iTunes to organize everything.
2. Figure out the remote pin-outs, so hardware hackers, or at least those with soldering skill can make their own remotes. I'm thinking I would like to modify my snowboarding jacket since I can't afford that Burton/Apple iPod jacket. Granted, this request goes out to anyone who is interested as it really doesn't have anything to do with the iPod linux project. If I can find some time, I may look into it myself.
If anyone has any info on the above, please feel free to chime in. Oh, yeah, and I noticed this from the FAQ. Perhaps this can waylay all of the "WHY?!?" trolls:
Cheers. :)
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
I have maybe five friends planning to buy an mp3 player within the next year. At the moment I'm telling them that my iPod has a much better UI than the Nomad Zen, but it's decidedly more expensive and the sound is a little muddier, particularly at high volume. If I could also say "but on the iPod you can easily install a third party OS on it that lets you store 33% more songs and play games on it," I think that would swing at least three or four extra sales for Apple among my friends alone. And I'm sure they'd tell their workmates etc.
Just a thought...
/dev/mp3 ? The idea of using a software decoder on something i think has a hardware decoder just seems a little....uselsss?
Doesn't the iPod have a hardware decoder for mp3? If so why don't they think about making a device for this in the kernel...maybe so it would be possible just to cat >
"What do you mean you have no ice? Do you expect me to drink this coffee hot?" - Random Customer, Clerks
It's a good point though. Apple may get nervous if this enables you to plug two iPods together and copy files between them - as I suppose it inevitably must. That would make the iPod incredibly convenient for domestic music "piracy." It would also provide a compelling argument for everyone to get an iPod, rather than something else that won't let you copy songs off your friends in the pub. Tricky.
I know that a lot of my friends are waiting for the same thing, why don't any of the major vendors realize that there's a market here? Maybe it's not big enough... I have tried mailing companies to get some information on whether any of them plan to support Linux or .ogg, but haven't got a lot of replies so far.
I have been thinking about using an iPod for storage of files that aren't music-related. Specifically, I'd love to be able to use it as a hard drive to dump extra images that I take from my digital camera when I'm on the road. Unfortunately, most hardware solutions to this (including the iPod) involve using the external unit as a slave -- that is, I can only SEND data to it, I can't initiage a GET.
This means that the only way to dump data from my camera (which has both USB and FireWire) is to connect it to a laptop -- cumbersome and overkill, I think. Now that Linux has been ported to the iPod, would it be possible to use it in this way?
That's what I'm talking about.
:)
I have been considering picking up an iPod for a while, but I have been holding out on the hopes that Apple will realize this potential and modify the iPod so that it can be used as a digital locker for not only my MP3s, but my digital photos and movies as well.
Imagine how slick it would be to connect your camera directly to your iPod and download all of your photos. This would be a great feature if you are on vacation for a couple of weeks and you don't want to drag your laptop along.
If this project gets off the ground, maybe we won't have to wait for Apple