Linux for iPod Matures

elinenbe writes "The Linux on iPod Project has just crossed a milestone. Currently their firmware works on all ipod models other then the new mini. Sound plays and for many people it has more features then the original iPod firmware!"

Comments

There's even a port of the 2.6 kernel...

[tcopeland]

...although, as the announcement says, "Most things seem to be working but there are still some problems with IDE & the framebuffer."

Wired has an article on this, too.

Re:Im sorry if i don't quite get it

[Nebu]

Why would one run linux on an ipod?

So that you can put an OGG player on there and not have to convert your OGGs whenever you wanna listen to them on the go.

Re:Command line?

[Nebu]

How do you use a command line interface on an ipod?

If you read the documentation, it says when the iPod boots the Linux kernel it will automatically configure its local ethernet device (ethernet over firewire/IEEE1394) and then starts inetd so that network connections via telnet may be made.

The default configuration is for the iPod to use 192.10.1.2 and to allow telnet connections. The default address may be changed by editing the /etc/rc script.

Re:Say what?

[GoRK]

Well, the USB in the ipod is not host mode, so you can't really attach something to it; but firewire is a different story.. In theory you could do all kinds of things with that.

Karma? Oh woe, oh woe

[smilinggoat]

I have had 2 of the lovely little Karmas die on me. RMA'ed the first one after an HD failure only to have it replaced almost a month later by one that skips while playing most of my songs and has repeatedly required formatting just to get it to shut down.

Once I RMA this sucker for the 3rd time I will sell it and pick up the iRiver iHP-120 20 gigs of OGG, WMA, MP3, WAV, plus a remote with LCD, FM radio tuner, and can record into WAV or MP3 in realtime from a built-in mic or stereo line-in. Pretty kickass. Sure the Karma is about $75 cheaper, but for a unit that WORKS, it's worth it.

Plus, the Karma only has a 90 day warrantee. The iRiver has a 1-year warrantee.

Re:Karma? Oh woe, oh woe

[Fizgig]

I second that. I had one power button failure and then one where the little wheel slipped out of place (if you read the forums, this is pretty common even if you take care of your karma).

I just got back my third karma today, and it had a sticker saying, "We will respect your initial warranty, but this unit does not come with an additional warranty." Of course, by this point they've had my karma longer than I have (it took 1.5 months to get the second replacement), and the original warranty has expired. Plus, I think it's illegal not to give a warranty on RMA'd products.

I like that the Karma supports oggs, and it's a fairly nice device, but it's pretty fragile (two external moving parts), and the RMA service is _horrible_!

Re:Im sorry if i don't quite get it

[CableModemSniper]

According to the site Tremor (the integer only implemnetation of ogg/vorbis) currently decodes at approx. 80% of real-time on the iPod.

It does MP3, OGG, WAV and more

[sagefire.org]

Oh, if /.ers would RTFA...

User Tools

The full uClinux distribution contains many basic tools (including Busybox) already patched for use with uClinux.

MAD is a MP3 player that does not require a FPU.

Tremor is an OGG player that does not require a FPU.

SoX is an audio processing application capable of playing a variety of music formats (.WAV is probably the most interesting here).

Intel's IPP package and IPP MP3 Sample program. Intel's IPP is a highly optimised set of libraries that includes MP3 processing. The sample program seems to work fine under uClinux.

Re:Its all about aesthetics

[pyite]

Just a question... have you met many bikers? Most of them are some of the nicest people I've ever met and have the utmost respect for life and property. Way to be prejudiced to a large lot based on the actions of a few. Also, typically on the roads, "real" bikers tend to be very conservative in their driving as opposed to the ricers who feel the need to weave between traffic at 100mph+.