and..................................................

well i'm back.

i spent nearly an hour trying to figure out the HTML tags. That really put my limited number of gray cells to some real agony ;) Hope the new links to the various sites are much better than the previous ones. Even the blogs that link to from this one need to be updated. i will do it now if i do get the time.

But on an entirely different note, i've begun to admire (worship is a much more appropriate term) open source software. I first experienced open source on my iPod. I used Rockbox which was actually suggested to me.

Well since i've got nothing better to do, maybe i'll share my experience on installing Rockbox on my nano.

INSTALATION:
well the installation was pretty much straight forward actually. All i had to do was download the latest build for the iPod Nano. Once that was done, i just had to unzip the package and copy the boot loader files using DOS. other than that u also have to copy the original files to make sure that the player does not end up as a paperweight.

that was how simple the installation actually was.
i was surprised too.........

then came heartbreak

BOOTING :
well when i first tried to boot Rockbox, all i ended up with was a blank screen. That really baffled me. I tried every possible combination of buttons on the nano but to no avail. Being the ever pessimist that i am, i thought i had bid my last farewell to my nano.

but........

then i realised the power of Open Source. The various forums that exist really helped me.
Some of the threads there specifically addressed my problem and i was heartened :)
that gave me hope. Finally realised that all i had to do was to keep the Menu+Select buttons pressed for about 5 seconds and VOILA my Rockbox booted on the nano.

that started a whole new Apple :D experience for me(rather a Rockbox experience).

Now i can actually play Doom on the nano and also a host of other really exciting games and that isn't all. Now the nano has its own graphic EQ with custom settings that can really spice up that Guns and Roses classic and play it as i want it :)


"Heil OPEN SOURCE, Heil ROCKBOX "