Firmware & Themes
 

Hey,

I wanna change some of the animations and themes on my iPod Nano Clone, and everywhere on this site it seems to say to backup my firmware before attempting to change any themes. Is this because I might accidentally install the wrong firmware? If so how do i check what the firmware is, and what the firmware for my clone needs.
I'd just hate to end up with a dead player.

Thanks a bunch,
Mo

Re: Firmware & Themes
 

Mo DeLonge, Using a firmware that is already themed can be a problem if it is not the right firmware for your player. The safest way to do this is to modify your own firmware rather than use someone elses. To do this you need to extract your firmware from your player using S1fwx which you can download here:

http://www.mympxplayer.com/dload.php...le&file_id=136

There is a tutorial on how to use S1fwx in the Knowledge base here:

http://www.mympxplayer.com/viewtopic.php?t=66

To change the images in your firmware you need S1res which you can download here:

http://www.mympxplayer.com/dload.php...ile&file_id=16

A tutorial for s1res is here:

http://www.mympxplayer.com/viewtopic.php?t=206


Once you have modified your firmware just upload it to your player using the firmware upgrade tool. you should not run into any problems if you modify your own firmware but be sure to keep a copy of your original somewhere safe or better still upload it to the site.

Re: Firmware & Themes
 

Hey,
Thanks for the detailed help and the speedy reply.
However, unfortunately, i do not know a Bill Gates extent of computer technology.
I understand extracting my current firmware and then changing the images via the S1res program. Although, concerning the modification of my firmware...What?!? :?

Sorry for the fuss, if you have the time and energy (and knowledge!) on how to do this in detailed, step-by-step description (in simple folk terms :oops: ) Then...I love you! :)

Thanks a million,
Mo

Mo DeLonge, If you change the images in the firmware it is no longer the same so is a modified version of your original firmware.

Re: Firmware & Themes
 

So... :oops:
All i need to do is extract my firmware then replace the images in it and then update it back to my MP4? And this is modifying it?

Thanks :lol:
Mo

That's right Mo DeLonge..at first I was afraid..but if you just make sure to first make a backup, then you can extract all the images from the firmware using the export function, you can modify them with photoshop for example, and then you import all the modified pics in the firmware.
The firmware appears as a .bin file, I've seen that you can even rename that file, for example you can have "blackthemefirm.bin" and "brightfirmware.bin" etc
When you want to use a certain "skin" you just have to upload the desired .bin to you player...
As far as I know, the only danger is if you unplug the player in the middle of the updating...

I was wondering if an excesive number of updatings can cause some kind of damage...
I don't even want to update to a new firmware (it would be only the modified one by me)...it's just that probably I'd like to change the skin from week to week :P

Anyone knows something about that?

Smeag, I think you are safe updating themes made with your own firmware. When I build a theme I may update the firmware 40-50m times during the building process without any problems.

As you say the only problems you could run into if you interupted the update process or made radical changes to image sizes or text strings.

Re: Firmware & Themes
 

OK Great, I think ive got most information i need to take the big step...

One more thing though - what file type does the image have to be when i update it to my firmware?

Thanks
Mo

Re: Firmware & Themes
 

The Knowledge Base - How to: Modify your firmware using s1res tool from here saids you the image has to be .BMP and with Depth: 24 Bit.

Hope this helps.
You should be fine.
Post us your result once you've had a go at it.

Re: Firmware & Themes
 

Hi,
If, God forbid, my MP4 would die when changing themes, and the players original firmware which i have smartly decided to backup, fails :cry: - How do i know what firmware it is? 3.5.35, 3.5.37 etc. Because I have no idea what the differences are or how to tell... :? :oops:

Thanks again,
Mo

Mo DeLonge, The safest way to theme your player is to modify your own firmware which is quite easily done with s1res. Details on how to do this are in the Knowledge Base Section. If you find a theme you like and it is already in a firware you can extract the images with s1res and then load them into your own firmware.

To see the version details connect your player and open the MP3 Player Upgrade Tool you will see the details of your current installed firmware on the left. If you select your upgrade firmware its details will be displayed on the right.

Be aware though that there can be variations of the same version firmware. If your player has 3.5.35 just because another firmware is also 3.5.35 does not mean it is compatible with your player.

Re: Firmware & Themes
 

tadad!
So if my firmware ends up failing, i just have to experiment with different firmwares until i get the right one, right? :?

Mo DeLonge,
If your firmware fails just use your backup.

If you are theming your own dump.bin you will not have any problems unless you lose power or pull the cable during update your own firmware will not cause you any problems.

If you are using someone elses themed firmware you run the risk of killing your player. It depends on how incompatible the other firmware is you could recover just by reloading your backup or you could kill it completely and have to do a DEAD PLAYER RECOVERY.