In which I am driven into the arms of Steve Jobs

[example22]

About a week ago, I finally installed a firmware update for my Creative MP3 player. I say "finally", because it's been downloadable for several years, but I thought I'd wait until they'd ironed the bugs out. This was a mistake, and given Creative's reputation for shoddy software I should have known that.

It's now agonisingly slow to sync; loading 40GB of files took over six hours. Not only that, but it claims to be full when it's actually only three-quarters full. There's still 13GB-ish of space left. I suspect that the clowns at Creative have cobbled together their own half-assed filesystem with an unreasonably low limit on the number of files it can store.

I've prised out the hard drive to repartition and reformat it directly. No dice. I've reloaded the firmware. Nope. I've trawled the forums, which are semi-abandoned now that the product is discontinued. Zilch. And you can't downgrade, so there's no going back. Creative are a bunch of fuckwits, and I'm an idiot for trusting their software.

I may soon be in the market for an iPod Classic. Nnngh. Grr. Hate. Hate.

Comments

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

You have my sympathy ... and I assume there isn't a version of RockBox for your Creative (nope, doesn't look like it ... sorry)

http://build.rockbox.org/

though there are some comments about some of the Creative players here
http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/OtherTargets#Creative

[example22.livejournal.com]

I've been using Notmad Explorer as well as Creative's Explorer, but I don't think it's the client software at fault; I think it's the firmware. In fact, one of the reasons I tried upgrading in the first place was because of the promise of driver-free integration with Windows Explorer so I could use it as a removable drive -- which does work, for small values of "work".

On the other hand, the Zen is >4 years old, and I won it in a raffle anyway, so I think I've had the use out of it. Just a handy excuse for getting an iPod, really...

[example22.livejournal.com]

...and if I'd read the links you gave first, I'd have remembered that Rockbox *is* firmware. Sorry for being obtuse!

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

*grin* no worries!

I loaded it onto my Archos V2 almost as soon as I bought it (as Amazon were selling them off cheap at the end of their sales life) as the firmware had settled down by then ... no regrets, though I don't use the Archos 20Gb brick, er, at all since I got the 5thGen video iPod 80Gb!

If they did a 160Gb iPod Touch I'd be in the line to buy one :-) ... but since I've run out of space on my 80Gb iPod, I can't justify getting a 16Gb iTouch (certainly not *as well*, and it isn't big enough to be a replacement). Flash storage will continue to get bigger and cheaper over the next few years, so I'll wait until I either lose/break the current iPod or for the lottery win!

[(Anonymous)]

i, too, love my rockbox player (an iriver I120). as and when it dies, i shall be looking to replace it with another rockbox-capable HDD player; i can only hope there are still some available by then.

[teaparty.net (from livejournal.com)]

sorry, that previous comment was mine; LJ keeps logging me out and not telling me.

[tinyjo.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't necessarily recommend an iPod - Alex's works OK but he finds it full of frustrations in the way it syncs with his computer(s) and organises (or doesn't) his files. I liked my iRiver very much and still use it as an in car mp3 player (and you can install rockbox on them).

[example22.livejournal.com]

Everybody seems to have good things to say about iRiver, but I think I'm still going to end up with an iPod. I want a player that can hold all the music I've got, for those times when I'm away for three weeks out of four. Apple seem to have a stranglehold on the 80GB+ end of the market, apart from a few really expensive and/or obscure competitors.

Besides, my PC is already infested with iTunes and all its little helpers; might as well use them...

[t--m--i.livejournal.com]

If is in any comfort it is possible to put Rockbox on iPods and thus use them as a "normal" mp3 player, i.e. a UMS device with an amusing interface (which is what I did because I a) had lots of ogg b) thought it was a cheek that I couldn't just transfer music files using UMS - offering iTunes is one thing, forcing it on people, another).

Did I say I am working on drivers now (yes, all your bluescreens are belong to ME) and I have been feeling quite warmly towards Mr. Jobs of late. Though I guess Mac developers have pain too.