Glossary

Description

A summary of commonly used words, phrases, acronyms/initialisms and abbrevations used in the Rockbox project. Please sort items alphabetically.

Terms:

AJBR

Archos Jukebox Recorder. See also Recorder.

BL

Initialism for bootloader.

Bootloader

A bootloader is a small piece of code (usually installed to flash memory) who's only job is to find and start up a copy of Rockbox found on the hard drive. On iriver devices, for instance, the original factory firmware file is patched with a custom Rockbox bootloader and then installed to flash memory. Rockbox itself resides entirely on the hard drive of the player.

Bricked

A player is said to be bricked if it's not usable (as a player, at least) in any way and cannot be repaired without hardware repairs.

Build

A "build" is a compiled Rockbox package for a given device. Since Rockbox supports many different devices with different CPU types and hardware abilities, the source must be specifically configured and compiled for each target. The resulting package of binaries and support files is called a "build".

(Cross-) compiler

See CrossCompiler.

Current Build

The latest possible build, updated on every source change. Available at http://build.rockbox.org/.

DAP

Digital Audio Player. A more realistic descriptor than "MP3 Player" given the variety of sound codecs supported by Rockbox. It doesn't take into account video capabilities but nothing's perfect.

Flash Memory

Flash memory (sometimes called "Flash ROM") is a type of nonvolatile memory that can be erased and reprogrammed in-circuit. It is a variation of electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM). Read all about it here: Wikipedia:Flash_memory..

FMR

The Archos FM Recorder, see also V2.

FS

Short for FlySpray, our bug tracking system. It is often written as FS#xxxx, where xxxx is the FlySpray task ID number.

IPL

Short for iPodLinux.

JBS

Archos Jukebox Studio, see also Player.

Jukebox

Used in the documentation to refer generically to a portable MP3 player. Any hardware that Rockbox runs on can be considered to be a Jukebox.

LiIon

LiIon stands for "Lithium Ion". Read all about such batteries here: Wikipedia:LiIon.

MI4

MI4 files are firmware files for PortalPlayer based players. The firmware is belived to be encrypted. The reason for that might be to add one more protection layer for the DRM code and/or hinder snooping. All details are at http://daniel.haxx.se/sansa/mi4.html.

MMC

MMC stands for MultiMediaCard, a kind of flash memory card. Read all about such memory cards here Wikipedia:MMC.

MoB

Metadata-On-Buffer. A new buffering engine that allows storing of any kind of data related to an audio track in the main buffer while this track is playing. This is the current buffering engine for SWCODEC targets since Oct 25 2007.

NiMH

NiMH stands for "Nickel metal hydride". Read all about such batteries here: Wikipedia:NiMH.

OF

Original/Old Firmware. The firmware that was in place on your player before Rockbox replaced it.

Patch

When we talk about patches, we mean a set of source code changes as produced with the diff tool. To apply a patch, you first need to have a development environment setup and working. See WorkingWithPatches for more information.

Player

Often used to identify the Archos Player models. Also known as Archos Jukebox 5000/6000 and Archos Studio 10/20. If you want to speak of an MP3 player in generic terms, please try to avoid using the single word "player" since it has been used to identify this kind of Archos model for many years and old habits are hard to break.

Recorder

Often used to identify the Archos Recorder models. Also referred to as AJBR a times. Full model names include Archos Recorder 6/10/15/20 (v1), Archos FM Recorder and Archos Recorder V2.

Red Build

Somtimes just called "red" (often combined with exclamation marks and pointing fingers), refers to the colour used to mark build errors in the build table. See also "Yellow Build".

RetailOS

Same as OF.

RLOD or RLD

RoLo

Root

Sim

SoC

SoC stands for System on Chip (and sometimes Google SummerOfCode).

SVN

Contraction of "Subversion." See UsingSVN.

SWCODEC

The Rockox playback engine based on software codecs run by the CPU. Often used to refer to targets which use this engine (all except the Archos models).

Target

A target is another word for "architecture" or device type, i.e., "Daily builds for the iPod targets can be downloaded over there".

V2

Refers to the Archos Recorder V2 unit. It is pretty much an Archos FM Recorder but without the FM parts.

WPS

Initialization of While Playing Screen. The screen that is shown while a song is playing. You can use a CustomWPS (see also the WpsGallery for inspiration). You can of course leave the screen while the song is playing, but you can only see the WPS while actually playing a song.

Yellow Build

Sometimes just called "yellow", refers to the color used to mark compiler warnings in the build table. See also Red Build.