RoLo - The Rockbox Loader

The original Archos firmware checks for an upgraded firmware on disk (only at startup). If an upgraded Archos firmware or Rockbox firmware file is present, it is loaded unless your box is flashed with Rockbox. Rockbox itself doesn't check for an upgraded firmware on disk when it is cold-started from flash in order to shorten the boot time.

However, Rockbox is much more flexible when it comes to loading of firmware from disk - you can do this without first shutting down and then restarting the box (which in turn requires disconnecting the charger first if it is connected). Just make sure that "Show files" is set to either "Supported" or "All". Then simply "play" a .mod file (Player/Studio), an .ajz file (Recorders), an .iriver file (iRiver h1xx and h3xx), or an .ipod file (iPods) respectively. This is called RoLo.

This way you can have several different firmware files on disk, in any folder, e.g. test versions or versions supporting various special features.