SanDisk Sansa AMS Port Page
- Models
- Port Status
- Specific problems
- Installation for Stable (e200v2, Fuze v1) and Unstable (Clip v1, Clip v2, Clip +, Fuze v2, C200 v2)
- Installation for Unusable (other AMS Sansas)
- Uninstallation
- Unbricking
- Unbricking using JTAG
- Formatting a Player that cannot get past the Database Refresh in the OF
- Other pages of interest
Models
The term "Sansa AMS" is applied to all Sansas with the AMS AS3525 SoC: namely the Fuze (v1 & v2), Clip (v1, v2, & +), e200 v2, c200 v2, and m200 v4 (m200 with firmware v04.xx.xx). "Samsa" is a pet name sometimes applied to the AMS Sansas AS3525 datasheet ARM922T datasheet ARM926EJS datasheet as used in Fuze v2, Clip v2 and Clip +.Port Status
Rockbox is considered Stable on Fuze v1/e200v2, Unstable on Clip v1, Clip v2, Clip+, Fuze v2, C200 v2, and Unusable on m200 v4. See TargetStatus#New_Platforms_Currently_Under_Development| Target | USB | Battery Charging/Monitoring | Dual Boot OF | Playback | FM-Radio | Recording | Display | Internal Storage | External Storage | Buttons | Plugins | Simulator | General Problems |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m200v4 | Yes* | N/A /needs a battery bench for calibration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes | sporadic (volume related) shutdowns, Playback crashes |
| Clip | Yes* | Yes/Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| c200v2 | Yes* | Yes/Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| e200v2 | Yes* | Yes/Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Fuze v1 | Yes* | Yes/Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Fuze v2 | No* | Yes/Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Clip v2 | No* | Yes/Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Clip+ | No* | Yes/Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Pressing home (or left) button while booting will boot OF |
Specific problems
- Clip+/Clipv2/Fuzev2 USB: Some work has been done on USB support. Work is based on the patch to Linux 2.6 for as353x and on the s3c-hsotg driver in Linux. Some partial information from the S3Cxxxx? SoC datasheet applies but the controller described is probably older and thus does not include the full description. The current SVN code reliably stuck the controller at both high speed and full speed; the problem is still open.
- Clipv1/c200v2/m200v4: Casual playback crashes. See FS#10605
- Clipv1/c200v2/m200v4/e200v2/Fuzev1: Battery life is much shorter than when using the OF. See SansaRuntime
- Clip+/Clipv2/Fuzev2: When using the wake-up alarm, the player sometimes fails to power off. Workaround: force a shutdown and set wake-up again. See also FS#11453.
- Clipv2: There is some very annoying noise which can be heard especially at low volume.
- Fuzev2/Clip+: Some models won't patch with RButil 1.2.7. Use mkamsboot.
- Clip+/Clipv2/Fuzev2: The players might crash in a state where a hardware power off is not possible. On some players this is caused primarily by plugging in USB while Rockbox is running. You have to wait for the battery to discharge fully; it might take up to 3 days. See this forum post. NOTE: Rebooting to OF after USB cable insertion has been disabled in r27837 to workaround this bug, so it shouldn't happen anymore. On the other hand you'll have to reboot manually to OF to use USB mode.
Installation for Stable (e200v2, Fuze v1) and Unstable (Clip v1, Clip v2, Clip +, Fuze v2, C200 v2)
Disclaimer:- Rockbox is considered unusable on AMS and is unsupported on everything but the Fuze v1, Fuze v2, e200v2, Clip v1, Clip v2, Clip+, and c200v2
- Even though the bootloader installation and rockbox itself are tested, there's always a risk of BRICKING your device PERMANENTLY. Some Sansa AMS (except the e200v2, Fuzev1, Fuzev2, and Clipv1, and for all of them it involves opening the player) have no known method for recovery, so this risk will not go away, even in (if any) future stable releases.
- There's no known user-friendly recovery method for the AMS Sansas, those of them who can be unbricked (not all of them can) need to be opened, and they can be potentially damaged in the process.
- Installation of a bootloader may or may not permanently disable DRM support, even if you uninstall it (this is an early and old problem, but there are reports that this may not be the case anymore, it might be related to the date/time setting).
- The bootloader will not install to firmware files it has not been tested with. If you try to patch a newer firmware, it will refuse. Either use an older firmware, or (at your own risk) compile an updated mkamsboot.
- Make sure your player is in MSC mode.
- Download and Extract the normal build (rockbox.zip) onto your device.
- Create a folder 'rbinstall' in your home directory (e.g. 'mkdir ~/rbinstall' from a terminal window)
- Download and Extract the OF, the bootloader AND mkamsboot into that folder.
- Open a new terminal window. CD to the 'rbinstall' folder ('cd ~/rbinstall')
- Run mkamsboot from the terminal window you opened in the previous step, passing the name of the OF file you've downloaded and the the bootloader file you've downloaded, as well as a name you can chose yourself for the patched output file
(e.g../mkamsboot fuzea.bin bootloader-fuze.sansa patched.bin) - Retry or abort if it does not report success!
- Copy the output file to the root of your device and rename it to whatever the OF file you've downloaded was named
- Safely unmount and wait for the firmware update to finish.
- You've successfully installed the bootloader and Rockbox. It boots by default. For booting the OF press |<< very quickly or plug the cable in while the device off (plugging the cable doesn't work on Clipv2 and Clip+).
- Make sure your player is in MSC mode.
- Download and Extract the normal build (rockbox.zip) onto your device.
- Create a folder 'rbinstall' in your on the Desktop
- Extract the OF, the bootloader AND mkamsboot into that folder.
- Open a new command promt window (Windowskey+R->cmd.exe). CD to the 'rbinstall' folder ('cd Desktop\rbinstall')
- Run mkamsboot from the command line window you opened in the previous step, passing the name of the OF file you've downloaded and the the bootloader file you've downloaded, as well as a name you can chose yourself for the patched output file
(e.g.mkamsboot.exe fuzea.bin bootloader-fuze.sansa patched.bin) - Retry or abort if it does not report success!
- Copy the output file to the root of your device and rename it to whatever the OF file you've downloaded was named
- Safely eject, unplug USB and wait for the firmware update to finish.
- You've successfully installed the bootloader and Rockbox. It boots by default. For booting the OF press |<< very quickly or plug the cable in while it's off (plugging the cable doesn't work on Clipv2 and Clip+).
Installation for Unusable (other AMS Sansas)
Disclaimer:- Rockbox is considered unusable on AMS and is unsupported on everything but the Fuze v1, Fuze v2, e200 v2, Clip v1, Clip v2, Clip +, and c200v2
- Unless you know what you're doing AND interested in getting the port forward by contributing to the project, please reconsider installing the bootloader again, and once more.
- Even though the bootloader installation and rockbox itself are tested, there's always a risk of BRICKING your device PERMANENTLY. The Sansa AMS (except the e200v2, for which it involves opening the player) have no known method for recovery, so this risk will not go away, even in (if any) future stable releases.
- There's no known recovery method for the AMS Sansas, except for the e200v2 (see below).
- Installation of a bootloader may or may not permanently disable DRM support, even if you uninstall it (this is an early and old problem, but there are reports that this may not be the case anymore).
- Make sure your player is in MSC mode.
- See HowToCompile to build a bootloader (stop after step "5. Build") choosing
Bfor bootloader when prompted, or download one here: http://download.rockbox.org/bootloader/sandisk-sansa/ - Get an original firmware for your model (see http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/?category.id=devices or http://daniel.haxx.se/sansa/amsfw.html)
- Get mkamsboot: http://download.rockbox.o...sk-sansa/mkamsboot/
- Usage (example for clip):
./mkamsboot m300a.bin bootloader-clip.sansa output.bin - Copy the output file to the root of your player and rename it like the original firmware (m300a.bin) in this example.
- Eject, and unplug the USB cable : firmware upgrade will begin.
- See HowToCompile to build and install a rockbox build, or use current build for your target: m200v4
Uninstallation
- Just update your player with an unmodified original firmware and delete the .rockbox folder.
Unbricking
It's possible to brick an AMS Sansa by running faulty code. Some models can be put in a recovery mode by shorting a couple of pins on the PCB, see SansaAMSUnbrick for details. The other AMS Sansas can also get into this mode, but can not be unbricked this way (they present an USB disk of size 0 that cannot be written).Unbricking using JTAG
If your Sansa can not be unbricked using the above method and you feel comfortable about soldering some wires to your device, you can try to unbrick using a JTAG debugger.Formatting a Player that cannot get past the Database Refresh in the OF
If you damage the filesystem on the internal SD you can find yourself in a situation where the database refresh in the OF hangs up and you will be unable to boot into the OF and also unable to connect via usb to correct the problem. If you find yourself in this situation you can bypass the OF database refresh by connecting your player via usb and disconnecting it just after the Sandisk logo appears on the screen. This will bring you into the normal top menu in the OF and you can then format your player through the settings menu.Other pages of interest
- SansaAMSHardwareMappings - shows functions of GPIO pins for various SansaAMS players
- SansaAMSFirmware - an analysis of the sandisk firmware structure (historical)
- Forum thread (locked).
r230 - 2010-08-23 - 07:58:04 - MichaelChicoine
Copyright © by the contributing authors.