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Subject: Re: Rockbox on an ESP32?

Re: Rockbox on an ESP32?

From: tuxic--- via rockbox <rockbox_at_lists.haxx.se>
Date: Sun, 2 Apr 2023 13:03:53 +0000

Hi,

may I point you to this device:
https://www.tinytronics.nl/shop/nl/development-boards/microcontroller-boards/met-wi-fi/lilygo-ttgo-t-display-s3-esp32-s3-met-1.9-inch-tft-display
(no advertising - just the first hit I got for "liliygo t-display.s3"
from searx.be)

It includes a nice and sharp color display, which is connected in parallel to
the esp32 - therefore it is quite fast.

There are quite a few videos about this device on youtube.

HTH! And YES! I am also interested in an ESP32 based player.

Cheers!
mcc


On 04/01 10:26, Jon Lewis via rockbox wrote:
> I’m no tinkerer but I would absolutely buy into a project like this if
> allowed. My two fiio M3Ks can’t live forever.
>
> Jon
>
> On Sat, Apr 1, 2023 at 8:17 AM David Mehler via rockbox <
> rockbox_at_lists.haxx.se> wrote:
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > Thank you everyone for your replies. Here's my end goal, I want to get
> > in to DIY electronics projects, and I saw an article where a guy made
> > a custom mp3 player with an ESP32 and 3d-printed a case. This got me
> > thinking that since the players I like are either getting difficult to
> > find, or prohibitively expensive, why not try that with rockbox?
> >
> > Solomon, from what your saying it definitely sounds like a lot of
> > effort for a gasping player if the ESP32 was chosen, which is well
> > over-my-head now, and I wouldn't want something gasping.
> >
> > What about some of the rk SOC boards, the 32xx or 33xx series?
> >
> > I really like the Raspberry Pi 0 though, I think that's a great idea.
> > How hard do you think it would be to pull that off? I can do the work,
> > I probably will have questions, but I think using the Pi 0 as the
> > basis for a custom-made mp3 player, with rockbox, much cheaper than
> > some of the offerings out there now.
> >
> > Thanks.
> > Dave.
> >
> >
> > On 4/1/23, Solomon Peachy via rockbox <rockbox_at_lists.haxx.se> wrote:
> > > On Sat, Apr 01, 2023 at 12:29:27PM +0200, Michael Sparmann via rockbox
> > > wrote:
> > >> I wouldn't see why not - perhaps the RP2040 could also be a good
> > >> candidate?
> > >
> > > The ESP32 is doable, but just barely -- It has more than enough raw
> > > compute performance (dual cores _at_~250MHz) but where it falls flat is
> > > onboard RAM -- It only has 512K on-chip. While it can natively use up to
> > > 4MB of off-chip SPI-attached PSRAM, that comes at a signficant
> > > performance penalty.
> > >
> > > So while a simple port to an ESP32 is certianly possible, it's not going
> > > to yield great results compared to the current set of targets. With a
> > > lot of additional work, rockbox could be better adapted to handle the
> > > ESP32's limitations (eg directly execute plugins/codecs from flash) but
> > > I don't really see that as being worth the effort, especially when you
> > > consider the lack of a viable portable physical enclousure.
> > >
> > > TBH I think a RPi Zero (or some of its similar form-factor clones [0])
> > is a
> > >
> > > much better starting point, and they have far, far more capabilities
> > than an
> > >
> > > ESP32, at the same rough price point.
> > >
> > > But circling back, the RP2040 is _way_ too limited -- The advertising
> > > copy says "plenty of fast on-chip RAM" but in reality that equates to
> > > just 264KB, an order of magnitude too little for a rockbox port [1] even
> > > if we re-architect rockbox to execute _all_ code from flash.
> > >
> > > 264KB is even less RAM than the RKNano and ATJ2137-based shovelware mp3
> > > players out there -- and those sport hardware codec engines!
> > >
> > > That's the problem with microcontrollers in general; even modern ones
> > > are very RAM limited, and only the highest-end units can work with
> > > external RAM. By the time you add that external RAM, the BOM cost and
> > > PCB footprint is such that you're probably better off with a more
> > > full-featured SoC such as what's on the RPi series, the various Ingenic
> > > parts we already run on, or Allwinner's FC100/V3 series. (Plus, if that
> > > "real" SoC runs Linux, a usable port requires relatively little software
> > > work!)
> > >
> > > [0] https://itsfoss.com/raspberry-pi-zero-alternatives/
> > > [1] Or at least a port of anything with sufficient features to be
> > > recognizable as rockbox.
> > >
> > > - Solomon
> > > --
> > > Solomon Peachy pizza at shaftnet dot org
> > (email&xmpp)
> > > _at_pizza:shaftnet dot org (matrix)
> > > Dowling Park, FL speachy (libra.chat)
> > >
> > --
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> > FAQ: http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/GeneralFAQ
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> >

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Received on 2023-04-02

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