A friend of mine got an empeg a bit over a year ago. I sent him a long email with a list of things to do. When just beginning, I recommend using emplode rather than Jemplode, unless you don't have a Windows PC. With the exception that I don't talk about Jemplode, it still looks good to me, so here is that email:

Since you have your new player, may I suggest the following:

1. Go here:
empeg player software

and download the 2.0final version of the emplode PC software and the *developer* image for the Rio Car. The PC software allows you to change contents of the player and manage playlists, etc. The PC software and the software on the player must be the same version. The PC software contains an upgrade utility to allow you to install the software on the player via the serial cable.

2. Go here:

hijack kernel

and download the latest pre-built kernel for the Mark2/Mark2a players. Save the file.

3. Go here:

Tony Fabris Logo Editor

and download Tony Fabris' logo editor, which contains a utility to upload a new kernel to the player.

4. Run the logoedit program, and choose "Kernel Flash Utility" from the File menu. Use the utility to place the kernel image you downloaded in step 2 onto your player via the serial cable.

Now you're ready for some really cool stuff...

6. Go here:

empeg web interface

and follow the instructions to put a nice XML interface on the player's internal web server (the modified kernel contains a web and FTP server for the player, which is one of the reasons its critical). This is extremely cool and easy to install. It provides remote control and streaming of the player in a nice GUI from a web browser.

7. There's lots of other stuff to do with it:

Customizations and Accessories

including a Palm Pilot playlist generator (where you beam the playlist to the empeg via infrared), GPS unit integration (haven't tried it), Text to Speech clock (that vocalizes the time when you boot up -- also haven't tried), alarm clock, and boot up logos.

8. Play around with the player! My favorite things to do (assuming the latest build and the hijack-kernel are installed as described in 1-5, above):

- The "tweak order" functionality deserves a Nobel prize...
- Hijack supports right/left time delay, which allows you to move the soundstage so that music sounds "centered" even though you sit closer to the left speaker in your car. I use a 1.7ms shift in my car and its perfect.
- I like the Spectrolog visuals, but I think most of the visuals are hokey. Some people really like them.
- I like making up playlists on my Palm Pilot and beaming them to the player. Lets me play DJ... This involves software on the palm and the player, as well as a playlist on the palm. It is explained in detail in a place linked off of #7, above.

9. Read the entire FAQ. This is easily the best written FAQ on the planet.

10. You can use the player as a "file taxi". With hijack installed, your player has an FTP server. You can put files there. Read the FAQ, though, because the player defaults to "read only" mode on the disk drives (which prevents corruption on a sudden power down -- like yanking it out of the dash). You send a command to put the drives into read/write mode, upload your files, then put the drives back into read only mode. This is all explained in the FAQ, I believe. Also read the Hijack FAQ.

11. Most recommend 1-2GB transfers to the player, but using the updated player (2.0 final + hijack), I routinely do 10-20GB transfers with no trouble. I queue up the transfer and let it run overnight. Ethernet is the way to go for loading music on the player. If you aren't familiar with TCP/IP networking, the FAQ will help you get the empeg on the ethernet.

Jim