Okay, version 91 of the popular Hijack replacement kernel is now available for downloading from http://rtr.ca/empeg/

New in this version is the "restore visuals" function now works for AM/FM/AUX as well as for the Mp3 player mode. The "Tuner+" menu PopUp button has also been fixed.

Coming soon:
-- home docking connector detection, most likely using serial TX->CD loopback.
-- a simple kernel resident FTP server, for remote exploration, backups, etc.
-- improved tuner support, as soon as my docking station is assembled w/tuner.

-ml

Hijack v93 is out:

-- fixed bug in "Force DC/Car Mode" (didn't work perfectly before).
-- remove "Hard Disk Detection" from menu if 2 drives present.
-- allow "menu_remove=label" in config.ini, to remove unwanted items from the Hijack menu system.
-- hacked in code to use TX->DCD for home "dock" detection, currently disabled (see below).

Major setback: I built a home docking station using a spare docking sled for my Mk2, supplying 12V power via the wiring harness. My plan was to loopback the serial TX-data to the (unused) DCD input, as the basis for a way to differentiate between in-car mode and docked mode.

But.. the firmware boot block does a "DC detection" before loading the (hijack) kernel, and omits the "kernel download" prompt when it sees that we're running on DC power. Bummer.. this means my docking scheme is useless, for me at least.

So.. I'll have to modify the station (tomorrow) to insert the AC-Adaptor plug into the back of the Empeg when it is inserted into the dock, in which case I don't need the "dock detection" code. Bummer.

Anyway, since I've already done a similar rigging for the Ethernet plug, it oughta be easy to do something with the AC plug.

-ml

Would there be anyway of adding an option to make the jog dial change to the next song (and previous song) when turned? This would be great for people using the empeg as a seconday device and using like a cd deck for volume controll since the volume on the empeg only needs to be set once and doesnt need to be changed. It would also allow for faster switching through songs.

-Greg

Holy crap, just how fast do you want to flip through your songs? :) Hehe.

Bruno

Hehe... It would just be nice to be able to go to a song you wanted to listen to really quickly without having to do a search or sit there and push the button 30 times. Actually the main reason that i would like this is because my audio seems to find a way to turn itself up and then its blasting when my cd deck is on low.

-Greg

I am not sure I understand this request(?), or if I do, then I'm not sure I understand why..

-ml

OK let me rephrase it. I use my empeg along with my Sony Cd player/radio. The empeg goes into the sony so I only use the sony to controll the volume, not the empeg.

I was woundering if you could put in an option to redefine the jog button. So instead of the volume adjusting when you turn the nob, it instead moves to the next or previous song depending on which way you turn the nob.

The reason i want to do this is (1) so that i can move to different songs a little faster and (2) so that the volume on the empeg doesn't accidentaly get adjusted since this has happned before and almost blew my speakers (the person who was changing the volume didn;t know that empeg was set at a certian volume so that my sony deck wouldnt get too loud)

-Greg

(2) so that the volume on the empeg doesn't accidentaly get adjusted since this has happned before and almost blew my speakers

This can be fixed in 2.0b7, using the default player software. There is an option in the "Settings" menu that allows you to lock the player's volume at a specific level.

Yeah, but it would still be nice to be able to job quickly to a song

-Greg

Yeah, but it would still be nice to be able to job quickly to a song

Yes, this would be nice. I'm skeptical that it would work the way you're hoping it would work, though.

You want to see the track titles scroll quickly past and then settle on a title by twisting the knob back and forth. Sure this would be great, but even if hijack re-mapped the knob directions into left/right commands, it wouldn't work that smoothly.

The player user interface doesn't let you cycle that quickly down the track list, there is some waiting involved if I recall correctly. So there would be no advantage to using the knob and it would probably end up being more frustrating that way-- you'd either overshoot or you'd have to turn the knob more clicks than you wanted to. Also, if you did it too fast, the player would probably misinterpret that as a "held" button and would FF/REW instead of track cycling.

I mean, if the empeg people implemented it directly in the player software, they could make it work the way you wanted. They could make sure to scroll the track titles instantly and let the cache catch up later. But I don't think it works that way right now.

Watch, now, Mark will implement it and prove me wrong...

>remove "Hard Disk Detection" from menu if 2 drives present.
Entry is present, even if I have a two drive player.

I think what you want can be done with some creative IR translation. Hijack sees the knob rotations as IR codes:

#define IR_KNOB_RIGHT			0x0000000a

#define IR_KNOB_LEFT			0x0000000b

So I'm thinking that if you added the following to your IRTrans section, it might turn it into a jog dial, of sorts:

a=20DF11

b=20DF10

No promises though. Give it a shot.

>remove "Hard Disk Detection" from menu if 2 drives present.
>Entry is present, even if I have a two drive player.

Let me guess.. Mk1 player, right?

-ml

No, the [ir_translate] suggestion won't work for knob codes. These are special, in that there is no "release" code for a knob rotate left/right. When I first coded ir_translate, I was having trouble with the knob stuff confusing things, so I just disabled knob translations. Even the knob press/release is strange, in that the release actually generates two release codes internally.

/me stands corrected.

No, it's a MK2a.
Two IBM drives 18 and 20 GB

All front panel buttons on mk2s (and onward) generate 2 up codes and 1 down. The mk1 had previously had issues with the up codes getting lost due to interrupt latency, so the mk2 button PIC on the frontboard generated longer fake-IR sequences to send to the main board and sent up twice. It's rather belt&braces, but works fine.

We since fixed the problem with mk1s by moving the IR from irq to fiq.

Hugo

Okay, found & fixed --> Hijack v94.

v94 also now boots faster on Mk1 single-drive systems, and slightly faster than before (1/8 second) on Mk2 single-drive systems.

-ml

That's very useful to know, thanks -- it also explains how Hijack (and me) got very confused about those buttons, many releases ago..

Cheers

>I was woundering if you could put in an option
>to redefine the jog button. So instead of the volume
>adjusting when you turn the nob, it instead moves
>to the next or previous song depending on which way
>you turn the nob.

Okay, as unlikely as this sounded when I first read it, it actually works! I've implemented a static (compiled-"in") translation for this, and it actually can very quickly scroll through a playlist. Much faster than using the next/prev track buttons (which seem very slow to me, btw).

So I'll work on a menu selection for this behaviour in v95 (not out yet).

-ml

Damn, I knew you would prove me wrong.

I had a feeling that would happen, since I thought one of the improvements in 2.0 was the ability to move quickly between tracks without needing to wait on the drives to spin back up.

Well, give it a spin and see how theory == reality, almost.

v95.

All i can say is SWEEET.. hehe... I hope others will find this useful. I know I will.

-Greg

Track to track times have slowed in b7 :) Playlist culling has also slowed (not talking about randomizing either :)

Bruno

Mark, I just dropped v98 on my Empeg and things look great. However I was doing some thinking about the knob, and it looks like you have found a way to detect when the knob is spinning *while being pushed down* versus when it's spinning normally (i.e. you're throwing away knob rotations that occur while the knob is pressed.)

Well howzabout an option to have that kind of knob rotation (a "push and twist" sort of) mean something? Like maybe the normal behavior is volume, and push and twist fast-forwards, or skips tracks, or whatever. That *somewhat* defeats the purpose of the feature I asked for (throwing away the first couple twists in any direction to avoid "operator error") but maybe if this "dual mode" knob was activated, you could just throw away the *first* press in any direction while the button is being pressed, and process the rest.

Does any of that make sense?

I thought about that sort of functionality, and even attempted some trials with it.. doesn't work nicely in practice. It was just too difficult to keep the knob reliably pushed in while spinning.

So no loss.

What if you implemented it so that pushing and spinning got into that mode where it stayed until a timeout or an additional knob press. That way, you could start the push-and spin, but you don't have to actually keep it held down for long spins. Of course, you'd have to check the breakout press to make sure that it isn't a continuation of the press-and-spin.

I agree that while driving in a car it might be tough to push and twist... Hmm.

Then how about the idea I asked the Empeg guys to implement... A single knob push toggles it between two different states. In one state, it controls volume, in the other, maybe it seeks within the song, or jogs between songs... In fact you could make it three states... There'd have to be some visual feedback as to which you're in, maybe a tiny icon in the bottom right or something. And maybe some audio beeps... Hm.


edit: It wasn't until after I posted this that I realized how funny that "push and twist" comment sounds... Somewhere, Beavis and Butthead are laughing hysterically.

I second that idea.

what I;d like to see the knob be able to do is:

1. Volume up/down [default behaviour now]

2. Skip forward or back quickly in playlist [newly added option]

3. Cycle forward and back through visuals quickly ala 2 above

4. Same for preset stations in Tuner mode [i.e. skip forward/back through the presets quickly]

Now the big problem is how to have all of these available on one knob and let the user select which one they want active at the given time.

Option 4 would be only active if in Tuner mode and would logically replace option 2 as the concept of a playlist is replace by preset stations in the Tuner mode.
1 & 3 would be wanted in all source modes so they need to be active one at a time only.

I think this could be done as another option on the 'push the knob menu options', i.e. a new mode that allows you cycle amoungst these options [only] , each successive knob push advances to the next knob turning option and when the last one is reached, back to the beginning again.

[the way to leave this option is via the hijack menu options using a long push]

The other thing I would like to see is some way of getting at and mapping the Sony Stalk Interface 'keys' ala the IR mapping function - I'm not sure how the Stalk is supported - by the player directly or within the Kernel or what.
Obviously the latter would be easy to get at and remap, the former much harder but still do-able I guess as I assume the Sony Stalk commands still get sent to the player software via the kernel somehow.

Having had a Stalk Interface for a while I find it nearly as useful when in the car as the front knob buttons - but of course not everyone has a Sony Stalk Interface as it requires a Tuner module which as we know are in short supply.