iPodRocks v1.2.0 — star ratings, live tagnavi playlists and more

Hey! Posted here a few months back when I first released iPodRocks, my sync manager for Rockbox devices. I got a lot of great feedback!! Thank you. Been using it daily on my iPod Classic and kept adding things. v1.2.0 is the biggest update so far.

The two things I'm most happy about:

Star ratings. You can finally rate songs inside the app. They map to Rockbox's 0–10 scale natively, and the cool part is they feed into everything else: smart playlists, genius playlists, even the AI "savant" ones. It sounds small but it changes how you interact with your library a lot.

Tagnavi playlists. This took me a while to get right. Instead of exporting smart playlists as frozen .m3u files (which you can by default), iPodRocks can now write them directly as tagnavi entries in .rockbox/tagnavi_custom.config. Per-device opt-in so nothing breaks if you don't want it.

Other things that landed in this release:

• Device cards now show a live red/green dot so you know at a glance if your player is mounted
• iPod Classic, Nano and Mini get their own icons on device cards (small thing, looks nice)
• Smart playlist builder got a proper overhaul — pick genres, artists and albums together with a live track count preview
• Music Assistant now remembers things across sessions and can create playlists from plain English

Let me know what you think and if you like the project, a start on my github repo is a way of say thank you!

Project: https://github.com/JoaoSobral/ipodrocks-js

Releases: https://github.com/JoaoSobral/ipodrocks-js/releases

Documentation: https://ipodrocks.dev/

Always curious what other Rockbox users are missing from their workflow — happy to chat.

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Long story short: modded my 6 gen MB029 with iFlash Solo V2 and 512gb SD card.

After Rockbox bootloader installation i only get blank white screen, still able to load into stock firmware or disk mode after reboot or uninstall the bootloader.

Tried multiple installation guides - using disk mode, installing bootloader after firmware etc. Tested multiple SD cards.

Anyone experienced the same ?

Hello! I am trying to get rockbox running on my ipod classic 6th gen, I get through the installation just fine in rockbox utility following parts plus pods video. However, once i try to restart into rock box i get stuck on the bootloader screen saying it needs to be in usb mode. I've spent like 4 hours on this and am losing my mind, does anyone know what the problem is and how i could fix it? From rockbox it looks like everything is installed fine. I would love some help please!

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Basically i was able to download it off of the pakstore but then when adding themes for some reason the theme pops up like in the section where you can change your theme but when i clicking it says it changed but nothing happened it looks the exact same so i try exiting by pressing start and select and it just crashes so i have to turn off and on the whole system which takes a couple minutes and when i go back on nothing changed. What could I have done wrong

Greetings!

I have a pair of Bluetooth headphones and am considering buying the HiFi Walker H2. However, I'm not willing to part with the Bluetooth functionality, nor am I willing to use the stock firmware (I want to be able to tinker with it via Rockbox). I can't find a clear answer as to whether I can use USB-C audio output (and low power output) with Rockbox (hosted) installed and opened (not opened to the stock UI, but having it "below" Rockbox).

Thank you for your assistance.

Device info
iPod Classic 6th generation (model A1238, 80GB). Original Apple firmware 1.1.1. Windows 10.

Problem:
The bootloader installation (both via Rockbox Utility 1.5.1 and manual mks5lboot dual-boot) always reported success. The .rockbox folder was present, and I even created bootloader.cfg / emcore.cfg with default=rockbox in the root and in .rockbox. However, the iPod still only booted the original Apple firmware. No fallback image ever appeared, no matter which button I held (Select, Play/Pause, etc.). The DFU flash output showed "DFU image sent successfully", but the bootloader never took control on reboot.

What didn't work:
-Rockbox Utility 1.5.1 automated installation multiple times, both with and without prior bootloader.cfg/emcore.cfg files.
-Manual mks5lboot64.exe(dual-boot) same result.
-Placing bootloader config files in root, in .rockbox, or deleting them entirely.
-All known button-hold combinations to trigger boot menu or fallback image.
-Ensuring Disk Mode, DFU mode, different cables, different USB ports, admin privileges.

What finally worked:
-Using the single‑boot method with mks5lboot64.exe. This overwrites the Apple firmware so the iPod boots directly into Rockbox.

Step‑by‑step
1-Downloaded the Windows binaries ZIP from freemyipod.org. This package includes mks5lboot64.exe and bootloader-ipod6g.ipod in one folder.
2-Put the iPod into DFU mode: connected it to the PC, held Menu+Select for ~30 seconds until screen went black and Windows made a       USB connection sound.
3-Opened Command Prompt in that folder (typed cmd in File Explorer's address bar).
4-Ran: mks5lboot64.exe --bl-inst bootloader-ipod6g.ipod --single
5-Output confirmed: [INFO] DFU image sent successfully (110480 bytes).
6-Disconnected the iPod and hard‑reset (Menu+Select). The Rockbox logo appeared immediately, and Rockbox booted.
7-(Had already manually placed the .rockbox folder from the stable 4.0 build on the iPod's drive – that's essential after flashing.)

Important caveats:
The --single flag permanently removes the ability to boot the original Apple firmware. If the flash fails, the iPod becomes unbootable and must be restored via iTunes in DFU mode. Try this at your own risk.

A few users have reported that even single‑boot fails on some hardware; there's no 100% guarantee. But for me, it was the only thing that worked after dozens of dual‑boot attempts.

The firmware version 1.1.1 is compatible; I did not need to upgrade to 2.0.4.

Hope this helps someone else facing the same stubborn Classic. Thanks to the community for the documentation that made this possible. 

I tried to restart it afterwards but it kept loading the standard OS and not rockbox.

Hey everyone!

If you’re like me and still rocking a Rockbox-powered DAP, you know the struggle: AutoEQ profiles usually give you 10+ bands, but Rockbox only gives us 5. The usual solution? Pick the "best" 5 and hope for the best. The result? A sound signature that’s... okayish, but definitely not what the AutoEQ gods intended.

I decided to fix this! I'm currently developing the AutoEQ to Rockbox Pro Converter, a Python tool designed to make your DAP sound exactly like it should, without the manual headache (that is queit boring if you have done all the job on your PC for setting your IEM/Headphones).

ALPHA (VIEW):

Don't worry! It'll come with translations profiles too! Not only in italian. Mamma mia!!!

Current Status:

• Visual EQ Comparison: See the original 10-band curve vs the 5-band Rockbox approximation in real-time.
• Profile Management: Save different paths for your "Input" (AutoEQ txt) and "Output" (Rockbox cfg) folders, depending on which device you’re syncing.
• Batch Processing: Import a whole folder of profiles and export them all at once.
• Dark Mode & Multilang: Built with a sleek UI (thanks to ttkbootstrap) because aesthetics matter, but I already noticed that this view kinda sucks so it will be so much better!

The "Pro" Roadmap (What I’m working on right now):

This is where it gets interesting. I'm not just "picking the top 5" anymore:

• The Math Upgrade: I’m implementing Curve Fitting (MSE minimization). Instead of just picking bands, the app will use Scipy to calculate 5 new bands that mathematically mimic the original 10-band curve as closely as possible.
• Live Interactive Mixer: You’ll be able to tweak the Hz and dB directly on the sliders and see the graph update in real-time before exporting.
• Import Auto: A one-click sync to scan your profile folders and only convert what’s new.
• And so much more... ;)

I’m currently smoothing out the UI (making it less "boxy" and more responsive) and refining the multi-language support.

I’d love to hear from you, what’s the one feature you always wished a Rockbox EQ editor had? Would you use a curve-fitting tool, or do you prefer manual control?

Stay tuned—I’ll be dropping the link as soon as the App is polished and ready to GO!

PS: In the meamtime I'll post all the Updateds in the comment.

#Rockbox #AutoEQ #Audiophile #iPod #DAP #DAC

I use Rockbox on my Anbernic RG Nano so the version of Rockbox for that might be different than other builds, but is there a timed sleep mode? Like, can I set up a setting to go to sleep after a certain amount of time?

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