The Art of RockBoxing                                          Posted 2024-04-18
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I lucked out on my most recent op shop visit when I found a 2005 iPod Mini
gen 2 for $15! I'd been looking for an excuse to try RockBox for a while and
this one lined up perfectly with my uni holidays. For those unaware, RockBox is
FOSS custom firmware available for most major digital audio players.

Installation was completely painless and done in seconds. The UI is a major
improvement over the stock OS and it even runs Doom. 320kbps mp3s sound superb
through the iPod's DAC and the mixing options provided by RockBox are fantastic.

The iPod Mini was a particularly lucky find as its pretty easy to open and the
Microdrive hard drives they use have the same pins and form factor as a compact
flash card -- a replacement I intend to do soon. The monochrome screen with
optional backlight is also very pleasant to use.

For a nearly 20 year old device, the iPod Mini looks and feels timeless, and it
is perfected with RockBox. Once I get some substantial storage in it I'll be
daily driving it for sure.

EOT

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