Getting MpegPlayer to work in Rockbox - 1st gen iPod Nano

**VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE**
If you have viewed this before, WINFF has changed it's UI.
Now it's at version 0.41.
The program is now more streamlined and now has "rockbox" under the "convert to" list.
I will update this when i make a successful conversion. (making sure the new WinFF works good)
I've also updated the link to download winff (step 1)

Do have a 1st generation ipod nano (the square, black or white ones) and have rockbox on it?
and are trying to get videos on it but having trouble?
Then this instructable has all the info you need.

RockBox (rockbox.org) is an operating system developed for DMP's (Digital Media Players) that overwrites the original software on the device. The user interface is text based with jpg backgrounds.
RockBox allows you to customize MANY more aspects of your device than with the original software:
Audio: an extended graphic EQ with advanced audio tweaking.
Photos: the ability to view photos of ANY size and res. by zooming in and out.
Data: rockbox can allow our device to be used as a storage device (if it wasent already available)
and you're able to view and manipulate any file on your device by way of a file browser.
Plug-ins: Rockbox comes with a multitude of plug-ins ranging from color games (like a bejeweld knock-off) to nifty animated and graphical screensavers to diagnostic and testing apps.
Themes: Rockbox has the ability to change the ui by way of themes, (background, text font size and color) There are a couple of themes included with rockbox, but you can download many more from the site.

And there are many more features.
Go to Rockbox.org to find out how to download, and what devices are supported.

THIS INSTRUCTABLE is for the 1st gen ipod nano ONLY. Rockbox doesn't work on the 2nd gen (same size as the1st gen but
it's in colors and it has rounded sides) Or the 3rd gen (the new one thats smaller and wider, it plays videos out of the box)

This instructable is specifically for people that are firmilliar with rockbox and have a 1st gen and have rockbox on it, and are having trouble getting videos to work.

Step 1: Getting started - Requirements

Ok so I dont work for rockbox but through trial and error, I know a great deal about MpegPlayer.
The reason im writing this is all this info is broken up in little pieces around the rockbox forums.
I've compiled it all and am providing it here.

For starters, to encode the videos for mpegplayer, and to understand the following steps, you need a video conversion program. "WinFF" get it here: WinFF
This is the best app for this situation and is the one linked to by the rockbox site.

Once you install and run the program, you'll see the picture below.

First, choose a destination folder by clicking the button next to the "Output folder" box.
(see picture below)

Next, add one or more video files to be converted by clicking "Add".

(next step)

Comments

[diggydigster]

I was followed all your steps on how to get video to work on the Ipod nano 1st gen. when I go to view the video the video goes faster then the audio. my question is how do I get the video and audio to sync up? if that makes any sense

[curtismayfield]

THANK YOU!
I can't thank you enough!
I was beginning to think my sansa fuze was gonna go in the garbage can.
After spending about 10 hours of trouble with this device over the past two months I finally realized I had to install rockbox.  Then finding the info on converting was a nightmare.  
Until I found this instructable :)  1/2 hour later I'm rockin' on the rockbox!    You deserve an award!

[bigtank2385]

Wow! I didn't think anybody else was using RB anymore! at least for the nano.

But you seem to be getting good use out of RB on your Fuze, which incidentally is the model my father has, but he wont let me try it out on his so I'm out of luck.

What kind of trouble were you having with your Fuze?

But thanks for the compliment, I'm flattered!

[juicy2000]

i have a 5th gen ipod video 30gb and when i go to view my videos there is nothing in the videos folder, and when i go in my pictures folder and click on a picture it wont bring it up....and it just shows it as a file. it doesnt show the picture as a thumbnail.

[Heavy Water]

I've been having some problems with the video not starting up. It just stays frozen on what frame I skip to. Any ideas?

[king josiah 16]

Thanks I've been trying to do this forever. Now i got it.

[Cisneros.Evan]

What Video Type Do You Have To Convert To?

[bigtank2385]

if you get the new winff (the link is in step 1) The format is included

[venue]

ok so i did everything that you said, but when i watch the video on my computer,or on my ipod, there is no sound. do you know why? any help would be greatly appreceated

[bigtank2385]

What file type was the original? Did you enter 44100 in the aud sample rate box? And 128 in the aud bit rate box?

[venue]

yep, i did all of that but still no sound, and the original is an mpeg, but at a high resoloution

[bigtank2385]

ooh, well im sorry i have to be honest, i havent had any problems with it myself, so i cant be much of a troubleshooter, i don't know what could be disabling your audio.
But, i do have a alternative solution, if you havent yet or don't know if you have, try this: K-lite mega codec pack
This codec pack has every type of codec for encoding (converting) and decoding (viewing) for any type of audio or video file.
Download, install, and reboot. Try the conversion again and if it works, YAY!
And if it dosent, well iv'e run out of ideas

P.S. if the above link dosent work, try this, k-lite download page

[venue]

ok i will try that, thanks for all your help ;)

[bigtank2385]

Let me know if it works.

[GorillazMiko]

Awesome! Looks kind of hard to do, and also, I have never heard of Rockbox... but looks kind of cool! :P

[bigtank2385]

Thanks, It's actually a bit more difficult to get rockbox on the ipod than it is getting the video player app working in rockbox. But no, overall it's not that complicated if you just take your time and read, it'll go by in no time. And yes rockbox is well worth the time spent installing it, you wont have the flashy UI that the ipod has, but it has MANY more features and tweaks than the original ipod OS, and rockbox itself uses less battery over time than the original also. (except mpegplayer)

[xrobevansx]

NICE!