[kansas400]

Hi - I tried the instructions, and using SD card with FAT32. XDuo X3 says "no firmware file" when I hit 'upgrade'
 
I have the correct files in the root directory.
 
Any suggestions?  Thanks  

 

[wskl]

  Hi - I tried the instructions, and using SD card with FAT32. XDuo X3 says "no firmware file" when I hit 'upgrade'
 
I have the correct files in the root directory.
 
Any suggestions?  Thanks  

 
One of the common mistakes is that if you are a Windows user, it hides the file extension so maybe your 'update.zip' file is actually called 'update.zip.zip'

 

[kansas400]

GREAT! That worked!! It was mistakenly names zip.zip.
 
Thanks so much! 

 

[Richard Bell]

I seem to be having a problem.
 
After following the instructions on the Installation Manual page and running update on my player my X3 says NOTICE No firmware file.
 
The .rockbox directory and update.zip files are in the root directory of the SD card in slot 1 and the card is formatted to FAT32.
 
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Richard Bell]

Figured it out after reading more posts.  No need to respond.

 

[stellarelephant]

To anybody considering buying the XDuoo X3, or for anybody who already owns one and is not sure whether installing an alternate OS on the device is worth the effort: Rockbox turns this already cool player into an amazing piece of gear.  Shout out to Roman who did the Rockbox port for this device...you did an awesome job.  We should all be hitting the donate button on his website!!!  http://xvtx.ru/rockbox/ Seriously, thanks, dude.
 
I can't explain how happy I am to have Rockbox running on my X3.  I was starting to think that Rockbox was going the way of the dinosaur (seriously, aren't there enough Clip users still around to justify at least one update since 2013?)  If you check out the original Rockbox site, you'll see a bunch of near-extinct supported devices.  I have been running Rockbox for several years on an iPod Video 5.5 Gen (yes, the one with the Wolfson DAC...which is hugely overrated, in my opinion).  It was an upgrade from my ancient Rio Karma, but never really sounded very good -- it couldn't come close to any decent CD player in SQ, but I used it because Rockbox gave it support for every music file format in a slick interface.
 
Now, thanks to Roman, I have a new, cutting-edge device with killer SQ that runs Rockbox like a champ.  This thing sounds amazing, y'all.  I am surprised that the X3 has only made a small splash on Head-Fi thus far.  For the budget-minded audiophile, it's the cat's meow.  It sounds better than any CD player I have tested it against so far...clean, neutral, fast, and super-detailed.  My iPod sounds downright slow and muddy in comparison.  The X3's only real fault is that pesky timestretching glitch in the stock OS, and Rockbox eliminates it entirely.  Rockbox also gives me awesome EQ, which I've just begun exploring.  And to me, it is just a very intuitive and attractive interface.
 
I guess I'm a fanboy.  Go X3.  Go Rockbox.  Yeah.

 

[ambchang]

You have to rockbox the x3. Without rockbox, x3 is pretty unusable. With rockbox, it's an awesome piece of gear. My only gripe about it is battery life. It seems like the x3 still sucks juice even when it's off.

 

[stellarelephant]

You have to rockbox the x3. Without rockbox, x3 is pretty unusable. With rockbox, it's an awesome piece of gear. My only gripe about it is battery life. It seems like the x3 still sucks juice even when it's off.

 
I agree about battery life.  Do you listen through the amped headphone jack or the line out?
 
While I sometimes listen over my Grado headphones, I most often have my X3 running from the line jack out into my car stereo or my DIY "Sprite" boombox I built.  Although I've never actually measured the hours of playtime, I have noticed that when running Rockbox, the X3's battery life seems shorter than XDuoo's published specs, even when running from the line out, which surprises me.
 
Here's my suspicion as to what my be using up the juice...  Will some folks please try this little test and confirm that you get the same results?  If my hunch is right, maybe we could convince Roman to look into the possibility of solving the issue for us with an update.  Here goes:
 
Boot your X3 to the original firmware with your headphones off and put your ear right next to the X3's aluminum body.  You should hear a little click inside as the device powers up.  Now, plug your headphones into the headphone jack.  You will hear nothing change.  Then plug your phones into the line out.  You will hear another click.  Unplug the phones.  This time you will hear a pretty loud click.  What the heck is the click? I believe the X3 firmware activates a hardware switch that disables the amplifier circuit entirely when the line out jack is engaged. 
 
Now boot Rockbox and do the test again.  There's a click at power on.  No clicks at all when engaging or disengaging the line out jack.  Hmmm...  I think that Rockbox is powering the amp at all times, even when only using the line out.  Seems to me that this would definitely shorten battery life.
 
Can anybody else weigh in on this notion?  I guess the real test would be measuring battery life while using the headphone jack vs. line out jack in BOTH firmwares, and then comparing the results.  I've just never even used the stock OS except for about 5 minutes when I bought the X3.  Has anybody else noticed a difference?

 

[bzfrank]

You have to rockbox the x3. Without rockbox, x3 is pretty unusable. With rockbox, it's an awesome piece of gear. My only gripe about it is battery life. It seems like the x3 still sucks juice even when it's off.

Not here. Just be sure to really turn it off (press 'On/Off'-key 2-3 seconds) ... it sucks power in standby/idle.

 

[stellarelephant]

Yeah, I don't notice battery life decreasing when the device is off either.  I thought ambchang was making a joke when he said that.  At least XDuoo made it easy to open up the device if a battery swap becomes necessary. 
 
But do you all notice what I was talking about with the X3 making a click noise as it switches on or off the amplifier, depending on which output jack is being used?  I'm really curious about it.

 
Boot your X3 to the original firmware with your headphones off and put your ear right next to the X3's aluminum body.  You should hear a little click inside as the device powers up.  Now, plug your headphones into the headphone jack.  You will hear nothing change.  Then plug your phones into the line out.  You will hear another click.  Unplug the phones.  This time you will hear a pretty loud click.  What the heck is the click? I believe the X3 firmware activates a hardware switch that disables the amplifier circuit entirely when the line out jack is engaged. 
 
Now boot Rockbox and do the test again.  There's a click at power on.  No clicks at all when engaging or disengaging the line out jack.  Hmmm...  I think that Rockbox is powering the amp at all times, even when only using the line out.  Seems to me that this would definitely shorten battery life.

 

[ambchang]

   
I agree about battery life.  Do you listen through the amped headphone jack or the line out?
 
While I sometimes listen over my Grado headphones, I most often have my X3 running from the line jack out into my car stereo or my DIY "Sprite" boombox I built.  Although I've never actually measured the hours of playtime, I have noticed that when running Rockbox, the X3's battery life seems shorter than XDuoo's published specs, even when running from the line out, which surprises me.
 
Here's my suspicion as to what my be using up the juice...  Will some folks please try this little test and confirm that you get the same results?  If my hunch is right, maybe we could convince Roman to look into the possibility of solving the issue for us with an update.  Here goes:
 
Boot your X3 to the original firmware with your headphones off and put your ear right next to the X3's aluminum body.  You should hear a little click inside as the device powers up.  Now, plug your headphones into the headphone jack.  You will hear nothing change.  Then plug your phones into the line out.  You will hear another click.  Unplug the phones.  This time you will hear a pretty loud click.  What the heck is the click? I believe the X3 firmware activates a hardware switch that disables the amplifier circuit entirely when the line out jack is engaged. 
 
Now boot Rockbox and do the test again.  There's a click at power on.  No clicks at all when engaging or disengaging the line out jack.  Hmmm...  I think that Rockbox is powering the amp at all times, even when only using the line out.  Seems to me that this would definitely shorten battery life.
 
Can anybody else weigh in on this notion?  I guess the real test would be measuring battery life while using the headphone jack vs. line out jack in BOTH firmwares, and then comparing the results.  I've just never even used the stock OS except for about 5 minutes when I bought the X3.  Has anybody else noticed a difference?

 
Almost exclusively lineout.  Either to the car, or to a portable amp setup.
 

 
Not here. Just be sure to really turn it off (press 'On/Off'-key 2-3 seconds) ... it sucks power in standby/idle.

 
 
I do turn it off, but only through auto turnoff, which I think works.
 

  Yeah, I don't notice battery life decreasing when the device is off either.  I thought ambchang was making a joke when he said that.  At least XDuoo made it easy to open up the device if a battery swap becomes necessary. 
 
But do you all notice what I was talking about with the X3 making a click noise as it switches on or off the amplifier, depending on which output jack is being used?  I'm really curious about it.

 
Not joking at all.  I didn't use the X3 for 2 days, and the battery went from about 70% full to completely depleted.

 

[mbwilson111]

   
Almost exclusively lineout.  Either to the car, or to a portable amp setup.
 
 
 
I do turn it off, but only through auto turnoff, which I think works.
 
 
Not joking at all.  I didn't use the X3 for 2 days, and the battery went from about 70% full to completely depleted.

That does not seem right.  I have not used mine for 3 days and the battery is at 100% just as I left it.  I had fully charged it. unplugged it from the charger, shut it down and left it for 3 days.  In Rockbox mode I get about 10 hours battery life using the line out to my FiiO E12A Mont Blanc headphone amp.  I occasionally plug my more efficient headphones directly into the Xduoo.  I should check sometime how many hours I could get using that method only.  I love Rockbox with this player.  I only use the stock mode when I charge it or when I want to attach it to the computer to look at everything that is on the two cards and maybe add or delete a few albums.  If I were going to make major changes to the card contents I would use a card reader because that is so much faster.  If I only want to add a few albums I would rather not pop the card out.  I am worried that the little springs could wear out.

 

[ambchang]

That does not seem right.  I have not used mine for 3 days and the battery is at 100% just as I left it.  I had fully charged it. unplugged it from the charger, shut it down and left it for 3 days.  In Rockbox mode I get about 10 hours battery life using the line out to my FiiO E12A Mont Blanc headphone amp.  I occasionally plug my more efficient headphones directly into the Xduoo.  I should check sometime how many hours I could get using that method only.  I love Rockbox with this player.  I only use the stock mode when I charge it or when I want to attach it to the computer to look at everything that is on the two cards and maybe add or delete a few albums.  If I were going to make major changes to the card contents I would use a card reader because that is so much faster.  If I only want to add a few albums I would rather not pop the card out.  I am worried that the little springs could wear out.

I always have a cable plugged into the line out mode so that may have some impact. I'll unplug every time and see if that has a positive impact.

No way am I getting 10. The one time I got about 6 hours was because I played it non stop for the entire time. Anytim I stopped I get significantly less time. I can normally play about 4 or 5 hours of play time.

I play ALAC files though. Not sure if that makes a difference.

 

[stellarelephant]

 
If I were going to make major changes to the card contents I would use a card reader because that is so much faster.  If I only want to add a few albums I would rather not pop the card out.  I am worried that the little springs could wear out.

Dude, you're so right.  The built-in card reader is painfully slow.  While we're nitpicking, the screen is also impossible to see in the sun. XDuoo, are you listening?
 

I always have a cable plugged into the line out mode so that may have some impact. I'll unplug every time and see if that has a positive impact.

No way am I getting 10. The one time I got about 6 hours was because I played it non stop for the entire time. Anytim I stopped I get significantly less time. I can normally play about 4 or 5 hours of play time.

I play ALAC files though. Not sure if that makes a difference.

 
I think I get around the same battery life as you, when playing mostly FLAC files (mostly 16-bit but a few 24-bit) through the line out.  Around 6 hours, by my very rough estimates.  I presume that the battery life must indeed be affected by how much data we are asking the processor and DAC to handle.  But mine never discharges when powered off, regardless of whether it shuts down automatically or by me holding the button down.  I often just pause it and let it auto shut down.  And I always keep my cables plugged in.  You may have an issue with your battery.

 

[mbwilson111]

I always have a cable plugged into the line out mode so that may have some impact. I'll unplug every time and see if that has a positive impact.

No way am I getting 10. The one time I got about 6 hours was because I played it non stop for the entire time. Anytim I stopped I get significantly less time. I can normally play about 4 or 5 hours of play time.

I play ALAC files though. Not sure if that makes a difference.

 
I play 16 bit Flac.  Maybe ALAC files do use more power?  Someone should know.  Do you skip and repeat tracks a lot?  I have heard that uses more power.  I am an album listener.  I always listed to an album straight through and then either shut down or listen to another whole album.  Also I think I have always listened at lower volume levels than many people.  It seems that should not make any difference though as I am usually controlling the volume with the portable amp.  If you are not on the go you can still use the Xduoo with a USB charger.  I use the same one as I do with  my tablet.  I cannot use the amp while it is charging so that is when I plug my most efficient headphones directly into the Xduoo.