Now works on e200 and e200R!
The Sansa e200 MultiBL is a modified version of the Rockbox Bootloader. It is modified so that it can be used to load Rockbox and/or multiple H3mod themes on a Sansa e200. To install it for the first time, first get your themes by following one of the theme installation procedures below. BIN Themes will boot faster and are recommended. There are instructions for converting from MI4 to BIN, but if it seems too complicated MI4 themes work. After installing themes, you need to install the firmware.
Step by Step Installation:
BIN Theme Installation (best boot time):
- Create a new directory on your desktop called MultiBLthemes. (This step is not necessary but recommended. Use whatever directory you want.)
- Download mi4code and extract the zip file to MultiBLthemes.
- Get the correct mi4 version of your themes. This may entail using H3Mod to get an mi4 out of an image pack. See the H3Mod page if you need help with this. Name the mi4 the name of the theme. I will call this file theme.mi4 from now on.
- Go to Start --> Run and type "cmd".
- Type "cd Desktop\MultiBLthemes".
- type "mi4code decrypt -s theme.mi4 F0.bin"
- Repeat step 6 for every theme, replacing F0 with F1, F2, and so on like this: "mi4code decrypt -s theme2.mi4 F1.bin"
- Copy all of the F*.bin files to /System/ on your player (so one would be /System/F0.bin).
- To replace a theme, delete its bin file and replace the bin file with a new theme using the above instructions.
MI4 Theme Installation (easier):
- Switch your player to MSC mode by going to "Settings" --> "USB Mode" --> "MSC".
- Get the correct mi4 version of your themes. This may entail using H3Mod to get an mi4 out of an image pack. See the H3Mod page if you need help with this. Save the mi4 on your player in the "System" folder. Name the mi4 "F0", assuming the ".mi4" extension is hidden.
- Repeat step 2 for every theme you want from F0 to F5. F0 boots by default, and the rest with the buttons listed below.
- Follow the MultiBL Bootloader Installation/Update procedure below to install the bootloader.
MultiBL Bootloader Installation/Update
- Download the latest MultiBL below.
- Copy it to the root of your Sansa (usually E:\) and rename it "PP5022.mi4". The ".mi4" may be hidden.
- Unplug and restart your player. Installation is complete when the "Upgrading Firmware" message appears.
Rockbox Version Installation
- Follow above instructions, with three exceptions:
- To boot Rockbox by default, remove "/System/F0.bin". If this file isn't found Rockbox will load.
- To boot Rockbox when the select button is pressed, remove "/System/F1.bin". If the select button is pressed and this file isn't found, Rockbox will load.
- If rockbox was previously installed, leave OF.bin in place until the upgrade is complete because without it you may not be able to boot anything but rockbox.
e200R Installation
- The e200R is not officially supported by the MultiBL yet. Installation should work, but I can't promise anything since I don't have an e200R.
- Don't do this if you don't know what you are doing. Read ALL the instructions first.
- Follow the instructions for step 1 here: SansaE200RInstallation
- When it tells you to go to step 2 and copy pp5022.mi4, do the following instead:
- Download the e200R mi4 file below
- Put it on the root of your device and name it pp5022.mi4.
- Now, MAKE SURE you put at least one firmware on your player. I would put on a couple at this point in case one doesn't work. Rockbox is an option. To use rockbox, just download a regular build (you dont need the bootloader) and unzip it to your device. NAME THE FILES right. Use /System/F0.mi4 or /System/F0.bin.
- Good luck. If it works, or if it doesn't, let me know your results at MultiBL ABi Thread so you can help everyone else.
Button Assignments for Booting:
- Default (no button): /System/F0.bin OR Rockbox
- Select (center): /System/F1.bin OR Rockbox
- Up: /System/F2.bin
- Right: /System/F3.bin
- Down: /System/F4.bin
- Left: /System/F5.bin
- Rec: Dump Hidden Partition (used to be up before MultiBL)
To get themes, go to the Anything But iPod e200 Theme Downloads Page and download the themes you want. You can have up to 7. You need an mi4 file for each theme so either download the mi4 format or use H3Mod to convert them to mi4 format. Instructions for H3Mod are on the Anything But iPod page. Then follow the instructions above.
Version 2.2 - 2007-12-14
This isn't thoroughly tested due to lack of time, but it should work. Use this bootloader with or without Rockbox.
MultiBL-2007-12-14.mi4
Version 2.2 e200R - 2007-12-14
Only for the R series. See the instructions for the e200R above. Install at your own risk.
MultiBLe200R-2007-12-14.mi4
Version 2.2 Patch
This patch will patch rockbox SVN source to be the MultiBL source. It is not necessary unless you are interested in building the bootloader yourself or looking at the code.
MultiBL-2007-12-14.patch
Version 2.2, 2007-12-14
- In SVN, the screen glitch fix was committed.
- The main-pp.c source code for the bootloader has changed quite a bit due to the screen glitch fix and addition of c200 and e200R. This required a bit of reprogramming, but now functionality should be the same as before.
- Compiled an e200R bootloader. Hopefully it will work.
Version 2.1, 2007-07-31
- Fixed major bug that would only boot OF if used with sansapatcher. Now works correctly.
Version 2.0 - 2007-07-28
- Completely recoded bootloader based on current rockbox source.
- An addition to the rockbox bootloader was that the up button would dump the hidden partition. This is most likely useful for recovery purposes. This was moved to the record button in MultiBL, replacing F6.
- Instructions updated for use with sansapatcher.
- Patch added for download to make source available.
Version 1.3.1 - 5/17/07
- USB Boot bug fixed. Player would boot rockbox when plugged in if there was no F1.bin. Now boots F2.bin on USB insertion.
Version 1.3 - 5/17/07
- One Firmware loads Rockbox or non-Rockbox
- Rockbox can be loaded by default
- Default boot procedure is now "/System/F0.mi4" --> "/System/F0.bin" --> Rockbox
- Select boot procedure is now "/System/F1.mi4" --> "/System/F1.bin" --> Rockbox
- USB handling improved: boots default firmware automatically when plugged in.
Version 1.2 - 4/13/07
- Fixed USB booting problem. Just plug in your USB and F0 will be loaded. There is no need to start the player before plugging it in.
Version 1.1 - 4/12/07
- All buttons are now used for a total of 7 different bootable firmwares.
- The bootloader was split into a Rockbox branch and a non-Rockbox branch. Both will be maintained simultaneously.