The journal tracks updates and progress on various projects and day to day events.

260401

Filed under ipod
A re-fitted 6th gen iPod classic running Rockbox with a custom skin.

One of the ideals of smartphone manufacturers has always been to enclose as many functionalities as possible in a single device, fitting in your pocket.

While it surely is practical to need fewer things, it offers little resilience or autonomy. When the device breaks, so do all of its functionalities. When trends change, perfectly working solutions are obsoleted in favor of the new thing — like headphone jacks. When the app changes, your beahvior follows.

"We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us."

For these reasons I prefer dedicated hardware that I can rely on to do one thing, and do it well. Enter my new music player.

After my ultra-cheap old player broke, I decided it was time to invest some resources into a device that would endure me longer and that met the following criteria:

In my research I stumbled across a software for music players called Rockbox. Filtering by local availability, supported devices and my list of criteria, the only device that seemed feasible was an iPod Classic, which I found online for the hefty price tag of 80 Euros — which I found out was in fact still comparatively cheap.

I brought it to my trusted repair shop and spent another 80 Euros to have a charging issue fixed, get the device cleaned, but mainly to build in a new 128GB SSD, making the device lighter, faster and quieter.

To be able to easily put music on the player without needing to rely on iTunes, my only option was to install Rockbox. This process turned out to be not only painful and longwinded, but finally also impossible to do on my current Ubuntu driven system. Luckily, my motivation and tolerance for pain was high, after having spent this much money on the hardware: I spent a night banging my head against one wall after the next and eventually was rescued by the most unlikely and most hated upon savior: Microsoft Windows 11.

If you are curious in my perils, you may peruse ...

TLDR: if you want to do this, get a Windows machine, download iTunes and Rockbox and save yourself a lot of frustration.

A Chronicle of Pain

Firstly, the SSD came in a Mac-formatted HFS+ filesystem, which I needed to convert to FAT32. After wiping the Apple Partition Map with parted and creating the proper master boot records (two partitions, one for the firmware, one for everything else) I formatted the drive using mkdosfs.

Next I downloaded and ran the Rockbox utility, but it couldn't detect the iPod. I tried using ipodpatcher, but that required putting the iPod in disk mode. Since the SSD was blank at this point, there was no firmware to be found. Without firmware, no diskmode - fun!

My next approach was to write the Apple firmware manually and after finally finding the right version online, I could extract and install it on the iPod. Now it actually booted — hooray! My hopes were up just to be crushed a few moments later when I found out that ipodpatcher still fails because of the SSD partition layout. It reported the drive to be 4096 byte sectors, but ipodpatcher is hardcoded for 512.

To bypass ipodpatcher, I tried another bootloader called mks5lboot. I couldn't find the binaries for it online, so I actually downloaded the source files and wrangled countless heads of the Hydra: missing headers, broken packages and makefile directory structures. I was neck deep in the morrass of Linux land at this point. But to my own surprise I eventually emerged successfully and compiled mks5lboot — rejoice! With my new found enthusiasm, I installed the bootloader and Rockbox on the device, feeling _this_ close to success. Alas, it was not to be: rockbox couldn't find the partition because of some wrong FAT32 cluster size and failed to boot.

Exhausted and tired I fell to my knees and screamed to the pouring black sky: WHYYYYYYYYYY??!!

After my dramatic and tearful outburst, I got a Windows laptop, downloaded iTunes and the Rockbox utility, plugged in the iPod, reset it using iTunes and installed the damned thing on the player using the utility tool. It took about half an hour.

260325

Filed under kitbag
Added kitbag project documentation.

260310

Filed under murals
Murals I painted in the past 20 years.

Between 2006 and 2013 I painted a lot of graffiti and murals with a group of friends. When I started focusing full time on game development in 2010, there was hardly time or energy left to for painting.

Since I retired from games in 2023, painting has slowly come back into my life. Honoring this marvelous pursuit, I decided to update the murals section of the wiki, showing a small selection of works through the past twenty years.

260303

Filed under meta
Completely re-wrote the nchrs website generator in Lua.

The C codebase of the nchrs' website generator became too difficult for me to maintain, so I re-wrote it from scratch in Lua, along with a couple of nice quality improvements such as automated file and media handling.

260205

Filed under ocular
Published ocular, a tiny static image gallery generator with rss support.

251129

Filed under happynothappy
Updated Happy Not Happy.

251128

Filed under painting
Started a series of abstract paintings.

251119

Filed under workshop
Set up a workshop space in the basement.

251116

Filed under woodwork
Made two oak wood swords for my son.

251101

Stavrochori, Crete.

250926

7 Days of Naikan

250818

Made figurines with the kid from self-made clay.

250816

Les Magnans, Southern France.

250721

Hollenstein an der Ybbs.

250713

Kleinkersee.

250712

Bookbinding project for a Shiatsu script.

250707

Logo for Cerca.

250616

Poucher RZ85-3 Faltboot.

250613

Filed under murals
Birbs.

250530

Crocodile Bay, Croatia.

250526

Another batch of Merveilles Stickers.

250510

A lime hawk-moth.

250317

Easy.

250121

Built a paper planetarium with my son.

241231

Nori Crackers.

241129

Filed under ouvertura
Ouvertura Haul.

241029

Merveilles Stickers.

240930

Built a headphone roll.

240908

Filed under bike
Aquired a new bike.

240731

Filed under murals
Oxymoron.

240724

Erwin Moser Museum.

240723

Weiden am See.

240712

Guérande, Western France.

240611

Filed under monochrome
Mirrors.

240520

Filed under household
Added new inventory items.

240428

Filed under murals
Painting.

240320

Set up a room in my old office to practice Shiatsu.

240205

Filed under cmus
Published Cmus music stats script.

240204

Wood stove.

240201

Filed under staircase
Build a stair case shelf.

231229

Filed under stardict
Published the StarDict dictionary archive.

231120

Album cover illustration for Elmet Brae.

231021

Started Shiatsu training.

230921

Filed under trailer
Optimized bike trailer for weight and flexibility.

230917

Fermented cocoa nibs.

230915

Filed under ouvertura
CSA booth at global climate strike.

230805

Filed under sailing
Sailing the Kona coast of Big Island, Hawai'i.

230722

Big Island, Hawai'i.

230703

Merveilles stickers.

230623

Filed under music_theory
Notes on music theory.

230608

Filed under sailing
Skipper Training in Croatia.

230521

Merveilles Meetup

230509

Filed under okara_cookies
Okara Cookies

230502

Filed under soba_manju
Soba Manju

230504

Homemade Tofu

230407

Bezau, Bregenzer Wald, Austria.

230316

Filed under trabant
Revived Macbook Pro 2012.

230308

Reichenau an der Rax.

230209

Gondwana in the Leipzig zoo.

230103

Filed under logbook
Released a i3bar blocklet to track time for logbook.

221222

Filed under recipies
Added vegan Spätzle recipe.

221219

Filed under workshop
Revived an old set of wrenches.

221215

Filed under recipies
Pumpkin chocolate oatmeal.

221212

AA discovered Mumins.

221202

Filed under recipies
Added spelt buckwheat bread recipie.

221113

Rose hips.

221102

Short visit to Munich.

221029

Everything is set for A's birthday rally.

221013

Planning.

221008

The route.

221007

View from the mast.

221006

Sundset in the bay of Otok Žut.

220930

Labeled SD Cards.

220928

Fermenting and pickling.

220926

Temporary fix forever.

220924

Filed under w3m
Notes on w3m.

220923

Filed under illustration
Stranded home.

220911

Visited Ouvertura to help with ragweed.

220830

Filed under memoir
Released memoir.

220823

Venice, Italy.

220822

Filed under illustration
Monsterboy inspired drawing of a new character.

220821

Vacation in Croatia.

220804

Skate park on Venica Beach, Los Angeles.

220723

Lava sculptures on Mauna Ulu.

220720

Ohia plant on Kilauea Iki Trail.

220709

Water whirls in Kona.

220706

Spent a month on Big Island, Hawai'i

220705

Filed under illustration
Drew a silly Spelunky comic.

220627

The cola plant - artemisia abrotanum.

220625

Found new books.

220624

The camp.

220613

Meeting friends.

220608

Filed under illustration
Drew a Chinese dragon.

220604

Billowing stormclouds in the Styrian mountains.

220601

First batch of vegetables from the coop Ochsenherz.

220519

Filed under rasputin
Finished revision 2 of RASP/UTIN.

220510

Spring is here.

220501

Vaporetto.

220429

Merveilles Europe Meetup in Venice.

220424

Filed under workshop
Built a small shelf.

220421

Filed under household
Aquired a used cast iron tea pot.

220420

Filed under workshop
Built a simple wardrobe.

220413

Filed under electricity
Added notes on electric current.

220412

Filed under permaculture
Added notes on permaculture.

220408

Filed under workstation
Improved the workstation.

220407

Filed under workshop
Built a tool shelf.

220405

Filed under workshop
Built a hanging shelf.

220403

Filed under loftbed
Finished the ladder.

220322

Filed under workshop
Made simple coat hangers.

220320

Filed under loftbed
Started working on a loftbed.

220317

Filed under workshop
Built a simple poster hanger.

220316

Filed under recipies
Made hummus and other snacks.

220310

Filed under workstation
Moved the workstation near the oven.

220304

Filed under recipies
Made uzumaki for a friend's birthday.

220225

Filed under gibbon
Released Gibbon: Beyond the Trees.

220223

Filed under uxn_notes
Added illustrated pages of uxn notes.

220201

Filed under uxn_notes
Started learning uxn and tal.

211127

Filed under pocketchip
Aquired a pocket chip.

211120

Visited the Lobau Bleibt occupation camps.

211119

Filed under recipies
Colorful fermentation results. Red onions with garlic. Four weeks of dry fermentation.

211020

Filed under recipies
Pickled cucumbers and radish.

211015

Filed under inventory
A made me a new wallet.

211010

Helping with the grape harvest.

211009

Weekend trip to the forest.

210825

Filed under workshop
Built new office chair arm rests.

210813

Carrot kid hugging its parent.

210804

Filed under sinpin
Started exploring Nasu with Sinpin sprites.

210801

Spent two weeks in Istria.

210714

A four day bike tour through the Mostviertel, Lower Austria.

210709

Fire.

210604

Returned from a weekendtrip to Waldviertel, Lower Austria.

210530

Filed under recipies
Experimenting with vegetable fermentation.

210521

Filed under porridge
Added the breakfast porridge to the recipies section.

210516

Meadow herbs. Ribworth (Spitzwegerich), Primrose (Schlüsselblume), Dead-Nettle (Taubnessel), Dandelion (Löwenzahn)

210515

Rhubarb harvest.

210514

Filed under instruments
Replaced the straps of the traveler guitar bag.

210513

Filed under recipies
Pasta with onion, red and yellow peppers, wild garlic buds, garlic chive, mungo sprouts, oyster mushrooms, a spoon full of red pesto and a chopped leaf of lovage. Topped with basil and hemp seeds.

210512

Strung up garden lovage to dry.

210511

Filed under recipies
Another Tempeh day. Soaked pearl barley with oyster mushrooms, mungo sprouts, onion, fresh spinach and garlic chive from the garden. Topped with hempseeds.

210510

Filed under recipies
Haven't had Tempeh in years. Made it with jasmin rice, oyster mushrooms, mungo sprouts, onion, carrots and left over piece of Tofu. Sprinkled with fresh chive. Leaf salad with mom's vinaigrette.

210508

Looking out the window.

210507

New books.

210506

Finally the fresh vegetable season starts again! Wild garlic buds in olive oil pre-lunch snack.

210505

Hello there, friends! A is sprouting tomatoes, zucchini and butternut pumpkins.

210504

Started working on a new wallet.

210503

Filed under recipies
Roasted spices, onions and shimeji mushrooms. Cooked them with yellow lentils, buckwheat, mungo beans. Sprinkled with fresh chive.

210502

Picked some wild tulips from our plot.

210501

Painted the bedroom wall.

210430

Filed under recipies
Learned how to bake bread with A's guidance. I owe the fantastic result to her years of bread making experience.

210429

Roasted red bell pepper, onions, carrots, oyster mushrooms, mungo bean sprouts, whole spinach and lamb's lettuce leaves. Seasoned with soy sauce and topped with white sesame seeds. Cooking duration ~12 minutes.

210428

Filed under trailer
Built a custom transportation box for the bike trailer.

210426

Filed under recipies
Made Maki rolls and had a living room picknick. AA invited Domo for lunch.

210417

AA's rebellion against COVID: no social distancing on the party boat!

210415

Filed under workshop
Hacked the clothing lines by replacing the wires with hemp strings.

210412

Filed under recipies
Made wild garlic pesto.

210411

Went for a hike with AA and picked coltsfoot (Huflattich).

210410

Filed under sinpin
First test runs with friends and kids.

210409

Filed under sinpin
Drew a sprite sheet for sinpin.

210408

Filed under sinpin
Started working on a board game called Sinpin.

210407

Filed under preonic
Customized the key mapping for the OLKB preonic.

210406

Filed under bike
Got a reanimated bike.

210331

Filed under classics
Added notes and rules for classic board games.

210329

Filed under markdown
Implemented custom markdown support for the wiki.

210322

Filed under preonic
Assembled the OLKB Preonic.

210321

Filed under everyday
Got my first paper calendar since over 15 years!

210320

Filed under logbook
Released C re-write of logbook.

210319

Filed under everyday
Replaced my smartphone with a used Nokia 130.

210318

Filed under headphones
Sold bluetooth headphones and replaced them with a pair of used, wired AIAIAI.

210316

Filed under trailer
Got a used bike trailer.

210315

Filed under inventory
Fixed the MP3 power supply.

210313

Filed under inventory
Aquired a used soldering station.

210307

Filed under meta
Re-wrote the wiki in C based on Oscean.

210304

Filed under rubiks_cube
Added notes on the algorithms used to solve a Rubicks cube to the wiki.

210228

Filed under recipies
A Simple meal for a simple mind. Roased oyster mushrooms, red onion and celery cabgage with white rice sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds. Accompanied by almond paste and soy sauce dip.

210301

Clear sunrise on the first of March 2021.

210227

Filed under chess
Aquired a used foldable chess board the other day.

210225

Filed under fukuoka
Added notes from the book One Straw Revolution to the wiki.

210115

Filed under fabian_delursi
I had an oddly specific dream last night.

201228

Spent the new year house sitting.

201226

Filed under workstation
Updated my workstation again.

201223

Filed under recipies
Endless fractals romanesco.

201219

Filed under workshop
Built a new lid for a tea strainer.

201212

Filed under software
Created UI mockups for khal.

201128

Scavenged for advent wreath material today.

201122

Filed under rasputin
Laser cut a case prototype for Rasputin.

201120

Went out to forage rose hips.

201011

Filed under trabant
Desktop aesthetics.

201004

Went for a hike around Wotruba church.

201002

Filed under grinder
Inherited a coffee grinder that got a much needed restauration.

200929

Made. So. Much. Preserves.

200926

Spent the weekend harvesting fruits.

200923

Filed under recipies
Stocked up on goods from the packaging free store.

200921

Filed under workshop
Fixed our tea strainer today.

200920

Filed under inventory
Removed the case and added new buttons to the MP3 player.

200919

Ventured through Vienna today to obtain a used MP3 player.

200918

Filed under detergent
Made laundry detergent from chestnuts.

200917

Filed under recipies
Today we'll have Mushrooms for dinner.

200905

Filed under instruments
Inherited a beautiful Penzel Müller Clarinette built ca. 1920.

200827

Filed under workstation
Converted an old sewing table into a workstation.

200820

Camping trip to Waldenstein.

200708

Hiked the Hagenbach Klamm.

200626

Visitor

200625

Vacation in Lignano, Italy.

200603

The attic.

200516

Fern unrolling.

200509

Styria.

200508

Filed under shelter
Built a forest hideout with my son.

200507

Lockdown 2020.

200505

Filed under inventory
Got a used FujiX100T.

190720

Traveling through Denmark.

190719

Traveling through Denmark.

190413

Sardinia.

181103

Tokyo, Japan - NHK Japan Prize

180122

Taipei, Taiwan - Taipei Game Show

170918

Tokyo, Japan - Tokyo Game Show

170915

Busan, South Korea - Busan Indie Connect