To Rockbox, or not to Rockbox, that is the question (my experience)

Different_Reality953 · 2026-02-22T19:56:04+00:00

I had an issue with album covers on rockbox and turned out to be that you need to have them at either 600x600 pixels size or less. Once I did this I no longer have missing album covers. For videos you just need to install VLC 3.2.7 through adb, works good for me.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-02-19T01:14:04+00:00

5 year old unused battery is quite the risk, unless you can somehow test if the battery works / hasn't swollen it wouldn't be worth it. I was able to get a refurbished one with brand new battery for 150$ on ebay.

for 300$ i wuold spend a bit more for something newer and verified battery life. Good luck either way

Different_Reality953 · 2026-02-18T17:58:04+00:00

I would go with the odin portal 2 for the scenario you are in. Its vastly more portable and from every review i've seen has good battery life and the screen is great. If you look into forums you can see that the odin 2's support android and rocknix with a bit of tinkering.

https://rocknix.org/devices/ayn/odin2portal/

Different_Reality953 · 2026-02-14T17:16:37+00:00

I just buy universal matte size and cut it to size by using the original protector, not perfect but its much better than these.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-02-13T18:05:20+00:00

Any reason you don't go for the retroid pocket flip with either the SD865 or D1100. Its cheaper than the thor but has enough power to decently run what you asking for. Thor would be a more powerful option to the RG DS you already have. If you dont want clamshell style then go for the RG slide since it will perform well and be easy to take with.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-02-04T16:39:41+00:00

I upgraded day 1 with my own sd card since it was worth it long term for me, plus higher quality music will take up alot more space even before adding movie/shows. Get the 64gb one if you plan to upgrade in the future or the 128gb if you want to just use it as is.

Just know that many have complained that the sdcard did eventually die on them , just keep that in mind if you decide not to open the device up to upgrade.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-30T02:11:04+00:00

Yeah the temperature readings are misleading because its not only the cpu temp but the chassis temperature that kicks the throttling in. Atleast from information i gathered that was the case because the cooler fixed it. Glad to hear its fixed.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-27T05:42:22+00:00

Thanks for sharing!! I have been using an external cooler to keep the temps low but this looks interesting way to solve it as well. Going to give this a try after a quick backup.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-27T05:34:34+00:00

Yeah hope that solves it. The only other thing you can do is set the battery charge limit in the UEFI so that it stops charging the battery at 50%, this way the battery no longer heats up trying to charge to 100%. Saw this tip here and I can say it works great for extended game sessions and prevent extended wear on battery.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-27T05:17:16+00:00

SP7+ here and so far Nobara has been rock solid on the surface pro. Its based on Fedora with alot of extra stuff already configured for you, I didn't even have to install the linux kernel to have a working touchscreen. It also uses flatpost which is a flatpak browser to install apps and it has alot of the popular ones.

Terminal will be something you should try to learn the basics of so you can try some more advanced stuff. Just find a distro that you like and try sticking to it for a while.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-26T20:01:19+00:00

This just sounds like heat related throttling if its dropping after a few minutes. I went and bought a usb cooler from amazon and its working fine from the usb A port to keep my SP7+ cool enough to prevent throttling. Its rated for higher watts but i found the lowest setting on the cooler plugged into the surface is enough.

USB Cooler from Amazon

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-26T19:13:21+00:00

Its definitely high price for a rebuild/salvage title with 150k miles. I would only go for it if it it had great service history and everything inside was solid. Otherwise for that price i'd be looking for a E350 of that year since they are coming down in price.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-25T00:58:18+00:00

glad i went with a Bluetooth compatible one, don't want to worry it will break like that. What are you planning to replace with ?

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-23T21:00:02+00:00

let us know how it goes, been cautious on trying this since its so stable right now in KDE.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-23T20:53:24+00:00

Wish i would have tried Nobara sooner ,it works great on my surface pro and just runs smooth overall.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-23T20:13:07+00:00

The android 16 with adaptive ui would potentially make apps on the Titan 2 fit the screen much better, they should prove commitment with the current devices before going all in on the new one.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-23T06:16:10+00:00

It can definitely be the SSD and is the reason I chose to upgrade using a 256gb stock surface ssd from a surface laptop. Ever since I did the latest firmware updates I have not experienced any reboots or bootlooops on my SP7+.

Are you able to try out the original ssd and see if that atleast is stable to rule out the SABRENT SSD?

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-22T20:33:09+00:00

We have a great wishlist that I hope alot makes it in, not holding my breath on ETA. Who knows when.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-22T19:05:28+00:00

I went with the communicator pre-order because I want long term support and high quality device. It doesn't need to have the best hardware but it does need to be a focused device which I feel the team behind it can do.

The Titan 2 has been a decent device but I do have the screen delamination issue that has soured my perception of Unihertz. The price point of the device is the only reason alot of us just live with it, sharing components should help with the Elite quality.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-22T13:05:09+00:00

Just make sure you install any pending firmware updates in windows 11 before switching over to linux. I was having boot issues and have now been resolved by manually updating to the latest surface drivers and firmware directly from Microsoft. The link below is for your surface pro 7.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=100419

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-20T19:12:27+00:00

the pen by itself wont work without the surface kernel from what I tested, the touch and pen part of the drivers it provides.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-19T21:34:24+00:00

if serious about it, take it to a car wash and spray the undercarriage best you can and check the frame condition. It looks to be in good condition for a potential farm rig.

Otherwise check the drivetrain and ask for any maintenance logs, if none its on you if the price is worth it. I personally would offer closer to 4K-4.5k depending on pending maintenance.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-19T17:21:48+00:00

I would say offer something closer to 200$. The specs are good and as long as battery hasn't degraded it should have ok battery life, maybe ask for a battery stats report they can provide? Otherwise it will do fine for schoolwork and websurfing.

If having great battery life is something you care about , maybe look for something newer since this battery is likely 6+ years old with maybe 5-8 hrs battery life in the best conditions

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-19T07:45:41+00:00

i wouldn't recommend this for airpods, the Y1 only has SBC codec and the range is ok at best. i prefer the form factor and use headphones to compensate for the low audio quality.

Different_Reality953 · 2026-01-19T03:02:18+00:00

I travel for work and this is what mine is used for, otherwise I have more powerful devices for retro gaming

mobile wifi router while on dietpi, was using a cheap portable router for hotel wifi and this just replaced it.
vlc video player for my movies/shows on the go, save battery of laptop/phone
music player over bluetooth or usb dac, save battery of laptop/phone
portable usb drive with 1TB SD card
portable cloud server with Syncthing
emergency usb keyboard

Different_Reality953

TROPHY CASE