i-Bead 400 mp3player on Mandriva Linux 2006

For Christmas my daughter has got an i-Bead 400 mp3player. This player has 1GB of flash memory, has a built in FM tuner, can record from microphone, FM radio or from a line input cable, and can play mp3, WMA, and ogg music files.

I got it from goaudio.co.uk who provided a very prompt and efficient service at a good price.

There is not very much to say about transferring files to this player with Linux. With my Mandriva 2006 Linux it was totally plug and play. Plugging in the USB cable charges the player and automatically mounts the player as /mnt/i-BEAD_Disk.
Clicking on the 'Devices' icon on the desktop shows the player as hard drive sda1 and transferring files is simply a matter of drag and drop with konqueror.

Some observations

By default it is not possible to use the player while it is connected to the USB port, you have to disconnect first. - an option setting allows use of the player while USB connected
The headphones are integrated with a cord to go round your neck. The cord is not very long. It would be difficult to use it with it in your pocket.
Two sets of headphones may be connected at once.
Supports several flavours of surround sound
The display is two colour OLED and is very clear
Navigation is very simple. Centre button puts it into menu mode, and left and right selects function.
FM radio has 15 presets and may scan for stations.
It is possible to record from microphone FM radio or line input.
I am no expert, but the sound quality seems pretty good to me.

Playing ogg files

One disappointment with this player was its ogg file support. The firmware that came loaded on the player did not support ogg even though a firmware upgrade had been available since March '05 (I got the player in Dec '05). The firmware was easily downloadable from the i-Bead web site, but it could only be installed using Windows. This was a problem for me as I do not have Windows and had to organise borrowing a Windows computer to do the software upgrade.

After applying the V00400.5170.0001 firmware dated 2nd May '05 the player was ogg capable, and also supported a new playlist function. However my problems were not over. I found that it was fussy about which ogg files it would play. Out of the first three files I tried, the first one suffered severe breakup, and made the player very unresponsive to the controls. The second played perfectly, while the third would not play at all. The player just skipped over it. The release notes indicated that surround sound would not work with ogg files recorded at 320kbs, but none of these files was recorded any faster than 128kbps.

So in conclusion because of the patchy performance with ogg files I am unable to recommend this product to Linux users. Otherwise it is an excellent player.

Monday 12th December 2005