TrimUI Brick Hammer gets legendary RockBox port: A full MP3 player overhaul

While the days of mainstream players are largely gone, there is a mini-resurgence of dedicated music players in the retro handheld community. By simply flashing a custom firmware and installing some Linux software, users can enjoy music playback like it's 2006.

YouTube creator Disco Disco Gaming has recently uploaded a video walking users through the process of transforming their TriumUI Brick Hammer into a capable MP3 player. The process uses a combination of MustardOS (MuOS) and RockBox via PortMaster for audio playback. What's better is that this process is not limited to MuOS or the TrimUI brick, as RockBox will work across a variety of custom firmwares and devices, such as the GKD Pixel and the Anbernic RG35XX.

For those unfamiliar with flashing custom firmwares, DDG provides clear instructions that largely resemble installing a new OS on a PC: creating a boot disk on an SD card, plugging it into the device, and installing the custom firmware from there. MuOS also makes it simple to install PortMaster, which handles the magic of managing Linux software ports on retro handhelds. In this case, the alt-music player veteran RockBox handles the music playback. Those familiar with custom iPod firmwares may recognize the name, as this software got its start all the way back in 2001. Since then, it has become a capable music player that offers extensive audio support, with FLAC, ALAC, MP3, GBS, and MOD tracker files among the supported formats. Additionally, the software offers advanced features such as gapless playback and more.

For more information on supported devices and links to all required software, kindly refer to the resources below.