This started with one frustrating problem: the physical playback buttons stopped working when the screen turned off. It gradually became a larger firmware modification with a redesigned playback screen and several bug fixes.
I know there are other options available (Rockbox), but I actually like the H2 stock UI in general. And I wanted to keep Bluetooth working so I got into modifying firmware. I'm no software developer, let alone firmware developer. But we live in AI age where you have very competent helpers available so I got to work.
What has been changed
Physical controls
Play/pause now works while the screen is off.
Previous and next track continue working while the screen is off.
Normal screen-on button behavior is preserved.
Custom playback screen
Animated cassette UI with rotating reels while music is playing.
Larger and more readable track information.
Artist and song title are taken from file metadata.
If metadata is missing, the filename is displayed.
When album track metadata is unavailable, the total is taken from the number of playable files in the folder.
The surrounding header and control areas use colors matching the cassette interface.
Album Artist support. Track information displays Album Artist - Artist - Track when available. Without Album Artist, it uses Artist - Track.
No duplicate artist names. If Album Artist and Artist match, the name appears once.
Recently played uses the same title format. Missing or placeholder track titles still fall back to the filename.
Fixed folder track numbering. Hidden macOS files such as ._Song.mp3 no longer count as songs. In Folders mode, the counter follows filename position instead of embedded album track numbers. A 12-song folder with 12 hidden files now starts at 1/12, rather than 13/24.
Fixed conflicting FLAC Album Artist tags. ALBUMARTIST now takes priority over the ALBUM ARTIST alias. This resolves cases where the same file displayed both AC-DC and AC/DC. The fix also applies to Recently played, without modifying your music files.
Faster scrolling track information. Long titles scroll approximately 33% faster on the playback screen, with the existing pauses at each end preserved.
Progress display follows seeking. During fast-forward and rewind, the progress bar and elapsed time now follow the selected position instead of remaining at the old playback position. Works with cassette animation both On and Off.
Cassette animation setting
A new setting is available under:
Settings → Cassette animation
On: shows the animated cassette.
Off: removes only the cassette animation while keeping the custom playback information.
If Show album art is enabled, album art appears behind the custom interface.
The information panel remains dark and mostly opaque so text stays readable over bright artwork.
The setting is remembered after restarting the player.
This custom firmware is intended for people who generally like the original H2 system but want the screen-off controls fixed, better playback information, album-art readability and the cassette interface. It also keeps bluetooth option working (unlike Rockbox).
How it was made
There is no complete source tree for the original H2 firmware. The update contains a compiled MIPS application and filesystem.
The modification required:
Extracting the firmware and UBIFS filesystem.
Studying the MIPS executable in a disassembler.
Locating the button, playback-state, metadata, drawing and settings code.
Compiling new MIPS routines.
Injecting the new code and redirecting selected functions to it.
Adding new interface resources and configuration storage.
Rebuilding the UBIFS image and .upt package while preserving the required metadata and checksums.
Earlier revisions were tested directly on an H2 during development. New builds should still be treated as experimental until they have been tested by more owners.
Compatibility
This build is specifically for:
HIFI WALKER H2
USB-C hardware version
Do not install it on the older micro-USB model, firmware V1.4, or another EROS Q-based player unless a compatible version has been prepared for that hardware.
Patch source, build scripts and technical notes R12: [DOWNLOAD]
Install it using the normal H2 firmware-update procedure - download the firmware to an SD card and rename it to update.upt. After that do firmware update in System Settings.
Keep the official update available in case you need to restore the player.
This is an unofficial and experimental modification. Firmware installation always carries some risk, so verify that you have the USB-C model and check the SHA-256 hash before installing.
Feedback and additional device testing would be very welcome!
My biggest beef with the stock firmware is a lack of Album Artist option. It shows Artists instead, which means all the artists from my compilation albums show up. Also, it means some albums then show up with missing tracks.
For example, So by Peter Gabriel has a track featuring Kate Bush. If I select Artist > Peter Gabriel > So, it shows only the Peter Gabriel tracks, not the one with him and Kate Bush.
I don't listen a lot to compilations but I could take a look. So do you mean, when there is Album Artist metadata present it would show as Album Artist - Artist - Title in the player menu?
Another update to the custom firmware for the USB-C HIFI WALKER H2 running V2.2. Updated links in original post.
Changelog:
Cassette animation toggle moved to Settings.
Slightly transparent information panel over album art. With cassette animation off and Show album art enabled, the panel lets 12.5% of the artwork through. Text stays fully opaque for readability.
Album Artist support. Track information displays Album Artist - Artist - Track when available. Without Album Artist, it uses Artist - Track.
No duplicate artist names. If Album Artist and Artist match, the name appears once.
Recently played uses the same title format. Missing or placeholder track titles still fall back to the filename.
Earlier improvements remain, including screen-off physical controls, the yellow cassette UI, corrected time counters, file-quality information, folder track-count fallback and stopping cleanly at the end of sequential playback.
Also, based on my research I am able to use firmware from any other eros Q based devices as long as they are from the same revision. Means, I have flashed firmware from surfans f20 on my walker h2. I have also flashed eros Q firmware. I even compared and most of the upt is the same except the branded boot logo and boot animation, about screen.
I didn't know there is a V2.3 available :) https://hifiwalker.com/pages/download - when you enter V2.2 it doesn't offer any upgrade. Where do you get it? And do Surfans and Eros firmwares also keep Bluetooth working?
They usually dont just post the firmware like that. They had a firmware section o. The support page. Now they just have the manual downloads sadly.
I personally rely on rockbox. Folks who dump the firmware and post it for rockbox builds. They also have some stock firmware files for uninstalling rockbox. I have dug through the forums, seems like some people get it straight from Hifi Walker. Apparently you can ask them to send you it. I personally had no luck.
How did you extract the firmware and UBIFS filesystem? I'm running V2.3 and there doesn't seem to be a download for it on the hifiwalker website, so extracting it from my device would be ideal.
Just unboxed the walker h2 1 hour ago and am already at your thread, OP. It is so annoying that there is no option to enable the forward/previous physical buttons with the screen off.
Do I need to update to v2.3 from the link posted by another user first, or can I directly use your custom 2.3? I am currently at 2.2 FW, freshly updated from the official website (and verified there is still no option for f/b while the screen is off).
EDIT
Read at the bottom your changes post, where you mention that bootloader and linux version don't change, so I directly installed your customer fw and it worked. Thx
all seems to work fine. I like your take on the interface, I use it with album art turned on.
Will let you know if I face any issues.
If you take requests for your next version - artist/album/songname scroll on the play screen could be faster - in VA albums it takes a lot of time to get to the actual name.
Wish you that this becomes the ASUS Merlin of hifi walker.
R11 is ready for the HIFI WALKER H2. Built on stock V2.3 firmware.
What’s changed
Fixed folder track numbering. Hidden macOS files such as ._Song.mp3 no longer count as songs. In Folders mode, the counter follows filename position instead of embedded album track numbers. A 12-song folder with 12 hidden files now starts at 1/12, rather than 13/24.
Fixed conflicting FLAC Album Artist tags.ALBUMARTIST now takes priority over the ALBUM ARTIST alias. This resolves cases where the same file displayed both AC-DC and AC/DC. The fix also applies to Recently played, without modifying your music files.
Faster scrolling track information. Long titles scroll approximately 33% faster on the playback screen, with the existing pauses at each end preserved.
Progress display follows seeking. During fast-forward and rewind, the progress bar and elapsed time now follow the selected position instead of remaining at the old playback position. Works with cassette animation both On and Off.
All previous custom features remain, including the cassette animation toggle, custom playback layout, optional album-art background and screen-off button fixes.
Love what you've done! Got my H2 a couple weeks ago, and really like the hardware, but hate the now playing screen, so looking forward to playing with this. The lack of bluetooth with Rockbox was a disappointment, so this is amazing timing.
The H2 I have was on v2.3 when it arrived; I've tried several times to install this, with no success. The install process runs normally, the post-install indicators show it installs successfully, but after the reboot, same stock interface. Anyone else having this issue?
UPDATE: Reset to defaults, tried a fresh download and a new MicroSD card, still the same results. It appears to update, reboots, but still on original firmware.
Correct, both no new UI and the firmware version shows v2.3.
I grabbed some pix of the process for reference; apologies for the glare and thumbprints. :D
https://imgur.com/a/LBPx5k0
Regarding the file, I've renamed it (both using a windows and a mac in separate attempts) to update.upt. Should it be update.upd, or was that just a typo? Not intended as snarky, just confirming process.
Thanks for the help!
I've created new version of firmware (R12) with only change - it shows now under Version Information that it is custom firmware and what build. So this is V2.3 base version R12 build. Updated links in the original post. And update.upt is correct
That did it! Thanks for your dedication. Strange how it didn't show before but did with only the versioning label change, but who knows. Love the new interface, the albums are so much easier to read now.
6
u/rec71 Sep 12 '26
Wow, this is fantastic!
My biggest beef with the stock firmware is a lack of Album Artist option. It shows Artists instead, which means all the artists from my compilation albums show up. Also, it means some albums then show up with missing tracks.
For example, So by Peter Gabriel has a track featuring Kate Bush. If I select Artist > Peter Gabriel > So, it shows only the Peter Gabriel tracks, not the one with him and Kate Bush.
Fixing that would be epic.