Sansa Fuze v1 Playback problems above build 27996

[orbidia]

I searched and haven't seen this discussed anywhere yet so I started a new topic.

I've been using Rockbox on 5 different Fuze v1s (family etc) for a while.
The latest major change in the builds was the addition of full USB support which is very welcome.
Unfortunately for that to work, one must load the latest rockbox v1 firmware with mkamsboot. And then the last official rockbox release (3.6) no longer works. So I'm stuck using a build AFTER rockbox version 3.6 if I want the USB support.

It seemed like everything was going well up until build 27996.
But from 28001 nothing seems to work properly.

The same problems exist from r28001 until today's build r28159 (9/24/2010). I've tried a bunch of builds after r27996 on 3 different Fuze v1s with the same result. To fix everything, I need to format the drive and copy back r27996. Then everything works as intended.

Here is what I'm seeing on builds r28001 to r28159:
When I try to play any mp3, sometimes, it will work - but often it will just will show 0:00 on both sides of the status meter and nothing will play. On the very latest build, the left side played really low and it just played a low garbly static.
The times on the play status meter would often show the played time/elapsed time jumping from what seems like the correct time to a very large number (ten thousand minutes for example) and then back again quickly...
The battery meter would sometimes jump all over the place with thousands of percent being flashed.
I would play with it more but it is totally unusable.

Hopefully, someone can figure out what happened between r27996 and r28001.
I just want to make sure someone is aware this happened to the fuze v1 port...
Maybe some bad code got in by mistake and the automatic builds aren't being tested.

Does anyone else have the same problems with the latest builds on a fuze v1?

[Lear]

The change that looks most likely is r28000 (FS #11597 : decrease FCLK frequency when unboosted).

Automatic builds are used, so if it was a common problem it should've been noticed by now, I think.

[orbidia]

Yes, I agree that the problem should have been noticed. That's why I posted the problems.

Like I said, I've tried this on 3 different v1 fuzes. All of them have the updated rockbox firmware which supports full USB support. Maybe there is some incompatiblity with the updated firmware and the latest builds that no one has really tried.

I just know that I've tried 4-5 different builds since r27996 and they are all unusable.

Right now, I have r27996 and all the audio plays back fine.
So I know (hopefully) that I did the mkamsboot firmware update properly for Boot Ver. 2.0.
The USB support works fine too.

Here goes a current experiment  ------ Starting with r27996:
I just plugged in the Fuze.
The internal memory shows up fine.
I select the Internal "SANSA FUZE" drive (M:) and I do a quick format - fat32.
Format complete.

I go download the latest r28166 for Fuze v1. Its on the desktop.

Unzip the folder to the Fuze v1. Done.

I'm trying to make this as clean as possible.

I've safely ejected the Fuze.

I'm shutting down and rebooting the Fuze.

On the bottom of the display, the info flashes:
First:  Boot ver 2.0
Second: r28166-100926
Then it goes to main menu.

I'm trying to play a 320 mp3 song. No AUDIO is coming out.

Cabbie v2 is the theme because this was a fresh install.
The times for elapsed and total time looked correct but they are flashing:
It goes from 0:00 to 3452346234652457 (or something crazy big) and then jumps back to 0:00 for a second and then flashes again.

The screen goes blank because I haven't hit any buttons.
I tap the center button and the screen comes back on and now both sides of the status bar show
(elapsed) 0:00   (remaining) 0:00

No audio. No fast forward. I can get back the main menu just fine.

Let me try a flac file. Same exact thing. No Audio.

I tried to look at some album art. Seems to work.

I tried Minesweeper and Rockblox. They work but I don't here any audio (I don't know if they have any - probably now.)

I try to play another song from another album. The whole thing locked up on me. No buttons work. Wheel Volume - nope.

(Please note all the same stuff has been happening since r28001 with BOOT VERSION 2.0 i.e. Full USB Support)

The shut down button worked. Yeah!

Plugging in the fuze to the computer.

I format the Internal "SANSA FUZE" Memory the same as before.

I unzip r27996 back onto the Fuze v1.

I eject the Fuze.

Reboot Fuze? Yes
Bottom of screen flashes: Boot ver. 2.0 and then r27996-100904

Back to normal. Music plays back fine.
Status meters show (elapsed time) and (remaining time) properly.

So, I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or if something went wrong in the builds for the Fuze v1 from r28001 until r28166.

Can anyone confirm there is a problem? Maybe this is only a problem with Rockbox Boot version 2.0.

And if its me doing something wrong - I'm open to suggestions.

[darlredfish]

Only playback problems I've had that's keeping my Fuze at 27995 is that I get a crackling white noise on track change using crossfade. It started after updating to the 8000+ build as well.

[BigPapi]

My Fuze V1 with boot 2.0, build 28154-100923, is working just fine. I did not ever do the mkamsboot thought...I've always used the Utility.

[orbidia]

Okay. Thanks darlredfish and BigPapi for confirming the latest builds work on your end.

Now, I don't know what to do. I must have messed up somewhere.
I'm just trying to get everything back to normal.

I still can't get anything to work past 27996...

Here's what I did:

First, I booted into the official firmware and connected the fuze v1 to the computer.
I slow formatted the internal contents (way too long).
Then I loaded up the latest Official Sansa Firmware 1.02.31 into the root.
I unplugged the Fuze and let the Official firmware update.

After I turned it back on, everything seems like its back to original Sandisk spec.

I connected the fuze to the computer and I loaded up the latest Rockbox Utility 1.2.8.

I did a "Complete Installation" to install the last stable version 3.6.
Everything installed fine.

Now, last time I tried using the Rockbox Utility (before r27996) it did not install the latest Rockbox Boot Rom ver. 2.0. That's why I used mkasmboot last time to make the firmware. I wanted the full USB support. This time, I notice the Rockbox Utility is now loading up the Boot Version 2.0 during the complete installation.

I unplug the fuze and the Official firmware says the firmware is being updated. The fuze turns off. I turn it back on to Rockbox Boot ver 2.0 and Rockbox 3.6.

It all works nice and stable - EXCEPT:

The problems start now.
When I go to plug it back into the computer from either an "Off" state OR from the Rockboxed "On" state, the fuze keeps trying to connect to the computer and then it reboots and then tries to connect again... and again in a infinite loop.

This is why I didn't want to use 3.6. Because the full USB support doesn't work...
Without Full USB Support, I need to go into the official firmware whenever I want to change any music and deal with the "Database updates" and all those useless folders the official firmware creates.

*****
QUESTION:
Using stable Rockbox v3.6 and Fuze v1 Boot ver 2.0, does anyone else have properly working Full USB Support?
Or, with Rockbox v3.6, Boot ver 2.0, does the Fuze v1 endlessly reboot when trying to connect?
*****

When I then go to a build AFTER official version 3.6, the USB connection works perfectly - right up to the present build. This makes me think Boot Version 2.0 Firmware was not really meant to work with Rockbox v3.6 -OR- something is really wrong with my Fuzes (I have the exact same problem with 3 tested Fuze v1s).

I then used the Rockbox Utility to update to the latest build and I still get all the same problems from my original post. I went back to r27996 and its all working again.

I get this bad feeling I'm just gonna be stuck on r27996 forever because the firmware got messed up permanently somehow... I guess that's still a heck of lot better than the official firmware.

In summary: I tried completely flushing the system and just used the Rockbox Utility to reload everything. But all the latest builds for the last few weeks are unsusable.

----------------------------

Does anyone know what would have broken in my fuze to make it non-functional with builds after 27996 and boot ver 2.0? And what else could I try to fix it?

I guess I could just wait until the next stable release but I don't know why it would just start working at that point...

Any ideas?

[saratoga]

3.6 does not have USB support on the Fuze:

http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/MajorChanges

[manequin]

You can try my build with reverted r28000 changes. On my fuze I had a problem playing ogg vorbis files using official build. Remember to make a copy of ".rockbox" folder before extracting archive to your player. If something goes wrong, just remove .rockbox folder and revert your backup. However, it works great on my device. Here is the link: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/554609/Rockbox%20archive/rockbox-full-fuze-28177-manequin.zip

[darlredfish]

I tested your build manequin and it works for me fixing the cross fade crackling. I also tested the newest svn to see if it was maybe something I might have done but it was still there.

[orbidia]

Manequin,

You the Man!

I loaded your .rockbox folder onto my problem fuze and...

IT WORKS PERFECTLY!!!

When I load Manequin's build, it starts with:
r28177M-100927

I can't believe it - it is just as stable and perfect running as r27996.
I compared it with the current daily build which shows up with:
r28177-100926

In direct comparison, the official r28177 build for me is UNUSABLE!
As I fast forward through songs or rewind, the status bars keep flashing ridiculously high numbers.
The battery indicator used to flash absurd numbers too but that seems to depend on the theme.
The audio works intermitantly if at all.
Also, I've been getting straight out crashes with a White Screen of Death:

3 or 4 of these:
Data abort
at 30065388
FSR 0x8
(domain 0, fault 8 )
address 0xB7D094A0

and 1 of these:
Data abort
at 30057D78
FSR 0x8
(domain 0, fault 8 )
address 0xA5D90320

But with Manequin's version of the same r28177 build - r28177M - it all works again.

Me and my family have 7 Sansa Fuzes in total - two of them are Fuze v2s and five of them are Fuze v1s.
And I tried a number of builds after r27996 on a few of the Fuze v1s.

**************
Last night I tried r28177 official build on another Fuze. It turns out that whatever the problem is - It affects some Fuze v1s more than others!
One of them I have is more or less stable and seems to be okay. But I managed to get it to freeze up after some fast forwarding and rewinding and moving between menus and tracks. I also noticed the status time flashed a 0:00 once when fast forwarding. When I rebooted it seemed more stable and I couldn't get it to crash again. Another fuze v1 I have is somewhere between unstable and stable. And then the first one I was using is totally unstable.

But Manequin's build fixes the worst Fuze v1 until it is just as stable as the best one. Rock solid. Can't make it crash.

So, whatever code you reverted Manequin was precisely the culprit code!

Lear - the developer responded earlier -
"The change that looks most likely is r28000 (FS #11597 : decrease FCLK frequency when unboosted)."
Was that the main change Manequin or was there more?

Even though I don't code, I really appreciate this community effort in making Rockbox...

Now, what do we do to get that reverted fix back into the official builds so I can use my Fuze v1s with the latest builds again??

[manequin]

I have only reverted changes from 28000. The truth is I don't even know C. As far as I know, r28000 changes were really important for clip users, on Fuze power saving isn't so noticeable (I didn't have possibility to test it on my player . If there is a way to revert changes from 28000 for Fuze users and keep them for Clip, it would be a good solution, at least for some time. Until the problem is solved, I will build my version from time to time and I can share it with users who have similar problems, but don't want to compile Rockbox. If someone wants to build Rockbox on his own, there is a patch file from my changes:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/554609/Rockbox%20archive/sansa-bruteforce-fix.diff

[orbidia]

I was thinking this may be a power issue. Totally speculating here but:
Darlredfish was having problems with cross-fading.
Manequin has problems with Ogg Vorbis playback.
I have problems with everything on two fuze players and not so much on another tested.

Maybe there's not enough power now or its really on the brink and any CPU intensive tasks don't work well. Maybe the working memory is getting corrupted as its being used. That sort of seems like what's happening when I see the display for the status "playing time/remaining time" flashing weird numbers.

All I know is the official r28711 does not work at all on some Fuze v1s, and the revised r28711M with reverted code from r28000 works perfectly. Obviously, a little extra battery life for the fuze is not worth having it become unstable.

Hopefully, a developer will fix this in the official builds soon.

[ku-ku]

I too have problems with playing ogg files - there is noise instead of music when playing my vorbis files. With the build with reverted r28000 changes all seems fine.

[BigPapi]

I just loaded a couple of albums in Vorbis....with the same build as my previous post...boot 2.0, build 28154-100923....and it seems to be playing just fine.

[saratoga]

I'm not really sure how the that code works, but it might be neat to know if commenting out "CGU_PROC = ((0xf << 4) | (0x3 << 2) | AS3525_CLK_MAIN);" (but leave the rest of the changes in place) from r28000 so that we could see if its the fclk change that breaks things or something more complicated.