Rockbox and Compact Flash

[petur]

nope... this needs the attention of a dev with ipod knowledge... nag them in IRC

[finche]

Hello. I am new to the forum, and read this thread with much interest.
Thank you all for your efforts up to now!
After the HD crashed I use my iPod 4G grayscale with a Transcend 16GB 133x CF Card,
Apple Firmware works fine, The Rockbox boot-process fails
with the message 'no partition found' like in the very first post in this thread.

Having learnt that build ≤16258 might work for my configuration,
and that Tarkan, and ViperX found the line to be modified in the source,
I' d very much like to ask ViperX if he probably could compile a working version
for the 4G iPod and email it to me at finche (a) gmx.net
or even better of course (if allowed), post it for all interested iPod-4G users
who, like me, don't have the skills to compile their own custom build.
There aught to be very many by now...
An iPod without Rockbox is only half as good!  (c:
Merci vielmals, in advance.

[Spanky]

Doing many searches on google and the Rockbox forums my brain is fried and I still haven't found an answer.

Can I use the A-Data 32gb Speedy with my iPod 4G Photo?

Right now I'm using the Rockbox Utility to get the newest build. Was there a update to the bootloader (was it even needed?)? Does the current build work with CF cards? Or is this still up in the air for a Dev to patch up?

Thanks.

[LurkAzusa]

The latest bootloader doesn't cure the ATA error: -1 problem with the ipod 4G and Video, so we apply a patch to disable a line in the battery saving programming.  I reported a bug in the tracker and posted a patch for the 4G.  Try it with the 4G Color and let us know.  If you need a patch, I can post it for you.

[Spanky]

I have tried to setup my own build but all this linux stuff confuses me like no other. Does the patch work 100%? If so, I'll plan on getting the card and I'll come back to see if there's a special build or a pre-patched build that I can download. Thanks.

Would you mind posting a link to the Flyspray page?

[LurkAzusa]

http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/9342

If there is a section for the 4G Color, I'll upload a patch that disables that line, too.  You should try it without patching first to see if it is a problem on the 4G Color.

[Spanky]

Thanks. Funding is a bit low but when I do decide to get the card, I will stick it in and install Rockbox and report back. I'll keep this page bookmarked until then.

[dementio]

I can verify that changing the following lines in firmware/target/arm/system-pp502x.c works when usung an A-Data 32Gb Speedy with Tarkan's CF adapter with the current SVN (r18563M-080922):
[Look for your IPod type just above the lines, ex. #elif defined (IPOD_VIDEO)]
Remove line:
DEV_RS         = 0x3ffffef8;
Change next line to:
DEV_RS2        = 0xffffdfff;


Mine now works like a charm so far; almost instant boot.

Edit: OK, maybe not perfect, but I'm almost positive it has to do with the Disk Spindown time, which I cannot seem to be able to change as it locks up when I try to commit the changes since the "disk" has already spun down. But, if you're happy with the default settings, it works fine. Also, the database doesn't seem to be completely written.
Basically, anyone know how to compile in the default spindown time?

[wintermute23]

64GB and 100GB Compact Flash cards are now in production...

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0809/08092306pretec_64gb_100gb_cf.asp

[LambdaCalculus]

/me looks under the couch cushions for loose change

[dementio]

think i'm gonna need a bigger couch

[audio-i]

think i'm gonna need a bigger couch

oh c'mon, the 48GB it's on sale here http://www.ptiglobalusa.com/pr24cfca23.html $349.99 

[adam917]

think i'm gonna need a bigger couch

oh c'mon, the 48GB it's on sale here http://www.ptiglobalusa.com/pr24cfca23.html $349.99 

I'm waiting till 128 GB is out. It only makes sense to replace my 60-GB HDD with something much larger, and since Rockbox supports only up to 128 GiB (approx [137 * (10^9)] bytes), that makes the most sense to use until larger capacities become more common.

[Llorean]

Rockbox isn't limited to 128GB. Some hardware has limitations for USB support over a size around there, but Rockbox can be compiled for larger disks without problem as long as there's not a hardware restriction.

[adam917]

Rockbox isn't limited to 128GB. Some hardware has limitations for USB support over a size around there, but Rockbox can be compiled for larger disks without problem as long as there's not a hardware restriction.

I know it can be compiled to support larger disks, but what if the sectors past 128 GiB are either corrupt when trying to access via USB or don't show up at all when connected (like the Archos units)? Why would 48-bit LBA support be added by a manufacturer many years (think iriver H100/300 series) before portables would need it? These devices weren't originally intended to have user-replaceable drives, so there would be no need for a manufacturer to support beyond 128 GiB or even whatever capacity the devices are manufactured with.

That being said, I'm very happy to see that larger drives do indeed work on many devices without issue. At this point though, with flash memory getting so large capacity that my phone is my daily-use device, only 128 or greater GB would get me to use my iriver H140 more than on just long trips due to its huge size compared to modern devices. I now use my H140 for FLAC & game/computer audio exclusively thanks to Rockbox. :-)

I'll keep an eye on this thread for developments as CF soon becomes the media of choice to replace an ageing HDD with for Rockbox use...