Database Hang-up

[jrcorwin]

I have used the search function, but have been unable to find a solution.

Ipod Video 5.5 30gb
Build: r16626 (I have tried daily builds and unsupported builds as well with the same result)

My first step after installation is to initialize my database. I've done this with no music loaded, with 10, 20, or 30 songs loaded onto the device. Each and every singe time...the initialization hangs on a particular number. That number differs depending on how many songs I have copied to the ipod. Nothing ever happens..it just sits there. I have triple checked tags for errors and made sure that there is no album art embedded. I have even restored my ipod via iTunes and the same problem is repeated. I've tried this with current builds, daily builds, older builds, and unsupported builds...all with the same result. Any suggestions? Thank you.

[bzavala]

What do you mean "the initialization hangs on a particular number?"

When you run Initialize Database, it actually runs in the background. When it's done, it needs to reboot so that writes and reads the actual files created.

Also, why are you assuming that rockbox will read albumart embedded in the mp3 files? It is not supported in rockbox. Rockbox only supports album art as bmp files stored in the harddrive. Go to the wiki and search for AlbumArt for more details.

[AlexP]

The embedded album art may be what is causing the problem.  Rockbox does not support embedded album art, and only reads a certain total tag length.  IF your album art is too big, the database scan may be choking on this.  You could perform a binary search to determine if it is a specific track that is causing the issue, then we can investigate why this is.

To do a binary search, remove half your music and try again, if there is still a problem remove another half and try again, and so on.

[jrcorwin]

I'm sorry...I'll edit my post. I meant to say that I made sure that there was not any artwork embedded. I know that it is not supported.

By hang I mean...after attempting to initialize it shows how many files it has found. It reaches a number (a number which is always greater than the number of music files I have on the ipod) and then it stops. It does not finish initializing. It does not tell me of any error. It just shows that the initialization had not progressed past finding however many files it has found so far. No matter how long I leave it...nothing changes. If I reboot, it tells me to click OK if I want to initialize my database. The problem repeats itself each and every time.

[Strife89]

It sounds to me like it could be hanging on a corrupted file. Try running Scandisk on your iPod. (Right click on it in My Computer, click Properties, and then the Tools tab (I may not have remembered correctly, so poke around if need be. ).)

EDIT: Also, try the "database.ignore" trick: Put a blank file named database.ignore in every folder you don't want Rockbox to scan when building the database. (There's actually such a file in the /.rockbox directory, so just copy that.)
(NOTE: Folders with this file will have their subfolders ignored as well. If you have a subfolder you want scanned, put a file called database.unignore in it.)

[Chronon]

jrcorwin, the metadata parser could still be choking on some particular file's metadata.  I second BigBambi's suggestion that you do a binary search to look for which file might be causing this.  This should quickly allow you to answer whether or not the Database will build properly with a subset of your files -- and within a few iterations, it should allow you to determine which files are preventing completion on the full set.