5th gen 80GB iPod: Update Now problem.

[shayguitarra]

Hi, been using rockbox on and off for almost a year and I really like it. But I’m having something of a problem. I’ve done some googling and trawled the forum but haven’t found anything that specifically answers my question, so apologies if the answer here is blindingly obvious.

I have a 5th Generation 80GB video ipod, running Rockbox 3.1, the last stable build. My pc is running Kubuntu 8.10

My ‘update now’ feature seems to take a long time to update. When I started adding tracks I added about 2000 at one time, I initialised the database and did an ‘update now’. This took nearly one hour, which I can sort of understand. However, since then even if I only add a dozen or so songs it still takes about 45 minutes to update. There are now approx 7000 tracks on my iPod. Yesterday I inserted replay gain tags to a lot of files that didn’t have them and it took almost two hours to update. Again I can see why this could be the case. I have also started replacing some of my mp3 files with ogg vorbis, so I am deleting a lot of files and copying over a lot of new ones. But it takes so long to update afterwards that the battery gives out. This seems to have either corrupted or confused the database as it is full of duplicates.

I don’t use the auto update feature as it never seemed to finish, and ‘committed database’ every single time I switched on. I do have 'load to RAM' enabled though.

I don’t think I’m operating rockbox in a particularly exceptional or demanding way. So my questions are:
Is this recognised as a problem or just something that I have to learn to live with (i.e. by adding songs in small quantities)?
Is it a problem with the build, the 5th gen ipod itself or with my file tree structure (I have a ‘Media’ folder as my parent and then broken down by artist initial/artist/album/track)?
Or can anybody offer any hints or tips to minimise this?

Despite this slight problem I am very impressed with the firmware, especially the runtime data facility which is like having a full music manager on the ipod.

[pondlife]

Do you have directory cache enabled?  That helps a lot.

pondlife

[shayguitarra]

No I don't. According to the manual that only works if you have auto-update enabled, which I don't. Update Now apparently carries out that function automatically.

I'll give it a try and report back. Thanks.

[AlexP]

Directory cache is completely independent of the database, but the database benefits if it is on.  Where in the manual did you read that directory cache requires auto-update, or any other database function?  If you let me know, I can fix it.

[shayguitarra]

I read it here: http://download.rockbox.org/manual/rockbox-ipodvideo/rockbox-buildch4.html#x7-500004.2.4 It is also on page 38 of the pdf for iPod video.

What it actually says is: The Auto Update will only check for deleted files if the Directory Cache  (Settings → General Settings → System → Disk → Directory Cache) is enabled. Update now includes that check whether dircache has been enabled or not.

So from my point of view as I was not using auto-update there seemed to be no benefit in turning it on. Although I now see that the its main function is to store directory contents in RAM, so maybe my choice of words was a little misleading.

[woyciesjes]

    I've never experienced that problem with mine, even with 3.1 Stable. Have you tried a current build?

[shayguitarra]

I've tried enabling directory cache.

I reboot and it goes into 'scanning disk' mode then when it finishes it seems to start updating (spanner icon in top right corner). It stayed that way for almost two hours before the battery gave out. (I plugged into the usb while keeping the menu buttion pressed which I thought meant I could use the iPod while it charged, but either that doesn't work or the update activity was so intensive it used up the battery anyway.)

I'm going to let the battery replenish itself and then try woyciesjes' suggestion and install the latest build.

[AlexP]

So from my point of view as I was not using auto-update there seemed to be no benefit in turning it on. Although I now see that the its main function is to store directory contents in RAM, so maybe my choice of words was a little misleading.

Yes, I'm personally satisfied that that doesn't suggest that directory cache needs any other option to function, and that you just misread

[shayguitarra]

OK I've installed the current build r20292-090311.

But it seems to have overwritten all of my previous database files. When I tried to access the database it just gave me the option to initialise. I tried to import modifications but I got nothing. Did I neglect to do something when I copied the .rockbox folder? I selected merge all and replace all where necessary, as I had some theme files I didn't want to lose.

Anyway, on the upside I initialised the database without a problem. I now have directory cache and auto-update enabled. I'll post back after I've deleted and transferred a substantial number of tracks.

Thanks for all the input.

EDIT: Seems to be working fine. Taking about five minutes to update after deleting/transferring 200 files at a time. But on build r20292 and 20294, my computer now seems to be recognising my iPod as a toshiba and it won't eject properly. I've switched back to the stable build. Let me know if you want me to post a bug on this, and where.

[Llorean]

The hard disk in your iPod is a Toshiba.

What do you mean, exactly, by "won't eject properly"?

[shayguitarra]

When I hit the eject button, it remains in my explorer window and I get no 'ok to disconnect' message on the ipod, the screen is blank. When I unplug the cable I get the graphic (of the usb cable) you see after you plug in the iPod, and it freezes until I reset it.

Also, while it is plugged in the screen is blank with no 'do not disconnect' message.

Finally, your remark about the hard drive being a toshiba makes sense as my pc is giving me its icon for an external hard drive, instead of an iPod.

I think that's everything.

After reverting to the stable build everything is fine.

[woyciesjes]

    I don't know the specifics, but there has been an update to the USB mode in Rockbox:
http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?topic=20752.0
Actually, USB mode being enabled in Rockbox...
There may be more useful info there for you.

[shayguitarra]

Thanks. I've never really had any problems, but I can see the advantages of this usb support.