Customizable paths for last.fm scrobbling, tagcache DB and runtime information

[runiq]

Hey everybody,

First of all, thanks for developing rockbox, of course.

That being said, I'm using rockbox on a Sansa e200 which comes with a microSD slot. Having read that flash memory can only be written to a limited number of times, I think it might be a nice idea to specify the paths where the information mentioned in the headline is saved to (which would be, in my case, the exchangeable microSD card). The information in these files changes only in little increments, but relatively often, and thus increases wear on the internal memory of a player when saved in the standard .rockbox directory. Were it saved to the external memory, wear wouldn't be much of a problem over the lifetime of a player, as the microSD card could easily be switched for a new one.

To be honest, I don't know how much erase/write cycles it takes to wear out a significant amount of memory with scrobbling and RT info logging enabled. I'd like my DAP to last as long as possible, though.

I know these three aren't related very much, but I hope it's not too hard to implement. If someone could point me into the right direction, I'd also take a stab at it myself, though I'm not much of a coder.

[tomers]

Hello Runiq,

I think that your feature requests complicates things unnecessarily.
If you are worried about the wear of your internal flash memory, you can install Rockbox on the SD card instead, having all the settings saved there too.

The following is taken from the Rockbox manual of the Cowon D2 player. I'm quite sure that it should work for any player that has SD slot:

If you have chosen to install to an SD card and it is inserted at power on, Rockbox will boot from that card and use it as the primary drive for storing settings, etc. If there is no SD card inserted, Rockbox will boot from the internal memory

I couldn't find and information on the possibility to install Rockbox on an SD card, in the e200's users manual. But as I just said, I think it is possible. This information should be added to the manual  .

To be honest, I don't know how much erase/write cycles it takes to wear out...

Regarding the write endurance of the internal flash memory, it is a bit of investigation to determine which type of flash your e200 contains.

If you know which flash you got, some information on flash memory write endurance capabilities can be found in Wikipedia.

I'd like my DAP to last as long as possible, though.

I believe your battery will wear out much sooner than the internal flash  . I got no technical info about it, but nevertheless. Although I think it is relatively easy to replace battery on these type of players (there are screws to open it).

[runiq]

Thanks for the exhaustive information, your solution is much better and simpler than what I proposed. I haven't read the D2 manual before, so I didn't even know installing to miSD was possible at all. I'll look into adding it to the manual myself if starting Rockbox from miSD works.

Also, thanks for the links regarding write endurance, very much appreciated!

I believe your battery will wear out much sooner than the internal flash. I got no technical info about it, but nevertheless. Although I think it is relatively easy to replace battery on these type of players (there are screws to open it).

Yep, that's one of the reasons why I chose to buy it in the first place.

(Edit for typos)

[tomers]

I'll look into adding it to the manual myself if starting Rockbox from miSD works.

Please do it as part of the FS#10880 task I just opened (you can post a patch there).

Also, thanks for the links regarding write endurance, very much appreciated!

Thanks 

[runiq]

I just tried moving the .rockbox directory from the player's root dir to the mSD, but Rockbox complained that it couldn't find the mi4 file and just booted the original firmware instead. After that, I tried using sansapatcher to install the bootloader to the microSD card instead of the player's root dir, but that wouldn't work either because sansapatcher didn't let me install the bootloader to a non-E200/C200 volume. (In retrospect, this was a stupid idea anyway. ) So I uninstalled the bootloader and reinstalled it to the player's root directory using the newest sansapatcher (0., but still no luck - Rockbox won't find the .rockbox directory if it's on the mSD.

The D2 manual says the SD card driver is still experimental, so I assume it isn't even implemented yet in the Sansa ports?

[Llorean]

The feature exists on the D2 because the D2's internal memory is read-only for Rockbox, so booting off the SD card is necessary to even be able to save settings at all. Because this isn't necessary on other players, it wasn't added to their bootloaders I imagine (which are kept as simple as possible for many reasons).

These devices have plenty of write cycles, and there's usually wear levelling at the hardware level. There are people using the Ondio 128 (a flash player) for 7 or more years now who haven't experienced flash failure. Meanwhile dozens or hundreds of people have experienced other hardware failures in their newer flash players (broken headphone jacks, etc).

Speaking the odds, you're more likely to have your player break for some other reason, or decide you want a fancier newer player, than see the limited write cycles of flash seriously impede your use of the player during its normal lifetime.

[runiq]

[…]

Speaking the odds, you're more likely to have your player break for some other reason, or decide you want a fancier newer player, than see the limited write cycles of flash seriously impede your use of the player during its normal lifetime.

Thanks for clearing that up, you're probably right.