Duplicate Entries in Database

[CoBrA2168]

SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM IN POST 5!

I know I know, this has been posted like, 200 times, but I can't get a clear answer on how to fix this.

I got a Sansa e250v1 with a 2GB MicroSD card (Kingston).  Everything on the MicroSD card is duplicated.  And when I say duplicated, I mean like, each song comes up in the database anywhere from 2-25 times.  Everything stored on the Sansa itself only shows up once though.  It takes my Sansa about 20 minutes to load the database as well.

I've tried to reinitialize, turn off updating, turn on directory cache (if I do this, Rockbox crashes at startup if I have my MicroSD in), and messed with other database settings without luck.

It's also worth noting that I'm using a slightly modified version of RockBox (I'm using PSGroove to jailbreak my PS3) but it does this with or without that installed.

Any advice?

Other notes: I'm using the Rockbox 3.6 version, not the "daily" versions.  Not sure if I should try that...

Also tried reinstalled RockBox twice.  Still nothing...

[saratoga]

First thing most people are going to suggest is updating.  3.6 is quite old now. 

[Chronon]

Here is the relevant bug report for this.  
http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/8414

Do the duplicate entries go away if you disable auto-update too?

[gbl08ma]

I also had this problem with more recent versions of Rockbox. I used to happen hen the database was updated, but now it doesn't seem to happen (at least so frequently).

The quick fix I found for this was going to Settings>General Settings>Database>Initialize Now. This will delete your existent database and build it from scratch. It takes some time and you have to reboot the device (I had to reboot my iPod two times until DB is ready), but you only need to follow the instructions.
To let the initialization process start, you must access the database from the main menu after selecting "Initialize Now" on the settings. Then you do what Rockbox asks for and hopefully the database will be rebuilt without duplicates

[CoBrA2168]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

I have the auto-update off, it was off by default.  I have also tried to reinitialize the database many times, all with the same outcome of duplicates.

To update to the latest version, should I just overwrite the .rockbox folder?  What is the recommended version for my device?

Thanks.  As you guys can tell, I'm new to RockBox.  It is SOOOOO much better than the official firmware, and only discovered it because of the PSGroove jailbreak.  So glad I did!!

EDIT: I managed to update to the latest daily build, however, the PSGroove jailbreak moves it back down to 3.6 (or at least it says it is).

I'm reinitializing the database right now on the latest version (without PSGroove).  Let's see what happens.

Let me say again too that this only does this on my memory stick.  I feel like since it's unique to the memory stick, there's something weird going on...

Also, when I initialize, it usually finds like 500,000 things before completing.  What is it actually counting when initializing?  Could I just manually remove the duplicates from the database file?

Thanks again

EDIT2: No go on initializing the database on the latest version.  Went back down to 3.6 (for compatibility with PSGroove).  Now I'm trying to initialize with directory cache on, along with load to RAM on (since someone in the case above said that helped).

Let's see what happens for this...

EDIT3: Still no go.  Oh well.  For not I'm able to make a playlist with all of my songs on it (only once) so this works as a nice shuffle for now.

I would like to get this solved eventually. I guess otherwise I could just boot into the Sansa firmware and use it as a player that way.  I kinda need PSGroove compatibility so I need to keep 3.6.

Any other suggestions are still recommended!

[CoBrA2168]

You guys WOULD NOT BELIEVE what this issue was.  I feel like an idiot it was this simple!

I noticed when looking at the properties of the duplicated songs, that the path always began with the artist "Blue Öyster Cult" (which I'm sure a lot of you know of, MOREE COWBELL).

Then I just assumed it was the "Ö" symbol in the folder name that was causing the issue.  My assumption was correct.  Switching it to just an "O" completely fixed the database issue.  Re-initializing takes about 10 seconds now, instead of 20-30 minutes.  The database is perfect!

Thanks for the suggestions guys, and if anyone else runs into this problem, check your folders for weird characters!

[AlexP]

Hmmm, interesting, and thanks for letting us know.  The database should really deal with accented characters (even metal umlauts!), but it seems this is a work around for now

[torne]

Interesting; I have a large number of directory/file names on my player which contain accented characters or entirely foreign character sets and the database works fine for me (I even have Blue Öyster Cult )

[Chronon]

I also have a few with accented characters and no duplicates.

[CoBrA2168]

Very weird indeed.  I'll have to mess around with this more.  Maybe it's something to do with my memory stick?

I'll try switching it back and re-initializing.  In the Blue Oyster Cult folder it was creating a bunch of dummy files and folders that I was unable to manually delete.  I was forced to reformat the stick.

[AlexP]

Hmmm, sounds more like disk corruption.  Maybe worth trying again with the Ö?

[CoBrA2168]

Hmmm, sounds more like disk corruption.  Maybe worth trying again with the Ö?

Yeah I'll give it a shot this week and report back.  It might have been created elsewhere, I'm not sure.  Testing it again should tell us.

[CoBrA2168]

Okay guys, now I really feel stupid.  It wasn't the character at all.  Obviously not, cause I looked at my music again and realized how many accented characters I have (e.g. (Pronounced 'LÄ•h-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)).

So the Blue Oyster Cult folder must have somehow got corrupt when upgrading to RockBox, which is why it was always creating duplicates.

Oh well, at least the problem is solved.  Thanks for the suggestions and help guys.  I love rockbox!

[Chronon]

Thanks for the update.