Sansa Fuze+

[11sword11]

When loading large amounts of data via a cable to a memory card, after a while there is an error, copying stops and the computer no longer sees the card.
After reboot and reconnect rockbox device to a PC, it works, but if you download large amounts of data to a memory card, after a while the error is repeated.

I have this problem is present on all the latest builds, is forced to download music to use a card reader.

[halonachos117]

I get this, too, both in pre-bootloader mode, and in "regular" mode. FYI, the OF doesn't give any such problems.

[xpmule]

Transfer on windows ?
Should be something logged in the event viewer i'd imagine (related to transfer errors)
I'd be pretty surprised if there was no info if an error occurred.

How much data are you guys talking about ?
I have a 1gb card i uses sometimes and never had a problem with it.
(so obviously i couldn't transfer more than 1gb in 1 transfer session)

If the device vanishes like you said there should be a log of that too
The error report is vague guys and if your using at least windows 7
there is a LOT of hardware logging that happens at all times
never mind advanced methods of debugging a device or software.

[11sword11]

Transmission error appears in the windows and linux, it is not a PC problem in the player and it is in the software.
I've got it there in the transmission of significant amounts of data in a single session is usually a 2-3GB
When an error occurs the PC shows a message that the device is no longer available, in Device Manager card is displayed as part FAT32, but the PC can not copy data to it, or even to determine the capacity of the disk. Several times after that card did not work, even in card reader is not scanned until windows file system and correct the issue.

[xpmule]

Unless one of the devs can re create the problem i doubt it will get fixed any time soon.

I'd like to help but i have not had any transfer errors.
If I do, i will try and round up some info for the Rockbox team.

[halonachos117]

I sometimes get this error when only transferring an album. I use ~96 kbps vorbis, so the albums are usually only a few megabytes. However, sometimes I can transfer videos of maybe 20 megs or more without issue.

Workaround: use a copier that supports pausing and resuming, such as Super Copier, or Tera Copy (both programs are for Windows). When the error happens, you can probably unplug the device, reboot, reconnect, and resume copying.

[xpmule]

any of you notice strange charging behaviour ?
what i mean is i plug in charge mode starts.. i leave it for a while
and when i come back after a while it stopped and says connected.
and when i pull out the cord and check the battery level its only partly charged.
so if i plug it in and try and charge more it does.. and then stops again after a while..
to get my device fully charge the other day i did this like 3 or 4 times LOL
and THEN it showed full or close to it.. other wise it just doesn't get close to Full charge.

my previous player was a Creative ZEN and it took a loooong time for the battery to show its age
Lithium Ion batteries obviously have a finite lifespan like almost any electronic device
and with wear and tear they decay and hold less and less of a charge to the point
where it won't stay charged for more than 5 minutes etc
My2nd oldest ZEN got so bad it would stay charged for about 4 minutes if that lol
that taught me a big lesson. Battery life is precious commodity and you should conserve it as much as possible.
And this long winded rant has a point
my Fuze+ started to show major battery life decay after a month or so which was surprising !
since then its been going down hill gradually. i don't know about anyone else but i think the battery
in these Fuze+'s suck or how they are used. for example i heard in the Sansa forums before
that someone thought the battery was being used when the device was turned off and THAT
may explain the premature battery life problem i think. and of course its a usage issue.
This is one of the other reasons i chose not to use a memory card too
it will use more battery power to use the cards i'm pretty sure. it may not be much
but i feel like my device is dying early and i want preserve it before i'm forced to buy
some other player at some point. anyways, i've said it a lot at the sansa forums and i wanna say it here too
TURN OFF your device when your not using it and make every effort to conserve battery power
and NEVER charge it or plug it in unless you need to transfer or your battery level is too low.
i have seen the results of this on phones, pmp's laptops etc
some people don't care at all and 1 guy said so what i'll just buy a new one etc
but i think that's dumb ..take care of your rechargeable battery products !

anyways one else notice a premature life expectancy on the Fuze+
or strange charging behavior like i mentioned earlier ?

[halonachos117]

any of you notice strange charging behaviour ?
what i mean is i plug in charge mode starts.. i leave it for a while
and when i come back after a while it stopped and says connected.
and when i pull out the cord and check the battery level its only partly charged.

I've noticed this, too. My player never charges past 96% or so. This behavior started appearing after Pamaury did some battery calibration (then I had problems with internal storage). The OF show 100%, so perhaps the battery need a little more calibration. I can't say about your player, though.

Also, you should try getting a portable battery charger. I have one from Duracell, and I tend to bring it whenever I think I will be away from my computer and will be listening to a lot of music. It's a bit more of a pain, but its cheaper than buying a new player. You should be able to get one form Amazon.

[xpmule]

cheaper than a new player ?
well i said that because of the battery decay
so i don't understand what you meant by that.
as long as you use the battery in the device it slowly dies
like any rechargeable battery right. for example,
i recently bought a pack of 50 AA's for my wireless mouse/keyboard
because the pile of rechargeable  AA's i bought a couple years ago don't
hold their charge very long anymore and it wouldn't matter what charger
i use with them they would still die quickly because the materials inside
are almost exhausted. see what i mean ?
So unless i can replace the internal battery i'm screwed and SOON
i can see the decay rate on my Fuze+ is picking up speed and it won't be
long until the battery life is too short to be viable for use anymore
and buying a new battery would be dumb i think for many obvious reasons.

To put this into perspective i bought ZEN and did a bad job taking care of it
one of the things i did was leave it plugged in to my PC ALL the time.
it wasn't long until the battery was almost dead and would only stay charged for 5 minutes.
So i bought the next generation ZEN with no hard drive and flash storage instead.
and that never started to show its age like my current Fuze+ until like a year roughly
Fuze+ within 1 month i was getting a depressed sinking feeling and could tell this thing was gradually
dying off and i remember with my ZEN month after month being impressed at how
the battery just seemed brand new month after month. And i know this is not scientific lol
but the difference between the 2 is extreme and as i implied i treated them both the same way.
I know most electronics have an estimated life span but i wonder if their was some truth
to the rumor i heard about he Fuze+ using the battery when its off..
because if this is true the implications would be bad lol
if you figure the thing is rated to last 2 years at idle (off) and it sat on the shelf for 6 months before you bought it.. then..

I dunno maybe i just got a crappy battery lol

[ddscentral]

I think he meant you should get a portable USB charger.
Portable USB charger is basically a rechargeable battery with USB ports which can be used to charge USB devices, e.g. Fuze+.

So even if the internal battery dies, you can still use the player by connecting it to a portable charger.

[xpmule]

well i don't see what difference that would make.
if the battery in the fuze+ doesn't work anymore i find it doubtful it would work.
i recently did some experiments with my expensive rechargeable shaver
that is showing its age and won't hold a charge and whether i plug it into the wall
or not makes no difference unless i cut the power wires on the internal rechargeable batteries.
I ended up soldering in brand new replacement rechargeable batteries using the same spec's.
I think the fuze+ would work the same way ? On the original firmware you would never be able to
use the device either (can't charge + use it at the same time)

I've never seen a portable usb charger before and i doubt i'd ever buy one
when i have a matching wall cable for my device. and if you need to use a cable or "portable charger"
i think you ALREADY screwed and missing the point
(time to pull the wallet out and buy a replacement Lithium Ion battery or move on with life..)

[monoid]

It cannot be generalised, device might run with worn-out battery or not (when plugged in a charger). On contrary to your experience, my shaver does run and very old notebook also.

I've read somewhere that design life of li-ion/li-pol battery is not more than aprox. 5 years (even if not used) - on average. I have 8-7 year's old iRivers H120 and H140 and battery seems to be still quite OK. I used it 12 hour a day for several years....

[ddscentral]

From my experience, I think many (if not most) devices charged from USB should work without batteries. Some, however, might require a battery to be present (even if it's dead) to work, but should run from a charger if it supplies enough current.

I guess it all depends on how device works. Some devices can run directly from charger, some need a battery to work (but can work with a dead battery), some won't work at all.

[halonachos117]

I hate to be the wet blanket here, but this thread really isn't the place to talk about dead batteries. I would go the Forums on Sandisk.com or AnyThingButIpod.com. I know I haven't exactly been following that rule by making my suggestion (and really, all it was meant to be was a suggestion, not a reinvented wheel). However, if you wish to buy a permanent battery replacement (ie, desolder your old battery, and solder a replacement), there is a separate section in this forum for that.

In this section, we are supposed to talk about developing Rockbox for the Fuze+. It's not really meant to talk about batteries or any other hardware, except in the case of figuring out how to make Rockbox work on said hardware.

[monoid]

I would like to ask about the recording ability. It is the only thing I miss in this RockBox port. I had the feeling it was finished and close to being issued 2 months ago, but nothing has happened since then.

What are the plans to implement it, if any?

Anyway, thanks to all developers for all the work. RockBox port for Fuze+ just rocks!