Ipod 5.5G Audio Buffer Problem/HD keeps spinning/Takes ages to start playing

[Manekk]

Dear Rockboxers!

First of all I am amazed by the functionality of your programme.
The most important thing for me is listening to music, though.
My problem is: Whenever I want to start a song, the HD keeps spinning all the time and it takes several minutes until the song starts playing. With the Apple firmware I never had problems: Short buffering, flawless playing.With Rockbox everything goes laggy and I often have to restart to get back to the menu.
It looks like it is not using the buffer at all, I don't know.
I haven't used any EQ and I try to avoid ressource-stealing options.
Is there any way to activate the buffer or optimize it?
My Ipod is the 80 GB version and I have around 72 GB of music on it. Can the amount be a problem?
I would be really glad if anyone could help me since I hate the Apple software.

Keep up the good work! THX, Manekk

[Yotto]

Check out "Disk Cache" in the manual. Turn it on, be patient the first time you reboot afterward, and hopefully your problems will be solved from there on out.

[gevaerts]

Check out "Disk Cache" in the manual. Turn it on, be patient the first time you reboot afterward, and hopefully your problems will be solved from there on out.

I suspect you mean "Directory Cache"

[Manekk]

If I am not mistaken turning on directory cache TAKES AWAY RAM.... ?

[saratoga]

If I am not mistaken turning on directory cache TAKES AWAY RAM.... ?

Correct.

[torne]

A small amount of ram, unless you have an unusually large number of files on your player (the count of files, not the total size). The difference to the amount of bufferable data is not sufficient to impact battery life noticeably, and it makes almost all use of the player much more responsive.

[Manekk]

I have around 15.000 Files on it.
Turning on directory cache didn't help, though...

[Buschel]

What kind of files do you play?

[Manekk]

What kind of files do you play?

MP3s. I tried different bitrates, but there is no difference.

[evilnick]

Try checking the disk for errors, using chkdsk or equivalent.

[Manekk]

Try checking the disk for errors, using chkdsk or equivalent.

Done.
It went through the test pretty qiuckly. Result: "Windows has checked the file system and found no problems"
Still no improvement with the playback. Only solution: menu+center 

[Buschel]

Can you please try to download some of our test files and check whether your issue is still happening with those?

Link: http://download.rockbox.org/test_files/

Please try with lame_192.mp3, mpc_170.mpc, nero_192.m4a and flac5.flac

Place all those file into one directory and play them from the file browser.

Edit: Another important question -> Does this also happen with v3.6?

[Manekk]

I just tried some of the test files. They all work  
I guess something must have gone wrong during the copying process then.
All I did though, was copy my MP3 folder on to the Ipod and then let Rockbox create a database.
What do you suggest then?
Try an older version or delete the MP3-folder and copy everything again?
EDIT: I can play the MP3s on my Ipod with my computer, so the files should be OK.

[Buschel]

Can provide a link to a failing file?

[Manekk]

Can provide a link to a failing file?

There you go.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TH6DR1B6
This problem is starting to confuse me