ClipZip & Clip+: Biggest microSD card size allowed in RB and vanilla firmware?

[pihhu]

Hi!

Topic says it all.

I've got Clip+ currently and wanted to buy 64GB microSD card for it, but I'm unsure it will work. So the alternative is to sell it and buy ClipZip which is newer and has a bigger chance to work with 64GB cards (I think).


But, what does it look like in practice? What is the biggest microSD card size at the moment that will:

- work in Clip+ and Rockbox
- work in Clip+ and stock Sansa firmware

and

- work in Clip Zip and Rockbox
- work in Clip Zip and stock Sansa firmware


Another idea is [ IF 64GB cards are confirmed to NOT work in Clip+ - both RB/stock Sansa FW ] - NOT to sell it and just buy 2 32GB cards instead (it should work in RB at least I think), but I'd prefer to have 1 bigger SD card.

Also, what does the compatibility between Clip+/ClipZip and various 32/64GB cards from various manufacturers/various models look like at the moment? Can I just buy anything (i.e. cheaper) OR are some of them known to NOT work in Clip+/ClipZip and should be avoided? What is your experience?

And last thing, maybe a stupid question : should I insert/exchange microSD card in Clip+/ClipZip slot only if the player is turned off, or can I do it at any time when it's turned on (of course when it's NOT playin music from files on that card)? Is inserting/removing/changing SD cards from slot even possible and SAFE when the player is turned on?

Thanks for the replies!

[saratoga]

Neither firmware has any limit on card size, although the Sandisk firmware does limit you to somewhere between 5000-8000 songs in its database depending on your files and how they're tagged.

It doesn't matter when you insert a card, and from what I can tell the branding on the cards doesn't say very much about what electronics are actually in them.  I think a lot of companies buy as much as they can as cheap as they can from whoever is selling it and then stick their label on it. 

[pihhu]

Neither firmware has any limit on card size

So Clip+ has the hardware in it needed to support 64GB (and bigger when they appear) microSDXC cards in it? I thought only ClipZip had it? Or is it hardware independent?

But how does it work in practice: do people with 64GB cards really have succes in running them in Clip+/ClipZip stable on a daily basis? Or is it only is theory (no size limit and anything will work) but practice isn't so good?

It doesn't matter when you insert a card

ok, so I can insert/remove them ~safely~ even when the player is turned on and both player/card won't get damaged that way (sorry to ask but DO want to make sure I understood it correctly)?

[saratoga]

So Clip+ has the hardware in it needed to support 64GB (and bigger when they appear) microSDXC cards in it? I thought only ClipZip had it? Or is it hardware independent?

The Clip+ and Clip Zip use the same hardware aside from the screen.

But how does it work in practice: do people with 64GB cards really have succes in running them in Clip+/ClipZip stable on a daily basis? Or is it only is theory (no size limit and anything will work) but practice isn't so good?

There is no difference between a 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 ... GB cards.  You're welcome to google it if you want to know more.

ok, so I can insert/remove them ~safely~ even when the player is turned on and both player/card won't get damaged that way (sorry to ask but DO want to make sure I understood it correctly)?

It doesn't matter. 

[pihhu]

There is no difference between a 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 ... GB cards.  You're welcome to google it if you want to know more.

ok, so why are 4-32 GB cards called (micro)SDHC and 64-and-up GB are called (micro)SDXC? Is it just marketing thing? I thought they require different hardware (or at least software) in player to be supported (I mean SDXC in addition to SDHC).

Which filesystem is usually found on on 64 GB (and bigger) cards, and which is supported by RB and Clip+/ClipZip ?

[saratoga]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SDXC#SDXC

Edit:  So basically the same thing, but with a different preformatted file system so royalties aren't the same.

[pihhu]

ok, thanks - that's good news as I don't have to sell Clip+ and buy ClipZip (losing some money in the process) to use 64GB card with it, as I previously thought would be required.

@all:

anyone with Clip+ and 64GB microSD card: can you confirm it works fine (stable) for you on a daily basis? If yes, which brand and model od SD card? And which filesystem is on it?

thanks!

[AlexP]

It'll be FAT32 if you want it to work in Rockbox.

[oblivion]

I think there may be an issue here aside from what's been previously mentioned. My Clip+ works fine with a Transcend 32Gb Class 4 card, but database rebuilds (particularly when using the OF) are s-l-o-w... so I bought a 32Gb Class 10 card, to gain some speed.

The card itself works fine in an adaptor plugged into my PC. But it misbehaves badly in the player when the OF's running: playing anything from the card results in each track from the current playlist flickering past at great speed -- displays tracknames but doesn't play anything. 

[cs96and]

I can confirm that class 10 cards are very flaky when running the original firmware.  They seem fine in rockbox though.

[blr_p]

What is the biggest microSD card size at the moment that will:

- work in Clip+ and Rockbox
- work in Clip+ and stock Sansa firmware

A month back i got a 64GB Sandisk mobile ultra class 10 microsd. Formatted it to FAT32 with 32kb allocation size or cluster size, am on windows so used guiformat

Its worked well in both OF & RB. The OF has a 8000 file limit so i expect it will ignore any files beyond. But RB has been fine. The OF will update its database evertime you transfer files, even just one, takes little over 5 mins for the OF database to build.

The only issues i've had is with with getting the RB database to read everything. For some reason it fails on the build at stage 4, but otherwise all files are accessible and playable within RB.

As for the biggest card that's a 64GB working with the micro SD3.0 spec. SD4.0 will have different pins so the thinking is if a 128GB comes out later in that spec then it won't work with the clip+.

But, what does it look like in practice?

No way to do screen dumps in the OF but the system settings->Info shows
SD Card 60875MB
Free 22099 MB

So the OF sees the card and can play off from it (but there is a 8000 file limit with the OF).

Another idea is [ IF 64GB cards are confirmed to NOT work in Clip+ - both RB/stock Sansa FW ] - NOT to sell it and just buy 2 32GB cards instead (it should work in RB at least I think), but I'd prefer to have 1 bigger SD card.

My experience is that a *genuine* 64GB sandisk microsd card works in the clip+ once you do the format to FAT32. Bear in mind once you do that you've voided your microsd warranty, so if ever the card develops problems in the future, sandisk is unlikely to honour their warranty if they detect any FAT32 fs on the card.

The 64Gb ships with an ex-FAT fs pre-installed, which you then re-format to FAT32.

Can I just buy anything (i.e. cheaper) OR are some of them known to NOT work in Clip+/ClipZip and should be avoided? What is your experience?

a *genuine* sandisk ultra class 10 works. Don't know about other brands. Should work in theory. As i see it the limiting factor isn't the car per se but rather the device. If its hardcoded into not accepting anything more than 32GB then you're hosed. Thankfully the clip+ does not have such a limitation.

As for cheaper, a class 6 will work too, there is a slight labelling difference on the micro sd that i've seen, the class 6 are labelled as mobile ultra whereas the class 10 is just called ultra. Whichever is cheaper between the two. The one i had had a large android icon on the packaging and the packaging said mobile ultra.

Presently 3x32GB is cheaper than 1x64GB

And last thing, maybe a stupid question : should I insert/exchange microSD card in Clip+/ClipZip slot only if the player is turned off, or can I do it at any time when it's turned on (of course when it's NOT playin music from files on that card)? Is inserting/removing/changing SD cards from slot even possible and SAFE when the player is turned on?

Thanks for the replies!

I got a transcend multi card reader as my laptop does not have one. I popped the microsd in sandisks sd adapter that was provided with the 64GB microsd. and then into the transcend reader to format to FAT32. As the sansa won't read a ex-FAT in either RB or OF. Then tranferered the files over and then took out the micro-sd and stuck it in the clip+.

My experience with sandisk's SD card adapter was not good as if you pressed the micro card in a little too hard it becomes nearly impossible to retrieve from the adapter. I ended up destroying the adapter to get the microsd card out. Sandisk should have provided a notch on the lower sandwiched plate of the adapter too instead of just the top. Finger nails were no good to get it out at all.

using a card reader to load up the card will be faster than sticking the card in the clip+ and then loading it up. You can however do this later to just transfer over a few files but the clip+ AFAIK will only transfer files no faster than a class 6 card. whereas in the reader you can get a faster transfer. Getting a class 10 card to work faster in a clip+ is pointless, a class 6 will do.

Oh and always switch off the clip+ before swapping microsd cards in & out of it.

[torne]

As for the biggest card that's a 64GB working with the micro SD3.0 spec. SD4.0 will have different pins so the thinking is if a 128GB comes out later in that spec then it won't work with the clip+.

Actually, SD 4.0 cards might work as well (once they exist). The previous suspicion we had that they wouldn't was based on dubious information and it seems like they may actually be backward compatible as well (they just won't run at their maximum possible speed in an older reader). It's hard to say for sure until they are around, as the full SD spec is not publicly available.

[faheyd]

I know this thread is old, but I wanted to say I inserted a 128GB microSD into my RB'd Sansa Clip+ and it worked fine. Formatted as FAT32/Primary Partition. (G.Skill 128GB microSDXC UHS-I/U1 Class 10 Memory Card with OTG (FF-TSDXC128GC-U1)). After refreshing the database, it asked me to reboot, and magic, all my song were there. I use FLAC files, so they take up a bit more space.
Thank you Rockbox and it's developers.
Dylan

[whiskthecat]

200GB Sansa confirmed working.

[xza23]

when 2 tb card will released it would work too , but the max of fat32 is 2 tb and a single file of 4gb