Pathetic experience is using Rockbox on Sansa Clip

[xl3k]

I recently installed the Rockbox firmware on my Sansa Clip (8 gb main memory, 32 gb Transcend micro sd)  device, and my experience is quite bad. I hope I am missing something very simple that would set things right, otherwise I would believe that Rockbox on Sansa Clip is a poor match.

Why I switched to Rockbox?

Not that I had any major issues with the original firmware, but in the last 1 and a half years I used the device, two of my memory cards got corrupted (both Sandisk make, 32 gb ones). I read in some forum posts that Rockbox handles the cards better. I was not too sure it is true, but decided to take a chance. The other reason was that Rockbox would allow me to cue to a particular instant of my music - it would help as I like to listen to specific portion of a song repeatedly. Otherwise, it was a completely satisfying experience.

My usage:

All my songs are mp3's, 128 kbps, tagged with Artist, Composer, Album, Album art, genre and lyricist. I keep songs in the main memory as well in the extended memory. My folder structure in both cases is same: A folder called Music at root and all mp3's put under it. Currently I have around 60 files in main memory and ~1400 files in memory card. I have few playlist files, which are located in the same folder as the mp3's. The OF worked absolutely fine under this situation.

My ordeals are I started using Rockbox:

1. Files -> <microsd1> tab doesn't list all the files in extended memory. Out of ~1400 it lists only 1000. It pops a message like "directory buffer full"
2. The "Database" tab does not list A SINGLE file in the extended memory under its "Artist"/"Album"/"Composer" (essentially any) tabs. It lists only the files that are in the main memory. I have already raised a query regarding this in the forum http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php/topic,48065.0.html
3. The device abruptly stops playing songs from the card and freezes.
4. The device freezes while playing a playlist that is present in the card (and all its contents, too).
5. Album art looks grainy and pixelated.
6. The battery indicator remains unchanged even after keeping the device tethered to a computer of over 8 hours (during which the 'connected' sign was displayed I could exchange data with it.

I would be great if someone more experienced in using the Rockbox/Sansa Clip combo can comment on how I can overcome these issues. 

[saratoga]

1)  If you have a large amount of files in one directory, you will need to increase the directory buffer size.  See the manual.
2)  No idea, never heard of this problem.
3+4)  Either a problem with your SD card or our SD card driver.  If its less glitchy in the OF, I would use that.  If its glitchy in both (which it sounds like), it may just be a bad card.
5)  Assuming you actually mean a Clip Zip not a Clip, the display is considered to be fairly poor on it.  Does it look worse than that?
6)  No idea, never heard of this problem. 

[xl3k]

I could get the Database list mp3's from my card.

I generally like to browse the database and select individual mp3's and play them. However, after doing this for a couple of times the device freezes. I need to restart  in order to continue ...

[Astrogoth]

I have over 1000 files, large FLAC files, on my 32Gb MSD card in my Clip Zip. No problems. When I did have problems I found that the ID3 tags were the problem not the player or the OS. Tag & Rename fixed that.

[xl3k]

This is what I get:

1. Select a song from database
2. Start palying it
3. Come back to main menu
4. Select the database tab and the device hangs 

I also see the busy icon from step 3 itself. Not sure why it comes as I operate the device mostly under default settings. In the very rare occasion when the busy icon doesn't show, I am able to select another song ...