iPod mini + SD, general weirdness

[leomard]

I'm at my wit's end, I've scoured forums and tried every possible combination of reinstalls/formats/re-flashes imaginable. What am I missing?

On both my iPod mini 1st and 2nd generations, when using the iFlash SD>CF adapter, the entire storage space is shown (I have a 256gb card installed). I can add a few songs, around 100, but when attempting to transfer my entire library of 3,000 tracks, the device will either present me with an I/O error in Windows, or the transfer will appear to complete, but nothing will appear when I try to browse for my files on the iPod.

I have also tried the offical firmware; the full 256gb appears in both iTunes and the iPod's settings, and iTunes will allow me to add the songs to the iPod, but when the sync is complete and I eject the device, the iPod will not list any tracks at all. Stranger still, the settings page still shows that ~30gb is being used. So the files are on there, but the iPod can't see them...? Very confusing. The I/O error I occasionally get when trying to use Rockbox leads me to believe it's the SD card at fault, as I've heard many have seen success with the iFlash adapters. Does the mini have a hard capacity limit? Is there a major difference between SDXC and SDHC, aside from the name? Even if I can't solve the problem, I'd like to know what causes it.

One thing I haven't tried yet is removing the SD card after Rockbox is already flashed, then inserting the card into my PC and adding the tracks manually. Do you think it'll make a difference?

What gives? Any ideas? Thanks in advance.


Edit: I've been playing with it at work, and I tried inserting a borrowed 8gb card and filling it to the brim via iTunes (before flashing Rockbox). It appears to index things fine in the official firmware; after installing Rockbox via the utility and manually adding my music by removing the SD card and inserting it directly into my laptop, everything appears as it should. I don't think my adapter is the issue. I'm currently waiting for my entire library to transfer with the same method to my larger card. Fingers crossed, it'll take all afternoon.

[leomard]

I am an idiot, and a fool. The problem all along was a counterfeit SD card; after checking it with a phone app (SD Insight), the true capacity is much lower than expected, at around 40gb. This makes perfect sense, in retrospect. If you're frantically Googling for a solution to your songs deleting themselves seemingly arbitrarily, it's probably a Chinese counterfeit SD card. Spend the extra $20 and avoid eBay, lesson learned...