Rockbox Technical Forums

Installation / Removal => Manual Installation => Apple - Installation/Removal => Topic started by: GreyBeast on February 09, 2018, 12:10:27 PM

Title: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: GreyBeast on February 09, 2018, 12:10:27 PM
Hi everybody!

So far, I've spent three full days trying to get my device running, but at least I'm learning stuff on the way :)

It's an original iPod Classic 6g bought off eBay, with 160GB HD, changed (by me) to an iFlash Quad card with 4x128gb microSD memory cards.

Running the iPod in diagnostic mode to check the disk and memory (both the original HD and the microSD cards), I get all tests passed.

Resizing (up from the 6g's native limit of 127gb) and formatting the partition to FAT32 occurs without a glitch. The iPod is recognized in Windows Explorer as expected, showing the correct disk capacity, etc.

Running chkdsk /F /R returns no errors on the hard drive.

I can get the bootloader installed, and I can install Rockbox. I can transfer music onto the iPod, and I can play it.

Basically, I can do everything with it, EXCEPT:

- sometimes, while transferring music onto the iPod, file transfer slows down for between 5 and 30 seconds, only to resume again, though sometimes it just hangs completely. In these cases, although the iPod screen shows the "USB Keypad Mode: Multimedia" image, when I (correctly) unplug the iPod, a white screen appears with a "*PANIC* Failed to boot...." text. This happens regardless of the number of files I transfer, so it has nothing to do with the iPod (or Rockbox) not being able to take on so much new data in one go.

- on other occasions, while playing music, the music stops and the iPod shuts down. Battery power is sufficient, so that shouldn't be the cause. Upon reboot, the device reaches the Rockbox welcome screen (black background with the yellow Rockbox logo much like the one at the top of this page), but instead of moving onto the "Home Menu", stays locked on that screen forever. Any number of reboots yield the same result, forcing me to restore the iPod using iTunes.


CONCLUSION:
- It doesn't seem to be the Bootloader that's malfunctioning, otherwise Rockbox wouldn't even start up, correct?

- It doesn't seem to be Rockbox, either, since Rockbox gets correctly installed, runs and works fine.

- I'm currently running a thorough check on the microSD cards with a program called H2testw.exe, which specializes on SC cards, supposedly. It's been reading and writing onto the SD cards for a little under three hours now, and should run, as it says, for another 18.

If this test comes up with no errors, WHERE could the fault be?

If I get the iPod running with Rockbox again, I have decided NEVER to initialize the Database, or use it for anything, for that matter. I have a hunch the iPod hangs on file transfer, because automatic database updates may have been happening at the same time, causing some type of "overflow" or clogged RAM, or something.

The only other reason I can come up with, based on my humble PC skills is that I read somewhere on these forums that the partition needs to be formatted with a cluster size of 512bytes. Although I spent some time researching this topic, I couldn't find any software that allows me to actually format my drive to that particular cluster size. The general consensus seems to be, that the hardware itself tells the formatting software what cluster size (or possible other cluster sizes) it must be formatted to.

I'd appreciate any kind of input on the subject. I hope I've specified all the needed information.

Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: Frankenpod on February 09, 2018, 05:50:08 PM
Just use the OF mode for transferring files.  Unless there's a hardware fault that should probably fix the problem.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: saratoga on February 09, 2018, 06:05:38 PM
Those adapters rarely work well with rockbox, and people frequently report problems like you are describing.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: GreyBeast on February 10, 2018, 08:27:07 AM
@ Frankenpod:

Sounds like a good idea, but what's the difference between plain copying files onto the iPod and doing the same, but while it's in Apple Disk Mode?
I'd prefer having just Rockbox on the iPod (single boot). Mainly because iTunes can only address 127gb on an iPod Classic 6g, and I have way more.
Wouldn't trying to set up a dual boot (under these circumstances) open a whole new can of worms?

@ saratoga:

Yep, it's staring to look a lot like it. The 21-hour thorough disk check shows no errors, although it's now veryfing results for another 6 hours, so maybe errors show up when it's finished.

Why is it, though, that Rockbox has problems with adapters such as this? How does it even know it's not a spinning disk, but rather microSD's? And why should it bother WHAT's connected to that end of the logic board, as long as it's formatted to Rockbox requirements and provides storage capacity?
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: Frankenpod on February 10, 2018, 10:16:24 AM
If it's a 'thick' 160gb classic, then, yes, there's no good solution if you want >128gb.  Dual boot works for the slim 160gb.  Thick 160gb classic is not best choice for larger flash drives.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: GreyBeast on February 10, 2018, 11:54:49 AM
Wow, OK! It IS a "thick" iPod Classic 6g.

1. What's the "magic" difference between "thick" and "slim" that makes the slim version accept dual boot? Is it a newer version logic board?

2. If so, IF I replaced logic boards, making my iPod a de facto "slim" one, would being able to dual boot solve file transfer hiccups (if using Apple Disk mode to do so), or not?

Thanks for your input, by the way, it's extremely useful :)
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: saratoga on February 10, 2018, 12:01:33 PM
Ata driver probably needs to be updated to setup those SD adapters differently. That or maybe they expect the driver to behave exactly like the apple one and don't work correctly otherwise.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: GreyBeast on February 10, 2018, 12:05:26 PM
Is this something I could do myself? I've learned how to re-flash the original Apple firmware using this manual:

https://www.freemyipod.org/wiki/Restore_iPod_without_iTunes

I'm guessing updating ATA drivers on the iPod is a similar procedure? I'll go investigate in the meantime.

***EDIT***
Never mind, I think you meant the ATA drivers would have to be updated in the bootloader or Rockbox. I couldn't find anything about it on the internet.

But, still, do you know if "thick/slim" is a function of what logic board is in the iPod? And, if so, would updating the logic board (i.e. making it a "slim" version) solve the problem?

Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: saratoga on February 10, 2018, 01:29:45 PM
All iPods can dual boot, but not all devices support more than 128GB disks in the apple firmware, so if you put more than 128GB storage only some devices will work with it in the apple firmware.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: GreyBeast on February 10, 2018, 01:47:21 PM
Exactly! That's why I prefer NOT to use dual boot, because I want to use more than just 128gb.

I'm assuming that if I set up the iPod with iTunes (= 1 partition of 128gb + "empty" partition), I won't be able to - later on - resize the partition, because then iTunes won't recognize the drive, and using Apple Disk Mode to transfer files onto the iPod won't work anymore, correct?

Does anyone else know if the difference between "slim" and "thick" versions of iPod Classic 6g lies in the type of logic board it has? I've found out the 6g has (at least) two logic boards available.

a) 820-2168-A
b) 820-2437-A

I'm kinda hoping the latter is an "upgrade/update" to the first one, and capable of dual booting and holding more than 128gb capacity.

Coincidentally, the logic board listed for the 7th gen iPod Classic has the same serial number (820-2437-A). Could that imply that it IS an upgrade of the other one, and that I COULD use it in my iPod to address more than 128gb of storage?

The best page about iPod Classic specs I could find is www.everymac.com. Unfortunately, it doesn't answer my question about logic boards :(


Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: GreyBeast on February 10, 2018, 02:54:31 PM
The extensive flash card test shows the cards are fine, which only confirms what you say. So, basically, having an iPod 6g "thick" means I either HAVE to limit myself to using only 128gb of storage, OR finding out if using the logic board that's also in the 7g (and is capable of >128gb capacity) could work in my iPod. I'm going to go out on a limb and buy that logic board, and will post the results when I'm done.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: GreyBeast on February 12, 2018, 02:18:34 PM
Could it be that transferring the music files under Linux (as opposed to Windows) onto the rockboxed iPod (as if moving files onto an external USB drive) AND having THIS version of the bootloader https://files.freemyipod.org/~user890104/bootloader-ipodclassic.html installed makes for snag-free file transfers?

I'm in the midst of retrying putting music on the iPod, this time under Linux, and it's much smoother under Linux, it seems.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: sduck on February 14, 2018, 06:16:21 PM
I have rockbox running flawlessly on 3 ipod videos (ver 5.5), all with iflash solo cards and 128gb cards in them. I switch the ipods into apple mode when transferring files, otherwise they're always in rockbox mode. So as far as I can tell the rockbox/iflash combo isn't the problem.

I've got a classic 6.6 here that I'm hoping to experiment with with the same hardware updates once all the parts get here. However it's the one I can't install the bootloader onto with the native hardware, so some work still needs to be done.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: Frankenpod on February 14, 2018, 06:55:30 PM
The compatibility problems seem to be way less of a problem with (a) the video as opposed to the classic, and (b) using cards of 128gb or less (as opposed to 256gb or above).  Hence I'm not surprised you have not encountered problems with ipod videos using 128gb cards.  Never really had any issues with 128gb cards myself.

I presume that whatever issues there are, are still there, but that that set-up is far more forgiving of them (more tolerant of timing problems or something?) so one gets away with it.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: GreyBeast on February 15, 2018, 11:01:02 AM
I have rockbox running flawlessly on 3 ipod videos (ver 5.5), all with iflash solo cards and 128gb cards in them. I switch the ipods into apple mode when transferring files, otherwise they're always in rockbox mode. So as far as I can tell the rockbox/iflash combo isn't the problem.

I've got a classic 6.6 here that I'm hoping to experiment with with the same hardware updates once all the parts get here. However it's the one I can't install the bootloader onto with the native hardware, so some work still needs to be done.

I don't know if I understood you correctly, but have you tried THIS to get the bootloader installed?:

https://files.freemyipod.org/~user890104/bootloader-ipodclassic.html

mks5lboot works really well on 6.x iPod Classics.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: GreyBeast on February 15, 2018, 11:06:26 AM
I presume that whatever issues there are, are still there, but that that set-up is far more forgiving of them (more tolerant of timing problems or something?) so one gets away with it.

Very true, the "timing" issue. The stalls/hang-up's that "feel" like there's a bottleneck with files "clogging up".

By the way, just for kicks, I'm continuing to transfer files, until the hang-up's occcur. Then I'm running chkdsk to repair broken files and re-transferring all over again. Rockbox seems to do fine playing tracks all over my collection. Could it really be just a problem when transferring files, or have I just not listened to music on the iPod long enough (until a hang-up happens)?

'Cause if it's just when transferring files, I can live with the method I mentioned. Unless you keep changing the music content on your iPod, this COULD be a workaround, no?
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: sduck on February 15, 2018, 11:34:43 AM
I have rockbox running flawlessly on 3 ipod videos (ver 5.5), all with iflash solo cards and 128gb cards in them. I switch the ipods into apple mode when transferring files, otherwise they're always in rockbox mode. So as far as I can tell the rockbox/iflash combo isn't the problem.

I've got a classic 6.6 here that I'm hoping to experiment with with the same hardware updates once all the parts get here. However it's the one I can't install the bootloader onto with the native hardware, so some work still needs to be done.

I don't know if I understood you correctly, but have you tried THIS to get the bootloader installed?:

https://files.freemyipod.org/~user890104/bootloader-ipodclassic.html

mks5lboot works really well on 6.x iPod Classics.

Yes, as I've replied several times. The mks5lboot file linked DOES NOT work on my mac. When I try the windows method I get an error after going into DFU mode. I've documented this here and elsewhere several times and have gotten no solutions yet. I am going to try the windows method again on an older non-windows 10 box soon - maybe it'll work in windows 7.

Edit: I was able to finally get the bootloader installed with my windows 7 machine. Now I'm waiting for an SD card to arrive, then will install the iflash card and do it all again. Although my experience may not be able to help you, as I'm only installing a 128gb card.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: GreyBeast on February 15, 2018, 12:37:07 PM
Sorry, I hadn't read the whole thread. My bad. Glad to hear you got the bootloader installed.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: sduck on February 19, 2018, 10:46:13 PM
So, I re-read your original post, trying to get the gist of your issue. Some questions, some thoughts.

I'm unsure what you mean by single-booting rockbox. I presume you only want to use rockbox, never use the original apple firmware, is that correct? That would be how I use these things. I also have no use for the apple firmware. However, it's still there, isn't it? Unless you've found a way to install a new bootloader that only boots into rockbox. Can you currently boot into the apple firmware, even with your drive(s) formatted for whatever size larger than 128gb you have them at?

As far as I know there is a documented problem with the usb driver within rockbox for these devices. Which manifests itself with problems like those you describe - transfers hanging. Once files are transferred, they still don't always work right, hang or stutter while playing. The common prescribed workaround is to boot into the apple firmware, then do the file transfers the same way you would in rockbox mode, I.E. don't use itunes to do it. BTW this issue exists with my ipod videos, and I have to use the workaround.

So I guess my question is: are you able to use the apple firmware at least enough to do file transfers? If not, why not?
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: saratoga on February 19, 2018, 10:52:03 PM
Can you currently boot into the apple firmware, even with your drive(s) formatted for whatever size larger than 128gb you have them at?

He could try and boot the Apple firmware, but since the Apple firmware is limited to addressing 128GB of storage on his devivce, he wouldn't be able to access the full storage and the ipod will insist on restoring the disk (IIRC). 

As far as I know there is a documented problem with the usb driver within rockbox for these devices. Which manifests itself with problems like those you describe - transfers hanging. Once files are transferred, they still don't always work right, hang or stutter while playing.

It isn't the USB driver, rather the ATA driver is unreliable with a lot of hardware mods, so if you try to write to the disk (for example, copying files to the storage), the data gets corrupted.  The files hang/stutter after copying because they're full of corrupted data.  If you use the Apple firmware to write, you have fewer problems since corrupted data on read is much less catastrophic for the storage.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: GreyBeast on February 21, 2018, 07:50:04 PM
Sorry, guys. I wasn't paying attention.

I'm unsure what you mean by single-booting rockbox. I presume you only want to use rockbox, never use the original apple firmware, is that correct? That would be how I use these things. I also have no use for the apple firmware. However, it's still there, isn't it? Unless you've found a way to install a new bootloader that only boots into rockbox. Can you currently boot into the apple firmware, even with your drive(s) formatted for whatever size larger than 128gb you have them at?

Yes, single boot because the 128gb restriction makes using Apple's FW useless.

Quote
As far as I know there is a documented problem with the usb driver within rockbox for these devices. Which manifests itself with problems like those you describe - transfers hanging. Once files are transferred, they still don't always work right, hang or stutter while playing. The common prescribed workaround is to boot into the apple firmware, then do the file transfers the same way you would in rockbox mode, I.E. don't use itunes to do it. BTW this issue exists with my ipod videos, and I have to use the workaround.

So I guess my question is: are you able to use the apple firmware at least enough to do file transfers? If not, why not?

As saratoga said in the post following yours, it's not as USB, but an ATA driver problem. If you're implying that I COULD use Apple's Disk Mode to transfer files onto the iPod BEYOND the 128gb limit, I'll have to give that a try. But it would seem counter-intuitive if Apple Disk Mode were capable of handling more than 128gb of storage, while the "normal" Apple software can't.

I appreciate your input, sduck, but I'm going to solve it a different way for now. I'm getting the logic board for a 7th generation iPod and putting it in my 6th gen model. As per the guy from everymac.com, it would turn my iPod into a de facto 7th generation one, removing the 128gb limit. Before I use it as a "regular/Apple" iPod, I'll give Rockbox a try on the new logic board, just to see.

It's an interim solution, really, because I really would like to have Rockbox running on it. Hopefully, it won't take too long for someone to give the ATA drivers a do-over, and then I'll switch to the Rockbox firmware. If there's anything I could do to contribute to that, like sweeping the office floors/making coffee/cheering for the team, count me in :)
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: sduck on February 21, 2018, 11:25:49 PM
So I was thinking about the 128gb limitation thing. I'm guessing that when you run the "restore ipod" thing in itunes is when that is applied, right? In other words, no matter how much space you have available, it'll only format it to the 128gb limit. If you're using rockbox exclusively, that'll be the last time itunes sees the ipod, so anything that happens afterward doesn't matter. What I'm wondering is if you can use disk utility (on a mac, don't know if there's a windows equivalent) and the partition tab to enlarge that 128gb partition to fill the available space, as you can with a normal disk/ssd. You can do that kind of thing with most disks/drives in disk utility and it'll leave the pre-existing content intact. I don't have anything larger than the iflash solo with 128gb cards in them (yet) so can't experiment with this idea. But if it worked, you could have the full size you've paid for and have a working dual boot system so you could transfer files without problems.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: saratoga on February 21, 2018, 11:52:22 PM
What I'm wondering is if you can use disk utility (on a mac, don't know if there's a windows equivalent) and the partition tab to enlarge that 128gb partition to fill the available space

The Apple firmware uses LBA28, so in the Apple firmware the available space will be exactly 2^28*512 = 128GB.  You can try in Rockbox, but if you do that you won't be able to boot back into the Apple firmware without reformatting the disk into a format it can understand. 
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: sduck on February 22, 2018, 09:39:20 AM
Ah, I see. Oh well. Just some thinking out loud. Good luck in your endeavors, GreyBeast.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: GreyBeast on February 22, 2018, 05:17:42 PM
Thanks, sduck! Again, I appreciate your input.

To get back to your previous (long) post:

It's just as you described: if I restore the iPod using iTunes, it's automatically formatted to 128gb, no matter how much bigger the storage capacity is. I could then "fill up" the iPod using (the stable) Apple Disk Mode until I reach 128gb of storage, enlarging the partition to the maximum available, as you wrote, but then I'd have the same problem all over again: having to transfer files the "conventional" way (using the iPod as an external USB drive, with Rockbox installed), which has the hiccup/hang-up issues.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: GreyBeast on February 22, 2018, 08:30:40 PM
What I'm wondering is if you can use disk utility (on a mac, don't know if there's a windows equivalent) and the partition tab to enlarge that 128gb partition to fill the available space

The Apple firmware uses LBA28, so in the Apple firmware the available space will be exactly 2^28*512 = 128GB.  You can try in Rockbox, but if you do that you won't be able to boot back into the Apple firmware without reformatting the disk into a format it can understand.

Yes, exactly. And the 7th generation logic board allows for LBA48.

Can you explain why the iPod is limited to 65.536 songs? It has something to do with the way iTunes writes the songs to the iPod, giving songs four-letter file names, so probably 2^4*4 =65.535 different combinations of four letters, I guess.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: saratoga on February 22, 2018, 08:55:07 PM
Can you explain why the iPod is limited to 65.536 songs?

No idea.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: sduck on February 22, 2018, 09:01:56 PM
Oh, another side thought - you mentioned getting a gen 7 to harvest parts from. Unless you're really attached to the design of the classic over the older style, you might want to consider a gen 5 (or 5.5) Video version instead. Having recently upgraded/rockboxed several of these, and a classic gen 6, I much prefer the older Video's. For one thing, they're much easier to open - you can have them open in about a minute, unlike the tedious procedure you need with the classics. The main reason to consider them is that they use what is considered a better DAC. In my brief comparisons I much prefer the sound of the video - better bass, much more midrange and treble definition, overall a clearer sound. The classic is marginally louder at the same volume setting though. And I believe the gen 5 doesn't have that 128gb limitation. Physically they're very similar - same size screen, same controls, rockbox works identically on either. And you can get the video's for considerably cheaper. My favorite one I bought on ebay for maybe 80$, installed the iflash solo, a 128gb card, a 3000 mwh battery, rockbox, and it works fantastically - with that battery it will basically run continuously for like a week or more.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: GreyBeast on February 23, 2018, 11:16:42 AM
I'm not getting a "complete" 7g, just the logic board. I figured having, basically ANOTHER iPod Classic lying around in spare parts - except for the logic board - would make it worthwhile.

Yeah, I did find out about the 5/5.5 being essentially the same, but better, but I'm sticking to the 6/7 for the reasons I just mentioned. I've asked a friend I will be seeing in summer to bring me his "Video" that he doesn't use anymore. And yes, the 6's and 7's ARE a "ยง$%&* pain in the ass to open. I can see why they went for the "streamline" look, but there's a million similar cases that have a button to open it, and it doesn't necessarily make the thing look ugly.

Plus, you never get the cover aligned the way it was originally. Let alone open the cover with chipping off part of the surface coating, however minute.
Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: cereal_killer on February 24, 2018, 09:32:21 AM
Just a field report: for testing purposes, I built an iPod 6g with an iFlash Dual adapter and a 16GB Sandisk Ultra SDHC card. I had Rockbox on that iPod before and did not restore it after installing the adapter. When connecting to my PC, USB bootloader mode (?) (didn't know such thing exists) appeared and I just formatted the card with guiformat.exe. Then I put a fresh Rockbox build on it and Rockbox started right away. Then I transferred 10 GB of music with Rockbox. Everything went fine and after some hours of using, I couldn't find any corrupted files.

Could it be, that it is rather the type of card than the adapter that is causing the problems?

To those with corrupted files after transferring with Rockbox: what is roughly the amount of corrupted files? Every file, or every second one, or fewer?

Title: Re: Troubleshooting "from all angles" - iPod Classic 6g with microSD cards
Post by: GreyBeast on February 24, 2018, 09:43:03 AM
Just a field report: for testing purposes, I built an iPod 6g with an iFlash Dual adapter and a 16GB Sandisk Ultra SDHC card. I had Rockbox on that iPod before and did not restore it after installing the adapter. When connecting to my PC, USB bootloader mode (?) (didn't know such thing exists) appeared and I just formatted the card with guiformat.exe. Then I put a fresh Rockbox build on it and Rockbox started right away. Then I transferred 10 GB of music with Rockbox. Everything went fine and after some hours of using, I couldn't find any corrupted files.

Could it be, that it is rather the type of card than the adapter that is causing the problems?

To those with corrupted files after transferring with Rockbox: what is roughly the amount of corrupted files? Every file, or every second one, or fewer?

Much, much, much fewer than every second one.

Sometimes it takes 30 seconds into the file transfer for files to hang, others times you can transfer 10GB in one go and nothing happens. It doesn't seem like there's a regular pattern.
Also, I don't think it has anything to do with what program you format your storage with. I tried all kinds of different ones, and they all had the same results.

It looks like that leaves two options:

It may well be the type of card used. The adapater manufacturer lists "compatible" cards, as reported by card users. Yet, since there are so many different manufacturers of sd cards, and I can't imagine there's MILLIONS of adapter users out there to report back, I'm not entirely sure it's my sd cards that aren't working correctly, as they weren't "cheap/no name". 128bg sd cards are (still) costly, let alone four of them. I'm not (yet) willing to spend another big sum on "compatible" ones, just to confirm that wasn't the issue.

The other option why your setup is working fine could be the simple fact that you only have 16gb of storage. I had the impression that, once you got to about 40% of the four 128gb sd cards filled up, hangings and lags would become MUCH more frequent and much more "catastrophic" in that stoping and restarting file transfer wouldn't do the trick, because you'd have to run a check first to find and repair corrupted files.