Rockbox Technical Forums

Support and General Use => Hardware => Topic started by: help.me.spam.me@gmail.com on December 22, 2007, 02:03:28 PM

Title: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: help.me.spam.me@gmail.com on December 22, 2007, 02:03:28 PM
I got a bit of a pickle here. I've converted my iPod to CF. When I use the A-Data CF everything works. I can dual boot, etc.
When I use the Transcend, I get the following error upon boot after the the Rockbox bootloader and the Rockbox build has been installed:

rockbox boot loader
version: 2.0
ipod version: 0xffffffff
ata: -80
no partition found

These are my installation steps:
1) Install CF
2) Connect to PC and have iTunes restore iPod
3) Extract daily iPod video build (30GB) to root of iPod
4) Run ipodpatcher; bootloader gets successfully installed
5) Reboot > Error

If I don't install the Rockbox bootloader, my CF iPod boots just fine and I can play music, etc.
The only difference that I can see between those two CF cards is the speed.
Is there a wizard out there who can help me with this?

Merci
Title: Re: no partition found
Post by: soap on December 30, 2007, 04:28:08 PM
As I understand it, not all CF cards support the "TrueIDE" spec set.
I believe your problem is a result of using a card which does not have such support.
http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/MiniCF
Title: Re: no partition found
Post by: help.me.spam.me@gmail.com on December 31, 2007, 12:14:15 AM
Well, I don't know enough about CF cards, but I would have assumed that if the card works with the original Apple firmware/bootloader then it should also work with Rockbox.
My second assumption would have been that all modern CF cards would support TrueIDE ... but I guess that's what happens, if you assume.
It makes an a** out of you and me.
 :P

Do you know how to identify "TrueIDE" cards?
Title: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: help.me.spam.me@gmail.com on December 31, 2007, 12:50:09 AM
Hello -
I've recently converted my iPod Video to use Compact Flash cards. I had some success. The Apple firmware/bootloader worked on both cards, but only one of them worked with Rockbox.
I would be interested to learn from other folks about their successes. I am technical savy, but I am by no means an expert on CF card standards/tech specs.
My hope is that someone with a better technical background could name the specific specs to look for in a CF card that would make it compatible with Rockbox.
I haven't found much info on this forum or Wiki and I asked my question twice on the IRC. It was suggested that I should make some changes to the code. Well, I am not a C/C++ programmer.
Maybe I am presumptuous, but I would think that there are some other folks out there who are trying to convert older models?!
Anyways if you are in the same boat as me, then please post your findings here.

Thanks & Cheers  ;)

This card worked both with the original Apple firmware/bootloader and Rockbox:

Brand      A-DATA
Model    SPEEDY CF 16GB
Type    Compact Flash (CF)
Tech Spec
Capacity    16GB
Speed    40X
Features    Conforms to Compact Flash Card specification standard
Fully compatible with PC Card ATA specification
Support for 8-bit or 16-bit host data transfers
Support PIO mode 4
Support Error Correcting Code (ECC) function to detect and correct errors.
Support In System Programming(ISP) function to load the firmware. Supports power down commands and sleep mode
Support Wear Leverage function to maximize data endurance.
Non-volatile storage(no battery required)
+5 Volts or +3.3 Volts operation.
MTBF > 1,000,000 hours
Durability:Minimum 10,000 insertion/removal cycles
Low weight
Noiseless
Low profile

This card only worked with the original Apple firmware/bootloader but NOT Rockbox:

Brand      Transcend
Model    TS16GCF133
Type    Compact Flash (CF)
Tech Spec
Capacity    16GB
Speed    133X
Features    CF Type I
Supports IDE PIO mode 6 and Ultra DMA mode 0-4
Fully complies with the new CF 4.0 standard
Hardware ECC (Error Correction Code)
ATA interface
Low power consumption
Multi-platform compatibility
RoHS Compliant


Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Llorean on December 31, 2007, 01:05:09 AM
Using Rockbox with hardware mods is not exactly a primary goal of the project. There's plenty to fix still when simply using the standard hardware.

I would suggest changing "Well, I am not a C/C++ programmer." to "Well, since I'm the only person into it, I'm looking for suggestions on books that I can learn from" if you're really serious about getting this resolved.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: AlexP on December 31, 2007, 04:50:30 AM
How true it is I'm not sure, but I have seen bandied around that the important line in the first card is
Quote
Fully compatible with PC Card ATA specification

So I believe it needs to conform to the TrueATA spec to work with rockbox, although seeing as the OF is fine I assume you could fix that.

Edit:  I have merged your two identical topics.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: soap on December 31, 2007, 05:38:19 AM
Until BigBambi merged your two threads I didn't know you had gotten Apple's firmware to boot.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: scharkalvin on December 31, 2007, 08:04:51 PM
I have converted a Gigabeat player to CF by using an adapter card made for this purpose for iPods.  I'm using the A-Data 16GB CF that is reported to work with iPods.  It mostly seems to work, but I do sometimes get a checksum error from the rockbox boot loader, and then the device powers off.  If I try to power it up again right after this happens it usually will boot up into rockbox.  I still do get either a checksum error, a file not found error, or a disk read error from time to time while using rockbox.  

Changing the spin down time to 254 seconds (to try and prevent spindowns) seems to help (so maybe I can find in the code where this happens and remove the check for time to spin down, or add a "never" to the spin down time menu).

As CF cards get larger and cheaper they will become popular as replacements for failed disk drives in DMP devices such as iPods, Gigabeats, and iRivers.  (Not to mention that such conversions make the devices more rugged and draw less battery power.)  I think it would be a good idea to add conditional compilation hooks to the source code to optimize rockbox for such conversions.    Some means of activating this conditional on top of any device specific ones in the build script would be needed.  I would be interested in looking into this, but I'm not yet familiar enough with the source code to do this (any hints would be welcome).  

In addition to any timing and protocol differences between CF modules and HD's, parameters that are constantly updated to a disk file should be moved to ram where possible to keep the number of disk writes to a minimum (to keep from wearing out the CF).  This might mean losing the ability to remember where in a playlist, or a song the device was powered down in, unless this information is kept in an area on battery backed up ram that is not initialized during bootup.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: saratoga on December 31, 2007, 08:08:23 PM

In addition to any timing and protocol differences between CF modules and HD's, parameters that are constantly updated to a disk file should be moved to ram where possible to keep the number of disk writes to a minimum (to keep from wearing out the CF).  This might mean losing the ability to remember where in a playlist, or a song the device was powered down in, unless this information is kept in an area on battery backed up ram that is not initialized during bootup.

Rockbox already takes great efforts to avoid using the disk since it uses so much battery power.  Theres probably a handful writes to the disk per hour.  The sun will burn out before you hit the write limit on that CF card.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: zajacattack on December 31, 2007, 08:17:37 PM
Quote
The sun will burn out before you hit the write limit on that CF card.

Ha! Ha! Too bad the card manufacturers don't promise that!
So, out of curiosity, what would be the write limit on a CF card (and I know it's not a rockbox question, but I'm just wondering)?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: help.me.spam.me@gmail.com on December 31, 2007, 08:21:20 PM
Llorean: I understand. Time, resources, other priorities, etc.
Although I don't believe I am the only person into this. The cost of CF cards has gone down and not everyone wants to "upgrade" to a Sansa.
I would welcome any further reading suggestions. Although my time and resources are limited as well. The least I hope this thread might accomplish is to identify the particular technical specifications to look for in a CF card before making a purchase.

BigBambi: That's a good suspect. I find this intersting as well, although maybe not mandatory:
"Support In System Programming(ISP) function to load the firmware. Supports power down commands and sleep mode"
BTW, love your Eddie "smiley".

Thanks for the feedback!
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: scharkalvin on January 01, 2008, 01:31:18 AM
I just saw this via google.
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/hardware-hacking/broken-ipod-5g-replaces-hard-drive-for-compact-flash-287700.php
looks like an adapter for the new Toshiba ribbon cable hard disks to CF.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: help.me.spam.me@gmail.com on January 01, 2008, 01:13:01 PM
That was a prototype. This is the final product:
http://www.tarkan.info/20070905/tutorials/iflash-ipod-flash-adaptor/

For the iPod Mini there is:
http://geektechnique.org/projectlab/753/how-to-turn-your-ipod-mini-into-a-flash-based-ipod

... and by the same author:
http://geektechnique.org/projectlab/767/put-flash-memory-into-almost-any-ipod

I find Tarkan's product overpriced, but that's purely from a buyers perspective.

BTW, I did the iPod Mini mod and it worked fine. I used a Verbatim 2GB CF card. Unfortunately I don't know the specs, but it worked with Rockbox.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: scharkalvin on January 01, 2008, 01:43:58 PM
Yeah, it IS expensive.  Maybe the HD connector is a hard to get item.

The geektechnique web pages are old news.

I used the A-data 16gb CF card in both an iPod mini and a Gigabeat with the Linux-Beginner adapter and it works well.  I do have some problems with the Gigabeat under Rockbox, every time I connect to the computer to download some files and disconnect the usb, I can't power down the player without using the battery switch as it gets locked into the usb disk mode.  This didn't happen with the HD. However, the files do seem to copy ok.  (also file transfer is s...l....o....w!)
Also I sometimes get a checksum error from the rockbox boot loader (though if I try again it will usually work fine.)  I compiled the firmware with the reset function commented out (as with the ipod mini as per the NANO conditional.)

When the A-data 32gb card price drops to around $100 (maybe by mid year?) I will probably upgrade to that.  
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: help.me.spam.me@gmail.com on January 03, 2008, 10:53:44 AM
Tarkan's board is very clean (soldering points) and fits snugly because of its design. It still makes  the high price point hard to explain, unless of course it is being manufactured in the UK and not China.
The posts from December 31st are relevant. It looks like there finally is a 2008 release date set.
Maybe his adapter will be less expensive.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: tarkan on January 17, 2008, 12:45:47 PM
scharkalvin,

Interesting you have had checksum errors with the A-Data 16gb.

I have had one person using my adapter mentioned that a few times when the iPod has been switched off overnight, when he tried starting it up he gets the - iPod needs restoring message, but on the second attempt it starts up fine.

I have tested for this on my long term tester using various cards including 16gb Sandisk cards and have not seen this - I wonder if the A-Data have power-up issues?

I do have a 32gb A-Data on its way to me, I will report on how it works in the iPod - apple firmware and Rockbox.

Tarkan
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: scharkalvin on January 17, 2008, 02:12:56 PM
Quote
I wonder if the A-Data have power-up issues?
Well the A-data cards are the slowest in the bunch (even IF the name on them
is "speedy"  ;D)
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: antonyfirst on March 04, 2008, 07:07:00 AM
Hi guys, I'm to to this forum and I've just installed Rockbox on my Grayscale 4th gen iPod. I'm using a 32gb A-Data CF memory.

It gives me this error:

ata: -1

What should I do?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on March 09, 2008, 10:52:16 AM
note: current SVN should now be compatible with CF
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: antonyfirst on March 09, 2008, 02:01:04 PM
It doesn't work with mine.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Llorean on March 09, 2008, 02:55:16 PM
Did you download the daily or the current?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: antonyfirst on March 09, 2008, 07:57:16 PM
Current. Last two numbers were "92". Now I see current build for Grayscale iPod is "Broken".
I love Rockbox, so I hope something can be done for the iPod Grayscale.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Llorean on March 09, 2008, 09:49:37 PM
What makes you think the current build is broken?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: antonyfirst on March 09, 2008, 11:50:30 PM
It was written on it when I posted: where other mp3 players had a link to "r16695", the iPod grayscale had a "Broken" writing, without a link.
Now there's a correct link to the "r16601". ;)
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on March 10, 2008, 04:48:04 AM
Does it still not work, and if it doesn't: what exactly doesn't work?

I would think the ipods need a new bootloader too?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: antonyfirst on March 10, 2008, 07:57:07 AM
The splash screen lasts a lot. Then it goes in the debug mode, but nothing happens (no matter how long I leave it alone). If I hit the Menu button, it says

*panic*
ATA: -1

Just like before the new patch was applied.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on March 10, 2008, 12:50:32 PM
hmmm it is not seeing the CF card *at all*

is it connected correctly?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: scharkalvin on March 10, 2008, 01:39:35 PM
Last night I put the latest new firmware on my Gigabeat F and it seemed to solve a problem with the CF, that after loading new files I had to power cycle the battery after disconnecting the USB cable as the player locked up.

Well I was listening to some OGG files just now and all of a sudden the player froze up.  After power cycling the battery I got the 'file not found' error from the boot loader.  I connected the USB cable got into USB bootloader mode, and sure enough the 'rockboxgigabeat' file is missing.  Fonts are gone too.

I might have a flaky CF card, but I don't have a spare to test that.  Anybody seen this happen with any CF conversion (files disapearing for no reason)?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: LambdaCalculus on March 10, 2008, 01:43:42 PM
What brand of CF card did you use, scharkalvin? I had read that some cards may work better than others, but I can't be entirely sure of that (I've yet to mod a DAP of my own with a CF card).
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: scharkalvin on March 10, 2008, 02:18:04 PM
I'm using the A-Data 16gb "speedy".  This card has been reported to work fine with other players, especially the ipod minis.

My unit was working fine for weeks, then I loaded the new firmware with the CF "fixes" from svn.  I also added more music files and rebuilt the database, so it might not be the new firmware, but FAT changes in the FS.  Bad spots on the flash?   Maybe I need to run scan disk or fsck after every major update to the fs (adding files)?  
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on March 10, 2008, 03:10:56 PM
well the changes made to support CF shouldn't cause what you are seeing.

The only way to be sure is to prove it: load an older firmware and see if that works fine. I have been testing with an A-Data 8GB x266 ('turbo') and so far no problems....

I'd surely do a chkdsk /f on that card
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: scharkalvin on March 10, 2008, 04:08:05 PM
Quote
well the changes made to support CF shouldn't cause what you are seeing.

The only way to be sure is to prove it: load an older firmware and see if that works fine. I have been testing with an A-Data 8GB x266 ('turbo') and so far no problems....

I'd surely do a chkdsk /f on that card

I doubt that the changes are the problem.  I ran chkdsk /f  after the fact, and then noticed that the firmware and fonts were missing along with my saved configuration.  Not sure if any music files are gone.

With the new firmware I no longer have the problem with the CF and USB stack of having to power cycle the battery switch after any USB file operations.  Pulling the USB cable used to result in the player hanging up, now pulling the cable resumes normal operation as it did with the hard disk.
(I logically dismounted the CF from the PC in either case, but it didn't help with the old f/w).

I suspect that in normal operation some disk writing is going on to log play history, otherwise I can't imagine how just playing music would cause a directory failure (if the operation was read only....).

I very well may have a defective CF card (too late to return it for a refund from newegg, but I'll replace it with the 32gb version when it gets a little cheaper....).


BTW, what player are you using, Mine is a Gigabeat F10
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: voltonmic on March 10, 2008, 05:23:29 PM
my 4g ipod w/grayscale gave me an ATA error -80.  i used rockbox util 1.0.4 / r16609.  using transcend 8gb, 133x.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: antonyfirst on March 10, 2008, 05:42:41 PM
hmmm it is not seeing the CF card *at all*

is it connected correctly?

Hi Pete,

Sure, the CF card is inserted perfectly. There are no problems with pre 02-10-2008 releases.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on March 11, 2008, 04:31:12 AM
I have an iriver h320 (now h308 ;))

Regarding ATA -80 on ipods: I'm almost sure you need a new bootloader. It probably has to be build and released by somebody before you can install it, unless you build your own.
I know almost nothing about the ipods though....
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Llorean on March 11, 2008, 04:35:57 AM
iPods are safe enough that there's really no risk in building a bootloader from SVN, but yes, they'll need to install a new one I'm sure (you can use the old iPodpatcher to install a new bootloader).

Just compile a bootloader, download the iPodPatcher binary, the "ipodpatcher -a bootloaderfile" if memory serves. ipodpatcher's help should contain all the information you need if that's not the right command line.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: scharkalvin on March 12, 2008, 03:35:46 PM
We will soon have another (probably initially expensive) option to upgrade HD players to flash thanks to Intel.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9067858&intsrc=hm_list
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: yanansi on March 21, 2008, 08:33:35 AM
got mine 5.5th ipod video 30GB convert into CF pod with iflash and the adata 32GB CF. works fine with apple firmare.

try to  install the rockbox with rbutilqt i got ATA error: -1

whats wrong with it?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: linuxstb on March 21, 2008, 09:43:49 AM
I think you'll need to compile and install your own bootloader - as mentioned earlier in this thread, the released bootloaders don't include the changes to support CF cards.

Or at least, you should try that, and see if it helps...
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: yanansi on March 21, 2008, 10:21:05 AM
tarkan shows that it is working:
http://www.tarkan.info/20080126/tutorials/32gb-compact-flash-ipod/3/
where can i found the version: r16170

cheers
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: michaelc5047 on March 27, 2008, 10:32:01 PM
I installed a 32GB AData "Speedy" CF card with one of Tarkan's ZIF to CF adapters. I downloaded the VMWare image, grabbed the source, built a bootloader, installed it using ipodpatcher 2.0.

Bootloader works fine -- the iPod would boot to the bootloader message (which said "CF 32GB" on the screen, if I recall correctly.) I then installed the current build from this afternoon. Got an ATA -1 message after hanging on the Rockbox logo screen. Built Rockbox myself (r16850-080328). Got another ATA -1 message after getting stuck at the logo. Here's what the debug screen showed:

gpio states
a 28 e 21 i 9b
b f9 f 02 j e3
c b0 g ff k 1f
d a0 h ff l a8

gpo32_val  00004000
gpo32_en  fe80feff
dev_en c2011124
dev_en2 00000000
dev_en3 0000003f
dev_init1 00040000
dev_init2 40000000

The card works fine with the Apple firmware.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: tarkan on March 28, 2008, 05:41:43 AM
Hi Guys,

Not being a Rockbox expert - so not sure if this will help you.

My first problem with the 32gb A-Data card was the partition table was corrupt, so I used my camera to do a full format (the camera wrote a clean master table).

Secondly, I could not do a manual installation - copying over the files and then activating using iPodpatcher. I ended up doing an automatic install using the RockboxUtility software. This worked first time.

regards, Tarkan
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on March 28, 2008, 07:18:34 AM
The ipod needs a particular partition setup so I doubt doing a simple format would make the card usable

Maybe the IpodManualRestore wiki page can be of help...

(I do not have an ipod so I might be wrong there)
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: modernman on May 01, 2008, 07:14:41 AM
Hello

I have been using rockbox for about the last 16 months or so on various ipods.  I am currently working on my 5g with tarkans compact flash adapter and the A-Data Speedy card (which as others have pointed out, is not all that speedy).

I have compiled and installed the last bootloader and installed it with ipodpatcher as Llorean and others have suggested, as well as the latest build of rockbox (downloaded from the current build page).  When booting, I get the following error:

Partition 1: 0x0B 3848 MB
Loading Rockbox...
Error!
Can't load rockbox.ipod:
File not found

I have restored the ipod a couple of times in itunes with firmware 1.3.  When I plug in the ipod to both my linux box and windows, it sees a a 15gb fat32 partition and a smaller partition for the firmware so I dont' think it is the partition table that is messed up.  Although it is weird that partition 1 is 3848 mb according to rockbox. 

On the CF page in the wiki there is a discussion of the use of this card with the iriver targets so I know it works with rockbox.  Tarkan and others have indicated the that 32gb Speedy card worked fine.  Is this an issue only with the 16gb card?  Or I am doing something glaringly wrong?  Any help anyone can give me would be great.  Thanks in advance.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Llorean on May 01, 2008, 07:39:57 AM
Could you paste the entire output of your bootloader  rather than just the end?

And "Partition 1" makes sense. It's array counting, so the first partition is actually Partition 0.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: modernman on May 01, 2008, 05:16:36 PM
This is what I see when booting the my ipod after the apple logo

Rockbox Boot loader
Version r17294-080501
IPOD version: 0x000B0011

Partition 1: 0x0B 3848 MB
Loading Rockbox...
Error!
Can't load rockbox.ipod:
File not found
Hold MENU+SELECT to reboot
then SELECT+PLAY for disk mode.

I have verified the rockbox.ipod is contained within the .rockbox folder.  I have also (out of frustration) tried copying it the root directory without avail.

Thanks for any help.

and then it locks. 
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 05, 2008, 07:09:11 PM
I have an iriver H320, which I am planning on converting to use a 32GB CF card. I have an adaptor, which I've tested with a SanDisk UltraII 2GB card and a Lexar High-Speed (40x) 512MB card. Both reported "no partition" on the first attempt, but formatting them as FAT32 meant that both could be successfully booted.

Now, the question is which card to use for real: There are three 32GB cards on the market that I've been able to track down:

A-Data "Speedy" (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211244) - According to the techs at A-Data, this is an 80x card.
Transcend 133x (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208389)
RiDATA Lightning 233x (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820183191)

I know that people have successfully used the A-Data card, and I've seen reports of issues booting RockBox from the Transcend card. Does anyone have any advice on which vard I should buy, as I don't want to put down $150 for something that RockBox can't support. All three cards claim to support TrueATA.

So, any advice, anyone? Should I go for the slow card that I'm confident will work, or would one of the faster ones be better (and, hopefully, risk-free)?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Llorean on May 05, 2008, 07:22:19 PM
I don't believe any card is actually 100% consistent right now, just because Rockbox was not designed for CF in these players. There have been a lot of recent fixes though, which means that if/when a new bootloader is released the situation will be much better. But I can't say for certain much beyond that.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 05, 2008, 07:29:41 PM
I'm running Peter D'Hoye's custom bootloader, about which he says (in an email) "AFAIK, all CF cards should work. Personally I'd not go for cards slower than x133."

When a new bootloader is released, it's going to be annoying to install, as I'll need to switch back to the hard drive to boot into iriver's firmware, flash the new bootloader and then put the CF card back. Still, it's the kind of thing that will almost certainly be worth the effort.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Llorean on May 05, 2008, 07:30:45 PM
Well, it's *probably* got the very same changes you'd want from an official bootloader anyway. If he said all CF cards should work, there's really nobody here who can give you better advice on it.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 05, 2008, 07:52:51 PM
Actually, I suspect there's a bug in the charging routines.

The standard bootloader powers into the OF to charge if you plug it in when it's turned off, but as that won't work from a CF card, I assume the bootloader charging routines are new. But once it's fully charged, it seems to start to run down slowly.

It's easy enough to work around; I just boot into RockBox and then plug it in to charge. But if there was a bootloader update that fixed this, it would be well worth the effort of re-flashing.

Anyway, in reference to my original query, it sounds like I'll get the RiDATA 233x card.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on May 06, 2008, 07:46:56 AM
Bootloader charging is indeed something new, and because my CF compatible bootloader was based on current SVN, it contains that feature too. Interesting to hear it has a bug.

And yes, all cards should work, and the reason I said to go for at least x133 is that it otherwise takes ages to copy to/from your player. Those 'speedy' cards are anything but... ;)

I also have a spare HDD around if I ever need to load another bootloader, or we have to get flashing working stable on h300 :)
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 06, 2008, 08:06:29 AM
Yeah, I've got ~17GB of music to copy over, and even on a fast card, I'm not looking forward to waiting for that to happen. But that's a one-time event, and I'd be more interested to know what speeds the H3x0 can handle in daily use. This is really of purely academic interest as all the cards I'm looking at are pretty much identical in price, but it would be good to know. Not that I have the faintest idea how you'd go about establishing that, and I wouldn't be surprised if no-one's figured it out.

As for the charging bug, all I really know is that the first time I charged it up overnight, it said "complete", but the voltage readout was slowly dropping, and when I booted it up, it said it was 90% full. I assume that once the battery was fully charged, it stopped drawing power from the charger, but kept powering the LCD from the battery.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on May 06, 2008, 10:04:09 AM
Yeah, I've got ~17GB of music to copy over, and even on a fast card, I'm not looking forward to waiting for that to happen. But that's a one-time event, and I'd be more interested to know what speeds the H3x0 can handle in daily use. This is really of purely academic interest as all the cards I'm looking at are pretty much identical in price, but it would be good to know. Not that I have the faintest idea how you'd go about establishing that, and I wouldn't be surprised if no-one's figured it out.

TIP: copy the initial music over by putting the card in a cardreader ;)

As for the charging bug, all I really know is that the first time I charged it up overnight, it said "complete", but the voltage readout was slowly dropping, and when I booted it up, it said it was 90% full. I assume that once the battery was fully charged, it stopped drawing power from the charger, but kept powering the LCD from the battery.

I'll have a look if I can reproduce. In any case the charging is handled in hardware so it is a bit surprising...
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 06, 2008, 10:14:33 AM
TIP: copy the initial music over by putting the card in a cardreader ;)

Well, yes. It looks like, in ideal circumstances, it ought to take a bit more than an hour (http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&q=17GB+%2F+%28233*150Kb%2Fs%29&btnG=Search) to copy everything over. But I somehow suspect that it'll take longer than that to pull it off the existing hard drive. Anyway, worst case scenario is that I run the copy overnight, so how long that takes really doesn't matter.

As for the charging bug, all I really know is that the first time I charged it up overnight, it said "complete", but the voltage readout was slowly dropping, and when I booted it up, it said it was 90% full. I assume that once the battery was fully charged, it stopped drawing power from the charger, but kept powering the LCD from the battery.

I'll have a look if I can reproduce. In any case the charging is handled in hardware so it is a bit surprising...

Hrm. As I say, I only used the bootloader charger the once. It's not impossible that I misinterpreted what I saw. If other people are using this bootloader and aren't aware of this issue, it makes me suspect that I got something wrong. Maybe we can solve this with science?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Llorean on May 06, 2008, 10:18:06 AM
How old is your battery? Maybe it's just naturally losing the top of its charge fast (or due to age isn't charging as far as it used to). With my old battery in my H120, I'd rarely see it at 100% unless I took it off the charger immediately after reaching full, and even then it would drop rapidly.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 06, 2008, 10:38:14 AM
At the time, I was using a 1700mAh battery that was about 18 months old. I've since replaced it with a 2200mAh battery.

I doubt it was an issue with the battery, as charging via the OF or with RockBox booted up both worked fine, and would end with 100% charge in the morning.

I'll try it with the new battery tonight, to see what happens, though.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: modernman on May 06, 2008, 08:02:55 PM
I have complied the boot loader a couple of more times and I am still ending up with the same error message as above.  I have reformated the card a couple of more times as well.  Has anyone else had the same problem?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 07, 2008, 07:55:20 AM
OK, I used the bootloader to charge my new battery overnight. In the morning, it said "Charging complete", but the battery was only at 93%. I can't confirm that it actually got above that level, but charging with Rockbox booted up meas that I see a charge of 100% in the morning.

EDIT::::

I installed my CF card, and it's all working smoothly. I'll update the Wiki page tomorrow.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: spike66 on May 10, 2008, 07:06:11 PM
I will buy a 32GB A-Data card to install on an ipod mini 2nd gen, but I will only do it if I can install Rockbox on it. Considering
When I use the A-Data CF everything works. I can dual boot, etc.
and what's here http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/MiniCF, as I understand it, now I can install Rockbox "as it is" to a compact flashed mini, since
Quote
Tests showed the Apple OS operating as expected. Rockbox froze after about 10 seconds of drive inactivity. When Rockbox sends the ATA sleep command the flash drive stops responding. The patch below resolves this issue by disabling the ATA sleep command as is done on the iPod Nano.

Current SVN should now be compatible with CF cards, and this patch should no longer be required (not tested, let us know) -- PeterDHoye - 19 Mar 2008
...
However, reading what's been said in this thread, I got confused. Would it be necessary to modify the bootloader, or to do anything different than installing Rockbox as I would on a standard mini?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Rapide_23 on May 12, 2008, 03:28:51 AM
Just installed a 1GB Sandisk Ultra CF card into my H320. Didn't need to modify the bootloader at all.

Works a charm!
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 12, 2008, 08:18:05 AM
Just installed a 1GB Sandisk Ultra CF card into my H320. Didn't need to modify the bootloader at all.

Works a charm!

Hrm. In that case, I might try switching back to the v5 bootloader...
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: spike66 on May 12, 2008, 10:14:24 AM
Would it be necessary to modify the bootloader, or to do anything different than installing Rockbox as I would on a standard mini?
Just installed a 1GB Sandisk Ultra CF card into my H320. Didn't need to modify the bootloader at all.

Works a charm!

Thanks for the info! I will give it a shot as well and report how it goes (in a while when my CF card arrives)
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 12, 2008, 11:44:02 AM
Mr. Kit: Bear in mind that an iriver H320 and an iPod mini are not the same machine, and what works for one might not work for the other. I do not own an iPod, and cannot make any authoritative statement about what might be necessary.

However, as I understand it, the iPod mini used a microdrive for its storage, which is basically a Compact Flash card with a hard drive inside it. So I can't see why there'd be any problems swapping it out for a different CF card.

Try it. The worst that can happen is that you end up with a spare CF card to use elsewhere.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: spike66 on May 12, 2008, 01:06:38 PM
@wintermute23: You're right, thanks. I'm pretty shure the A-Data 32GB CF card will work on the ipod mini, I've read many reports about it and also this thread begins with a similar report (I think). My concern is really if Rockbox will deal with that card as good as it does with the hard disk drive, and if it's not necessary to modify either the Rockbox build or the booloader.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 12, 2008, 01:25:09 PM
My concern is really if Rockbox will deal with that card as good as it does with the hard disk drive
It works at least as well in my iriver, and I imagine that would also be the case in the iPod.

Quote from: Mr.Kit
and if it's not necessary to modify either the Rockbox build
So long as you're using a build from the last few months, this is not an issue.

Quote from: Mr.Kit
or the booloader.
I think you'll be fine with the stock bootloader. As you say, others seem to have had success with this, and I've not seen any comments about custom bootloaders on the iPod Mini.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Rapide_23 on May 12, 2008, 07:46:52 PM
Oh yeah, I should add that I formatted the card to FAT32.

Now, which 32GB cards would work with the H320? They're a bit too expensive for trial-and-error...

Also, is there some way to patch the original firmware so we don't need to swap in the original HD for firmware updates, etc?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on May 13, 2008, 04:00:36 AM
Now, which 32GB cards would work with the H320? They're a bit too expensive for trial-and-error...

Also, is there some way to patch the original firmware so we don't need to swap in the original HD for firmware updates, etc?

They all work, most will need a newer bootloader (there is a build of mine on the wiki page)

On h1x0 there is already a flash plugin to upgrade from within rockbox, somebody needs to port it to h3x0, that's all
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Rapide_23 on May 13, 2008, 04:08:43 AM
I remember somebody recommending the ridata one...

Anyway, should I modify the HD settings within rockbox for CF???
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on May 13, 2008, 06:30:28 AM
Anyway, should I modify the HD settings within rockbox for CF???

what?  ???
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Rapide_23 on May 13, 2008, 06:43:17 AM
The disk spindown, etc...
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on May 13, 2008, 07:46:12 AM
You can but it shouldn't make much difference...
If you want to do battery benchmarks with different settings nobody is going to stop you ;)
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 13, 2008, 08:34:37 AM
I remember somebody recommending the ridata one...

Yeah, that's the one I used. I can confirm it works fine with Petur's bootloader, and I plan to try it out with the stock v5 when I get a moment to open it up again.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Rapide_23 on May 13, 2008, 08:43:28 AM
32GB CFs are too bloody expensive at the moment. I'm too broke because I ordered a 16GB D2 =P
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 13, 2008, 08:48:36 AM
32GB CFs are too bloody expensive at the moment. I'm too broke because I ordered a 16GB D2 =P

Yeah, my wife (quite correctly) pointed out that I could have gotten an entire iPod for what I payed for a CF card. But who wants an iPod, when they can have a custom-modded H332 instead?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Rapide_23 on May 13, 2008, 09:13:16 AM
It would be an epic 32GB Flash player for about half of what an iPod touch 32Gb would cost.

Got any pics of your H332 you could post?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 13, 2008, 09:32:37 AM
I can't access Flickr from work, so I can't remember which is which, but I do have a picture of the CF assembly, and of it in the HDD bay:
http://flickr.com/photos/wintermute23/2474143067/
http://flickr.com/photos/wintermute23/2474143703/

Depth of field is a little less than I'd have liked, but I think they show what they need to.

Oh, also: I mostly use my DAP in the car, so being able to use the controls by feel alone is essential for me. And the touch doesn't run RockBox. So that's 2 good reasons why I was thinking in terms of getting a 5g on eBay instead.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Rapide_23 on May 14, 2008, 03:14:11 AM
I'm drooling at the thought of putting this in my H320:

(http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/5286/kingmax64gbcfpw0.th.jpg) (http://img138.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kingmax64gbcfpw0.jpg)

I wonder how much it'd cost ::) ::)
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on May 14, 2008, 03:15:56 AM
I'm drooling at the thought of putting this in my H320:

(http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/5286/kingmax64gbcfpw0.th.jpg) (http://img138.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kingmax64gbcfpw0.jpg)

I wonder how much it'd cost ::) ::)

nah, I'm waiting for bigger ones  :P
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Rapide_23 on May 14, 2008, 03:24:43 AM
I think I will have to go out and buy a 32GB card when my tax money comes back!

I'm trying to imagine how epic a 128GB H300 would be..

Does anyone know of a good place in Melbourne to pick up a 32GB card reasonably cheaply?

@Wintermute23: Is the ridata one any good? How's the transfer speed?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 14, 2008, 07:34:05 AM
@Wintermute23: Is the ridata one any good? How's the transfer speed?
Sure, it's great. It's a 233x card, so pretty fast.

I copied about 17GB of data onto it in a little over an hour, if that helps.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Rapide_23 on May 14, 2008, 07:45:01 AM
Did you have to change the bootloader? I only recently reinstalled rockbox using the automated tool.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 14, 2008, 08:01:06 AM
Did you have to change the bootloader? I only recently reinstalled rockbox using the automated tool.

Did I have to? I haven't worked that out yet. I did switch to a custom bootloader before I installed it (search for "h300.zip" here (http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/CFModGuide)). I plan to go back and try the stock V5 bootloader, to see if that works, but as that involves swapping the HD back in to re-flash, it might be a while before I get around to it.

So, I know for certain that it works with the custom bootloader. I do not yet know if it works without it. Hopefully, I'll be able to answer that question soon enough.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Rapide_23 on May 14, 2008, 08:05:09 AM
PLEASE PLEASE try to use the standard bootloader.

Your results would help a lot of people.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 14, 2008, 08:15:16 AM
As I say, I plan to. And rest assured, I'll let people here know what I find out. But I can't promise it's going to happen this side of the weekend. Maybe not even this side of next weekend.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Rapide_23 on May 14, 2008, 08:16:29 AM
Well, try your best.

I eagerly await your results.

EDIT: I'm using version r17153-080418
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 14, 2008, 09:21:59 PM
OK, I got 20 minutes to play while my wife put the baby to bed, so I did the various hard drive swapping that re-flashing the bootloader requires.

And I can now confidently say that this particular card does not work with the standard V5 bootloader. If you use the RiDATA Lightning 233x 32GB card in an iriver H3x0, you will need Petur's custom bootloader.

Hope that helps.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Rapide_23 on May 15, 2008, 04:30:33 AM
Got a link to that build?

Maybe I should patch it now before getting the 32GB card.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on May 15, 2008, 06:04:39 AM
Got a link to that build?

it is a ready-to-flash H300.hex file, and it is on the CFMOD wiki page
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on May 15, 2008, 06:43:03 AM
http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/CFModGuide
Search for "H300.zip".
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Rapide_23 on May 15, 2008, 07:48:13 AM
Awesome. Just swapped in my original HD, updated the firmware and put the 1GB card back in.

Now, about those 32GB CF prices...

I'm hoping to get a Sandisk CF card very soon.

EDIT: Just did a battery benchmark. Got about 23 hours of playback from a 1 1/2 year old 2200mha battery with CF card.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: spike66 on June 04, 2008, 11:44:39 AM
I got a compact flashed ipod mini using an A-data 16GB speedy CF card, works fine using the bootloader by Bluebrother, but I'm tempted to buy a 2nd hand Transcend 32GB CF card I found at a very good price. I know very little about all this, so I would really appreciate any advice, so my question is:

If a compact-flashed iPod works fine using the original firmware, should it also work using Rockbox (theoretically)? I'm asking this because the original poster reported problems using a transcend card (iPod video) when booting Rockbox, although it would work OK using the OF.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: scharkalvin on June 04, 2008, 12:26:14 PM
Rockbox should work just fine with CF cards on the iPod mini.  The latest versions of
Rockbox have the required patch to the ATA driver that can handle CF.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Rapide_23 on June 06, 2008, 11:24:55 PM
Cross posting to get more help.

I'm about to plunge on a 32GB Cf card for my H320. Which ones are known to work with the H320, as I don't want to order it, than find out that it doesn't work...

I'm thinking of getting a Ridata one, but are there any others that are known to work?

EDIT: This is the one I'm getting http://www.apahk.com/bbs/redirect.php?tid=2887&goto=newpost&sid=3SriCq
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: AlexP on June 07, 2008, 03:26:05 AM
Cross posting to get more help.

Please do not.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Rapide_23 on June 07, 2008, 06:51:40 AM
Sorry, wasn't too sure where I should put this post.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: viperX on June 19, 2008, 07:25:05 AM
I'm having the same issues as detailed for some on page 2.
Trying to install daily (as of today) build onto an 4G greyscale ipod with an A-Data "speedy" 8Gb.
The card works fine with Apple firmware, but with Rockbox the boot logo appears for a while and then I get an "ATA: -1" error.

I saw there were references to custom bootloaders to support usage of CF cards. Any pointer to any of those readymade and working so I don't need to reinvent the wheel?

Thanks and regards

*UPDATE*
I have installed Ipodloader (finally found it, after ipodlinux site went down I was unable to find a copy) but the issue keeps the same. I get the menu at startup, if I choose Apple or Disk mode it works fine, but if select Rockbox it takes a while on the logo, then fails with:
PANIC
ATA: -1 error

I think this rules out the bootloader (since now it is booting thru the rockbox.ipod file directly).
Any idea? would it be the current build is broken regarding CF support?

Regards
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Llorean on June 20, 2008, 03:37:51 PM
We don't support the iPod Linux Bootloader. Please, try it with the SVN Rockbox bootloader. Compiling isn't particularly hard, and it doesn't require any "reinventing the wheel" since all the actual work is already done.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: viperX on June 22, 2008, 06:55:19 AM
OK, took the challenge :)

Built the compilation environment and built a new rockbox from current release. Built also the bootloader. Result FAILURE. Same as before; logo stays on for quite a while and after 10-15 seconds it gives an error:

*PANIC*
ATA: -1

As someone mentioned this worked before 2008-02-10, I downloaded and built a rockbox as of 2008-02-09 (r16246) and it works!

In conclusion, it seems that certainly something has broken the CF support in recent builts, and the reference can be a version from at least Feb 9th 2008.

I have two environments in parallel so I can compare... where should I start from?

Regards
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: AlexP on June 22, 2008, 07:05:00 AM
What would be really useful would be to discover the exact revision that broke it.  You can check out specific revisions with svn update -r rxxxx where rxxxx is the specific revision you want.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on June 22, 2008, 07:51:02 AM
CF support was added to SVN on 2008-03-09, so it really surprises me it got broken after 2008-02-10 ;)

so it would seeem that the 4th gen ipod didn't need the CF modifications, but the changes (or other changes) broke it :(

it would indeed be nice to know what build broke it... ata-1 is some pretty fundamental problem like the ata hard reset failing. You're sure this in exact the same circumstances?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: viperX on June 22, 2008, 01:29:18 PM
I tried with version from Feb 9th based on comment from page 3:

Sure, the CF card is inserted perfectly. There are no problems with pre 02-10-2008 releases.

Based on this, tried the release from the day before and presto! it worked.

Based on Petur's comments, I've tried today the versions from 2008-03-09 and 2008-03-10 and NONE of them work so the CF modifications do not seem to be the cause of the 4G CF "support" failure but something else.

Any suggestion for a sistematic approach better than trying all releases from Feb 8th?

Regards
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: AlexP on June 22, 2008, 03:02:58 PM
Do a binary search.  Start half way between, and try.  If it works, go half way from there to now.  If it doesn't work go half way back towards the working one and so on.

i.e.  builds A B C D E
E works, A doesn't.  Try C.  If C works try D etc. etc.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: 1ny0urfac3 on June 22, 2008, 03:58:04 PM
Ok, I've been trying to install rockbox with a 32 gig compactflash card in my 30gig video and have been experiencing the same ATA-1 error.  where did you get the 2-09-08 build?  Thanks

I think I may know the problem, I am using this A-data http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211244
and it is quite slow, so slow that it cannot awake from deep sleep in the original ipod firmware correctly according to tarkan.  Someone here told me that the ATA-1 error occured because the disk would'nt spin up.  If someone made a build that gave longer boot time is it possible that it would boot then?  I know literally nothing about this but this is just a theory.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: viperX on June 22, 2008, 04:44:20 PM
I'm using what looks to be the same card but on 8Gb. I'm not having any issue using the original firmware, works flawlessly in all conditions although "could be" a bit slower when synchronizing, but this is unperceptible on normal use.

As for the build... I built a compiling environment on Ubuntu hardy (using frugal install within and XP disk) and followed the tutorials at the wiki:
http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/CrossCompiler (to install the required packages)
http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/SimpleGuideToCompiling (on how to compile)
and
http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/UsingSVN (how to download an SVN snapshot as of an specific date)

It takes some time if you don't have the linux install, but once the environment is ready you can create a built in a matter of minutes.

Regards
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: 1ny0urfac3 on June 22, 2008, 04:57:55 PM
Those guides mean almost nothing to me.  I only have a little bit of experience with linux running ubuntu for about a year but I no longer run it.  Do I need to run ubuntu inside of vmware to compile that?  *EDIT* ok I kind of know what I need to do but I'm still almost completely lost?  any chance you can upload the build to a site?  sorry. 
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: viperX on June 22, 2008, 05:59:40 PM
I'm afraid it is not so easy as this mostly a trial and error process, and your iPod is not the same as mine, we can be producing builds, uploading to a site, testing ...

Believe me; I'm not a Linux geek either, and once you install the right dependencies (as from the cross-compiling tutorial) and having the PATH correctly set (Same tutorial) you just need to follow these steps

svn checkout svn://svn.rockbox.org/rockbox/trunk -r {2008-02-09} rockbox
cd rockbox
mkdir build
cd build
../tools/configure (select your port and build type Normal)
make
make zip


I'm now building some releases in subsequent dates. I've seen ata.c had a change on Feb 17h hence looking the most suspectful date. Will inform on the results.

Once done you'll have a rockbox.zip file in the build directory. This is the compiled build


Regards
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: 1ny0urfac3 on June 22, 2008, 07:41:55 PM
Thanks for your help, I just got done and it ended in failure.  my compilation has something wrong.  I think I'm just gonna wait it out until a new build comes along with support.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Llorean on June 22, 2008, 07:58:57 PM
That's the thing: The current build is supposed to already HAVE support, and people who it's not working for need to do the testing to figure out what's wrong. If not enough people who actually have problems test, it won't get solved. "Wait and it'll go away" doesn't really work if everyone waits.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: 1ny0urfac3 on June 22, 2008, 08:32:22 PM
what should I do?  I really have little to nothing to offer as far as coding or anything like that.  if you want me to run some kind of test or something I'm more than willing but I'm afraid I'm not much help here
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Llorean on June 22, 2008, 08:40:14 PM
Just as it said just a little earlier in the thread, track down which version made things change.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: viperX on June 23, 2008, 04:35:27 AM
OK, did some more research and can hereby confirm the breaking point was on Feb 11th as said earlier.
Release 16256 works (given by SVN when requested for Feb 10th)
Release 16276 doesn't work (dito for Feb 11th)

EDIT:
Learning as I speak, found where to check versions on the web page and I strongly suspect the problem was introduced on revision 16259 as it touches a lot from the core on the ipod.
http://svn.rockbox.org/viewvc.cgi?view=rev&revision=16259

"Disables much of the remaining unneeded hardware on PP50xx targets (Ipods, Sansa, H10s, etc) resulting in a large savings in power and consequent increase in battery life.  Results vary from target to target and from codec to codec, but we now approach the OF runtime on several PP devices."

Files affected:

trunk/apps/debug_menu.c
trunk/apps/main.c
trunk/firmware/drivers/audio/as3514.c
trunk/firmware/drivers/pcf50605.c
trunk/firmware/export/config-c200.h
trunk/firmware/export/powermgmt.h
trunk/firmware/export/pp5020.h
trunk/firmware/target/arm/adc-pp5020.c
trunk/firmware/target/arm/ipod/backlight-4g_color.c
trunk/firmware/target/arm/ipod/button-clickwheel.c
trunk/firmware/target/arm/ipod/power-ipod.c
trunk/firmware/target/arm/ipod/powermgmt-ipod-pcf.c
trunk/firmware/target/arm/system-pp502x.c
trunk/firmware/target/arm/usb-fw-pp502x.c
trunk/firmware/target/arm/wmcodec-pp.c


We seem closer, but this is where I should stop since I don't have programming skills, unless someone guides me on what to do.

Regards
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on June 23, 2008, 05:48:44 AM
congrats, that looks like a good candidate....
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Llorean on June 23, 2008, 08:55:31 AM
You can request specific SVN revisions, rather than just dates, so you can get closer than a 20-revision range and verify it's that one.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on June 23, 2008, 02:27:36 PM
You can request specific SVN revisions, rather than just dates, so you can get closer than a 20-revision range and verify it's that one.

I think that is what he did:

OK, did some more research and can hereby confirm the breaking point was on Feb 11th as said earlier.
Release 16256 works (given by SVN when requested for Feb 10th)
Release 16276 doesn't work (dito for Feb 11th)
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Llorean on June 23, 2008, 02:49:14 PM
Nonotice that he said he got those revisions when he requested dates. They're 20 revisions apart.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on June 23, 2008, 02:55:31 PM
Nonotice that he said he got those revisions when he requested dates. They're 20 revisions apart.
/me puts on his glasses
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Llorean on June 23, 2008, 03:46:50 PM
That being said, it does seem likely his guess was right. I was just suggesting that he could in fact verify with one or two more builds tested. :)
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: viperX on June 23, 2008, 05:04:03 PM
Thx for the expectation  :) , I've seen how to request by rev number and I am almost ready to test, but unfortunately I've been on travel I won't be able to test before tomorrow morning CET (in a matter of 10 hours)... please stand-by.

Regards

*EDIT*:

TESTED and CONFIRMED; the problem is in revision 16259. 16258 works fine booting in a matter of less than 3 seconds after the apple is shown.

Unfortunately this hits my limits now and I'm even unable to build any release since I'm on travel and don't have my Linux environment with me, so I give way to the real developers to take over the issue, hope someone can find a solution soon since my old 4G really needs the extra kick on battery lifetime.
 
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: jeremania on June 27, 2008, 03:09:17 AM
Could you email me a copy of revision 16258?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: viperX on June 27, 2008, 06:12:40 AM
For jeremania ; I've sent you the file by email.

For Llorean/Petur; please comment what to do next. It is my first "bug" with Rockbox. Should I log the bug in Flyspray?

Regards
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on June 27, 2008, 02:33:14 PM
yes, put all you found out in a flyspray bugreport
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Rapide_23 on June 27, 2008, 07:45:21 PM
Just wanted to say thanks Petur for the build! My H332 is now complete!
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: 1ny0urfac3 on June 29, 2008, 04:29:34 PM
So guys is this being worked on, i have no idea how to go about fixing this kind of thing but I'd be happy to test builds and if anyone has the last working build for a 5g ipod that they coulkd email to me that would be phenominal.  Thanks.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: tarkan on July 03, 2008, 05:27:28 PM
Hi,

We have tracked down the call which is causing this issue with the 5g/5.5g iPods and certain CF cards.

It is not a permanent fix but it seems to work. I have posted the build on the following page :-

http://www.tarkan.info/20080702/tutorials/iflash-and-rockbox

Try it out and let me know how you find it.

regards, Tarkan
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Chronon on July 03, 2008, 06:53:22 PM
Could you link to the patch for convenience?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: 1ny0urfac3 on July 03, 2008, 11:44:58 PM
Thanks so much tarkan!
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on July 04, 2008, 03:23:42 AM
We have tracked down the call which is causing this issue with the 5g/5.5g iPods and certain CF cards.

It is not a permanent fix but it seems to work. I have posted the build on the following page :-

http://www.tarkan.info/20080702/tutorials/iflash-and-rockbox

Try it out and let me know how you find it.

Can you please offer more details and a patch? Also note that we are strongly against the distribution of binary-only builds, you should always provide the source code when offering a custom build (as per GPL)
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: AlexP on July 04, 2008, 06:10:37 AM
Not only are we strongly against it, but you cannot do it.  You would be violating the GPL (and therefore Rockbox's licence).  I don't mean this to sound aggressive, but I just wanted to point out providing the source is a requirement not a preference :)
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: tarkan on July 04, 2008, 07:52:05 AM
Petur,

I will post up a diff later on.

Details are as follows :-

iPod 5g or 5.5g with certain cards throws up a PANIC ATA -1 error, the current build works ok on CF cards like the Sandisk Extreme III 16Gb but gives the error when used on the A-Data Speedy 32Gb.

Other symptoms of the error are, at boot up it hangs for about 10seconds at the boot up/splash screen and the backlight at 50% brightness.

Removing the following line from the ipod_video confirguration and reset section, cures it but this just a clunky fix. The root cause needs to be determined.

firmware/target/arm/system-pp502x.c         
remove LINE 311               DEV_RS         = 0x3ffffef8;


regards, Tarkan
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: viperX on July 04, 2008, 01:18:19 PM
Hi Tarkan;

Is it expected that this will fix the problem on 4G grayscale too?
I'm afraid the instructions need to be slightly different then, I'd be happy to test in 4G GS if you instruct me to do the right changes at the source.

Thx
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: tarkan on July 04, 2008, 05:19:02 PM
Here is patch file for the changes I made http://www.tarkan.info/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/patch.txt

ViperX, sorry I don't know much about the 4g or the problems you are having. If you did not have the problems on builds before r16258 then it is possible the same lines of code causing the problems in the 5g could be causing them in the 4g.

Sorry ViperX, just realised you have the means to do your own build - It is worth trying it out, remove line 353 in the file /firmware/target/arm/system-pp502x.c

If that does not work try removing the whole block lines 344 - 356 inclusive.

regards, Tarkan
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: LurkAzusa on July 04, 2008, 08:14:12 PM
I have the same problem with the 4G.  I've spent the day trying to install Cygwin (can't find the setup.ini file at download.rockbox.org, probably because it is in the cygwin directory).  Then I installed VMWare and compiled the bootloader, but it still doesn't work.

How exactly can I patch that system file?  Can you please create a diff file for the 4G, or instruct me in the exact commands to edit the file directly?

I googled vi and learned how to edit system-pp502x.c to comment out the offending lines and created my first patch.  Thanks Tarkan for all your help in finding the problem and setting me on the right path with the file supplied.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: viperX on July 06, 2008, 03:22:53 PM
Bingo!

It works too for 4G in the latest build deleting just the line:

DEV_RS         = 0x3ffffef8;

I'm sorry I did not write the line number  :-[ but it is slightly below line 353 (that was true for 16259).

I guess you can produce an offical patch now...

Many thanks for fixing this
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: 1ny0urfac3 on July 24, 2008, 12:00:23 AM
so has this been fixed in the daily builds now?  I'm still using tarkans build
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: petur on July 24, 2008, 03:59:28 AM
nope... this needs the attention of a dev with ipod knowledge... nag them in IRC ;)
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: finche on August 28, 2008, 10:33:58 AM
Hello. I am new to the forum, and read this thread with much interest.
Thank you all for your efforts up to now!
After the HD crashed I use my iPod 4G grayscale with a Transcend 16GB 133x CF Card,
Apple Firmware works fine, The Rockbox boot-process fails
with the message 'no partition found' like in the very first post in this thread.

Having learnt that build ≤16258 might work for my configuration,
and that Tarkan, and ViperX found the line to be modified in the source,
I' d very much like to ask ViperX if he probably could compile a working version
for the 4G iPod and email it to me at finche (a) gmx.net
or even better of course (if allowed), post it for all interested iPod-4G users
who, like me, don't have the skills to compile their own custom build.
There aught to be very many by now...
An iPod without Rockbox is only half as good!  (c:
Merci vielmals, in advance.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Spanky on September 01, 2008, 05:41:47 AM
Doing many searches on google and the Rockbox forums my brain is fried and I still haven't found an answer.

Can I use the A-Data 32gb Speedy with my iPod 4G Photo?

Right now I'm using the Rockbox Utility to get the newest build. Was there a update to the bootloader (was it even needed?)? Does the current build work with CF cards? Or is this still up in the air for a Dev to patch up?

Thanks.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: LurkAzusa on September 01, 2008, 12:21:45 PM
The latest bootloader doesn't cure the ATA error: -1 problem with the ipod 4G and Video, so we apply a patch to disable a line in the battery saving programming.  I reported a bug in the tracker and posted a patch for the 4G.  Try it with the 4G Color and let us know.  If you need a patch, I can post it for you.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Spanky on September 01, 2008, 03:54:56 PM
I have tried to setup my own build but all this linux stuff confuses me like no other. Does the patch work 100%? If so, I'll plan on getting the card and I'll come back to see if there's a special build or a pre-patched build that I can download. Thanks.

Would you mind posting a link to the Flyspray page?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: LurkAzusa on September 01, 2008, 09:04:53 PM
http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/9342

If there is a section for the 4G Color, I'll upload a patch that disables that line, too.  You should try it without patching first to see if it is a problem on the 4G Color.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Spanky on September 01, 2008, 09:26:37 PM
Thanks. Funding is a bit low but when I do decide to get the card, I will stick it in and install Rockbox and report back. I'll keep this page bookmarked until then.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: dementio on September 22, 2008, 10:16:44 AM
I can verify that changing the following lines in firmware/target/arm/system-pp502x.c works when usung an A-Data 32Gb Speedy with Tarkan's CF adapter with the current SVN (r18563M-080922):
[Look for your IPod type just above the lines, ex. #elif defined (IPOD_VIDEO)]
Remove line:
DEV_RS         = 0x3ffffef8;
Change next line to:
DEV_RS2        = 0xffffdfff;


Mine now works like a charm so far; almost instant boot.

Edit: OK, maybe not perfect, but I'm almost positive it has to do with the Disk Spindown time, which I cannot seem to be able to change as it locks up when I try to commit the changes since the "disk" has already spun down. But, if you're happy with the default settings, it works fine. Also, the database doesn't seem to be completely written.
Basically, anyone know how to compile in the default spindown time?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: wintermute23 on September 23, 2008, 09:52:11 AM
64GB and 100GB Compact Flash cards are now in production...

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0809/08092306pretec_64gb_100gb_cf.asp
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: LambdaCalculus on September 23, 2008, 10:10:21 AM
/me looks under the couch cushions for loose change :)
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: dementio on September 23, 2008, 06:30:13 PM
think i'm gonna need a bigger couch
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: audio-i on September 23, 2008, 06:36:45 PM
think i'm gonna need a bigger couch

oh c'mon, the 48GB it's on sale here http://www.ptiglobalusa.com/pr24cfca23.html $349.99  ;)
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: adam917 on October 04, 2008, 12:31:50 AM
think i'm gonna need a bigger couch

oh c'mon, the 48GB it's on sale here http://www.ptiglobalusa.com/pr24cfca23.html $349.99  ;)
I'm waiting till 128 GB is out. It only makes sense to replace my 60-GB HDD with something much larger, and since Rockbox supports only up to 128 GiB (approx [137 * (10^9)] bytes), that makes the most sense to use until larger capacities become more common.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Llorean on October 04, 2008, 12:34:51 AM
Rockbox isn't limited to 128GB. Some hardware has limitations for USB support over a size around there, but Rockbox can be compiled for larger disks without problem as long as there's not a hardware restriction.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: adam917 on October 05, 2008, 03:33:40 AM
Rockbox isn't limited to 128GB. Some hardware has limitations for USB support over a size around there, but Rockbox can be compiled for larger disks without problem as long as there's not a hardware restriction.
I know it can be compiled to support larger disks, but what if the sectors past 128 GiB are either corrupt when trying to access via USB or don't show up at all when connected (like the Archos units)? Why would 48-bit LBA support be added by a manufacturer many years (think iriver H100/300 series) before portables would need it? These devices weren't originally intended to have user-replaceable drives, so there would be no need for a manufacturer to support beyond 128 GiB or even whatever capacity the devices are manufactured with.

That being said, I'm very happy to see that larger drives do indeed work on many devices without issue. At this point though, with flash memory getting so large capacity that my phone is my daily-use device, only 128 or greater GB would get me to use my iriver H140 more than on just long trips due to its huge size compared to modern devices. I now use my H140 for FLAC & game/computer audio exclusively thanks to Rockbox. :-)

I'll keep an eye on this thread for developments as CF soon becomes the media of choice to replace an ageing HDD with for Rockbox use...
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Llorean on October 05, 2008, 03:57:24 AM
I was just commenting on your statement "Rockbox supports only up to 128 GiB" which is very absolutely untrue. As I said, clearly, the only limitation is the hardware,  so I don't understand the point of your following comments. You proceeded to repeat "Yeah, but what if the hardware won't support it" which is something I'd already covered.

As it stands, even if you can't access more of the disk from the PC it's still quite possible to use it within Rockbox, as Rockbox can be compiled to see multiple partitions and thus you can copy data to it in two phases (copy it over, move it to the other partition, then copy the remainder over).

See http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/BigDisk for more details.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Jim74656 on October 18, 2008, 09:24:37 AM
im useing a 16GB card (at this time for intermediate use...need to get the 32 put in) and im experimenting with the possibility of putting SD cards in the pod at the same time (one CF card adapter that has one or two SD/MSD slots) to get more expandability...
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: skafandr on November 27, 2008, 03:31:32 PM
Cowon Ð¥5 + CF Pretec  16 and 32  Gb  (233x)  + last Rockbox -  All work
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: crypt@ on January 09, 2009, 12:56:45 AM
Pretec 233x 32GB into a iHP-140 (svc 19572 w/ RTC,) had some initial partition corruption problems, fixed after disabling Database Auto Update.

Something to watch out for: the Pretec case is metallic.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: mgerald21 on January 10, 2009, 07:43:25 AM
Just installed a 4GB Hitachi microdrive (recycled from iPod mini) and a noname CF2IDE44 adapter in my Jukebox-Studio 20 - rockbox-flashed. Works like a charme without any sw modifications ...
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: crypt@ on January 11, 2009, 10:55:56 PM
Directory corruption resurfaced after iHP-140 shutdown due to low battery.


Both "Directory Caching" and "Database Auto Update" were disabled.

Updated to 19751, will run the battery flat again to see if this happens again...

--- 2hrs (format and copying back the tracks) and 23hrs (playback) later ---
A message was displayed, but only managed to read the word "EMPTY" before it shut down.

After 1min on charge, the player switched on and resumed from previous track. I've now stopped the player and am running a disk scan to see if .rockbox is corrupted.

I wonder if the corruption to .rockbox directory last time was due to "battery low power off" while the player was updating the random playlist position on the CF card.

--- Check Disk completed without any error ---
Though it's good news, I'm not comfortable with any message that says "... EMPTY...". I think I'll make sure I set sleep mode on in the future.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: AlexP on January 13, 2009, 05:45:12 AM
The message is something like "Battery Empty.  Shutdown Now"  I can't remember exactly, and I'm not at home to look.  What is uncomfortable about that?  The battery is low and so Rockbox shuts down.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: crypt@ on January 15, 2009, 08:25:40 PM
I'm hoping it is indeed that message, but it disappeared too quickly for me to read. Previously, with HD, it stayed on a fraction longer than it does now with CF installed.

I had a quick look in the codes, and did find the line "Battery empty! RECHARGE!". However, I was fairly sure I saw the word "EMPTY" in CAPS instead.

I was uncomfortable because out of 4 times I've let the battery run down, only once did it power back on OK after recharging. Other times it was:
- ./rockbox became empty
- the CF became empty
- ATA error, the partition became corrupted

I'm hoping none of these is due to the CF being a Pretec.

--- Battery finally went flat,
/.rockbox is again corrupted.

I'm guessing that whilst rockbox tried to save its current state it was not able to complete the write before it shut down.

I hope by using multiple volumes will save me from having to copy over 29GB every time. Hopefully any future corruptions will limit to the partition where .rockbox exclusively resides in.

Is there a way to increase the battery threshold so the player will shutdown a little earlier than at "critical" state?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: Leftfieldtilt on January 21, 2009, 07:40:33 AM
So I finally did it - after being a lurker and running Rockbox for two years on dual boot i bit the bullet.

So now from a stock H120 that I've had for a good 4 years Ive done the following mods:
1) Bigger battery
2) CF Card Mod
3) Fully rockboxed (RAM/ROM)

Now the problem - following the CF mod my player now randomly freezes when navigating through menus or occasionally when loading or creating bookmarks

I will upgrade to the latest version of Rockbox, anything else I can do?

Lft

EDIT: it happened again today and I got the message: Error Accessing Playlist Control File
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: crypt@ on January 21, 2009, 10:20:53 PM
Whenever my player "stutters" it is generally a sign of corrupted file system. You may want to run a chkdsk/scandisk...

BTW, I've just noticed that quite often after the the player is turned on with hold switch set and subsequently shutdown (by default,) I get file corruption on the CF.

I'm glad I've split the CF into 2 partitions, so far the 2nd partition of 29GB of music has survived from file system corruption. The damage has been limited to the 1st partition which is where .rockbox lives.
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: bubblebobble on February 05, 2009, 01:56:01 PM
I installed a 4GB ADATA compact flash card into my ipod mini when the original hard drive broke. It only lasted 2 months. My ipod no longer shows up in itunes or as a usb drive. I've ran RockBox on it for the past week and it would freeze sometimes when selecting a new song with Dynamic Playlist turned on. When I turned it off I had no problems running Rockbox. I think it was just a bad card because I was getting "Cannot Sync Ipod" errors in Itunes before installing rockbox.

I wanted to upgrade the card to either a 16GB Transcend Card or 16GB Kingston Card. Do these two work with RockBox?

Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: scharkalvin on February 09, 2009, 02:06:18 PM
My results with an F10 Gigabeat and an A-Data 16GB CF card have not been good.  After a few hours of use it crashes with a corrupt filesystem, the boot loader and or kernel report a 'file not found' error.  Reformating the card and reloading EVERYTHING (or sometimes just the .rockbox directory) being the only cure.  I've read on other mp3 player forums of others having the same problem with CF conversion on the Gigabeat.  However, others report success (but NOT with the A-Data CF cards).  Maybe the AData isn't fast enough (it's only 40x, 133X cards seem to work?)  Also there is a better CF-50pin IDE adapter that is built into a metal case the size of a 5mm thick 1.8" hard disk (available on ebay for $11-$50) that seems to work better.

If you have long term success (say it's been working for over a few months with daily use) with a CF converted Gigabeat F, please post what you did (which CF card, which adapter, any rockbox or bootloader patches, etc).  Put it on the rockbox CF wiki too (so far there are only TWO entries there for the Gigabeat and mine was posted before my file system corruption started showing up).

I will probably get the better adapter (it won't bounce around inside the player!) and one of the OEM Toshiba 133X CF cards on ebay (reported to work with ipods) and try again.

UPDATE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I got a new 32GB CF card off ebay on friday.  It's a generic OEM card made with Samsung parts.  It was reported that both the 16 and 32gb flavors of these worked with iPods, so I took a chance.
Still using the el-cheapo 50pin to CF adapter, but I cut down the jumper pins and soldered a wire on the back of the board (the case jumper was pushing against the back of the player).

This time I didn't have the usual problems of the USB transfers stalling out it I tried to drag and drop whole directories (or *GASP* directories OF directories) at a time.  Also no failures to create directories either.  I got it loaded with about 4.5gb of mp3 and ogg files now and so far (knock on wood) hasn't  yet crapped out with file corruption (Jinx Jinx).

It DOES seem to take longer to shut down than with the HD though (why?). 
What worries me is that rockbox might be constantly updating files tracking playlists and ratings which shorten the life of a CF chip (limited write cycles).  IMHO, when using CF rockbox should not write to ANY files on the disk, and keep everything in ram UNTIL the unit is shut down.  Then during the shutdown process save as little as possible to 'disk'.  Config files are kept on the 'disk' but are only written when the user actually changes something.

The other little complaint is that the 32GB card 'only' seems to hold 30GB.  I know disks are rated in DECIMAL GB and software reports HEXADECIMAL units.  But I thought flash memory was rated in HEXADECIMAL units, so why the reduction in storage size?????

PS I wanted to change the CF wiki, I have a password and was granted permission to write to it awhile ago, now it won't let me in (takes my password, but the edit link returns a blank screen) do I need to ask for write permission for EVERY update?
Title: Re: Rockbox and Compact Flash
Post by: bubblebobble on March 10, 2009, 03:58:32 PM
I've had a 16gb Kingston Pro Elite card in my ipod mini second generation for about a month and it seems to be working properly.

Since compact flash cards are thinner than the original ipod harddrives I used some double sided tape to attach a strip of rubber from a cut rubber band to go in between the card and the case. I could hear and feel the previous adata card I had used rattling around.