Help: PPI NAND, 0 bytes free, other strange problems.

[grunyen]

Hi everyone. Apologies if I am asking a very solved problem.

I have been using RBX for probably a month with no problems. I don't use WMP and I don't like playlist and such. I just drag things over manually. I created a new folder called Music2 so I don't worry about the auto-hidden "Music" folder.

Everything has been fine until today. The only thing I can think of that has changed is that I bought a 4GB SDHC card. I don't have a card reader, so I've just used RBX to cut-paste things from the drive to the SDHC card for the time being until I buy a card reader. The SDHC may not have caused this problem- it's the only new element I can think of.

So today when I connect, the Player shows up named Sansa e260 and underneath is PPI NAND. I'm nearly positive that wasn't there before. I can't copy anything to the player because it says it is full. If you look at details, the pie chart says 0 bytes free. I deleted a whole directory of music, and it still says 0 bytes, so I don't think it's actually full.

If you right click, you can't perform any kind of drive operations, the tabs for drive tools and so forth don't exist.

If I switch to MSC mode, two new drive letters show up, but there is nothing there.

Also, in all the connecting and disconnecting, the player acts a little weird. Of course I've been switching modes and trying some different things, updating or deleting the drivers, etc. The player sometimes randomly gets stuck at the SanDisk screen, says Disconnected when it is connected, or doesn't show connected when it is (just the settings or whatever screen). Sometimes the screen is black and the blue wheel stays on forever. Usually I have to hold the power button for a long time to force it off.

Any help would be appreciated. I don't remember seeing that PPI NAND before. I'm pretty sure it behaved like any normal drive before.

Thanks.

[saratoga]

Did you enable rockbox USB mode or are you using the retail firmware for USB?

[grunyen]

Hmm... well, three things. 1) I may have been wrong. I deleted another folder and now it does appear that I have room left. So maybe the folder I deleted before just didn't have much in it- enough to show more free space, so I assumed it was a bigger problem.

Still, there are no drive options except the general tab. Maybe that's normal? Once you think there's a problem, you start second guessing everything. =P

2) I'm not sure what you mean about RBX USB mode. I didn't think you could use RBX to transfer files? I thought it automatically went to OF/OOS in order to charge and transfer files. Is there a way to copy files in RBX OS? I really wish I could access the SDHC card from the USB connection to my computer. That would be my one big wish for RBX. Then I wouldn't need to buy a card reader.

3) OK, so I guess the only weird thing now is the Sansa Updater tries to run now when it's plugged in in MTP mode. But then when I look at Updater, it says it can only work in MSC mode. So if I unplug it, set MSC mode, then plug it back in... the Sansa doesn't show up. I just get two new drive letters, which show no contents. And in Hardware>Device manager, "portable devices" doesn't show up like normal, and the two drives just use a generic driver, and won't seem to detect any kind of Sansa driver.

Why won't the Sansa show up in MSC? And I do I really care? Since I don't need WMP do I ever need to worry about it? And do I need the Sansa Updater to do it's thing? I guess I don't know that I need to be updated, unless there are some cool new features. But if so, how do I get the Sansa to show up in MSC mode?

[kugel]

Have you tried removing the microSDHC before plugging in? The Sansa OF doesn't do well with HC cards, including that the OF cannot read them.

However you should be able to use Rockbox to fill your card.

[grunyen]

I will try things without the SDHC card.

When you say use RBX to fill the card, I assume you mean folder operations with the player on- not in any kind of USB way right? I have done that, but of course it doesn't make it easy to see how much free space you have- and there's no info on how long the transfer will take, etc.

I'm having a more urgent problem now of the player freezing randomly as I'm just using the controls to navigate around. I might be using the wheel and arrow keys to change to a different song and the screen freezes. Wheel does nothing, buttons do nothing- have to hold power for 10 seconds to shut down- only option.

One other new problem. I've copied over new song/files via USB to the internal drive. They show up in Windows, but they don't show up in RockBox when I look in that folder. [Update: I just checked by booting into Sansa OS, and these new copied files show up. Is this is a database problem? I used the menu to go to the database update, and it says "updating in the background". How long does that take, and how do you know when it's finished?]

Another Update: I tried copying another Rockbox build over, and I get an unusual error message. It says "The file 'whatever name' is not supported on this device. This device can only accept audio, playlist, audio album and folder files"

[kugel]

Sounds like you are still in MTP mode. As already dozen times said, you need to be in MSC mode.
I don't know if rockbox can see files which are copied over in MTP mode.

When you say use RBX to fill the card, I assume you mean folder operations with the player on- not in any kind of USB way right? I have done that, but of course it doesn't make it easy to see how much free space you have- and there's no info on how long the transfer will take, etc.

Yes.

[grunyen]

Thanks Kugel. I thought I said this above, but let me try again.

In MSC mode, the player is not recognized by WinXP. I get two new drive letters (E: F and those don't show any information. I.e. I can't click on them and get any other info. They won't branch out.

In Device Manager, these two are only listed under "Generic Volumes" and the driver will not find a better driver for the device.

[advcomp2019]

MSC mode will show up as two drives and not a device like in MTP mode. MTP mode is not work for Rockbox because like you said you was getting "The file 'whatever name' is not supported on this device. This device can only accept audio, playlist, audio album and folder files" message. So I see no issue but for you using MTP mode and not MSC mode.

[grunyen]

Gee whiz. I really want to say thanks, but seriously, in what way am I not getting my point across? MSC mode NOT WORKING on my player. It is (was) not being recognized.

I have now scrapped everything with the Beta 1.03 firmware and Format. NOW the MSC is working fine again FINALLY, except Rockbox doesn't seem to work. The 1.03 Beta firmware has some sort of fast boot- and I mean fast. It seems to bypass rockbox.

I just finished using the all in one easy Rockbox installer after I updated the firmware and formatted. Has anyone used Rockbox with the new 1.03 Beta Firmware.

[grunyen]

Here is the solution for downgrading the 1.03 beta firmware, if you cannot get your player to boot in Recovery mode.

1. You CAN copy the .18 or .24 firmware into the root directory and it will revert to the old firmware.
2. The reason it won't work if you just copy them is 1.03 will not recognize the old file names. You simply need to rename the .18 or .24 version firmware files to names that the 1.03 beta firmware will recognize.
3. Rename the files Firmware.mi4 and pribootLoader.rom
4. Now you can copy them to the root of the Sansa (if you can't get Recovery mode to start) and reboot and you will be downgraded to the old firmware.

[neutron bob]

Ah! Can we just rename "1.03 Beta" to "1.03 Brain Grenade". Buggy stuff.

Install the 18 or 24 firmware and you'll be back to happy times with your RB installation.


Bob