Memory Card limits

[alananne]

Before I bought my clip+ I tried reading about the maximum size of memory card these could run without getting a firm conclusion.
I have the 16gb card in my 8gb version and it is full. I see larger capacity and wonder if these will work just as well as.
Can anyone advise, please?

[CrowdAds]

[WalkGood]

16GB and 32GB cards work well in the OF AFAIK but I run rockbox with a 32GB card and it runs great.

[Tapeworm]

Yes, 32GB cards work fine in the Clip+ (even without Rockbox). The larger 64GB cards are SDXC, a newer format and although some have tried using them (formatting to FAT32), there seems to be mixed results.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by Tapeworm

... The larger 64GB cards are SDXC, a newer format and although some have tried using them (formatting to FAT32), there seems to be mixed results.

While the 64GB card does work if formatted to FAT32, there is a file limit on the original firmware, where rockbox FW has a much larger limit and doesn't take all the time to refresh the db that the OF does. Or you can do it in the background with rockbox.

Edit: look here ---> http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=67995

[saratoga]

There is no limit on the card size at all, but the sandisk firmware has trouble if you have more then a few thousand files due to limitations in its database. Rockbox won't care for sizes less then at least a few TB.

[byethecrin]

I am quite new to this, but is it possible to switch between SD cards on the same device quickly, or would the device have to rebuild a database ?

So for example could I have a SD with rock, one with dance, one with indie etc and just pop one and replace with the other and continue playing or is there more to it ?

[skip252]

The sandisk firmware refreshes the database each time you change the card. The player isn't accesible until that finishes. Depending on the size of the card, internal memory, how the files are organized and tagged that can take quite a while. Several minutes isn't unusual.

Rockbox works in a much more sane fashion. When you switch the card, the files are available immediately. If you decide to refresh the database, that occurs in the background. You can play the files immediately from either an existing playlist or the file browser.

[Mikerman]

And by "quite a while," 15-20 minutes is not unusual with a full player and a 32GB card.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by Mikerman

And by "quite a while," 15-20 minutes is not unusual with a full player and a 32GB card.

That's just one of many reasons I don't use the original failware firmware.

[Carson Dyle]

Have there been any reports of Rockbox _not_ working with a FAT32 formatted 64GB microSDXC card?

[tman]

Originally Posted by Carson Dyle

Have there been any reports of Rockbox _not_ working with a FAT32 formatted 64GB microSDXC card?

bump.

I am about to get a Clip Zip and need to know if it's safe to get a 64 gb card, provided I can reformat to FAT32.

Related - Will I be able to do this on a PC, provided I use this software? https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_3/

[Mikerman]

I believe that Windows itself also should allow the FAT32 reformat.

[saratoga]

I think Windows will only reformat up to 32GB as FAT32 for whatever reason. Above that it forces NTFS.

[tman]

Originally Posted by Mikerman

I believe that Windows itself also should allow the FAT32 reformat.

I've never reformatted anything, but I've read that there could be issues on a PC, and also the SD card site states:

"The SD Formatter was created specifically for memory cards using the SD/SDHC/SDXC standards. It is strongly recommended to use the SD Formatter instead of formatting utilities provided with operating systems that format various types of storage media. Using generic formatting utilities may result in less than optimal performance for your memory cards."

Will it take long for the Clip Zip to index a 64 GB SD card, with Rockbox?

[tman]

Will it take long for the Clip Zip to index a 64 GB SD card, with Rockbox?

[saratoga]

If you use the file browser, it doesn't index anything at all. If you use the database, it'll probably take at least a minute or two to show all the new tracks, but you can still play the existing ones while it does that (or just use the file browser).

[skip252]

People here and on other sites have reported success formatting SDXC cards to fat32 using Guiformat. There appear to be several other utilities around that should do the job. That's just one that pops up in a quick search.

[tman]

Originally Posted by saratoga

If you use the file browser, it doesn't index anything at all. If you use the database, it'll probably take at least a minute or two to show all the new tracks, but you can still play the existing ones while it does that (or just use the file browser).

Thanks. A minute or two is no big deal - I was concerned after reading about 15-20 minute refresh times with a 32 GB card, but I think that was with the original OS, not Rockbox.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by tman

Thanks. A minute or two is no big deal - I was concerned after reading about 15-20 minute refresh times with a 32 GB card, but I think that was with the original OS, not Rockbox.

Yes, that is with the original OS.

[Big Sky]

Reading this thread made me reflect on how long it took to read a 32GB card 10-15 mins for me. I really had no intention before to install RockBox. I glad I did this today. Few mins of set up and another 20 to figure things out. Installed a 32GB and within seconds I was up and running.

Thanks to all that posted for the inspiration to move to Rockbox.