apacer au822 memory concern/problem

[rfm]

I have a new Apacer AU822, which claims (and seems to have) 1GB of memory. Unfortunately, the device holds a maximum of only 99 files (as stated in the manual, but not in any reviews I've seen), which drastically underutilizes the potential memory when storing mp3s. I know nothing about such things but it seems the device doesn't support sub-directories, and that is the cause of the problem. Does anyone know more about this? Is it common in other players? Is there a way around it? Am I simply doing something wrong?
Thanks for any advice.

[tadad1]

rfm,
Generally the 99 file rule restriction is per folder. What happens when you try to create folders in the root directory?
Have you tried placing more than 99 mp3's on and seeing if they all play?

[rfm]

tatad1,
thank you for your reply. at the risk of sounding brain-dead, i have to say i can't remember exactly what i did, but i seem to recall trying your advice with no luck. my player is at home, i will try again and let you know what happens.
thanks again.

[tadad1]

rfm, You could also try formating it in Fat, I have one player that I formatted in Fat32 and it had problems.

[rfm]

well, i've paid closer attention to what i'm doing now, but before describing what i've tried, i will give a quote from the manual. "the au822 is only able to detect files in the root directory and does not support multi-level directories. Furthermore, you will only be able to store up to 99 music files, recorded files or data files."
this, to me, does not sound promising.
i tried the following:
a) i loaded 99 songs without using folders and they all appeared on the device and play.
b) i added a couple of more songs, but they do not show up on the devices menu, and so are not available to play.
c) with the 99 songs still in the device's music folder, i added some jpg image files, again without using folders. these were automatically sorted by the device into a picture browser menu where they are playable by the device.
d) with all the above songs/images deleted, i tried instead to add a folder with songs inside of it. the device's menu indicates that the menu is there, but the files within are not accessible.
e) with all the above deleted, i loaded about 70 songs that took up about 750mb of space. they loaded and played.

so it seems that the device has the available storage capacity, but something in the software design wants to pre-sort files into "appropriate" folders, each of which is limited to 99 files. i guess this is why one should read the manual before buying, but this problem didn't appear in the product reviews i had read, and it wasn't something i had thought to look for. very irritating, it really seems to limit the usefulness of the device.
any helpful hints on possibilities of working around this? tadad1, thanks for your comments, i'm not sure what you mean by formatting in fat as opposed to fat32 (i'm not aware of having done any formatting).

[rfm]

well, i've paid closer attention to what i'm doing now, but before describing what i've tried, i will give a quote from the manual. "the au822 is only able to detect files in the root directory and does not support multi-level directories. Furthermore, you will only be able to store up to 99 music files, recorded files or data files."
this, to me, does not sound promising.
i tried the following:
a) i loaded 99 songs without using folders and they all appeared on the device and play.
b) i added a couple of more songs, but they do not show up on the devices menu, and so are not available to play.
c) with the 99 songs still in the device's music folder, i added some jpg image files, again without using folders. these were automatically sorted by the device into a picture browser menu where they are playable by the device.
d) with all the above songs/images deleted, i tried instead to add a folder with songs inside of it. the device's menu indicates that the folder is there, but the files within are not accessible.
e) with all the above deleted, i loaded about 70 songs that took up about 750mb of space. they loaded and played.

so it seems that the device has the available storage capacity, but something in the software design wants to pre-sort files into "appropriate" folders, each of which is limited to 99 files. i guess this is why one should read the manual before buying, but this problem didn't appear in the product reviews i had read, and it wasn't something i had thought to look for. very irritating, it really seems to limit the usefulness of the device.
any helpful hints on possibilities of working around this? tadad1, thanks for your comments, i'm not sure what you mean by formatting in fat as opposed to fat32 (i'm not aware of having done any formatting).