Getting beyond 8GB limit.....

stepher · #1 (**permalink**) 8th Jul 2012, 7:56 pm

Hi all,

I was here back in Nov. of last year and got some great help solving my battery issue (BTW - The new battery setup is working great!!!). Now I'm searching for new insight.

My MP3/MP5 player (w/Rockchip 2705) supports to 8GB of SDHC flash in an external slot. What I'm curious about is now that the 32GB SDHC flash is reasonably priced, has anyone figured out if it's possible to break this memory limit?

I'm not sure if it's a hardware or firmware thing. What I could hope for is that the firmware was designed to handle the higher capacity when it became available and the 8GB limit was only because that was the largest size out at the time. I suppose I could go spend $13 for a 32GB and see if my unit can recognize it. If not, w/an adapter I have a dig camera I could use it with.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers....Steph

stepher · #2 (**permalink**) 9th Jul 2012, 12:35 pm

OK, so I went out and got the 32GB SDHC (pretty good deal - FRYS.com*|*Patriot).

I inserted the FLASH chip into the MP3 player and got somewhat interesting results. When I first turned on the player and checked system info, it showed 0GB used, 0GB available. Then I plugged the player into my computer (USB). The computer saw the whole 32GB on the player. I went back to the MP3 player (still plugged in) and it now showed 32GB available (well, almost. There is some memory used for other internal purposes). Odd. I then unplugged the USB connection, did another system info check and the player showed 0GB/0GB again.

I decided to try a "smoke" test. I plugged the player back into the computer and downloaded ~2GB of music onto the 32GB FLASH memory. Unplugged it from the computer and looked at system info. It now showed 32GB total and ~2GB used by the folders and music I downloaded. I guess, so far, so good.

Another oddity I just noticed (maybe firmware, again). If I shut down the player (or auto shutdown kicks in) and then turn the player back on, the external FLASH is no longer seen by the player. However, if I unplugged/plug the FLASH, the player then registers 32GB. I guess it's something I can live with.

Hardware-wise, since the 8GB and 32GB FLASH are both SDHC (not SDXC for the newer and larger FLASH devices), I may be able to use 32GB. The report of 0GB/0GB without anything loaded on it may be due to the firmware.

My next test is to download more than 8GB of music and see how the MP3 player registers the 32GB flash card and if it sees anything above the 8GB "limit". I'll report back my results.

If anyone has any insights or suggestions, I would definitely appreciate it.

Thanks and cheers.....Steph

Quote:

Originally Posted by stepher

Hi all,

I was here back in Nov. of last year and got some great help solving my battery issue (BTW - The new battery setup is working great!!!). Now I'm searching for new insight.

My MP3/MP5 player (w/Rockchip 2705) supports to 8GB of SDHC flash in an external slot. What I'm curious about is now that the 32GB SDHC flash is reasonably priced, has anyone figured out if it's possible to break this memory limit?

I'm not sure if it's a hardware or firmware thing. What I could hope for is that the firmware was designed to handle the higher capacity when it became available and the 8GB limit was only because that was the largest size out at the time. I suppose I could go spend $13 for a 32GB and see if my unit can recognize it. If not, w/an adapter I have a dig camera I could use it with.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers....Steph

stepher · #3 (**permalink**) 10th Jul 2012, 10:21 am

I have downloaded over half (16GB+) the FLASH capacity of music and the player seems to recognize it. I have spot checked a number of files to see if the player will play them and seems to be no problem at all.

As I mentioned below, recognizing the 32GB FLASH is a sporadic thing. I did a soft turn off of the player last night and when I turned it on this morning, it didn't register the 32GB device. However, quickly removing/reinserting the memory made it recognizable (The same thing happens if I do a "hard" shut down using the on/off switch).

So, for some reason it seems I need to "remind" the player that the 32GB FLASH is installed. In the meantime, it's worth having to do an occasional "reset" to have all that memory available

It really sounds like a firmware issue, but I am open to suggestions and insight here.

Thanks in advance....Steph

Quote:

Originally Posted by stepher

OK, so I went out and got the 32GB SDHC (pretty good deal - FRYS.com*|*Patriot).

I inserted the FLASH chip into the MP3 player and got somewhat interesting results. When I first turned on the player and checked system info, it showed 0GB used, 0GB available. Then I plugged the player into my computer (USB). The computer saw the whole 32GB on the player. I went back to the MP3 player (still plugged in) and it now showed 32GB available (well, almost. There is some memory used for other internal purposes). Odd. I then unplugged the USB connection, did another system info check and the player showed 0GB/0GB again.

I decided to try a "smoke" test. I plugged the player back into the computer and downloaded ~2GB of music onto the 32GB FLASH memory. Unplugged it from the computer and looked at system info. It now showed 32GB total and ~2GB used by the folders and music I downloaded. I guess, so far, so good.

Another oddity I just noticed (maybe firmware, again). If I shut down the player (or auto shutdown kicks in) and then turn the player back on, the external FLASH is no longer seen by the player. However, if I unplugged/plug the FLASH, the player then registers 32GB. I guess it's something I can live with.

Hardware-wise, since the 8GB and 32GB FLASH are both SDHC (not SDXC for the newer and larger FLASH devices), I may be able to use 32GB. The report of 0GB/0GB without anything loaded on it may be due to the firmware.

My next test is to download more than 8GB of music and see how the MP3 player registers the 32GB flash card and if it sees anything above the 8GB "limit". I'll report back my results.

If anyone has any insights or suggestions, I would definitely appreciate it.

Thanks and cheers.....Steph

knob · #4 (**permalink**) 10th Jul 2012, 12:08 pm

It's a firmware issue, using Rockbox a Rk27xx player should even support a 64GB SDXC card.
http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php/topic,33648.0.html

Which sort of rk2705 player have you got? can you post a link or a photo?

stepher · #5 (**permalink**) 10th Jul 2012, 1:55 pm

Sort of figured that was the case. I did check the formatting and it's FAT32.

I've attached 3 photos. 1 to show what the main screen looks like, 1 to show it in off mode (better view of the case) and 1 to show the electronics.

The player has 3 buttons lower front: |<<, ||, >>| (Move up, Select/Menu, Move down)
There is also 1 double select button on top right: Move up menu, Select/Move down menu
On the left-hand side there is the uSDHC socket, earphone plugin, mini-USB and On/Off switch

In the internal photo, the square chip near the middle is the CPU. The 2 chips to the right are memory. 1 is prob'ly the 2GB flash, the other may be dynamic RAM. Not sure by the markings. Upper right looks like a place to add another FLASH chip. Not sure of the smaller open space below it. The smaller square green circuit in the upper left is the FM receiver. On the left side, from top to bottom: earphone plug, uSDHC socket, On/Off switch (not very obvious) and USB.

The only "label" on it is MP5 Digital Player. Bought it in China a few years ago.

Would be nice if I could make this see the 32GB FLASH all the time

Cheers...

Quote:

Originally Posted by knob

It's a firmware issue, using Rockbox a Rk27xx player should even support a 64GB SDXC card.
Clip+ and 64GB SDXC

Which sort of rk2705 player have you got? can you post a link or a photo?

stepher · #6 (**permalink**) 12th Jul 2012, 8:48 am

Bump....if anyone has any other ideas....thanks....

Quote:

Originally Posted by stepher

Sort of figured that was the case. I did check the formatting and it's FAT32.

I've attached 3 photos. 1 to show what the main screen looks like, 1 to show it in off mode (better view of the case) and 1 to show the electronics.

The player has 3 buttons lower front: |<<, ||, >>| (Move up, Select/Menu, Move down)
There is also 1 double select button on top right: Move up menu, Select/Move down menu
On the left-hand side there is the uSDHC socket, earphone plugin, mini-USB and On/Off switch

In the internal photo, the square chip near the middle is the CPU. The 2 chips to the right are memory. 1 is prob'ly the 2GB flash, the other may be dynamic RAM. Not sure by the markings. Upper right looks like a place to add another FLASH chip. Not sure of the smaller open space below it. The smaller square green circuit in the upper left is the FM receiver. On the left side, from top to bottom: earphone plug, uSDHC socket, On/Off switch (not very obvious) and USB.

The only "label" on it is MP5 Digital Player. Bought it in China a few years ago.

Would be nice if I could make this see the 32GB FLASH all the time

Cheers...