SD card overload?

rgeorg · 06-25-2010, 05:01 AM

My jetBook has worked great for over 1 year. I keep on adding folders and books to the 2GB SD card. I have 10 pages of folders on the first level, and perhaps 500-600 books total. Suddenly the jetBook takes forever to display the folder list and cannot open any books. I took out the card and the jB works fine again. Did I add too many books or folders (it was only about 300 MB total space)? I'll try to reformat the SD card and delete about 75% of the books to see if this helps.

The thing is that I bought an eink device (Netronix) 'cause I wanted to see how eink displays and if the reading was better on a 6" device - but I find that I prefer the jetBook. Mostly because it is more tolerant of so-so ambient lighting, I can use right or left hand for page turning and I can delete books once read..and the "black-refresh" that eink uses gives me a headache.

So, now I need the jetBook back to working order!

GhostHawk · 06-25-2010, 07:36 AM

First off I'd start by seeing if I could get the books back off that card, backed up to your computer.

Then I'd try something like the panasonic SD card formatting tool.

Then load a few books back on it and see if it works.

steven522 · 06-25-2010, 08:47 AM

If you have a 2GB card, am I correct in assuming its not an SDHC?

Standard SD cards are a lot slower. If you have an extra SDHC ( I use a class 6 8GB in my JBL ), try copying all your files to that and try again. It may just be a timing issue between the card speed and the jetbook.

I know the difference between copying files to/from an SD and an SDHC is quite substantial.

smg927 · 06-25-2010, 08:49 AM

Your SD card may need to be defragmented. Assuming your SD drive is "e", open a command window and type "defrag e: -a". This will analyze the card. If it needs to be defragmented, type in "defrag e:". If you are running Vista, you have to open the command prompt using "run as administrator".

jlg432 · 06-25-2010, 07:52 PM

You mentioned 10 pages of folders at the first level (Root) = 80 folders max. You didn't mention whether you have any that are nested beyond 3 levels. I read where nesting folders beyond three levels tends to slow the unit right down to the point sometimes where you think it has locked up. I also name my cards so that so I can easily back them up to my pc by Highlighting the drive name in explorer and just doing a copy paste to my harddrive.

Just a thought

I should mention that I have 34 root folders on the SD card and several of those have multiple 2nd level folders (one has 31 folders). The files are of various formats - pretty well every style in use. and I have only 500 megs left of my 2 gig card. I find things load relatively fast considdering the processor is only 200 mhz. Once up an open I find response time between page flips and look-up normal for this unit.

John

Ken Maltby · 06-25-2010, 09:21 PM

I believe that you would need to be using FAT32 to have what you already have,
so for you that shouldn't be the issue. But some may have a similar problem if they
have their SD card formatted as FAT16 or just "FAT".

Luck;
Ken

rgeorg · 06-26-2010, 05:15 AM

Thanks all, for the advice.
So, what I gather is that I should
1) backup the books (already done)
2) Reformat the SD card as in FAT32 format or
2b) Try a SDHC card - I thought that the 2GB SD was the recommended. I have a couple of 8GB SDHC cards floating around that I could try. Just seemed a waste of space
3) Slowly add books to card, using <=3 levels of directory in as hierarchical as possible organization.
I did not have >3 levels of folders.

The jetBook seems a rugged little device so I have confidence that it'll work out!
Thanks again!

GhostHawk · 06-26-2010, 06:47 AM

1,2, & 2b are fine.

If your having issues, I would not go 3 levels deep with your folders.

Try a single level instead. However you choose to organize them.
Myself I just make folders labeled by author, put the books of that author in that folder.
So only 1 level deep.

rgeorg · 06-26-2010, 11:43 AM

@ GhostHawk,
Doesn't having all on one level make many pages of folders? I thought that perhaps that was one of my problems. I mostly had only the one level of folders - but there was about 10 pages of folder listings when the device gave out.

Update: Turns out that I *did* have a few cases of 3 levels of folders. Reformatted, reorganized and reloaded and now it all works fine!

Ken Maltby · 06-26-2010, 05:46 PM

rgeorg;
Glad to hear you have it fixed.

By the way my SciFi selection has 43 pages of folder listings.

Luck;
Ken

rgeorg · 06-27-2010, 07:02 AM

Thanks Ken,
I did reformat from FAT to FAT32; glad to know that many pages of files is OK. My longest folder listing is 17 pages in length and files open just fine.

GhostHawk · 06-27-2010, 09:04 AM

I think I have 48 pages of folders currently setup on mine.

For some reason it just doesn't like folders inside folders inside folders.

The only other thing I'd watch is to not put a whole lot of loose books at the root level.
As I did that once, and while it did still worked it added about a 2 second delay to everything, including page turns. Once I dumped all those loose books into a folder the delay went away.

rgeorg · 06-30-2010, 04:24 AM

Thanks GhostHawk,
That's another "trick" I didn't know. I'm pleased to get the jetBook back to running well as I enjoy the reading experience with it the best of all my devices.
If it were only 8-10" it'd be perfect for me, although then I'd probably complain that I couldn't hold it conveniently - maybe I should just be happy! ;-)

06-25-2010, 05:01 AM	#1
rgeorg Guru Posts: 675 Karma: 3314796 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Europe & USA Device: K3/3G(2x), Glo HD, Amazon Voyage	SD card overload? My jetBook has worked great for over 1 year. I keep on adding folders and books to the 2GB SD card. I have 10 pages of folders on the first level, and perhaps 500-600 books total. Suddenly the jetBook takes forever to display the folder list and cannot open any books. I took out the card and the jB works fine again. Did I add too many books or folders (it was only about 300 MB total space)? I'll try to reformat the SD card and delete about 75% of the books to see if this helps. The thing is that I bought an eink device (Netronix) 'cause I wanted to see how eink displays and if the reading was better on a 6" device - but I find that I prefer the jetBook. Mostly because it is more tolerant of so-so ambient lighting, I can use right or left hand for page turning and I can delete books once read..and the "black-refresh" that eink uses gives me a headache. So, now I need the jetBook back to working order!

06-25-2010, 07:52 PM	#5
jlg432 Addict Posts: 237 Karma: 15786 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: jetBook, ALP, Pandigital 7"Color(Black+ White), Kyros MID7015a	You mentioned 10 pages of folders at the first level (Root) = 80 folders max. You didn't mention whether you have any that are nested beyond 3 levels. I read where nesting folders beyond three levels tends to slow the unit right down to the point sometimes where you think it has locked up. I also name my cards so that so I can easily back them up to my pc by Highlighting the drive name in explorer and just doing a copy paste to my harddrive. Just a thought I should mention that I have 34 root folders on the SD card and several of those have multiple 2nd level folders (one has 31 folders). The files are of various formats - pretty well every style in use. and I have only 500 megs left of my 2 gig card. I find things load relatively fast considdering the processor is only 200 mhz. Once up an open I find response time between page flips and look-up normal for this unit. John Last edited by jlg432; 06-25-2010 at 08:12 PM.

06-26-2010, 11:43 AM	#9
rgeorg Guru Posts: 675 Karma: 3314796 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Europe & USA Device: K3/3G(2x), Glo HD, Amazon Voyage	@ GhostHawk, Doesn't having all on one level make many pages of folders? I thought that perhaps that was one of my problems. I mostly had only the one level of folders - but there was about 10 pages of folder listings when the device gave out. Update: Turns out that I did have a few cases of 3 levels of folders. Reformatted, reorganized and reloaded and now it all works fine! Last edited by rgeorg; 06-26-2010 at 01:17 PM. Reason: update

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06-25-2010, 07:36 AM	#2
GhostHawk Data Privateer! Posts: 586 Karma: 62887 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Fargo ND Device: Ectaco Jetbook& Jetbook Lite	First off I'd start by seeing if I could get the books back off that card, backed up to your computer. Then I'd try something like the panasonic SD card formatting tool. Then load a few books back on it and see if it works.

06-25-2010, 08:47 AM	#3
steven522 binomial: homo legentem Posts: 1,061 Karma: 25222222 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Alabama, USA Device: iriver Story HD; Archos 80 G9	If you have a 2GB card, am I correct in assuming its not an SDHC? Standard SD cards are a lot slower. If you have an extra SDHC ( I use a class 6 8GB in my JBL ), try copying all your files to that and try again. It may just be a timing issue between the card speed and the jetbook. I know the difference between copying files to/from an SD and an SDHC is quite substantial.

06-25-2010, 08:49 AM	#4
smg927 Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 7418 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Minnesota Device: Jetbook	Your SD card may need to be defragmented. Assuming your SD drive is "e", open a command window and type "defrag e: -a". This will analyze the card. If it needs to be defragmented, type in "defrag e:". If you are running Vista, you have to open the command prompt using "run as administrator".

06-25-2010, 09:21 PM	#6
Ken Maltby Wizard Posts: 4,466 Karma: 6900052 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: The Heart of Texas Device: Boox Note2, AuraHD, PDA,	I believe that you would need to be using FAT32 to have what you already have, so for you that shouldn't be the issue. But some may have a similar problem if they have their SD card formatted as FAT16 or just "FAT". Luck; Ken

06-26-2010, 05:15 AM	#7
rgeorg Guru Posts: 675 Karma: 3314796 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Europe & USA Device: K3/3G(2x), Glo HD, Amazon Voyage	Thanks all, for the advice. So, what I gather is that I should 1) backup the books (already done) 2) Reformat the SD card as in FAT32 format or 2b) Try a SDHC card - I thought that the 2GB SD was the recommended. I have a couple of 8GB SDHC cards floating around that I could try. Just seemed a waste of space 3) Slowly add books to card, using <=3 levels of directory in as hierarchical as possible organization. I did not have >3 levels of folders. The jetBook seems a rugged little device so I have confidence that it'll work out! Thanks again!

06-26-2010, 06:47 AM	#8
GhostHawk Data Privateer! Posts: 586 Karma: 62887 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Fargo ND Device: Ectaco Jetbook& Jetbook Lite	1,2, & 2b are fine. If your having issues, I would not go 3 levels deep with your folders. Try a single level instead. However you choose to organize them. Myself I just make folders labeled by author, put the books of that author in that folder. So only 1 level deep.

06-26-2010, 05:46 PM	#10
Ken Maltby Wizard Posts: 4,466 Karma: 6900052 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: The Heart of Texas Device: Boox Note2, AuraHD, PDA,	rgeorg; Glad to hear you have it fixed. By the way my SciFi selection has 43 pages of folder listings. Luck; Ken

06-27-2010, 07:02 AM	#11
rgeorg Guru Posts: 675 Karma: 3314796 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Europe & USA Device: K3/3G(2x), Glo HD, Amazon Voyage	Thanks Ken, I did reformat from FAT to FAT32; glad to know that many pages of files is OK. My longest folder listing is 17 pages in length and files open just fine.

06-27-2010, 09:04 AM	#12
GhostHawk Data Privateer! Posts: 586 Karma: 62887 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Fargo ND Device: Ectaco Jetbook& Jetbook Lite	I think I have 48 pages of folders currently setup on mine. For some reason it just doesn't like folders inside folders inside folders. The only other thing I'd watch is to not put a whole lot of loose books at the root level. As I did that once, and while it did still worked it added about a 2 second delay to everything, including page turns. Once I dumped all those loose books into a folder the delay went away.

06-30-2010, 04:24 AM	#13
rgeorg Guru Posts: 675 Karma: 3314796 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Europe & USA Device: K3/3G(2x), Glo HD, Amazon Voyage	Thanks GhostHawk, That's another "trick" I didn't know. I'm pleased to get the jetBook back to running well as I enjoy the reading experience with it the best of all my devices. If it were only 8-10" it'd be perfect for me, although then I'd probably complain that I couldn't hold it conveniently - maybe I should just be happy! ;-)

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