PRS-650 Unplugging USB - warning!

[MaxLV]

Originally Posted by Doogman

Just to beat on this dead horse a bit longer, here's the filesystem on my Sony 350:

ghidorah ~ # file -sL /dev/sdd
/dev/sdd: x86 boot sector, mkdosfs boot message display, code offset 0x58, OEM-ID " mkdosfs", sectors/cluster 8, reserved sectors 36, Media descriptor 0xf8, heads 255, sectors 3141376 (volumes > 32 MB) , FAT (32 bit), sectors/FAT 3062, serial number 0x3e, label: "READER     "

And, of course, it is vfat. If the filesystem was something more esoteric, then Win boxes wouldn't be able to read it.

And yet your ereader is kaput....

[MaxLV]

Originally Posted by Mark Nord

Sorry MaxLV,

by repeating it over and over again, your statement will not become right!

SIC

So why dont YOU format your ereader with Windows and let us know how you get on.

[MaxLV]

Originally Posted by HarryT

This really isn't true. Pretty

Obviously for the OP it is true. s/he has a 'kaput' ereader as a result of:
a. Not ejecting it before unplugging it;
b. a corrupted file system because s/he tried formating it with Windows.

much every reader exposes a FAT or FAT32 volume to the outside world, and formatting it from a PC is absolutely fine. It's a completely normal thing to do on many devices.

So you're willing to try it with your Sony Ereader? And let us know the results?

My Classic iPod (80GB model) is fully readable/ and writeable in Windows Explorer, (XP and Win 7) in Windows Media Player, Win Amp, and Media Monkey.

But if I try to write (copy ANYTHING) to it with anything but iTunes the file system is corrupted, and iTunes says (at best) it needs to be reset to factory defaults, and ALL my MP3's need to be reloaded.
That is from personal experience when I first got it, and trying to do what you say I should be able to do.

Another example: My NAS has a version of embedded Linux, and runs a Linux file system. That file system allows me to read and write to it using Windows, but does NOT allow formatting by Windows as the formatting process is incompatiable with the file system the embedded linux uses to read/write to the hard drives in the NAS.

Embedded linux file systems have a file translation process that allows Windows to see, read, and write to the storage (hardrives) or memory of the device. Trying to format that storage or memory with an external file system directly will (most likely) corrupt the file system, as the OP found out to his/her cost.

[Xanthe]

Rule of thumb:

If the device you've plugged into a USB port shows up on My Computer with a separate drive letter, then use the "Safely Remove Hardware" procedure to disconnect it cleanly from the computer before you unplug the USB connection.

This applies to all devices: readers, MP3 players, digital cameras, etc.

And if Windows keeps telling you that the program is in use when you've closed everything out, make sure your AV isn't set up to scan drives plugged into the USB ports - that could be causing the hangup.

[Doogman]

Originally Posted by MaxLV

And yet your ereader is kaput....

I'm not sure why you are saying that, as my ereader is working fine. Perhaps you got your threads crossed.

If the output of the file command I posted earlier doesn't make sense to you, there's little point in continuing this.

[Pat2]

Originally Posted by Neon Kitten

Less than 24 hours after getting my 650 I'm already spending time troubleshooting the various problems it has with sync via the Reader Library software, which should provide the same kind of no-hassles sync experience as, say, iTunes does with its devices. But having already encountered the multiple-copies bug several times and ultimately having had to format the reader's memory and start again, I have observed something that might explain things. Maybe.

The multiple-copies thing started after the first few syncs went flawlessly and I'd shut down the Library software, waited for "do not disconnect" to vanish and unplugged the 650. A while later I wanted to add some more books, so I added them to my library, reconnected the 650 and let sync start. It failed on the first book, hanging for some time and then throwing up an error that the device was inaccessible. Thing is, the device WAS accessible, and I could see it in Windows and in the Library software just fine. Shut down Library, unplugged, re-plugged into a different USB port, synced again, and got the duplicates... and then another "device can't be accessed" error.

Then after connecting it a third time, Windows 7 threw up a warning that there were errors on the volume "READER" and insisted I do a scan. I did, and it found truncated database files and other file system errors. This is the point where I reformatted again - but before doing so, I checked the write-caching setting for the 650's drives. And both were set to "Optimise for performance", a setting usually NOT used for removable media because it delays writes to the drives. But trying to change it to "Optimise for quick removal" failed - Windows 7 said the device was hard-locked to its delayed-write setting.

What this means in plain English is that if you want to avoid corrupting the reader's file system, you MUST do a "Safely Remove Hardware" (from the system tray in win7) on both the reader's active drives. Since doing that I have had zero problems, though I have more testing to do with the Library software tonight.

This is incredibly bad design for a removable user-writeable disk device. Sony needs to fix this ASAP. As an example, even less frequently removed drives such as my Western Digital MyBook automatically set themselves to "Quick removal", since WD knows all too well that the alternative is data loss.

Hi Folks,

Better late than never.
A good utility to prevent problem with USB devices is :
"USB Disk Ejector.exe" available from :
http://quick.mixnmojo.com/
It does work fine with all Win releases.
Hope it will help some of you.

Pat

[edbro]

Originally Posted by MaxLV

SIC

So why dont YOU format your ereader with Windows and let us know how you get on.

I formatted my 505 through windows and got on quite well, thank you. As a matter of fact, there were posts here where it is one of the solutions for unbricking it. After formatting in Windows I used it for another year before selling it and moving to my 650.

[rkomar]

As long as the device gets formatted to a VFAT filesystem, then it will probably work fine because VFAT support under Linux is pretty good. However, support for NTFS isn't nearly as good, and if someone chooses that for the filesystem type while formatting via Windows, I could see the sorts of problems occurring that the original poster had.

So, although you _can_ get the formatting right using Windows, you can also easily get it wrong if you don't know what you're doing. The safe advice to a stranger would be to do the formatting via the ereader's OS.

[mlewis78]

Lately I've had a problem trying to eject my Sony PRS-350 from the computer. Eventually I just pull the plug from the USB port. I've tried from the little symbol at the bottom right on my screen as well as from the "my computer" folder where I right click on the Sony Reader file.

It shows two directories: "e" for the reader and "g". Is there a built-in SD card in the Sony PRS-350?

So far I've had no problems as a result of pulling the plug while my computer won't safely eject it.

[elcreative]

It doesn't mean two directories, it means two solid state disks as far as the computer is concerned. One contains the installation software (very small) and the other is the program, OS support and book storage area... you should eject both and the computer will advise you that it's safe to disconnect... just because you haven't had a problem yet doesn't mean you won't...

[jashsu]

Originally Posted by Neon Kitten

you MUST do a "Safely Remove Hardware" (from the system tray in win7) on both the reader's active drives.

Probably one of the upsides of iPod/iTune's avoidance of USB MSC. MSC means freedom for you the user, at the expense of some additional responsibility to safely dismount hw.

[mlewis78]

Thanks for the warning. If it says it won't eject, then what should my next step be?

[cmdahler]

Originally Posted by lack

And I believe any iDevice MUST be ejected by the very same iTunes before unplugging physically.

The iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad do not require ejecting before pulling the plug (so long as you don't do anything stupid like pulling the plug while it is syncing. The iPod Classic, Nano, and other earlier iPods (basically any iPod that can show up on the desktop as a portable hard drive, which the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad cannot) do require ejecting before removal.