Endless "Sorting directory" SD card issue.

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.
  • i have the very same issue and allways tought it's because of too much files in that particular directory. But i realized when i start up the chameleon and goes in to the file browser it will happen. When i now remove the card and reinsert it while it's running, The directory got read instantly...


    quite sure it's not recommend to do that while it's running. Better have a backup :P

  • Don't get me wrong here, but it's good that two people have the same problem. We can now look for the common denominator here: What OS are you both using to format the card and create the directory?


    Jens

  • Windows 10

    Sandisk Ultra 64gb with 2 partition a 29.9 gb.

    Works fine with my Minimig Aga installation but reading that c64 folder seems to be really hard..


    additional infos you might need in screenshots


    Sysinfo


    Contents of the first partition:



    used with dock v2 and in a sx64/c64 and also standalone mode.

    For some reason its very rare but it will load the content of the directory sometimes. But i can't reproduce how and if i try a second directory or go back it refuses to work -

    expect the "workarround" i posted above with reinsert the card while the system runs. But i avoid to do that cause it doesn't really make sense.

  • I use Windows 11.
    And, all my 5 cards are doing well on my SD2IEC, AVG cart, SDrive and other 8-bit stuff.
    And also, I did experiment with uninserting SD card during this endless "Sorting directory" info and I can confirm what Gordholm wrote: directory get read instantly.
    But, when You leave the File Browser and enter it again to search files - problem returns.

  • In my experience my two TC64V2s can be quite picky about SD cards. I am using two different Sandisk Ultra SDHC 16GB cards that works well. But I've tried quite a few other SD cards that works in windows and SD2IEC but not working nicely on my TC64V2s. Some of them have trouble reading the directory without me re-inserting the card and some go corrupt after trying to write to them.

  • what irritates me the most that sometimes it works (rare) to get a directory content, but then out of a sudden it refuses to get back in parent directory. I was thinking about a connection / pin / corrosion issue or anything but then why does the amigapotion of this sd card just work fine :


    The sd card works since arround two months just fine as my minimigaga amiga 1200 replacement and is daily in use with intense use of both partitions (first for system/boot and adf files and second partition as mounted drive in amiga os 3.1 for whdload

  • well i was thinking about that but to be honest i allready bought arround 10 sd cards where 2 of them worked with the tc64v2 the others refused to work with the chameleon, the others i use now either as a backup and also in my aca500+ (with sd-cf adapters)

    I don't have money to waste for more cards as this 64 gb card wich "works" should be enough

    Currently i have the same thinking like jens that here is a software and not a hardware issue. Maybe wrong clusters or whatever - im not a pro :)


    edit i just found this post from espen skog in the tc64 facebookgroup it is may related ? quite unsure he literary says if you use more than 32gb of a sd card you will have issues ... but well im quite sure im not above that "limit" even if i add the content of the second partion to the calculation


  • It would be ridiculous to buy a bunch of different SDHC cards just to check if any will work with Chameleon...
    Waste of time and money.
    Just stick to what works fine today and pray for working fine tomorrow. ;)

  • With the report of it *sometimes* working, it may really have something to do with power consumption, which may be higher than what the cards consumes that we tested during development.


    One thing that was improved from the V1 to V2 hardware is hot-plug behaviour of the cartridge. On V1, some cards would make the Chameleon reset upon hot-plugging because of the inrush current. On V2, I have added a large capacitor and a small resistor in order to level out the inrush current. However, the resistor will of course drop the voltage a bit, so this *may* be the cause especially for larger cards if they consume more power than smaller cards.


    The resistor in question is R8 located on the top side, near the battery holder. It is assembled with 10 Ohms, and you might want to try a lower resistance here - either 4.7 Ohms or 3.3 Ohms. Or you can bridge it if you just want to give it a quick try.


    Jens

  • Sorry Jens but im not a "Löter" and to be honest i don't get it why the amiga portion of my sd card is working 100% proper. but loading a directory is causing issues (equal how much files are in it and it happens only with the file browser on the amiga side with cli or diropus everything is perfectly running and i get instant the contents of any directory of the card)- and btw it's not sometimes wich it loads it is very rare that it happen, i have to reinsert the card while it's running to get the contents. I also tryed a smaller (32gb card) yesterday wich works also perfect with the minimigaga core but shows exactly the same behavior when i try to open any directory in the file browser. I gonna try and buy 2 more sd cards beside those i allready bought .... gonna try much smaller ones.

    It would be nice to have a list of confirmed working sd cards if something like that exist ? Cause i really allready bought 10 wich is here in switzerland almost the same cost as i payed for the tcv2


    regards Patrick

  • Quote

    It would be nice to have a list of confirmed working sd cards if something like that exist ?

    Long ago we started listing some that show problems, see here - however, as said before, such list isnt very useful. You cant really take it as an indicator for what works and what does not, because vendors do randomly pick the cheapest flashes and controllers, so two cards of the same "type" are almost never actually exactly the same thing (unless they are from the same production batch).


    That said, a very interesting test would be trying such "non working" card on chameleon v1 (since the software is exactly the same, when this shows a difference, its not the software :))

  • ok thank you both. well i tryed something else but was not lucky at all. i disconnected everything what may could drain power -- dock second monitor 1084s splittercable ps2 mouse amiga 2000 keyboard and tryed again in a c64 - with the dock and in standalone mode with both working cards i have - 32gb sandisk and 64 gb but still no luck im out of ideas for now will see if i get hands on on some older smaller sd cards 2 + 4 gb from my families digicam..


    still wondering why the minimigaga wb3.1 installation with both cards work flawless just not a simple filelist request in a bootmenu :P ^^


    the last what i may could try is to reflash with 9q but i guess that would make not much sense

  • Another absurd:
    - I've borrowed from my friend Sandisk SDHC 32GB card and I couldn't even get to the root directory (Chameleon stuck on "Initializing SD card" yellow screen).

  • Yes, that really sounds absurd, as a genuine Sandisk card should work without trouble - please describe the setup: Is this on a C64 (="cartridge mode"), or is it standalone? Do you use a Docking Station?


    Jens

  • Btw i just have the same issue :P again



    The middle (white) 64gb sd card is partitioned to two 32gb fat32 partitions (non default 16kb clusters) , im using it mainly for the minimig aga, the issue here is in chameleon boot filebrowser i can't read the directorys with chamelon file browser- only the root expect i reinsert the card. The Amiga potion is working flawless as described above


    Same issue with the right golden 32gb SD Card also standard fat32 formated default clustersize . only one partition, and in every circumstances i can't read a directory expect i reinsert the card.

    Currently i copyed all c64 Disks i'd like to use in to the root without a directory of this card - thats the only way i can normaly use this card for the c64 part.


    the left black 32gb sandisk is producing the same behaviour Gelo29 experienced - stuck in initializing sd card at boot up - the card is default fat32 formated 1 29.1gb partition it doesn't matter what setup i use standalone, dockv2, c64 sx64. I also tryed different usb PA, the one i use is this one : https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/p…t-5907228?supplier=406802




    i set my chamelon v2 to default in options

  • Facts:
    - all of my 5 cards are genuine and don't work with Chameleon properly,
    - all those 5 cards work perfect with other 8-bit stuff I have.
    So, what is the conclusion?
    Answer Yourself.
    P.S. I use Chameleon in cartridge mode as I don't have any dock station, but as Gordholm wrote before - seems like it doesn't matter at all.

  • I have ordered three types of Sandisk 32G cards yesterday, so we can attempt to replicate it here. The Chameleon V2 has been on the market for several years now, and we literally NEVER had severe reports like this, so there must be something special about the new, larger-capacity cards that are not using a micro-SD adapter.


    Unfortunately, the online shop ("Alternate") that I ordered from has already written that one of the cards (the 60/100 SDHC EXTREME) will be delayed, so the whole parcel will be delayed. I hope that the card isn't discontinued.


    - all of my 5 cards are genuine and don't work with Chameleon properly,
    - all those 5 cards work perfect with other 8-bit stuff I have.
    So, what is the conclusion?

    more facts: The Minimig core seems to work fine with these cards, so the hardware does not seem to be the cause, and the most logical conclusion is that there is a software solution. In order to provide that, we first need to replicate the fault, which so far wasn't possible with the 64G micro SD-card that Tobias uses for development.


    When I ordered the 32G cards, the longest delivery time shown was 7 days. Let's see if that holds.


    Jens