Slow SD card access on 700p?

[talkin73]

I seem to recall reading comments about this but can't find any thread that specifically addresses it...

Compared to my 650, the 700p is about the same speed overall. However, when accessing my SD card (and I upgraded from a Sandisk Extreme III 1GB card to a Transcend 150x 4GB card when I changed handhelds) the 700p is much slower. I used to be able to delete backup sets from applications like Backupman and CardBackup in 2-3 seconds on my 650. With the 700p, it can take 30-45 seconds or longer. Even doing backups manually, I can see a significant increase in the time it takes on the 700p as compared to the 650. Quite remarkable. Accessing databases to read (like with iSilo) is about the same speed, pleasantly enough. Anyone else experience this delay when writing to or deleting files from the card? Is this an issue with these apps, the larger SD card size, the 700p itself... any thoughts?

[BeantownTreo]

I've noticed a similar slow down coming from a Treo 600 to the 700p. Using the same Lexar 1GB SD card, I'm experiencing a delay that's about 3 times as long to launch an app versus my Treo 600. Must be involving the new memory system in the 700p (non volatile or whatever its called). But that doesn't explain your 650-->700 experience whereas I thought those devices had the same or very similar memory systems.

[2000 Man]

Use VFSMark to test the speed. Testing the exact same card back to back on the 650 and the 700p gives me the following results for my card:

1411 on the 650 and only 988 on the 700p. That's about a 50% decrease.

[albertb]

Originally Posted by 2000 Man

Use VFSMark to test the speed. Testing the exact same card back to back on the 650 and the 700p gives me the following results for my card:

1411 on the 650 and only 988 on the 700p. That's about a 50% decrease.

Actually it's a 30% decrease.

[2000 Man]

Originally Posted by albertb

Actually it's a 30% decrease.

Only on that one test. You should see the other benchmarks.

[talkin73]

Interestingly, accessing data doesn't seem any slower to me when launching databases or applications from the card. But, deleting from the card takes FOREVER That's my main annoyance. The difference between 2 seconds to delete a backup set, for instance, on my Sandisk Extreme III and 3 minutes on the Transcend card. WOW! Not sure what they did differently there but hat's off to Sandisk. Very disappointed in this aspect of the Transcend card.

[IDtheTarget]

I noticed the same thing on my 700p. Then I saw another thread that talked about how the cards are formatted.

I have an A-Data 4GB 150x card, and was getting unacceptable performance. I hooked the card up to my computer with a card reader and did a chkdisk against it, and it turns out that it was formatted with 4k blocks. Following the advice in that other thread, I copied all of my files to my PC, then I re-formatted my card with the following command:

format /fs:FAT32 /V:A-DATA /A:32k F:

(Note that the card was F: drive while I had it plugged in, and I named the card "A-DATA" to differentiate it from my other SD card, which is Lexar.

Anyway, I noticed a pretty good improvement after I copied my files back. Give it a shot.

[sputnic]

I noticed that isilo was real slow on the 700p, right after I got it, I re-formatted my sd card to fat16. I just re-formatted it to fat and the speed is back. I am using a 2 gig card.

[TreoRock]

I read all sort of enhancements for 2 and 4 gig cards. What would be the best configuration for a 1GB card?
Will this be fine?
format /fs:FAT32 /V:A-DATA /A:32k F:

Thanks,

Al

[IDtheTarget]

32k on a 1GB card will work, but FAT32 won't work on a 650. If you've got a 700p, then FAT32 will work.

Just understand that if you have a lot of files that are smaller than 32k, you'll end up losing space on the card. If you mostly have files that are significantly larger than 32k, you won't notice much difference in space, but the 32k can give you a significan increase in speed.

Oh, and you can leave out the "/V:A-DATA" if you want, that is just the name you're giving the card. I give my cards unique names so that I can tell at a glance which one I have in.

[2000 Man]

Originally Posted by IDtheTarget

32k on a 1GB card will work, but FAT32 won't work on a 650. If you've got a 700p, then FAT32 will work.

Just understand that if you have a lot of files that are smaller than 32k, you'll end up losing space on the card. If you mostly have files that are significantly larger than 32k, you won't notice much difference in space, but the 32k can give you a significan increase in speed.

Oh, and you can leave out the "/V:A-DATA" if you want, that is just the name you're giving the card. I give my cards unique names so that I can tell at a glance which one I have in.

Just put the FAT32.prc into the 650's ROM and it works perfectly.

[IDtheTarget]

Originally Posted by 2000 Man

Just put the FAT32.prc into the 650's ROM and it works perfectly.

I was never brave enough to mess with my 650's ROM back when I had it.

[TreoRock]

Originally Posted by IDtheTarget

32k on a 1GB card will work, but FAT32 won't work on a 650. If you've got a 700p, then FAT32 will work.

Just understand that if you have a lot of files that are smaller than 32k, you'll end up losing space on the card. If you mostly have files that are significantly larger than 32k, you won't notice much difference in space, but the 32k can give you a significan increase in speed.

Oh, and you can leave out the "/V:A-DATA" if you want, that is just the name you're giving the card. I give my cards unique names so that I can tell at a glance which one I have in.

I do have a 700p and I did format my card in FAT32 but I'm not sure about the 32k format.

Thanks,

Al

[karlz]

TreoLO-

YOU ROCK! I have a 4gig SD in this baby and the thing was dog slow. I figured it must be 'cause afterall, it is 4 gig bla bla bla. I did your formatting suggestion and now it is LIGHT fast! thank you SOOO much!

Karl
www.qtqtqt.com