File System Limitations?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc (More info?)

Another example of what I am looking for is that I learned that all of the volumes need to have a "My Documents" folder or teh system creates some file on the volume (I don't recall that the file creates a problem, it's just that it is another quirk of the file system). BTW, in my text below I say that when I put the card into my Windows Mobile 2003 handheld it becomes corrupt. What I should further say is that I can see some of the files initially (maybe even all of the files), but that after working with the volume (either by running apps that reference the data on the volume - say MS Reader or say, by running the file manager and just browsing the folders) the FAT seems to get corrupted. BTW, I did format the card on my laptop using FAT, not FAT32.

"Neil Kiser" wrote:

> A year ago, after getting my first PPC I had difficulty storing a large number of files on a 1GB compact flash card. I later was able to determine that there was a limit on the number of files I could place in a single directory before the card simply stopped working (pending a reformat). I now am trying to store a large number of ebooks on a 256 MB compact flash card on Windows Mobile 2003 and I can't seem to determine what is causing my problems. My problem is that, on my laptop, running XP, I can copy all of the files onto the card, but upon placing the card into handheld the file system becomes corrupt and it no longer functions.
> Is there a whitepaper or technical document somewhere that tells me what the limitations of the WM2K file system are? I'd be happy to follow the rules if I only knew them!
>
> Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> -Neil Kiser
>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc (More info?)

A little more information on my current problem. I just took the CF card and connected it back up to my laptop. I can now see the original directories and files (for the moment I am assuming they are not corrupt). This means that it wasn't that the PPC corrupted the card, but that it is having trouble reading the card.

The card was formated with FAT16 and looks like this:

\My Documents
\A_1
\A_2
\B_1
\B_2
\C_1
....

The reason for the folders is that I was sensitive to putting more than 256 files in one folder, so I actually limited myself to 50 files per folder and placed the first 50 "A" books in "A_1", the second 50 in "A_2", etc.
The files do have names that are somewhat long, for example, on the order of 40-60 characters. The names do not have spaces in them.
I have 38 directories under \My Documents, all of which take the form "x_y", where "X" is a letter of the alphabet and "y" is a sequential number, never exceeding '4'.

I just can;t fathom why the file system is having trouble reading this directory structure.




"Neil Kiser" wrote:

> A year ago, after getting my first PPC I had difficulty storing a large number of files on a 1GB compact flash card. I later was able to determine that there was a limit on the number of files I could place in a single directory before the card simply stopped working (pending a reformat). I now am trying to store a large number of ebooks on a 256 MB compact flash card on Windows Mobile 2003 and I can't seem to determine what is causing my problems. My problem is that, on my laptop, running XP, I can copy all of the files onto the card, but upon placing the card into handheld the file system becomes corrupt and it no longer functions.
> Is there a whitepaper or technical document somewhere that tells me what the limitations of the WM2K file system are? I'd be happy to follow the rules if I only knew them!
>
> Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> -Neil Kiser
>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc (More info?)

I don't thing FAT (FAT16) ever supported 1GB volumes.

When drives used it, I seem to remember the biggest size you could go
to was 512MB. Maybe this is what you're seeing in the corruption on
the PPC ?

Cheers - Neil

On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 12:21:02 -0700, "Neil Kiser"
<neil@NOSPAMkiserville.com> wrote:

>
>A little more information on my current problem. I just took the CF card and connected it back up to my laptop. I can now see the original directories and files (for the moment I am assuming they are not corrupt). This means that it wasn't that the PPC corrupted the card, but that it is having trouble reading the card.
>
>The card was formated with FAT16 and looks like this:
>
>\My Documents
> \A_1
> \A_2
> \B_1
> \B_2
> \C_1
>...
>
>The reason for the folders is that I was sensitive to putting more than 256 files in one folder, so I actually limited myself to 50 files per folder and placed the first 50 "A" books in "A_1", the second 50 in "A_2", etc.
>The files do have names that are somewhat long, for example, on the order of 40-60 characters. The names do not have spaces in them.
>I have 38 directories under \My Documents, all of which take the form "x_y", where "X" is a letter of the alphabet and "y" is a sequential number, never exceeding '4'.
>
>I just can;t fathom why the file system is having trouble reading this directory structure.
>
>
>
>
>"Neil Kiser" wrote:
>
>> A year ago, after getting my first PPC I had difficulty storing a large number of files on a 1GB compact flash card. I later was able to determine that there was a limit on the number of files I could place in a single directory before the card simply stopped working (pending a reformat). I now am trying to store a large number of ebooks on a 256 MB compact flash card on Windows Mobile 2003 and I can't seem to determine what is causing my problems. My problem is that, on my laptop, running XP, I can copy all of the files onto the card, but upon placing the card into handheld the file system becomes corrupt and it no longer functions.
>> Is there a whitepaper or technical document somewhere that tells me what the limitations of the WM2K file system are? I'd be happy to follow the rules if I only knew them!
>>
>> Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> -Neil Kiser
>>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc (More info?)

I'm not sure about the 1GB, but my current problem involves a 256Mb CF card. I'm not sure how my 1Gb is formatted.

"Neil Smith [MVP Digital Media]" wrote:

> I don't thing FAT (FAT16) ever supported 1GB volumes.
>
> When drives used it, I seem to remember the biggest size you could go
> to was 512MB. Maybe this is what you're seeing in the corruption on
> the PPC ?
>
> Cheers - Neil
>
> On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 12:21:02 -0700, "Neil Kiser"
> <neil@NOSPAMkiserville.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >A little more information on my current problem. I just took the CF card and connected it back up to my laptop. I can now see the original directories and files (for the moment I am assuming they are not corrupt). This means that it wasn't that the PPC corrupted the card, but that it is having trouble reading the card.
> >
> >The card was formated with FAT16 and looks like this:
> >
> >\My Documents
> > \A_1
> > \A_2
> > \B_1
> > \B_2
> > \C_1
> >...
> >
> >The reason for the folders is that I was sensitive to putting more than 256 files in one folder, so I actually limited myself to 50 files per folder and placed the first 50 "A" books in "A_1", the second 50 in "A_2", etc.
> >The files do have names that are somewhat long, for example, on the order of 40-60 characters. The names do not have spaces in them.
> >I have 38 directories under \My Documents, all of which take the form "x_y", where "X" is a letter of the alphabet and "y" is a sequential number, never exceeding '4'.
> >
> >I just can;t fathom why the file system is having trouble reading this directory structure.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >"Neil Kiser" wrote:
> >
> >> A year ago, after getting my first PPC I had difficulty storing a large number of files on a 1GB compact flash card. I later was able to determine that there was a limit on the number of files I could place in a single directory before the card simply stopped working (pending a reformat). I now am trying to store a large number of ebooks on a 256 MB compact flash card on Windows Mobile 2003 and I can't seem to determine what is causing my problems. My problem is that, on my laptop, running XP, I can copy all of the files onto the card, but upon placing the card into handheld the file system becomes corrupt and it no longer functions.
> >> Is there a whitepaper or technical document somewhere that tells me what the limitations of the WM2K file system are? I'd be happy to follow the rules if I only knew them!
> >>
> >> Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >> -Neil Kiser
> >>
>
>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc (More info?)

The largest a FAT16 volume can go, is 4 GB. But on most OS's it can only go
2 GB, and there is a 512 limit, but I don't think microsoft would use such
an old FAT implementation esp when they have FAT32 available.


"Neil Smith [MVP Digital Media]" <neil@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:h19hd0d6jj6b0m9osb23ppih89oqrbnk0c@4ax.com...
> I don't thing FAT (FAT16) ever supported 1GB volumes.
>
> When drives used it, I seem to remember the biggest size you could go
> to was 512MB. Maybe this is what you're seeing in the corruption on
> the PPC ?
>
> Cheers - Neil
>
> On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 12:21:02 -0700, "Neil Kiser"
> <neil@NOSPAMkiserville.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >A little more information on my current problem. I just took the CF card
and connected it back up to my laptop. I can now see the original
directories and files (for the moment I am assuming they are not corrupt).
This means that it wasn't that the PPC corrupted the card, but that it is
having trouble reading the card.
> >
> >The card was formated with FAT16 and looks like this:
> >
> >\My Documents
> > \A_1
> > \A_2
> > \B_1
> > \B_2
> > \C_1
> >...
> >
> >The reason for the folders is that I was sensitive to putting more than
256 files in one folder, so I actually limited myself to 50 files per folder
and placed the first 50 "A" books in "A_1", the second 50 in "A_2", etc.
> >The files do have names that are somewhat long, for example, on the order
of 40-60 characters. The names do not have spaces in them.
> >I have 38 directories under \My Documents, all of which take the form
"x_y", where "X" is a letter of the alphabet and "y" is a sequential number,
never exceeding '4'.
> >
> >I just can;t fathom why the file system is having trouble reading this
directory structure.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >"Neil Kiser" wrote:
> >
> >> A year ago, after getting my first PPC I had difficulty storing a large
number of files on a 1GB compact flash card. I later was able to determine
that there was a limit on the number of files I could place in a single
directory before the card simply stopped working (pending a reformat). I
now am trying to store a large number of ebooks on a 256 MB compact flash
card on Windows Mobile 2003 and I can't seem to determine what is causing my
problems. My problem is that, on my laptop, running XP, I can copy all of
the files onto the card, but upon placing the card into handheld the file
system becomes corrupt and it no longer functions.
> >> Is there a whitepaper or technical document somewhere that tells me
what the limitations of the WM2K file system are? I'd be happy to follow
the rules if I only knew them!
> >>
> >> Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >> -Neil Kiser
> >>
>