Slowness when running apps from SD

[mattbugz]

I was wondering if anyone had the following issue: When I install and run applications on my Panasonic 128MB SD card, I notice a long delay in some instances. For example, when I boot my PPC (iPAQ 3835) and go to the Programs window, it takes a moment for all the icons to populate. During this short pause, nothing else can be executed. I realize the shorcuts point to the SD card and may take a little while to access, but sometimes I find myself waiting > 15 seconds.

Is this odd behavior, or a normal occurance :?: :?: If has something to do with the SD card, is there an app I can use to test SD access speeds?

Thanks!

[Nausicaa]

Hmm. I have a 256MB Panasonic SD card for my Dell Axim (2003). I don't notice any slow down other than loading a program that is on the card, but that loads almost as fast. When I look at the programs menu or go to file explorer everything loads really fast. So, it looks like you've got a problem.

[mattbugz]

Could it be my ancient ARM processor?? :wink: (iPAQ 3835 running at a snail's pace 200Mhz)

I suppose I'll find out soon enough when I upgrade to a 2210.

[upplepop]

I have a Axim X5 300MHz with a SanDisk 256MB SD card and I am having the same issue as you are. I install almost all my apps on SD card and when I go to my Games folder, it can take forever to load. I had always assumed it was because there were 30 icons in there, and we all know PPC2002 isn't the fastest OS in the world :roll:

However, it's never quite as long as 15 seconds. More like around 10.

[Godsongz]

I suppose I'll find out soon enough when I upgrade to a 2210.

I've got both your 3835 and your 2215, and I see this problem all the time on my 3835 (128Mb Sandisk SD), and never on my 2215 (128Mb Kingston SD). The 3835 also does not play nice with the Kingston.

[mattbugz]

I've got both your 3835 and your 2215

Ahh...so the problem could be attributed to my 3835! Thanks for that
input.

[WillyG]

There is a huge difference between devices regarding this. On my current iPaq 2215 this phenomena is hardly noteable. But on my last PDA, a LOOX600 (ARM 400Hz CPU) this was really annoying. I used to install games on SD or CF card, and experienced the exact same problem with the "games" folder (up to 20sec. delay). Since games often use hi-colour icons this adds to the problem. :frusty:
But like i said on my 2215 the icon loading is reduced to max 1 second. The only icon that lags is Nevo. Nevo seems to have somthing loaded in the "FileStore", and this seems to be a bottleneck. I have a folder on my startmenu named "Communications" and the Nevo icon is about on the center of the page of icons. The first 9 icons "loads" lightning fast, then there is a delay (about 1 second) to wait for the Nevo icon, then the last 7 icons loads, again lightning fast.

[Pony99CA]

Ahh...so the problem could be attributed to my 3835!
There are two things going on here. First, the iPAQ 3800 series have an SD slot that only works in MMC-compatibility mode. That means it uses a one-bit transfer instead of a four-bit transfer.

Second, I believe 128 MB (and lower) SD cards have half the transfer speed of 256 (and 512) MB SD cards.

Steve

[Jimi D]

Ahh...so the problem could be attributed to my 3835!
There are two things going on here. First, the iPAQ 3800 series have an SD slot that only works in MMC-compatibility mode. That means it uses a one-bit transfer instead of a four-bit transfer.

Second, I believe 128 MB (and lower) SD cards have half the transfer speed of 256 (and 512) MB SD cards. Now that's interesting - but how is it so? I'd think that four-bits is four-bits is four-bits - wouldn't the bus speed determine the file transfer rate to the card? How is it a 256 meg card can pump the data out twice as fast as a 128 meg card?

[GadgetMan]

I also remember reading on the Internet that pre-3900 series iPaq's utilized 1-bit SD slots. Since this made the slot slow and generated a lot of complaints from users, Compaq implemented a re-designed 4-bit slot in 3900 series.

I have iPaq 3950 and I have not notices any application delays with either SanDisk 256 MB SD card or Lexar 256 MB SD card.

Cheers,

[Pony99CA]

I'd think that four-bits is four-bits is four-bits - wouldn't the bus speed determine the file transfer rate to the card? How is it a 256 meg card can pump the data out twice as fast as a 128 meg card?
I have no idea; I'm not a hardware guy. I just remember reading something on the Panasonic Web site about that.

It appears that I may have misremembered, though. 256 MB cards are 5x faster than 128 MB ones. Here's the data I have:

<= 128 MB: 2 Mbps
256 & 512 MB: 10 Mbps
>= 1 GB: 20 Mbps

See the "Fastest Storage Media?" thread (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6980&start=12) for more information.

Steve

[ChristopherTD]

I was intrigued by this thread as I have installed most of my games to my HP 256MB SD Card and the games folder took a long time to load.

This morning I stuck the SD Card into my SDCard reader on my Laptop and defragmented it (which took about 15 minutes).

Now the folder loads almost instantly on the PPC.

Might be something to try - I thought that while SD cards would become fragmented it wouldn't be much of a performance hit. Maybe I thought wrong!

[mattbugz]

Finally received my 2215 and connected the Panasonic 128MB SD card. Installed some programs on it and virtually no slowdown!

I think this verifies that it's some combination of processor/SD bus slowness on the 3835.

Thanks for your input everyone!