Just wondered if anyone has had the attached error message before?

 

Finally got around to updating my Columbus with the latest satnav updates from Skoda at the weekend (ECE 2021-2022), and whilst I was at it I whipped out the SD card I have in one of the glovebox slots to update all the music I have on it.   The SD card is a 256GB one and has been working fine to-date with over 9,000 files on it.  Since I've ripped a number of new CDs recently, when I resync'd the card it added over 600 more files to my collection.  (Note that the SD card used to update the satnav is different from the one with all the music files). 

 

The satnav update completed after roughly an hour and I then also re-inserted my music SD card back into its usual slot in the glovebox.  As soon as the system had scanned the card I started getting the attached error message on the main display: "The maximum number of synchronisable files has been reached.  Some tracks from the source may not be available."  Has anyone else had this problem, as I can't find mention of it anywhere on these forums?  Likewise, does anyone know what the "maximum number" is, as I've not been able to find any mention of it on here or with Skoda?

 

Even more curiously, my first reaction was simply to think 'I just need to remove a few files again', so I then instructed my PC to resync and removed over 1,600 files - some audiobooks and files I rarely listen to.  Total number of audio files on the card is now back down to circa 8,400, a good deal less than when I started, but I'm continuing to get the error message every time the car starts.  Start-up of audio playback is also taking noticeably longer to resume when the car first starts, and in some cases doesn't resume at all without my switching sources about - radio or Bluetooth and back again.  I'm now wondering whether the satnav update has also applied some firmware update which has either introduced the error message or reduced the 'number of files' limit in some way.  Either way, I'm beginning to wish I hadn't bothered with the satnav update.

 

Has anyone else experienced similar or got any suggestions on removing the message/what the file limit is?  Is it possible that the satnav update has introduced a load more files and is taking up more memory, so the message is actually referring to the total system files being accessed?

I suspect a couple of things here:

 

Firstly, please can you get us the version of firmware you are running.  This should be accessable by pressing and HOLDING the Menu button, go to Software -> Version -> Version and then taking a photo of that.  You might have an old version of firmware that is causing issues.

 

Secondly - the SD Card - If its a 256GB card (the largest one that a Columbus MIB1 would be able to read - although I am suprised by that as well - as I think that might struggle with anything larger than 128GB, but I digress)....would be the file formats.  It is recommended that you would use FAT32 or NTFS as a file format.  Depending on your formatted cluster size, it depends on the number of addressable files that the filing system can handle.  It also depends on the implimentation of the filing system in firmware as to that length.

 

Thirdly - you might well be hitting the logical limit of the internal database that the Columbus generates - I am fairly sure that 9000 files sounds about right, but this database is generated on the fly.  One thing to note - how are you removing the SD Card when you are changing the music?  If you aren't cleanly unmounting the SD card on the Columbus, what will happen is that you will get multiple database entries on the internal database and you will most likely hit this limit due to duplicate entries.  Try cleanly unmounting the SD Card, remove it physically, do a hard reset (press/hold power button 8 secs) and then re-insert.  You might also want to make sure that you are properly unmounting the filing system on your PC too.  I mention all this stuff, because of the way that filing systems work (especially FAT).  They have a very light overhead in terms of back-end management and are ideal if you are working on filing systems that are intermittently available.  If the SD doesn't have a chance of tidying up after deleting files (because you haven't unmounted properly) then you will tend to get very intermittent results - with files still being there (and the file table not reflecting that) or the reverse, with the file table showing there are files in a sector of the SD Card, when this isn't the case).

 

 

I've had similar 'problems' for a while. So much so that I stored some additional files on USB as well as SD. I think what stopped me from doing the reset was setting up other items. I am prone to not doing safe ejects though.

Will have another play over the next few days. 😊

Ok, further to my investigations of the problem. I've taken the attached snap-shot of my Columbus firmware details.

 

I work in IT, so I'm familiar with files and catalogues not necessarily updating correctly.  As an experiment, I've reformatted the SD card and then resync'd the music files again overnight.  Note that I did a full low level format rather than the quick version, just to make sure nothing hidden/broken/duplicate was lying around.  I've followed your suggestions of making sure I reset the Columbus system, and also cleanly unmounting and re-inserting the card, but I'm still getting the same error message.

 

The card is actually formatted as exFAT, which seems to be the default, and has worked fine for over 5 years without any problem, so I'm confident the unit can read this format.

 

Don't get me wrong, the system still seems to play the music correctly, it's just annoying having the message spring up every time I start the car, even if media is set to the radio at the time.  If I'd been successful in simply reducing the number of files again and the message going away, I'd've been happy, but the fact I've now got less files and the message persists is really bugging me!

I remember seeing a while ago (and try as I have to find the thread, but I can't) and it was talking about the 256 path length limit.

 

Just throwing that one in there as a possible 'thing' causing things to go amiss.

 

On my car, I use 2 SD cards and have dance esk songs on the 1st and rock / metally ones on the 2nd. I must have a few thousand songs on both, but I've never seen the above message. I'm on MIB2 with the latest update.

I'm not the authority here, but I know that @pab567 maybe give the definitive answer.

MIB2 on version MHI2_ER_SKG11_P3260 - can this be upgraded to MHI2_ER_SKG13_P4526_MU1440?

38 minutes ago, varaderoguy said:

I'm not the authority here, but I know that @pab567 maybe give the definitive answer.

MIB2 on version MHI2_ER_SKG11_P3260 - can this be upgraded to MHI2_ER_SKG13_P4526_MU1440?

Funnily enough I've just messaged @pab567 on another thread re any possible firmware update, so we'll see.   

Yes but it requires unit to be hacked and reworked

@pab567hwhat is the latest version of firmware of SKG11 units?

MHI2_ER_SKG11_K3343 (1433)