From: Johan Vromans <jvromans_at_squirrel.nl>
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 11:58:31 +0200

Comments welcome.

Q73: Help! My recorder crashes when I copy files to it!

A73: Yes, the recorder can crash when you copy several gigabytes of
     files to it. The explanation is simple: Copying several gigabytes
     of files through USB requires a long period of sustained disk
     activity and drains more power than the batteries of the recorder
     can store. A long copy will eventually drain the batteries to the
     point where the recorder can no longer function and it halts.
     This even happens when connected to the charger, since the power
     drain is more than the charger can provide! If the recorder halts
     while connecter to the charger, the batteries will recover and
     after a short while it will reboot the Archos firmware in charger
     mode. To make it worse, depending on the USD drivers of your
     system it can cause your system to crash as well, or confuse it
     to the point it needs a reboot.

     There is no solution, just some tips.

     * Connect to the charger when copying lots of files. This will
       not prevent the problem, but it will take longer to happen.
     * Use USB 2.0. Transfers will be much faster.
     * Copy incrementally. With fully charged standard batteries it
       should be capable of sustained copying for 2 - 2.5 hours.

-- Johan
Received on 2003-04-30