Hardware limits¶
Every player OrgZ writes to has edges: a filesystem ceiling, a folder that gets too full, a database the firmware can no longer hold in memory. OrgZ knows these edges, keeps its writes inside them, and checks the device against them after every sync.
What OrgZ checks¶
After a sync finishes, OrgZ reads the device back and checks:
- every music track is marked as music (a 6G+ iPod hides untyped tracks from its menus)
- every track that claims cover art actually has it stored
- cover art is stored once per picture, not once per track
- every playlist entry points at a track that exists
- no artwork file is at the filesystem's size ceiling
- no music folder is near the filesystem's entry limit
- the database is within what the model can load into memory
- there is working room left on the volume
The status line reports the worst finding; the full list is in the log. The same checks run before a sync starts, so a device that already has a problem is reported before hours of copying.
The limits¶
| Limit | Value | Applies to | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Largest file | 4 GiB − 1 byte | every player (FAT32) | FAT32 specification |
| Entries per folder | 65,534 | every player (FAT32) | FAT32 specification |
| Largest volume | 2 TiB | every player (MBR, 512-byte sectors) | FAT32 / MBR specification |
| Music folders | 50 (F00–F49) |
stock iPods | how iTunes lays a device out |
| Artwork file roll-over | just under 4 GiB | stock iPods | FAT32; failure seen on a Classic 7G |
| Database in memory | ~50 MB on 64 MB Classics, ~25 MB on 32 MB Classics | Classic 6G / 6.5G / 7G | community reports from flash-modded Classics |
| Track count | ~50,000 on 64 MB Classics, ~20–25,000 on 32 MB | Classic 6G / 6.5G / 7G | community reports |
| Browser entries per folder | 400 (adjustable to 10,000) | Rockbox | Rockbox manual, System → Limits |
Which Classic has which RAM: the 160 GB models (6G and 7G) have 64 MB; the 80 GB and 120 GB models have 32 MB. A flash-modded Classic keeps whatever RAM it shipped with, however big its new storage is.
How the writes stay inside them¶
- Tracks go into one of fifty folders, chosen at random the way iTunes does it, so no folder grows huge and slow.
- Cover art is stored once per picture, and a format's thumbnail file rolls over to the
next numbered file (
F1060_2.ithmb) before it can reach the size ceiling. - Large libraries are checked against the model's database budget so a sync can warn before the firmware can't load the result.
Adding a new kind of player¶
Limits live in one catalog, contributed by one provider per platform (FAT32, stock iPod, Rockbox). A new player is a new provider that lists its own numbers; the checks pick them up by name and need no changes. Where two providers speak to the same limit, the stricter number wins.