Bizarre Crash (Defective Memory Card?)

Hello,

So the other day, I tried to load iGo Primo and it wasn't playing ball. I've used it for months without an issue and perhaps I've abused it a bit (hard shutoffs etc). As soon as the software started to load, the error appeared. The particular error I got was a memory access violation. Anyway, I've never had too many issues with iGo but I've always been told if it stops working deleting the 'save' folder will normally fix it. So I did... and no, it didn't fix it, the issue remains. At this point, I'm worrying there's an issue with my actual unit and perhaps it's developed a fault. I have no warranty at all really. I had a backup version of iGo on the same sd card from when I was experimenting before, same version (Navitech), same settings really. Works fine? I switch back, and it's broken again. So the same software in a different folder of the SD works okay...?

If it's not the software, and not the unit does this point to a defective/corrupted memory card? The card itself as a Kingston Class 10 microSD inside of an adapter.

Code:

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------------------ Crash Log Begin -------------------


Current System time: "2014-04-30 08:21:25"
Build version: 9.6.13.267029
Build configuration: Product--ARCHFAM
OS version: 6.0

   Uptime: 0 h 0 m 4 sec 0 msec

Memory Stats:

   FreeMemory: 77 MB, 940 KB, 0 B
   TotalUseableMemory: 85 MB, 576 KB, 0 B
   MaxMemory: 129 MB, 0 KB, 0 B
   ReservedMemory: 1 MB, 0 KB, 0 B
   ActualCacheSize: 1 MB, 275 KB, 192 B
   GarbageSize: 1 MB, 275 KB, 192 B


Exception:   0xc0000005
At address:   0x0002b0e0
Access violation reading address:   0x00000008
0x0002b0e0      (A)


WinCE CallStack snapshot (function names unknown - map file \Storage Card\PROGRAMS\Navitech\9.6.13.267029.map not found):

0x400296b4      (A)
0x008ccd14      (A)
0x008cc2ec      (A)
0x008cc49c      (A)
0x008cc584      (A)
0x0028c638      (A)
0x40079464      (A)
0x4005909c      (A)
0x4005326c      (A)
0x4002a948      (A)
0x4002ac38      (A)
0x4005336c      (A)
0x0002b0e0      (A)
0x0002ac04      (A)
0x0002d330      (A)
0x001df304      (A)
0x00127acc      (A)
0x001e37c8      (A)
0x001e120c      (A)
0x001e5a04      (A)
0x00429350      (A)
0x000611d4      (A)
0x00061380      (A)
0x008f6d14      (A)
0x0005ece8      (A)
0x00429350      (A)
0x0009d048      (A)
0x0009d0c0      (A)
0x0005ca8c      (A)
0x0005c794      (A)
0x0005efb8      (A)
0x0005ffe8      (A)
0x0028c3d8      (A)
0x0028c5ec      (A)
0x0009cd18      (A)


Global status:

   bInFocus: 1
   bMouseDown: 0
   bInLogic: 0
   bInRender: 0
   CurrentState[128]:
   GPS Pos: (0.000000,0.000000)
   Camera: pos:(0.000000,0.000000) rot:0 persp:0 zoom:0.000000 eng=0)


Maps:



------------------- Crash Log End --------------------
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Luckily, I can salvage the settings from the SD card and switch to another, and stuff so shouldn't be too serious an issue, but understanding why this has happened may help prevent it from happening again.

On that note, do you guys opt for Class 10 cards or Class 2/4 cards. I've read compelling arguments for both e.g.:

Class 10 should load software faster, smoother and there should be a slight improvement in graphical performance due to the reduced bottleneck when loading maps. Class 10 have high speed sequential writes (e.g. dash camera, digital camera, music player), but low speed random writes (software settings, operating systems, games)

Class 2/4 will load the software slower (questionable as to whether it's noticeable), and can't load the maps as quickly (again, questionable due to caching) however they're much faster at low speed random writes meaning the software should not experience bottlenecks when trying to update settings files in real-time.

So, opinions? Should I start using my Class 10 card for the music etc, and switch to using my A-Data Class 4 or even PNY Class 4 for software.

I've always used a class 4 card and it was fine. Recently, I switched to a class 10 card and I've noticed no difference.

I've never noticed any benefit of using a class 10 card in any navigation device.

What is the exact error message about the memory violation, and is it a wince dialog or a 3rd party software dialog?

Forgive me, I should have taken a picture of the dialog

I would assume it's an application error, because the software immediately shuts when I close it, therefore I'd say it was an exception thrown which causes the application to crash, so would this be considered a third party dialog box? The unit continues to work fine after it closes and if I load the backup, it works fine...

I'm going to switch to using a Class 4, I think it will improve the write speeds for setting and maybe prevent this happening again.

It could be down to corruption, especially if it's been switched off without closing the app first.

I've done that a few times but more often than not, it's returned fine.

Lesson learnt... we'll see if I can salvage the sys.txt etc. I'm going to switch to whichever has the fastest random R/W speed.

I usually use normal sandisk cards, although I do have some pny and kingston cards here. I doubt many devices could utilize the maximum speed of a class 10 card.

Well, kick me in the balls and call me Charlie. I ran a speed test on the three relevant SD cards using CrystalDiskMark which is the standard for all speed measurements. The Kingston Class 10 is being used for software, maps etc, the A-Data Class 4 cheap (£1.98 from eBuyer) card is being used for SD music and the PNY is being used for my dashcam, the results are rather staggering.



So, from left to right
The Kingston Class 10 first, unsurprisingly the Class 10 performs pretty average at random R/W, although the random 4K write test isn't too awful. What really shocked me is how poor this card seems to perform at sequential writes! Being a Class 10, it should be able to write at a minimum of 10mb, not this one, which bottlenecks at just 7.7mb. This will be the last Kingston card I ever buy especially as this was quite an expensive card when I first got it.

Then we have the A-Data Class 4. This was the cheapest SD card but actually seems to perform best overall. The random R/W speeds are good and the sequential speeds are okay.

Then third, the PNY is awful. Below average random read speeds but horrific random write speeds.

So I'm going to switch the Kingston with the A-Data Class 4, let's see if it improves.

Confirmed a defective microSD card, perhaps one of the reasons the speed is low. I will hard format it Fat16, run h2testw and use this for music/video only now.

Confirmed when copying entire SD to computer, device.nng had become corrupted along with most of the license folder. I'm going to run through and check if there are any other defective looking files however it might be safer just to use a new copy right?

Test finished without errors.
You can now delete the test files *.h2w or verify them again.
Writing speed: 6.24 MByte/s
Reading speed: 16.7 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

So the memory card isn't faulty. I can only assume it was R/W defect perhaps from a hard shut off. Still, I think this card will be better served in the music section of my head unit

Update:

So it turns out the Memory Card wasn't faulty, but unfortunately, the implementation of the card reader. It is sharing the same power source as the music SD card reader. This causes voltage drops and R/W fails. This is a shame as I like to use an SD Card to play music.

Luckily, where there's a will there's a way, after going through various USB SD Card readers that didn't work properly (either wouldn't read the SD card at all when connected to the device, or read it but didn't play music) I found this works perfectly :

[Please Register or Login to download file]

Obviously if the unit was under warranty I would be sending it back. Alternatively, installing a capacitor would fix this, however I'm happy enough with this as a solution.