[BUG] x55 Boots Slow with 2nd SD (ExFAT)

[spirit-in-exile]

New build, the dev build before it, and today's dev build have introduced / retained significant startup delays for me when my games card is present the TF2 slot at startup. The time from powering on to loading into EmulationStation has gone from a matter of seconds to 3-5 minutes.

Behavior does not occur if 2nd card removed and booted without it, and did not occur with dev builds v20240728 and prior that were published in Discord.

-ROCKNIX v20240810 dev, v20240812 release, v20240812 dev, all affected.

-Running on PowKiddy x55 (Black) 2GB RAM model w/eMMC, NoTime2D8's Android on eMMC, replaced analogs with Hall units.

-OS/TF1: SanDisk Extreme 64GB.

-Roms/TF2: SanDisk Extreme 114/256GB used, formatted ExFAT.

Note: Saw a similar report in the #amlogic-S992x hardware channel on the Discord, and replies that suggest it's an upstream 6.10 kernel issue with the handling of ExFAT with large numbers of files on the card (if I'm getting that right). I will try cloning my TF2 contents to an NTFS-formatted card later and report my results here. EXT4 isn't ideal for me (Windoze user) but I will attempt it if NTFS doesn't correct the behavior.

Updated to reflect still occurring with v20240812 dev. Files copying to NTFS-formatted card now for testing.

[spirit-in-exile]

Migrated content of my ExFAT formatted TF2 card to an identical model/capacity card formatted as NTFS, and boot times are now normal again. So either it was ExFAT, or the card was crapping out? Tomorrow I may image clone the NTFS card to the prior card to just to see if it works well on both cards under NTFS. If so, I'd say it was the ExFAT issue.

[mrMagHub]

Same problem on rgb10max3

[spirit-in-exile]

Seems that PortMaster ports do not like my NTFS card. Perhaps a problem with permissions when I copied my roms over. Reverted to v20240728 dev build (kernel 6.9.9) to resume using my ExFAT roms card while awaiting fix.

[BSoD38]

I've got the same issue as well on an Anbernic 353VS. It takes about 3 minutes to boot after the initial Rocknix boot screen.

This didn't happen on the previous version from June, but has started since the newest version.

[spirit-in-exile]

I've got the same issue as well on an Anbernic 353VS. It takes about 3 minutes to boot after the initial Rocknix boot screen.

This didn't happen on the previous version from June, but has started since the newest version.

The behavior did not occur for me in the v20240728 dev build from their Discord, which had the 6.9.9 kernel, so I’ve reverted to that build for now.

Using an NTFS formatted roms card does solve v20240812’s slow boot times, but it messed up my PortMaster games due to potential permissions issues?

From what I’m seeing in the Discord, it is believed by the devs that the problem lies with the 6.10 kernel used in v20240812 having issues with ExFAT formatted partitions when a large number of files are on the partition, as this was apparently noticed in other projects that use the same kernel.

A fix is being worked on.

[spirit-in-exile]

Looks to be addressed here:

https://github.com/ROCKNIX/distribution/pull/452

Closing.

[porschemad911]

@spirit-in-exile thanks for following up to close the issue