[wirelessandy]

I've had a 1GB microSD card in my at&t 8820 since I bought it in Dec 2007. Never a problem.

Last week I bought an 8GB microSD card (yes, I know the 4.2x OS I've got can only handle 4GB). The 8820 did recognize and load up the card- I have just OVER 4GB of files on it. (What's the deal with that? I thought that's impossible...)

Anyway, yesterday I did my usual weekend routine and by night's end when I usually have 80% battery left, I was down to 50%!

What gives? My gut thought, "it's the new memory card". But that didn't make sense.

However, I did fiddle with the Media Player, testing various video clips to see if they'd play properly.

This morning, I noticed that if I hit ESC out of the Media Player, it doesn't close but runs in the background. Oops. Perhaps I walked around all day yesterday with the app running in the background (but not playing)?

What do you folks think: Memory card causing drain? Or, Media Player left open in the background?

[akosnitzky]

Wirelessly posted (Verizon 8830)

Open in the background will drain it significantly.
You need to close it out completely before you make a determination.

[ezrunner]

Wirelessly posted (my heart is saddened)

You answered your own question I think you nailed it on the head

Media player running in background was likely the culprit

[wirelessandy]

Originally Posted by akosnitzky

Wirelessly posted (Verizon 8830)

Open in the background will drain it significantly.
You need to close it out completely before you make a determination.

I am beginning to think leaving it in the background is the most likely culprit... I do clearly recall that all day yesterday, if I went back into the Media Player, one of the options I saw in the menu was "Now Playing".

"Now Playing" isn't there if you close it completely. However, it was there all day yesterday (the day of bigger than average battery drain).

I'll make sure the Media Player is closed today and see what happens by the end of the day...

[JSanders]

That will do it.

And, only OS versions 4.3 and higher will support over 4gb Media Cards.

[wirelessandy]

Originally Posted by JSanders

And, only OS versions 4.3 and higher will support over 4gb Media Cards.

Then how come my 4.2.x 8820 (at&t) is recognizing more than 4GB out of the 8GB card? Totally confused...

Options > Media Card
Total Space: 7.6 GB
Free Space: 3.3 GB

I've got about 4.3 GB of files on there at the moment, and they all open just fine.

If I'm deluding myself, I'd love to know for sure!

[JSanders]

Could be... I won't say you are deluding yourself. However, straight from RIM:

BlackBerry Device Software 4.2.0 Up to 2GB
BlackBerry Device Software 4.2.1 Up to 4GB
BlackBerry Device Software 4.2.2 Up to 4GB
BlackBerry Device Software 4.3.0 Up to 8GB

So if yours does, congrats!

[wirelessandy]

Yeah I saw the table from RIM, and I've even seen a few scattered postings from other BB users w/o 4.3 OS running the 8GB cards (with success).

I'd hate to go to town with loading up the card only to find I was just fooling myself.

More testing is in order...

[wirelessandy]

Now I'm really puzzled. Not all the files seem to want to open.

When I add photos/movies that take the card close to or over the 4GB mark, they don't seem to want to open up. In one test, the movies I added were the same ones, just with a different file name (just to make sure I wasn't loading a truly incompatible clip).

Hm. How odd.

UPDATE
My 8GB card had a Video folder with 3.77GB of clips on it. Nothing else I added wanted to play. But all the existing clips play fine.

So I wiped the folder, and added a few "new" ones in it's place, plus one "old" one for control. Total size less than 1GB taken. Way under the supposed 4GB limit.

Result: They all played fine.

Conclusion:
Do you suppose the 4.2 OS might read the card as 4 GB+, but won't recognize files added after a certain point (about 4GB)?

[JSanders]

Yep, you will find numerous threads here with that same conclusion. Only 4gb is usable on the OS you have loaded.

Good luck.

[wirelessandy]

That's good to know! So it sounds like my 4.2 8820 can "see" the 7.6 GB on the card (Options > Media Card) but can only USE the first 4GB, give or take.

Thank you thank you! (looks for a 4GB card, puts 8GB away for a rainy day... or OS 4.3!)