1GB card barrier BossBR

[Stan]

hello all
can anyone tell me if it's possible to use a expansion card larger than 1GB,
i'm finding it real hard to find anything that small these days?

thanks inadvance

[peterp]

Answer is basically no for all the older BR units.
The filesystem BOSS used on them cannot handle a card larger than 1Gb.

The only current one that I know of that can use modern big SDHC cards is the BR-800.

Some 2Gb cards are recognized and will work in the older units, but you only get to use 1Gb on them.

I suspect it is this limitation and the difficulty in obraining the tiny SD cards now, that will be the final nail in the older BR units coffins.

[64Guitars]

Roland's official list of tested cards for the Micro BR now includes a couple of Lexar 2GB cards (You didn't mention which BR model you have, so I'm assuming it's the Micro BR).

http://www.roland.com/products/en/_support/faq.cfm?PRODUCT=M-BR&iRcId=38407354&dsp=1

However, the Micro BR can only address 1GB. So, even though the 2GB card will work, it will act as a 1GB card. There is no way to address the card's full 2GB capacity.

https://songcrafters.org/64guitars/BR/FAQ.html#mem

I would imagine that other brands of 2GB SD cards will also work, but there are no guarantees. You'll just have to try them and see. The Roland card list (above) does mention several 2GB cards that do not work reliably.

[Oldrottenhead]

i use generic unbranded 4gb cards designed for gaming get them for about £4 uk sterling from my local pc store and they work a treat bin using them for years, the microbr only recognises 1gb of them tho but like i say they work well.

[Tangled Wires]

I managed to buy four Samsung 1GB cards last year off eBay for £4.49 each.

I imagine if you search for 1GB memory cards you will be able to find some on there

[SteveB]

Not too sure where Stan/OP is, but I ordered some 1gb & 2gb Integral CF cards this week from Amazon UK without any problem. I've used these in my BR900 since at least 2006 without a single problem. And the 2gb go into my Sony digital camera, again, with no probs at all. Good luck with yer search, Stan.

[Stan]

thanks for all the info and responses

i fullu understand now the limitations,

i was just hoping a factory fix was available to lift the limitations

cheers

[Greeny]

I guess this issue will be sorted out once and for all if a new version of the MBR is ever released. Strangely, I've never had any limitation with just a 1GB memory... it just means you have to clear stuff down to a pc more regularly. I guess recording a long gig or jam session would present a few problems though.

[64Guitars]

i was just hoping a factory fix was available to lift the limitations

I doubt that that will ever happen. The BR-800 and (presumably) future Boss recorders can address 32 GB. Boss would rather sell you a new recorder than fix the limitations of the recorder you've already bought.

Strangely, I've never had any limitation with just a 1GB memory... it just means you have to clear stuff down to a pc more regularly.

That's a good point. My BR-864 only came with a 128MB card and I used it that way for a couple of years because cards were too expensive. The first card I bought was 512MB and cost me over $70 (which was a bargain at the time). But the 128MB card was enough for one song. So, after I finished my song, I'd backup the card to my computer and initialize the card. Then I was all set to start recording my next song. One benefit of this is that each backup only contained one song, so it was much easier to manage my backups. With 1GB cards, there's usually lots of duplication of songs and it's hard to keep track of which backup has the latest version of your song.

But the problem with the 1GB limit isn't that it's not enough memory. It's that 1GB cards are becoming hard to find. So all BR users should be sure to have several 1GB memory cards on hand in case of future card failure. If you only have one memory card and it dies five years from now, it will be nearly impossible to replace unless you can find a used one on eBay or somewhere. But even used cards of that size will likely be scarce. So it's best to buy a few cards now while you can still get them. Otherwise, your BR could become completely useless for want of a memory card. You can't even use it for the effects without a working memory card because it won't start up.

[launched]

I feel bad every time I see these posts - The 1GB barrier is quite a bummer, along with the fact that SDHC are (reportedly) incompatible.

I would like to issue a warning as well: In my opinion, nobody has any business putting more than 700MB worth of data on an MBR. They are just asking for trouble. Maybe it's just the way I use mine but every time I tried to squeeze another song project in, things started going helter skelter.

But anyway, I'm not trying to bash it - Until BOSS replaces it with a new generation, the MBR will always be my favorite rig.

Mark