Everything went great on the update itself.
Now when I try to add back my samples I can’t get the card to open up
In windows 10. I know it is my fault I just can’t remember how I did it before. It asks to format and I click no then a screen comes up saying no operating system.
Go easy on me I have Covid brain haha
to be clear, the card is booting up on the SSP?
the issue is just the you cannot see the sdcard when plugged into card reader attached to windows 10 computer?
if so, I suspect the sdcard image is fine…and its just we need to check the windows side.
Ive not tried with this image yet on a windows machine, so this is a theory…
(as I dont really have a spare card - but if the problem persists, I can give it a go)
k, first thing - don’t format the card when it suggests this…
the error is misleading, if the SSP is booting from this card, then really the error means windows is seeing an ‘unrecognised filesystem’.
have you checked in file manger that there is not a second ‘drive’?
it could be the sdcard image now has two filesystems, and you are basically get a ‘warning’ about the one you dont need to play with.
what would be really useful is for us to see what Windows thinks is on this sdcard…
can you get a screen shot from ‘Disk Management’ ( see here on how to open) when sdcard is connected.
this should show us what filesystem are on the sdcard.
(theres quite a lot of resources on the internet about this)
do NOT do anything with Disk Manager (or otherwise in windows) e.g. format, re-intialise, fix… this will just break the image 
I suspect the sdcard image is fine… since the SSP is seeing it ok.
anyway thats my first thoughts… though Im on my first cup of coffee… so my brain is still waking up !
windows typically only shows the first partition on the card.
the BOOT partition is the first one and that is why samples and all other application files are in that partition.
you have to update windows 10 to the latest version though. earlier versions had even more issues with multiple partitions.
tl;dr;
tried on my windows 10 laptop here… my previous post is correct.
windows 10 is reporting ‘issues’ for other partitions, you can simply ignore these warning.
use file manager, you will find it successfully mounted the SSP drive,
where you will find the samples, presets and plugins folder - ready to update.
btw: you can also ignore windows warning about needing to clean the drive… do not do this, its not required… basically , it happens because the SSP is powered down without unmounting sdcard… so its marked ‘dirty’, which windows is reporting.
this is NOT an issue…
(only thing to remember is dont power off SSP while actively writing to sdcard e.g. using recorder)
more details … so, gave it a try here on my windows 10 laptop (fully updated), and in my case, what you are saying @bert is not true… I get exactly the same issue as OP described, and the reason was precisely as I said… (and solution ;))
here you can see my sdcard image, has 6 partitions, including the BOOT one we are interested.
so windows 10, basically reports a warning/error for the other partitions doesn’t like,
but as I said… it does correctly mount the BOOT partition (in this case to I: )
note:
yes, it was created with Etcher, albeit from an older image.
so, whilst the ‘released’ image may look slightly different, im confident, it’s the same issue … I download and check if necessary, but bet its the same
this is windows 10, fully up to date, including all drivers.
in my experience, using PIs, its always been like this.
perhaps there is a setting in windows somewhere, that you can make it silently ignore unrecognized partitions.
I’ll leave that as homework for the reader, as the least time I have to run windows for the better 
fyi, you can see the layout here:
macOS shows it better
/dev/disk4 (external, physical):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *31.9 GB disk4
1: Microsoft Basic Data 4.1 MB disk4s1
2: Microsoft Basic Data 65.5 KB disk4s2
3: Microsoft Basic Data 4.2 MB disk4s3
4: Microsoft Basic Data 4.2 MB disk4s4
5: Microsoft Basic Data 4.2 MB disk4s5
6: Microsoft Basic Data BOOT 21.0 GB disk4s6
7: Microsoft Basic Data 9.4 GB disk4s7
(free space) 1.5 GB -
basically the sdcard (image) has partitions that are marked as ‘FAT’ (not even FAT32), but that are not formatted… this is why windows attempt to mount them and fails.
I would be interesting to see where these partitions are coming from, and if they are needed at all…
these days, its not uncommon for OSs to add ‘hidden’ partitions for ‘recovery features’… and its also not uncommon for these to be marked ‘inappropriately’
Ok thank you both
Yes it will boot up in the SSP and so much faster.
I did use etcher so maybe that is my fault on why I can’t get to the files. I believe you said another way for windows and I do need to update windows 10
And from updating before I know to ignore the warnings and just go forward.
On my old card windows will show multiple partition’s on the card
I am going to flash another card with the back up image and see if the files will show up.
Just to see if I am doing something wrong.
I only said the samples to keep it simple but I need to transfer presets and the new and updated plugins you have done . But access to the file structure will do that.
Thanks again
aren’t the new plugins contained in the new image ?
The PLY module is , but I release my plugins separately… they have different release cycles, and that’s something I want to retain control of.
Any advice to macOS 12.5 (Monterey) on M1 (ARM) users who cannot write to the microSD card’s file system because macOS sets the file system to read-only by default? I tried mounting the card to my ancient Win7 PC, but all it wants to do is re-format it. Can the card be reformatted to something macOS recognizes then “re-etched” with belenaEtcher to install the SSP OS image? Seriously stuck here with no way to install technobear’s great plug-ins
FWIW - I have written to the SD Card, in particular copied the latest technofear plug-ins, while on MacOS 12.5 (Monterey). I am still on an Intel CPU (i9) but expect that not to make a difference. My Mac reports the Format as MS-DOS (FAT32) and the SSP image was written with Balina Etcher. The only cryptic thing is Sharing & Permissions, which is reported as “You have custom access” which I haven’t come across before. The other bit of information is that the account I used has admin privileges, which helps with write permissions 
. Hope there is something in the above that helps you analyse your situation.
@jsillari , ok so this is not ‘normal’… it should not be happening, so we need to understand whats going on… (Im using an M1, and 12.5)
so, lets establish the nature of the problem 
( a repeat for others reading… the more info you can give when stating your problem, the more likely we can fix without the initial back n’ forth… also means I need to write less ‘blurb’ on what to check )
on macOS:
I’m assuming you have already upgraded to the latest image using belenaEtcher?
you are then seeing the BOOT (fat32) partition on your desktop?
Im assuming you used the sdcard that came with the SSP… and that its has enough capacity.
correct?
but the issue you are having is you cannot copy things to the samples/plugins directory?
SSP boots, runs factory patches? you are on latest image?
(have you just upgraded? so this is a new ‘image’)
correct?
lets now checks some things…
if you are using an sd card to micro sd card adapter, check it doesn’t have the ‘read only’ tab slide across to read.
k, lets take a closer look at the sd card,
launch disk utility, then click on External/BOOT , (take extra care do make sure you DO THIS)
at the top it should say MS-DOS(FAT32)
not click on First Aid, and it’ll check the drive for errors
one reason filesystems can be marked ‘read-only’ is if the OS thinks that are damaged…
(though, this tends not to happen on fat partitions)
on macOS, it’ll silently ignore partitions that it cannot mount. (in this case the ext3) and mount those it can (fat32)
as for windows 7 ‘issue’ , things are different…
on Windows, it will mount the partitions it recognises (fat32) and whinge about ones it cannt (ext3).
this is ok, we only need to mount the fat32/boot partition to transfer samples/plugins etc.
overall its quite difficult from here to know whats going on…
basically the ssp image you have written with belenaEtcher to the sdcard is ‘complete’
so contains multiple partitions, including the FAT32 one that contains the default factory presets etc, and should be writeable on all operating systems.
no extra steps are needed, its should “just work” ™
we could jump to conclusions, about the write failing, or dodgy sdcard - but honestly, we don’t really have enough information. esp. as things like belenaEtcher do verify the write process, so you’d expect that to fail, if its bad.
similarly, if its was a bad write/image - there are checksums to verify against, and also you’d not expect the SSP to even boot.
so, whilst you could try another sdcard if you have one (why not ) , its all a bit odd still.
(*) none of this is a special ‘percussa’ thing either - this is a standard workflow, that 1000s/millions of devs do all the time for developing on other systems, e.g. raspberry pis, so it’s very reliable.
Ive never personally seen it fail, and I do it a lot
however, I will say I always use high quality branded sdcards … this is NOT an area to save money on. cheap cards fail more often, and usually don’t give you the performance that they claim on the packaging… don’t believe those telling you otherwise, you get what you pay for!
permission as per @titaanzink …
I’ll admit I also use an admin account all the time (and I suspect most do)
but I don’t think this is the issue…
Im pretty sure when you mount an external drive (e.g. the sdcard) , that permission is granted to the current logged in user. I suspect this is why it is shown as custom, as its a dynamic permission set, not static to user or group.
the only issue I could see, is if you switch between users whilst an external drive is mounted,
then indeed, it might not be accessible to the other user. so switching users would not be a good idea …
then again, Ive not tested this … so perhaps its does work (i.e. access is to all logged in users?)
Now, I can’t check quickly/easily, since I dont really want to start creating new users/logging out etc.
also, whilst I use a administration account on my Mac,
for my mother in law, we have set her iMac up with a ‘user account’ for her to use (and we hold the admin account) - and she has no issues mounting external drives and using them.
(she does this for transferring photos/videos)
… hence why, Im pretty sure the default ‘end user’ profile has full access to external drives.
that said Im pretty sure using disk utility etc that do lower level formatting etc, do require admin access.
probably even for external drives, but thats I believe because if you’re not careful you can also format your macOS root partition
of course, normal support suggestions of rebooting machine, and try with an admin account apply…
just in case, macOS is doing some quickly…
Mark:
Thanks for your quick reply. (BTW: Were you at Superbooth '22 at the Percussa SSP booth?)
I’ve answered your email below by embedding my replies in bold to your questions.
on macOS:
I’m assuming you have already upgraded to the latest image using belenaEtcher? ==> correct, created using belenaEtcher with the Superbooth '22 image from the forum website
you are then seeing the BOOT (fat32) partition on your desktop? ==> correct, macOS Disk Utility reports USB External Physical Volume - MS-DOS (FAT32)
Im assuming you used the sdcard that came with the SSP… and that its has enough capacity. ==> both supplied microSD card AND my own SanDisk 32GB microSD card with the latest image on it
but the issue you are having is you cannot copy things to the samples/plugins directory? ==> macOS Disk Utility reports that the Mount Point (Read-Only): /Volumes/BOOT
SSP boots, runs factory patches? you are on latest image? ==> correct, SSP boots without any issues, runs all factory patches using the latest image (see reply above)
(have you just upgraded? so this is a new ‘image’) ==> correct, see previous reply
lets now checks some things…
if you are using an sd card to micro sd card adapter, check it doesn’t have the ‘read only’ tab slide across to read. ==> I was hoping that was the issue; unfortunately, no, the read-only tab is write-enabled
k, lets take a closer look at the sd card,
launch disk utility, then click on External/BOOT , (take extra care do make sure you DO THIS) ==> on my system, Disk Utility indicates just “BOOT”, no “External” (see screenshot below)
at the top it should say MS-DOS(FAT32) ==> correct, macOS Disk Utility reports MS-DOS (FAT32) for the BOOT partition on device disk6s6
not click on First Aid, and it’ll check the drive for errors ==> was this a typo? did you mean that I should click on Disk First Aid?
one reason filesystems can be marked ‘read-only’ is if the OS thinks that are damaged…
(though, this tends not to happen on fat partitions)
on macOS, it’ll silently ignore partitions that it cannot mount. (in this case the ext3) and mount those it can (fat32)
as for windows 7 ‘issue’ , things are different…
on Windows, it will mount the partitions it recognises (fat32) and whinge about ones it cannt (ext3).
this is ok, we only need to mount the fat32/boot partition to transfer samples/plugins etc.
overall its quite difficult from here to know whats going on…
basically the ssp image you have written with belenaEtcher to the sdcard is ‘complete’ ==> belenaEtcher reported that the disk image was created successfully without errors
so contains multiple partitions, including the FAT32 one that contains the default factory presets etc, and should be writeable on all operating systems. ==> correct
no extra steps are needed, its should “just work” ™
we could jump to conclusions, about the write failing, or dodgy sdcard - but honestly, we don’t really have enough information. esp. as things like belenaEtcher do verify the write process, so you’d expect that to fail, if its bad.
similarly, if its was a bad write/image - there are checksums to verify against, and also you’d not expect the SSP to even boot.
so, whilst you could try another sdcard if you have one (why not 
) , its all a bit odd still. ==> I have two microSD cards, one supplied by Percussa with an old OS, and a new SanDisk 32GB card with the latest image, both boot successfully on the SSP
(*) none of this is a special ‘percussa’ thing either - this is a standard workflow, that 1000s/millions of devs do all the time for developing on other systems, e.g. raspberry pis, so it’s very reliable.
Ive never personally seen it fail, and I do it a lot
however, I will say I always use high quality branded sdcards … this is NOT an area to save money on. cheap cards fail more often, and usually don’t give you the performance that they claim on the packaging… don’t believe those telling you otherwise, you get what you pay for! ==> I’m using the same brand microSD card as supplied by Percussa SSP, SanDisk, and the same capacity.
Also, in Terminal, the permissions on the BOOT partition show as:
drwxrwxrwx@ 1 admin staff 16384 Aug 6 12:16 BOOT
Regards,
John
the only supported card is a sandisk extreme 32gb. extreme pro is also ok. anything else is not supported. consumer cards are not reliable and you should not use them.
if you use a consumer card the chances are high that it will corrupt quickly and then become permanently read only. the card manufacturer does this to prevent further corruption.
there is a reason that the ssp ships with an expensive extreme card. use it!
Bert, Mark, and Titaanzink:
Thank you all for your replies and suggestions. Turns out the SanDisk microSD-to-SD adapter was the culprit. While they may look the same, the one with the later date stamp (2021-11-02, grey writing on front) allows the macOS to mount the card as read-write (“custom permissions”). The older one (2020-12-11, white writing on front) does not.
The microSD card now mounts read-write and macOS allows me to copy plug-ins to it.
Regards,
John
cool, glad you got it working…
odd about the adapter, afaik, all they they do is ‘extend the pins’ - sounds like one of them is faulty.
(perhaps a bad contact internally?)
just for others reading… if they are tying to diagnose similar issues…
the fact that your factory patches were working, shows that the sdcard image was very likely ok.
“Disk Utility reports that the Mount Point (Read-Only): /Volumes/BOOT”, this is normal.
its saying that the mount point is read only NOT that the sdcard is read-only.
" not click on First Aid, and it’ll check the drive for errors ==> was this a typo? did you mean that I should click on Disk First Aid?"
no, in latest macOS version (12.5) , the Disk Utility app, has an option, labelled ‘First Aid’
perhaps in other versions its called ‘disk first aid’
anyway, the point was clear I think, you can use ‘first aid’ in disk utility on a Mac to check the fat32 partition.
anyway, obviously, not the issue in this case… as it turned out to be your adapter.
this is why its difficult diagnosing faults, it can be really unexpected things … bits of hardware you think work, only to find later they don’t.
Hmm… a 64GB, or 128GB card is not supported by the SSP? Can this be updated?
you could add a 64gb/128gb card, theres no technical limitation.
you’d just have to make sure it was a high quality one like a SanDisk Extreme Pro… using cheap micro sd cards would result in poor performance.
however, bare in mind, currently (as far a I know), no module streams audio/cv from the sdcard.
so. you are “kind of” limited by how much RAM you have on the SSP if you want to use large samples.
a really large card,would only be useful for:
a) switching between lots of samples in patch
b) having a large sample library.
c) IF streaming recording/playback was added.
this is all a bit generalisation, but really just to say I don’t think a 32gb card, is in practice, much of a limitation… or at least, Ive not bothered using a larger one.
but as I said, technically, it’s already possible to use a larger card… just use the regular image provided, and then increase the partition size.
Id be surprised, if you couldn’t use even larger like 1TB… but be aware, sdcard performance at different sizes are not all equal… and they do fail… so not sure Id want to spend 300euros on one
btw: I think Bert’s point about ‘supported’ is… he can’t be expected to deal with issues arising from users using other (possibly inferior) cards etc. thats why he supplies a decent sdcard card, so its a good ‘out of the box’ solution, thats know to be working well.
but outside of ‘supported’ , you can mess and tinker with the SSP as much as you like … its very open in that regard
Hi Technobear. Thanks for your reply. No worries on the quality of SSD cards. I use the extreme cards for any device that requires one. Good to know that I can use a 64GB, or 128GB card.
I’m just delving into the possibilities of SSP now. My first thoughts are that I would likely use it to record a lot of audio and CVs from my modular. Given that, I feel like I would want to use the largest card that will work with the SSP, especially since the OS runs off of the SD card.
Thanks, Marc
yeah, but an hour of audio (stereo @ 48k sr incompressed) is still only about 700mb… so even with the OS on the card, you’d have literally hours of audio available
these large cards were primarily developed for video, esp. in the age of 4k, where GBs can be used in minutes… audio is tiny by comparison, even at high sample rates.(*)
and as I mentioned above, without streaming, for playback you’d start using a lot of ram for playback…
(of course, its possible we could in the future stream audio/cv and so that’d then not be an issue)
as I said, important not to look at things like the SSP from always ‘tech specs’ point of view, more is not always better/important - rather consider (musical) use-case, the SSP is primarily an instrument…
(viewing it as a computer, and trying to think in tech terms - I tend to think is a mistake)
but hey, do whatever, you think you need…and of course, the more experience you gain with the SSP, the more you’ll get a feel for how you will use the SSP and so what you need.
(so, Id start with the supplied 32gb card, and go from there, if you need to)
(*) one of the drawback of using very large card sizes for small data files, is the large block size they use (internally) , so its better to use the appropriate size cards. more is not always better
I want to simply export some samples and wavetables from my Win10 laptop to the SSP’s card. However, Win10 doesn’t see the SSP’s card at all (FileExplorer), only the adapter (see pic-USB Drive H).
For some reason this laptop doesn’t have a card slot, so I have to use a card-to-USB adapter via a powered hub. I don’t know if this might have an impact on the situation. I also purchased this SSP 2nd hand, and don’t know the history of the use of this card, but it does boot the SSP just fine and I can find samples on this card whilst mounted in the SSP, so obviously this is a Windows/hardware issue. Yes, view hidden files is enabled, and Win10 is updated to the latest version.
Has anyone else dealt with this specific issue on Win10?
Thanks, Marc
