FIX: When the media in a Windows CE 5.0-based device is almost full, you may be unable to delete files from the media or to format the media

When the media in a Windows CE 5.0-based device is almost full, you may be unable to delete any files from the media, or you may be unable to format the media. For example, assume that you have a NAND flash media device that has 80 kilobytes (KB) of free memory. When you try to copy a file whose size is smaller than 80 KB to the media device, the copy operation fails, and you may experience this problem.

This problem may occur because a write operation fails. The write operation is performed when you copy or delete a file on a media device, or when you format a media device. The flash adaptive layer (FAL) incorrectly reports that the media device is full even though some free sectors are available.

Software update information

A supported software update is now available from Microsoft as Windows CE 5.0 Platform Builder Monthly Update (July 2008). You can confirm this by scrolling to the "File information" section of this article. The package file name contains the product version, date, Knowledge Base article number, and processor type. The package file name format is:For example: Wincepb50-060503-kb917590-armv4i.msi is the ARMV4i Windows CE 5.0 Platform Builder fix that is documented in KB article 917590 and that is contained in the May 2006 monthly update. To resolve this problem immediately, click the following article number for information about obtaining Windows CE Platform Builder and core operating system software updates:

Prerequisites

This update is supported only if all previously issued updates for this product have also been installed.

Restart requirement

After you apply this update, you must perform a clean build of the whole platform. To do this, use one of the following methods:

• On the Build OS menu, make sure that the following options are selected, and then click Sysgen.
  • Clean Before Building
  • Copy Files to Release Directory After Build
  • Make Run-Time Image After Build
• On the Build OS menu, click Open Release Directory, type blddemo clean -q at a command prompt, and then press ENTER.

You do not have to restart the computer after you apply this update.

Update replacement information

This update does not replace any other updates.

File information

The English version of this software update package has the following file attributes or later attributes: The English version of this software update package has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

To delete a file from a flash memory device, the corresponding file allocation table (FAT) table and directory entries must be updated. The media driver must read the values of the FAT table and the directory entries from the current physical media sector to a RAM buffer, and then the driver must modify the values. Eventually, the new values are written to a free sector.
For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: