Suitable FileSystem for external SLC NAND Flash memory

[masterLee]

Dear all,

I am working on an nRF52840 project that communicates with an external NAND Flash memory and I am looking for a suitable file system for my external flash memory.

The memory I use is a 2Gb (256Mbytes) SPI SLC NAND Flash by Micron (MT29F2G01). I have successfully managed to write, read and erase data in flash without issues.

Now I need something more...elegant and organized so that I can use my Flash memory with files and I am searching for a suitable file system for this cause.

  After a lot of searching I found the following possible solutions but, since I am not an expert on the file system subject  I would need a liitle (lot of) your help and experience  .

• FLogFS                      (link)
• usbd_msc example   (link)
• emFile                        (link)

FLogFS seems to be the most suitable since the memory that is used is an MT29F1 series SPI SLC NAND.

usbd_msc example uses QSPI to communicate with the onboard external memory but the memory is NOR and not NAND. So I don't know if that makes sense mentioning it

emFile supports the memory chip I use but it is difficult for me to understand how to use emFile with nRF52840 and where to start from

[masterLee]

A quick update. FLogFS is not a file system actually. It supports wear leveling and bad block allocation which is great but you cannot create directories etc.

Also, I came across littleFS This FS  has all the above plus you can create directories etc. I still have not cleared things out though. If someone has experience with these FS please share your experience

[CheMax]

I try demo project with emFILE from SEGGER. 

Advantages:
- The speed of the driver is higher than that proposed in the SDK;
- The wear leveling mechanism is used. I checked by reading the memory natively after the procedures: full formatting - writing a test file. Each time the file table was physically located in a new sector;

Disadvantages:
- the cost is quite high, since it requires the purchase of a file system, a NRA driver, and possibly an operating system;

but overall very pleased with that product.
While management is thinking about acquiring, I am looking for alternatives for memory chips.

[masterLee]

Thank you for the update!

What kind of modifications have you done in the emFILE library?

Which nRF board are you using?

Another possible solution is littleFS although it is mainly used for NOR chips

[CheMax]

no changes, I asked the SEGGER for a demo code for working with a nordic demo board pca10056.

They have one available here (see evaluation demo for nrf52840-DK), but it works with a virtual disk. To work with a real chip, I made a separate request.

About littleFS I read this post: LittleFS (sorry, post on russian)