SDIO Hub/ expansions/ extra slots - MDA II, XDA II, 2060 ROM Development

Oh great and wise of you out there, a question,
Just like you can expand your number of USB ports on a PC by using a hub is it possible to expand your number of SDIO slots on your Hima (as per the idea of internal dual SIM holders)?
I came across this "mod" where somebody has obviously tried to double up on slots.
Would the concept work for the Hima or as per dual SIM holders does anyone know if there is a product out there already (failled to find on by googling).
FYI I'd love to add WIFI, Storage and GPS to my Hima but don't really want to be forever swapping cards or having combo cards wifi/storage where I'd be stuck once say storage ran out).It would be great to have my current 1G SD storage side by side with a new wifi card both flat against the back of the hima (inside or out space allowing) then I could pop the GPS SD into the top since that's the bulky one).
Thoughts/ insights much appreciated.
Regards - Mallow1
PS posted this over in buzzdev too and the feedback seemed to be positive on the theory but nothing re a product out there already or anybody else trying the same thing.

xda's cant host other usb devices
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=13031&highlight=usb+host

Hi Rudegar,
Thanks for the reply but I think you miss understand me. did you follow the link embedded in the "mod" text in my post above?
I'm not wanting to connect USB devices to my Hima. Instead I'm wanting to connect multiple SDIO cards at the same time (e.g. Wifi, Memory and GPS). The link I supplied showed how this was done on another pda via an aweful hack of the hardware. It seemed to work (albeit messy and probably not very robust) so I'm trying to see if there is a product or procedure out there which will work for our Hima's.
Suggestions so far have been to use a miniSD adapter to help bring the SDIO contacts out from inside the Hima (hnce hosting a splitter connection), strip a muliple card reader to donate card hardware or try to utilise the other I/O connections that the backpack uses. All of this is beyond my scope so I'm seeing if anyone else has contemplated adding more than 1 SDIO card to their hima simultaneously.
My analogy was to refer to a PC's ability with only one USB port to use multiple USB devices simultaneously via a USB hub. I'm not looking to attached USB devices to my Hima.
Any thoughts on the multi-SDIO idea?
Regards - Mallow1

any luck yet?
Hi Mallow,
I understand your question and I am also looking for a way to extend the number of sdio slots on my Acer N35. About a year ago I found such an sdio hub. Unfortunately I cannot find it anymore.
I hope you found a solution. I am very interested.
Regards,
Steve.
Mallow1 said:
Hi Rudegar,
Thanks for the reply but I think you miss understand me. did you follow the link embedded in the "mod" text in my post above?
I'm not wanting to connect USB devices to my Hima. Instead I'm wanting to connect multiple SDIO cards at the same time (e.g. Wifi, Memory and GPS). The link I supplied showed how this was done on another pda via an aweful hack of the hardware. It seemed to work (albeit messy and probably not very robust) so I'm trying to see if there is a product or procedure out there which will work for our Hima's.
Suggestions so far have been to use a miniSD adapter to help bring the SDIO contacts out from inside the Hima (hnce hosting a splitter connection), strip a muliple card reader to donate card hardware or try to utilise the other I/O connections that the backpack uses. All of this is beyond my scope so I'm seeing if anyone else has contemplated adding more than 1 SDIO card to their hima simultaneously.
My analogy was to refer to a PC's ability with only one USB port to use multiple USB devices simultaneously via a USB hub. I'm not looking to attached USB devices to my Hima.
Any thoughts on the multi-SDIO idea?
Regards - Mallow1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Related

xda and bluetooth

Hi,
Anyone know how to connect bluetooth to
O2 XDA? Thanks.
Bluetooth usb adaptor F8T001
Use bluetooth usb adaptor F8T001.
The XDA can only be hooked up as USB slave. Meaning it can only talk to a computer, not to peripherals, such as bluetooth adapters.
What?
That BlueTooth adapter is for adding Bluetooth to a computer with a USB port. That is the Belkin adapter.
That wont work.
IF someone has seen something... Id like to know... but as far as I know its not possible considering the SD slot does not support SD/IO and a serial implementation would be bulky. Furthermore the USB sync connection does not offer USB host which is what is needed to use USB devices. To my knowledge there is only one or two Pocket PCs that have this. The toshiba and one of the Cassiopeias.
BeDammit
YellowTab... the ressurection of BeOS
long usb sync connection
No bluetooth on Xda.
Only option is to use a very long usb sync connection?
bluetooth with usb port?
Hi,
Anyone know if there is such thing as a bluetooth with usb port?
Thank you.
Yes, but it would not help you since the device can only talk to USB-equipped computers, not to USB devices. To use BDSM terminology, it's a 'slave' and not a 'master', and doesn't like reverse roleplay.
I am lost here
I just dont understand why there is no way to use bluetooth on Xda
since you can use a usb sync cable or infrared to synchronised the
xda & desktop pc. Can there be a blue tooth unit at the end of the
usb sync cable that hook up to xda to received the signal from the bluetooth adaptor that connect to the desktop pc usb port. I thought
it is like just cutting the usb sync cable and using sort of wireless
medium to joint their ends. I understand a little bit about xda being a slave device etc but dont understand the part that you cannot use
sort of connections or adaptors etc to transmit signal? Maybe those
guys from bluetooth,SIG, will look into this area. So far as I know
they only have bluetooth to connect pc to printer and keyboard.
Seems like they say something like the OS of xda will not accept
bluetooth etc.. Hope you experts can enlightened me. Thank you.
Yeah, no problem! Go stick a Blutooth adapter on the end of a USB cable........then come back and let us know when you have paired the two devices up.
Hi everybody,
I´m new in here, so please forgive me when I'm asking stupid questions or anything
several things I found out so far :
first of all, of course there is a difference between a USB host and a USB device, as BeDammit pointed out correctly above. To use USB devices, the XDA would need host function instead of its built-in USB slave used for synchronisation. Generally speaking, there are just a few devices offering both host and slave function, since there are only a few USB chips offering both (for the developers: Philips has just launched some new of these chips).
For PDAs with Compact Flash, there is a new solution, which you can check out here : http://www.ratocsystems.com/english/products/subpages/cfu1u.html
(If they'd only had a SD version... :? )
Nevertheless, a synchronisation via bluetooth should still be possible since xda would only be a slave. There are some guys here in Germany offering Bluetooth Headsets via ebay, article number is 3329163765. On this auction's site they say : "don`t keep telling us your xda has no bluetooth; we know that. Therefore you will be delivered an additional bluetooth adaptor " (sic!)
I have not gone further to this so far, for actually I don't have my xda yet... 8) , but maybe this helped you a little further...
<half an hour later : >
I got it ! I got it ! It's made by Toshiba, but compatible. Check it out here :
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/...pfam=PDA Accessories&poid=209738&Adoid=140389
Interesting
Anyone care to look more closely into this product and give us some feedback? Unfortunately I don't have the skills to do such a thing.
Cheers!
XDAs do not support SDIO cards, only SD memory cards...
(And doing a search in older messages would have revealed this same answer, only about 50 times...)
I have heaRD THAT o2 MAY BE RELEASING AN xda with triband and 64Mb ROM c/w bluetooth. A dealer told me but no word on the net. The XDA 64i apparently.
Anyone else heard that?
E-Ten P700
Yes, I got a reply from the supplier E-Ten who told
me The new device with bluetooth will be call E-Ten P700.
It is similar to O2xda just like their older version P600 series
but this one will have bluetooth. Their P610 has wifi 802.11b.
But the new P700 will only be release Q3. Most probably O2xda
new release might be around the same time. Cheers

Connecting O2 Xda II with an iPod 60GB is it possible?

Hi guys!
Would anyone know of a way to have an iPod unit connect to an O2 Xda II and have it work like an external hard drive? I was thinking maybe through the use a USB cable. If this is feasible, the question is how? And, do you guys know of anyone who can do it? Since the O2's memory is what it is, and "expanding" the memory pretty much means getting more and larger SD cards.
However, if this can be worked out then the iPod provides the O2 awesome storage space.
Thanks!
no the usb on himalaya is slave only, other usb cable hosts can access the pda but it cant access other slaves.
USB Cable Slave
"...other usb cable hosts can access the pda but it cant access other slaves."
Thanks Rudegar.

USB Device (GPS RCVR, kYBD) possible on Hermes?

I've looked around here a good bit and can't seem to find info on the USB functions of this device (I have an 8500). I've read where somebody got an external memory card to work through the cable, but what I am kind of curious about is do other USB devices work as well? Ie, if I get a cable with the appropriate ends on it, could I hook up a keyboard or, more importantly (and at the risk of "Read-the-massive-thread" flaming) an external GPS antenna (such as the one that comes with Microsoft Streets and Trips)?.
any ideas?
sorry if this is posted in the wrong place.
Jason
In any USB connection, there has to be a "bus master" device, which "directs" all the other devices, and manages the transactions. This operation is usually done by a PC; while there are other pdas (I've seen HPs do it) which can be "reversed" and turned into bus-masters, no HTC device can do this. It is a hardware problem, as the pda needs some special hardware in order to be able to act as a bus-master. As a usb bus can't work without a bus-master, two "client" devices (such as your hermes and a usb memory stick) will not be able to work together.
Sorry!
The Samsung S3C 2442 processor used by the HTC Hermes actually does have native USB Host support per Samsung's documentation here: http://www.samsung.com/products/semiconductor/MobileSoC/ApplicationProcessor/ARM9Series/SC32442/SC32442.htm.
Now if the wires are connected or not, that's a question I have not yet dug deep enough to answer. Maybe, maybe not.
The ETEN M500 supported USB Host while the M600 does not. These devices are identical hardware as far as I could tell, both using the Samsung S3C 2440. The difference is Windows Mobile 2003 on the M500 vs 5.0 on the M600.
This indicates to me that Microsoft has either omitted USB Host support which they previously included in the operating system, or a change in the OS has made USB Host very difficult to implement.
Hope this helps somebody figure out a way to hack USB Host onto our devices.
- Trane
Thanks for the reply Trane. this would be really handy to have working. Perhaps soemone else will chime in.
~Jason

32GB Athena...need your help and ideas...

Ok, I just ordered a 32GB USB Flash Drive.
Some people report that the Athena recognizes some flash drives so I was thinking...why not remove the MD and take apart the 32GB flash drive and put it inside the Athena. Then solder the USB pins together internally so the USB drive is always connected internally to the device?
I haven't really put serious thought into this but wanted to run it past everyone and those hardware experts to see what every ways.
I have yet to look up the MD power requirements and compare those to the USB power requirements. Either way, if it's recognized it could mean a real upgrade to the device and we could always write a simple program to enable/disable the USB drive if power consumption is too great.
Your thoughts people on this?
EDIT
After further thinking I see four obvious obstacles:
- Stripping down the 32GB USB drive so it fits in the device in place of the MD. I'm hoping this isn't that big of an issue but then again I have no idea what i'm talking about. LOL
- 1 have to make sure the Athena recognizes the 32GB USB drive.
- Power Consumption as mentioned above, which might be overcome by utilizing a utility of some sort.
- Since the Athena requires the USB Host cable/adapter to make things like this work, there might need to be some type of mod internally to make this happen. I talking to someone with more knowledge of USB pin outs might help in this area.
-- EDIT: Olipro mentioned that this is most likely a non-issue. That the USB adapter just makes the USB connection a large one so the internal wiring I'm thinking about shouldn't be a problem. This is great news. One obstacle out of the way. Don't you love progress!
ltxda said:
Ok, I just ordered a 32GB USB Flash Drive.
Some people report that the Athena recognizes some flash drives so I was thinking...why not remove the MD and take apart the 32GB flash drive and put it inside the Athena. Then solder the USB pins together internally so the USB drive is always connected internally to the device?
I haven't really put serious thought into this but wanted to run it past everyone and those hardware experts to see what every ways.
I have yet to look up the MD power requirements and compare those to the USB power requirements. Either way, if it's recognized it could mean a real upgrade to the device and we could always write a simple program to enable/disable the USB drive if power consumption is too great.
Your thoughts people on this?
EDIT
After further thinking I see four obvious obstacles:
- Stripping down the 32GB USB drive so it fits in the device in place of the MD. I'm hoping this isn't that big of an issue but then again I have no idea what i'm talking about. LOL
- 1 have to make sure the Athena recognizes the 32GB USB drive.
- Power Consumption as mentioned above, which might be overcome by utilizing a utility of some sort.
- Since the Athena requires the USB Host cable/adapter to make things like this work, there might need to be some type of mod internally to make this happen. I talking to someone with more knowledge of USB pin outs might help in this area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hehe u know im always behind ur crazy ideas. lets get this to work!
possible incompatibilities of it not detecting the microdrive but should be able to be fixed by software
possibly will need to integrate usb host controller chip and wires inside as well
make sure not to screw up the charger either =p
but other than that it sounds good
Hi, for information: Athena Servicemanual says you need 3 things to replace if you disassemble your device (On-Off Key, CommManager Key and some rubbers).
So if you really get the USB-Flash running then you'll get problems putting everything together again.
I think you'll get errors because the G-Sensor doesn't detect any Microdrive. (maybe freeze or reset or some other issues?). Maybe you have to shorten the G-Sensor somehow. This will need people who own the original plan of the device and also know how to get information out of it.
But great idea!
Ok, just found out that the host adapter just changes the plug to a larger USB plug. So the wiring should be a piece of cake. Let's keep this going...before you know it the team won't have only brought you a great ROM but also provide a way to have a 32GB Athena and storage you no longer have to worry about and with no moving parts!!!
PAPPL said:
Hi, for information: Athena Servicemanual says you need 3 things to replace if you disassemble your device (On-Off Key, CommManager Key and some rubbers).
So if you really get the USB-Flash running then you'll get problems putting everything together again.
I think you'll get errors because the G-Sensor doesn't detect any Microdrive. (maybe freeze or reset or some other issues?). Maybe you have to shorten the G-Sensor somehow. This will need people who own the original plan of the device and also know how to get information out of it.
But great idea!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your feedback. I also think this may work and if not with the drive I've ordered with some other USB. I've seen USB devices as small is a dime so this should work. I'll be happy to purchase a bunch of USB drives to see which work. I probably would like anyone with an Athena and a USB drive to test what they have and post the results.
For the record I ordered a Corsair Survivor 32GB USB Flash Drive model CMFUSBSRVR-32GB.
I think there was a group of people(I couldn't remember who exactly) who already dismantled their athena when it came out to see which micro drives in the market is compatible with the one installed in the athena. I suggest we find the post first before and read through their findings. There might be something there that may help with this project.
If I remember it correctly, there was even a host of pictures and instructions in dismantling the Athena.
I just couldn't remember other details because I was just browsing around and never thought of owning an athena.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=303188
Something I found about USB Drives and the Athena
Wikipedia claims microdrives use more power then flash drives:
"consume more power than flash memory (on the order of 190mA, peak 310mA, at 3.3V) "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microdrive
Good luck to you this would be cool.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=298987
HDs that work with the athena
What about a 72GB solid state drive?
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/07/hands-on-with-sandisks-72gb-ssd-and-friends/
eaglesteve said:
What about a 72GB solid state drive?
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/07/hands-on-with-sandisks-72gb-ssd-and-friends/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let`s keep this a short term, realistic and affordable goal. ;-p
USB storage is cheap, easily modified, compatible as it`s already recognized by the device both by the software and USB host capabilities of the device board, etc. Also, those drives aren`t yet available and I doubt people will want to spend over $800usd on them for Athena. No?
Well, IMHO there's two alternatives for such a modification:
1 - either use the ATA connection of the micro-drive with the 32 GB pendrive. Adapters exist, wiring should be tricky due to the size requirements (everything has to fit into the space usually used by the micro-drive);
2 - connect permanently the 32 GB USB pen-drive to the USB port. Removal of the micro-drive is in that case optional, maybe in order to make room.
The problem with the second option is that I am pretty sure this will screw-up USB slave connections, and more specifically ActiveSync. Altough, true, one can Sync through Bluetooth.
Two problems with the first alternative:
- G-Sensor, without a md, will no work anymore. BUT it can be disabled in a software manner, so that's no big issue aside from the fact that we won't be able to "tilt'n scroll";
- finding a compatible USB / ATA adapter (those are known to be... "capricious").
I find the first alternative much sexier, personnally... And it DOES get me thinking.
Why not just use one of theose new 16 or 32GB MicroSD/Transflash, or whatever the hell there called cards, just released at CES.. It would save ya
lots of work, and you wouldn't have to crack the Advantage open.
Yep, that's also being discussed on the forum.
But I do agree that having solid-state 32 GB instead of mechanical 8 GB in my Athena would suit me just fine.
Jointly with a 32 GB SDHC card, of course.
:-D lol
I currently have the 8GB SDHC....of course I'm going to buy the 16 and then the 32 as soon as they come out and I can get my hands on it...but my goal here is to replace the MD. After thinking it through even further, we could even setup an internal type of mechanism so as USB drives become larger and cheaper, we could just pop out the old and pop in the new thus continuing to increase the internal storage of our devices.
Maybe I'm just dreaming but replacing the MD seems to be a goal that we can achieve quickly and cost effectively. We've had the discussion of getting larger MD's...but always ran into obstacles we probably couldn't overcome. They are releasing large SSD's but we may have to mod the internal connection, etc. With the USB idea, the connection exists, compatibility is there, and it's very feasible. I'm just excited. LOL
HeartOfDarkness said:
Well, IMHO there's two alternatives for such a modification:
1 - either use the ATA connection of the micro-drive with the 32 GB pendrive. Adapters exist, wiring should be tricky due to the size requirements (everything has to fit into the space usually used by the micro-drive);
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm thinking more simplistic. Take out the MD and dock it connect to. This frees up some space. Strip down USB drive as much as possible and hope that it fits some way into the device. If it fits, we can mount it in there in a number of ways. Solder 4 wires from USB drive to USB host interface on the board. Write some software to control (activate/deactivate aka mount/dismount) the USB drive and see how it goes.
2 - connect permanently the 32 GB USB pen-drive to the USB port. Removal of the micro-drive is in that case optional, maybe in order to make room.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what you mean exactly but...I want the USB drive to be internal. Of course I could get some velcro and stick a 32GB USB drive to the back of my Athena, etc...but that would just be ugly.
You also need the USB host cable to do this unless you want to solder wires and run them from the outside of the device to the inside USB host pins. Let me know if I got the wrong picture here.
The problem with the second option is that I am pretty sure this will screw-up USB slave connections, and more specifically ActiveSync. Altough, true, one can Sync through Bluetooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You bring up a very good point. I'm going to have to take my 4-in-1 cable and try to run a small USB drive while trying to ActiveSync. I wonder if that will still work. If it fails, the mod I'm proposing may cause a problem with ActiveSync connections. Anyone else have comments and/or ideas on this?
Two problems with the first alternative:
- G-Sensor, without a md, will no work anymore. BUT it can be disabled in a software manner, so that's no big issue aside from the fact that we won't be able to "tilt'n scroll";
- finding a compatible USB / ATA adapter (those are known to be... "capricious").
I find the first alternative much sexier, personnally... And it DOES get me thinking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm hoping we can do it without any adapters. Just straight soldering of the 4 USB wires needed to communicate. Should suffice. I found that I don't really use nor need the G-Sensor on the MD. For sure can be disabled in the ROM. The Athena Project team would just have to make a Special Edition ROM for those that do the mod.
I posted a few weeks ago about a SSD that Intel will be releasing soon. I believe it will be a drop-in replacement for the existing drive.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=352834
techntrek said:
I posted a few weeks ago about a SSD that Intel will be releasing soon. I believe it will be a drop-in replacement for the existing drive.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=352834
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually read that thread a little while ago. Do you know when it will be released and how fast they will get up to larger drives like 8, 16, 32, etc. GB's?
ia ctually dont think you will run into active sync problems...
reason being i remember a special cable that came with my friends hermes that split the usb port into two
one for charging and one for syncing...
so i think if we disable the flash drive when syncing it should be fine

Details to USB Host Mode?

I know the Titan doesn't support USB Host mode, but I've heard there were alternatives like using CF Cards or something. Can anyone give me more details or point me in the direction of how to achieve this? Instead of buying a microSD card, I wouldn't mind just using one of my external HD to hold my stuff. It would be cool to read data off of flashdrives too.
I've never heard mention of any possibilities of USB host on the mogul. If someone does make a USB host CF card (never heard of one), I don't think you're going to find any way to interface it with the mogul. And the mogul probably wouldn't be able to power an external hdd, so you'd have to have a power supply and be tethered to the wall. At that point, you might as well carry a laptop around and store things on it, and just forget about USB host on the mogul.
If I had to guess I think you would see a Bluetooth harddrive before you saw anything like that.
Asphyx said:
If I had to guess I think you would see a Bluetooth harddrive before you saw anything like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is already on the way...
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/consumer_electronics/DAVE/
theoretically it could be done with MicroSDIO, but i dont know if the mogul supports SDIO
plus i doubt anyone will make a USB controller in an MicroSDIO card, lol
wow that bluetooth harddrive looks promising, but the speed must suck :/. yea using a laptop would work, but its still too big and uses a lot more power. i had this idea, run mobiletorrent on the phone attached to a harddrive. it would use less power and its still smaller than a laptop.
How much storeage do you need?
I looked at the bluetooth drive also and it looks cool, and probably slow since i think bluetooth is ~700kbps, sort of like the speed you get beaming from one to another with bluetooth, which I do to and from my laptop now and it is kind of creepy slow. If you need more than the 8gigs that a microSD can do for now then that might be the way,,,,,,wait,,,,I remember seeing a shared WiFi drive some place, that would be lots faster i bet.

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