A Couple Of Questions...

[GA01]

1. Does a card reader need to be undocked (using XP) before a SMC can be removed?

2. Does a case exist that can can hold many SMC's (inc protective case) and batteries? I've got quite a few of each now .

 

[KickinWing]

1. i don't know what you mean. I have a card reader and Windows XP. All i do is just put the smc in when i want to do something and take it out when i'm done. The cardreader shows up as like a normal disk drive so there's nothing I have to do but put it in and out.

2. i use a small zippered pouch for my smc and batteries. But as for like an official smc holder case, that i'm not sure of, i don't think i've ever seen one.

 

[Qingdan]

1) Use "Eject" feature, this way you don't undock the Cardreader itself but only the SMC
and , yes you should do it this way , you might screw up your data or your SMC if removing directly (unless you wait for a long time after the end of the file transfer)
There's also a performance setting in XP disabling the cache, so then it's not risky to remove the card after the transfer

2) Never seen Multi-SMCs holder , I have one little case for each of them .

 

[trooper]

1. Yes, You do need to stop the reader (undock) before removing the SMC in XP or any other versions of windows, Otherwise you risk corrupting the card.

2. Just get yourself a GBA case or maybe a camera case, Then you can keep you GP32, Batteries and SMC`s all safe in one case. Take you GP with you to the shop and try them for size, That is unless you already have a case for your GP.

Trooper

 

[Tarka]

Hi - If your in the UK you can get a leather wallet that holds 4/8 SMC's from Jessops - but only if you get rid of the plastic boxs - it also fits in the top of the GP32 case- if you get the case from GBAX.

regards Tarka

 

[WhiteFalcon]

1) Use "Eject" feature, this way you don't undock the Cardreader itself but only the SMC
and , yes you should do it this way , you might screw up your data or your SMC if removing directly (unless you wait for a long time after the end of the file transfer)
There's also a performance setting in XP disabling the cache, so then it's not risky to remove the card after the transfer

2) Never seen Multi-SMCs holder , I have one little case for each of them .

​

There actually are multicases, at least I got one case for two SMCs with my camera. Not that it would save any space, its just two cases with one side shared

 

[Magus 86]

Uh... I've just pulled my smart media cards out of the card reader every single time I've used it(with my digital camera and GP32, at least 200 times) without a single problem. I've never corrupted anything. I have Windows XP, if that matters... I don't know about cases just for the smart media cards that hold more than one. I've never seen them, but I've also never looked. I just keep the smart media card inside my GP32 at all times. As for the extra one that came with my GP32 from JR2Swiss, from whom I bought it, I keep it in the hard case that came with the card I got off of ebay... along with the free set of Korean batteries(which I haven't used yet because I bought some rechargable energizers from wal mart... they last about 6 hours in my BLU and only take 15 minutes to charge... very good) and 2nd pair of rechargable energizers, a lens cleaning cloth, really tiny spray bottle of windex, and my GP32... it all goes inside my brother's old camera case that I used to keep my Gameboy in... it fits PERFECTLY. Go look at wal mart, or some other store with electronics, where they'd have cases for various electronic devices and buy a camera case... or whatever it fits in.

Here's what I use^

 

[Quiest]

I just look that no light is blinking on my crad reader, and then I pull it out. Never had a problem when doing this.

 

[tattooman]

First off eject does nothing in XP as this is not a CDROM. Second you do not need to safely remove as their is not a risk or corruption. In very rare cases I have seen with USB memory sticks not ejecting causing the data you just wrote not to be written.

The only reason I chose to safely remove and unplug the SMC every time is the Windoze has problems recognizing that it has been removed and have to reboot.

You only need to safely remove because it's a Windoze OS not because of the hardware.

 

[trooper]

First off eject does nothing in XP as this is not a CDROM. Second you do not need to safely remove as their is not a risk or corruption. In very rare cases I have seen with USB memory sticks not ejecting causing the data you just wrote not to be written.

The only reason I chose to safely remove and unplug the SMC every time is the Windoze has problems recognizing that it has been removed and have to reboot.

You only need to safely remove because it's a Windoze OS not because of the hardware.

​

1. Yes, You do need to stop the reader (undock) before removing the SMC in XP or any other versions of windows, Otherwise you risk corrupting the card.

Thats what i said.

Trooper

 

[Reesy]

Actually Eject does do something in XP. It forces XP to complete any outstanding data writes to the smc.

In XP you can have you card reader "optimised for quick removal" or "optimised for performance".

If yours is set to "optimised for performance" then you will have to use Eject to force a write update before removing your smc.

If yours is set to "optimised for quick removal" then you can just remove the smc as soon as the light stops flickering.

To change the setting, open "My Computer". Right click on your card reader, then select properties. Then click on the "Hardware" tab, Then select your card reader device again and hit the properties button. Then go to the "Policies" tab and you'll find the settings.

 

[skeezix]

As reesy said.. 'eject' is very handy. ie: Look in your sys-tray (bottom right) for the 'eject' icon for temporary devices (not cdroms, but stuff like SMC cards, usb flash keys, etc.)

I've never really had a problem copying giant files like mp3s etc, but sometimes if you copy 50 little files and then yank it out, they're all still in the cache and things get buggered very nicely on the target media, and XP complains about various cache failures.

If you use a usb flash keychain memory module widget, you'll know all about ejecting..

I've got a laptop and I can yank out the cdrom unit entirely and plug in a hard drive or floppy drive instead; the 'eject' option is needed there to ensure the hard drive and floppy writes are spooled out (the cdrom obviously doesn't care, since its read only.)

jeff

ie: Don't need to disconnect the SMC writer, just tell the OS to eject the smc, which just writes out everything cached up. Then you yank out the SMC. Or just yank it out anyway

 

[GA01]

Thanks guys . That's going to save me alot of hassle. Previously, I was stopping the reader, removing the SMC and then having to pull out the reader (from the USB cable) and then re-connect for Windows to recognize it again. I'll change the settings on the card reader and then pull out the SMC as and when needed. I'll also check out those cases/wallet's too.

 

[GP40]

I think your looking for one of these: http://tinyurl.com/8m2ua ( I have nowt to do with the seller )