Why Do We *need* An Sd Card Reader?


M

Megatog615

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Dec 25, 2006
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Reading and writing to the SD card works fine for me if I read it through the GP2X. Why is it urgent to get an SD card reader?
 
SD card readers are faster and more reliable, but if the gp2x usb works for you, and your happy with it, there's no need. For a lot of people, it either doesn't work at all, or works extremely slowly.
 
I have only ever used a reader when I upgrade the firmware. A lot of people claim it is faster to take the card out, put it in the reader, copy the files on, take the card out of the reader and put it back in the GP2X. I copy stuff a lot when I am working on something, but that is just one little gpe, and I don't believe it would save me much, if any, time. The transfer is so quick that the time spent farting around with swapping the card in and out would double the time.

I would rather save the wear and tear on my hardware in any case.

Battery usage ? Never occurred to me. That is just silly.

I received a free reader when I brought my 2X from craigix. As far as I know it is essential to have one for upgrading firmware but otherwise I only use my reader with an adaptor for the DS.

I think the whole issue is an urban legend resulting from incorrect settings for the USB under Windows and a batch of duff cables that were (apparantly) distributed with some 2xs.
 
The reason is that faulty cables + earlier firmwares that had a problem with USB.

I prefer using the reader, I guess it is a must have for all users (so you can copy earlier firmware files to your SD card if your GP2X firmware bricked for any reason), and it is way cheap so it is not even worth all this talking about it :)
 
Has anyone else had problems with the FTP server on the GP2X stalling and then maybe even destroying the SD card's file-system? It seems to happen to me constantly.
 
There is no reason to use a card reader if the USB on the GP2X is working fine for you. I prefer not to take my SD card in and out because I've had the SD slot break in the past -- as have other people on this board.

As an aside, I've had two major issues in the past with USB with the newest firmware releases, but neither of them were problems with the device itself:

* SD card corruption -- I had issues with the FAT becoming corrupted, which caused me to have to run chkdsk to clean it up. This problem actually turned out of be a bad card (beware those cheap high-capacity SDs!). . .though it sure seemed like USB was causing it. If you disconnect the GP2X from your computer properly, your SD card should never become scrambled.

* USB Stopped working -- This was due to an incomplete firmware upgrade to 2.1.1. As many GP2X veterans know, if you place the 2.1.1 upgrade on your SD and reboot, it will appear to install on your device -- but the process is not complete. In my case, it appeared be upgraded but the bootscreen still said it was 2.0, and the GP2X would no longer connect to my computer via USB. While still having the upgrade files in the root of the SD, turn the device off and then on while pressing start and select. . .the bootscreen will then register 2.1.1 and USB will magically return.

Hope this helps!
 
Well, I've managed to get USB to connect precisely once on my MK1. I've a suspicion, actually, that there's something wrong in hardware, since I'm on a modern firmware, but since my card-reader copies a good sized movie in a few seconds (say for 100mb), for the moment, I'm sticking with that. Though there's times when it would be useful to have built in USB working...
 
is it possible to format an SD card with a 2x ? (a brand new SD that has never been formatted) when i couldnt get usb working (when i first got my 2x) i couldnt put anything on my sd (or format it) so i had to get a card reader.
 
Fru.T Bunn posted on Mar 25 2007 at 12:37 PM said:
Has anyone else had problems with the FTP server on the GP2X stalling and then maybe even destroying the SD card's file-system? It seems to happen to me constantly.
Click to expand...

Why are using the FTP server when samba is so much better and can be used through any file manager (including Windows Exploder)
 
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you need them essentionally i have used my 2x to read and write for months becuase my card reader has been playing up.
 
I got one because I also have a gp32 and it was essential for that, so I assumed it would be fore this too, plus I was an early adopter so the MK1 issues apply to me and I don't think my cable works, but I have like 20 mini-usb cables around so that's not a problem.

so the urban legend is one that wasn't an urban legend back from the gp32 days, or something.
 
The gp2x`s sd port is too slow for me. Having a card reader is MUCH faster to transfer files
 
My GP2X still has the 2.0.0 filmware, so when it comes to transfering files from my computer, the card reader is way much faster for me. Especially when it comes to 80 meg or larger files. The transfer, using the GP2X, would also drain my batteries big time.

So a card reader is an essential piece of hardware for me. I also use it for my GP32, digital camera, and for my CF card used for emulation on my GB SP.
 
Iorgy77 posted on Mar 25 2007 at 09:36 AM said:
And using the standard USB wastes valuable battery time that could be spent playing games or pr0..... divx.
Click to expand...
Yes, Mr. Murray, DivX. ;) Speaking of DivX, I'm gonna go get my DivX on...
 
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With USB connection from GP2X to PC I only have under 500KB/sec even with USB 2.0, USB 1.1 should give me over 900K and USB 2.0 much much more. With Card Reader I have my 5MB/sec.
Do somebody have a SIMPLE solution to fix this damn low USB-speed of the GP2X? There are also sometimes look ups when I want to disconnect the USB via GP2X menu. I have an MK2 with FW 2.1.1
 
Parkydr posted on Mar 26 2007 at 03:55 PM said:
I've got a card reader, but I only use it for reformatting (which I've only had to do 2 or 3 times).

I usually use Samba.
Click to expand...
Uhm, HOW? ^^" I have no clue how to use these mysterious "Samba" or "Telnet" on GP2X. What do I need?
 
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