Database Users

Universal to be recognized as a USB Mass Storage in Windows

Read this article:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wceintro5/html/wce50conWhatsNew.asp
It confirms that WM5 has the USB Mass Storage driver built in, means without any additional software, we can use the storage card in WM5 device just like a USB pen drive/external HDD. This is very useful to connect the device in PCs without ActiveSync installed.
Does anybody know how to make the Universal to be recognized as a USB Mass Storage in Windows OS?

The DLL usbmsfn.dll is missing from the Exec's ROM - without that you'll not have much joy me thinks.

Hopefully much faster to
With no wifi support in activesync this may be much faster.
I find it a real pain transfering video files to my mda pro over activesync so slow

Can it be ripped from the device emulator or someone else's WM5 ROM?

RE
Does the Universal requires hardware-ready for USB hosting besides the necessary drivers?

No, pls don't be confused with USB host capability.
This is not related to that. The USB Mass Storage function is basically the capability to emulate the Universal so that when its plugged to a USB port of a PC, the PC will recognize the Universal as if its an external harddrive/USB pen drive/card reader.
If you use an external harddrive/USB pen drive/card reader to transport files you should be familiar with this. The benefit is that you do not need any driver for the drive to be recognize by Windows OS (starting W2k).
I myself, everytime I want to copy big size files like MP3 or movie to my Universal, I will take out the SD Card and insert it to the card reader then copy the files as its slightly faster to do so rather than using the ActiveSync.
The idea is that, with the USB Mass Storage driver that is built into the WM5, we do not need to take out the SD Card and use a card reader anymore. Just plug in the Universal and the PC can access the storage card directly with full speed.
Though this is definetely WM5 feature, but not really sure if this is implemented in Universal specifically. If anybody knows, please share.

No, pls don't be confused with USB host capability.
This is not related to that. The USB Mass Storage function is basically the capability to emulate the Universal so that when its plugged to a USB port of a PC, the PC will recognize the Universal as if its an external harddrive/USB pen drive/card reader.
If you use an external harddrive/USB pen drive/card reader to transport files you should be familiar with this. The benefit is that you do not need any driver for the drive to be recognize by Windows OS (starting W2k).
I myself, everytime I want to copy big size files like MP3 or movie to my Universal, I will take out the SD Card and insert it to the card reader then copy the files as its slightly faster to do so rather than using the ActiveSync.
The idea is that, with the USB Mass Storage driver that is built into the WM5, we do not need to take out the SD Card and use a card reader anymore. Just plug in the Universal and the PC can access the storage card directly with full speed.
Though this is definetely WM5 feature, but not really sure if this is implemented in Universal specifically. If anybody knows, please share.

Hate to burst bubbles, but the originally referenced article is taking about Windows CE5, not Windows Mobile5. While WM5 is built out of WCE5, it does not support everything that the underlying OS does or can. WCE5 is a base OS that a number of products are based on including WM devices like SmartPhones and PPC, and automotive electronics and even vending machines. At this point I know of no native mass storage capability in a WM5 device. Not to say it can't happen, as Softick provided the capability for WM2003 devices. It's just not that way out of the box.

A laconic mail exchange with Softick told me that they are actually working on their cardexport product for full WM5 compatibility. No release date, no progress for now. Maybe if somebody want's to ask more?

Re: Hopefully much faster to
GDawes said:
With no wifi support in activesync this may be much faster.
I find it a real pain transfering video files to my mda pro over activesync so slow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use an SD card reader, or try transferring over a wifi network using a network shared folder using resco explorer.
Brilliant, trust me!

thaihugo said:
A laconic mail exchange with Softick told me that they are actually working on their cardexport product for full WM5 compatibility. No release date, no progress for now. Maybe if somebody want's to ask more?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Version 2.10 Beta now supports WM5!! Horray!
http://www.softick.com/

heidy said:
thaihugo said:
A laconic mail exchange with Softick told me that they are actually working on their cardexport product for full WM5 compatibility. No release date, no progress for now. Maybe if somebody want's to ask more?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Version 2.10 Beta now supports WM5!! Horray!
http://www.softick.com/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tested Working on Universal.

WOW. This is good news!

after installing it, the device hangs. I unplugged it and reset it manually. And it works. Really cool! I noticed the speed is not as fast compared to a card reader. Anyway, I'm happy that now I do not need to carry around additional thing, SD card reader, just to transport files.

after installing it, the device hangs. I unplugged it and reset it manually. And it works. Really cool! I noticed the speed is not as fast compared to a card reader. Anyway, I'm happy that now I do not need to carry around additional thing, SD card reader, just to transport files.

Sweet Software....

I install it (2.10), it keeps staying at the display when it is loading the bar and then it says that it cannot load it self...
Afterwards it uninstalls automatically...
I have Qtek ROM...

I've installed it and it works great on my Qtek 9000 (Universal). I only turn on de mass storage when i really need it, but then it works great to tranfer files from and tot every PC (no ActiveSync install needed).

I am trying to install V2.10 on my Universal and get the following:
On installation an error:
"ActivateDeviceEx" and "Cannot Load Drivers\BuiltIn\CE2. Code 2"
The install then says "Cannot Start Card Export" and "Card Export Installation Failed" and uninstalls itself.
Did a registry search and cant find any reference to that in the regisrty.
Anyone with any ideas or if they have that in their reg can they post the details!
Cheers!

DaveUK said:
I am trying to install V2.10 on my Universal and get the following:
On installation an error:
"ActivateDeviceEx" and "Cannot Load Drivers\BuiltIn\CE2. Code 2"
The install then says "Cannot Start Card Export" and "Card Export Installation Failed" and uninstalls itself.
Did a registry search and cant find any reference to that in the regisrty.
Anyone with any ideas or if they have that in their reg can they post the details!
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the same message I get!!! I have the same problem in My Qtek too...

Large Files Getting Coppupted on Mini SD

I´ve been trying to copy large files, as movies or maps databases to my mini sd and they are all getting corrupted.
Has anyone experienced this issue already? Do you think that it might be a problem with the phont or with the memory stick?
Thanks
Cesar

i remember that long ago i had a similar problem. Then, i formatted the mini sd card on the pc with FAT32 and it is working fine since then.

Are you copying direct to the card in a card reader, or using ActiveSync?
AS has always had a tendency to corrupt large files, and is limited to USB1 transfer rates. Originally the file size limit was about 14MB but I think AS4.0 is capable of a bit more
Anything more than 30MB would be best transferred with a card reader. If you already have corrupt files, I'd suggest copying what you have to the PC, then as suggested above, do a reformat (as long as the card is no larger than 2GB); MiniSD Cards larger than 2GB (as opposed to SDHC, which works in WM6) need special formatting, as the cluster size is modified.

Thanks for the tips. I´ve been using ActiveSync, but i´m going to buy a card reader.
I was thinking that it was a problem with my phone and i´m really glad to know that it´s normal!
Thanks
NeilM said:
Are you copying direct to the card in a card reader, or using ActiveSync?
AS has always had a tendency to corrupt large files, and is limited to USB1 transfer rates. Originally the file size limit was about 14MB but I think AS4.0 is capable of a bit more
Anything more than 30MB would be best transferred with a card reader. If you already have corrupt files, I'd suggest copying what you have to the PC, then as suggested above, do a reformat (as long as the card is no larger than 2GB); MiniSD Cards larger than 2GB (as opposed to SDHC, which works in WM6) need special formatting, as the cluster size is modified.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Formatting storage card?

I'm upgrading my Advantage to a 4GB Mini SDHC card from a 2GB MiniSD card. I'd like to format both cards so that each is "fresh". Is it possible to do this in the Advantage, or do these cards need to be formatted from the PC?
Thanks,
Ron

don't format with the PC. Use pocket mechanics professional or sktools.
For the mini, make sure your setting is
- do not backup FAT table
- cluster size set at 32k
- Fat 16
For miniSDHC, make sure the option is
- do not backup FAT table
- cluster size set at 32k
- Fat 32
That will give you the best read/write performance.

eaglesteve said:
don't format with the PC. Use pocket mechanics professional or sktools.
For the mini, make sure your setting is
- do not backup FAT table
- cluster size set at 32k
- Fat 16
For miniSDHC, make sure the option is
- do not backup FAT table
- cluster size set at 32k
- Fat 32
That will give you the best read/write performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. But I need to purchase another utility to be able to do this? I've already purchased MemMaid which I like a lot, but there doesn't seem to be any card formatting options. Or is it that Mini SD cards don't really *require* formatting?

Rambler358 said:
Thanks for the info. But I need to purchase another utility to be able to do this? I've already purchased MemMaid which I like a lot, but there doesn't seem to be any card formatting options. Or is it that Mini SD cards don't really *require* formatting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you tried the trial version of sktools?
When the card is first delivered to you, they're already formatted. However, once in a while they get corrupted. That's when you may need to do this again. If you find the system freeze constantly or if you have missing files, chances are you have a lost clustered or chains. Sometimes I can recover them with pocket mechanics professional. At other times I prefer to start clean again by reformatting, just like we sometimes do with the microdrive.

eaglesteve said:
don't format with the PC. Use pocket mechanics professional or sktools.
For the mini, make sure your setting is
- do not backup FAT table
- cluster size set at 32k
- Fat 16
For miniSDHC, make sure the option is
- do not backup FAT table
- cluster size set at 32k
- Fat 32
That will give you the best read/write performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am interested to know why you do not recommend formatting with the PC. And, why the difference in File Allocation Tables between the 2 cards?

Rick76 said:
I am interested to know why you do not recommend formatting with the PC. And, why the difference in File Allocation Tables between the 2 cards?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The last time I formatted with PC, my system kept hanging and the SKtool performance test rating plummetted to as low as 20 kb/s.
One of the key differences between normal SD(including miniSD and microSD) and SDHC (including miniSDHC and microSDHC) is the FAT thingy. It's just the way things work.

What size of the SD-card is supported with Helmi's WM6 for BA?

Hi,
what is the size of your SD-card that you are using with your WM6 BA?
Does Helmi's ROM support up to 4GB card?
I'm asking because I'd like to buy a new one - preferable 4GB.
Thanks in advance
Phily

BA supports standard SD cards not the SDHC.
So if you manage to get more than 2gb on a regular SD card that would work.
I guess that there is one company that make 4g regular SD cards.

I have 4GB card (Platinum brand) that is not SDHC and works fine in BA. Ideal for multiple navigation systems.

I think Transcend have 4 GB card that is reported to work in ba
(I have not tryed it)

xplode said:
I think Transcend have 4 GB card that is reported to work in ba
(I have not tryed it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have 4G Transcend SD 150x (it is not SDHC) - works very good, but it is slow card. (very slow writing data, both WM5 and WM6).

Thanks
Thank you for your feedback!

SCHC
With the cab SDHC.cab it's possible to read card up to 8Go.

teddybear3k said:
With the cab SDHC.cab it's possible to read card up to 8Go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not in Bleangel

teddybear3k: have you tried? I go for xplode and say, that it's not possible.

Not possible until skilled programmer rewrite the SD Bus driver

SDHC
what about this? (WARNING THIS HP offers warez aswell, but following links are, so far I know, to free ware! So please do not warn, kick or ban me for this links.)
Page Link -- http://myppc.ru/2007/09/14/sdhc_driver.html
File Link -- http://myppc.ru/uploads/files/myppc.ru-1881_sdhc.rar
Is it the same? I would like to install it, but I'm aware, if it could scratch my device....
The given page actually is a good newsticker for PPC programs, I like it even more, than HPC.ru
if this cab should work, then even SDHC Cards with more then 32GB should probably work aswell....
wfg. - Mihail

Mihail: on the list there is NO BlueAngel. Installing it won't kill your device, you will just loose SD card access (and you will need to reverse the operation or make hard reset to get back the access).
We need SD driver made especially for BlueAngel.

List only tells,
on which devices this driver was already applied! Not for which devices it is maid!
That's why!

Mikhail: test it and report. Make backup before and prepare for HR.

Test to 50%
O don't have any SDHC cards! So I could only test, if this cab allows to use SD-Cards, not more... but I will do it!

HTC driver - but not BA
Is not working for BA.... and I'm not a progger (and for shure not a disassembler/hacker) to change this.

So you just confirmed what we said. Please confirm it on your own before publishing any new "breakthru" news.

sd bus driver
Does any one you think that it is possible to use the bsquare development kits to build support for higher/faster sd cards for blue angel?

If you had source code for the SD reader driver and knew how to update it to support SDHC (by hand probably) yes, this is doable with ANY devkit. Without this you are left with desassembling and analysing it in assembler/C.

sd card
hmm i am a high level programmer. (But I like to dive into the subject for giving something back to this community) (I can program in C but have never build a driver before) (Assembly is far beyond my scope) Though I have some good system programmers in my business environment. I will post my findings in this thread and maybe it's a good idea to change the direction of this thread to making this possible (and the way to doing it) instead of asking which is the max card working on the blue angel. Making the BA take advantage of the new generation SD cards is IMHO a very important step.

Use Ext2 instead of FAT32 on my SD-card?

Is it possible to use Ext2 on my SD-card instead of the useless FAT32?
Once again the FAT32 filesystem failed.. And I cannot access my SD-card anymore. I think its the third time the crappy useless piece of **** stoped working now. And yes, I didnt do anything wrong. I just mounted it and about 2 seconds later it disapered. dmesg gives me a lots of I/O errors.
Were living in the year 2010, not the 70s.. With all my heart, I f*****g hate Bill Gates for ever released the crappy filesystem. I didnt switch to Linux just to run som old crappy Microsoft filesystem.
I'm sorry for my language, but Im really mad at the piece of **** atm.

Well,
I've had my Hero for 5 months, and only once did my SD Card become "de-formatted". And this was only when i ran the original 1.5 ROM.
What ROM do you currently use, or have you used only the official ROMs?
Or could it be a hardware problem?

Im using VanillaEclair 5.0.
Seemse like its a hardware problem after all, the SD-card adapter that came with the SD-card (?). I found a way to mount the SD-card in recovery mode and it works just fine now. Doing a new fresh backup as we speak.
But I'm still intrested in using Ext2. Feels kinda stupid to use some old filesystem.

FAT32 is kinda old and crappy, yeah.
But you can use on almost every OS and all that?
Ext2/ext3/ext4 and so on. Can't be read by windows if i'm not mistaken?
But, yeah. A newer file system would be awesome.

sublue said:
FAT32 is kinda old and crappy, yeah.
But you can use on almost every OS and all that?
Ext2/ext3/ext4 and so on. Can't be read by windows if i'm not mistaken?
But, yeah. A newer file system would be awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Theres 3rd party drivers for Ext2/3 filssystems on Windows. It worked pretty good when I tested it about 3 years ago.
Im only using GNU/Linux on my computers.

Oh, nice.
Well, i use Windows.
Tried to make Ubuntu my "main" OS, but really i got bored.
There's too much to do, and not everything works as you would want it to..
So, i went back to Windows because everything is simpler and mostly everything works..
Anyways! My point was that Android must be using Fat32 because of compatibility for most of today's OS's.
And we have ext2/3/4 data system for the ext partition.

From wikipedia - ext2 1993, fat32 1998.
What do you actually want/need the file system on removable card on a phone to do? Does it actually matter as long as it works?
Oh and I use both Linux and Windows - so no religion for me.

malarcy said:
From wikipedia - ext2 1993, fat32 1998.
What do you actually want/need the file system on removable card on a phone to do? Does it actually matter as long as it works?
Oh and I use both Linux and Windows - so no religion for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To work properly.

Not sure what soft format would make up for faulty hardware but I guess blind faith is a good a hope as any.
My questions were genuine, I was interested in what features you wanted from the ext2 filesystem that you didn't have in fat32, from your response (and actually from your initial post) it seems you just want to lash out in your frustration at your hardware.
Sorry to have shown (a passing) interest in your posts - not a mistake I will repeat.

Its not FAT32. I dont like the license and the patents by Microsoft.
At first I thought it was FAT32 that was the bad guy, but it was the SD-card adapter. But in general FAT32 isnt know to be the most stable fs and I had problems with in the past.
Kinda funny though, just cuz I dont like FAT32 and use GNU/Linux I must be some kinda stupid fanatic user with Linux as my religion.
I was really angry at the time. I have lost all my data atleast once before cuz of the FAT32 and I thought I was going to loose it all again, since my last backup was a few weeks old and I've been doing a lot of stuff with my Hero the last few days.
So, now I hate both my SD-card adapter and the FAT32 filesystem. If that meets the criteria to be clasified as some fanatic Linux user so be it. I dont care.

Jolly good.

Use EXT2/3/4 format in External SD Card in Android
Hund said:
Is it possible to use Ext2 on my SD-card instead of the useless FAT32?
Once again the FAT32 filesystem failed.. And I cannot access my SD-card anymore. I think its the third time the crappy useless piece of **** stoped working now. And yes, I didnt do anything wrong. I just mounted it and about 2 seconds later it disapered. dmesg gives me a lots of I/O errors.
Were living in the year 2010, not the 70s.. With all my heart, I f*****g hate Bill Gates for ever released the crappy filesystem. I didnt switch to Linux just to run som old crappy Microsoft filesystem.
I'm sorry for my language, but Im really mad at the piece of **** atm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just found pretty guide few minutes ago. I haven't tried it yet. But I'll definately going to try it. Because I want get rid of FAT's 4GB file size limitation.
If you want to try here is the link.
After typing reply I realized that thread is too old but still posting the reply hoping that it would help someone else. (I think you might have made your way to use ext2/3/4)