Database Users

Micro Drive vs SD Card...simple test.

Hi all.
I have read many posts about different experiences and possible issues with hard drive. IMHO & from personal experience of using HDD in Smartphone etc..it is best to install ALL programs to either device memory or SD card. Use your MD solely for data storage and media (photos, movies and Music).
Personally, I would, like wu, install all GPS software to SD card, as it will ensure that the shock resistant technology won't even be needed for sensitive programs.
The HDD is a mechanical device peeps, it will inevitably put more of a strain on the battery.
Simple test for all you owners of the Athena:
1) Choose any movie and transfer a copy to your SD card and a copy to the Micro Drive.
2)Ensure your battery is fully charged at the mains then disconnect the mains and use TCPMP to bench-test the entire movie from MD....look at media properties afterwards and take a snapshot of all the details or note it down....now check battery consumption.
3) Recharge battery to max again and repeat the process using the SD card and record the results.
If you find the MD is performing better (I'd be happily surprised) then technology has moved on considerably in the last few months. If however SD card is performing better, power consumption wise, then you know for sure which will last you longer.
Whatever the result is I will still be setting my Ameo (when I get it ) as stated above, but it would be interesting to see from TCPMP what speeds the movie is benched at from both storage mediums.

mackaby007 said:
Hi all.
I have read many posts about different experiences and possible issues with hard drive. IMHO & from personal experience of using HDD in Smartphone etc..it is best to install ALL programs to either device memory or SD card. Use your MD solely for data storage and media (photos, movies and Music).
Personally, I would, like wu, install all GPS software to SD card, as it will ensure that the shock resistant technology won't even be needed for sensitive programs.
The HDD is a mechanical device peeps, it will inevitably put more of a strain on the battery.
Simple test for all you owners of the Athena:
1) Choose any movie and transfer a copy to your SD card and a copy to the Micro Drive.
2)Ensure your battery is fully charged at the mains then disconnect the mains and use TCPMP to bench-test the entire movie from MD....look at media properties afterwards and take a snapshot of all the details or note it down....now check battery consumption.
3) Recharge battery to max again and repeat the process using the SD card and record the results.
If you find the MD is performing better (I'd be happily surprised) then technology has moved on considerably in the last few months. If however SD card is performing better, power consumption wise, then you know for sure which will last you longer.
Whatever the result is I will still be setting my Ameo (when I get it ) as stated above, but it would be interesting to see from TCPMP what speeds the movie is benched at from both storage mediums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agress, that is a good way to test it. I have broken my SD card so i can't test it now, but personally i will install all the programs and navigation software on SD, and move the music, movie file to MD.
However i should let you guys also know, i have tested the writting and reading speed between these two using Pocket_Mechanic PRO, and the MD result is much higher than sd for some reason....

wu5262 said:
I agress, that is a good way to test it. I have broken my SD card so i can't test it now, but personally i will install all the programs and navigation software on SD, and move the music, movie file to MD.
However i should let you guys also know, i have tested the writting and reading speed between these two using Pocket_Mechanic PRO, and the MD result is much higher than sd for some reason....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting Wu. seems like MD hardware has made significant improvements.
My biggest concern is that if I install to MD and it by chance fails, I will have lost everything, but to SD, I don't foresee major problems.
I think when I get my Ameo, I will do a full setup between Device memory & MD and do a full backup with Spb Backup to SD card.
Then hard reset and do a full set-up to device memory & SD card, also with a full backup to sd card.
Save both back-up files to PC, just in case.
Then give each method a trial run for a week to see which, if any yields better results.
Hope you get your new SD card soon. So is the Athena SDHC compatible then? I think I read one of your posts somewhere that you had to rename the SD card to 'Storage Card' and then all worked well. Is that right Wu? And what is the largest available SDHC card on the market right now? Is it 8Gb?
I hope so. That would effectively give us in excess of 15Gb of storage space. Woohoo.....that's almost comparable to the Sony UMPC with 16Gb in-built Flash memory!!
Makes one wonder what is truly possible to do with the Athena.....dual boot O/S's? WM6 & Linux (when they get it functioning as reliably as WM O/S's).
This all getting quite exciting....possibilities possibilities.

mackaby007 said:
Interesting Wu. seems like MD hardware has made significant improvements.
My biggest concern is that if I install to MD and it by chance fails, I will have lost everything, but to SD, I don't foresee major problems.
I think when I get my Ameo, I will do a full setup between Device memory & MD and do a full backup with Spb Backup to SD card.
Then hard reset and do a full set-up to device memory & SD card, also with a full backup to sd card.
Save both back-up files to PC, just in case.
Then give each method a trial run for a week to see which, if any yields better results.
Hope you get your new SD card soon. So is the Athena SDHC compatible then? I think I read one of your posts somewhere that you had to rename the SD card to 'Storage Card' and then all worked well. Is that right Wu? And what is the largest available SDHC card on the market right now? Is it 8Gb?
I hope so. That would effectively give us in excess of 15Gb of storage space. Woohoo.....that's almost comparable to the Sony UMPC with 16Gb in-built Flash memory!!
Makes one wonder what is truly possible to do with the Athena.....dual boot O/S's? WM6 & Linux (when they get it functioning as reliably as WM O/S's).
This all getting quite exciting....possibilities possibilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes i am very exciting as well, Athena has got lots of possibilities.
Anyway, i think SDHC still not function very well,, or it could just be my card is fake ! so i go for the sandisk ultra 2 GB this time (non SDHC). The one i bought before is transcend SDHC 4G. don't know is there any bigger one, but i will suggest all Athena here but the normal mini-sd now, and wait a bit until there are more choice for SDHC. i think it's not very stable at this moment either to do with card or rom or machine.

wu5262 said:
Yes i am very exciting as well, Athena has got lots of possibilities.
Anyway, i think SDHC still not function very well,, or it could just be my card is fake ! so i go for the sandisk ultra 2 GB this time (non SDHC). The one i bought before is transcend SDHC 4G. don't know is there any bigger one, but i will suggest all Athena here but the normal mini-sd now, and wait a bit until there are more choice for SDHC. i think it's not very stable at this moment either to do with card or rom or machine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that Wu. Standard SD card it is then. They come up to at least 4 GB since last year, so a bigger version is imminent if not already on the market.

Oh am I sorry to report that I am having serious issues with this Micro Drive of the Athena.
SD wins hands down for me...like MD is snails pace in comparison.

mackaby007 said:
Oh am I sorry to report that I am having serious issues with this Micro Drive of the Athena.
SD wins hands down for me...like MD is snails pace in comparison.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also i notice one thing, even you got your Ameo later then i do, but my ROM version is newer for some reason
Here is mine: ROM 1.24.709.3
Strange....

wu5262 said:
Also i notice one thing, even you got your Ameo later then i do, but my ROM version is newer for some reason
Here is mine: ROM 1.24.709.3
Strange....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That may explain why I'm having problems then. Well I suppose it's not that negative after all then as it seems that the Ameo ROM may be suffering similar issues to the X7500 Rom. Still hope for the future then.

mackaby007 said:
That may explain why I'm having problems then. Well I suppose it's not that negative after all then as it seems that the Ameo ROM may be suffering similar issues to the X7500 Rom. Still hope for the future then.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, actually you want to avoid the same problem that the Advantage have right now, basically, if you take Advantage on the road, you are likely to damage some sector on the Micro Drive when you come back, that's their ROM problem, as you can see, it's quite a big issue, so that must fix it before they release it.
I don't think Ameo has the same problem, but it so, it's bad because until you update the Rom, you probably damage the Micro Drive already.....

AHH NO! 2nd memory card gone

Ok, so when i first got the TD2 i bought a 16gb mem with it, but about 2 weeks in, it just wiped my memory card and made it useless, trying it on the computer, on the phone, even in a camera brought nothing up. I was hoping it was the memory card faulty. So i bought a new 16gb and it's gone and done it again. Just randomly, whilst using coreplayer to watch some blue, my phone froze. so i did a soft reset and now my mem card has disappeared. all my apps saved it it have gone, all my pics...just everything
what the hell is going on?
I use spb shell, luckily that was saved to my phone so i stil have it, but half the apps on it don't work now

I installed Advanced Config 3.3 and turned on SD-card powermanagement... shortly after that I lost one 8GB sandisk card ... Diamond2 could not see it anymore. My PC could not see it anymore.... Maybe it was the Advanced Config setting that somehow broke it or maybe it was coincidence?? ****ty thing is I didn't make a backup so lost a lot of nice pictures on it...

If you use activesync, you would need to configure WM device center to NOT replace items on the device. Switch that to replace items on desktop.
If its not that, then maybe shell is the culprit. Or advanced config.

tomtommy306 said:
If you use activesync, you would need to configure WM device center to NOT replace items on the device. Switch that to replace items on desktop.
If its not that, then maybe shell is the culprit. Or advanced config.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, it's not just deleted data. In my case the SD-card is really broken. I cannot open it in any device anymore.

I had this problem with my Xperia twice, and I'm far from convinced that the TD2 is any more stable.
I haven't tracked down what is causing it, but I have never had any problems with SD cards in all my years with PalmOS or Symbian devices. I think it is just a 'feature' of Windows Mobile because the system is unstable and prone to crashes which corrupt the cards.

Mr Anderson said:
I had this problem with my Xperia twice, and I'm far from convinced that the TD2 is any more stable.
I haven't tracked down what is causing it, but I have never had any problems with SD cards in all my years with PalmOS or Symbian devices. I think it is just a 'feature' of Windows Mobile because the system is unstable and prone to crashes which corrupt the cards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well corruption can usually be repared by a format or something like that but in my case the card isn't even recognized by the system anymore, it just won't show up.'

this has happened to me too. twice!

OffTopic
Mr Anderson said:
I think it is just a 'feature' of Windows Mobile because the system is unstable and prone to crashes which corrupt the cards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? Talk about 'give a dog a bad name'. If you knew a little more you'd soon realise it has zip zero and sweet buggerall to do with WM, which is stable, flexible and reliable, though the UI is admittedly rather dated, and everything to do with HTC's implementation.
/OffTopic

Blizze said:
Nope, it's not just deleted data. In my case the SD-card is really broken. I cannot open it in any device anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep twice with me as well
once with normal TF3D and once with SPB shell
Just totally broken my card...tried using 2 usb readers and 2 computers with it...nothing
tried putting it into an sd card converter and putting into 2 cameras...nothing
Be warned people!
Back up your stuff! TD2 looks like it enjoys corrupting micro sd cards and making you pay for more
perhaps HTC has a contract with Sandisk or something
Keeps sandisk bringing in profits in this troubled time of recession

AFW said:
If you knew a little more you'd soon realise it has zip zero and sweet buggerall to do with WM, which is stable, flexible and reliable, though the UI is admittedly rather dated, and everything to do with HTC's implementation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Our opinions differ it seems, but unless someone finds the actual cause we will never know the truth.
My apologies for not knowing much - I am trying to learn WM after many years on other platforms. All I have to go on is my personal experiences with 4 WM devices (all originating from HTC), and those experiences are not great. WM has a bad name in my eyes, from direct personal experience. Maybe I am maligning it falsely if the true cause of the problems I experience lies elsewhere...I am willing to have an open mind.
I am several £££ out of pocket, having lost 2 16GB cards to these devices - a problem I have only ever suffered with HTC/WM. Given that HTC is the leading manufacturer of WM devices it does not reflect well on either them or the OS platform they are working with that they cannot create stable bug-free systems.

Are these genuine memory sticks?
I work in repairs and I have had a number of HTC devices along with others too that have had this issue.
It turned out that on average, 7/10 devices had fake memory sticks from reputable vendors who were duped.
1/10 were corrupt memory cards just from use/standard wear and tear or just corrupt out of factory.
and the last 1/10 was a faulty memory card reader on the device -

I had an original SANDISK 8GB micro-SD card in it. I now have a 6GB in it which still is OK for now... But backups will be made. I am going to get me another 8GB card and possible trade in the broken one (warranty)... these things should not brake this soon.. the card was 3 weeks old!! If the second one also breaks than maybe it's a D2 problem??
edit: I have to notice that it broke down I did turn on the SD-card powermanagement save option from Advanced Config.... maybe that's the cause??

I've had my 16gb card in the phone since April 15th when I got my unit...not one issue touch wood so touch its the phone ... if anything, it might be your specific unit but I would still bet on the card itself
As an example, I got a 32GB USB stick from Kingston - so not exactly a small make
Within a week, I lost 31.8GB and was left with 2mb.
Data has gone and is not retrievable. Kingston have now tested and diagnoised the memory is corrupt and unfixable so they are replacing it.
So it can happen

An advice: Whenever you do a operation such as backup or something, do not charge your phone!! That really hurt your SD card....

cedarlake888 said:
An advice: Whenever you do a operation such as backup or something, do not charge your phone!! That really hurt your SD card....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what do you mean? Like no charge when on activesync? I can't see
why that would hurt the card.

Did you guys format your mem cards before using them?

I have a stack of SanDisk MicroSD cards (256mb, 1gb, 2gb, 4gb hc, 8gb hc and 16Gb hc). My 16Gb and 4GB cards both had faults (the 16gb one wouldn't format and the 4gb one just didn't work and wasn't even recognised as being in my phone or card reader).
SanDisk have a 5 year warranty, so I registered all of my cards on their website, reported the fault and had them replaced. The whole process took about 4 weeks, but they sent me brand new 16gb and 4gb cards.
Sometimes flash media just fails...

maybe you all should get transcend.. they give you lifetime warranty...

Yep, but I lost my reciept ... and I need that to trade in.. But yesterday a bought a new one... maybe I use the new reciept to trade in the old.. cards are the same size en look the same.. so i'll probably get away with that.

Me too - lost the 8 GB card in my TD2 last week, it's completely unreadable now, can't be formatted, etc. Never happened to me before. Hope this isn't s.th. serious with the TD2...

HD2 fried my 16GB card?

Ok, I have SPB backup to backup my device every morning at 2am. I have been doing this for the past few months, with no problems at all. Anyway this morning I woke up, and there was a message on the screen saying "backup unsuccessful" but the HD2 did soft reset, because I seen the splash screen for a few seconds.
Anyway I noticed that the wallpaper was not showing, and didn't think anything of it at first. But when I tried playing some music, my device didn't show the Micro SD card as being installed. So I popped the card out, and back in, and still the HD2 couldn't read it. Also under the "SD card & phone memory" it shows no SD card installed, even though the card it in the HD2.
Got home, and tried putting the Micro SD card in my PC, and even my PC won't read the card. Don't get any error messages, put it just shows nothing?
Bit gutted about this, as I had my last 3 backups on the SD card, along with other documents I need.
Suggestions please?

seems the hd2 is hard on memory cards. I scan and fix mine about 3x a week just to be sure. Since then I haven't had any problems.

My memory card would not allow me to add anything on to it.,.,pics I took wouldn't save and such.,I even tried it in a digital camera with the same results. I couldn't even format it on my PC.,just gave me an unsuccessful reply. One thing I did notice was I couldn't move certain stuff off the card (I think it was in opera) it would show me the file and when I tried to move it off the card it said the item no longer exists.,or something along those lines.,(sorry I'm at work and it's been a while since I have had this happen..,I could always reattempt and post results if you guys would like) I threw in an 8G card and everything has been fine.,but would really like my 16g card back

nrfitchett4 said:
seems the hd2 is hard on memory cards. I scan and fix mine about 3x a week just to be sure. Since then I haven't had any problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gonna keep that in mind. Purchased a new 8GB card, but had to restart my phone from SCRATCH!

Hi
There is a quick link to find out if you cards are real or not? I cannot post this link , but Google detecting usb counterfeit drives.
I know a lot of people buy cheap from ebay etc, and few are real good copys. Always remember to buy sealed branded makes with the class in the circle (2,4 or 6)
Living here in Thailand i know all about the copies!! I bought a few, and yes they were copies not 8gb, but 2gb. so at least with the link above it can keep you right.
Also when you get your new real card, erase it in you mobile, then format it before use.
I back up my SD to my D/Drive, but i unhide and show all files on the main computer to make sure all files are transfering over, including the hidden ones.
Just a few tips lads.
Russ

Hi, My 2 MicroSdHC 8GB Memory card experienced the same. 1st card only work for 1 and a half day and the 2nd card only work for 1 day!! It's showed NO SD CARD on my HTC HD2 Leo. I bought both card on Ebay. They sent me the replacement card. Unfortunately both card are same. They claimed that they are selling 100% Genuine Micro SD Card!! Lucky I am getting my full refund from them after open a dispute!! Now, I am trying to get other 16GB MicroSDHC for mh HD2 Leo. Hopefully the new 16GB card work well with my HD2 Leo.

help!...weird wp7 issues

Hello everyone ,flashed magldr 1.13 and a wp7 rom and my phone reboots and freezes along with when my phone goes into sleep mode and I press a key to wake it up,it usually doesn't respond or just reboots....any suggestions ?

Sounds like you're using an incompatible sd card... WP7 is very picky with what SD cards work with it. You need one with good random access speed (which has nothing to do with class... in fact higher class cards tend to have lower random access speeds).

zarathustrax said:
Sounds like you're using an incompatible sd card... WP7 is very picky with what SD cards work with it. You need one with good random access speed (which has nothing to do with class... in fact higher class cards tend to have lower random access speeds).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Confirmation
I agree with you, the symptoms are exactly like what I used to have with my first attempts with WP7 using the originally supplied sdcard (T-Mobile HD2). Believe it or not, I exchanged my sdcard with my brother's (from his omnia1) which was the same make, size, and class; voila, no more problems.
Later on, I purchased an 8 GB class 4 and tried it with WP7 and the same problems returned... so, it REALLY is picky about sdcards.
I hope this helps - as a confirmation.

Good info guys,using the mobile 16gig that came with phone...also bought a 8gig class 4 sd card yesterday and still same problem ...gonna buy another 16gig class 2 when I get home later ....do I have to flash rom again when I change sd card?????

WP7 doesn't support swapping of SDcards, so its going to reset immediately anyhow! For the sake of thoroughness, turn your phone off, put in the new SD, goto magldr's USB Flasher mode, and flash the DFT WP7 ROM.
Enjoy
Note: check out the thread on compatible sdcards before buying your new one. Cheers

bayou slim said:
Good info guys,using the mobile 16gig that came with phone...also bought a 8gig class 4 sd card yesterday and still same problem ...gonna buy another 16gig class 2 when I get home later ....do I have to flash rom again when I change sd card?????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no you don't, follow the steps from this site
http://www.techienote.com/tag/technology
you will get your information back with the old system, but but!!! if you didn't get a stable wp7 i mean if you didn't use it for a good time more than 5 days.
it would be better to flash new wp7 on ur new SD card.

Maximum R/W speed supported for microSD?

I need to purchase another microSD and before I spend the extra for a class 10 or 6 unit I thought I should see if anyone knows what the max. r/w bus speed is for the Milestone 2.
FYI Take it easy getting the card out, I removed the battery and as I was sliding it out I put more pressure then required on the vertical axis and the card snapped as it hit the halfway point. Oops, again

Unfortunately, it seems like M2 doesn't handle high classe microsd cards very well. I have a class 10 16gb sdcard and never got it working properly on my mobile. Don't know if it's a hardware or software fault. Others have the same problema, and there is a thread already about this issue.

Someone said that to solve the card you should format the sd card on the phone in the settings, and it makes sense. Make a backup and try it.

dangpzanco said:
Someone said that to solve the card you should format the sd card on the phone in the settings, and it makes sense. Make a backup and try it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Already did that. The phone lags like hell when the 16gb class10 is in it, no matter if I format it on the phone, on the pc, or anywhere. I thought it was an issue like the one on the Evo, where the read and write speeds are limited through a config file. But it didn't work. It seems like the problem is with the media scanner, because when the sdcard isn't filled with music/photos, it runs well. But a 16gb card without music, photo or video is useless =[

AragornPE said:
Already did that. The phone lags like hell when the 16gb class10 is in it, no matter if I format it on the phone, on the pc, or anywhere. I thought it was an issue like the one on the Evo, where the read and write speeds are limited through a config file. But it didn't work. It seems like the problem is with the media scanner, because when the sdcard isn't filled with music/photos, it runs well. But a 16gb card without music, photo or video is useless =[
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tested the phone with a different card/brand? Maybe MS2 is not fully compatible with the card you bought. Also you may test the card on a notebook with card reader to benchmark it. You know, Class doesn't mean much. Brand is much more important than class (be careful about fake sd cards sold on eBay). I assure you that a good brand class 6 sd card can outperform a cheap class 10 card.