PdaXrom: Communicating With Your PC

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The first draft of this page has not yet been written. It is still a work in progress.

This page discusses how to make your PC and Zaurus running pdaXrom communicate.


At the time of writing, I'm using pdaXrom 1.1.0beta1 on a Sharp Zaurus SL-C1000.


Card Reader

This method is the simplest, but perhaps the most tedious. You just save files onto your SD or CF card, eject the card, and use a card reader connected to your PC to read it.

Mount locations

  • Your CF card is mounted to /mnt/card
  • Your SD/MMC card is mounted to /mnt/card

To eject your card:

  • In the system tray (right side of the task bar), there is an icon showing a CF and SD card.
  • Click on the icon.
  • A menu comes up saying either "empty" or "XX card" (where "XX" is "CF" or "SD")
  • Click on the card you want to eject
  • If you get an error message, you are still running an application that is accessing that card. Exit the application, and try again.
  • If you don't get an error message, it is safe to eject the card. (You can confirm this by clicking on the card icon again, and seeing that it is listed as "empty"
  • You may now safely physically eject the card.

To insert the card:

  • Physically insert the card
  • The Zaurus will automatically mount the card
  • You can verify this by clicking on the card icon and seeing that it says "XX card" instead of empty
  • If you have a problem, eject the card, re-insert it, and wait a couple of seconds. It should work fine.

External Storage

This is very similar to the above. It requires a Zaurus with a USB port (the C1000 or C3x00) and a Z-Host Cable.

Plug the external USB storage device -- a hard drive, a camera, a card reader, an MP3 player -- into your Zaurus. It should automatically be mounted as /mnt/usbstorage. Save files on it. When you are done, to safely disconnect the device you should type umount /mnt/usbstorage in a console. When it says that it has succeeded, you may disconnect the device.

Using Your Z as a USB Storage Device

This requires a Zaurus with a USB port (The C1000 or C3x00), and a standard USB to USB-mini cable. It allows you to read from an SD or CF card without ejecting it from your Z. If your PC has a recent OS, this will work without installing any drivers.

On your Z, run USB, found in the System Tools menu. Check the Storage radio button, and from the combo box, choose either your SD card or your CF card. Press the OK button.

Connect your PC and Z with a standard USB to USB-mini cable. In under 30 seconds, your OS should detect a USB storage device, and notify you of the fact.

[Note that using kubuntu 7.04, the OS detects 8 separate USB storage devices. kubuntu 7.04 does the same, and mounts them all for you! Windows XP only sees one device.]

When you are done transferring files, you will want to safely remove the hardware (unmount the device), and then you can remove the cable.

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