Memory Cards And Multibooting

[moomincity]

Hey all,

first thanks for the help  I was wondering whether the multiboot firmware can boot from the internal microdisk/CF. IF thats the case whats the best way of using your zaurus in the future?

Use:

An internal fast CF large capacity card (but multiboot uses external sd/CF cards)
or use fast sd cards and dont bother with the internal Cf at all or
maybe use internal Cf adaptor with a cf?

if zubuntu becomes viable what would be best?

moomincity

[Wildherb]

Can anybody tell me if this multi-boot from SD works with SDHC cards which are fast and available in quite large capacities? If it does then moomincity's post has prompted me to think about the need to have an internal microdrive at all in a spitz, in which case my mind turns to the possibility of using the CF slot for something else, e.g. building in a bluetooth card. Any thoughts?

[moomincity]

Can anybody tell me if this multi-boot from SD works with SDHC cards which are fast and available in quite large capacities? If it does then moomincity's post has prompted me to think about the need to have an internal microdrive at all in a spitz, in which case my mind turns to the possibility of using the CF slot for something else, e.g. building in a bluetooth card. Any thoughts?

exactly why I posted the question :-)

I'm not sure if sdhc works, from reading :

"4GB SD card, recomended for SL-C1000, replaces its 2GB SD card for larger storage space: 17.00 EUR (only available together with the weeXpc for SL-C1000 software). Attention: Most 4GB cards are SDHC cards which cannot be used with weeXpc (The Zaurus hardware does not support SDHC). The card offered by hermocom is tested and working with weeXpc!"

though thats probably out of date, here:

https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?showto...mp;#entry174902

"SDHC cards are reported to work on Ångström and with new kernels,
so there is no problem with the hardware whatsoever."

ill try and test one to find out.

[speculatrix]

the zaurus hardware most certainly DOES support sdhc with no problems... *but* the default boot s/w won't recognise the card, so you'd have to have your kernel in the on-board flash which could support sdhc and use it for root, or kexec a new OS on sdhc card.

I don't know if u-boot, which replaces the default boot loader, understands SDHC. Maybe one of the pdaXrom guys will know?

[scottlfa]

With the right Distro the Z is fine with SDHC cards, mine in fact runs from a 8GB SDHC Card just fine.  Debian's kernel sees the card, Cacko for instance would not, so its based on what kernel and drivers are provided.

But for a fact the physical hardware in the Z which reads the SD card can read cards bigger than 4GB's, the max is unknown as far as I know, but mine runs 8GB so its above that

[Fatty]

Sandisk extreme 3 SDHC 4G works good with dualbooting Debian and Zubuntu.

[cal]

My 8 gig sandisk also works well with Debian and Zubuntu.

[moomincity]

My 8 gig sandisk also works well with Debian and Zubuntu.

ah great thanks for that all, i just put in a sdhc and i didn't work but that was with cacko firmware...

Is debian that easy to install :-) ill give it a go.

So if we mutliboot we should be able to boot into cacko? or would it not recognise the card due to firmware? Once it loads the cacko firmware surely it would stop recognising it?

[moomincity]

So to all...

What is the fastest SD card?

I've seen class 6, class 4etc etc

Sandisk Extreme iV? III?

"SD Speed Class Ratings
SDHC cards have SD Speed Class Ratings defined by the SD Association. The SD Speed Class Ratings specify the following minimum write speeds based on "the best fragmented state where no memory unit is occupied":[18]
Class 2: 2 MB/s
Class 4: 4 MB/s
Class 6: 6 MB/s
SDHC cards will often also advertise a maximum speed (such as 133x or 150x) in addition to this minimum Speed Class Rating. See section Speeds above for a further explanation. One critical difference between the Speed Class and the maximum speed ratings is the ability of the host device to query the SD card for the speed class and determine the best location to store data that meets the performance required. "Maximum speed" ratings are quoted by the manufacturers but unverified by any independent evaluation process."

Speeds

There are different speed grades available which are measured with the same system as CD-ROMs, in multiples of 150 kB/s (1x = 150 kB/s). Basic cards transfer data up to six times (6x) the data rate of the standard CD-ROM speed (900 kB/s vs. 150 kB/s). High-speed cards are made with higher data transfer rates like 66x (10 MB/s), and high-end cards have speeds of 200x or higher. Note that maximum read speed and maximum write speed may be different, with maximum write speed typically lower than maximum read speed. Some digital cameras require high-speed cards (write speed) to record video smoothly or capture multiple still photographs in rapid succession. The SD card specification 1.01 allows for a maximum speed of 66x. Higher speeds of up to 200x are defined by specification 2.0.
The following table lists some common ratings and their respective maximum transfer rates.
Rating   Speed (MB/s)
  6x    0.9
 32x    4.8
 40x    6.0
 66x   10.0
100x   15.0
133x   20.0
150x   22.5
200x   30.0
"

Anyone have any real world experience?