SD microdrive when?

[geralt]

Does anyone know when we can get some microdrives in SD/MMC format?

I would like to install swap partition for my SL-5600, and microdrive seems to be the best solution.
Although, beter would be to use sam RAM module in SD format but I could not find anything across the web.  
Also 340MB microdrive would work with appropiate adapter.

Does anyone where I can get CF to SD/MMC which works with SL-5600?

Cheers,
Geralt.

[kbranch]

Does anyone know when we can get some microdrives in SD/MMC format?

That\'s quite impossible right now, and will probably never be practical.  The current microdrives just barely fit in a CF card and the smallest drive available is far from SD size.

I would like to install swap partition for my SL-5600, and microdrive seems to be the best solution.

I think that as long as you use a filesystem designed for flash (as in it distributes the writes over the entire card) you won\'t have any problems with using a normal SD or CF card.  CF cards are faster, but I\'d suggest putting it on an SD card if you plan on using the CF slot for anything else.

If you\'re still concerned about flash lifetime, you could just get a cheap 32 MB card for swap.  Even if you have to buy one every 6 months, it\'s hardly significant.

Although, beter would be to use sam RAM module in SD format but I could not find anything across the web.

The speed would be limited by the SD or CF slot, so RAM would actually be a far worse option.

Also 340MB microdrive would work with appropiate adapter.

Does anyone where I can get CF to SD/MMC which works with SL-5600?

Why not just use the CF slot on your 5600?  CF to SD card adapters do exist (I think), but it would break off very easily since CF cards are so much bigger.

[geralt]

I can not use my CF slot beacause is taken by WiFIi Ambicom card.
Acctualy, only one time when I see this nasty memory out messages is when I surf the web using Z.
As far my main concern is the life of the SD memory card.
I plan to use for now 64MB PNY SD, but it recently locked during normal use, so I need to reformat it.
I wonder how often I will need to to this if I place the swap file on it.
Searching ZUG forums I found that life time of flash memory with swap may vary from few weeks to six monts.  
While last ia acceptional, I can not justify repleacement every 2 monts.

The current microdrives utilize 1\" magnetic disk, which takes the most space.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/microdrive.html
I think that would be possible to make it 0.5\'\' sacrifing some capacity.
I woulld be happy with 800MB SD microdrive.
The problem is that there is more CF devices tan SD ones, thus no big market for SD microdrives.

In case of the RAM memory, it is going to be limited to 1MB/s, but wear free and more durable then microdrive.

Geralt

[emerika]

I think your Zaurus will be long dead by the time anyone ships a SD sized hard drive.  You should make other plans.

[kbranch]

I plan to use for now 64MB PNY SD, but it recently locked during normal use, so I need to reformat it.
I wonder how often I will need to to this if I place the swap file on it.  

I really doubt that that was from the SD card getting worn out.  If the card is still good at all, there shouldn\'t be a need to reformat it except for isolated incidents like this one.

I was about to recommend formatting the SD card with JFFS2 so it would last twice as long (assuming you were putting a 32 MB swap file on the 64 MB card), but I just saw a thread that said you couldn\'t put a swap file in that.

If you assume that the flash can take 100,000 writes (A common number from chip makers, but most will probably last quite a bit longer than that) and that you write to the same spot on the card once every 10 seconds for 30 minutes a day every day, the card will last for about 1.5 years.  I don\'t really have any idea how much writing to the swap would be done while browsing, but once every 10 seconds seems pretty reasonable.  Also, you could easily browse the web for more than 30 minutes a day, but I\'d be pretty surprised if you needed to write to the swap once every 10 seconds for longer than that.

In case of the RAM memory, it is going to be limited to 1MB/s, but wear free and more durable then microdrive.

The problem with RAM is that it needs constant power to retain the data.  This wouldn\'t be an issue if it was being used only for swap, but it would be incredibly annoying for anything you wanted to keep.

[Zazz]

Pretec makes a 2GB MMC card which is also supposed to be very fast (and very expensive).

[geralt]

Seems  that SD microdrives can become reality pretty soon:

Technology - Reuters
Mini HDD Seen Bringing Music, Video to Cellphones

Mon Jun 14,11:33 PM ET
  
   Add Technology - Reuters to My Yahoo!

By Kiyoshi Takenaka

TOKYO (Reuters) - An inspired combination of two of the most popular gadgets in recent years, mobile phones and digital cameras, resulted in an even hotter product, the camera phone, generating replacement demand across the globe.


Digital Media 101
So many acronyms, so little time. Take the pain out of managing your music, movies, and photos.

  

Next comes an attempt to add the newest marvel, the miniature hard disk drive (HDD), to the cellphone.

If technological hurdles are overcome, a phone that can act as a miniature video player and store some 1,000 songs could hit the market within a year, analysts and industry sources say.

The spread of the technology, which has made possible Apple Computer Inc\'s iPod music players, is expected to give a boost to makers of small HDDs such as Toshiba Corp and Hitachi Ltd

\"Demand for hard disk drives totals 300 million units a year. Cellphones sell some 500 million. The sheer size of the potential market excites disk drive makers,\" said Yukihiko Shimada, an analyst at UFJ Tsubasa Securities.

Speedy Internet access and a flat-rate tariff are likely to encourage cellphone users to download \"rich content\" such as CD-quality music, high-resolution video clips and advanced game software, all of which require an ever increasing amount of storage capacity.

\"The most likely scenario is that flat-rate services would kick-start the distribution of music and videos to cellphones, which would need hard disk drives,\" J.P. Morgan analyst Kazuyo Katsuma said.

NTT DoCoMo Inc and KDDI Corp, Japan\'s largest and second-largest wireless operators, have started offering flat-rate Internet access services in the past year.

\"I see some high-end models coming out with HDDs as early as in the current business year (to next March),\" Katsuma said.

DoCoMo (news - web sites) expects terrestrial digital broadcasting intended for mobile phones, due to start in 2005, to boost demand for large-capacity memory devices to store and play back TV programs, but says it has not decided what type of memory devices it will use in its phones for that purpose.

Flash memory chips are the primary storage device for cellphones at present, but small HDDs are at least three to four times more cost-efficient.

NEXT BIG THING?

Battle has already been joined for dominance in miniature HDDs, seen as the fastest-growing part of the $24 billion HDD market.

Toshiba, which supplies 1.8 inch drives for Apple\'s original iPod, plans to launch stamp-sized 0.85 inch drives, certified by Guinness World Records as the world\'s smallest HDD, later this year, targeting the market for cellphones and other mobile devices.

Isn\'t  it  SD/MMC size?
Although it may be thicker, but I do not have any more info at this time.

Regards,
Geralt.

[kbranch]

Seems  that SD microdrives can become reality pretty soon:

Isn\'t  it  SD/MMC size?
Although it may be thicker, but I do not have any more info at this time.

Regards,
Geralt.

I\'d say that it\'s probably not thin enough.  Even if the drive itself would fit, you still need some  sort of casing to protect it.

If an SD micro drive does eventually come out, you can bet that it\'ll be hideously expensive, at least at the start.

[null]

I\'d say that it\'s probably not thin enough.  Even if the drive itself would fit, you still need some  sort of casing to protect it.

If an SD micro drive does eventually come out, you can bet that it\'ll be hideously expensive, at least at the start.

I agree. I don\'t think an SD sized microdrive will ever be protected well enough to be released as removable media. They will make a great replacement for internal flash though where they would be protected by the unit case.
The drives are expected to cost 30000 yen, about  150 quid ( http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/03121403383...7.d7bacj7h.html )
Pictures here - http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2004_...01/pr_j0801.htm Can anyone translate? Does it mention how thick it is?