Has any one removed the HDD and used Flash Memory? on the karma?

ducky 2008-11-23, 07:40 #121

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In reply to post ID 14455

I've converted my first Karma to CF.
CF adapter : 3.19USD (at pointingmouse),
2200Mah Battery : 18.74USD (at megacapacity - I think it is even cheaper now),
Transcend 16GB : 48,67USD (at OFFTEK).

All prices include postage ;-)

I've been loading about 7GB of v0 .mp3 and my new Rio is still running after 17h40 of playback with flat EQ and volume @ 11. I didn't remove the CF adapter led. The battery indicator is flashing now so I suppose it will shut up around 18h of playback.

I'm going to sell my D2. Karma rocks so bad.

RubenNYC 2008-11-23, 08:09 #122

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I love a happy ending.

ronj75 2008-12-16, 18:03 #123

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Subject: dual adapters?

ok this is probably going to be a stupid reply but what the hell

my karma's been dead for a few years with a bad drive.
I've been putting off fixing it and just using my pc to listen to music but thats not going to work since we moved and others now live with us.
I have read through this entire thread and have been looking at pricing for compact flash cards. currently a 32gig is about $70 and up depending on speed. The 133x speed is about $100 on some places.
The issue i have is price. compact flash above 32gig is just not going to come out for at least another year and even then im skeptical. it seems that format may be suffering from the fact that only digital slr cameras use it.
current memory prices:
CF 16gb=$37 32gb=$80, sdhc 16gb=$27, memory stick pro duo 16gb=$97, microsdhc 16gb=$96
Sooooo i have been looking at alternatives to the alternatives haha.
microsdhc cards are dropping like crazy due to digital phones and other players using them.
yes not yet to the sub 100bux for a 32gig but i have a feeling that prices are going to be steadilly dropping on these more than compact flash. so the idea was to load a compact flash adapter into my karma.
then pick up something like this depending on how prices fall.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-SD-MMC-to-CF-Compact-Fla…?hash=i…|65%3A15|39%3A1|240%3A1318

I know its probably repetetive but im an idea/brainstormer kind of guy lol.

spece30 2008-12-16, 18:30 #124

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Its a good idea but here's the problem...it says "Note: NOT compatible with SDHC." SDHC is what makes sizes larger than 4 gig possible so using this adapter would mean you'd be stuck with 4 gig SD cards or less which kind of makes it useless.

I do agree however that compact flash is a dieing breed and its not likely that we will see sizes over 32 gig.

eaglexias 2008-12-16, 20:33 #125

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CF card works fine in the karma, in fact, in here, china, more than 60% of karma useing cf card instead of hdd

awesley 2008-12-16, 22:10 #126

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What about this one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.…?ViewItem&item=220…

"SDHC/SD/MMC to Compact Flash CF II Card Reader Adapter"

krazykit (Administrator) 2008-12-17, 10:17 #127

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Quote by spece30:
Its a good idea but here's the problem...it says "Note: NOT compatible with SDHC." SDHC is what makes sizes larger than 4 gig possible so using this adapter would mean you'd be stuck with 4 gig SD cards or less which kind of makes it useless.

I do agree however that compact flash is a dieing breed and its not likely that we will see sizes over 32 gig.

Wrong. CF isn't going anywhere soon; professional and prosumer camera bodies still use CF cards and 64 gig cards HAVE been announced.

[Image: http://biomoose.com/pics/bug.gif]

jaw2ek 2008-12-21, 18:31 #128

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Quote by awesley on 2008-12-16, 22:10:
What about this one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.…?ViewItem&item=220…

"SDHC/SD/MMC to Compact Flash CF II Card Reader Adapter"

My working Karma doesn't get a lot of use. Every time I open it, another piece of the case falls off. But I really want to try this. Since its hot-swappable, I could see modding the case to be able to switch cards in/out.

If I had a signature, think I'd share it with YOU?

krazykit (Administrator) 2008-12-22, 20:09 #129

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While the adapter might be hot-swappable, I doubt the Karma would work well with a hot-swap.

jaw2ek 2008-12-24, 19:57 #130

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Quote by krazykit on 2008-12-22, 20:09:
While the adapter might be hot-swappable, I doubt the Karma would work well with a hot-swap.

Probably right on that. Hadn't thought of that

If I had a signature, think I'd share it with YOU?

jaytee 2009-01-26, 16:04 #131

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Subject: SDHC to IDE

Has anyone seen or tried these 2.5" ide to SDHC adapters? The ebay one says it supports 32gb (though in my opinion, its probably not actually limited to 32gb, just that 32gb is the largest available size at the moment)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.19737

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.…?ViewItem&item=220…

They really look ideal size-wise and the price of a 32gb SDHC card is anywhere from $80 to $130 street at the moment. Looks like minimal fuss and mods would be necessary.

[Image: http://maxorigin.com/A-Ric/regan/SD_44pins_1.JPG]

[Image: http://maxorigin.com/A-Ric/regan/SD_44pins_1.JPG]

[Image: http://maxorigin.com/A-Ric/regan/SD_44pins_2.JPG]

[Image: http://maxorigin.com/A-Ric/regan/SD_44pins_3.JPG]

C4K60 30 gig Karma + Shure SE530s = audio bliss

This post was edited on 2009-01-26, 16:13 by jaytee.

jaytee 2009-01-26, 16:20 #132

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I was thinking how great it would be if they made something like this for a 1.8" IDE form factor...

[Image: http://techlime.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/25-ssd.jpg]

[Image: http://techlime.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/25-ssd.jpg]

C4K60 30 gig Karma + Shure SE530s = audio bliss

This post was edited on 2009-01-29, 15:45 by jaytee.

M0tah 2009-01-27, 03:53 #133

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Quote by jaytee:
Looks like minimal fuss and mods would be necessary.

I'd have to disagree with you. SD cards run on 3.3v but 2.5" IDE drives run on 5v, meaning that these adapters have to have some way of converting the voltage, which would need to be bypassed (the Karma uses the same interface as 2.5" IDE drives but outputs 3.3v for the drive).

But doing that may be more complex than with the ZIF->IDE adapter - by the looks of the adapter these also have a controller on them to convert the SD card's interface to IDE (ZIF drives use the same parallel ATA interface as the Karma, they just have a different connector). So you'd likely need to find the datasheets for the chips used for the conversion and figure out what voltage(s) they take. If they take 3.3v, then great and you don't need to use a different voltage regulator to convert 3.3v to whatever the chip takes - you can just bypass the existing one. Otherwise, you'd need to find a regulator that takes 3.3v and outputs whatever the chip needs and replace the existing one.

A quick search on the two chips visible on the adapter at dealextreme (controller FC1306T and CMOS flash memory N28F020-150) shows that although the controller will run on either 5v or 3.3v (likely meaning there's no voltage conversion for the chip and nothing needs to be done for it), the flash memory runs on 5v and 5v only, meaning that for the adapter to work you'd need to add in a voltage regulator to boost 3.3v to the 5v needed by the memory.

For those who don't want to read the wall of text, the bottom line is the adapter likely needs non-trivial modifications to ensure the SD card and adapter components receive the correct voltage.

jaytee 2009-01-29, 15:49 #134

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Quote by M0tah on 2009-01-27, 03:53:
Quote by jaytee:
Looks like minimal fuss and mods would be necessary.

I'd have to disagree with you. SD cards run on 3.3v but 2.5" IDE drives run on 5v, meaning that these adapters have to have some way of converting the voltage, which would need to be bypassed (the Karma uses the same interface as 2.5" IDE drives but outputs 3.3v for the drive).

What do 1.8" drives run at? 5v or 3.3v? I would guess 3.3v or this wouldn't be an issue, correct?

It looks like it was designed to replace a 1.8" drive even though they say 2.5" - the form factor is screams 1.8".

C4K60 30 gig Karma + Shure SE530s = audio bliss

This post was edited on 2009-01-29, 15:55 by jaytee.

jaytee 2009-01-29, 15:59 #135

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There's always this:

http://www.memorysuppliers.com/32suta18inso.html

[Image: http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/memorysuppliers_2039_10749660]

Kind of massively expensive at the moment though! At least for now...

another: http://www.memorysuppliers.com/supertalent-solid-state-dri…

[Image: http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/memorysuppliers_2037_2190175]

[Image: http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/memorysuppliers_2037_2190175]

another: http://www.flash-memory-store.com/64gb-super-talent-solid-…

[Image: http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/flashmemory-store_2036_74655099]

but history shows that the price of devices like these will drop as capacity increases... so there is hope!

more here:

http://www.supertalent.com/oem/ssd-commercial.php?type=IDE

C4K60 30 gig Karma + Shure SE530s = audio bliss

This post was edited 3 times, last on 2009-01-29, 16:23 by jaytee.