N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

I have completed the first part of this project which was to make a 8GB SDHC memory card for the Nokia 770.
For those who asked the 8GB RS-MMC size custom card can be purchased from this site. http://www.remotefactory.com/n770memory.html with a credit card or Paypal

This card is only for users who know how to flash the kernel for SDHC support or is willing to learn.
For those new users like me who sent email or posted that they needed a simplified but detailed SDHC flasher instructions here you go.
http://www.remotefactory.com/sdhc.html
Please update me with any mistakes. I used it on OS2007HE and OS2006 without an problems.

** Update*** I also used it on the 770 with OS2008HE.

If there is enough interest I will make them available at http://www.remotefactory.com under hobbyist corner.

I also received email from 770 owners who say they sre waiting for a 16GB size. I do not have a 16GB size and it will be very expensive when the 16GB MicroSD card become available by Sandisk or others. I am also not sure if they will work but they should.

I have been using the custom 8GB memory card for many weeks without any problems. The olny thing I see is the unit will restart if you remove the card if it is in use. I also think the swap file is in use sometime when no programs are running. Do not remove it if you was just running several programs. This also happen with a 2GB standard RS-MMC card.



Right now I am using a N770 with 2007HE and a N800 with 2008OS

I am new to the N770 but I have a n800 which has 2 16G memory cards. I use this every day for work and need to have it stable. After installing several Media programs it crashed a few times so I decided to purchase a N770 to play with but I soon found out it is limited to 2-4G RS-MMC cards.
With this limitation I do not think it is a good device for Media since I do not like carrying additional cards around. After searching for a solution for this I found that some users were modifying the MMC slot to allow for SD cards by cutting, Soldering cards into the machine and so on.

I am a self-taught engineer who design and manufacture remote control products. Solving existing problems and making things work better is one of the things I do best.

I set out to solve this RS-MMC Memory card limitation problem and came up with a solution where I can use MicroSD cards in my N770 but for now it only support the none SDHC versions.

My goals for the N770 and N800

I am making it a project to turn the Nokia 770 into a machine which can use 8 to 16G Micro SD cards with a easy way to install the support for these cards for every one and making it a nicer Media playing device.

Problem 1: Make the Micro SD card fit the N770 without hacking the device: Already Solved but current solution is not for every one. Micro SDHC 8GB cards soon at http://www.remotefactory.com/ under "hobbyist corner"

Problem 2: I am new to Linux and also I do not do any programming so that leads to needing help to solve problem 3.

Problem 3: Installing support for SDHC cards.
Status: Installed SDHC support from Fanoush http://fanoush.wz.cz/maemo/#sdhc
kernel-sdhc-48MHz-3.2006.49.tar.gz
and it worked fine, Currently testing for problems.

Problem 4: Find out all the issues that I will need to over come after cards are recognized such as speed, memory corruptions, best card to use, etc.

Status: So far Windows XP treats it like a hard drive instead of a removable drive. It take 110 minutes to load 3.7G trough the USB connection. it took 100 minutes to load the same amount of files to a Tilt with a 8G Micro SDHC.



Next project after this one is solved:
Project 2:
Make a remote control that will work with the headphone jack to control the media play I choose for the N800 and the N770.

Project 3: Get the media players to support a remote control for all the transport functions. I see that Kagu supports pause and play but I think that they all should support some kind of wired remote control if this is not too difficult.

Anyone with useful information for these projects please post it to this trend

craves1
I crave electronic simplicity
I want a single do-all device with the most uses possible

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

good on you! i wish i could contribute something positive to help you in your quest! i've a 770 which was replaced with a 800 because of the extra memory possibilities. i still use the 770 and any way to get the memory upped would be great. cheers!

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

What is the maximum memory you can use in your 770 now?
What do you use the 770 for now?
What do you think of it as a media player?

thanks

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

Well I have a 770 and love it...
I can not solve problem 3 but I know where it has already been solved check out Fanoush's web page, he made a kernel that can support SDHC cards as well as higher speeds.
Keep us up to date about this, I would be really happy to get more storage in my 770.

Edit:
Check out these pages that are along the same lines
1
2

Edit 2:
Check this out too

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

ericdkirk
Thanks, I have read these posts and the pages you suggested and they are why I made the memory adapter.

Do you know if there are none SDHC 4G microSD cards available?

I will also be posting soon where the adapters and adapters with memory already installed can be purchased. There will also be several other parts posted there.

One additional parts that is available as of next week is a OTG cable and adapter mini kit for the N800. These cables will put the N800 in OTG mode automatically. They differ from other solutions in this forum by the cable and size.

I am not sure yet about the N770 in OTG mode. I did not read anywhere if it is possible yet.

Thanks

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

The SD standard only allows for cards up to 2GB due to the use of 32-bit byte addressing. SDHC expands the capacity to a theoretical maximum of 2TB* through the use of sector addressing instead of byte addressing. Before SDHC was introduced, some manufacturers increased the capacity of their cards to 4GB by using a control bit, normally used for parity information, as an additional address bit (essentially extending it to a 33-bit address). Since these cards effectively removed the parity control bit, they are less reliable than standard cards, are not compatible with many devices, and technically don't even meet the SD technical specs set out by the SD Card Association. Many companies still sell 4GB non-SDHC cards, but I would avoid them at all costs.


* (When can I expect these to come out?...I'm practically drooling at just the thought of 4TB of storage in an N800!) :D (Then again...since a single memory card would probably cost 10x as much as the N800, it might not be very practical.) :(

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

I have the main parts now and as soon as I understand how to install the SDHC support and test them on the 4 and 8G SDHC card and when I am sure they will not cause and problems I will make them available.
I know the sandard cards work perfectly so far.
Also beware this adapter is not for everybody. They are mostly to prevent people from hacking the N770. We can add the card to the adapter if requested but it is a modification Kit for the MicroSD card. Soon we will also have a version that anyone can easly add the MicroSD card to the adapter.
Anyone who wants to take the chance can purchase the Kit and add it themself next week. This requires a little skill in soldering but it is not a big deal.


Thanks

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

One can also make such 'kit' from this http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5091 Just cut the usb part, make it a bit thinner and stick microSDHC card to it. Then flash my kernel http://fanoush.wz.cz/maemo/#sdhc and it should work. People already done this, just search this forum. Still, such kit mentioned in previous posts with card already fitted might save you some effort.

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

32 bits can address 4GB just fine
That's nonsense. The reason why SD standard goes only to 2GB is limitation of FAT16 filesystem, those non-standard cards must use FAT32 just like SDHC cards. There is nothing wrong with those 4GB cards (if device understands FAT32). There is no hardware difference between 2GB and 4GB SD cards except bigger flash. Also the communication on block level (layer below filesystem, reading/writing blocks) is same.

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

Thanks but been there done that. This is why I made this part. I read all the post and purchase the same adapter and cut many SD cards thinner includeing this adapter. When you cut the sd adapter thiner and remove enough of the USP part to fit it is no longer a elegent part. and since I have several N770's it get stuck in some of them.

Thanks but, been there done that for those solutions. I also saw users hacking the MMC slot on the Tablet. This is why I made this part. I read all the post and purchase the same adapter and cut many SD cards thinner including this adapter. When you cut the SD adapter thinner and remove enough of the USB part to fit all the way into the slot so the door can close it is no longer a neat part. And since I have several N770's it get stuck in some of them. There is nothing wrong with it for those who want this.

When I understand completely how to flash your kernel which I have already read about I will test the different memories try to post a good solution for everyone who what’s it. My engineers are Linux people but I am new to it. I am looking for an easy solution for everyone. It may be easy but I just have not gone far enough into this to understand it yet. Since this is just a spare time project I can only devote a few hours to it on the weekend.

If you are interested and if you are willing can you post a newbie step buy step guide?

Thanks for the reply any further help would be deeply appreciated.

craves1

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

Forgot to say I am flashed with the 2007HE OS if you are going to help

Thanks
craves1

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

From Secure Digital card on Wikipedia: (The "condensed version" is highlighted.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Compatibility with 2 gigabyte and larger SD cards has been poor, due to the SD/MMC protocol's using a 32-bit address field denominated in bytes. The SDHC standard addresses this limitation by using 32-bit block addresses instead. Both SD and SDHC are traditionally accessed as 512-byte blocks on 512-byte boundaries, so the change to host software or firmware is minor but required. Before SDHC was standardized, various manufacturers "extended" the SD control block fields for their 2 GB and 4 GB cards in different ways. Those cards are incompatible with many SD and some SDHC devices, as they conform to neither standard. All SDHC readers work with standard SD cards.

Many older devices will not accept the 2 GB size even though it is in the revised standard. The following statement is from the SD association specification:

"To make 2 GByte card, the Maximum Block Length (READ_BL_LEN=WRITE_BL_LEN) shall be set to 1024 bytes. However, the Block Length, set by CMD16, shall be up to 512 bytes to keep consistency with 512 bytes Maximum Block Length cards (Less than and equal 2 Gbyte cards)."

Since all cards up to and including the 1 GB card use a fixed 512 block size, some device drivers do not handle the larger block size and will not even recognize the 2 GB card. For example, the SanDisk web site shows examples of devices such as the iPAQ 1910 that will support only 1 GB cards and the Epson Photo RX300 Technical support says they support only 1 GB cards in the SD slot. Users of many early card readers have found that they also support only cards up to 1 GB.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An extension of the SD standard, SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity, SD 2.0), allows capacities in excess of 2 GB. SDHC cards are often formatted with the FAT32 file system, which supports partition sizes greater than 2 GB. It uses the same form factor as SD, but the SD 2.0 standard in SDHC uses a different memory addressing method (sector addressing vs byte addressing), thus theoretically reaching a maximum capacity of up to 2048GB. SDHC cards only work in SDHC compatible devices, but standard SD cards work in both SD and SDHC devices. The SDHC trademark is licensed to ensure compatibility.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As of early 2007, the simultaneous availability of non-standard 4 GB SD and of standards-compliant 4 GB SDHC cards, and incompatibilities between SD and SDHC have caused confusion among consumers buying memory devices.

SD and SDHC cards and devices have these compatibility issues :

* Devices that do not specifically support SDHC do not recognize SDHC memory cards.
* Some manufacturers have produced 4 GB SD cards that conform to neither the SD2.0/SDHC spec nor existing SD devices.
* Files System: SD cards are typically formatted with the FAT16 filesystem, while SDHC cards are typically formatted as FAT32. (However, both types of cards can support other general-purpose filesystems, such as ext2 for example.)

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

Yes, there is definitely some value in such ready-made adapter. So where we can buy it?
There is similar guide here
http://www.internettablettalk.com/wi..._to_a_computer

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

Yes, no need to paste whole text here (and to change color to unreadable one :-). There is nothing about that parity control bit and lower reliability nonsense. While the accuracy of details in this wikipedia article is not ideal it has all the important bits right and does not contradict anything I said. As you may see the compatibility isssues start already at 1GB boundary due to some manufacturers being surprised by block size over 512 bytes. 4GB cards are not worse than 2GB ones (except the FAT32 issue). Block size for 4GB cards is 2048 bytes.

Good overview is here http://www.hjreggel.net/cardspeed/special-sd.html

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

THANKS, I was able to figure out how to do this with this page and some others. It was a little confusing but I got it. I am now testing the 4g SDHC. This week I will test the 8G SDHC if everything works OK I will post links to the adapter and instructions.

I used your Kernel "kernel-sdhc-48MHz-3.2006.49.tar.gz" on the first try and so far it is working. I am writing a how to for dummies which I will post a link to this week. Can you look it over and tell me if something is wrong. If so let me know where I can send it or I will just post it.

craves1

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

Just in case anyone didn’t understand, I meant a How to for Dummies like me. I am new to this and it took me a while to figure out how to flash the Kernel without a computer. I had to change many things until I found out what I was doing wrong.

Status:
SDHC MicroSD card works fine. the first thing I am finding it that Windows XP mounts it like a USB hard Drive instead of a removable.

I loaded it with 3.7G of music files trough the USB connection to the 770 and it took 110 minutes.
When I try to erase any music file or music folder it says it's read only.

Swap file enabled works OK.

craves1

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

Craves1,
thanks for your work on this. I am would love a simple (for Dummies like me) kit that would allow me to expand my storage on my 770. However, I have avoided the HE2007 like the plague as I have read a lot of bad press on it here. I still use OS2006. Will your kit work for those of us who still use OS2006 (Gregale)?

thanks,
Neil

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

Neil

Neil

It should work on OS2006 also. The memory converter Kit is the same. It is up to the SDHC support for OS2006 which I think is already done by fanoush. I will be getting another N770 to test OS2006 this week. The second one I was using for testing have the WSOD and the current one I am using to test OS2007 is working so good as a media player now I do not want to re-flash it with OS2006.
The WSOD was not caused by the memory converter but by static electricity when it was booting up and I remove the RS-MMC card. The screen driver board is right near the memory slot


There are some programs that do not work on my 2007HE but I am making a strictly media player with it so I do not need as many programs to work. I am more concern about it not crashing and for now it is about as stable as when I had OS2006 on it. I just need to get a status bar clock to work and it will be mostly complete.

Thank you for the post and I will update here when I have tested the N770 with OS2006 and 8G SDHC card.

craves1

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

That sounds strange, there should be no difference. When you disconnect from PC, insert smaller card and reconnect, it is again removable? And when doing it again with 8GB one it is again fixed drive? Maybe formating the card in sdhc usb reader could help.
usb is slow, not sure if 110 minutes is normal, though. You may try to enable write caching for the drive in XP (=disable 'optimize for quick removal' in drive settings). Also after copying some data, check kernel log for possible i/o errors via 'dmesg' in terminal, there should be none such error. Setting to read only indicates some problem. How did you format the card? You should better not use File Manager in 770 but format from PC over usb or even use card reader for this operation. OS2006 or hacker edition may not support formating big cards properly.

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

I did not format it at all. It came formatted with Fat 32. I figure I would try to solve this problem later today. I also used a USB reader to connect the same memory card to the computer then it mounts as a removable. When I put it back in the 770 it mounts as a USB hard drive.

I am not complaining about the time it takes to copy files. I have the same problem with my N800 when coping to the 16G cards so I installed SDHC readers in all my computers.

Also by the way soldering may no longer be required after today. I will post the results today.

Thanks for the post
Craves1

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

By the way, wifi is faster than USB on Nokia 770 when using an updated 'highspeed' wlan driver (peak wlan data transfer can reach ~1.3MB/s and exceed the theoretical USB 1.x speed limit). More details about improving the speed of data transfer to Nokia 770 can be found in the following thread: http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...ad.php?t=12787

Here is a direct link to the wlan driver usage instructions: http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...6&postcount=19

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

Interesting thread. I became aware of the Nokia 770 early, the reason I never bought it was mainly due to it using RS-MMC instead of SD. But if I had ended up buying it (probably would, eventually, if the N800 hadn't arrived) then this solution looks like it could be just what the doctor ordered.

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

Thanks

I will look into wifi tarnsfer but it is also easy to use a USB SD card reader for faster transfers.

craves1

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

Just fyi, old knowledge and off topic:Under win9x FAT16 could only be 2gb , but FAT16 can adress 4GB (works under windows NT/2000 for example, there "FAT" means FAT16)

files can only be 2gb big on fat16.
Don't take my word for it: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310561/

why care? In the old day's when 4gb was really really expensive you could use a 4gb Cf card more efficient for big files under fat16 then under fat32 (= store more files) for example for digital camera's who write RAW files why are a few MB or more each.

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

Progress Report:

Today I tested the 8G SDHC cards conversion kit on a Sandisk 8G card. I loaded 7.23 GB of audio files and played them with the built-in media player and UKMP Dark. The total available memory is 7.6 GB. The audio files so far are playing fine.
A few times before I rebooted UKMP shut down with certain songs but now all are working fine. I will test it over the next few days and see what happens.

This brings me closer to my goal of making it a more useable media player by increasing the memory capacity that can be easily installed. With two 8GB cards I can now easily carry 16GB with me.

The current conversion solution requires me to solder the cards in the conversion kit but we have also worked out a way around this. So far the only way to keep it cheap is to solder the cards which will void the warranty of the card.
Considering the great advantage this gives to the additional usefulness of the N770 I am willing to do this but I am unsure about everybody else. 8GB Micro SDHC cards are or will be soon under $70.00 each.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820171320

Another thing I am noticing since I have a N800 with 32GB that use for work is the sound on the N770 compared to the N800.
I Like the N770 better using the same pair of SENNHEISER PX100 headphones to test with.

I am working to make the Soldering version of the conversion kit available this Friday to whoever is interested.

Left to do:
1: Test on the N770 with OS2006 installed.

2: Work out the speed issue for copying files from a computer to the N770

3: Find out why a Windows XP computer mounts the card as a USB hard drive instead as a removable drive.
This bothers me because; this does not happen if the card is in a reader.
The problem with it being treated like a hard drive is Windows Monitor’s it with SYSTEM RESTORE and place a recycle bin on it if you delete anything.

craves1

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

After checking several MMC cards on three different Windows XP computers it seems that when I connect the N770 trough the USB it is mounted as a Local Disk.

I tried this with the 64MB and 2GB none SDHC cards on 3 computers with 2 Different 770's.

One N770 was flashed with the SDHC support Kernel and the other was not. One was running OS2007HE the other OS2006

I get the same results on both.

Can anyone verify this for me?

Thanks

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

Yes, same result here, local disk. 2GB card, system restore disabled, deleted something and I don't see recycle bin so the behavior is same like removable drive for me.

Looks like you need to add flag named removable when inserting
g_file_storage module. See http://lxr.linux.no/linux+v2.6.16/dr...file_storage.c for parameters. Tried to modify /usr/sbin/osso-usb-mass-storage-enable.sh in 770 with hacker edition and added 'removable' to line
and it seems to work. Not sure if there are any further gotchas (i.e. why Nokia did not set it by default).

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

fanoush

Thanks, I know if you disable system restore for this drive it will not place a recycle bin. But if you use a different card it will sometime turn on System Restore monitoring. Also when you use a different computer and System Restore is turned on then is will also monitor the n770 for deleted files and place a recycle bin on it again.

I will proceed with my project since this is not a product of my memory converter mod.

Thanks for your help
craves1

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

craves1
Have you had any luck with this process you have been playing with, I and I'm sure others are waiting for you to release your information.
I am all about more storage on my 770, if they could just fix the audio on the 08HE

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

ericdkrik

I am finished with this part of the project. I did not think many 770 user were interested in this project, judging from the posts.

Any way

I have been using my 770 all week with a memory converter based on the Sandisk 8GB Micro SDHC. I am satisfied that it works. I have not had any problems that were not already there before since I started using OS2007HE. I am still waiting on another N770 so I can completely test it with OS2006 but so far it worked with one 770 that I have without the screen working properly (No vertical scanning). It connects to a computer without any problems and shows the 8 GB card and I can read and write to it. I should have another on this week.

The read and write speed is the same as a 2 GB Kingston RSMMC 1 GB writes 2 minutes faster on the Kingston.

I have 7.3GB of music on it and many other files and so far I have not had any problems at all. I have not tested Movies at all.

If I think enough people are interested I will make some 8GB memory cards available next week based on the Sandisk 8GB MicroSDHC. This memory can only be used in the N770. It will fit in some readers but you can not attach the Full size SD adapter to it. There are some readers that allow for the RSMMC card without the full size attachment. Support for SDHC must be flashed to the N770 to use this memory conversion.

Shortly I will also make available the converter kit for those who want to make their own memory.
The memory products for the 770 will be available at www.remotefactory.com under the link hobbyist corner soon.

If anyone is interested they can post here or send a short email to chester@optonline.net this will help me to determined how much to make available.

Question: Are 4GB RSMMC cards easy to find?


craves1

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

Do not conclude that only a few people are interested in your work. Many (including me) are eager to have more than 1-2Gb in their 770, but are just silently waiting for the completion of your project. I think that you will get feedback once you actually make public your design.

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

OK this may be slightly relevant to this thread.

Thought of a (full) SD inside N770. After looking inside extensively I decided the "metal part" housing the battery is the best place. Behind it is a rubber insulator to the LCD - so I thought of cutting the metal and placing a SD card and solder wires directly on the card (at least I need not open it fully next time I need to change/upgrade it).

(Un)fortunately the metal is of such good quality that no amount of drilling can cut it (see image). Currently I have removed (part) of the rubber insulator and placed the SD card in that place. Hope this will be helpful.

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

biophysics

Thanks for the post. The whole idea of this project is to make it easy to use memory without hacking the Nokia 770 device at all. With this you just install the converted memory card, Flash the kernel for SHCD support and go. You can also have several 8GB cards and swap them as needed.

craves1

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

Here you go:

At this web page http://www.remotefactory.com/n770memory.html you can see the progress of my project.

You will be able to buy 8GB cards this week. I am trying to secure a source for the micro SD so I an offer it at a good price.
I will also make a 4GB card available if intrest is shown.


left= 2GB MMC right= 8GB SDHC converted card craves1

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

This is the detail screen for the storage card.

craves1

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

This is awesome. What's your anticipated cost though? I have an aging 770 that I'd like to still use sometimes.

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

That is awesome man, I am in. I would also be willing to pay $4 or $5 more if you would grind in the right groves for the Mobile-MMC adapter to work on it to.

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

I am waiting to see what the memory cost in bulk and how may people are really interested. I will then know what the price can be. I am not trying to make money from this but I would like to cover the cost and time it takes.

I will post the price this week.

craves1

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

ericdkirk
Thanks

I would like to but it is not possible the micro SD card it too big. Aslo It is designed to only fit in the N770 so people do not try to use it in other mobile devices. I am not sure what would happen in other mobile devices.
I will make a USB reader available once I find out where to get the one I have in bulk. It is the kind with the trap door that opens up. When you put the card in, it can be pushed out with a push slider on top. You can also use it as a thumb drive.

craves1

Re: N770 8G SDHC card without hacking MMC slot
 

At worst it will not work but nothing should be damaged. SD and MMC is interchangable. There is even slight chance it may work in something else too.

This one?
http://www.sharkoon.com/html/produkt.../index_en.html