EX1/EX3 not so picky about ExpressCard/34 SDHC Readers

[deti]

As already stated on many web sites you may use ExpressCard/34 SDHC adapters in USB mode for the Sony PMW EX1/EX3.

There are mentioned a couple of express adapters and SDHC cards supposed to work flawlessly within a EX1/EX3. In the meantime lots of them became unavailable (especially in europe) and some other web shops sell 'special' EX1/EX3 adapters from 80€ up to 100€.

Well, what's so special about these adapters? What do they have in common?
To find out what's inside I bought a couple of them and opened the cover by simply stretching it a little bit and pulling it aside.

All of the known working adapters use the same chip GL827 by Genesys Logic (http://www.genesyslogic.com/_en/product_01_1.php?id=26). Unfortunately the presence of a GL827 is not sufficient to make the EX1/EX3 correctly recognise the adapter.

So I got the cheapest adapter available from ebay member exgrass called 'ExpressCard/34 Express Card Karte Reader xD/SDHC/SD/MMC' for 9€ and found a GL827 not working with EX1/EX3. The next step was to find out what's the difference to a working adapter?

Finally I found out it's just one pin that was connected wrong for some reason: An express card can identify itself as a USB and/or a PCIe device. For some reason this adapter had pin 17 of the express slot connected which makes the card also a PCIe device. After cutting the connection on the PCB the card got recognized as smoothly as any other working adapter.

As I do not have any of the highly recommended but expensive SDHC cards I inserted a low cost one called PLATINUM class 6 bought last month for about 22€. After pressing the record button on the camera it worked like a charm. No media errors - just as any other *xS solution.

Here you can find some pictures attached that show the express card 'surgery'. As you can see both SDHC cards need to be shaved a little bit to fit into the card slot completely - otherwise it is not possible to close the card slot door.

Summary: The EX1/EX3 is not so picky about what you connect as a mass storage device via USB. It does not matter if it is a GL827 based card reader, an USB-IDE/SATA adapter or simply an USB stick (see my other posting).

Deti

[cheezweezl]

sweet discovery. currently i am using a mxm reader (mxmexpress.com) with a transcend class 6 16gb sdhc card. flawless. i can get up to 48 fps at 720p.

[Barry J. Anwender]

Very interesting indeed. Keep them coming Deti!

[moldcad]

OK, but how does it explain some SDHC cards (e.g. 32GB Sandisk) not working in the otherwise proven MxR adaptor?

[deti]

The camera does not write the 35Mbit/s data stream continuously to the medium (SDHC card) which means it generates a data burst of 80-90Mbit/s every 1-2 seconds. If your SDHC card is not able to write some 8.5Mbytes/s you will get into trouble. Better use a hard drive connected via USB (see the other thread http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=169615).

Deti

[moldcad]

I understand this perfectly; if I asked the question about some high-end SDHC not working was because what you said:

As I do not have any of the highly recommended but expensive SDHC cards I inserted a low cost one called PLATINUM class 6 bought last month for about 22€. After pressing the record button on the camera it worked like a charm. No media errors - just as any other *xS solution.

The above would suggest it is the adaptor and not the SDHC card at fault ...

[Iudex]

this is my non working delkin, should i cut number 17 as marked on the picture?

[GuyB]

That reader does not use the GL827 controller so it still may not work, but if this pin is all that is stopping it from working then it might just work.

Depends if your ready to sacrifice the reader for the test, although in theory it should still work as a reader even if the camera still doesn't work with it.

[deti]

Give it a try and cut pin 17 - IMHO it won't get worse and still will work in a regular ExpressCard slot.

Deti

[deti]

The above would suggest it is the adaptor and not the SDHC card at fault ...

Well, with old SD cards up to 2GB the adaptor had the choice of using different interfaces of a SD card. Since SDHC cards cannot be operated in different interface modes there should be no big difference in how different adapters access the cards.

I guess the 'high performance' criteria of some SDHC cards was invented by the marketing department (besides the real existing class definition).
AFAIK many SD cards come from different chinese manufactureres who use flash chips and controllers from only a few chip manufactureres. Higher priced SDHC cards promise to be of a constant quality while others may be just labelled by the (re)seller. This is the only explanation why you could find working & non working cards of the same brand and model. If you take a closer look on the backside you will often discover there is a different or non existing number code.

Most probably the flash controller inside the card makes the difference besides the obvious sd card class code.

I know that these observations do not explain or answer your question entirely but they should give a raw impression of how these electronic parts are being manufactured and sold.

Deti

[Iudex]

i had it just sitting there so i did it, negative results!

[deti]

i had it just sitting there so i did it, negative results!
Could you please take a photo of the complete PCB and post it here to find out which controller is being used?

Deti

[cheezweezl]

fyi. it seems there are some real inconsistencies in SDHC cards right now. i'm hearing stories of fake sandisk cards being sold by major retailers. i just got 2 16gb transcend class 6 cards from amazon and they are both bad. they work in cam but every now and then recording stops and the cam gives me a restore error. sending them back. i have another 16gb transcend class 6 that performs flawlessly up to 48fps. this is why i chose to buy more. so i guess the bottom line is, test cards thoroughly when you get them to avoid embarrassment and only buy from sources that allow easy returns if needed.

anybody have a trusted source for good cards?

[Iudex]

here you go, i took these before...

by the way, i can't test again any other option because i threw my card away: i trashed it a lot when i opened it and when i tested the 17 pin solution i couldn't take the card out... had to take it with a plier. didn't want to get nervous again so i just threw it, i had already repaired it as much as i could before trying it with the fix.

[deti]

Well this is a somehow cheap'n'crappy design. The silicon is hidden behind the black blob. Throwing it far away was the right thing to do ;-)

Deti