OT - Notebook hack fixes SD card limit...

I know a lot of you also have notebook computers, so I thought I'd post
something very useful if you have large SD flashcards for your
phones/camera/etc. and would like the stupid, backwards drivers fixed so a
brand new notebook can read them....

I have a current model MX6438 Gateway AMD Turion 64 notebook that could
only read 512KB SD cards until yesterday. I hate being told I can't do
something, the very reason I don't have a cellphone PDA.

The card I bought (only $68 at newegg.com) is a RiData 4GB X150 SD card,
guaranteed for life! I called Gateway tech support and was told it wasn't
possible to read this card on my notebook as it wasn't supported. They
know better since I called back, yesterday...(c; Calling Micro$not is
unpleasant, at best, and totally useless. I emailed TI, who made its TI
PCIxx21 internal card reader chips used in most notebooks, but they don't
write drivers for their ICs, so we were back to square one. Then, I
emailed Ritek in Taiwan who make these great little beasts. The Ritek
engineer sent me to Australia:
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum...s.cfm?t=517257
where "CarAddict" gives the source of a great-working replacement driver
from Sager Notebooks that's worked on every system I've tried it on. (Read
the very top post in this forum for complete instructions, including a
Registry key change you must make. I'd like to add that if you see more
than one ControlSet00x folder, modify all the SDParam keys in them to 1
instead of 16 (decimal). My Gateway has 001 and 002 ControlSets. If you
don't know how to work in your Registry, DON'T DO ANYTHING and find someone
who does, as you can destroy your system screwing up the Registry entries.
I'm not responsible...(c;

When I plugged the RiData 4GB card into the hacked notebook, it refused to
read the already-installed files and structure, asking to reformat the
card...instead of just ignoring it as before. Let it refomat your SD card
and you GAIN memory space! My card is over 4.1GB, now...(c; After the
notebook hack reformatted the card, it works in all devices just fine.

For you speed freaks, the TI reader in the notebooks only does about
2.7MB/sec transfers. An external USB dongle reader will go twice that
fast, but, of course, you gotta carry around yet ANOTHER dongle I was
trying to avoid.

There, now you can put the vacation pictures on the damned notebook that
wouldn't read it before. Not a single notebook at Circuit City, Best Buy
or the Dell kiosk in our mall would read my 4GB card. I just can't stand
being told "You can't do that." It drives me crazy until I figure it out
or find out how.

I'd like to thank the nice guys at Ritek/RiData in Taiwan for taking the
time to find and send me the solution noone else seems to have a clue about
from major notebook manufacturers...like Dell, Gateway, Toshiba, Sony,
HP...all those little companies. You can bet my next SD card will also be
a RiData with a lifetime warranty!

Larry

At 10 Nov 2006 00:03:56 -0500 Larry wrote:

> I'd like to thank the nice guys at Ritek/RiData in Taiwan for taking
the
> time to find and send me the solution noone else seems to have a clue
about
> from major notebook manufacturers...like Dell, Gateway, Toshiba, Sony,
> HP...all those little companies. You can bet my next SD card will also
be
> a RiData with a lifetime warranty!
>
Hmmm... every major manufacturer's equipment doesn't work with a bargain-
basement off-brand card, and it's all their faults?

Have you ever considered that the incompatibility was the Ridata's fault
and getting it to work with your laptop was sort of their responsibility
in the first place?

I only own one Ridata card- a 2GB, and of my dozen and a half or so SD
cards it's the only one that locks up my Casio digicam. It reads and
writes fine in my Dell Axim and my PC's USB reader, but if I scroll
through pictures in the Casio it locks up until the battery is removed.

My solution was far simpler than sampling the world's tech support- I
just stopped using the Ridata for anything important (it's extra memory
for an MP3 player now,) and decided never to buy another Ridata again.
The fact that it cost 75% of what the next cheapest SD card that capacity
cost should've tipped me off.

Good luck with yours...



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Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

No Todd he is right. I have an HP with the same issue. HP admits to the
issue and will do nothing about it. It will not read a card over 1 gig.
Oddly the new one I got (HP notebook) works fine on a 2 gig card. This is a
known issue hpp will not own up to I guess neither will anyone else
"Todd Allcock" <ElecConnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in message
news:4554260e$0$12099$88260bb3@free.teranews.com.. .
> At 10 Nov 2006 00:03:56 -0500 Larry wrote:
>
>> I'd like to thank the nice guys at Ritek/RiData in Taiwan for taking
> the
>> time to find and send me the solution noone else seems to have a clue
> about
>> from major notebook manufacturers...like Dell, Gateway, Toshiba, Sony,
>> HP...all those little companies. You can bet my next SD card will also
> be
>> a RiData with a lifetime warranty!
>>
> Hmmm... every major manufacturer's equipment doesn't work with a bargain-
> basement off-brand card, and it's all their faults?
>
> Have you ever considered that the incompatibility was the Ridata's fault
> and getting it to work with your laptop was sort of their responsibility
> in the first place?
>
> I only own one Ridata card- a 2GB, and of my dozen and a half or so SD
> cards it's the only one that locks up my Casio digicam. It reads and
> writes fine in my Dell Axim and my PC's USB reader, but if I scroll
> through pictures in the Casio it locks up until the battery is removed.
>
> My solution was far simpler than sampling the world's tech support- I
> just stopped using the Ridata for anything important (it's extra memory
> for an MP3 player now,) and decided never to buy another Ridata again.
> The fact that it cost 75% of what the next cheapest SD card that capacity
> cost should've tipped me off.
>
> Good luck with yours...
>
>
>
> --
> Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
>

"jdoe" <jdoe@msn.com> wrote in
news:QJOdndWXlbznG8nYnZ2dnUVZ_vCdnZ2d@insightbb.co m:

> No Todd he is right. I have an HP with the same issue. HP admits to
> the issue and will do nothing about it. It will not read a card over 1
> gig. Oddly the new one I got (HP notebook) works fine on a 2 gig card.
> This is a known issue hpp will not own up to I guess neither will
> anyone else
>

Install the driver and follow the instructions in your HP. Solves the
problem and will read/write the biggest card on the block, no matter who
made it....(c;

(Well, I hope my attack for trying to help someone else out is over. These
notebooks won't read the $249 cards, either, Todd. Wanna bet they're all
using the same chipset, making your troll pointless?)

Larry
--
Halloween candy left over.....
Is there a downside?

At 10 Nov 2006 10:42:19 -0500 Larry wrote:

> Install the driver and follow the instructions in your HP. Solves the
> problem and will read/write the biggest card on the block, no matter
who
> made it....(c;
>
> (Well, I hope my attack for trying to help someone else out is over.
These
> notebooks won't read the $249 cards, either, Todd. Wanna bet they're
all
> using the same chipset, making your troll pointless?)

I wasn't trolling- just pointing out a different possibilty that's all.
I have an internal card reader on an HP desktop that hates one of my
"name brand" 1GB cards, but reads my 2GB Ridata, so I understand readers
can have problems. I was just suggesting you don't indict half a dozen
notebook manufacturers for difficulties with one card.

And I certainly don't disparage you from giving folks the solution!


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