Reliable 8GB Card for TT520?

[Andy_P]

As I said above. a 4GB NON-SDHC card will work Transcend or Topram are two known brands.
If you do a forum "search" for "SDHC" you will find LOADS of previous discussions.

EDIT- Damn, that New Years Resolution didn't last long!

[F2]

Earlier I asked Mike if he could fully access his 8 gig card when it was INSIDE the TomTom (I've a 920) using usb and using either Windows Explorer or TT Home.

The 920 does not appear to have any problem using the data/files that I've placed on it in excess of 4 gigs but from Explorer or Home, I cannot see or add anything about the initial 4 or so gigs while the card is inside the 920. When attempting to add files I get an "incorrect parameter" message from Windows. I was able to copy a 1k file but larger files including one 18k errored out.

Something else interesting (or not). Just now, when I attempted (inside 920 with SD card through Explorer) to open a folder I created while the SD was in the card reader (where I placed North Amer poi), I get the same "incorrect parameter" error which is quickly preceded by an "Insert a Disk into Q Drive" - yet I can access the older content on that Q drive just not the stuff added after it exceeded about 4 gigs worth. Odd???

When I right click on the SD drive (inside 920), and check properties, it shows up as 8 gigs and shows how much space is used. So some aspects are available or known to Windows while inside the 920.

Has anybody gotten that to work? I can only access my 8 gig card from an external card reader attached to my computer.

Access while inside the 920 would make moving files, like poi or Itinerary files back and forth between Internal and External (SD) Memory.

Just wondering if it this PNY 8 gig or a generic 8 gig limitation.

Thanks.

[DennisN]

As a bear of little brain, I suffered something on these lines a couple of days ago. Vera bought herself a digital photo frame which takes SD cards and does a slide show of jpeg pictures. So I hauled out one of my 2GB cards from its spare case and deleted all the TomTom backup from it.

I then copied all her photos from our Grand Tour of Europe in 2004. She took nearly 500 in the fortnight's drive. Looking at properties I couldn't see how many files I'd copied across, but I could see the card still had well over 1Gig free. So I went to copy across the few hundred from GT of Europe 2006. And it promptly gave that funny parameters complaint. When I looked, it had only taken a small number of the new files across.

Knowing nothing, I sought help and Mike said maybe it's to do with 9 bits, which meant nothing, but he asked if I had copied across 511 files and I had (Properties wouldn't show how many files so I went to good old DOS prompt and did a DIR). He replied that's about the ninth bit, it can't take a tenth bit address (512) and he said "binary" and "111111111". Sounds like magic to me. Maybe you understand it (please don't try to explain it for my benefit, it'll be pearls among swine!).

So that card has 511 pictures on it and won't accept any more. BUT yesterday I synced music CDs onto it via Windows Media Player, adding more "data" to the card. More magic.

In both circumstances I was using card reader.
_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

[F2]

Well, I'm hoping Mike does re-check this thread.

I know at one time (older dos, or dark ages) that the Root Folder (we use to call it Directory) could only hold so many files (or folders) but the sub's could hold much more. Maybe that was the limitation. But in this case, the items are in folders. 682 files in 75 folders.

I just used the Panasonic SD Card formatting tool. I'm copying the files back to the card. I shall see if maybe that "fixes" this issue or maybe it is inherent in the TT920. What is interesting is that after running that format tool, when I attempted to just click on a "formatted but empty" SD, I got an intercept from Windows asking if I wanted to format the SD card. This time I answered no and figured I would try copying to it. The copying is happening so maybe (ah, turns an eye heavenward) .....

12 minutes of copying left...

Oh, really interesting or rather DISAPPOINTING. Now the files are not "appropriately available" to 920 from inside. Music files are playing the wrong file and photos are not showing. And when 920 is hooked up, the Q Drive is NOT formatted and canNOT be accessed at all.

Time for a reformat under Windows.... WAIT.... I did a RESET and now the music and photos are showing on the 920.

Now to see what happens when I hook up to USB cable... NO GO! Again, the Q Drive shows up as needed a FORMAT.

So, when formatted using Windows' tools, it did format to 7+ gigs and it allows me to copy tons of stuff but when inside the 920 to use that stuff and used with usb, it will show (Explorer) stuff up to a limit (4g???) but not any more and will not allow me to me stuff to it.

When formatted with the Panasonic SD tool, it again formats. It can use the stuff I load with a free-standing 920. But when used connected to usb, the SD drive shows up as UNformatted.

Enough......... I'm sure I have babbled sufficiently for the moment.

[Oldboy]

[DennisN]

Oh dear! (and more vociferous words which are not suitable for a family friendly forum).

My lovely new (£52) Peak 8GB SDHC card arrived a few minutes ago, so I opened it up and stuck it in the card reader. Unrecognised, go boil your head, etc, etc. Stuck it in my GO720 - That card needs formatting, shall I format it? Yes please. Formatted, about 3+ GB. Stuck it in the card reader - unrecognised, go boil your head. With Explorer, clicked My Computer, "I'm DEAD", Right click, Close, End program? - Yes, Tell Microsoft? - Not B Likely, I don't tell them ANYTHING!!

What next, please, Experts? (suggestions like buy a card reader that does SDHC and works in your stupid 64-bit [error - fat finger hit that twice and fatly - came out as bitty!!] computer, will not be well received!)
_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

[F2]

Well, the card was recognized in my new Dynex reader but I don't see in its "instruction" manual that it specifically deals with sdhc cards.

And like the post just above me (Jolly ol' Santa), I did get the UNFORMATTED message initially from Windows and so formatted it. Now, as I wrote above, after the Panasonic format, Windows still thought it unformatted but when I copied files, they went over fine. So maybe the cards' initial format was good, too and it should not have been REformatted.

The card works fine in the card reader. I see it all, I can load to it and read its contents. The card works in the 920, in that the contents are, from what I can tell, usable in the 920 when it is stand-alone. I have not tried playing all 750 music tracks YET (G). But a random sampling do play.

What I canNOT do is see the card when it is in the 920 using a usb connection in either Explorer or TT Home.

I am stubborn and a former programmer. I can take some of these mysteries and can throw hours into solving issues like this but the tools are limited. And TT 920 is new so.....

Thanks for throwing in ideas and suggestions.

[mikealder]

I did use a card reader to load the 8GB card as attempts with the TomTom as the card reader failed to see it all, I am sure the music files installed can all be seen as I spent some time working through the playlists to ensure all the albums and artists were listed on the device - Mike

[DennisN]

Dan
Taking your avatar out of the equation, I'm not sure whether to love you for this excellent write-up, or hate you for getting it right! I think I'll err on the side of the avatar.

Thank you mille fois - obviously you've got Aaaaaaaard Northerner blood in you. I shall be into Maplins tomorrow morning and back home to try your advice long before the footie, the crisps and the Stellas seek my attention. I'd be off right now except they close at 8pm!

Cheers
_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

[DennisN]

Cheers, Dan, that's excellent.

All I need now is for local Maplin to have one in stock AND for it to work with Windows XP X64-bit. I need a fingers crossed smileycon!
_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

[Oldboy]

[DennisN]

Dan_Gleebitz
Richard's smileycon fingers must have worked. I got the card reader from Maplins, brought the 8GB card upstairs, put it into the reader and copied off all the 1,600 photos, then deleted them, then right clicked and properties said it was 7.5+GB and I formatted the card and it said windows couldn't complete the formatting and then it said the card needed formatting, would I like to and I said yes and it did and it worked and it says it's 7.53 GB.

And although I printed off your instructions, I forgot to look at them first. Sorry.

But thank you anyway for the card reader.

Where did you get the cheaper cards? At £21 they're worth having a couple more, then I don't have to give Vera mine!
_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

[DennisN]

Guess what Dan? The card reader and the card both work on my MacBook too. Give yourself a star.
_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

[F2]

Just a report on quirkiness!

I was going along fine. Then last night I tried viewing some of my Photos. The application locked up and my TT920 spontaneously rebooted.

I then had trouble getting to the 8 gig PNY card in the card reader. Apparently, something blew it out of the water.

Finally, using the Panasonice formatter I managed to clean it up. Restored about 5 gigs of data (I did have a backup). Things seemed okay. Went to Photos again and again, spontaneousl implosion/reboot.

This time the card worked in the reader. When I went to the reader, there is a thumbnails.dat (I think dat) file the photo folder and in the subfolders with most recent read date.

I believe that TT writes that file when trying to display the photo thumbnails.

I fear that since the TT really only like 4gig cards, that it has a limited capacity to write to the directory structure or similar and blows up.

When is interesting is that I had viewed these folders and photos before. I have a feeling that I may have deleted some early files I copied to the card, possibly freeing up space "earlier" in the card or directory structure and so it could write the necessary data but possibly after adding more stuff or reading stuff, TT ran into the 4gig roadblock.

I do know that when I've attempted to write or copy 1k files, I could generally do that but with larger files I got that "incorrect parameter" error from Windows.

Anyone want to speculate????

[mikealder]

Maybe its time someone bit the bullet and tried one of These cards out - Mike

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