SD or CF Card with TomTom

ROBBINS · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 7:48 pm Post subject: SD or CF Card with TomTom

Hi all

I have been using the equipment below for some, but have a problem that when using the BT GPS GR230 from Holux, the system usually locks up after 100 miles or so and requires a soft re-set to get going again. (Much to the delight of my wife who says that she and the map book are indispensable) When using the GM270 in the CF slot, I do not seem to have this problem.

I have received the following advice from Holux - whose response and help has been excellent -

"Swap the SD card for a CF card when you use the GR230.
You'll have no problems at all then, the read rate of the SD slot on the
2210 is too slow for TomTom".

Having spent quite a lot of money on SD cards for maps of GB, europe etc, I am reluctant to spend more on CF cards before being advised by others that this may work.

Does anyone have any experience of this or should I consider using another make of SD card?

Cheers

Alan

IPAQ 2210 Rom Upgrade 1.10
TT3 Upgrade 3.07(442) & GPS Upgrade 3.07(417/421)
GPS GR230 – NMEA0183V24800
Bluetooth Serial Port Com8
Or GM270 using CF card slot.
Active Sync 3.7.1
BT Reg Tweak 1.4 by 747
Transcend SD Card 256 MB
Sprite Backup 3.1.3 Build 2412
Brodit Active Holder with built in speaker

DavidW · Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 6:10 pm Post subject:

Darren has concluded that the combination of iPAQ h2210, Bluetooth GPS and TomTom Navigator 3 software just isn't stable with SD memory. It sounds as if you've replicated that result - as changing to a CompactFlash GPS makes things work properly.

I can't replicate this as I don't have a 2210 - but the combination of Bluetooth GPS, Navigator 3 and SD memory works fine on my iPAQ hx4700.

Sadly, I fear this is one problem that won't be solved - the 2210 has been discontinued now, and TomTom Navigator 3 software is likely to be replaced with a later version of Navigator at some point this year. It could be that the replacement for Navigator 3 won't share this problem - but, for now, if the instability really is getting to you, I can only suggest buying a CompactFlash memory card.

David

ROBBINS · Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 8:28 pm Post subject:

David

Thanks for the reply.

If I switch to CF cards instead of SD cards, does TomTom 3 recognise the new location for the maps, or do I need to reconfigure in some way.

Thanks

Alan

IPAQ 2210 Rom Upgrade 1.10
TT3 Upgrade 3.07(442) & GPS Upgrade 3.07(417/421)
GPS GR230 – NMEA0183V24800
Bluetooth Serial Port Com8
Or GM270 using CF card slot.
Active Sync 3.7.1 Build 4034
BT Reg Tweak 1.4 by 747
Transcend SD Card 256 MB
Sprite Backup 3.1.3 Build 2412
Brodit Active Holder with built in speaker

DavidW · Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 8:52 pm Post subject:

Assuming that you put the maps in the same location on the CompactFlash card as they are on the SD card (for example, the root directory of the CF card if that's where they are on the SD card), there shouldn't be a problem - but if there is, just come back and we'll try to help.

David

ROBBINS · Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 9:00 pm Post subject:

David

I will bear the location in mind when I get a card and let you know if I have any problems.

I have been looking around at 512mb Cards in order to get a few of my maps on. They seem to vary a lot in price from about £32.95 to £139.50.
Can you recommend any particluar ones.

Alan

IPAQ 2210 Rom Upgrade 1.10
TT3 Upgrade 3.07(442) & GPS Upgrade 3.07(417/421)
GPS GR230 – NMEA0183V24800
Bluetooth Serial Port Com8
Or GM270 using CF card slot.
CheckPOInt 2.0.2.0
Active Sync 3.7.1 Build 4034
BT Reg Tweak 1.4 by 747
Transcend SD Card 256 MB
Sprite Backup 3.1.3 Build 2412
Brodit Active Holder with built in speaker

DavidW · Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 9:10 pm Post subject:

I've no specific recommendations for CompactFlash - on the whole, they seem to be less troublesome than SD cards.

You could take a look at the range from ValueFlash - if nothing else to give you an idea of what is available in what price range. (I've no connection with ValueFlash other than as a satisfied customer).

My strategy with storage cards these days is to buy big - there again, I don't tend to swap my storage cards around much. I've currently got a 1GB SD card in my hx4700 - and am waiting for prices to drop a bit before buying a large CompactFlash card.

David

deep_south · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 26, 2004 Posts: 22

As an aside, I have TTN3 on a Dell Axim X5, bought as a bundle from Dell, which came with a CF card. Basically, it didn't work - kept locking up. Got a replacement CF card from Dell - no change.

Did the Axim bios update, and it was better, but still locked up "sometimes".

So I got an SD card, and it's been perfect since...

DavidW · Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 10:14 pm Post subject:

There's always exceptions - there's no such thing as a completely firm rule when it comes to performance and compatibility issues.

Have you any idea what brand the CompactFlash card Dell supplied was?

David

barryd · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 1:58 pm Post subject:

Hi Robbins
I've a very similar setup to yours and I can confirm that changing from SD card to CF card solved my occasional lockup problems with TomTom 3 on a 2210. Can't fully remember, to be honest, but I think I just reinstalled the maps from the TomTom CD to the new CF card, then manually deleted the old ones on the SD card.
You may be able to just move the files across from old card to new one, but would then also need to edit the registry key settings telling TomTom where the map files are as their paths will start with \SD card\... and you now want them to be \CF card\.... Not having done it this way, don't know if it will work or if anything further is involved.
_________________
Barry Davies

ROBBINS · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 8:13 pm Post subject:

Hi Barry

Thanks for the reply.
I have ordered a Sandisk Ultra II 1GB CF card and wait for delivery.
I'll let you know how it well it works.

Regards

Alan

IPAQ 2210 Rom Upgrade 1.10
TT3 Upgrade 3.07(442) & GPS Upgrade 3.07(417/421)
GPS GR230 – NMEA0183V24800
Bluetooth Serial Port Com8
Or GM270 using CF card slot.
CheckPOInt 2.0.2.0
Active Sync 3.7.1 Build 4034
BT Reg Tweak 1.4 by 747
Transcend SD Card 256 MB
Sprite Backup 3.1.3 Build 2412
Brodit Active Holder with built in speaker

semrots · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 9:45 pm Post subject:

I had a similar problem with a 2210 - I moved from using a Haicom CF card GPS with TT3 on an SD which worked fine, to putting the CF GPS card in their Bluetooth slipper and lock ups resulted. Although switching off the POI's helped.

I've now moved the maps to a CF card and all is fine again. All I did was copy the maps off the SD card onto the PC HDD and then copied from there to the CF card. As it was all there was on the SD card I copied the lot as was, both ways. It worked straight away no probs. I also have the Safety Camera database on there and that was fine as well.

Hope this helps reassure you, and good luck (and don't blame me if it doesn't work first time Rolling Eyes

)

Rod

ROBBINS · Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 8:33 pm Post subject:

HI barryd

At long last I have received Sandisk Ultra II 1.0 Gb( I understand that are in short supply) and copied all files directly from SD card to CF card. All seems to work fine with small adjustment to shortcut to UKpostcode. Is is my imagination, as TT seem to be working working much quicker now with the CF card than it did with the SD card.

Cheers

Alan

IPAQ 2210 Rom Upgrade 1.10
TT3 Upgrade 3.07(442) & GPS Upgrade 3.07(417/421)
GPS GR230 – NMEA0183V24800
Bluetooth Serial Port Com8
Or GM270 using CF card slot.
CheckPOInt 2.0.2.0
Active Sync 3.8.0 Build 5004
BT Reg Tweak 1.4 by 747
Sandisk CF Card Ultra II 1.0 GB
Transcend SD Card 256 MB
Sprite Backup 3.1.3 Build 2412
Brodit Active Holder with built in speaker

MarkHewitt · Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 10:06 am Post subject:

I've had problems with TomTom which I think can be traced to the SD card, but I can't be sure..

I use a SysOn Memory GPS CF card and Ipaq 2210, TomTom is installed in memory and the maps are on the CF. However I also had an SD card plugged in, but not used for anything except storing the GPS driver in case of power failure.

I struggled with TomTom for weeks, it just froze constantly especially when choosing menu options, it just wouldn't go to the next screen. Tried reinstalling it about 10 times. Then I tried one more time but cruically without the SD card in the slot, and everything worked perfectly!

There are still some issues in that TomTom will crash if I turn the ipaq off and on without a reset, but at least it seems to work for now Confused

longwori · Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 11:19 am Post subject:

Hi Robbins,

In general I think that CF cards have faster read speeds than SD cards. As you chose the Ultra II which is a fast CF card then you can be pretty certain that you are out-performing the read speed of your old SD card.
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