Now Available: uSD Card Module for Propeller Platform

Nick McClick · 2009-11-10 02:03

Been working on this guy for a little while - it's a really tiny microSD card adapter for the Propeller Platform, although it also works on a breadboard, protoboard, or anything else - it's smaller than a postage stamp and interfaces in SPI mode.

UPDATE - These are back in stock. They now use a slightly smaller uSD card slot so the pin functions can be written directly to the pcb;

Anyway - more info on the project page.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Propeller Forums RSS Feed!

Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects

Post Edited (Nick McClick) : 3/21/2010 8:11:26 PM GMT

OakGraphics · 2009-11-10 06:41

Thats pretty cool.

Does it have a pin-out for card-detect?

Nick McClick · 2009-11-10 18:46

For the microSD slots, there isn't a card detect pin. Looking at the 3M datasheet (here), you do card detect through Pin 2 on the card. Not sure if I understand exactly how it's done, though - I'll have to play with it and see what I get.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects

James Long · 2009-11-10 20:58

Ok...I have a question.....

How in the world did you solder those inside pins for the card slot? Did you just leave them bare?

Also as an added note. The item has pull up resistors on board. Nothing else is needed to use the unit.

James L

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
James L
Partner/Designer
Lil Brother SMT Assembly Services

Are you addicted to technology or Micro-controllers..... then checkout the forums at Savage Circuits. Learn to build your own Gizmos!

Post Edited (James Long) : 11/10/2009 9:07:16 PM GMT

Nick McClick · 2009-11-11 02:50

I just tinned the pads with a little lead solder and put it in the oven at 400 F for a half hour or so. Not the most scientific method (I probably wouldn't try it if I had an IC on there), but it worked for me!

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects

James Long · 2009-11-11 03:49

Nick McClick said...
I just tinned the pads with a little lead solder and put it in the oven at 400 F for a half hour or so. Not the most scientific method (I probably wouldn't try it if I had an IC on there), but it worked for me!

For future reference, you only need it in the oven for about 6-8 minutes at that temp (using leaded solder). That is from starting cold.

Good idea though......Hope you are not eating from that oven....especially if you used leaded solder. If you did....you need to clean it top to bottom very thoroughly. Lead solder will vapor and coat the inside. Very dangerous stuff.

Not sure you would have done that, but I like to make sure.

Well....that tells me if testing is needed. I guess no testing for the design is needed, just functional checks.

James L

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
James L
Partner/Designer
Lil Brother SMT Assembly Services

Are you addicted to technology or Micro-controllers..... then checkout the forums at Savage Circuits. Learn to build your own Gizmos!

OakGraphics · 2009-11-11 04:04

Nick McClick said...
For the microSD slots, there isn't a card detect pin. Looking at the 3M datasheet (here), you do card detect through Pin 2 on the card. Not sure if I understand exactly how it's done, though - I'll have to play with it and see what I get.

From what I read - pin2 -- when connected to a card, is pulled high by the card.

James Long · 2009-11-11 04:11

OakGraphics said...

Nick McClick said...
For the microSD slots, there isn't a card detect pin. Looking at the 3M datasheet (here), you do card detect through Pin 2 on the card. Not sure if I understand exactly how it's done, though - I'll have to play with it and see what I get.

From what I read - pin2 -- when connected to a card, is pulled high by the card.

Oak,

If that is the case, it won't work with the SPI mode. There are pull up resistors on the pins for the SPI mode......so the pins are always high.

I would have to talk to Lonesock or some of the other guru's to see if that could change for the uSD card.

James L

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
James L
Partner/Designer
Lil Brother SMT Assembly Services

Are you addicted to technology or Micro-controllers..... then checkout the forums at Savage Circuits. Learn to build your own Gizmos!

JonnyMac · 2009-11-11 18:38

Nick: Am I mistaken, or are you using pins 28..31? Seems like this could be problematic as that covers the I2C buss for the program EEPROM and the programming/debug port's RX and TX pins. Just curious. Seems like you could flip the board to use pins 0..3 which a lot of SD card demos are already setup for.

James Long · 2009-11-11 18:55

JonnyMac said...
Nick: Am I mistaken, or are you using pins 28..31? Seems like this could be problematic as that covers the I2C buss for the program EEPROM and the programming/debug port's RX and TX pins. Just curious. Seems like you could flip the board to use pins 0..3 which a lot of SD card demos are already setup for.

JonnyMac,

To have the board over hang the lower module, it is used in the 28-31 position. It can also not over hang the board and use the 0-3 position.

The Pinout of the uSD is also in order of the of FRSW files if used in the 28-31 position, but backwards in the 0-3

James L

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
James L
Partner/Designer
Lil Brother SMT Assembly Services

Are you addicted to technology or Micro-controllers..... then checkout the forums at Savage Circuits. Learn to build your own Gizmos!

Post Edited (James Long) : 11/11/2009 7:02:19 PM GMT

WBA Consulting · 2009-11-11 22:26

Nice layout, good fit to the GGPP board. I have both of the Parallax modules and they work quite nicely in my prototypes for a couple projects, but it's nice to have an exact fit to a development board. Surprised there isn't an SD card socket on the PPDB.

I am working on a "micro-microSD module" that will be less than 1/2" square. I am using a Molex uSD socket that retains just the end of the card (P/N 0473095251). I originally got them for my QFN based DIP40 module because the height of the uSD socket would allow the card to share the same real estate as the QFN, just a little above it. That project is a little behind, so I am making a handful tiny uSD modules just because I really like the sockets.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Andrew Williams
WBA Consulting
WBA-TH1M Sensirion SHT11 Module
Special Olympics Polar Bear Plunge, Mar 20, 2010

Dr_Acula · 2009-11-11 22:55

Micro sd is nifty. This board looks very competitively priced and will greatly simplify using uSD. There is definitely a need for such a board. Great work! I'm still learning about how they work. Cluso got ones that are surface mount with pins on the outside so you can solder the pins. The ones with the pins inside the card are more commonly available but I've been unclear till now how you solder them. I guess if you did bake the board it would have to be the first component to go onto the board?

There are different brands too. Some click in/click out like the big ones. Others (like Cluso's) just slide in.

Re pins - maybe it needs to stay flexible until a standard evolves. P0-3 is one standard. I used P12-P15 on a recent board. P28-31 would clash with a number of serial objects but there would be code workarounds.

uSD cards are about $10 and the ones I've bought come with an adaptor to go up to standard size. They seem compatable with all the existing code - 4 lines, 10k pullups on all the lines and 2 power pins.

I'm wondering, if the pin order is wrong for P0-P15, would it be possible to put the header in from the other side of the board and flip the sd board upside down? Or turn it around?

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
www.smarthome.viviti.com/build

Post Edited (Dr_Acula) : 11/11/2009 11:20:34 PM GMT

James Long · 2009-11-11 23:24

Dr_Acula said...
Micro sd is nifty. This board looks very competitively priced and will greatly simplify using uSD. Great work! I'm still learning about how they work. Cluso got ones that are surface mount so you can solder the pins. The ones with the pins inside the card are more commonly available but I've been unclear till now how you solder them. I guess if you did bake the board it would have to be the first component to go onto the board?

There are different brands too. Some click in/click out like the big ones. Others (like Cluso's) just slide in.

Re pins - maybe it needs to stay flexible until a standard evolves. P0-3 is one standard. I used P12-P15 on a recent board. P28-31 would clash with a number of serial objects but there would be code workarounds.

uSD cards are about $10 and the ones I've bought come with an adaptor to go up to standard size. They seem compatable with all the existing code - 4 lines, 10k pullups on all the lines and 2 power pins.

I'm wondering, if the pin order is wrong for P0-P15, would it be possible to put the header in from the other side of the board and flip the sd board upside down? Or turn it around?

Yes, you could flip the board and go that way. If you did it that way the board would over hang the module on the P0-P3 side. This has to do with the power pins and their layout.

You could also just rearrange the pinout in the object ( and save it with a different name), but that does take some understanding of what the object writer did. I had to do that with my first iteration of uSD connection. I didn't have it ordered the same as the FSRW guys did.

We didn't make this as flexible as some of the other uSD card slots. With the SPI type connection, the card can not be accessed other ways. We did this because most of the programming at this point is designed around the SPI mode.

If there is ever another way to access the uSD cards, will may redesign to a new version of board.

So there are options depending on how you put the connection header on. Just remember, the orientation of the board will change (over hang/ not over hang) depending on the way you want to use it.

James L

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
James L
Partner/Designer
Lil Brother SMT Assembly Services

Are you addicted to technology or Micro-controllers..... then checkout the forums at Savage Circuits. Learn to build your own Gizmos!

Dr_Acula · 2009-11-12 00:00

Ah, so if you can flip it, maybe the board could be supplied with the uSD soldered on, the pullup resistors soldered on, but the header for power and data not soldered? Then just supply some easy to understand photos of various options?

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
www.smarthome.viviti.com/build

Nick McClick · 2009-11-12 00:13

Wouldn't a micro micro be a pico?

I'm still learning about SD storage and the Prop, so I have to defer the technical questions, but it will fit on either side of the Propeller Platform. Of course, it'll also fit on breadboards, protoboards, or on anything else.

@Dracula - this is the locking type of slot. I'm not sure it really makes a difference in an implementation like this. I guess you would want a locking holder if it's going in your pocket. You can definitely flip the pins - it's a little harder to access the memory card, but otherwise works fine.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects

James Long · 2009-11-12 01:00

Dr_Acula said...
Ah, so if you can flip it, maybe the board could be supplied with the uSD soldered on, the pullup resistors soldered on, but the header for power and data not soldered? Then just supply some easy to understand photos of various options?

@DR,

The board will have all surface mount parts already mounted. I'm not sure Nick's idea about the headers, but I am assuming the through hole soldering will be left to the end user.

This would allow the user to decide how he/she would like to use the board.

If I can get a camera, I will give all the options for the end user can choose from for using the board. The best method would to have extra long headers(top and bottom), where it could be used in either orientation, but I'm not sure how hard those are to find, nor how expensive they may be. The holes in the board do allow for both top and bottom headers, but this does depend on the device you are attaching to.

@Nick,

Let me know if you are having success. That will determine how I assemble these boards. If you are not able to confirm the correct operation of the board, I will need to check one from the first panel.

@ everyone

There will need to be some basic instructions for the board. Since there is little room for silkscreen, the board is not marked (at least I do not think it is). The instructions will need to label the pins for use.

James L

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
James L
Partner/Designer
Lil Brother SMT Assembly Services

Are you addicted to technology or Micro-controllers..... then checkout the forums at Savage Circuits. Learn to build your own Gizmos!

Jamesx · 2009-11-12 02:06

Where can I learn more about the Propeller Platform? From the pictures at the beginning of this thread, it looks very interesting.

I've tried a couple times to search the Parallax forums, and each time it comes up empty.

Jim

Nick McClick · 2009-11-12 02:18

Ha! I wouldn't trust the forum search for much.

Here's the project page

and here's the instructable I did.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects

Nick McClick · 2010-03-21 20:06

Hey guys - these are back in stock. They now use a slightly smaller holder, giving enough room to write the pin functions directly on the board. Same price - $10. Here's an image;

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Propeller Forums RSS Feed!

Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects

Now Available: uSD Card Module for Propeller Platform

Comments