Memory Stick Datalogger

msd · 2011-09-26 23:06

Dear all,
I am looking for datalogger, and I found product "Memory Stick Datalogger" interesting.
http://www.parallax.com/StoreSearchResults/tabid/768/txtSearch/27937/List/0/SortField/4/ProductID/434/Default.aspx
However it is written that "The Memory Stick Datalogger is a USB host bridge which allows you to connect a USB mass storage device, such as a thumb drive, to your BASIC Stamp, SX or Propeller microcontroller"
It only works with given microcontroller, I work AVR series controller and it has provision of serial communication...Can i use this product with AVR microcontrollers?

MSD

Duane Degn · 2011-09-26 23:36

MSD,

Yes, the Datalogger will work with an AVR microcontroller just fine. It has two modes SPI and UART. I have two Dataloggers myself. I just use the UART mode which just requires a serial connection to the microcontroller.

While the Datalogger shouldn't care which microcontroller you use, I've found they seem to care a lot about what USB drives you use. The USB drive needs to be 2Gig or less (which are getting hard to find). I've only found a few drives that will work with my Datalogger.

I personally like SD cards a lot more than the Datalogger for data logging. I don't know how hard it is to use a SD card with an AVR uC but they're really easy to use with a Propeller uC.

Duane

msd · 2011-09-26 23:43

Thanks a lot, Duane.
I highly appriciate your reply. As you told USB less than 2 Gig is getting very hard to find. But still I can manage have some of them. But tell me about firmware that require to store data in USB drive. Is it really tough nut to crack? I am good at UART programming, but can you give me some guidance how I can exactly strore the data in usb drive. I feel there is a particular protocol to follow for that. Your help will be great boost for my project.

MSD

Duane Degn · 2011-09-26 23:59

I almost edited my post to let you know even if you find a USB drive that is 2Gigs or smaller, it still may (probably) wont work.

I have only found two drives that work with my Dataloggers. I purchased a drive that was the same brand as one of the working drives but the new drive didn't work. The most recent drive I've found that will work with the Datalogger is a Star Trek wrist band with USB drive I sent away for with some breakfast cereal boxtops.

The Datalogger product page should have documentation of what characters you need to send to the drive to tell it you're writing or reading data. I don't think if should be too hard to get the AVR to work with the Datalogger if you can find a drive that will work with it.

Duane

msd · 2011-09-27 02:24

Thanks Duane again,

It is written on the webpage
Note: We recommend the following USB flash drives for use with this product: Transcend® USB Flash Drive 1GB, Kingston® Technology 2GB DataTraveler 100, SanDisk Cruzer® Micro USB 2.0 Flash Drive 1GB.

Even these are not helpful?

Duane Degn · 2011-09-27 02:56

I'm pretty sure I've tried a Kingston 2GB drive before that didn't work. My niece had a DataTraveler that did work but when I tried a different DataTraveler it didn't work.

I think the older drives are more likely to work than new drives.

Is there a reason you don't want to use a SD card? I'm pretty sure there are AVR SD card drivers. The SC card driver for the Propeller doesn't have a size limit on the SD cards that work with it (if it does it in the terabyte range).

If I could only get you to convert to the Propeller, your life would be so much easier. (At least give it a try.) I actually do plan on starting to program AVRs myself. I received my AVRDragon just today (and several different AVR chips) (I guess it's morning now so I received them yesterday). There are several features (ADC is one) about AVR chips that make them a good co-processor for the Propeller. I'm hoping to learn to reprogram these FOBs to make them more useful in my projects.

If you're still set on using a Datalogger, I'll sell you mine (both of them) for $50. I throw in the two USB drives that I know work with them. (If you consider shipping is usually about $10 then you'd be getting two Dataloggers (plus USB drives) for the price of one Datalogger (plus shipping).) If you live in the states (or even if you don't), I'll ship them for free.

I don't recommend you take me up on this offer. I mainly make it because I dislike the Dataloggers (especially compared with using SD cards).

Duane

msd · 2011-09-27 04:51

dear Duane,
You are life saver.. thanx for invaluable tips....I am thinking of trying both SD and Usb...whichever work out....I would like to buy your datatraveller, but I work for educational institute and I need a bill for purchasing any stuff....so I think I have to purchase online...Mouser electronics has it....
As you mentioned propeller can make thing easier....can you exactly tell me how you are working with SD cards with propeller? How you handle file system and page,sector and read-write stuff?

Mike Green · 2011-09-27 07:59

There is existing Propeller library software that takes care of the details (see here for AN006). I've used the Memory Stick Datalogger with fewer problems than Duane Degn seems to have had. YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary). I think it's a useful device for datalogging where the information tends to have fixed format and fixed length.

Tracy Allen · 2011-09-27 08:15

I'm nowhere near as pessimistic as Duane about the module. I have deployed a couple hundred of them to collect data in field sites, not the Parallax version per se, but the vDrive from FTDI (see Mouser, DigiKey etc). Internally they are the same circuit as the datalogger, based on the FTDI Vinculum chip. Recently I'm using the Sandisk Cruzer Blade 4Gb. I've used them with the BASIC Stamp, not the Propeller, for the same reason as Duane: SD cards are so easy to implement with the Prop, and they are much less finicky and easier on the battery supply.

Back to the vDrive, I rarely have a problem with any particular flash stick, even those over 2Gb. They support FAT 12, 16 and 32, with 512 byte sectors and up to 32kb clusters. Addresses allowed in a single operation are up to 4 Gb, $FFFFFFFF, although I can't say I've ever pressed it that high (BASIC Stamp, remember). That is not to say there can't be problems. I have run across specific brands that won't respond to certain of the vinculum commands, such as a free space scan. And they are finicky about the exact count of the number of characters to be sent in a packet. Get that wrong, and all sorts of weird lockups can occur. It is important to have up-to-date firmware (can autoload from a USB stick).

Duane Degn · 2011-09-27 09:45

Tracy Allen wrote: »

It is important to have up-to-date firmware (can autoload from a USB stick).

This could be part of my problem. I have not updated the firmware of my modules. Once I started to use SD cards, I haven't spent much time trying to get the Dataloggers to work better.

Also to be fair to the Datalogger, when I was actively trying to get it to work for my data logging needs, I was just getting my feet wet with microcontroller. It is likely I made all sort of mistakes trying to get it to work. (Oh, it's so much more fun to blame the hardware than to think my software could have been the problem.)

Part of my disaffection for the Datalogger is how easy the SD cards are to use. The material Mike Green linked to makes using a SD card with a Propeller relatively simple.

....I would like to buy your datatraveller

Sorry, it's part of the package deal. If I'm still going to use the Datalogger I need my USB drives that will work with it. I'm still using a Datalogger in one (the oldest) data logging setups.

Hopefully you wont have as much trouble with the Datalogger as I have.

One suggestion I have about using a SD card is to just start with the basics. Don't worry about "card detect" or "write protect" lines. (In the Propeller driver you can ignore these extra lines by setting the pin to -1.) Once you get the SD card working then you can add the extra features of detecting the card, etc..

One problem I've had with SD cards is the driver Mike linked to is very picky about card errors. I've found formatting the card with a computer (but not "slow format") fixes the errors.

Duane

Edit: My niece had a DataTraveller that worked with the Datalogger. The DataTraveller I purchased, didn't work.

Ron Czapala · 2011-09-27 10:17

I have a couple of the Vinculum VDIP1 modules (similar to the Parallax module) and just tested three USB thumb drives with my directory list program and they all worked fine:
4GB Sandisk Cruzer SDCZ6-4096-A10 (2006)
4GB Kingston DataTraveler DTI/4GB (2007)
8GB Sony Datavault USN8GL (2008)

I also tried it on a Lexar 16GB JumpDrive Secure II Plus - it did not list any files but tried to show freespace but it was not correct...

Output from the Sony 8GB:

VNC1L Freespace example
Directory List
WSH DIR
WZUNZIP.EXE
EWALLET.VBS
SYNCEXP.VBS
BAT DIR
DB DIR
DOCUME~1 DIR
EWALLET DIR
QUICKEN DIR
SYNCEXP DIR
TRUECR~1 DIR
UTL DIR
MOUNT.BAT

\>
Free Space 0001CB8C1000
0000007709921280

Duane Degn · 2011-09-27 12:27

Ron Czapala wrote: »

I have a couple of the Vinculum VDIP1 modules (similar to the Parallax module)

I think there is a big difference between "similar to" and "same as" in this case. As the product page states, the Datalogger doesn't work with drives over 2 GB (unless newer firmware has changed this).

Duane

Ron Czapala · 2011-09-27 12:45

I'm pretty sure they both use the same VNC1L chip. When I said they are similar I was mainly refering to the board - the VDIP1 boards has 24 pins though.

I am using the V03.68 firmware: http://www.ftdichip.com/Firmware/Precompiled.htm

I don't see anything about 2GB being a limit on the Datalogger product page - just that it was tested with a 2GB drive...

Memory Stick Datalogger

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