Micro SD extension cable

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Micro SD extension cable

Postby bu55man » March 13th, 2011, 11:44 am

I have trouble getting micro SD cards in and out of the built-in reader as it is slightly recessed. Luckily I have been fortunate enough to be given an extension cable that I can use. I only use it when at home, and need to swap cards in and out regularly, not when I'm out and about. It was a case of one of those "I don't know where I got it from, but I thought it might come in useful" things that us long term tech hoarders can find for each other. Having done a quick search of the UK likely suppliers they don't seem to be readily available, but if someone knows of a source please post the details. The type of cable I'm talking about is listed on AliExpress, the Chinese trade site. I found this image of one;
http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm-im ... alers.html

Whilst it works well, I've got one major problem with the way the Scroll handles it. Once I've unmounted the SD card using the Android Settings app, so that I can swap cards in the extension cable, there is no option to remount a card. The option is greyed out. I either have to physically remove and reconnect the extension cable to the Scroll, or do a reboot. The same appears to be the case if you unmount a card in the internal reader using the Android Settings app.

I've tried using a rooted Superuser terminal emulator, but my nearest knowledge of Android syntax is 20 years ago using the UNIX command line. Grateful if someone could either identify an app that will do it for easy use (that doesn't have to be downloaded from the market - usual issues that I have no other need to fix as SlideMe and others have provided all the apps I've needed so far) or as a worse case scenario provide the correct tested syntax that would work from within an emulator.

Many thanks

bu55man
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Re: Micro SD extension cable

Postby Fonefixer » March 13th, 2011, 12:35 pm

You shouldn't need to unmount the microsd card to remove it - I never do and have not had issues.

The only time I use the mount/unmount function is if I have it connected to my pc, which I do on a regular basis, and again, have not had problems.

With regard to the superuser emulator I have used one but have little tech knowledge of it im afraid. If you have a search on the forum for "root" or "terminal emulator" it should bring up some results.
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Re: Micro SD extension cable

Postby bu55man » March 13th, 2011, 12:49 pm

Fonefixer

Thanks for your reply. Like you I've never had a problem removing cards from the internal slot without unmounting first, though it's very rarely going to be writing data to the card and therfore there's little chance of data corruption.

The problem I think is that the actual socket on the Scroll produces a hardware triggered script to tell the Scroll to auto remount when you physically replace the card. That doesn't happen if I've replaced a the card at the other end of the external cable. What I'm really trying to do find a way of emulating that hardware trigger, the Settings app unmount option allows emulation of the removing action, I just need a way of emulating the replacing trigger to start an auto-mount.

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Re: Micro SD extension cable

Postby Detection » March 13th, 2011, 1:35 pm

To be honest, I agree, removing the sdcard is fiddly, but I overcame it by allowing my right thumbnail to grow a bit and its the perfect shape / size for removing the card -

Is pulling out the cable and pushing it back in, not going to be a hell of a lot faster than using software to remount ?

I think what your trying to achieve is similar to using the mouse to eject a DVD drive on a PC, but you can not use the same command to make the tray close
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Re: Micro SD extension cable

Postby bu55man » March 13th, 2011, 2:10 pm

Detection

Thanks for your reply. As it seems to be the only cable I'll be able to get without spending stupid amounts of money to get some from China, I was trying to think of a way to limit the number of times the plug end of the cable has to be removed and replaced as it's much weaker than the socket end.

I hear what you're saying about the PC DVD drive eject option. Not something I ever used much. But I do remember many years ago cursing the lack of a close command as I trudged back to the box, when I realised that I hadn't closed the drive tray after replacing an installation disk on a pc controlled by a remote keyboard and mouse!

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Re: Micro SD extension cable

Postby Detection » March 13th, 2011, 3:28 pm

I see what you mean now, I`ll keep my eyes open, had a quick look around and this seems to be talking about what you need, maybe you can find the app through the different posts here

http://android.bigresource.com/Android- ... Rl6qw.html

------------
If you hit the button in settings->storage you're actually running a linux umount command. What will need done after that would be to run the mount -o -rw,remount -t command on the sd card. I know taking out the card and re-inserting it works, unless you've flucked up the automount script (I'm sure you haven't), and rebooting the phone calls automount.

Source:
http://forum.androidcentral.com/motorol ... dcard.html
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Re: Micro SD extension cable

Postby bu55man » March 14th, 2011, 1:13 pm

Detection

As a Superuser I've tried the following

mount -o -rw,remount -t sdcard

Doesn't show the SD card remounted in the Settings app. Automount scripts seem to be working fine in other situations. Interesting thing is that both before and after running the above command, using "ls" shows the sdcard directory still listed, but unaccessible! Something strange is going on I think, and beyond my knowledge (and desire) to pursue further!

I'm just going to stick to unplugging and plugging in the extension cable, and use a hardware solution to prolong its life - I'm going to encase it in resin and heat shrink tube, wrap the ribbon cable in protective tape, and not let anyone else touch it!!

Thanks to all for your suggestions

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