Palm WiFi Card & PowerSDHC

S

Saad T

New member
The Palm WiFi Card isn't recognized by my Tungsten E2 when PowerSDHC is installed. If I remove the latter, the Card works fine. I was configuring my old trusty E2 as a backup for my TX, but really wanted to be able to use WiFi occasionally and be able to read large SDHC cards.

Anyone else tried to use this hardware/software combo? I'm pretty sure there's a basis incompatibility, but let please me know if this can be made to work.

Thanks
 
On THIS page, Dmitry says:



It's a little ambiguous and he doesn't elaborate, but I think it says the PowerSDHC driver and the wifi Card SDIO driver can't coexist. I therefore suspect (but don't know) there is no solution short of going through the pain of uninstalling and reinstalling drivers when needed.
 
Thanks. I missed that. The following line from the same source makes it a little less ambiguous, I'm afraid: "SDIO support may be forthcoming."

I'm not going to hold my breath. Looks like it's time to get my old non-SDHC 4gb SD card out again, assuming that I can get the E2 to read FAT32 w/o PowerSDHC. I tried once, w/o success. But, then, temporarily removing the driver might be as simple, since the slot is unavailable for an SD card when the WiFi card is in use anyway.
 
I've never used a macro utility on a Palm device, but this sounds like the place for one. Is there one which stands out as superior?
 
Looks like a possible help, but here's the real issue. I find no way of disabling PowerSDHC short of actually DELETING it from the Palm device. It can then be restored, but only from a device which can be read w/o the benefit of PowerSDHC (i.e., a non-SDHC card). A macro would seem to be broken by the transition from the SDHC-capable state to the non-SDHC capable one.

That means one of these options:

1) carry a second non-SD Card with PowerSDHC on it
2) keep a copy on my Nokia E71 and BEAM it to the Palm via IR
3) something more elegant that's not occured to me.

Can someone suggest something better? I've TRIED renaming PowerSDHC w FileZ, hoping that would prevent its loading after a reset, but it doesn't. Right now, deleting it temporarily while using the WiFi card is all I've managed/
 
Well, you should always have a non-SDHC card with both PowerSDHC (and the key) and a current NVBackup on it.

I don't suppose the Palm wifi card has some limited storage on it? I never used it.

But I thought the E71 had wifi? Why not leave the wifi to that when the TX is down and use the E2 for everything else? Seems much simpler. Better browser and email too.
 
It has been a long time since I've thought about how files are stored on the TX, and I've never used PowerSDHC or a Palm T|E2, so maybe I'm completely off. Could PowerSDHC be stored and reinstalled from the hidden BUILTIN directory (internal memory)? I don't mean to send you on a wild goose chase. I'm really shooting in the dark.
 
Good suggestion, but I don't think the E2 has BUILTIN and that where he needs it, on the E2.

MSL, You can use Filez to check. Go into Filez, view and edit files and go to the options menu. Select preferences and make sure the "show hidden volumes" is checked. Then close back out all the way to where you pick "view and edit files" again. If there is a hidden partition, it will show up, probably called BUILTIN, but could have a different name.
 
I think this may help: Use CleanStart to prevent powerSDHC from loading at startup. I can't test with a WiFi card or any other SDIO card, but it seems to work for SD cards. If you launch CleanStart, uncheck powerSDHC, and reset the Palm, when it reboots it will not read SDHC cards. (I tried with my 8GB and 16GB cards). The TX won't chime when the SDHC card is inserted, and CardInfo will report no card inserted. But the TX will read and write to my 2GB SD card, so presumably powerSDHC is unloaded and instead the default SD driver is up and running normally. To restore powerSDHC, launch CleanStart, check powerSDHC, then reset the Palm. Please let us know if this works, I'm curious now :)
 
Worked splendidly. Only subsequent problem has been persistent system freezes whenever I attach my E2 to the USB cable. It necessitates a soft reset. It happened dozens of time until I uninstalled CleanStart. That ended the freeze-ups. But, I'm going to give it another try.
 
CleanStart may have been configured incorrectly -- for example, I use DateBk5 on myTX; if I do not have DateBk5 checked, then any alarm it would sound when I have an appointment 'come due' would not be sounded. Am on my TX now so I can't open CleanStart to check what it might be before I post.
 
CleanStart basically lets you choose which programs are loaded during a soft reset. If you uncheck a program, it won't load, thus it won't work "in the background" as Rick points above with DB5 and alarms. So you must make sure you're not unchecking any program that must be loaded. How to know which is which is mostly a trial & error thing. However, there are two important checkboxes on CleanStart: "Always start panels" and "Always start ROM apps". Both of them should be checked at all times, unless you have a good reason not to. Be sure they are checked, then test again. Probably you unchecked one of these boxes and that could be why the Palm is freezing when connecting to the USB cable: a needed driver or program was not loaded during the last reset.

Also, you can tap on the "All On" button at the bottom of CleanStart, then do a soft reset. This will let the Palm load all the programs, just like it does normally if CleanStart is not installed. If the USB works ok, then try unchecking only powerSDHC (with a soft reset afterwards). Hopefully, the USB connection should work ok.
 
Glad I read the rest of the thread before posting, I was about to suggest the same thing Rasp suggested, i.e. CleanStart.

One thing I will add that may make things easier. Cleanstart has the ability to store and load various startup profiles. Basically, different profiles allow you to easily keep different systems turned on/off based on what you want to do next.

My suggestion is this. Make 2 profiles, one with SDHC enabled and optimized for the typical tasks you do while you use SDHC. The second with SDHC disabled, and optimized for the tasks you do while your wireless is installed. Once created, it's very easy to have CleanStart switch between one and the other.

Another bonus, with profiles, you have a button at the top of CleanStart called "Reset once with profile". With that you could, for example, keep your SDHC enabled profile as a sort-of default. Then run CleanStart, select your Wireless profile and choose "Reset once with profile". That reset would allow you to use your wireless as long as you want. (here's the fun part) When you reset again, it will revert to the SDHC enabled default profile automatically!

Depending on which you use more (SDHC card or wireless) you could reverse the setup so that either one is your default profile.

have fun

russell
 
Thanks, folks. All good ideas re: CleanStart, but none seem applicable to my experience w system freezes. Following a simple install of CS 1.0 (is there a later version hiding somewhere?), the problem begins. I've unchecked NOTHING, and haven't even USED CS at this point. But, just connecting to a cradle -- with or without an actual USB connection to a PC -- results in an immediate freeze and requires a soft reset. Uninstalling CS immediately solves the problem.

This is unfortunate, as CS has a lot to commend. It clearly worked for my WiFi/PowerSDHC issue. Great Idea about the Profiles bit. But, for me, with the intractable freeze-ups, it's rather like "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?"
 
That is strange. I've never had this kind of problem with CleanStart. I use it on my TX to prevent most programs from loading at reset (to save dbcache) and for the most part forget about it because it works by itself.

Regarding version, my CleanStart reads as 0.13, which would make it earlier than your 1.0 What's more, this is the first time I've heard of CS 1.0. Perhaps you'd like to test with my version? If so, drop me a PM with your email and I'll send it to you later today.

Also, given that CS is so far the only solution to your original problem, you may want to run a radical test: make a full backup of the E2 (preferably to an SD card using NVBackup or other program), then do a hard reset of the E2. Right after the reset install CleanStart. Do not make a hotsync or restore. Just install CS by other means (i.e. beam it from the TX or the E71, or copy to SD card then transfer to E2's main memory). Don't change CS's configuration. Then connect the E2 to the cradle or USB cable. If it still freezes, then there's some incompatibility within CS and your E2 (which would be the first I've heard). If it does not freeze, then the problem lies with some other program, not with CS. If so, you will have to pinpoint the problem by selectively reinstalling or restoring programs, and testing all the way until you find the culprit. Sounds like a hassle (and it really is), but in the end you will find a solution.
 
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