Zen and the SD Card/Slot

[codeformoney]

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[CrowdAds]

[BobbyRS]

I would say no. I would go with the highest capacity Zen you can get before the SD card primarily due to the conents stored on the SD card does not integrate with the internal database of the Zen, as well as you do not have any features that work on the SD card (like zooming, resume playback, etc.) like you do with internal storage of the Zen.

Thread merged with main SD card thread.

[bawdrysinger]

I have a 32gb zen, and love it. I bought my son the 4gb version for Christmas and a 4gb card to increase capacity (the sandisk ones are on sale at Tesco for £14.95 each so well worth it) I bought myself one too (it was making me itch to have that little slot and not use it even though 32gb is more than plenty for me!)

I was a little disappointed that the card wasn't automatically picked up as a second storage drive, instead of having to go into the player, enabling the card, and then remembering to use the "safely remove hardware" switch when finished with. Bit cumbersome.

Anyway I have an sd reader built into the laptop, and the drivers were not picking up the new cards. The old SD cards were fine out of my cameras. I found a solution at this site.
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6122_102...sageID=2663702

It says XP needs a hotfix, but as I am running XPSP3 I guessed it wouldn't need it and just got the updated drivers for my texas instruments sd card reader. Hope it helps someone else, it did the trick for me.

[BobbyRS]

Originally Posted by bawdrysinger

I have a 32gb zen, and love it. I bought my son the 4gb version for Christmas and a 4gb card to increase capacity

Welcome bawdrysinger. Congrats on the Zens!

Originally Posted by bawdrysinger

Anyway I have an sd reader built into the laptop, and the drivers were not picking up the new cards. The old SD cards were fine out of my cameras. I found a solution at this site.
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6122_102...sageID=2663702

It says XP needs a hotfix, but as I am running XPSP3 I guessed it wouldn't need it and just got the updated drivers for my texas instruments sd card reader. Hope it helps someone else, it did the trick for me.

Thanks for the information. I'm sure it will help others.

Edit: Merged with main SD card thread.

[Zoot]

Beware the Transcend 16GB card from Amazon ($25) - it works, but only half-assed.

[BobbyRS]

Interesting how the 4GB and 8GB Transcend cards work great, but have reported issues with the 16GB.

[mattcro]

Has anybody had a problem with the Zen shutting off upon insertion of an SD card? I was trying several different cards recently and a couple of times the Zen shut off abruptly when I inserted a card. It looked as if the player's power supply circuitry (ie regulator and reservoir capacitors) browned out as the card was inserted, rather than a firmware glitch. I had to restart the player with the power switch, and it did a rebuild on bootup.

[imzi]

can miniSD be accessed by ''ZEN media explorer''? should i use a card reader to fill up my SD card? plz help.........

[mattcro]

Do you want to load files (eg video) onto the SD card from your PC? You can use the Zen in "card reader" mode by inserting an SD card, choosing "removable disk" from the Zen's "memory card" menu, and connecting the Zen to the PC. Then you can just use Windows Explorer to copy to the SD card.

The Zen only has an SD slot, so you need a miniSD to SD adaptor.

[BobbyRS]

mattcro, does it do this will any card used? It sounds like you may have some bent pins within the card slot that may be grounding out when inserting a card.

[mattcro]

I've just been playing with SD cards again, and the issue with the Zen shutting off abruptly (same effect as when you push the reset button) on card intertion seems to only happen with certain cards - in my case a couple of old(ish) Canon 32MB SD cards (part # SDC-32M) that I got with Canon digital cameras. My newer Kingston 2-4GB cards don't seem to cause any problem.

The only thing I can think of is that the Zen's power regulator drops out when charging up the SD card's internal supply capacitor, which may be larger on the old 32M cards. The card slot pins look fine.

[Nicole]

Interesting. I was playing with a 16GB Transcend (class 6) card this weekend and had no issues, even though I took it out many times. Works great.

Oh, I just realized it's a 32MB card, not a 32GB. If I remember, when I get home I will put in an old 16MB card I have. It may be something about the older cards.

[BobbyRS]

Originally Posted by mattcro

The only thing I can think of is that the Zen's power regulator drops out when charging up the SD card's internal supply capacitor, which may be larger on the old 32M cards. The card slot pins look fine.

Indeed, it could very well be the result of the embedded capacitors not being able to handle the inrush current that the SD controller may be applying or even the location of the capacitor to the cards socket or lack there of. See here:

SD/MMC cards provide a relatively low power storage solution for embedded controllers however implementers often do not pay enough attention to the peak power requirements and inrush currents and may encounter situations where the embedded system resets when an SD/MMC card is inserted or the SD/MMC card may stop talking to the Microcontroller.

The power supply circuitry must be able to deal with the momentary inrush current when a card is inserted. This inrush current can be of the order of 200mA. Generally
this is handled using large value power supply filter capacitors before and after the voltage regulator. Ignoring the requirements for other components of an embedded system, typical values for the power supply input capacitor are in the range of 220uF to 470uF. Lower value capacitors than have low ESR (Effective Series Resistance) could be use used. A typical value for the filter capacitor after the regulator is 47uF tantalum capacitor.

In situations where the SD/MMC card socket is not located in close proximity to the regulator filter capacitors, an additional 22uF tantalum capacitor should be placed as close as practical to the SD/MMC card socket between pins 3 and 4 of the socket.

A 100nF power supply decoupling capacitor should be placed as close as practical to the SD/MMC card socket between pins 3 and 4 of the socket.

[Nicole]

I had no issues with a 16MB card; it might be card specific.

[BobbyRS]

Originally Posted by Nicole

I had no issues with a 16MB card; it might be card specific.

Yes, I believe so. I too have smaller capacity cards that seem to work just fine; 32MB and a 64MB Sandisk.

[mattcro]

Well, my Zen only seems to have an issue with the 32MB Canon cards... all other SD cards work fine, and the Canon cards work fine apart from occasionally knocking out the Zen when plugged in. I'm never going to be using the 32MB cards in the Zen, so there's not really anything to worry about. Perhaps the Zen doesn't have quite enough supply capacitance for the SD slot...

[BobbyRS]

Originally Posted by mattcro

I'm never going to be using the 32MB cards in the Zen, so there's not really anything to worry about. Perhaps the Zen doesn't have quite enough supply capacitance for the SD slot...

With the reasoning I've posted above, I don't believe this issue to be so much the Zen's fault as is the older SD card(s).

[laaapsta]

is there some kind of way to play all tracks from memory card in memory card mode. i like to keep music on memory card in folders, but sometimes just want to listen to all of them in shuffle, like i do with my internal memory music. though i think there is no way to do this , i just wanted to make sure and ask you this question.

[BobbyRS]

Not only is the cards contents not integrated into the main library, but it also doesn't utilize the same features.

Thread merged with main SD card thread.

[laaapsta]

yes, i knew that. i just think, that 'select all tracks' is so primitive function, that creative should have put it into their players removable disc mode, even though it has really limited options. like just clicking 'play' button on the 'all music' folder.