Use SD cards instead of CF! It works!

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2ManyKeys United States of America
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Use SD cards instead of CF! It works!

Post by 2ManyKeys »

Found this on Amazon and had to try it. This is designed for slim Type 1 CF slots which isn't really necessary for the Fusion. It fits perfectly and the Fusion was happy to format a 4G uSD that I put into an SD adapter and then into this CF adapter. The Fusion is currently copying the whole HD Volume over to the SD. Even though it's a crappy class 4 uSD it's zipping along pretty quickly. Might go a bit faster with a fast SD card.

Anyhow, with CF cards getting more scarce and rather expensive this provides a nice alternative allowing the use of cheaper and more available 4G SD cards.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XO ... UTF8&psc=1
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Re: Use SD cards instead of CF! It works!

Post by jima »

A good find, and a nice bit of future-proofing but at nearly GBP50 including shipping it's a bit of an expensive option in the UK. Not quite sure how $15 translates to that.
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Re: Use SD cards instead of CF! It works!

Post by Jokeyman123 »

Just noticed this post-why it worked with this adapter and not mine? I'm assuming this was for using with the CF card slot, and he wasn't using this as a substitute for the internal hard drive (which never worked for anybody looking though all the posts describing users who tried doing that. The link to this adapter posted here no longer is pertinent-it posts to a dead link.
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Re: Use SD cards instead of CF! It works!

Post by parametric »

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Re: Use SD cards instead of CF! It works!

Post by Jokeyman123 »

Was going to post a picture-but parametric, this is the exact model and brand I just purchased, and for whatever reason I can'tdetermine-with either a 2GB and 4GB "TF" (micro SD) card inserted, the Fusion does not seem capable of formatting this combination. see my earlier posts-not for lack of trying.

I am thinking, perhaps these Chinese manufactured type 1 CF card adapters are not up to spec. Looks can be deceiving, I have had more than one sub-standard or even counterfeit SD card, but never ran across a sub-standard CF card. But then, the older CF cards I've kept are known brands, used in my pro-level older DSLR's, and these have all worked in the Fusion. I have software that can detect if something isn't right with a card's firmware, although I don't see how any manufacturer could "foobar" an adapter, since it should not have any memory-should only be a pass-through device but it is possible. I checked several TF cards I have-all the same result-throws off a "PBR" fault-partition boot record. I'm thinking a Fusion may not be able to properly partition an SD/TF card-only a CF, and there might be enough of a difference in the firmware to screw this up. A shame. I use CF cards alot for the Fusions, and risk bending pins every time, it is not hard to do. Thought this might be a good way to avoid that-and a bit easier to swap out these tiny TF cards which are everywhere now. Have to handle these CF cards very...gently-like putting a soggy paper drinking straw in a frozen "slushy".....well sort of :lol: :lol:
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Re: Use SD cards instead of CF! It works!

Post by Jokeyman123 »

Here it is, I think the Chinese manufacturer pulled another fast one, with a card design that is incompatible within itself!

From Delkin's website,

"The SD interface is completely different than that of the CF/ATA. Operating voltages are 3.3V or 1.8V, with SDXC having a lower voltage transfer capability on added pins. SD is a hybrid (Parallel/Serial) interface.

The SD card operates in SD card mode or SPI mode. Mode is determined at power up, by the host device driver, sending a special command into the card. SPI mode is a 1 bit mode, which is speed limited, but popular in micro-controller applications. SPI interfaces are common in the micro-controllers."

Now my added information I also just discovered-

The CF cards have an internal controller that SD (or TF cards) do not. The CF card bus is designed for the older ATA/EIDE computer bus-just like the bus design within the Fusion and why these cards work stand-alone. So unless these CF card adapters have an internal chip that can translate the SD/TF card bus to the older ATA bus language, it will not work. And apparently, it doesn't. why I wish I knew why Hadley's post descibes that he managed to work this out, although I'm not sure he was trying to accomplish the same thing. and even if he was trying to (hypothetically) use an SD card internally to replace the internal Fusion hard drive-which doesn't even work with many CF cards, even with the right adapter,I wonder what he was up to here.

There is one other possibility I can think of, although I'm not sure it even exists-if there is a true "pass-through" CF card adapter-one that just works as a physical extender-this might work. I've never seen such a thing-but it is possible.
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Re: Use SD cards instead of CF! It works!

Post by Jokeyman123 »

Here it is, but for 60.00 shipped from Turkey-I'll keep looking.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/314167091893?_ ... BMsOOGpfhk

At the end of all this eBay gooble-de-gook-is a 50-pin to 50-pin extender. One end into the CF card slot the other is a CF card slot. Cumbersome at best. but I suppose this is what I would need to make this work. And there is another model-with a ribbon cable, even more cumbersome, and not much less money.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/155824665736?_ ... R9rl7qT4ZA
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