Petition to Palm for TX SDHC drivers

[jeffhoward001]

I know it's a long shot, but here goes...

I believe there is much potential being lost by limiting the Palm TX to only 4GBs of expandable storage. Since the Palm TX is the last-standing "power user" PDA from Palm, I think it's completely realistic to request an SDHC driver update.

Why create a petition? It's very possible that people within Palm have no idea how many people would like this feature and/or how much these individuals are willing to pay for the enhancement. So instead of waiting around, hoping that someone at Palm is actively reading the forums, why not bring the data directly to them?

Again, I know this is a long-shot, but the "wait and see" mentality rarely yields change. So without further adieu, if you would like SDHC drivers for your Palm TX, allowing you to use faster, and higher capacity SD cards (enabling greater than 4GB cards), please respond to the following questions in a private message to me (I would also recommend responding to the thread with a "Hey, I'm in..." post so people can keep a visual count).

1. Your name
2. Your email
3. Your deviceID (App screen --> Menu --> "Info" --> "Version"
You'll see an ID that starts with PNxxxxxxxxxxx-x (11 characters total))
4. Price you are willing to pay for the driver update

If you're not comfortable divulging this information, of feel there is a better dataset to collect, please let me know. I'm just trying to get the ball rolling, but by no means consider myself an expert in executing this type of petition.

- Jeff

[jeffhoward001]

I'll start it off... :-)

Petition #1, and I'd pay up to $20 for the update.

[ftwitty]

Sure, I'd love it for Palm to do a SDHC driver update. I'd pay $20 to $25.

I'd bet that Palm isn't going to do anything for the Tx. IF they are working on a Tx2, SDHC would be a big selling point for that new device. Why would they want to give away that selling point? Their main interest appears to be Treo phones. The Treo 680 already has a SDHC driver, possibly others. $20 a pop for a few thousand updates probably isn't going to be enough for their bean counters.

[vovka1965]

Count me in! I would pay $20

[I love my mom]

Better hope Palm jumps on this, because dmitry is the only other who can do it, and slim chance of that...

But I'd pay $25 easy.

But you know, even if someone charged $50 I'd probably get suckered in.

[senninha]

i'd pay $20 for it... if my TX is still alive by the time palm comes aroud to it! ;)

[nameuser]

You got it to the point!
Me too, as A T|X owner, and knowing that there is no much hope that Palm will release A TX2,
I would pay even A 50 bucks, but "Get that thing working!!!" :)
Thanks!

[ApheoXAIo]

I would definitely be up for an update. Im considering updating to a treo from my TX, because it can take the higher cards. I would pay up to $150, easy.

-ApheoXAIO

[alegra]

You better send this petition to Dmitry Grinberg (when he has finished Clie Organizer :) .) He started working on a patched driver which is compatible with the TX, but then stopped it. I think Palm won't do anything here.

[vovka1965]

You better send this petition to Dmitry Grinberg (when he has finished Clie Organizer :) .) He started working on a patched driver which is compatible with the TX, but then stopped it. I think Palm won't do anything here.
I second that. I think this would make a nice shareware package for Dmitry.

[Ou_Boet]

I'm in....

[cyberdude]

Count me in to, I'd pay 20-25.

[_Em]

Well, right now I think Dmitry is slowly writing his own bootloader SD driver from scratch, so maybe when he's done he can use the bulk of his code for an OS-level version. I wouldn't expect it to get finished this year however; full SD drivers are tricky (lots of sub formats to support).

[AZ-TX]

Is it strictly a driver issue? For some reason I thought it was both a hardware & driver issue, i.e. the SD drive in the TX couldn't handle the SDHC. I hope I am wrong!

[jeffhoward001]

Since the cards themselves are electronically the same, I believe it's just in the way driver interprets the contents/format of the card. Hopefully Dmitry will chime in if I'm on the wrong tangent...

[I love my mom]

Since the cards themselves are electronically the same, I believe it's just in the way driver interprets the contents/format of the card. Hopefully Dmitry will chime in if I'm on the wrong tangent...

You are correct. They use the same reader, but the way they store information is different.

[Another Michael]

You are correct. They use the same reader, but the way they store information is different.

Join to membership for SD documentation version 2.0 !

http://www.sdcard.org/join/

Pay as advertised. (*)

Don't forget to agree to our conditions and to fill out the membership (**) form.

Thanks.

We call you.


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[vovka1965]

Join to membership for SD documentation version 2.0 !

http://www.sdcard.org/join/

Pay as advertised. (*)


I thought this was a grass-roots level to get a new SDHC driver for TX. Now you are talking about some corporate membership for several thousand dollars a year?? :confused: :mad:

[jeffhoward001]

I thought this was a grass-roots level to get a new SDHC driver for TX. Now you are talking about some corporate membership for several thousand dollars a year?? :confused: :mad:

Ya, I'm not a 100% sure what was meant by that post...

"Another Michael", what exactly was that SD documentation link for?

[_Em]

I think it was meant to point out that in order to implement said driver, someone must first fork out the $$$ for that documentation. I assume Palm has already done so. Dmitry has not.

[I love my mom]

Dmitry can port the Treo driver.

According to him, he's tried before but there were too many Treo only calls, which would take months to correct.

:)

[jeffhoward001]

That's a good point. We'll see if this petition to Palm goes anywhere, but part of me would rather give the $$$ to Dmitry if I had the choice. I'm a little surprised that more people haven't replied, I've seen tons of posts over the past couple months requesting 8GB HC compatibility. Maybe people aren't linking my post subject to 8GB support?

Any feedback on how to improve this petition would be greatly appreciated.

[jeffhoward001]

UPDATE: 9 "signatures" so far...

[ftwitty]

That's a good point. We'll see if this petition to Palm goes anywhere, but part of me would rather give the $$$ to Dmitry if I had the choice. I'm a little surprised that more people haven't replied, I've seen tons of posts over the past couple months requesting 8GB HC compatibility. Maybe people aren't linking my post subject to 8GB support?

Any feedback on how to improve this petition would be greatly appreciated.
Not everyone "checks-in" to 1Scr as often as most of those who have already "signed-up". It may take a while. I don't know how many people you think would jump on this, but it may be disappointing. My guess would be less than a hundred. I gave-up on such things long ago and am making do with a fast 2 gig SD card; it's only half full now. But, I do have a 4gig SDHC card I use in my Nikon camera that I would love to be able to read on my Tx.

[eccleshill]

Make that 10! I don't have a TX. But, if I could use HCSD cards in it I would happily replace my aging LifeDrive

[vovka1965]

Should this petition be also posted on other Palm forums?

[vovka1965]

But, if I could use HCSD cards
LOL < it is SDHC! :p

[joemun]

Count me in...15 bucks!

[krispy]

Me too, me too!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[drc54]

Count me in, $20 and hope the US dollar gets weaker when the codes is made available :D

[GJtokkel]

Yes I want this.

Will pay up to 50 euro's. (I guess 50 dollar is very easy for me to pay by the time it's released).

[Another Michael]

I think it was meant to point out that in order to implement said driver, someone must first fork out the $$$ for that documentation. I assume Palm has already done so. Dmitry has not.

That's the point.

[Pee Jay]

Count me in too. $20 to $30.

[PalmSole]

Any way you could put in a good word clause for the little guys with T5's? Were willing to shell out some cash to be included in this driver update as well :D

[FredPC]

I'm in too!

I'd expect to pay $15 to $25 though I'd prefer to see Palm release this as part of an overall update / loyalty appreciation (for not having already moved on to a competitors device)!

I'm still using 2Gb SD cards because I am having quite a difficult time locating a 4Gb SD card that is not SDHC. They seem to be few and far between now.

[jeffhoward001]

Any way you could put in a good word clause for the little guys with T5's? Were willing to shell out some cash to be included in this driver update as well :D

That's going to be a tough sell to Palm, however I don't know much about the hardware differences between the T5 and the TX. If they use the same hardware, one would think that you could install the driver on a T5.

Does anyone on here know if there's a difference between the T5 and TX SD slot hardware?

[jeffhoward001]

I'm still using 2Gb SD cards because I am having quite a difficult time locating a 4Gb SD card that is not SDHC. They seem to be few and far between now.

This is the one you're looking for:

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16820163159

Not sure if that's a reasonable price, but I bought mine almost two years ago, so that price looks great to me! :-)

[FredPC]

This is the one you're looking for:

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16820163159

Not sure if that's a reasonable price, but I bought mine almost two years ago, so that price looks great to me! :-)

Thanks for the help. I did a little more searching for the same make and model and I found it for about half the price ($28.50 Cdn vice $57.99 USD)

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=25487&vpn=TS4GSDC&manufacture=Transcend%20

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction!

[cms]

Make me the 19th pettition (if im counting correctly) 25 bucks :D

[DUKE40]

I would pay $40.00 and hope for a new palm upgrade(IPalm) :)

[robitaille88]

I do believe an SDHC driver should be released. For that matter, a proper SDIO driver needs to be released. Ever since the Palm Tungsten T|3 Palm has crippled it's SD drivers.

I would pay around $5 but certainly not more. I'm sick of having to pay extra to fix Palm's mistakes (it'd be like Microsoft charging to give out Service Pack 2).

Anyway, that's just my 2cents

[thenrik]

Hi:

I'll pay $20 to $25.

Tom

[John Stanley]

I'm in for $20.

[cms]

Maybe after all this, dmitry will be more attune to correcting all the treo notifications knowing that there's reasonable profit for SDHC support :D

[millydog]

Count me in. $25

[John Stanley]

Has Dimity seen this thread? There's enough people who chimed in to more-than cover a one-year membership to get the docs he said he needs to do this.

Now I'm just wondering how soon he could get it working... If it's a couple of year job, obviously that's a no-start. But if it's on the order of a couple of months, I think people could be enticed into ponying up with cash in advance. I would.

[IonTruO2]

I am still trying to give good use to my PalmTx.
I am also a Nokia N800 owner, and I currently am enjoying dual 16Gig SDHC's on it = 32gigs of sdhc memory.
The TX still has some very useful qualities. Key for me is the decoupled aspect from a cellphone and pocketability. Sure the TX is wi-fi B and not G or N but it still makes a great core pda regardless. I have a Treo650 but frankly the screen is really too small for all day every day use and the N800 while truly the next step, is still not my everything tool ...yet. ;)
Its a bit larger than the TX, not quite as sturdy for pocketing and quick handed use, and I feel it still lacks a truly inspired PIM with good working widespread 'sharability' (ie Bluetooth.)
If the basic hardware is there in a TX and still pretty strong for more cpu life, then surely the somewhat huge 7 generation developer community can 'hack it' some more.
example: Zlauncher/Zlink was a huge saving grace for me and kept me from feeling totally ripped off, as I purchased very late in the Palm timeline.

oops straying off here.....point being hey! N800 two sd slots easily now handling 16gigs each ...or higher if your wish(ie 32g & 64g).
Fat32 at least being the basic key to the larger memories and last time I checked my TX already had a FAT32 file.

;)

[vovka1965]

Bump! So, what's the next step here?

[dipching]

Hello,

You can add me to the "too short" list.
I'd like to contribute with $50.

[menno]

Add me, but 0$
I just spent 160$ of repair material and a battery upgrade for my treo 680

[jstrubberg]

IonTruO2...

The one thing that has kept me away from the Nokia is the lack of a calendar, task and email app to sync with Outlook. When I have WiFi available, I can use OWA, but I can't imagine being happy with having access to my calendar and tasks less than half of the day.

Other than that, the N800 could be the next TX. Have you found any such applications or do you just live with the N800 as an internet portal only?

[jeffhoward001]

Sorry guys, I started a new job recently, and I've been crazy-busy getting up to speed on the new project.

So the last question I saw was, "looks like plenty of people are interested, what's the next step?"

To be honest, I'm not 100% what the next step is... If anyone has a contact inside Palm, that would be a good place to start. I do know one person, but only through swapping a couple emails. I'm not sure if he would appreciate a question of this magnitude.

I think our two options are: 1) find someone with a contact inside Palm to see if there's a chance they'll bite.... 2) see if we can convince a private Dev (such as Dimtry) that there's enough interest for this, such that it would be a profitable project.

Any thoughts?

- Jeff

[nameuser]

I would prefer A developer, like Dmitry,
Because:
1) If Palm is going to charge for it, the difference in price would probably be high :),
2) Lets say you've got Palm to make one, still if there is any bug they need to fix, they'll never do it!
But when A developer is making it...

[vovka1965]

Developer like Dmitry is good. However, with all the things he s got going, I don't know how realistic this would be.. Should ask him?

[vovka1965]

So, if you look at this thread
http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142525

There is our project!

[_Em]

Here -- I've started a poll in the Applications thread (http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142679) where everyone will see it. This provides one place for Dmitry to see what's what. Click here (http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142679) and give your feedback again :)

Don't forget to vote! -- don't just reply to the thread.

[feste]

I would be glad to pitch in at least 20 bucks...one suggestion...I think alot of people want this but they aren't the kind of people to really participate in forums...we need something thats lets users post anonymously on the thread

[Gregte]

I would be glad to pitch in at least 20 bucks......


For $35 you can have it today at PalmPowerups. It will supposedly be cheaper in the future.

[acy2yiu]

And the driver is very stable. I've been using it for weeks and there is no problem so far. The card performance seems to be faster too. Absolutelly worths $35.