Give your TX an internal drive, no SD card needed

[Jimmie Geddes]

I read this over at Tam Hanna's blog
http://tamspalm.blogspot.com/2005/10/give-your-tx-or-z22-internal-drive.html
Thses are a bunch of TX solutions. I used this on my TX and sent songs via BT file exchange to my TX. It recognizes the TX's memory like a sd card, allowing you to store music on your TX without a card.

[STBXXL]

Yeah!! Just found this as well. I copied the DriveMode files from my wife's T5 (also my former PDA) and it works like a charm. Back are the days where I can move large files (e.g. podcasts) or do complete backups automatically via Microsoft's great free tool SyncToy.

With SharkTXFix and DriveMode working my T|X is now abosolutey perfect. :D

[Jimmie Geddes]

can you send me the T5 files? jeg815@mac.com

[userwaldo]

Anyone know if this will work on the E2?

[Jimmie Geddes]

yes it will work on the E2.

[userwaldo]

Cool. I liked the E2 Internal drive, but didn't think it was too useful since you couldn't connect froma pc.

Now I just need to find someone with a T5.

[joelong]

I installed E2InternalDrive as described at http://tamspalm.blogspot.com/2005/10/give-your-tx-or-z22-internal-drive.html, but now I can't uninstall it. Any ideas? I tried to delete the file, but the system won't let me. By the way, I have a TX.

[snark]

I installed E2InternalDrive as described at http://tamspalm.blogspot.com/2005/10/give-your-tx-or-z22-internal-drive.html, but now I can't uninstall it. Any ideas? I tried to delete the file, but the system won't let me. By the way, I have a TX. With FileZ, change the CreatorID and type to something différent ('xxxx' by example). Soft reset the TX and you'll be able to remove it.

[stefe]

does the program split the memory, or do u have all 101Mb for the program?

[snark]

does the program split the memory, or do u have all 101Mb for the program? Both memory zones share the same available memory (the 101 Mb). If you store something in one, the other one has less free space.

[2XS]

u make my day !

gr33tz 2xs

[joelong]

With FileZ, change the CreatorID and type to something différent ('xxxx' by example). Soft reset the TX and you'll be able to remove it.

Thanks! That's what I finally figured out to do. And it was a good thing, because I later discovered that BackupMan was trying to back up to the "internal drive" rather than to the SD card -- in other words, no backup. BackupMan wouldn't let me choose the SD card until I removed E2InternalDrive. I don't know if other backup programs would have this problem or not.

[userwaldo]

joelong, i think i saw the same problem with backup buddy as well in an E2.

[aspidoras]

Ok I tried this on my T|X and the new drive shows as "BUILTIN(A:)" . It seems to be fine. I also installed the "Drive Mode" files from my T5 to try and get that program on my T|X. Problem is as soon as I turn the "Drive Mode" on, my T|X does a soft reset. Anyone else had that problem? Do I need the "Drive Mode" files from a Life Drive instead of the T5 because of the FAT32 formating on the T|X?

[AndyMac]

I used the T5 DriveMode files with no problem on my TX. It could be the E2InternalDrive software that's causing the problem.

[xsnrg]

I have the "builtin" showing up on my TX, and I have no drive mode files at all installed. I have been wondering what this is for a while. It seems you can put regular files in memory now?

[mbroden]

Could anyone possibly send me a copy of the need T5 drive mode files.
Many thanks!
mark.broden@gfschools.org

[Jimmie Geddes]

You can't use the T5 drive mode if you have the e2 internal drive installed. You must choose one or the other. They both work on the TX. I prefer the e2 internal drive, as I already use an application called CardReader that I got asked to test on the TX. Just so you know both apps work, but you can't have both installed.

[mbroden]

I don't have either the E2 or the T5 files as I am about to purchase a TX today and I want to get it rolling right away! If you could send the E2 or the T5 files that would be great! Another quick question, Graffiti 1, I've used G1 (the 2 library files) on my Clie TJ35 the whole time I've had it with no hitches...will the same files do the job on the TX?
Thanks again...this forum is a life saver!!!

[grifter]

This may be a stupid question, but I do not have the T5 and will be getting a TX, does the DriveMode files from the T5 allow you to see your SD card as a removable harddrive on your PC when DriveMode is run and the TX is connected via USB cable to the PC?

I currently have a Clie and this feature is very useful for copying files and MP3s onto the removeable media, in this case the memory stick.

[gsparks2]

I don't have either the E2 or the T5 files as I am about to purchase a TX today and I want to get it rolling right away! If you could send the E2 or the T5 files that would be great! Another quick question, Graffiti 1, I've used G1 (the 2 library files) on my Clie TJ35 the whole time I've had it with no hitches...will the same files do the job on the TX?
Thanks again...this forum is a life saver!!!


See this thread for G1: thread (http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99278)

Cheers!

Greg

[Tam Hanna]

People, a reader informed me that LifeDrive files dont work for the TX. Can anyone confirm this?

[Zano2004]

This may be a stupid question, but I do not have the T5 and will be getting a TX, does the DriveMode files from the T5 allow you to see your SD card as a removable harddrive on your PC when DriveMode is run and the TX is connected via USB cable to the PC?

I currently have a Clie and this feature is very useful for copying files and MP3s onto the removeable media, in this case the memory stick.The T5 DriveMode Files do in fact work on the TX. I have both and have tried it. But, I have gone back to an updated Card Export II that I used on my T3 before I got the T5, which I like better because it's simplier.

[FIA WRC]

Can someone who has the T5 files please email them to me? nh4x2u2o7@gmail.com Thanks.

[dialectic79]

Hello everyone,

I got my TX a few days ago... no problems yet, but I would like to have it with DriveMode... I would really apreciate it if someone would be kind enough to send me the T5 files to dialectic79@hotmail.com

[andyvich]

I read this over at Tam Hanna's blog
http://tamspalm.blogspot.com/2005/10/give-your-tx-or-z22-internal-drive.html
Thses are a bunch of TX solutions. I used this on my TX and sent songs via BT file exchange to my TX. It recognizes the TX's memory like a sd card, allowing you to store music on your TX without a card.

will this work on a z22 you think? the t|5 drivemode files? whats the gut feeling on it

[snark]

will this work on a z22 you think? the t|5 drivemode files? whats the gut feeling on it The Z22 has no SD card slot, so nothing to use the Drivemode with.

[ungottable]

May I too get the T5 files sent to the following email address. It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advanced.

ungottable <at> yahoo <dot> com

-ungottable

[andyvich]

The Z22 has no SD card slot, so nothing to use the Drivemode with.


this would be after setting up a ramdrive partition which someone has already done successfully

[Griff]

Any chance someone would be willing to send me the T5 drive mode files? Really odd that Palm didn't supply them for the TX.

Please send me a PM and I'll send my e-mail addy.

Thanks in advance!

[giskard]

I'm surprised that this thread hasn't been closed down. It's kind of illegal... But a very interesting concept. :-)

[bulls96]

yeah me too please. t5 files. thanks a mil!

jeffjarin@yahoo.com

[pmdubey]

yeah me too please. t5 files. thanks a mil!

jeffjarin@yahoo.com
read the softick card export II thread.

[clarke90]

I really need those T5 files for the TX too, if it is no problem. thank you

cschulenberg@sbcglobal.net

[louiscorpio]

do a search on google...

[_Em]

I found that the E2InternalDrive software corrupted my memory space and sent my TX into an infinite boot loop. I couldn't get the T5 DriveMode files to work correctly -- turning on DriveMode caused a soft reset. However, with Bluetooth transfers being about the same speed as Palm's USB "support", I'm finding I don't use the hotsync cable at all now anyway.

[bulls96]

Which one is better for the T|X? the drivemode or the internal drive?

which one you need to be able to download stuff?

[erics]

Could I please get the t5 files also?
eric@NOSPAMvertical73.com

Thanks

[javispedro]

I couldn't get the T5 DriveMode files to work correctly -- turning on DriveMode caused a soft reset.
Until Dmitry comes up with a real solution, you might want to try this...
TXInternalDrive.prc (http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/javispedro/Palm/TXInternalDrive.prc)
This is my first try of POS5 hack (and my first POS C app, too), a E2InternalDrive clone that disables itself when you're using DriveMode (fixing the DriveMode crash by hiding the BUILTIN volume) or Blazer5 (fixing the bug where Blazer would start writing to cache to databases instead of /BLAZER/).
It requires YAHM http://yahm.palmoid.com/yahmv.htm , because I used their SDK. I still don't know how to develop hacks without it...
Here you have the main source code, which is very simple...
Err MyVFSVolumeInfo(UInt16 volRefNum, VolumeInfoType *volInfoP) {
pfnVFSVolumeInfo oldTrap;
Err err;
UInt32 currCRid;

FtrGet(MY_CRID, RESID, (UInt32 *)&oldTrap);

err=oldTrap(volRefNum, volInfoP);

//If there are no errors and we are asking about vol 1...
if (err == errNone && volRefNum == BUILTIN_REF) {
currCRid=getCurrentCRid();
if (currCRid != DRIVEMODE_CRID && currCRid != STATUSBAR_CRID && currCRid != BLAZER_CRID)
volInfoP->attributes = vfsVolumeAttrNonRemovable;
//Set vol1 as non-removable only, not hidden.
}

return err;
}

//Returns creator id of current app.
UInt32 getCurrentCRid(void){
LocalID lid;
UInt16 cardNo;
UInt32 crid;

if (SysCurAppDatabaseV40(&cardNo, &lid) != errNone){
return false;
}
if (DmDatabaseInfoV40(cardNo, lid, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, &crid) != errNone){
return false;
}
return crid;
}

[Pavla]

Kind of useless for me, i want to access my internal files through usb, as if it's a card, but none of the software, palm file transfer, card reader or softick card export, can make the internal space available to my computer.

[javispedro]

Kind of useless for me, i want to access my internal files through usb, as if it's a card, but none of the software, palm file transfer, card reader or softick card export, can make the internal space available to my computer.More abstracted software will let you access it, like Softick Blue Files or palmFTPServer.

[PinCushionQueen]

PFB can access internal files also http://mytreo.net/downloads/details-220.html?Palm_File_Browser

[Clie Luvr]

Could anyone possibly send me a copy of the needed T5 drive mode files.

Thanks in advance

jiggydrumz<at>yahoo<dot>com

[javispedro]

Any one knows how do "Drive Mode"-like apps work? Why they can't export the BUILTIN volume?
DriveMode crashes due to it trying to unmount the BUILTIN volume. If I patch it so it does not unmount the Volume, then it works, but an "empty removable disk drive" appears on the desktop (As I have no SD currently, I assume it's trying to export the SD slot instead of the BUILTIN volume).

[TheRealZero]

... http://www.softick.com/ramdrive/ ....
Softick makes a program that does exactly what you're talking about, it creates a partition of the internal media and turns it into a virtual SD card.

Card Export II (http://www.softick.com/cardexport2/) now works for the T|X as of version 2.21. It allows you to essentially use your palm as a thumbdrive and doesn't require any PC-side software.

[javispedro]

... http://www.softick.com/ramdrive/ ....
Softick makes a program that does exactly what you're talking about, it creates a partition of the internal media and turns it into a virtual SD card.

Card Export II (http://www.softick.com/cardexport2/) now works for the T|X as of version 2.21. It allows you to essentially use your palm as a thumbdrive and doesn't require any PC-side software.Yeah, I know those. However Card Export will only let you export SD cards or Softick RAMDrives, but not the BUILTIN volume.

[Pavla]

... http://www.softick.com/ramdrive/ ....
Softick makes a program that does exactly what you're talking about, it creates a partition of the internal media and turns it into a virtual SD card.

Card Export II (http://www.softick.com/cardexport2/) now works for the T|X as of version 2.21. It allows you to essentially use your palm as a thumbdrive and doesn't require any PC-side software.

Thanks for the tip, it solves at least my problem. I hope you can solve the problem with palm file transfer javispedro, would be even greater!

[javispedro]

I'll answer myself again: No app can export the BUILTIN volume because no app carries a filesystem translation layer; they just export the full disk 1:1 to the desktop computer. Even if the BUILTIN volume could be exported (ignoring the fact that It can't be unmounted), it would be exported as a BFFS partition, which no current desktop operating system can read.

RAMDrive works because it creates a full virtual card on a file, it does not worry about which partitions it's going to have -- so a CardExport-like app can just read that file' bytes and send them to the computer.

[TheRealZero]

I see...

So what's the advantage of using the BUILTIN and having RAMDrive make a partition? I mean it's using all the same memory right?

[MegaManXcalibur]

I just tried this on my T|X and it works wonderfully. I've been looking for a way to enable drive mode on my T|X without actually buying a program (hey I'm a poor college student give me a break). And for some odd reason it never actually dawned on me to just grab the drive mode files from a T5.

[javispedro]

So what's the advantage of using the BUILTIN and having RAMDrive make a partition? I mean it's using all the same memory right?

BUILTIN is the native internal disk, so it is way faster (i.e. no skipping). Also some apps only use the BULTIN volume and the first SD (the Media app).

[_Em]

Seems to me it should be possible to make some sort of a hack that makes reads and writes to the internal NVRAM go through a "virtual" SD Card; after all, it's possible on a TX to transfer data between the builtin volume and an SD card... why not just virtualize this action, so that to all other software, the builtin volume appears as a FAT32 SD card?

[javispedro]

Seems to me it should be possible to make some sort of a hack that makes reads and writes to the internal NVRAM go through a "virtual" SD Card; after all, it's possible on a TX to transfer data between the builtin volume and an SD card... why not just virtualize this action, so that to all other software, the builtin volume appears as a FAT32 SD card?
It depends on what you want to do.
-If you want to simulate BUILTIN directories as a FAT32 SD card so that you can export it to the computer, you'll have to write your own FAT implementation in order to simulate it (as the computer expects a full FAT filesystem with its headers and so on. Indeed, it expects a full disk with partition table, you'll have to simulate it too. )

-If you want to simulate a FAT32 SD card using half your NVRAM space, that's what RAMDrive does: you have a whole virtual disk/sd in a single, large file on the BUILTIN volume or in a database. The file is fixed size or semi-sparse, like RAMDrive does. Having it expand as required (like RAMDrive) is easy. Having it shrink as needed would require a FAT implementation, so it is hard (unless you write over deleted data with lots of zeros ;) ). The whole process difficulty is unknow for me, I never tried.

-If you want to mount a BUILTIN volume directory on a virtual SD card, that's somewhat easy. However, you won't be able to export it to computer using USB Mass Storage, cause there is no simulated FAT on T|X's NVRAM.

BTW, with a considerable amount of work (writing a decent palmos database storage engine over FAT, like PalmOne did with NVFS), it should be possible to simulate a new storage heap card (for database storage) using a SD Card ---- full read/write support, not like MSMount. Wasn't dmitry working on that?

[jbarr]

Anyone get the "connectivity" part working on a Z22?

TheE2InternalDrive installed just fine, and my Z22 now shows a "BUILTIN" drive sized to the amount of free RAM. Several apps do recognize the internal drive, but some don't--specifically, CardExport, CardReader, and Palm File Browser do not recognize it. Unfortunatly, these are the several key app choices to actially transfer files via USB. Kinda useless without this functionality.

THat said, here are some quick observations on my Z22...

MyBible - I was able to copy several MyBible files over to the "card" (/Palm/Programs/MyBible), but MyBible doesn't see them. Bummer.

ZLauncher - ZLauncher recognizes the card and displays a tab, and its file viewer handles copying/moving files perfectly.

HandStory - HandStory will let you move documents to it, and it is able to read documents stored there.

Filez sees it just fine.

Ther is no CardInfo app on my Z22, so I'll see if the one from my T3 or Tungsten C works.

All-in-all, it's an interesting app, and could have its use on the Z22--if the connectivity worked.

Any suggestions (short of buying a T|X) :p

[javispedro]

TheE2InternalDrive installed just fine, and my Z22 now shows a "BUILTIN" drive sized to the amount of free RAM. Several apps do recognize the internal drive, but some don't--specifically, CardExport, CardReader, and Palm File Browser do not recognize it. Unfortunatly, these are the several key app choices to actially transfer files via USB. Kinda useless without this functionality.

If you read my previous posts you'll find that it is not that easy to export the BUILTIN drive without an extra abstraction layer...

MyBible - I was able to copy several MyBible files over to the "card" (/Palm/Programs/MyBible), but MyBible doesn't see them. Bummer.

That's because the internal volume is case-sensitive (i.e. /Palm is not the same as /PALM . ) This happens on a TX, too.

[Church Punk]

ok, this might be a bit offtopic :rolleyes:

i have the files from the T5 and want to have this view with Appshelf file browser option on my TX:
http://www.jade.dti.ne.jp/~imazeki/palm/APsh/cg/APsh17.jpg

I have the hack from javispedro and it works fine with other apps but Appshelf doesnt see the internal drive in the browser... :confused:

Is there anyone using a TX that has any idea (or managed already) to get this view with appshelf?

thanks in advance...

[christo101]

Hiya Palm-ites...

Can anybody sort me out? I installed E2internaldrive on ly LD, and it works, but now I get a soft reset everytime I go out of Drivemode... I changed the creatorID of the E2 app & did a reset, but I can't seem to delete it... Any ideas how to get rid of it?

[brainstem]

Hello.

I installed E2internal and gave it a try. It seemed to work but after the initial reset after installation the TX only worked in safe mode (Warm reset).

B.

[JAmerican]

Remove E2InternalDrive from your TX, its buggy and not worth it. It also causes conflicts with registered applications because it changes your hardware setup of your TX.

RamDrive is also not worth it. It continuously caused my TX to crash and I lost data that I stored on my Virtual Drives that I created.

JAmerican

[christo101]

Sigh - it's gone - did a warm reset like somebody suggested & managed to delete it... And for interest sake - my LD's wifi icon disappeared when in safe mode!

[pruss]

-If you want to simulate a FAT32 SD card using half your NVRAM space, that's what RAMDrive does: you have a whole virtual disk/sd in a single, large file on the BUILTIN volume or in a database. The file is fixed size or semi-sparse, like RAMDrive does. Having it expand as required (like RAMDrive) is easy. Having it shrink as needed would require a FAT implementation, so it is hard (unless you write over deleted data with lots of zeros ;) ). The whole process difficulty is unknow for me, I never tried.

The whole thing is non-trivial due to non-reentrancy issues. Suppose the OS wants to access a file on the virtual drive. It will pass the request to the virtual drive's slot driver. This will in turn pass the request to the OS's file reading routine. So the file reading routine gets called from within itself. Most of the time that works fine, but occasionally it screws up, because the OS is not designed to be re-entrant. And if the virtual drive uses the same file system as its host drive (e.g., FAT-32), you get additional reentrancy issues.

I once wrote a virtual drive driver. It worked for some things but not for others. I abandoned the project because of the above issues. (The source code is freely available in CVS at www.sf.net/projects/handypalmstuff)

[Church Punk]

And for interest sake - my LD's wifi icon disappeared when in safe mode!

It always does in safe mode :D But the network works ;) Blazer and VersaMail are VERY fast ... just you dont see if your connection is on or off :p

[tosbsas]

will this work on t3 too??

Ruben

[pruss]

If you read my previous posts you'll find that it is not that easy to export the BUILTIN drive without an extra abstraction layer...



That's because the internal volume is case-sensitive (i.e. /Palm is not the same as /PALM . ) This happens on a TX, too.

That's interesting. I suppose it may be an overreaction to the T5's bug where you couldn't have two RAM databases whose names differed by case alone (RAM database names were supposed to be case sensitive). (I say it's an OVER-reaction, because they also solved the problem a different--rather kludgy but clever--way, by appending a case-bitmap to the end of filenames in the NVFS storage.)

So a proper internal drive hack would need to patch a bunch of VFS*() routines to allow case-insensitive access, since developers have, I suspect, counted on different case combinations in "Palm" and "Programs". That would be a lot of work, and it might break some internal things.

An ad hoc solution might, though, solve most problems: map all case combinations of "/palm/programs" and "/palm/launcher" to each other. This would require patching:
VFSDirCreate()
VFSFileCreate()
VFSFileDelete()
VFSFileOpen()
It would be enough to recognize the all-lower-case, first-capitalized, and all-capitalized versions, I suspect, to give compatibility with just about all software.

[javispedro]

The whole thing is non-trivial due to non-reentrancy issues. Suppose the OS wants to access a file on the virtual drive. It will pass the request to the virtual drive's slot driver. This will in turn pass the request to the OS's file reading routine. So the file reading routine gets called from within itself. Most of the time that works fine, but occasionally it screws up, because the OS is not designed to be re-entrant. And if the virtual drive uses the same file system as its host drive (e.g., FAT-32), you get additional reentrancy issues.
That makes it really difficult... VFSFileWrite/Read will be twice-called unless (you get to write on the card by your own means || you use the Data Manager, but, AFAIK, on a T|X it will actually also call the VFS functions when flushed!).

BTW, I don't really have a clue ;) but I noticed Softick's applicattion sets an alarm each 5 seconds.
I think that, after receiving VFSFileWrite data to the virtual card it first stores data on heap, sets an alarm, then, when the alarm fires, actually writes the data, thus avoiding the re-entrancy issue. Dunno what they do for reading though.

[palmuse]

@javisperdo (or anyone else that cares to answer) Your app looks interesting. Can you report on longterm success with TXInternalDrive hack? I tried the 'other' one, but had some 'issues' with it. I like the idea of being to turn it off.

A few questions:

>> Does the standard pTunes read from it and allow the card to be removed while playing still?

>> Does turning it off for HotSync work? This relates to a problem I had with Plucker. When using the 'other' drive, Plucker sent all of my files to the BUILTIN instead of the card. (I could have just remapped all of my properties in Sunrise I suppose, but that would be very annoying.)

>> What is the biggest benefit you got from using it (besides the 'Because I can!' factor) :D

>> Whats the biggest 'issue' (if any) you have seen? I understand that not all app recognize it and some should not (hence the default settings). Are there recommended apps to turn it off for beside the defaults?

Your thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

[javispedro]

@javisperdo (or anyone else that cares to answer) Your app looks interesting. Can you report on longterm success with TXInternalDrive hack? I tried the 'other' one, but had some 'issues' with it. I like the idea of being to turn it off.

A few questions:

>> Does the standard pTunes read from it and allow the card to be removed while playing still?
Yes. However, skipping is worse while playing from the builtin. (however it is way better than any RAM Drive I've tested on the T|X).

>> Does turning it off for HotSync work? This relates to a problem I had with Plucker. When using the 'other' drive, Plucker sent all of my files to the BUILTIN instead of the card. (I could have just remapped all of my properties in Sunrise I suppose, but that would be very annoying.)

Yes, it works. (YAHM has an option to disable hacks while on HotSync which is the one I use, because I think it desables hacks at the start/end of the sync and not at the start/end of the HotSync application, which is what my hack does).

>> What is the biggest benefit you got from using it (besides the 'Because I can!' factor) :D

I use it mainly to save files I want to move between cards. I also save files that I want to take with me even If I don't take any SD card, like important documents or pictures.
I also don't want DocsToGo to save to the internal DBstorage. I want pure .doc or .xls files, so in case DocsToGo is corrupted and refuses to open (happened twice in a week to me), I can easily copy them to an SD card without reaching my computer (and my DocsToGo files).
I think the hack is mostly useless if you carry around just one big (>1GB) SD Card and never swap cards.

>> Whats the biggest 'issue' (if any) you have seen? I understand that not all app recognize it and some should not (hence the default settings). Are there recommended apps to turn it off for beside the defaults?

The biggest issue is that you CAN'T DELETE (other than hard-reset & NVBackup restore) files with the "Read-only" attributte set. This is pretty nasty if you're copying from a Read-only card, since "Files" will try to mirror the Read-only attributte and WILL set the Read-only attributte on EVERY file.

Example: You get a SD card from a friend with big pictures (2MB each). You copy then of them to your internal drive. Then you notice your friend had the SD card write-protected, or the files with the read-only attr set.
You have just wasted around 20 MB of your internal storage which you cannot reclaim until you hard-reset !!!

That's the biggest issue for me.

Multiple Palm, PALM, PaLM folders -- I can live with that. I just let each app create its own folder, then copy/move its files there.

Your thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.
You're welcome. :)

[palmuse]

@javispedro
Thanks for the detailed explanations. I had never heard of the 'read only' issue. I will try to keep that in mind. Thanks!