AARRRRRGGGGGHHHH! - CF Card Problem!

[shawnc]

I CAN'T GET MY CF CARD OUT! It is a Microdrive and I always had a tough time removing it from my ipaq, but with a little scotch tape and creativity, it worked. Am I doing something wrong? Why is the CF so difficult to remove? And how do you remove it?

Thanx.

[Jhokur2k]

Vice grips and a rubber mallet? :D

Is there any gaps or wiggle room in the CF slot at all? I noticed on mine that the metal flashing in the slot was a little off, but it sort of flattened out. I would avoid pressure, but maybe using like a popscicle stick or something similar *with a bit of give* to force the drive out (from the back side, against the Axim..).

[shawnc]

Eventually I got it out using my wife's tweezers, but this simply doesn't MAKE ANY SENSE! The plastic insert that covers the slot has a ridge (for lack of a better word) built into it so you can simply pull it out. It is incomprehensible to me that CF cards built for use in a PDA would not have a similar build.

I figured maybe the Microdrive simply did not have this functionality but other cf cards did. I don't know, seems insane to me that I wll need tweezers every time a change cards.

[ultimate_ed]

The two compact flash cards I have for my digital camera both have the "lip" so you can pull them out.

I'm betting that's a quirk of the microdrive. May have something to do with the fact that it is thicker (type II) than a normal CF card.

[Kati Compton]

My CF card has a "lip", but it's still pretty hard to get out of the Axim, unfortunately. I have a NexIIe mp3 player that I plan to share CF cards with. That, though, has a nice little "eject" feature. On the NexIIe, by pushing up on a slider button, the CF card comes out enough that you can easily remove it without using the lip. Nice feature. Hope Dell adds it on future PDAs.

[Janak Parekh]

shawnc, the Microdrive is really designed for units with ejector functionality -- I'm surprised Dell didn't put that in.

That said, the "new" Microdrives (all except the original 340MB) have a pair of secret tabs that you can remove, which makes it much easier to remove the device in the future. See http://members.fortunecity.com/streetmagic/microdrive/mdindex.html

Be careful of tweezers, they can cause the drive to squeeze and actually fail.

There is also a tiny little lip in the middle, but it's hard as heck to use. I have a Compaq CF+ sleeve for my iPaq now, and the ejector mechanism is a godsend for Microdrives.

Also, in a new CF slot cards will be tight. The slot "loosens up" over time.

--janak

[shawnc]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the responses to my question are the reason why this site is so great. People helping people they don't even know. I kind of figured that the problem was probably partially related to the fact that the microdrive MAY not have been made with the PDA in mind. Well as luck would have it, the microdrive is dead (could have been the tweezers :evil: ). I was going to replace it with a 512 or 1G microdrive. But now I realize that there are CF cards with "lips" built into them. I will either look for one of those (per kati and ultimate_ed) or check for the new microdrives (per janak).

Again, thanx to all for the help.

[Janak Parekh]

Well as luck would have it, the microdrive is dead (could have been the tweezers :evil: ).
Sorry to hear that :cry:

In this day and age, if you can afford it, I'd go for the solid-state 512MB or 1GB CF flash memory units. They have much less battery drain, and they all have "lips".

--janak

[shawnc]

Just for clarification, I do have a 340MB microdrive so I suspect that it is one of the original ones that Janak refers to. Also, I think the microdrive was already dead. My ipaq had stopped playing my MP3's a couple of months ago. I initially assumed there was a problem with either my SS2 or Ipaq. Oh well, at least I got a new Dell out of the deal :D . I just ordered the 256K Sandisk SD card (using the affiliate link of course :wink: ) and I am REALLY holding my breath that it works out (based on the discussions I have been following on this site). If so, I will simply save my quaters, take Janak's advice, and spring for the 512 or 1G drive.

Thanx again.

[etalianstallion]

I had the same issue when I popped in my IBM 340MB microdrive. I just used a piece of tape, stuck it against what little portion of the microdrive was reachable (right in the center where you place your finger to remove the Dell dummy CF card insert, apply a little pressue and slowly ease it out. After I got it out I ordered myself a 512 MB CF card (Type 1). Less power consumption on the Type 1 cards too (I think).

Sorry to hear that you ruined your card.