Options For Using Your PPC as a USB Mass Storage Device / Card Reader

[Jon Westfall]

If you had asked me a year ago what feature I wanted most in my Pocket PC, I would have unhesitatingly answered that I wanted the device to be able to function as a card reader when plugged into computers that did not have Activesync installed. I envisioned that this would make me way more productive as I'd never have to carry around a USB key again. It turns out that I was a bit wrong, since realizing that I found this feature cool more than actually needed it. Still, its a really nice feature when I do have the need for it, and I know a lot of people that would consider it a lifesaver. <br /><br />Currently there are two programs on the market that allow you to do this with your Pocket PC. <a href="http://www.softick.com/pocket-pc/cardexport2/">Softick Card Export II </a> (There never was a I release for PPC, so you didn't miss anything) and a new program named <a href="http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=2978">WM5torage </a>. The newer of the pair, WM5torage is freeware and only works on WM 5 (And apparently on smartphones as well). Softick's product, which was released last summer (And purchased by me within 48 hours of its release) supports WM 2003 devices and costs $14.95. I've been very pleased with Softick's release schedule (Releasing an update every 2 months or so), and their stated support for newer devices as they become available. I haven't had the chance to try WM5torage much, but it appears to be popular with those of us who have WM 5 devices and don't wish to buy software when a free alternative exists! <br /><br />Are you interested in this type of functionality? Drawn in because it's cool? Use it every day? Let me know - I'm pretty curious as to how much use this software is, now that many laptops &amp; desktops are coming with builtin card readers.<br /><br />Note: This software is not the same as <a href="http://www.deje.gmxhome.de/software.html"> Deje's driver </a> which allows your PPC to read USB Mass Storage devices, not to act as one!

[carphead]

I'm with you Jon. I too brought Cafd Export with in a couple of days. I thought it would be really handy but I've used it about a dozen times.

Its because I brought a u3 stick a month later and that's more usefu and plugged on most of the time

[applejosh]

I used this kind of functionality on my Palm all the time. Card Export II (for the Palm devices) worked like a charm. I never tried it on my iPAQ (it had a Samsung processor which wasn't supported in the PPC version), and I haven't gotten around to trying it on the new X51v. I just read about the WM5torage software (although I thought it was only for Smartphones), but I'll probably wait for some feedback from more adventurous individuals (WM5 is enough of an adventure for me at the moment).

[mrozema]

The version of Card Export for PPC is fantastic! I am always transfering music and other files to and from my X50 and it all works so much faster than Active Sync. Its definitely worth the money!

[Nurhisham Hussein]

I lost my USB drive some time ago - I haven't missed it at all.

[beq]

Is it true all PPCs only connect at USB 1.1 speed?

If not, can current PPCs support the full read/write speeds of today's high speed SD cards (60x, 120x, etc), when connected as a USB mass storage device and accessed on the desktop PC?

[dnacpil]

Card Export II PPC is definitely a "MUST HAVE" on my X50v!! My laptop only has a SD card reader and this app makes my X50v a CF &amp; SD Card reader. It's 2 things less to carry...a card reader &amp; usb jumpdrive. I use it everyday and it's very reliable.

[isajoo]

well if it is true about all ppc being usb1.1 then that would explain why it takes SOOOO long to transfer files from my pc to the ppc using any program that connects through usb... i find for small files i can use total commanders file explorers ftp cleint(free...plus u can stream mp3 audio/videos from any network computer) or activesync both using WIFI no cables... and for large files i just bought a $5 usb2.0 sd card reader, this is MUCH faster... this program that makes a ppc into a usb mass is not really worth it... spend the money on an usb 2.0 card reader and keep it with you, because its smaller than carrying a sync cable to connect through usb. buy 2 or 3 card readers... same price as the software.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Not all ppcs - the iPaq hx4700 has USB2 transfer speeds.

spend the money on an usb 2.0 card reader and keep it with you, because its smaller than carrying a sync cable to connect through usb

I don't agree - while there are some very small card readers that cater for SD cards, a multi-card reader is neither as portable and requires it's own cable as well. So if you've got CF cards, then CEII is a very nice piece of software to have.

[PDANEWBIE]

I hate to be the pessimist of the bunch but I would rather have this be a built in function on the OS side. Why should you have to load something onto each PC you want to use this on? Its the same reason I HATE using USB drive devices with Windows 98 vrs Windows XP.

I still carry around my USB thumb drive with me everywhere and use it a ton more than my PPC for transfering files and storage just for ease of use sake alone.

Add this into an OS capability and I would probably use it daily. Until then I'll stick with a USB drive.

[aroma]

PDANEWBIE: I think your missunderstanding the product a bit. It's software that installed once, on the PPC. Not on each PC that you connect to. The software allows the PPC to emulate a USB storage device.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Yup - instantly turn your PPC into a USB drive, or to be more precise, a glorified card reader :lol: No more fooling with Activesync on strange computers!

[PDANEWBIE]

Ahhh silly uneducated me! I thought it was some kind of device driver you load onto the PC to make the PC see the Pocket PC as a device (hence the Windows 98 refference). I didn't realize this was a PDA installed emulation device.

Now I have another question. If you have a PC that has activesync on it do you have to turn off the emulation portion on the PDA or does it just work in conjunction with activesync? Or is this just a program you run on the PDA and it does not stay resident in memory so you just don't run the progem before you plug it into an activesync loaded PC?

[genius74]

[quote="hishamh"]Not all ppcs - the iPaq hx4700 has USB2 transfer speeds.
quote]

Well that's one. I'm sure there are plenty (a few?) more that have Usb 2.0 connections, but on a scale of all PPCs, this number is limited to a few (rather new > 36 mos.). Not everyone buys a new PPC when it hits the market. Besides, using a a USB 1.1 connection to transfer data to a 4GB SD card would be slower than my Netflix movies arriving on a Sunday. What's that you say, the mail isn't delieverd on Sunday? My point exactly. I would like to see this incorporated into the OS as well.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Now I have another question. If you have a PC that has activesync on it do you have to turn off the emulation portion on the PDA or does it just work in conjunction with activesync? Or is this just a program you run on the PDA and it does not stay resident in memory so you just don't run the progem before you plug it into an activesync loaded PC?

CEII has two modes, controllable from your PDA - the first is an Activesync pass through, which basically allows the standard Activesync connection. In this case, your device is seen as a normal PDA and not a thumbdrive. The second mode activates the emulation, in which case AS is completely ignored - your PDA will work as a standard USB drive.

Important limitation to note though - RAM is not readable in this mode, hence my reference to glorified card reader :lol: Switching between the two modes takes two clicks, as CEII places an icon in your "system tray" for lack of a better term (which means yes, it's loaded on a soft reset and stays resident, and yes, it takes some doing to uninstall).

Second limitation - you can't switch modes while connected, or at least I don't dare try :D

Third limitation - on some PDAs (like mine) the internal flash ROM is not readable either.

What's that you say, the mail isn't delieverd on Sunday?

:lol: Don't disagree with you - just pointing out an error. For large file transfers, I use a dedicated card reader as well, but on the go or in a hurry it's not really feasible or practical to carry around - a retractable sync cable is a lot more convenient, especially if all I'm after is small docs or ppts. Using a card reader, I'd have to pop out the card, put it in the reader, dig out the reader's cable, and then plug in - I lose two steps by having just carrying a sync cable instead.

[Damion Chaplin]

Once, and only once, I installed AS on my work machine to retrieve one file that was on my miniSD. I've not needed that functionality since. For file transfers, I usually use my Archos: 20GB HD &amp; USB 2.0 speeds. If for some reason I forgot to charge my player, I just send it to my gmail account (that only works for non-sensitive material though).

That being said, I will probably download one of these 'just in case'...

[Mark from Canada]

I was looking around just a while ago for an easy way to backup my CF card - which sits very very snug in the device - to my PC. On my old PPC I had an SD card that was easy to remove and my PC had an easy to access reader - but CF is much more cumbersome for me.
I almost ended up buying the Card Export program to use with a folder-sync program (Karen's Replicator) I use, but then found MobSync for that task.
I'll be looking at the WM5torage though now too. Just in case. There have been a few times a program like that would have been handy while traveling.

Mark