gc-linux-devel

[Gc-linux-devel] Building a SD card adapter

[Shaun J. <sja...@gm...>]

I'm building an SD card adapter. I'd love to hear from anyone that's
done this before and has any suggestions. I bought a SD card connector
(the female kind that receives a SD card) and opened up a third party
memory card to pillage its connector. The memory card connector is
just a card edge on the PCB, and the copper fingers are swallowed up
entirely by the GameCube, so there doesn't seem to be any hope of
soldering directly to the fingers. None of the important signals (cs,
miso, mosi, clk) go through a via, so I can't get the signals there.
The signals go straight into a block blob on the printed circuit
board, so I can't solder to a leg on a chip either. In short, it
doesn't look like this memory card's going to be of any use to me. The
best bet seems to print my own circuit board, but I don't have any
experience with that, and I doubt it would be cheaper than
buying/importing a SD card adapter.

So, any suggestions? If you've built an adapter, how'd you do it?

Cheers,
Shaun

RE: [Gc-linux-devel] Building a SD card adapter

[Rob R. <ro...@re...>]

I've made my own pcb, layout at
http://home.student.utwente.nl/r.reilink/files/gcnsd8.pdf
If you can find a friend who can make the pcb for you, that's fine, but
I wouldn't recommend to get an entire pcb etching setup just for this
card. If you want to use your mem card, see if you can use a knife to
get the soldermask off the pcb to get to the copper trace and solder a
(thin) wire to it.

Another option which I used for testing: solder it to your cube.

Rob

-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: gc-...@li...
[mailto:gc-...@li...] Namens Shaun Jackman
Verzonden: dinsdag 22 maart 2005 3:12
Aan: gc-...@li...
Onderwerp: [Gc-linux-devel] Building a SD card adapter

I'm building an SD card adapter. I'd love to hear from anyone that's
done this before and has any suggestions. I bought a SD card connector
(the female kind that receives a SD card) and opened up a third party
memory card to pillage its connector. The memory card connector is
just a card edge on the PCB, and the copper fingers are swallowed up
entirely by the GameCube, so there doesn't seem to be any hope of
soldering directly to the fingers. None of the important signals (cs,
miso, mosi, clk) go through a via, so I can't get the signals there.
The signals go straight into a block blob on the printed circuit
board, so I can't solder to a leg on a chip either. In short, it
doesn't look like this memory card's going to be of any use to me. The
best bet seems to print my own circuit board, but I don't have any
experience with that, and I doubt it would be cheaper than
buying/importing a SD card adapter.

So, any suggestions? If you've built an adapter, how'd you do it?

Cheers,
Shaun


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Re: [Gc-linux-devel] Building a SD card adapter

[Shaun J. <sja...@gm...>]

Hello Rob,

The SD card receptacle that I have is reversed from the one you used
-- the SD card goes in upside down -- so I drew my own circuit board
[1]. I've built the board, but so far it doesn't work. If you had a
moment, would you mind looking at my circuit? I'm almost positive
there's nothing wrong with it, but I'd appreciate another pair of
eyes.

Thanks,
Shaun

[1] http://www.sfu.ca/~sdj/tmp/gcsd.png

On Mar 22, 2005 3:37 PM, Rob Reilink <ro...@re...> wrote:
> I've made my own pcb, layout at
> http://home.student.utwente.nl/r.reilink/files/gcnsd8.pdf
> If you can find a friend who can make the pcb for you, that's fine, but
> I wouldn't recommend to get an entire pcb etching setup just for this
> card. If you want to use your mem card, see if you can use a knife to
> get the soldermask off the pcb to get to the copper trace and solder a
> (thin) wire to it.
> 
> Another option which I used for testing: solder it to your cube.
> 
> Rob

RE: [Gc-linux-devel] Building a SD card adapter

[Rob R. <ro...@re...>]

Hi Shaun,

I cannot see clearly which pin is which. Could you:
-put some text on the copper laywer with your layout program (if you
used one) so I can see clearly whether this is mirrored or not (PCB
layouts are always printed mirrored and then fabricated with the ink
laying on the copper so the real pcb gets unmirrored)
-indicate which is, according to your schematic/interpretation pin
1/2/11/12 on the GC side and pin 1 of the MMC/SD adaptor
-show the connections between the big square pads
-put a photo online so it becomes clear which way the SD is inserted.

Also you should make sure the contact is ok. I had to insert a 1mm
plastic strip under the pcb to get the correct height, just like the
plastic cover of a 'real' mem card does.

Regards, Rob

> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> Van: gc-...@li... 
> [mailto:gc-...@li...] Namens 
> Shaun Jackman
> Verzonden: Friday, April 08, 2005 5:52 PM
> Aan: gc-...@li...
> Onderwerp: Re: [Gc-linux-devel] Building a SD card adapter
> 
> 
> Hello Rob,
> 
> The SD card receptacle that I have is reversed from the one you used
> -- the SD card goes in upside down -- so I drew my own 
> circuit board [1]. I've built the board, but so far it 
> doesn't work. If you had a moment, would you mind looking at 
> my circuit? I'm almost positive there's nothing wrong with 
> it, but I'd appreciate another pair of eyes.
> 
> Thanks,
> Shaun
> 
> [1] http://www.sfu.ca/~sdj/tmp/gcsd.png
> 
> On Mar 22, 2005 3:37 PM, Rob Reilink <ro...@re...> wrote:
> > I've made my own pcb, layout at 
> > http://home.student.utwente.nl/r.reilink/files/gcnsd8.pdf
> > If you can find a friend who can make the pcb for you, that's fine, 
> > but I wouldn't recommend to get an entire pcb etching setup 
> just for 
> > this card. If you want to use your mem card, see if you can use a 
> > knife to get the soldermask off the pcb to get to the 
> copper trace and 
> > solder a
> > (thin) wire to it.
> > 
> > Another option which I used for testing: solder it to your cube.
> > 
> > Rob
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------
> SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide
> Read honest & candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from 
> real users. Discover which products truly live up to the 
> hype. Start reading now. 
> http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=6595&alloc_id=14396> &op=click
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 
> Gc-linux-devel mailing list Gc-...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gc-linux-devel
> 

Re: [Gc-linux-devel] Building a SD card adapter

[Shaun J. <sja...@gm...>]

Hi Rob,

The mask [1] I sent you is reversed. The layout I just posted [2] is
not reversed. The SD card is inserted upside down, so on the reversed
mask pin 8 is to the left, and pins 1 and 9 are to the right. I've
posted a photo of the adapter [3] with an SD card inserted. I can see
scrape marks across the copper fingers where the GameCube's contacts
have made connection, so it looks like the contacts are in the right
place and at the right height.

Is any specific type or size of SD card required? My SD card is
labelled "SanDisk SD Card 32 MB".

Thanks for your help! Cheers,
Shaun

[1] http://www.sfu.ca/~sdj/gcsd/gcsd-mask.png
[2] http://www.sfu.ca/~sdj/gcsd/gcsd-layout.png
[3] http://www.sfu.ca/~sdj/gcsd/gcsd-photo.jpg

On Apr 9, 2005 2:15 AM, Rob Reilink <ro...@re...> wrote:
> Hi Shaun,
> 
> I cannot see clearly which pin is which. Could you:
> -put some text on the copper laywer with your layout program (if you
> used one) so I can see clearly whether this is mirrored or not (PCB
> layouts are always printed mirrored and then fabricated with the ink
> laying on the copper so the real pcb gets unmirrored)
> -indicate which is, according to your schematic/interpretation pin
> 1/2/11/12 on the GC side and pin 1 of the MMC/SD adaptor
> -show the connections between the big square pads
> -put a photo online so it becomes clear which way the SD is inserted.
> 
> Also you should make sure the contact is ok. I had to insert a 1mm
> plastic strip under the pcb to get the correct height, just like the
> plastic cover of a 'real' mem card does.
> 
> Regards, Rob

RE: [Gc-linux-devel] Building a SD card adapter

[Rob R. <ro...@re...>]

Hi Shaun,

I checked and doublechecked your layout with my working adaptor and the
only difference I can find is that you use pin 7 (GC) for 3v3 and I use
pin 4. Should be the same, so I think your layout is ok. Check
conductance/open circuit of all wires and, if you have an oscilloscope,
you could try to catch the clk and dout signals. If you would open up
your GC you could check if the contact with the GC is ok for all pins.

Also, have you noted that SDLOAD requires the SD card to be in slot A
while my kernel driver requires it to be in slot B? Quite important :).

Good luck fault finding. Hope I helped you.

Rob

> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> Van: gc-...@li... 
> [mailto:gc-...@li...] Namens 
> Shaun Jackman
> Verzonden: Saturday, April 09, 2005 7:40 PM
> Aan: gc-...@li...
> Onderwerp: Re: [Gc-linux-devel] Building a SD card adapter
> 
> 
> Hi Rob,
> 
> The mask [1] I sent you is reversed. The layout I just posted 
> [2] is not reversed. The SD card is inserted upside down, so 
> on the reversed mask pin 8 is to the left, and pins 1 and 9 
> are to the right. I've posted a photo of the adapter [3] with 
> an SD card inserted. I can see scrape marks across the copper 
> fingers where the GameCube's contacts have made connection, 
> so it looks like the contacts are in the right place and at 
> the right height.
> 
> Is any specific type or size of SD card required? My SD card 
> is labelled "SanDisk SD Card 32 MB".
> 
> Thanks for your help! Cheers,
> Shaun
> 
> [1] http://www.sfu.ca/~sdj/gcsd/gcsd-mask.png
> [2] http://www.sfu.ca/~sdj/gcsd/gcsd-layout.png
> [3] http://www.sfu.ca/~sdj/gcsd/gcsd-photo.jpg
> 
> On Apr 9, 2005 2:15 AM, Rob Reilink <ro...@re...> wrote:
> > Hi Shaun,
> > 
> > I cannot see clearly which pin is which. Could you:
> > -put some text on the copper laywer with your layout 
> program (if you 
> > used one) so I can see clearly whether this is mirrored or not (PCB 
> > layouts are always printed mirrored and then fabricated 
> with the ink 
> > laying on the copper so the real pcb gets unmirrored) 
> -indicate which 
> > is, according to your schematic/interpretation pin 
> 1/2/11/12 on the GC 
> > side and pin 1 of the MMC/SD adaptor -show the connections 
> between the 
> > big square pads -put a photo online so it becomes clear 
> which way the 
> > SD is inserted.
> > 
> > Also you should make sure the contact is ok. I had to insert a 1mm 
> > plastic strip under the pcb to get the correct height, just 
> like the 
> > plastic cover of a 'real' mem card does.
> > 
> > Regards, Rob
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------
> SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide
> Read honest & candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from 
> real users. Discover which products truly live up to the 
> hype. Start reading now. 
> http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=6595&alloc_id=14396> &op=click
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 
> Gc-linux-devel mailing list Gc-...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gc-linux-devel
> 

Re: [Gc-linux-devel] Building a SD card adapter

[Shaun J. <sja...@gm...>]

On Apr 9, 2005 3:15 AM, Rob Reilink <ro...@re...> wrote:
> Hi Shaun,
>
> Also you should make sure the contact is ok. I had to insert a 1mm
> plastic strip under the pcb to get the correct height, just like the
> plastic cover of a 'real' mem card does.
> 
> Regards, Rob

My SD card adapter works! It turns out you were right on the money
here, Rob. The PCB was oh-so-slightly warped, so that one of the
GameCube pins, one of the sense pins, wasn't making contact. I put a
shim of electrical tape under it, and it worked!

Thanks for all your help! Cheers,
Shaun