PDA SD Expansion

secure digital wifi expansion

Okay, if yesterday’s hack didn’t turn your stomach, this one will. It was inspired by this previous feature hack. After splitting open the PDA and a secure digital wifi card you solder the two together. When you are done you should have a PDA with built in wifi and an open SD card slot. I guess it works, but how is it that simple?

[thanks Dave]

27 thoughts on “PDA SD Expansion

  1. sadly this does NOT allow you to have a free sd slot for other cards, at the end he says you need to stick a card in the slot this is due to a switch that is activated when a card is inserted so the wifi wont work till there is something in the slot…its a nice idea but i would rather keep my sd wifi card as is so i can use it in any pda

  2. Is the WIFI component on the same bus as the optional extra sd card ?

    And wouldn’t it be simple to sabotage the switch that activates the bus when something is inserted ?

    Did he stick it over the battery compartment ? Isn’t this going to cause broken wires every so often ?

    Too bad the picture and text didn’t have finer detail.
    But it’s a nice hack anyday !.

  3. Do SD slots/connectors work this way? Is it technically possible to just solder more wires to the SD slot’s connector to add more features (ie second SD storage or bluetooth or wifi)

  4. ok, while this hack does win points for gruesomeness, it really doenst work and people who want to functionally extend their PDAs should NOT perform this hack.
    SD/MMC card slots are not ‘bussed’, they can’t be split into two slots. There is only one Chip Select line, end of story. The most likely outcome of trying to use two cards at once, here, is that they will both clobber each others’ signals when its time to send data on the same line.
    But on the off chance that you just want to make this work (like if you want a large SD wifi card without it sticking up above the device) almost all SD/MMC slot have a metallic switch that opens/closes and you either need to short it (electrically) or cut it permanently open. Probably one of the side mounting tabs.

  5. Actually, scratch that…I changed my mind.
    If the cards are working in pure SD/MMC mode they should be fine. Pure SD and MMC protocols allow for multiple cards, whereas in SPI compatibility mode only one is allowed. (Chances are a PDA doesnt use SPI compatibility mode.)
    Whether the host will intelligently support multiple cards is a different story, but yeah, just cut open or short the card detect switch and this hack should work just fine.

  6. Don’t min-sd and standard sd use the same pinout? I wonder if you could use a minisd wifi card, and manage to fit it under the plastic cover. If you could futz with the switch. This could lead to ‘integrated’ wifi for many a low end pda… I know I would definitely buy one of those if I could get that up and going.

  7. Well, ther is possibilities for this (although that how-to was atrtocious, and I feel sorry for that poor iPaq). If you could rig up a second slot, and a switch, you could have both cards in the device, and could switch between them when needed without having to carry another card in, say, a pocket. That would lessen the possibilty of loosing cards, and would provide a slight bit more convenient.

    -E-

  8. @1

    I think you misread the end? Either that or i did; “ye will need to use the rest of the cards plastic cover to stick in the slot or have another card in whats the point of doin this hack if ya not goin to use another card? if anyone knows how to make it work without having another sd card in mail me.”

    This to me reads… If your not using another card – say a 1gig sd card (Which is why you would want to do this hack, so you could have memory and wifi), then you need to put the plastic in so it activates it. If you have a memory card in it, you don’t need anything else and thus has both wifi and that extra card…

    Atleast thats how i read the broken english?

  9. Wow. Just wow. I’ll never understand how people don’t even make an effort at clear communication.

    Spelling errors and grammar malfunctions are just minor problems. The fact that we have to debate what the actual result of the ‘hack’ is – is a major problem (whether it’s a multi-card slot or you need another card just to short it out…).

    That said, ladyada has mad chops so she should know.

    Maybe just pick up two SD/MMC connectors, solder them up to a junk card (or possibly a dummy) and pop it in.

    I genuinely hope it’d work. I purchased a cheaper PDA without built in wi-fi.

    At the very least, I could make a piggyback with my 1GB card and a wifi card.

  10. That is a very interesting hack, but my brain hurts from trying to read such poorly written instructions. And the end result is simply just tacky looking. If I get some free time maybe I will try the hack and come up with a better solution

  11. Could someone show this person how to use the period key and the shift key?

    From the pictures, it looks like an interesting hack but my brain hurts from trying to read it.

  12. LadyAda: So, you’re saying that, theoretically if I were to solder the SD slot from my busted m505 onto the SD slot pins in my Tungsten T3, that I would probably be able to use 2 storage cards at once without them garbling each other? I happen to know from emulation that frankengarnet 5.2 does support multiple SD slots natively, but will the palm detect and switch them both OK?

  13. i you check my last post and click on the link u will notice that i have not tested with two cards (yet) if someone does before me please let me know how it goes THANKS

    i must admit it is abit of a mess but it is me first hack

  14. Has anymore attempted to see if it works with two cards are the same time, (WiFi plus a storage card) I have a budget Pocket PC and this hack is very interesting to me indeed. I just want confirmation from someone that it WILL work as described before I go tearing up my Pocket PC.

  15. Could one say gut a sdcard and solder a ribbon cable inside it then extend the cable out side the case then mount two or more sdcard slots. So I could copy from one sdcard to another?
    [sVen]

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