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Smartmedia only on LE?

Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 1:48 am
by jasperdog
Smartmedia cards are nearly obsolete and small in capacity. $50 for 128M byte. Is there any alternative on the LE 76? In particular do xD to SM converters work. With 256M xD?

I've filled my RAM slots with 64M of EDO, but I'm afraid a single Smartmedia card won't be big enough to load the RAM with samples, save status of my patches and load new ones.

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 5:35 am
by bsr2002
Yes, the converters work but will only recognize 128MB

512M or even 1G will work?

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 5:22 pm
by jasperdog
Just to be clear, do you know for sure that capacities larger than 128M will actually work, but only 128M will be recognized?

You can buy 512M xD really cheap, and I wouldn't have to pay $10 shipping for a 1 oz. package!

1G xD did NOT work

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 6:28 am
by jasperdog
Well, I picked up a Smartmedia/xD converter, Frys happens to be selling for $8. A 1G xD card did NOT work in the keyboard, but it was visible as a 1G drive on my laptop Smartmedia slot when I inserted it first into the adaptor, and then the adaptor into the Smartmedia slot of the laptop. I get "error formatting" on the keyboard when I try to format it, either with quick or full format.

Tried formatting on the laptop, thereby removing the "DCIM" subdirectory, and still didn't work in Korg

So I suspect that only 128 or smaller xD cards will work.

I looked at the old 16M Korg Smartmedia card on my laptop. It just had two files on it, no subdirectories, and it was formatted FAT, just like the 1G.

Possibly I could use the 1G card on the Korg if I could format it into multiple partitions, the first being just 128M, but XP doesn't let me play with partitions on a Smartmedia or xD card.

Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 2:24 pm
by Flootie1
Someone a while back suggested reformatting from FAT32 to FAT16. It worked for me.
~LT

FAT16 (same as "FAT") no good on 1G xD cards

Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 2:01 am
by jasperdog
I did format it as FAT rather than FAT32, but the 1G card still wouldn't work. The problem is NOT with the Smertmedia to xD converter, as that combo worked in my laptop, which has both Smartmedia and xD interfaces. There is a chance that it didn't work because the read speeds are too slow. Type "M" xD cards only support 4 MB/s read speed, while the original (Standard, or "Type S") cards supported 5 MB/s. See wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XD-Picture_Card

Anyway, it's a moot point. I found 128M xD cards at oempcworld.com at only $10.85 each with free shipping. That's better than anything on EBay and cheaper than the $15 1G xD card, which my son can use in his camera. And a lot cheaper than trying to buy 128M Smartmedia cards!