Registered: Aug 2001
Location:
Posts: 383

Question about CF/SM Adaptors and Vdx

Okay I am wondering what adaptor I should get.

What I got:
1. Visor Deluxe (Ice)
2. Innopack 2/V

What I want to do:
1. Be able to back-up Visor on a memory card
2. Run programs off the memory card like I do with my Innopack

So the question is...
What adaptor should I get and what software would I need to do it. I'd perfer not to have to do the thing where you have to have free space on the Visor ram to run the programs from the memory card but would be willing to compromise if extremely necessary.

Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 366

Re: Question about CF/SM Adaptors and Vdx

quote:

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Originally posted by Techie2000
Okay I am wondering what adaptor I should get.

What I got:
1. Visor Deluxe (Ice)
2. Innopack 2/V

What I want to do:
1. Be able to back-up Visor on a memory card
2. Run programs off the memory card like I do with my Innopack

So the question is...
What adaptor should I get and what software would I need to do it. I'd perfer not to have to do the thing where you have to have free space on the Visor ram to run the programs from the memory card but would be willing to compromise if extremely necessary.

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Registered: May 2001
Location: San Francisco, California, USA
Posts: 90

MemPlug vs. FlashPlus -- You might as well ask which religion is correct or what political system is best. Me, I prefer the FlashPlus on the basis of its software. (I have both MemPlugs, the FlashPlus, and Matchbook Drives.)

Your options at this point are the MemPlug or the FlashPlus, if you don't want the driver software on your visor.

There are others better qualified to address your last criteria, but I believe the standard software for both the MP and FP need space on the visor to move the program to when you want to run it. That shouldn't be too much of an issue, though, since by moving stuff to CF you free up space on the visor.

However, there is software that will let you run programs without copying the whole thing to RAM. I believe that is what MSMount does for the FlashPlus and I think PiDirect does it for the MemPlugs. I don't use them because the one thing I remember is that they seriously slow down your Visor's overall performance. I think MSMount was recently made to work on a deluxe; I don't know if PiDirect does.

One advantage to the FlashPlus -- it has 1MB of flash, only a portion of which is used for the driver software. Kopsis is beta testing a piece of software that will let you put applications into that flash memory.

The flashadapter-forum at <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flashadapter-forum> is an excellent source of information on FlashPlus and related software.

Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 366

MemPlug vs. FlashPlus -- You might as well ask which religion is correct or what political system is best. Me, I prefer the FlashPlus on the basis of its software. (I have both MemPlugs, the FlashPlus, and Matchbook Drives.)

I would go with a political system analogy that the religious. If it were analogous to a religious debate, we would see "All people who use FlashPlus will go to heck" or "All people who use Memplug will go to heck" on threads discussing the recent awarding of the best Storage module of the year to MemPlug. Personally, I like Memplug better mainly because it comes with great software built-in especially PiBackup, PiDirect, and CSpotRun and PiVFSMgr. However, for a person who has a VDX, FlashPlus is their best option because PiDirect currently doesn't work for them.

However, there is software that will let you run programs without copying the whole thing to RAM. I believe that is what MSMount does for the FlashPlus and I think PiDirect does it for the MemPlugs. I don't use them because the one thing I remember is that they seriously slow down your Visor's overall performance. I think MSMount was recently made to work on a deluxe; I don't know if PiDirect does.

I haven't noticed an overall slow down in performance with PiDirect. However, keep in mind that I use Launcher III which has been opimized for external memory cards and that if you have to many files in your PiDirect designated directory, the Pi software will slow down considerably.

BTW, which ever module you decide to get, download and register Launcher III! Anyone with CF/SM adapters should get this program. I think that most people, which ever on the adapter divide they stand, can agree on that. It is a wonderful launcher.

One advantage to the FlashPlus -- it has 1MB of flash, only a portion of which is used for the driver software. Kopsis is beta testing a piece of software that will let you put applications into that flash memory.

Why? Why in the world would you need 1MB of flash memory to put programs on when you can get a card that has up to 256 MB or memory of it? That makes very little sense to me.

The flashadapter-forum at <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flashadapter-forum> is an excellent source of information on FlashPlus and related software.

MemPlug has a similar forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/memplug . One thing I do have to say about both, and I must point out that I only own a Memplug SM but have looked at the FlashPlus that a friend of mine has, is that both modules have great technical support so if anything goes wrong on which ever you get, you will get great help on these forums.

Jason

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Plant City, FL
Posts: 385

quote:

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Originally posted by volcanopele
Why? Why in the world would you need 1MB of flash memory to put programs on when you can get a card that has up to 256 MB or memory of it? That makes very little sense to me.

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__________________
<ul><li>Dave Kessler<br>President - Kopsis, Inc.</li></ul>

Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 3034

quote:

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Originally posted by dkessler
It's funny how when MemPlug includes some basic apps in the module flash it's a great thing but when Kopsis gives our customers the ability to put apps of their choosing in flash it is "senseless".

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location:
Posts: 383

Okay thanks for the information I have decided from this information FlashPlus would be a better option for me. When I was browsing the BlueNomad website checking for WordSmith updates I found that BackupBuddy has a version called BackUp Buddy VFS that I could use to back-up to the flash plus. Then I'll have to work on figuring out how I'd want to get past the issue of the running programs off the card. Launcher III is something I would probably get.

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 501

quote:

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Originally posted by Techie2000
Okay thanks for the information I have decided from this information FlashPlus would be a better option for me. When I was browsing the BlueNomad website checking for WordSmith updates I found that BackupBuddy has a version called BackUp Buddy VFS that I could use to back-up to the flash plus. Then I'll have to work on figuring out how I'd want to get past the issue of the running programs off the card. Launcher III is something I would probably get.

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__________________
Jeff Meyer

"And he died like he lived: with his mouth wide open."