[Q] A70iT 250GB HDD removal/replacement - Gen8, Gen9, Gen10 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I searched through the forum and didn't find any guides on the 250GB HDD inside the A70iT.
Without taking apart my device, if someone has already done so, I'd like to know if the drive inside has a ZIF interface, or if it's SATA, or ATA-6/7, or whatever... I'm having trouble finding this information and I'd rather not void my warranty if someone has already opened theirs up.
What I want to do is replace the HDD with an SSD at higher capacity than the currently available models (max 64gb I think??). I love the 250GB capacity, but I hate that I don't have the option to keep the drive spinning. The stock media player is the only player that has no pause between music tracks, but it's interface is not what I like. I like Mixzing, and it is now working correctly without crashing, but it has a 2-3 second pause between tracks while the drive spins up to cache the next song. I have found no settings to help this problem, unfortunately...
Any information would be most helpful. If someone has already done this and can recommend a particular drive that will work, I'd appreciate the info. If nothing else, the interface that the current drive uses would be a great start.
p.s. I use this as my car stereo.

The drive inside is a slim 2.5" 7mm Seagate Momentus Thin SATA2 drive.
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http://forum.archosfans.com/viewtopic.php?p=335625&sid=4036cfa428d75eddcb92a94d080aa742#p335625

Thank you for the info! I'm thinking of getting a Crucial RealSSD C300, model# CTFDDAA256MAG-1G1 and putting it in my archos to see if it works, can anyone offer me any kind of precautions to doing this? The drive is physically smaller, so I'll have to try to secure it once I get the thing open... I guess what I'm looking for is if the OS portion of the A70 is on a separate partition on the HDD that is inside, or if it's in a different physical space, like a chunk of internal flash. Once I get the drive and all that, I'll post pics and stuff along the way, has anyone posted a disassembly video?

p0wd3r said:
Thank you for the info! I'm thinking of getting a Crucial RealSSD C300, model# CTFDDAA256MAG-1G1 and putting it in my archos to see if it works, can anyone offer me any kind of precautions to doing this? The drive is physically smaller, so I'll have to try to secure it once I get the thing open... I guess what I'm looking for is if the OS portion of the A70 is on a separate partition on the HDD that is inside, or if it's in a different physical space, like a chunk of internal flash. Once I get the drive and all that, I'll post pics and stuff along the way, has anyone posted a disassembly video?
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Click to collapse
Your best bet is to use Linux to do a "dd" command of the entire drive. eg:
Code:
sudo dd bs=4M if=/dev/sdb of=/dev/sdc
Replace sdb and sdc with the correct drives for your system. Use the Disk tools to make sure you're using the right drive names.
It will still have a different drive serial, etc., but data-wise it will have the exact same filesystem as the old drive.

Related

32GB Athena...need your help and ideas...

Ok, I just ordered a 32GB USB Flash Drive.
Some people report that the Athena recognizes some flash drives so I was thinking...why not remove the MD and take apart the 32GB flash drive and put it inside the Athena. Then solder the USB pins together internally so the USB drive is always connected internally to the device?
I haven't really put serious thought into this but wanted to run it past everyone and those hardware experts to see what every ways.
I have yet to look up the MD power requirements and compare those to the USB power requirements. Either way, if it's recognized it could mean a real upgrade to the device and we could always write a simple program to enable/disable the USB drive if power consumption is too great.
Your thoughts people on this?
EDIT
After further thinking I see four obvious obstacles:
- Stripping down the 32GB USB drive so it fits in the device in place of the MD. I'm hoping this isn't that big of an issue but then again I have no idea what i'm talking about. LOL
- 1 have to make sure the Athena recognizes the 32GB USB drive.
- Power Consumption as mentioned above, which might be overcome by utilizing a utility of some sort.
- Since the Athena requires the USB Host cable/adapter to make things like this work, there might need to be some type of mod internally to make this happen. I talking to someone with more knowledge of USB pin outs might help in this area.
-- EDIT: Olipro mentioned that this is most likely a non-issue. That the USB adapter just makes the USB connection a large one so the internal wiring I'm thinking about shouldn't be a problem. This is great news. One obstacle out of the way. Don't you love progress!
ltxda said:
Ok, I just ordered a 32GB USB Flash Drive.
Some people report that the Athena recognizes some flash drives so I was thinking...why not remove the MD and take apart the 32GB flash drive and put it inside the Athena. Then solder the USB pins together internally so the USB drive is always connected internally to the device?
I haven't really put serious thought into this but wanted to run it past everyone and those hardware experts to see what every ways.
I have yet to look up the MD power requirements and compare those to the USB power requirements. Either way, if it's recognized it could mean a real upgrade to the device and we could always write a simple program to enable/disable the USB drive if power consumption is too great.
Your thoughts people on this?
EDIT
After further thinking I see four obvious obstacles:
- Stripping down the 32GB USB drive so it fits in the device in place of the MD. I'm hoping this isn't that big of an issue but then again I have no idea what i'm talking about. LOL
- 1 have to make sure the Athena recognizes the 32GB USB drive.
- Power Consumption as mentioned above, which might be overcome by utilizing a utility of some sort.
- Since the Athena requires the USB Host cable/adapter to make things like this work, there might need to be some type of mod internally to make this happen. I talking to someone with more knowledge of USB pin outs might help in this area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hehe u know im always behind ur crazy ideas. lets get this to work!
possible incompatibilities of it not detecting the microdrive but should be able to be fixed by software
possibly will need to integrate usb host controller chip and wires inside as well
make sure not to screw up the charger either =p
but other than that it sounds good
Hi, for information: Athena Servicemanual says you need 3 things to replace if you disassemble your device (On-Off Key, CommManager Key and some rubbers).
So if you really get the USB-Flash running then you'll get problems putting everything together again.
I think you'll get errors because the G-Sensor doesn't detect any Microdrive. (maybe freeze or reset or some other issues?). Maybe you have to shorten the G-Sensor somehow. This will need people who own the original plan of the device and also know how to get information out of it.
But great idea!
Ok, just found out that the host adapter just changes the plug to a larger USB plug. So the wiring should be a piece of cake. Let's keep this going...before you know it the team won't have only brought you a great ROM but also provide a way to have a 32GB Athena and storage you no longer have to worry about and with no moving parts!!!
PAPPL said:
Hi, for information: Athena Servicemanual says you need 3 things to replace if you disassemble your device (On-Off Key, CommManager Key and some rubbers).
So if you really get the USB-Flash running then you'll get problems putting everything together again.
I think you'll get errors because the G-Sensor doesn't detect any Microdrive. (maybe freeze or reset or some other issues?). Maybe you have to shorten the G-Sensor somehow. This will need people who own the original plan of the device and also know how to get information out of it.
But great idea!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your feedback. I also think this may work and if not with the drive I've ordered with some other USB. I've seen USB devices as small is a dime so this should work. I'll be happy to purchase a bunch of USB drives to see which work. I probably would like anyone with an Athena and a USB drive to test what they have and post the results.
For the record I ordered a Corsair Survivor 32GB USB Flash Drive model CMFUSBSRVR-32GB.
I think there was a group of people(I couldn't remember who exactly) who already dismantled their athena when it came out to see which micro drives in the market is compatible with the one installed in the athena. I suggest we find the post first before and read through their findings. There might be something there that may help with this project.
If I remember it correctly, there was even a host of pictures and instructions in dismantling the Athena.
I just couldn't remember other details because I was just browsing around and never thought of owning an athena.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=303188
Something I found about USB Drives and the Athena
Wikipedia claims microdrives use more power then flash drives:
"consume more power than flash memory (on the order of 190mA, peak 310mA, at 3.3V) "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microdrive
Good luck to you this would be cool.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=298987
HDs that work with the athena
What about a 72GB solid state drive?
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/07/hands-on-with-sandisks-72gb-ssd-and-friends/
eaglesteve said:
What about a 72GB solid state drive?
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/07/hands-on-with-sandisks-72gb-ssd-and-friends/
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Let`s keep this a short term, realistic and affordable goal. ;-p
USB storage is cheap, easily modified, compatible as it`s already recognized by the device both by the software and USB host capabilities of the device board, etc. Also, those drives aren`t yet available and I doubt people will want to spend over $800usd on them for Athena. No?
Well, IMHO there's two alternatives for such a modification:
1 - either use the ATA connection of the micro-drive with the 32 GB pendrive. Adapters exist, wiring should be tricky due to the size requirements (everything has to fit into the space usually used by the micro-drive);
2 - connect permanently the 32 GB USB pen-drive to the USB port. Removal of the micro-drive is in that case optional, maybe in order to make room.
The problem with the second option is that I am pretty sure this will screw-up USB slave connections, and more specifically ActiveSync. Altough, true, one can Sync through Bluetooth.
Two problems with the first alternative:
- G-Sensor, without a md, will no work anymore. BUT it can be disabled in a software manner, so that's no big issue aside from the fact that we won't be able to "tilt'n scroll";
- finding a compatible USB / ATA adapter (those are known to be... "capricious").
I find the first alternative much sexier, personnally... And it DOES get me thinking.
Why not just use one of theose new 16 or 32GB MicroSD/Transflash, or whatever the hell there called cards, just released at CES.. It would save ya
lots of work, and you wouldn't have to crack the Advantage open.
Yep, that's also being discussed on the forum.
But I do agree that having solid-state 32 GB instead of mechanical 8 GB in my Athena would suit me just fine.
Jointly with a 32 GB SDHC card, of course.
:-D lol
I currently have the 8GB SDHC....of course I'm going to buy the 16 and then the 32 as soon as they come out and I can get my hands on it...but my goal here is to replace the MD. After thinking it through even further, we could even setup an internal type of mechanism so as USB drives become larger and cheaper, we could just pop out the old and pop in the new thus continuing to increase the internal storage of our devices.
Maybe I'm just dreaming but replacing the MD seems to be a goal that we can achieve quickly and cost effectively. We've had the discussion of getting larger MD's...but always ran into obstacles we probably couldn't overcome. They are releasing large SSD's but we may have to mod the internal connection, etc. With the USB idea, the connection exists, compatibility is there, and it's very feasible. I'm just excited. LOL
HeartOfDarkness said:
Well, IMHO there's two alternatives for such a modification:
1 - either use the ATA connection of the micro-drive with the 32 GB pendrive. Adapters exist, wiring should be tricky due to the size requirements (everything has to fit into the space usually used by the micro-drive);
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Click to collapse
I'm thinking more simplistic. Take out the MD and dock it connect to. This frees up some space. Strip down USB drive as much as possible and hope that it fits some way into the device. If it fits, we can mount it in there in a number of ways. Solder 4 wires from USB drive to USB host interface on the board. Write some software to control (activate/deactivate aka mount/dismount) the USB drive and see how it goes.
2 - connect permanently the 32 GB USB pen-drive to the USB port. Removal of the micro-drive is in that case optional, maybe in order to make room.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what you mean exactly but...I want the USB drive to be internal. Of course I could get some velcro and stick a 32GB USB drive to the back of my Athena, etc...but that would just be ugly.
You also need the USB host cable to do this unless you want to solder wires and run them from the outside of the device to the inside USB host pins. Let me know if I got the wrong picture here.
The problem with the second option is that I am pretty sure this will screw-up USB slave connections, and more specifically ActiveSync. Altough, true, one can Sync through Bluetooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You bring up a very good point. I'm going to have to take my 4-in-1 cable and try to run a small USB drive while trying to ActiveSync. I wonder if that will still work. If it fails, the mod I'm proposing may cause a problem with ActiveSync connections. Anyone else have comments and/or ideas on this?
Two problems with the first alternative:
- G-Sensor, without a md, will no work anymore. BUT it can be disabled in a software manner, so that's no big issue aside from the fact that we won't be able to "tilt'n scroll";
- finding a compatible USB / ATA adapter (those are known to be... "capricious").
I find the first alternative much sexier, personnally... And it DOES get me thinking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm hoping we can do it without any adapters. Just straight soldering of the 4 USB wires needed to communicate. Should suffice. I found that I don't really use nor need the G-Sensor on the MD. For sure can be disabled in the ROM. The Athena Project team would just have to make a Special Edition ROM for those that do the mod.
I posted a few weeks ago about a SSD that Intel will be releasing soon. I believe it will be a drop-in replacement for the existing drive.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=352834
techntrek said:
I posted a few weeks ago about a SSD that Intel will be releasing soon. I believe it will be a drop-in replacement for the existing drive.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=352834
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Click to collapse
I actually read that thread a little while ago. Do you know when it will be released and how fast they will get up to larger drives like 8, 16, 32, etc. GB's?
ia ctually dont think you will run into active sync problems...
reason being i remember a special cable that came with my friends hermes that split the usb port into two
one for charging and one for syncing...
so i think if we disable the flash drive when syncing it should be fine

[Q] HTC One-use as as USB drive?

Hey guys,
I did a search but didn't find a relevant thread to the One m7. The lack of SD card slot is a little concerning to me. As long as I can plug it in to my PC and it sees it as a "removable thumb drive" of sorts, I'll be fine without the SD card. Can anyone confirm this functionality? Or is it locked to crap like an iPhone?
Trying to decide between the One and S4. Not an easy decision by any means. I really like the One but I must be able to load custom ROMS and root/unlock bootloader.
Thanks
doubled822 said:
Hey guys,
I did a search but didn't find a relevant thread to the One m7. The lack of SD card slot is a little concerning to me. As long as I can plug it in to my PC and it sees it as a "removable thumb drive" of sorts, I'll be fine without the SD card. Can anyone confirm this functionality? Or is it locked to crap like an iPhone?
Trying to decide between the One and S4. Not an easy decision by any means. I really like the One but I must be able to load custom ROMS and root/unlock bootloader.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Almost all if not all Android phones will show up as a drive when you plug them into a computer. The HTC One is no exception. It shows up. It also has USB OTG support so if you get a proper cable you can plug flash drives into it.
Awesome, thanks. I've had my EVO 3D since it came out, and it's been a pretty good phone but I'm due for an upgrade!
So, does the One show an "internal" SD card of sorts, is it a different partition? Just wondering if the process will be the same when booting into recovery to flash ZIPs and what not.
I don't understand how people can cram more than 25GB onto a phone. -_-
Well, I like to be able to use my phone as a removable thumb drive, and I also have Bluetooth in my Jeep and love streaming music from my phone that way. It works great. I have a sizable music collection and also like to keep software installs and other things handy (I work in IT) So the 64GB model is looking pretty good right now if I can still do all these things the same way I did before.
tehdef said:
I don't understand how people can cram more than 25GB onto a phone. -_-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One word. FLAC
anit77 said:
One word. FLAC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not a word, and is actually 4 words.
Free Lossless Audio Codec
Just sayin'.
tehdef said:
I don't understand how people can cram more than 25GB onto a phone. -_-
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Click to collapse
Agreed, especially since I got Plex. Now I just stream all my movies and music, I've got all this free space!
Sent from my HTC One
tehdef said:
I don't understand how people can cram more than 25GB onto a phone. -_-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Porn and Music
i cant understand ... whys it so hard to post in the correct section
Anyone knows why the HTC One doesn't work with DSLR Controller, via USB-OGT?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=40288853&postcount=2410
doubled822 said:
Awesome, thanks. I've had my EVO 3D since it came out, and it's been a pretty good phone but I'm due for an upgrade!
So, does the One show an "internal" SD card of sorts, is it a different partition? Just wondering if the process will be the same when booting into recovery to flash ZIPs and what not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It mounts as a single drive. In windows, it shows up as a Portable Device, HTC One, and it is just a drive. There is a separate partition for the HTC Sync Manager.
The first time I plugged it in, it needed to install the USB drivers. After installed, I had to reconnect it, and it mounted the drive.
Additionally, I did not have to change the USB settings, toggling between USB Drive, or charge, or sync. It just shows up. Somewhat different than what I'm used to on my Inspire, but works much smarter now.
Flash Drive Applications
doubled822 said:
Hey guys,
I did a search but didn't find a relevant thread to the One m7. The lack of SD card slot is a little concerning to me. As long as I can plug it in to my PC and it sees it as a "removable thumb drive" of sorts, I'll be fine without the SD card. Can anyone confirm this functionality? Or is it locked to crap like an iPhone?
Trying to decide between the One and S4. Not an easy decision by any means. I really like the One but I must be able to load custom ROMS and root/unlock bootloader.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We have very similar goals ... :highfive::highfive:
but want to have an un-secure partition for USB flash drive. I use this as a tablet so I need to have usb flash drive access.
Is there an app for that yet? Aside from doing all the grunt work of shelling into the root / moving directories by hand?
There must be a better way.

32GB Sandisk USB OTG for $14.99 shipped

EDIT: SOLD OUT ALREADY
NewEgg shellshocker deal today only.
Might need to be a member to get the deal?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171970
Good for transferring files to/from your phone from the computer.
upload image
CZ Eddie said:
NewEgg shellshocker deal today only.
Might need to be a member to get the deal?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171970
Good for transferring files to/from your phone from the computer.
upload image
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Click to collapse
Is this a USB 2.0?
These new(ish) usb / micro usb flash drives are incredibly handy. I've had a 32 GB Transcend for a few weeks and I was actually just thinking about ordering another one (but I think I'm going to grab this http://www.amazon.com/Leef-microSD-...s&ie=UTF8&qid=1412384512&sr=1-1&keywords=leef instead, because I've got something like four 32 GB micro sd cards that I'm not really using atm). For anyone who hasn't seen these, basically they conform to the WYSIWYG standard: it's a super tiny-ass flash drive with a regular USB connector on one end and a micro usb connector on the other. Most have some kind of cap or cover on one or both ends. For me at least, an always keep it here policy is essential, or it's pretty much immediately lost; the Transcend drive was the smallest I could find which is 1.1 in long, no wider/taller than a usb port, and has a cap over the micro usb side. I often download ROMS and such onto it from my computer for transfer to my phone (or you can even flash files straight from it in TWRP!) I also copy some backups to it (i.e. a copy of my Titanium Backup folder as well as a nandroid or two). The fact that this type of drive exists is seriously the only reason that I'd be able to use a phone that doesn't have an external sd slot (Nexus 6?). In fact, this is my tentative plan if I ever end up getting a device like that: use FolderMount to move huge obb and data files for all large games to the flash drive (FolderMount moves the file and creates a symlink in your local Android folder), then if I want to play a game just plug in the drive and mount the linked folder... I haven't tried this yet, but pretty sure it would work as you can move / link files to wherever you want.
Anyway, just wanted to let people unfamiliar with these drives what they're like, and that I find mine extremely useful. I've seen different brands on sale on Amazon and they're priced pretty reasonably regardless. If you're going to pick one up, I'd just recommend getting one with a small loop so you can attach some kind of string or something (actually attached mine to a string with a headphone port plug on it... not that I carry it around like that, but I could...) I misplaced mine once, and pretty much assumed it had slipped through a slice in the space-time-continuum (did I mention that they're very small?) but fortunately found it about a week later when I moved a big recliner looking for something else.
In conclusion, I highly approve of these drives, and would recommend one to anyone who is in the habit of storing digital files :good:
Oh, BTW, that Sandisk drive in the link is usb 2.0, but there are versions that are usb 3.0. I found this Kingston 3.0 drive on the Amazon page for the Sandisk one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LIXJ0OU/ref=twister_B00MFJ6G20 nice, only $15, and I like that form factor better than that of the Sandisk. Not.... sure... I... can... resist.........
UPDATE (killer deal!: I just threw down an order for that leef adapter I linked to, AND grabbed this guy: Corsair Flash Voyager GO 64GB USB3.0 micro USB OTG Flash Drive for Android devices The listed price was only $33 (& prime) which sounded pretty good to me! However, when I went and checked out... I have no idea why and it doesn't say anything about this on the product page, but below that drive when I checked out it said "promotion applied: -$7.51", so I just scored that sweet 64 GB usb 3 / micro-usb for about $26! So if anyone else is interested in picking up one of those, seems like now's an excellent time to do so, but I'm curious if anyone else picks one up if they get that "promotion" as well (didn't put in a code, didn't say anything about it on the page, so possible that it was just some credit in my account or something, but I really don't think so....) So if you check that out, post back please whether or not you got a surprise $7 off or not, hopefully it applies for everyone!
I believe you must have gotten a credit somehow. I am a prime member and when I went to check out no discount for me. Good find though.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Free mobile app
Rsmin said:
I believe you must have gotten a credit somehow. I am a prime member and when I went to check out no discount for me. Good find though.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, interesting. Thanks for the reply... there's only one way I can think of that I might have earned some credit: you guys know that Amazon finally released a Prime Instant Video app for Android? Yeah, neither did I until I saw an article yesterday... you have to install it via the regular Amazon shopping app... kind of bizarre... Anyway, it's ok (def better than nothing). No chromecast and I think it's only available for certain devices (N3 :good and no tablet version yet (tried sideloading the apk on my Note 8, but it just gave me a message that I need the new tablet version of the (regular, not app store) app, which isn't out yet. Anyway the article said that you could get 100 free credits(?) or something (I never install the Amazon App Store, but I thought those coins / credits / whatevers were only good for apps and such. Anyway, if that's what it is.... wow. That was the most profitable episode of Flight of the Concords that I played on my phone with the volume down while I did something else! Shrug... definitely still a great drive at an excellent price. Just don't lose that sucker!
Really hope they add CCast... Amazon's got a reasonably solid library, which I never use because I'm just not down with watching media in a browser window. Suppose I could cast screen cast the show onto my TV or MHL, but will probably wait till I finish off my own 7 TB ripped media library and every single thing on Netflix first. Maybe I can just straight up cast it by then

KILLER deal! 64GB Corsair usb 3 / micro-usb flash drive: $26!(?)

Hey, I posted this in that other thread about the New Egg deal for the 32 GB usb 2 / micro-usb drive, but I just kept editing my post, and I added this "update" to it at about 2 last night, so thought I should just go ahead and make a new topic since that deal was phenomenal so thought I'd make a new topic to make sure that I got the word out about this. I'm going to c/p/e(dit) my other post. Now, don't interpret this as me condoning cross-posting... just making a one-time exception since I'm answering (well, two) questions: 1) "I have 65,000 1kb text files that I NEED to copy onto my phone... What's the fastest way to do that?? and 2) "So I really want the Nexus 6, but how can I cope without an external SD??" (That's the main reason I'm just going to paste most of that other post, I already have a drive like this so I explained what they're like, as well as how I think that I personally would be able to cope with just internal storage).
After pretty thoroughly checking out the flash options on Amazon, I came across this guy: Corsair Flash Voyager GO 64GB USB3.0 micro USB OTG Flash Drive for Android devices which cost only $33 (& prime) according to the page, which sounded pretty good to me... it seems like even regular usb 2 64 GB drives (w/o the micro-sd connector) go for a bit more than that. So I then went and checked out with that and a couple of other things... I noticed on the invoice below that item it said "promotion applied: -$7.51". I have no idea what the promotion is and it doesn't say anything about this on the product page and it's pretty clearly significantly on sale already, I didn't enter a code or anything... it just showed up, bringing the price for a seriously awesome 64 GB flash drive down to about $26! I mean, if you NEEDED a flash drive and had to grab one from a pharmacy or something, that'd probably get you maybe 16 gigs from a mid-tier manufacturer.... I going to explain (umm, paste) these drives a bit if anyone hasn't seen them, my current main use for it, and thoughts on how it could be used on a device with only internal storage.
Ok, I wrote all of this before scouring Amazon and finding that deal: These new(ish) usb / micro usb flash drives are incredibly handy. I've had a 32 GB Transcend for a few weeks and I was actually just thinking about ordering another one. For anyone who hasn't seen these drives, basically they conform to the WYSIWYG standard: it's a super tiny-ass flash drive with a regular USB connector on one end and a micro usb connector on the other (as you can See. and then decide if that's something you want to Get... ) Most have some kind of cap or cover on one or both ends. For me at least, an always keep it here policy is essential, or it's pretty much immediately lost; the Transcend drive was the smallest I could find which is 1.1 in long, no wider/taller than a usb port, and has a cap over the micro usb side. I often download ROMS and such onto it from my computer for transfer to my phone (or you can even flash files straight from it in TWRP!) I also copy some backups to it (i.e. a copy of my Titanium Backup folder as well as a nandroid or two). The fact that this type of drive exists is seriously the only reason that I'd be able to use a phone that doesn't have an external sd slot (Nexus 6?). In fact, this is my tentative plan if I ever end up getting a device like that: use FolderMount to move huge obb and data files for all large games to the flash drive (FolderMount moves the file and creates a symlink in your local Android folder), then if I want to play a game just plug in the drive and mount the linked folder... I haven't tried this yet, but pretty sure it would work as you can move / link files to wherever you want.
Anyway, just wanted to let people unfamiliar with these drives what they're like, and that I find mine extremely useful. I've seen different brands on sale on Amazon and they're priced pretty reasonably regardless. If you're going to pick one up, I'd just recommend getting one with a small loop so you can attach some kind of string or something (actually attached mine to a string with a headphone port plug on it... not that I carry it around like that, but I could...) I misplaced mine once, and pretty much assumed it had slipped through a slice in the space-time-continuum (did I mention that they're very small?) but fortunately found it about a week later when I moved a big recliner looking for something else.
In conclusion, I highly approve of these drives, and would recommend one to anyone who is in the habit of storing digital files
Again, I'm pretty confused by that "promotion" cash back, and I'm wondering if anyone else is interested in one of these receives the same. You still pretty much can't beat this one at $33, but I was sort of debating between this and something else, since I already have one, but If I knew that 64 gigs was only $27 I could have skipped all that! If anyone checks it out, post back if that promotion showed up for you at checkout or not. If you don't get it, call and ask what's up... say "you know someone who ordered it on 10/4 (@ around two) and had an unexpected promotion for $7.51 off, but he had no idea why and checked the product page where it definitely didn't mention a promotion when he made the order... so... uhh... hook it up!" Hope it works out for anyone whose interest is piqued!
I went to check out and didn't see any discount applied. Could something else in your cart been discounted? Good price anyway.Thanks for the review.
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mooseyone said:
I went to check out and didn't see any discount applied. Could something else in your cart been discounted? Good price anyway.Thanks for the review.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Free mobile app
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No prob man, I'm almost positive the discount was taken from the Corsair drive. I ordered 4 things which were split into 3 shipments. The one with the drive also contains this guy: Leef Access microSD Card Reader with microUSB 2.0 Connector for Android which looks mighty handy itself, especially since I have a stack of four 32 gig micro sd cards lying around. That thing only cost $9.99 and the promotion was right below the 64 gig drive on the invoice. I have a possible theory which I just typed up in the thread about the similar 32 gig drive but its kind of long and highly conspiratorial... it involved a promotion to get 100 coins or something for downloading the new Amazon Instant Video app (yes you heard correctly!) Oddly you have to download the instant video app through the Amazon (shopping, not App Store) and it's pretty bare bones (and not yet available for tablets), no CCast of course, but hey, it's about freakin time! Anyway, I thought whatever I "earned" (via playing an episode of Flight of the Concords while I put my phone down and did something else) were only good for games and such... and why did it say "promotion" instead of "credit"?? I might call them up just to quell my curiosity.
Oh, one more piece of advice about these drives; I like the style of the Corsair and I already have a super tiny one. However, If you want a smaller form-factor, check out the Kingston 64 GB usb 3. It's only a few bucks more than this one, but that one's about 1 inch long, like the one I have, as opposed to this one which is (an almost unwieldy) 4 in long.

[Q] Development Environment

I started reading guides on how to compile AOSP roms and such for the n6 and I want to take a crack at it. Think I am at any disadvantage if I install linux to an external hard drive rather than an actual drive in my machine. I could always add another HDD but I have a 1 TB external just sitting around. I know it is possible because I used to have it set up that way in college and would boot from the drive but I never did anything as intensive with it. Thoughts?
hockeyplayr said:
I started reading guides on how to compile AOSP roms and such for the n6 and I want to take a crack at it. Think I am at any disadvantage if I install linux to an external hard drive rather than an actual drive in my machine. I could always add another HDD but I have a 1 TB external just sitting around. I know it is possible because I used to have it set up that way in college and would boot from the drive but I never did anything as intensive with it. Thoughts?
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Developing and building is more fun on a SSD. But if your external drive is using eSATA or USB3 it should not be *too* bad.

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