GTA04_This is my Fantasy

Al Johnson openmoko at mazikeen.demon.co.uk
Mon Apr 23 13:08:07 CEST 2012


On Monday 23 April 2012 10:02:17 Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller wrote:
> Hi Travis,
> 
> Am 23.04.2012 um 01:39 schrieb Travis Bachelder:
[snip discussion of SD types and limitations]
> > If the micro SD is limited on it's storage space, then is the GTA04 board
> > even capable of supporting a built in external hard drive? Or is that
> > make for a serious design change?
> Mechanical hard drives are generally too big. The smallest one I know of was
> the IBM/Hitachi Microdrive in Compact-Flash format. I think currently, the
> smallest ones are 1.8 inch diameter. This does not fit into the case of a
> smartphone...

Are you sure? I just put a Tosh MK1216GSG on top of a GTA02 and it looks like 
a perfect fit for a new case layer, giving just enough room at the corners for 
wall thickness. It probably fails for needing a custom USB-microSATA adapter 
to fit the available space, and there may not be enough power available (3.3V 
700mA), as well as making the phone rather bulky. I don't remember whether 
there's a USB port available internally on GTA04.

> Here: http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/Toshiba-MK2x39GSL/ you can see
> the physical dimensions.
> 
> And the interfaces of such drives (e.g. SATA) are not available on the OMAP
> processor. So they may need additional glue logic.
> 
> What you also could do is to connect an external hard drive through the
> USB/OTG port. But that would no longer allow you to use the same USB port
> to connect to a desktop PC as you have planned.

If you've got an external drive you don't need the phone as an intermediary. 
The 1.8" drives are available in external USB enclosures, perhaps the best 
bet. Or you could keep a USB stick on your keyring... 

If you _really_ want it as part of the phone you could embed the USB stick, or 
a USB SDXC reader, in a replacement back for the phone.



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