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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : PicoMite SD Card Not Found
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Strider Newbie  Joined: 13/03/2023 Location: United StatesPosts: 15 |
I recently built a "PicoMite", one of two I want to do. This first one is using a Land Boards PCB . Everything seems to be working great, except the SD card. No matter what I do I can't get it to see the card. I assume I'm doing something wrong because I've verified the hardware connections are good, but nothing seems to work. Am I overlooking something? I setup the config for the SD card per instruction and verified all those connections are good. I got that nagging feeling it's something simple and I'm just too frustrated to see it. Below are some images of what I'm seeing. I've searched the forums and not seen anything that helped as of yet. Thank you in advance!    A classic geek! Expert at nothing, professional hobbyist! My Projects My Social |
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nbrok Regular Member  Joined: 13/02/2023 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 60 |
In your option list I see no option sdcard GPxx GPxx is the pin from the pico where the CS from the sd card is connected. I hope this helps. Greetings, Nick de pe1goo |
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| Volhout Guru  Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 4256 |
The ground pin on the sdcard connector seems to be bad soldered. PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| Strider Newbie Joined: 13/03/2023 Location: United StatesPosts: 15 |
I have it set as "OPTION SDCARD GP13, GP10, GP11, GP12", unless you're talking about something else or I'm misunderstanding? It appears, based on their diagram, the clock signal is connected to GP10. Thanks!  A classic geek! Expert at nothing, professional hobbyist! My Projects My Social |
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| Strider Newbie Joined: 13/03/2023 Location: United StatesPosts: 15 |
I have since re-flowed the joints and continuity checks out. Still, I'm not above testing it all again since I'm out of ideas.  A classic geek! Expert at nothing, professional hobbyist! My Projects My Social |
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| nbrok Regular Member Joined: 13/02/2023 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 60 |
I did misunderstand something indeed, but sd cards do work on SPi mode. My settings are: ' SCK MOSI MISO OPTION SYSTEM SPI GP18,GP19,GP16 ' CS OPTION SDCARD GP22 In your case this should be: ' SCK MOSI MISO OPTION SYSTEM SPI GP10,GP11,GP12 OPTION SDCARD GP13 If I be not mistaken. Greetings, Nick de pe1goo |
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| matherp Guru Joined: 11/12/2012 Location: United KingdomPosts: 9139 |
OPTION SDCARD GP13,GP10,GP11,GP12 is absolutely fine for the VGA firmware I would try some different SD cards. 2GB cards are known to be a problem in some cases |
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| Strider Newbie Joined: 13/03/2023 Location: United StatesPosts: 15 |
I just grabbed a 16GB card, and now it seems to see the card, thanks! But now I'm getting an error "There is no valid FAT volume". Card was re-formatted FAT32. Default allocation size. Quick format. Currently trying different allocations... Edited 2023-03-14 05:57 by Strider A classic geek! Expert at nothing, professional hobbyist! My Projects My Social |
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| Strider Newbie Joined: 13/03/2023 Location: United StatesPosts: 15 |
Solve one problem to find another.  Now, no matter how I format the card, FAT32, all i get is... "There is no valid FAT volume" Any suggestions? EDIT: I tried FAT32, FAT16, multiple allocation sizes and partition sizes. All the same.  Edited 2023-03-14 07:21 by Strider A classic geek! Expert at nothing, professional hobbyist! My Projects My Social |
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| okwatts Regular Member Joined: 27/09/2022 Location: CanadaPosts: 59 |
I have a land boards PicoMite01 and it works fine. I did find with another computer and different driver software that SD and SDHC cards respond differently depending on the initialization (for 2 GB and smaller) but that shouldn't be a problem with a 16GB card and the PicoMiteVGA. I'm not sure if your card is formatted but blank, so try putting some of the files on the card from your PC and see if if you get a listing. Failing that format the card using the software from the SD Association and then copy files to the card on the PC and see if that changes things. After that I would double(triple) check the soldering( I had to do that with the little level shifter surface mount IC). Then my ideas run out. Hope it helps. |
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| Strider Newbie Joined: 13/03/2023 Location: United StatesPosts: 15 |
Thanks for the suggestions. I have tried formatting the card on Win 10, Ubuntu, and I just tried the SDA formatter, all the same result. I've checked all the connections multiple times, continuity checks out. I'm out of ideas as well. A classic geek! Expert at nothing, professional hobbyist! My Projects My Social |
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Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 6814 |
There doesn't appear to be any power supply filtering on that PCB. Some full-size SD cards seem to have problems, which are almost always solved by powering them via a 2R2 resistor followed by a decoupling capacitor of anything between 22uF and 100uF. Micro SD cards don't seem to need this. Have you tried using a micro SD card in an adapter? It might also be an idea to try adding a capacitor as close to the SD card holder as you can get. Once again, 22uF upwards might help. SD cards for the PicoMite should be formatted Fat16 or FAT32. The type of card (Class etc.) doesn't matter when a SPI interface is used. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308 |
I agree with Mick. Whenever I design a PCB, if I plan to use a TF socket(micro-SD), then I just direct connect everything. If I plan to use a full-size SD card, then I always use the RC filter on the incoming juice to the card. Seems to fix all problems with full-size SD cards. Perhaps full-size SD cards use a little more juice then TF cards, and so can cause more of a brown-out blip on the PSU rail, and that can be enough to upset things. The RC filter always works for me. You'll need to hack that board of yours, if there is no RC filter in place. The SD card formatter from the SD association is a good choice if cards don't want to work, cos different OS's can do odd things when they format SD cards(meta data and such), which is why the SD card formatter from the official organization exists.  Please keep us posted - following this thread with interest. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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phil99 Guru Joined: 11/02/2018 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2141 |
You seem to have everything right so grasping for straws now. Have your continuity checks been from the SD socket pads right to the pads on the Pico to check the header socket? Have you checked for shorts between pads? Could the SD socket be the problem? Put some tape on the top of the SD card at the contact end to increase contact pressure. Or press the metal above the contacts down a little. To check the socket contacts cut a piece of strip board to the shape of an SD card, ensuring the tracks line up with the contacts. Add tape to the back to make it the same thickness as an SD card. You can then check continuity from the exposed ends of the tracks to the Pico. |
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| Strider Newbie Joined: 13/03/2023 Location: United StatesPosts: 15 |
Yes, the current 16GB card I'm using is a 16BG micro, via a standard adapter. The 2GB one from earlier was a full size. I was curious about this, so hacking the board, if all else fails, is on the table. I will indeed keep this thread updated as I progress. Continuity was from the internal pads to the pins on the Pico. Also checked for shorts at that time. I will try the tape, that's a good idea. Thanks for all the suggestions!  All of this troubleshooting will save me time later when I do my DIY version. A classic geek! Expert at nothing, professional hobbyist! My Projects My Social |
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| Strider Newbie Joined: 13/03/2023 Location: United StatesPosts: 15 |
I tried the tape idea, still nothing. I also ordered another SD card, just for giggles, and have tried 3 different adapters just to eliminate that as a possible issue. For ease of troubleshooting, these images indicate what I'm seeing from a fresh boot and removing the SD card at the end.   Edited 2023-03-14 13:23 by Strider A classic geek! Expert at nothing, professional hobbyist! My Projects My Social |
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| matherp Guru Joined: 11/12/2012 Location: United KingdomPosts: 9139 |
Just formatted a 16G card FAT32 allocation 4096 (default) and it works perfectly. All my designs have a 10UF capacitor and a 100nF capacitor across the pins of the SDcard with VCC fed through a 2R2 resistor. This both provides an instant source of current for the SDcard and isolates the rest of the circuit from SD generated noise. Try a better power supply (e.g. a powered hub or dedicated PSU) as it could be a power issue |
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| Strider Newbie Joined: 13/03/2023 Location: United StatesPosts: 15 |
I've done some probing around and can confirm 3.3V going to VDD contact in the SD slot. All other voltages look good as well. Tried different power sources, including a 5.1V/3A/15W USB adapter. I ordered the exact SD card Land Boards used, just to see. Will be here Thursday. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GYG6T12 After that, will mod the power to the slot. Again, thanks for all the ideas and help! The search continues. A classic geek! Expert at nothing, professional hobbyist! My Projects My Social |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 6814 |
This is looking more and more like corrupted firmware or even a faulty IO pin on the Pico. Are there enough spare IO pins on the Landboards PCB to temporarily rig up a card on completely different pins? Just a thought... how is the soldering on those pins on the Pico and on the PCB connectors for them? Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| Strider Newbie Joined: 13/03/2023 Location: United StatesPosts: 15 |
After ALL that headache...  So, I found a spare SD slot I forgot I had and decided to swap them out, and ... success!  BUT... I can't find anything wrong with the original slot. I want to blame my soldering, but I re-flowed it all multiple times. So, basically, I'm at a loss and blaming the SD slot. lol Either way, it's working! Thank you for all the incredible help and advice! I'll definitely be sticking around on these forums!  Edited 2023-03-15 14:04 by Strider A classic geek! Expert at nothing, professional hobbyist! My Projects My Social |
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