Centro microSDHC Memory Card Support and Compatibility (+ Treo 680 SDHC)
Quite a few people have written to me and posted comments asking why Palm still claims that the maximum supported memory expansion size on the Centro is 4GB microSDHC (see image below) when higher capacity 6GB and 8GB microSDHC cards (soon also 12GB) have already been successfully used without any problems of any kind.
Granted, 4GB should prove to be more than enough storage for the average user (even 2GB or 1GB will do) but it nonetheless still fails to explain why Palm claims restrictions for higher capacity cards for power users such as myself or even for those wishing to fill their memory card to the rim with music and videos for playback with PocketTunes and CorePlayer software respectively.
Before I proceed, let me start by clearing the most important point:
Palm Centro smartphones are compatible with all 4, 6, and 8GB microSDHC cards. Also note that all memory cards above 2GB are labeled SDHC (high capacity) instead of just SD.
The root of the issue with Palm’s claim that only “up to 4GB is supported” apparently has little to do with the actual Centro capabilities using higher capacity cards (since they work perfectly fine) than with the Card Info program on the device which incorrectly reports both the total size of your card and the free memory remaining.
As you can see from the screenshot on the left above, although my 8GB microSDHC card has been inserted in my Centro, recognized and working perfectly fine the Card Info program nonetheless reports only:
1112.8 MB Used and 2573 MB Free of 3686.5 MB
At the same time, reading the identical card properties on my PC (image above right) reports some:
5080 MB Used and 2510 MB Free of 7590 MB
What is basically happening is that the Card Info program on the Centro can apparently only report a maximum 4000 MB capacity and thus “omits” to report any size larger than this. Therefore the only figure that you should really be looking at is the amount of Free space reported by either your PC or Centro which should be nearly identical (2510 and 2573 MB respectively in this instance).
Leaving the math aside, I can report that I have successfully used both 4GB microSDHC and 8GB microSDHC cards on my Centro for quite some time and have never encountered a single problem with them.
Separately, the same issue discussed here applies to Treo 680 owners seeking to use full size SDHC cards as well since Palm also claims that only “up to 4GB is supported”. The fact is that here again I have successfully used both 8GB SDHC and 16GB SDHC cards without any issues whatsover.
Bottom line, whether you own a Palm Centro or Treo 680 smartphone I hope that this post will help you to feel perfectly reassured that any high capacity microSDHC or SDHC cards that you purchase will work just fine with your device. These should provide you with all the storage that you need for your personal documents, photos, those thousands of MP3 music files or dozens of full length movies that you want to carry with you while on the go.
[BTW: Just in case you’re wondering how I got that beautiful green skin on my Centro screenshot, I simply use my favourite PalmRevolt software with an “Aqua Green” skin.]
Centronauts always work at full capacity…
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c71a953ef00e550868f1f8833
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Centro microSDHC Memory Card Support and Compatibility (+ Treo 680 SDHC):
Comments
Actually, not all 4GB+ cards are SDHC. I have a 4GB SD (bought over a year ago) that is just regular SD. This was from before SDHC was ratified as the new standard to replace SD.
dmm - thanks for this. I'll therefore simply note that all _new_ 4GB+ cards are now SDHC.
Cheers, A.
What about the Treo 755p. Does it have the same capability that the Centro has in regards to these larger SDHC cards?
It is important that you should format the SD or SDHC card using Card Info on your Treo 680 before you start downloading information.
Lewis - from my experience, given that Card Info can only "see" 4GB I strongly recommend NOT to use it to format your SD or SDHC card. It is NOT required that you do so to start downloading information. In the unlikely event that you do need to format your card use your PC instead to do so.
Cheers, A.
Sort of humorous, but also quite sad, that the "Aqua Green" skin that Andrew calls "beautiful" is a blatant rip-off of Apple's Mac OS X Aqua interface.
Why not get an iPhone instead, and have the full benefits of a modern operating system such as OS X? ;)
It is pathetic than Palm would not invest the slightest effort in repairing the defects in a trivial utility such as Card Info.
NO it doesn't work with the 755 I tried it with and 8 gig SDHC and as soon as I hit 4 gigs of info it told me the card was full and wouldn't allow anymore info to be downloaded on it. Also FYI if you call sprint they will un officially tell you what this article says. They did me for when I asked about the 755. They were wrong.
Good info. If I new this I would have gotten the 8g when I got my new centro. However, I think the 4g will hold me over for a while. It's so nice to have 64mb ram vs the 24 the treo 650 has. Anyway, I couldn't find the aqua green in the skins? Is that only included if you purchase the palm revolt. Are there more skins after you purchase? I'm on trial now.
Alan - I will test my own Treo 755p and report later today.
Rome - I will ask for the Aqua Green skin to be added to the bundle. In the meantime you can download it directly from this link below:
http://www.3gxsoft.com/skins/d.php?id=9
Cheers, A.
I had an 8gb SD in my Treo 680, and it worked fine UNTIL I did the last Palm update. Now, whenever I insert the 8GB card I get nothing, the 680 does not recognize it all. Works fine with my 4gb that I had used previously, but it will no longer recognize the 8gb.
John,
It's unusual (though I won't say impossible) that that would happen. You might try copying all the data off your card, formatting it on your PC/Mac, and then try it in the 680. Or, if you have access (for testing purposes) to another 8GB card, try that one.
I have a 2Gb SD card and I can't sync up to 1Gb. It has to be under 1 Gb (about 980)or the last few songs get corrupted. I've reforted on my PC twice and the same thing happens. I'm using Windows Media player to sync to Pocket tunes. Anyone having a similar problem. By the way befofe I downloaded the Palm update I got up to 2Gb of music on a 4Gb card before the songs became corrupted.
Keith
"Therefore the only figure that you should really be looking at is the amount of Free space reported by either your PC or Centro which should be nearly identical (2510 and 2573 MB respectively in this instance)."
Andrew, the free space results aren't "nearly" the same. They are almost exactly the same. you're just reporting it incorrectly. The card info shows 2573.4MB free. you can't take 2.51 GB and just multiply by 1000. you have to multiply by 1024 and you get 2570.24MB. But this value is missing some resolution. if you start with the bytes free shown by Windows on that card, 2,698,969,088 and divide by 1024 x 1024 (1 MB) then you get 2573.9375 MB. I'd say that matches the Card Info value to the nearest MB close enough.
So does Card Info report free space larger than 4096 MB (4GB)?
I have an 8GB in my Centro, and generally I would agree there are very few problems.
I have found that mOcean does not detect all the music. I have 900+ songs. It works fine with the songs it does see. I am running the latest version v3.1 build 2561.
Steve
Andrew-Thanks for the aqua. I like the match with my new white AT&T Centro w/ the green keys!
why is it saying i am out of memory when i still have some left ?
A little help - i have a centro and 8gb card - copied all from my 680 sd card. It plays all the music i have loaded on the card fine, but when I try to find my movie player (TCMP) or google maps, nothing shows up on the card - I can;t see anything on the card.
Do I need to re-install my player and google maps on my card again?
What is the max minisd card that can be read on the palm 750? 2gb , 4gb or higher?
thx
Has anyone tried a 16GB card in a Centro? I am about to buy a card and am trying to decide on size.
Thanks.
I have an 8gb Transccend SDHC card which worked fine (well the palm still had reboots freezes etc...) until after the v1.10 sprint upgrade... now twice I have moved a file from palm internal memory to card and the card has lost all its data. i.e. writing from the internal memory to card causes some kind of corruption.
-data still not seen by external cardreader from my mac
-do I need to reformat the card in fat32 x 32? If so how to do this by mac?
-tried to reformat with palm and just stalled out.
thank you :)
I have a Palm Centro and bought a 4GB microSDHC card. CardInfo reports that it has a size of "None" and says it cannot rename or format it. I went to the Palm site and they directed me to AT&T. AT&T Technical Support was not very technical. They got the manual out and read that "it only says microsSD, it does not say microSDHC".
Anyone know what a size of "None" would mean?
I have a centro with using an 8 gig sdhc card, and it works real fine. only problem is that it takes forever for files or pocket tunes to find all my music. (like 7 gigs of it). Any help to speed up this process?
I just got a SanDisk 16 gb micro SDHC card for my Centro. When I plug it into the card reader on my laptop, it reports I have 16 gb capacity on the card, but the Card Info app on the Centro says it only has 2897.5 mb capacity. I'm only using about 1 gb so far, and I don't know if Pocket Tunes or Documents To Go will be able to see files beyond the stated capacity.
The comments to this entry are closed.