interfacing Flash Card,(urgent!)

[vinayby]

my proj. requires interfacing a FLASH CARD (say SDcard )..to PC.
for --> mounting it. formatting it with a fs. then.. workin with it..

-> a usb flash drive is registered as a SCSI device under
usb-storage class and then i can mount it as /dev/sda1.

NOW, if i only have a flash card, with Serial P. Interface.(no USB)

is there any facilty in the linux kernel to get this(connected thru serial
port) registered as a block device.. i mean just to be able to mount
it ,format it etc..

OR does someone know any better way/(some connector maybe) to introduce the SPI interface as a USB/pcmcia/pc card or any thing..


... Thank you.

 

[throwaway18]

I'm not sure if I understand your question.
I'm not aware of any SDcard readers with a serial interface intended for use with a PC. There is **broken link removed** but that's intended to make it easy to use an SD card with a microcontroller.

I'm not aware of the existance of flash memory cards with an RS232 interface either.

It may help if you give links to pages about a paticular card or reader that you wish to use.

If you have a paticular card or reader you want to use with linux I suggest using google to search for "manufacturer model linux" and similar querys.

Added after 25 minutes:

Ok, I now realise you are talking about the SPI interface on an SDcard which is a syncronous serial interface using a clock provided by the host. It is not directly compatible with RS232 PC serial ports.

In theory it could be done with a level shifter circuit by bit-banging the SPI interface using the serial port handshaking lines to drive the SPI clock and shift data in or out one bit at a time.
This would be a rarther slow way to transfer megabytes of data and not worth anyone spending the time to develop.

Why not just buy a USB card reader?

 

[vinayby]

hi,
yeah u got me ryt.. in ur later edit..

oh i didnt know SPI isn't directly compatible with PC serialport.. ( u saved me from lot of frustastion )

USB reader... yeah.. but i need to interface with PC just to _write_ to FLASH.. format it.. etc.. the rest of the thing i'll do with a uC.

>> heard of some connector from digikeys or something ,just now... will it help?
>> what is the best way u suggest...ORi can DITCH SD card if it doesnt suit this..
can u plz suggest some FLASH card.. (with USB controller..) or anything which
has an interface other than SPI for interfacing to a PC....

 

[ubuntu_amateur]

how about it later?
which i/o port did you choose?
what chip did you adopt?