11 May 2005

Getting the SD Card Reader to work on the X1000

Finally I managed to get the SD Card reader to work on my Compaq X1000.
The 2.6.11 kernel already has the ability to use it, I just needed to enable it in as a module.

==== my .config file ====
#
# MMC/SD Card support
#
#
CONFIG_MMC=m
# CONFIG_MMC_DEBUG is not set
CONFIG_MMC_BLOCK=m
CONFIG_MMC_WBSD=m

=====

Now refering to this file:
How to use the Winbond W83L518D or W83L519D based builtin cardreader in some Laptop models with your Linux

Ive written a little script which does it all:

===== mntmmc.sh =====
echo "Mounting the SD Card reader with the WinBond module"
modprobe wbsd
modprobe mmc-block
mknod /dev/mmcblk0 b 254 0
mknod /dev/mmcblk0p1 b 254 1
mount -o sync /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt/mmc
echo "Done: /mnt/mmc"
ls -la /mnt/mmc
======

And I get to access the device like any other directory at /mnt/mmc.
The reason why this is important is because more and more devices like cameras, PDAs, mobile phones, are using the SD MMC, and I find inserting it directly into my laptop far more easier than digging up the cables, attaching the device and then transferring the files over, hoping that there is enough batteries in the devices to complete the transfer. Plugging in the card direct removes all this hassles, and I am free to let the transfer occur over lunch or something without having to babysit the device and turn it off.