How to run from the SDHC card

[lefty17]

Hi All,
I'd like to run my Go740 Live from an 8Gb class 6 SDHC I have. I've heard the internal memory goes bad & I really like this unit. From what I've read here it's definitely possible to move everything to the SDHC & empty the internal memory but, I'm not sure exactly how. any advice?
Thanks

 

[canderson]

Hi All,
... it's definitely possible to move everything to the SDHC & empty the internal memory but, I'm not sure exactly how.

Make certain that all files on your 740 are visible (e.g., no hidden files by your O.S.) and copy the entire content of your 740 directly to the uSD card. At that point, your internal memory becomes 'redundant'. That said, there's really no reason to do this as long as you have a full backup of your internal memory on your hard drive (again, no hidden files during backup) since you can copy the current/good state of your 740 to a uSD card at any time, and you should always be keeping a good backup of the internal on your hard drive anyway - especially good to do it before any firmware or map updates.

I have an 'antique' 720 that still gets frequent use, and have had no flash problems with that. Your unit typically only writes changes to flash on a power down anyway, and if the spec is typical, is supposed to be good for a hundred thousand writes or so.

 

[lefty17]

Thanks for the info. If I keep a duplicate file system on the SD and the internal memory how will the unit use them? Willl it boot from the internal first and only boot from the Sd if the internal becomes corrupt or unavailable? Will it use the SD first? The only reference I can think of is the "boot order" CMOS settings from a PC.
Thanks again

 

[canderson]

It will boot from SD if it can find a bootable system there. Under rare and peculiar circumstances, we've even had owners keeping oddball systems on SD to test or for other special reasons. If it's a total bust, they can just reformat the SD and start over .. meanwhile, the internal memory firmware is always there when the SD card is pulled - just in case.

 

[Andy_P]

Yes, the bootup process looks at the SD card slot first, then moves onto the internal memory, in a similar way to how PCs boot up.
When PCs all had floppy disks, the BIOS was usually set up to look on the floppy drive first for an operating syatem and then go onto the hard disk if it didn't find one. Now, they usually check the CD/DVD drawer first in the same way.

I've often kept "oddball" OS versions on SD card like Canderson mentions.
In the old days there were downloadable GAMES you could run on a TomTom, and I got quite hooked on a puzzle game called "Happy Lines" on my Go720.
Unfortunately they only ran under v7 software, so when v8 came along I installed that on the internal memory for normal use and kept an SD card with my v7 config on it in the carry bag.

Since then, the internal memory on the 720 HAS died, so I created another SD card from a backup of the v8 configuration, and used that happily for ages.