Busted Sd Card 2 Slot On Pandora #3...


MooTheKow

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Oct 8, 2008
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Well - just tried placing an SD card in my 2nd slot of my 3rd pandora (i.e. replacement #2). Card went in - but apparently the slot is broken and it won't eject the card. Any suggestions how to get it out? There is apparently no springy thing that pops it back out like in my SD Card 1 slot.
 
Well - just tried placing an SD card in my 2nd slot of my 3rd pandora (i.e. replacement #2). Card went in - but apparently the slot is broken and it won't eject the card. Any suggestions how to get it out? There is apparently no springy thing that pops it back out like in my SD Card 1 slot.

Ahhh... I remember I had that issue on a GP2X card slot years ago...


You can either try to carefully pull it out with a knife (if it's not locked in there) or remove the backside of the Pandora. You can access the slot directly from there and also check what's wrong (sometimes, the spring is just stuck).
 
Well - just tried placing an SD card in my 2nd slot of my 3rd pandora (i.e. replacement #2). Card went in - but apparently the slot is broken and it won't eject the card. Any suggestions how to get it out? There is apparently no springy thing that pops it back out like in my SD Card 1 slot.

Ahhh... I remember I had that issue on a GP2X card slot years ago...


You can either try to carefully pull it out with a knife (if it's not locked in there) or remove the backside of the Pandora. You can access the slot directly from there and also check what's wrong (sometimes, the spring is just stuck).

Thanks for the response ED. If I remove the backside of my Pandora to take a look is it going to void my warranty?
 
I also had this problem with slot #2.


I managed to pull the card out.


Not had a problem since though, and the spring action worked again immediately after I got the card out and re-inserted it :)


Not sure why the spring action would stop and then work again ...filed under strange but true.....just glad it works now :)
 
Don't forget :


Screw it back very lightly. Stop screwing as soon as you feel resistance.
 
We're aware of the slot2 problem, some units are coming back so we can figure out what is happening here as it's a new issue.
 
We're aware of the slot2 problem, some units are coming back so we can figure out what is happening here as it's a new issue.
I had a similar problem with my slot2, so in case it helps:


At first, I had a single Transcend class 10 32GB SD card. This one works perfectly in either slot. Since there's no such thing as too much storage, I bought a second one, also Transcend class 10 32GB. When I first inserted this one in slot2, I didn't hear the locking mechanism engange, and it got stuck. After much fiddling and applying some leverage on the bottom of the card with a flathead screwdriver I got it out. Somewhere just before getting it out, I did hear the locking mechanism click. Ever since, the card has slid in and out without trouble.


I noticed the second card feels somewhat thicker, both when holding it and when sliding it in. I don't have any measuring equipment on hand to check this with though.
 
This is just a guess, but I can imagine the locking mechanism being already engaged somehow with no SD card in the slot. Inserting a card with the locking mechanism engaged causes it to start to unlock, but it can't complete because there's an SD card in the way. Yanking the card out allows the locking mechanism to complete its transition back to being unlocked, and once that's done you never have the problem again. I recall taking apart similar spring loaded locking mechanisms when I was a kid and managing to do the exact same thing, lock them with nothing in them and getting things jammed up. I doubt spring loaded locking technology has had very much evolution in the past 15 years.


Why and how these SD slots would be getting locked with no SD card inserted is a mystery to me.
 
Could yield an easy fix for the assembly team to check the slot2 with one of those microSD card adapters, so its not a real card with any data or anything. Insert, pull it out again if it sticks and test again. If good to go, that's one less chance of an RMA or vaguely disgruntled customer :)
 
Thicker/thinner stickers?

I received my Pandora today and initially had a problem with the right hand SD slot with one of my SD cards. My 8Gb Lexar SD card worked fine in both SD slots, but my 16Gb Kingston SD card jammed in the right hand slot the first time I inserted it. Repeatedly pushing the card in didn't release it, but I managed to release it by pushing the card up and in with my thumbnail. The 2nd and 3rd time I inserted the 16Gb card it still jammed and had to be released by pushing up and in, but subsequent insertions have ejected normally.


As I was at work, I measured the maximum thickness of both cards with a micrometer,


8Gb Lexar (LSD8GBBSBEU100) - 2.09 mm thick


16Gb Kingston (SD6G2/16GB)- 2.21 mm thick


Looking at the SD card specs (wikipedia) the nominal thickness is 2.1 mm, which suggest the 16Gb SD card is out of spec, but I don't know what tolerance is allowed.


Hope this is of use and makes sense, its been a long day.


Edit: included SD product codes
 
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Thicker/thinner stickers?

I received my Pandora today and initially had a problem with the right hand SD slot with one of my SD cards. My 8Gb Lexar SD card worked fine in both SD slots, but my 16Gb Kingston SD card jammed in the right hand slot the first time I inserted it. Repeatedly pushing the card in didn't release it, but I managed to release it by pushing the card up and in with my thumbnail. The 2nd and 3rd time I inserted the 16Gb card it still jammed and had to be released by pushing up and in, but subsequent insertions have ejected normally.


As I was at work, I measured the maximum thickness of both cards with a micrometer,


8Gb Lexar - 2.09 mm thick


16Gb Kingston - 2.21 mm thick


Looking at the SD card specs (wikipedia) the nominal thickness is 2.1 mm, which suggest the 16Gb SD card is out of spec, but I don't know what tolerance is allowed.


Hope this is of use and makes sense, its been a long day.

Nice one! I like it when people take things seriously, invaluable information, thank you!
 
8Gb Lexar - 2.09 mm thick


16Gb Kingston - 2.21 mm thick


Looking at the SD card specs (wikipedia) the nominal thickness is 2.1 mm, which suggest the 16Gb SD card is out of spec, but I don't know what tolerance is allowed.


Hope this is of use and makes sense, its been a long day.
Exactly my idea, but then reversed. Most of my cards fit, but 2 or three of them just stuck in any slot (if I remember correctly), while they just work in my SmartQ 5. I got the idea the pandora was a bit to tight. And I don't think it was the casing in this case, but the sd-card holder. I thought the pandora had mayba an MMC slot instead of a sd slot. But I see now that's incorrect. It's just a real SD-slot with tight specs ;-).


Hmmm, what I remember from my SmartQ 5 is that it's spring is a lot stronger... It's that strong that I busted an sd-card pushing it in. The 2 halves seperated from eachother. If they put just a little more glue in those cards it would be better, or make them as rugged as micro-sd...
 
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