SD slot stuck


Sjado

Still Fresh
Joined
Jan 8, 2014
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3
Hi there,

I've been happily using my Open Pandora for a few months now. 

Unfortunately all of a sudden today, my left SD card got stuck. Using tweezers I was able to pull the SD card out, which is still working fine. The problem now is that I cant seem to stick anything in the left SD slot as the slot as the tension of the spring seems to be gone. I'm sure I can push it back in there and it will work, but I'll have to start traveling with tweezers just to take the SD card out of the slot. Is there a way I can 'reset' the spring or maybe replace it? I'm not opposed to opening my Pandora but would like to hear what I can do before I need to go that route.

Thanks!
 
You will need to reach deep with a screwdriver, but it is best you watch where that exactly is.

Watch the video, all you need to remove is the bottom part of the case (first the battery, of course). Then you have immediate access to your sd cards. Just check them out and see if it is stuck, or broken.

Putting it back together can be tricky, as you need to put it just so that R1 and L1 (the side buttons on the back of the pandora) still work.

You have software for that to test if the buttons are working. It took 3 attempts for me to close mine succesfully (defect in the volume knob). Because you also need to watch carefully the plastic tube where the stylus is in... overall, its not harder than changing the bag of a vacuum cleaner (especially those dysons...).

https://www.youtube.com/embed/of8XJasBdTQ?feature=oembed

http://www.openpandora.org/screenshots/xray.jpg
 
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Thank you! I will go and try to do this. It's just that the tension is gone for the SD slot card. The SD card itself is fine and is still being read.. just hard to take out. 

I'll report back after I perform my operation ;)
 
Self same thing has happened to me this very day. How did the operation go, Sjado?

I have found that, after teasing the card back out of the slot, attempting to re-enter the card causes it to be ejected again - it seems that the spring action is still working, but the locking action is buggered. I have proceeded to remove the back case and poke things with a small screwdriver - amazingly, this worked, but the locking action failed again after I tested it a couple of times.

Following a few more pokes and prods, I have managed to stop the spring action from working, also, though I'm sure a good wiggle would get that going again.

I would be happy to leave it at that, but it seems that the locking action also serves to instruct the OS to mount the SD card.

Seems I am left with 2 options:

  Switch the function of the two card readers, so that the rightmost card reader is treated as the place for PNDs et al. How would I do this?

  Get the leftmost card reader repaired. Again, how would I do this?

Any help appreciated!
 
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The OS treats both slots the same - just put your PND card into the right slot and it'll work fine there.

As for repairing the left slot, it's hard to say what's gone wrong with the mechanism without poking around in there.  On my dead board, I can pull out the SD card as easily when it's engaged as when it's sticking out, it's just the case normally acts to prevent you from removing a card when it's pushed in fully.  You can't actually see much of the locking mechanism from the outside - on mine I can see a slight bend in the tab on the bottom left of each socket (with the contacts at the top) as I insert and remove a card from a working slot, and looking inside the slot I can see a metal hook which catches the card as it comes in and springs the card back out when you eject it. I can see it, presumably illuminated from the holes in the top if I look in the slot when the slot is ejecting cards, but it's not visible when a card is engaged (but pulled back out) presumably because it's no under the illuminating hole any more - I haven't investigated it with a torch yet.

Hmm, having done that experiment it would suggest to me that the latch wasn't catching when your slot was just ejecting cards without engaging them, and most of that mechanism is concealed and without unsoldering it and poking about at the underside you'll be unlikely to be able to fix it.  I'd suggest if you can live with just one slot, that would probably be best.

P.S. It may just be that you've got too many labels on your SD card/a non-conformant SD card that's actually too thick and rubbing on the sides stopping it from coming out.  Try with another SD card and it may work differently.
 
ErebusGrin,

I havent had a chance to fool with it. It seems mine is doing the exact opposite. It stays locked in. The spring never gets triggered so it doesnt correctly eject the card. After I was able to remove it with tweezers, I can easily put it back in - but it will just be 'stuck' again. The right slot still works without any problems..

I'm pretty certain it's not due to stickers/labels on the SD card. The person I bought this from has used his Open Pandora with the same SD cards for over a few years. The label isn't 'popping up' so I'm not certain what really is causing this issue. At this time, I've just kept a pair of tweezers on my desk if I need to add files to the SD card. I would like to figure out what's going on so I will be trying to open it and poke & prod at it a little bit. Hearing Levi talk about what he knows about the mechanism isn't sounding very good tho. 
 
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