Using MSMount with the m500 series
With the inclusion of the virtual file system (VFS) in Palm OS 4.0, Palm owners finally have the opportunity to use an almost unlimited number of applications and files from their storage cards using an application still in development called MSMount and a memory card management utility, such as McFile.
Individuals who have tried the AutoCF program developed by TRG for the TRGPro are likely familiar with the process by which AutoCF copies small parts of files being accessed on a CompactFlash storage card on an as-needed basis. This has allowed TRGPro owners to enjoy the benefits of running almost any Palm program from their CF cards, freeing up their RAM for the few programs that must reside there to function.
Recently, a Japanese programmer, nagamatu, began development of MSMount, a program designed to give AutoCF-like abilities to Sony Clié PDAs equipped with Memory Sticks. MSMount has evolved quickly, and despite its "beta" status, has already become a fairly polished memory management system.
Since Palm OS 4.0 shares a memory access interface very similar to Clié models, it is now possible for Palm m500 and m505 owners to use MSMount to access files stored on the SD/MMC cards, opening up a number of possibilities previously not feasible without the creation of special "OS4-aware" versions of Palm applications.
It remains to be seen exactly how many types of programs will work with MSMount, as well whether the SD/MSMount combination will provide adequate speed for regular use. Despite this, MSMount will likely have a significant impact on the way users access files on their Palms in coming months.
Instructions:
- Download MSMount and McFile.
- HotSync the three files into Palm: MSDW.prc, MSMount.prc, and McFileEng.prc. The MSMount apps will not appear on the list of applications, though they can be seen when deleting.
- Use McFile to create a directory on the SD card to store applications in OR use the one the default Palm Launcher uses, /Palm/Launcher. Write down the full path.
- Move the programs or data into this directory if they aren't there already.
- Go back into the default Launcher and open the Prefs application, pull down the menu at the upper right corner of the screen, and choose the new "MSMount" option.
- Once in, type in the full path on the SD card from Step 3. Then tap the "Enable" button and check the two boxes below.
- Go back into Launcher and all apps in the designated folder on the SD Card will now appear..
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RE: Slow Down!
I know they are working on speeding up moving info to and from SD cards. Anyone know if the m505 will be able to be upgraded to be faster. Will it be a software change or a hardware one is really what I'm asking.
BTW, McFile is great all on its own. The Launcher is so lame about moving stuff around, like documents.
RE: Slow Down!
Where to download files to use MSMount on the m500 series
It's free and takes a minute to join.
what is default palm launcher?
RE: Slow Down!
The default Palm Launcher is what I call the one that comes installed on your Palm when you get it. It is what shows you all your applications and generally what you are looking at when you aren't in Memo Pad or something like that.
Launcher is actually an application all on its own. It is one of the built-in ones. Many people don't like it and use another launching app like SilverScreen or GoBar.
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News Editor
Palm Infocenter
RE: Slow Down!
On the author's homepage, a red colored sentence written in Japanese said, "A big bug exists from v 0.7.0
Use v 0.6.5 instead"
RE: Slow Down!
Version Changes?
RE: Slow Down!
RE: Slow Down!
RE: Slow Down!
Just to be clear, I'm not referring to just loading the game. Actually moving the cards around was slow, too.
This isn't a complaint. I simply want everyone to be aware of this. Has anyone noticed it in other applications?
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News Editor
Palm Infocenter
RE: Slow Down!
RE: Slow Down!
Some of the questions we need to ask are:
1) Is the lag intrusive enough to outweigh the benefits?
2) Are there certain types of files or certain file sizes that are slower than others?
3) Are there any bugs in using MSMount with SD/MMC cards?
4) What improvements to MSMount are necessary to optimize access?
5) Will future SD standards really improve speeds?
RE: Version Changes?
As taken from the MSMount English website:
Version 0.7.0 and later has a memory leak problem. Please use 0.6.5 at this time.
History
Version 0.7.1 2001/05/02 Fix the fatal error MSDW.c line 514. This will be caused by dmErrIndexOutOfRange
Version 0.7.0 2001/05/01 Use storage heap instead of dynamic heap. Not free system handle on DmCloseDatabase
Version 0.6.5 2001/04/22 Fix missing MemHandleSetOwner bug. Improve some performance
Version 0.6.4 2001/04/20 Default launcher can handle mounted applications
Version 0.6.3 2001/04/19 Fix DmGetNumDatabases and DmGetDatabase bug
Version 0.6.2 2001/04/13 Fix DmGetNextDatabaseByTypeCreator problem for large size KDIC dictionary
Version 0.6.1 2001/04/11 Add DmRecordInfo support. Check files before mount.
Version 0.6.0 2001/04/09 Allow to open with write mode bit. Modified record will be discarded.
Version 0.5.4 2001/04/04 Fix memory management bug for handle list
Version 0.5.3 2001/04/03 Fix DmDatabaseInfo problem when there is no appInfo or sortInfo in DB
Version 0.5.2 2001/04/02 Fix enbug by 0.5.1. Enable after soft reset feature is implemented.
Version 0.5.1 2001/03/29 allow to open a database that is already opened. DmOpenDatabase returns NULL if write mode bit is set
Version 0.5.0 2001/03/27 beta release
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Posted by: I.M. Anonymous @ 5/6/2001 12:04:17 PM
Satan, do you know what the differences are between 0.71and 0.65?
McFile
RE: McFile
You can? How? I'm in the copy function in Launcher on my m505 now and none of the databases saved on the card show up. They do show up when I try to copy databases from RAM to the card.
RE: McFile
McFile seems really nice after a few minutes of use.
RE: McFile
What have I done wrong?
Palm should learn from HandEra
"...we need to bring this solution to an end" - GWB referring to the spy plane incident.
RE: Palm should learn from HandEra
Removing SD Card
If you remove the SD Card, the apps will automatically disappear, of course. But putting it back in again does not make them reappear. You have to back into Prefs/MSMount and hit Disable then hit Enable again to make it find your apps. Also, if you had put them into categories, they will be uncategorized again.
Not a big problem for me; I have only the one 16 MB card.
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News Editor
Palm Infocenter
RE: Removing SD Card
Compatability
Any apps you know can do this yet?
RE: Compatability
RE: Compatability
RE: Compatability
RE: Compatability
RE: Compatability
I did do the writes with quickbits installed, turned it off with no effect. I have not tried to re-write the data to the card with out quick bits loaded.
FYI
McFile has a total backup option in it.
RE: MSMount Compatability
Does PowerRUN work on m500/m505?
Several versions of PowerRUN available from Files section.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CLIE_Users_Group
Penultimate version (0.43) apparently is the most stable.
RE: Does PowerRUN work on m500/m505?
-Eric
RE: Does PowerRUN work on m500/m505?
TRG's AutoCF and nagamatu-san's MSMount are more sophisticated in that they copy only small parts of the files at a time into RAM, so users can potentially open large (several MB) files, even though they may only have a few hundred KB of RAM still free.
I have limited experience with the CLIE (and even less experience reading Japanese), so I'm not sure whether or not PowerRUN would also provide an efficient way of accessing programs (i.e. without having to copy the entire selected application into RAM before it can be run).
As you can see, the default Palm launcher's way of accessing programs is extremely inefficient and simplistic. If you have in-depth knowledge of how PowerRUN works, please enlighten us all.
******************************************************
You don't need PowerRun ... apps run just from from a SD/MMC card. (It's a feature of PalmOS 4.0) PalmOS 4.0 also supports databases on a SD/MMC card, but programs have to be modified to make this work. (MSMOUNT does it without modifying the apps, but there is a speed penalty.)
-Eric
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RE: Does PowerRUN work on m500/m505?
I even had problems with PowerRun 0.3 in which it seemed to require the data to be in the main memory. With my 10 megs of KDic data files, this was not a possibility for me. Currently I use PowerLaunch Lite, but if I was an M500/M505 user, I would be happy with the default OS 4.0 launcher.
Instructions on starting MSmount
RE: Instructions on starting MSmount
That's all....^_^
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Slow Down!