redmistpete's competition entry: Simple solution to HDD storage 100Gig+++:
"The Stack-Drive"
Intro:
It has become apparent to me that, no matter how nice it would be, it is extremely difficult or impossible to get the PSP to host an external drive to store the many CSO's you might have. I have a workaround idea:
Outline:
You would only ever want to play one game at a time on a PSP but would wish to have a storage device on the PSP which can access an boot ALL your games from the PSP menu.
This is akin to having a wardrobe for all your shirts - you will only wear one at a time but it's handy to browse through them all in one place rather than having to go to a shop to get a different one one each time you fancy a change.
What does the mod do?:
It will allow you to quickly browse through a massive amount of storage (100Gig+++) for games and media without changing ANY software and by modifying the PSP only slightly to add 2 buttons - "Next Card" and "Previous Card"!
Mod Details:
My simple Mod is to ditch the idea of a power hungry, space consuming HDD and go for a stack of 10x 8Gig Sony Pro Duo cards soldered together in parallel and housed in the UMD drive cavity. A flat cable with an adapter is run from the UMD lid to the Pro Duo Card slot and a simple electronic circuit with two buttons (which could be housed somewhere on the PSP's body) to scroll up and down through the cards respectively. The contents of each card would be displayed on the PSP as though removing one card and inserting a new card.
Project Extras:
It may also be possible to incorporate a relay switch which prevents accidental switching of the cards while the card is being read. It will also be possible, if preferred, to make the cards loop round continuously so when the last card is reached, it automatically goes back to the first card when the "Next Card" button is pressed etc. You need not stick to just 10 cards either, of course you can use as many as you like (as long as they fit in the UMD drive Cavity).
Conclusion:
The 8 Gig cards are around £10 - £15 (free delivery) on eBay and offer an affordable solution which can be added to, as funds allow (buy 1 card a week for example). An 80Gig "stack-drive" would cost £100. The power consumption wouldn't be greatly be affected nor would any additional software need to be created or any existing software hacked in order to make it work.
Disclaimer:
This is my own work based on the idea of the old 4-in-1 Sony PSX memory cards which had a switch to change between 4 compressed memory cards partitions
I have no working prototype yet because I do not have the necessary skills to develop the switcher circuit but I am 'in talks' with an electronics forum who will hopefully try and guide me through making one.
I don't seriously expect to win without a working prototype (although the PSP prize would be awesome) but I wanted to post my idea anyway so that people can hopefully help me to develop it and make it for themselves.
Cheers!!!!!
RedMistPete
Decembers Competition, Biggest Yet!!
Decembers Competition, Biggest Yet!!
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Decembers Competition, Biggest Yet!!
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