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How to make your own CFexpress card for under $100
- walterbell 5y ago> There are several companies that produce CFexpress NVME adapters. Neat. Is there a comparable NVME 2230 enclosure with USB-C external connector for use in laptop USB4/Thunderbolt ports? That could combine SSD speed/reliability with the portability of a flash drive.
- davidgay 5y agoIIUC, CFExpress is just a PCIe interface in a different form factor, so the adapter in the post should basically just be a pass-through. Conversely, a USB-C adapter would require some level of protocol adaptation/electronics/etc.
- Nextgrid 5y agoUSB-C connectors can carry Thunderbolt which is essentially external PCI-Express, so the adapter might have to be very minimal if you’re fine with it only being compatible with Thunderbolt-capable devices.
- ResNet 5y agoA Thunderbolt flash drive in the form factor of a USB-C YubiKey 5C Nano [0] would be the ultimate solution for me. I trust that some day we'll get there if it's not superseded by some other standard by then. [0] https://www.yubico.com/us/product/yubikey-5c-nano/ https://www.yubico.com/us/product/yubikey-5c-nano/
- walterbell 5y agoIs there a USB-C flash drive smaller than the 2022 Samsung USB 3.2 Gen1, https://www.samsung.com/us/business/computing/memory-storage/usb-flash-drives/usb-type-c-256gb-muf-256da-am/ https://www.samsung.com/us/business/computing/memory-storage...? For USB-A there is Sandisk Cruzer Fit similar to Yubikey Nano, but most USB-C flash drives are larger.
- nrp 5y agoYep. We considered building an M.2 2230 NVMe USB-C adapter, but it was more efficient to just use a USB-C NAND Flash controller that interfaces the same types of flash that NVMe SSDs do. One less layer of translation.
- floatboth 5y agoWho's we? :) And what are the controllers called? Plenty of USB-C SSDs on the market are actually M.2 in a trenchcoat, e.g. the nice looking black and orange SanDisk: https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/9631os/sandisk_extreme_usb_31_ssd_tear_down/ https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/9631os/sandisk_ex...
- adam-a 5y agoI hope CFexpress replaces SD card slots on laptops. I’d love to boost or swap the storage in my in mine but sd cards are so slow and.
- beardedscotsman 5y agoThis needs more camera manufacturers adding CFExpress over SD cards. However, there are a large number of other devices such as audio recorders using SD, so this could be wishful thinking for now at least.
- ghostly_s 5y agoThe latest SD standard has speeds comparable to CFExpress.
- anonymousiam 5y agoI don't know about 2230, but I have used this with the 2280 form factor. I have used this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z8Y85GL/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z8Y85GL/ It works, but it runs hot so I added one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WJVFQQ9 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WJVFQQ9 I've tested it with 8TB nvme flash. Don't know if it can support anything higher.
- traceroute66 5y ago> I built a 256 GB CFexpress card for under $100, and you can too. Probably because you valued your time at zero. At a minimum probably 30 minutes to buy the components - although realistically with the shortages at the moment might take longer because you'll have to look around for places with stuff in stock. Then let's say 20-30 minutes to get the components in place (I'm including packaging removal time here). Plus a bit more for testing, labelling etc. Sure it's not the most labour-intensive thing in the world, but the time soon adds up. And that's assuming everything works first time and you don't have to spend time troubleshooting or returning broken components. What hourly rate does your salary work out to ? ;-)
- ResNet 5y agoCFexpress cards are considerably more expensive than other similar forms of storage like SD cards — a comparable 256GB CFexpress card currently goes for $259.99 [0]. From a pure cost perspective, it could very well be worth it. As a hobby photographer I would consider doing this for the fun of it anyway. [0] https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1551702-REG/sandisk_sdcfe_256g_ancnn_256gb_extreme_pro_cfexpress.html https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1551702-REG/sandisk_s...
- traceroute66 5y agoYou miss the point. The author links to (approx) $90 in parts. Your average HN reader is probably in a decently paid job, let's say it works out to $80-$100 per hour (at least !). So we're now talking about $190 all-in, i.e. parts AND labour. So we're now talking about a $60 price difference ($250 off-the-shelf vs $190 DIY). For the $60 difference you get: - A card that is camera manufacturer validated and so does not risk breaking your camera or invalidating its warranty - A card that has already been tested and labeled in the factory, so you don't need to do that - A card with a warranty I'd say that $60 is a bargain. People should not be valuing their time at zero when engaging in DIY projects.
- adam-a 5y agoHN boasts an international audience and many of us earn a lot less than $100/hour. Plus you know it is called “hacker” news, not “bought it at the store” news.
- LarsAlereon 5y agoI worry that there's a hidden issue with maximum power draw. If the camera supplies less maximum current than the drive could potentially draw from an M.2 slot, you might see the card crash in certain situations. This could be the kind of very annoying thing that works fine in testing but fails in on specific scenario in real-world use.
- wtallis 5y agoIdeally, SSD manufacturers would program their SSD firmware to provide multiple active power states accurately labeled with their maximum power draw, and cameras would select only power states that are within their power delivery constraints. All of this functionality is already defined and standardized. But I'm pretty sure neither side is taking it seriously enough to be relied upon.
- londons_explore 5y agoI think the drive at least will be keeping an eye on its own power rail voltages and logging whenever they sag out of spec. Those logs will be used to rapidly deny your warranty claim when you try to return it for not working properly...
- wtallis 5y agoThe only logs of that sort that I'm aware of is the SMART counter for unexpected power loss. M.2 SSDs are not at all graceful about handling voltage droop, and I don't think I've ever seen one even attempt to automatically lower its power state (and thus peak power draw) in response to low input voltage. They just stop responding, and sometimes require a full power cycle rather than just a reboot. And since the maximum power draw information that SSDs provide to the host is unreliable, you need expensive measurement equipment to determine whether a SSD brown-out is more the fault of the host not providing enough power, or the SSD drawing more power than is reasonable.
- wmf 5y agoAre we talking about the same drives that don't implement flushing properly?
- arcticbull 5y agoFWIW, you shouldn't really put thermal compound on the NAND flash, just on the controller. NAND does better at higher temperatures. [1] [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0026271418305079?via%3Dihub https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00262...
- walrus01 5y agoThere's others reasons why you want as much heat dissipation as possible, as wide as possible in a high end camera, however. Many cameras are limited in their 2160p30 and 2160p60 video recording times by heat build up. Also now 6k and 8k capable cameras. The cooler your cfexpress card can run, the less cumulative watt hours built up in the camera body during a "long" 20-30 minute recording session. Some that are designed with a focus on video recording have active cooling and fans for the cpu and sensor, such as the new Panasonic gh6, or a red Komodo.
- nine_k 5y agoI wonder how soon will such cards sport external radiators which drive the heat away outside the camera body. (Also, cameras dissipating so much heat should have quite a battery pack.)
- thedrbrian 5y agoYou could always add the cooling yourself https://youtu.be/X1u-9YqrIJc https://youtu.be/X1u-9YqrIJc
- FounderBurr 5y ago“Make”