Maker Will Whang, finest identified for his FourThirdEye and different customized digital camera modules, has designed an add-on board that provides the Raspberry Pi 5 single-board pc high-speed detachable storage: the RPI5-SDexpress-Hat.
“[It’s] principally a clone from my CFE Hat undertaking,” Whang explains of the add-on storage gadget, “[I] simply modified the CF Categorical socket to SD Categorical. microSD Categorical studying velocity is certainly sooner then microSD card, nonetheless its writing velocity is extra about the identical as high-end microSD […] card[s] (160~200MB/s). Now, you would possibly see some microSD Categorical promote for >200MB/s writing velocity, however that’s not sustained efficiency; much like how NVMe [Non-Volatile Memory Express] SSD works, some microSD Categorical have pSLC [pseudo-Single Level Cell] cache for larger burst write velocity. So it make sense as a gaming storage, however I do not see the purpose for digital camera recording or any kind of excessive velocity recording system given the pricing evaluating to straightforward high-end microSD card/USB flash or M.2 SSDs.”
As Whang says, the brand new storage board is successfully a respin of an earlier undertaking that put a CompactFlash Categorical slot on prime of the Raspberry Pi 5, offering high-speed detachable storage which leaves the on-board microSD card slot within the mud. The brand new variant, dropped at our consideration by CNX Software program, strikes away from CompactFlash to microSD Categorical, now within the mainstream due to its help within the Nintendo Change 2. “Generally,” Whang warns, “I do not actually see a degree of utilizing microSD Categorical card: in case you want exterior storage, M.2 SSD is cheaper; in case you want detachable storage, M.2 SSD in CF Categorical Sort B is cheaper.”
For these hoping to see the microSD Categorical ecosystem — which successfully ports PCI Categorical-based high-speed Non-Risky Reminiscence Categorical (NVMe) expertise to the microSD card kind issue — develop and a corresponding value drop within the storage playing cards, Whang’s design gives a solution to improve any Raspberry Pi 5 to help the brand new storage units — although at the price of tying up its PCI Categorical lane. Along with the microSD card Categorical slot, it additionally gives a pair of Qwiic-compatible connectors for exterior {hardware} — down from the 4 of the sooner CompactFlash Categorical model.
Whang has launched design information and firmware for the board on GitHub below the permissive MIT license; “I will not do PCBA [Printed Circuit Board Assembly manufacturing] for this board,” the maker notes, “as a result of microSD Categorical card will not be there (value/efficiency/prevalent) but.”
