USB Pen Drive data read and write

[PICTRAIL]

I would like to check on possible ways to read from and write to rows and columns of a spreadsheet file in usb a pen drive using PIC16.

This is to replace the use of a SD Card.

Any clue on how to go about it or where to get more info would be highly appreciated.

Thanks .

[Brian Griffin]

I would like to check on possible ways to read from and write to rows and columns of a spreadsheet file in usb a pen drive using PIC16.

This is to replace the use of a SD Card.

Any clue on how to go about it or where to get more info would be highly appreciated.

Thanks .

The problem with interfacing the USB thumbdrive is... it's too overwhelming for a low capacity PIC16F. You need a USB Firmware inside and the software on the computer to go with it. And worse, only PIC18F and above contains USB host controllers.

You should start back with the SD card - it's much easier to handle.

[PICTRAIL]

Thanks... Is it possible to use SD CARD with PIC16F877A (Just for a single excel file with about 4columns and 20rows). If yes, where can i find information on the setup. Finally, do i require separate drive for the SD CARD or i can just connect ordinary card to the Micro controller.

Regards,
Ebby.

[ABSF]

Thanks... Is it possible to use SD CARD with PIC16F877A (Just for a single excel file with about 4columns and 20rows). If yes, where can i find information on the setup. Finally, do i require separate drive for the SD CARD or i can just connect ordinary card to the Micro controller.

Regards,
Ebby.

The problems with interfacing SD cards is the file system FAT16/32 takes up a lot of prgram and data memories of the PIC and normally is implemented with 18F or above high end PIC. But some smart guys here has created a sub-set of FAT16 Libraries to work with mid-range PIC:

http://elm-chan.org/fsw/ff/00index_p.html

There are discussion of interfacing to SD/MMC cards with 18F family chips and might be useful for you when you decided to switch over to 18F:

http://www.edaboard.com/thread75721.html

Watch out that SD cards use 3.3V just like XBee. So you must be carefully when interfacing with them.

Allen