arduino_universal_serial_adapter/Libraries/SdFat/readme.txt

Please check the changes.txt file!

For those who don't like too much documentation read QuickStart.txt.

The Arduino SdFat library provides read/write access to FAT16/FAT32
file systems on SD/SDHC flash cards.

This library requires Arduino 1.0 or greater.

To use this library place the SdFat folder into the libraries 
subfolder in your main sketches folder.  You may need to create
the libraries folder.  Restart the Arduino IDE if it was open.

SdFat assumes chip select for the SD card is the hardware SS pin.  On a
168/328 Arduino this is pin 10 and on a Mega this is pin 53.  If you are
using another pin for chip select you will need call SdFat::begin(chipSelectPin)
or SdFat::begin(chipSelectPin, sckRateID) with second parameter set to the
SPI rate ID.

If you have a shield like the SparkFun shield that uses pin 8 for chip
select you would change the line:
  sd.begin();
to
  sd.begin(8);
or
  sd.begin(8, SPI_HALF_SPEED);
to use a slower SPI clock.
  
If the example uses
  sd.init();
change it to:
  sd.begin(8, SPI_FULL_SPEED);


A number of configuration options can be set by editing SdFatConfig.h
#define macros.  Options include:

ALLOW_DEPRECATED_FUNCTIONS - enable or disable deprecated functions.

USE_SD_CRC - enable or disable SD card crc checking.

USE_MULTIPLE_CARDS - enable or disable use of multiple SD card sockets.

USE_SERIAL_FOR_STD_OUT - use Serial for the default stdOut.

ENDL_CALLS_FLUSH - enable a flush() call after endl.

SPI_SD_INIT_RATE - set the SPI rate for card initialization.

LEONARDO_SOFT_SPI - use software SPI on Leonardo Arduinos.

MEGA_SOFT_SPI - use software SPI on Mega Arduinos.

USE_SOFTWARE_SPI - always use software SPI.


If you wish to report bugs or have comments, send email to
fat16lib@sbcglobal.net

Read changes.txt if you have used previous releases of this library.

Read troubleshooting.txt for common hardware problems.

Please read the html documentation for this library.  Start with
html/index.html and read the Main Page.  Next go to the Classes tab and
read the documentation for the classes SdFat, SdFile, ifstream, ofstream.

The SdFile class implements binary files simular to Linux's stdio.

The classes ifstream, ofstream, istream, and ostream follow the
C++ iostream standard when possible.

Many examples are included in the SdFat/examples folder.

There are many tutorials and much documentation about using C++ iostreams.

http://www.cplusplus.com/  is a good C++ site.

Arduinos access SD cards using the cards SPI protocol.  PCs, Macs, and
most consumer devices use the 4-bit parallel SD protocol.  A card that
functions well on A PC or Mac may not work well on the Arduino.

Most cards have good SPI read performance but cards vary widely in SPI
write performance.  Write performance is limited by how efficiently the
card manages internal erase/remapping operations.  The Arduino cannot
optimize writes to reduce erase operations because of its limited RAM.

SanDisk cards generally have good write performance.  They seem to have
more internal RAM buffering than other cards and therefore can limit
the number of flash erase operations that the Arduino forces due to its
limited RAM.

The hardware interface to the SD card should not use a resistor based
level shifter.  SdFat sets the SPI bus frequency to 8 MHz which results
in signal rise times that are too slow for the edge detectors in many
newer SD card controllers when resistor voltage dividers are used.

The 5 to 3.3 V level shifter for 5 V arduinos should be IC based like
the 74HC4050N based circuit shown in the file SdLevel.png.  The
Adafruit Wave Shield uses a 74AHC125N.  Gravitech sells SD and MicroSD
Card Adapters based on the 74LCX245.

If you are using a resistor based level shifter and are having problems
try setting the SPI bus frequency to 4 MHz. This can be done by using
card.init(SPI_HALF_SPEED) to initialize the SD card.

A feature to use software SPI is available.  Software SPI is slower
than hardware SPI but allows any digital pins to be used.  See
SdFatConfig.h for software SPI definitions.

An unmodified Adafruit GPS shield can be use on an Arduino Mega
by defining MEGA_SOFT_SPI in SdFatConfig.h.


The best way to restore an SD card's format is to use SDFormatter
which can be downloaded from:

http://www.sdcard.org/consumers/formatter/

SDFormatter aligns flash erase boundaries with file
system structures which reduces write latency and file system overhead.

SDFormatter does not have an option for FAT type so it may format
small cards as FAT12.

The example sketch SdFatFormatter.pde will format smaller cards FAT16
so they can be used with SdFat.


The SdFat/examples directory has the following sketches.  Older examples
are in the extras/examplesV1 folder.

AnalogLogger - A simple data logger for one or more analog pins.

append - This sketch creates a large file by successive
         open/write/close operations.

average - A demonstration of parsing floating point numbers

bench - A read/write benchmark.

benchSD - A read/write benchmark for the standard Arduino SD.h library.

bufstream - ibufsteam to parse a line and obufstream to format a line
              
cin_cout - Demo of ArduinoInStream and ArduinoOutStream

eventlog - Append a line to a file - demo of pathnames and streams

fgets - Demo of the fgets read line/string function.

fgetsRewrite - Demo of rewriting a line read by fgets

formating - Print a table with various formatting options

getline - Example of getline from section 27.7.1.3 of the C++ standard

HelloWorld - Create a serial output stream

MiniSerial - SdFat minimal serial support for debug

OpenNext - Open all files in the root dir and print their filename

PrintBenchmark - A simple benchmark for printing to a text file.

QuickStart - A sketch to quickly test your SD card and SD shield/module

RawWrite - A test of raw write functions for contiguous files.

readCSV - Read a comma-seperated value file using iostream extractors

readlog - Read file. Demo of pathnames and current working directory

ReadWriteSdFat - SdFat version of Arduino SD ReadWrite example

rename - A demo of SdFat::rename(old, new) and SdFile::rename(dirFile, newPath)

SdFormatter - This sketch will format an SD or SDHC card.

SdInfo - Initialize an SD card and analyze its structure for trouble shooting

Timestamp - Sets file create, modify, and access timestamps

TwoCards - Example using two SD cards

To access these examples from the Arduino development environment
go to:  File -> Examples -> SdFat -> <Sketch Name>

Compile, upload to your Arduino and click on Serial Monitor to run
the example.


Updated 01 Dec 2012