Needing help with the ALFAT-SD Module

File-System Hardware
1

I am very new to this area of electronics and have a couple questions in reguars to the ALFAT-SD Module.

The first one is fairly simple I believe. I was needing some way to datalog some information from a project I was working on and did some searching that led me to an old post on the PICAXE forums that talked about the uALFAT-TF. This interested me and that is how I found out about the GHI boards. I decieded to go with the ALFAT-SD Module but one difference that I am finding is that apparently on the uALFAT-TF there was a DATARDY pin (Pin 1) on the board, that does not seem to exist on the ALFAT-SD board. How do I monitor if there is data to be read from the ALFAT-SD board?

The second question is as follows, It appears to me (and I may be mis-understanding this) that there is something similar to a splash screen that happens upon powerup of the card.

GHI Electronics, LCC

ALFAT SoC Processor

While troubleshooting my circuit I noticed that every time I reset my microprossesor (not the ALFAT-SD) that I was getting the next character in the screen. Because I was not expecting this, I did not design a way to get through this. Does this screen/data always happen at power-up of the ALFAT-SD? Is there a way to disable this? Or is it simply that I do not have the MODE configured correctly and so it is going into this state automatically. (I am trying to connect to it via I2C mode.) I know I have communication because I am recieveing the next bit every time I reset my microproccessor.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time in this matter.

2

uALFAT and ALFAT are similar but not identical. It maybe best to start with ALFAT manual and example code provided.

I would repeatedly send I2 read transactions and see what comes back.

Welcome to the community.

3

OK so I programed a basic loop program to see exactly what was happening. I then integrated that loop into my project code and have now gotten past the “Splash” or “Welcome” screen (or whatever it is called). :slight_smile: Now I just have to work out the rest of the coding for the actual use of the ALFAT-SD. (Hopefully I do not have any issues with that…)

That just leaves the question of a way to monitor if there is data ready to be transmitted from the ALFAT-SD. If possible, I dont want to be constantly asking the ALFAT-SD if there is data waiting or not.

4

It will only send data when you ask for it. So you know when data is available to read.

5

Ok makes since. This brings to mind one more question. If I understand correctly, I should see a 0x00 after every command letting me know that the command was completed successfully. Is this correct to assume?

6

Yes you get back !00

7

Thank you for your help. Hopefully the rest of the coding I need will go smoothly. :slight_smile: