[kwlug-disc] Speed of microSD card?

[William Park]

Half is good news, and the other half is coming...

*1. microSD:*

    I bought Samsung Sonic The Hedgehog
    <https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DQX3136M/?coliid=I13ZSKJIJ7UB3Z&colid=1N7EU9X4NPTEA> (128GB,
    $23.69).  180MB/130MB written on the package.  I was considering
    Lexar Professional SILVER PLUS
    <https://www.canadacomputers.com/en/microsd-cards/260172/lexar-professional-silver-plus-128gb-microsdxc-uhs-i-u3-a2-v30-lmssipl128g-bnang.html> (128GB,
    $24.99).  205MB/150MB on Lexar website.  Let's see what else comes
    up on Black Friday sales.

*2. BeagleBone Black:*

    I was *successful* in making the board into a keyboard, but with
    older kernels.  Older factory images (based on Debian 8.7, 9.9,
    10.13) have the relevant drivers as modules.  So, I was able to
    blacklist unnecessary or conflicting modules, and load only the
    modules I need.  Also, the program that sends out key presses is
    Python2 script, and older images had Python2 package.

    Newer factory images (based on Debian 11.7, 12.12, 13.1) have most
    USB Gadget drivers built into the kernel.  So, I couldn't create a
    new USB gadget device, because it's already being "used".  The
    module I want is "usb_f_hid", and I found that it conflicts with
    "usb_f_acm".  Also, the newer releases don't have Python2 installed
    and they don't have Python2 package in their repositories.

*3. To Do:
*

  * Rewrite Python2 scripts into Bash shell scripts.  --*Done*. Shell
    scripts are cleaner.

  * Compile ARM kernel with all USB Gadget drivers as modules. 
    --*Done*. It took 24 hours to compile kernel on the BeagleBone Black
    board with that new speedy Samsung card.

  * Figure out how to build *initrd.img*.

  * Figure out how *bootloader* picks up the kernel.

  * Write up documentation in GitHub.

  * Learn more about USB Gadget device configuration.



On 2025-11-02 07:03, Doug Moen wrote:
> If you feel like sharing more information about your programmable 
> keyboard and mouse, I would be interested.
>
> On Sun, Nov 2, 2025, at 8:02 AM, William Park via kwlug-disc wrote:
>> I'm trying to make BeagleBone Black 
>> <https://www.beagleboard.org/boards/beaglebone-black> into a 
>> programmable keyboard (and mouse, hopefully).  It has one "USB 
>> device" port (mini-USB) and one more common "USB host" port (USB-A).  
>> It boots off microSD or eMMC.  One frustration is slow speed of my SD 
>> cards.  I have lots of them, 8-16GB and 5MB/s.  Too slow to flash 
>> images, and too slow to run on it.
>>
>> So, I've been shopping around for a *fast* microSD card.  What I 
>> don't understand is,
>>     - some U1 cards are faster than U3 cards.  This means, I can't 
>> just search for "U3" cards.
>>
>> - Do you know why U3 cards are slower than U1 cards?
>> - Any brand recommendation?
>>     - Canada Computer has lots of "Teamgroup".  Are they good?  They 
>> are new (to me).
>>     - Of course, can't go wrong with Samsung.  But, not at $20 range.
>>     - no Kingston.  All the dead cards were from Kingston.
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