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[on:]

I'm trying to use the microsd card slot on my ethernet shield and it is not working. I'm not even trying to run ethernet stuff yet, just SD card examples. I've tried the code in this thread and a few others with no luck. I've formatted the card several times with windows and the official SD formatting tool.

Now I am reading that the ethernet library messes with the SD library, but if I'm not even trying the ethernet library should there be any reason for the SD card to not work? Do I have a different problem in this case?

[Reply #1 on:]

What hardware are you using? The sd card and the Ethernet stuff run completely independently and do not affect each other on my Uno.

[Reply #2 on:]

Do I have a different problem in this case?

Yes, no, maybe.

Some code?

[Reply #3 on:]

The sd card and the Ethernet stuff run completely independently and do not affect each other on my Uno.

They do not run independently on my mega2560. They are both SPI devices, and if not disabled or initialized correctly, they will cause failures in the other device.

Have you tried the ethernet part of the shield to check the SPI connection? Try this sketch. Does it show 192.168.2.2 on the serial monitor? Or does it show 0.0.0.0?

Code:

#include <SPI.h>
#include <Ethernet.h>

byte mac[] = {  0xDE, 0xAD, 0xBE, 0xEF, 0xFE, 0xED };
IPAddress ip(192,168,2,2);

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);

  // disable SD card if one in the slot
  pinMode(4,OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(4,HIGH);

  Serial.println("Starting w5100");
  Ethernet.begin(mac,ip);

  Serial.println(Ethernet.localIP());
}

void loop() {
}

You should be able to leave the SD card in the slot for this test. Note the SD disable in the setup.

[Reply #4 on:]

But on the shield they are supposed to be independent. What I'm saying is, I can't even get the SD card to work when I completely ignore the Ethernet stuff. I have no problem with the Ethernet stuff. And I am aware that there is some conflict when using both. But I am running code as if it were just the SD card and it doesn't work.

For instance the cardinfo sketch:

Code:

/*
  SD card test
   
 This example shows how use the utility libraries on which the'
 SD library is based in order to get info about your SD card.
 Very useful for testing a card when you're not sure whether its working or not.
 
 The circuit:
  * SD card attached to SPI bus as follows:
 ** MOSI - pin 11 on Arduino Uno/Duemilanove/Diecimila
 ** MISO - pin 12 on Arduino Uno/Duemilanove/Diecimila
 ** CLK - pin 13 on Arduino Uno/Duemilanove/Diecimila
 ** CS - depends on your SD card shield or module.
  Pin 4 used here for consistency with other Arduino examples

 
 created  28 Mar 2011
 by Limor Fried
 modified 9 Apr 2012
 by Tom Igoe
 */
 // include the SD library:
#include <SD.h>

// set up variables using the SD utility library functions:
Sd2Card card;
SdVolume volume;
SdFile root;

// change this to match your SD shield or module;
// Arduino Ethernet shield: pin 4
// Adafruit SD shields and modules: pin 10
// Sparkfun SD shield: pin 8
const int chipSelect = 4;   

void setup()
{
 // Open serial communications and wait for port to open:
  Serial.begin(9600);
   while (!Serial) {
    ; // wait for serial port to connect. Needed for Leonardo only
  }


  Serial.print("\nInitializing SD card...");
  // On the Ethernet Shield, CS is pin 4. It's set as an output by default.
  // Note that even if it's not used as the CS pin, the hardware SS pin
  // (10 on most Arduino boards, 53 on the Mega) must be left as an output
  // or the SD library functions will not work.
  pinMode(10, OUTPUT);     // change this to 53 on a mega


  // we'll use the initialization code from the utility libraries
  // since we're just testing if the card is working!
  if (!card.init(SPI_HALF_SPEED, chipSelect)) {
    Serial.println("initialization failed. Things to check:");
    Serial.println("* is a card is inserted?");
    Serial.println("* Is your wiring correct?");
    Serial.println("* did you change the chipSelect pin to match your shield or module?");
    return;
  } else {
   Serial.println("Wiring is correct and a card is present.");
  }

  // print the type of card
  Serial.print("\nCard type: ");
  switch(card.type()) {
    case SD_CARD_TYPE_SD1:
      Serial.println("SD1");
      break;
    case SD_CARD_TYPE_SD2:
      Serial.println("SD2");
      break;
    case SD_CARD_TYPE_SDHC:
      Serial.println("SDHC");
      break;
    default:
      Serial.println("Unknown");
  }

  // Now we will try to open the 'volume'/'partition' - it should be FAT16 or FAT32
  if (!volume.init(card)) {
    Serial.println("Could not find FAT16/FAT32 partition.\nMake sure you've formatted the card");
    return;
  }


  // print the type and size of the first FAT-type volume
  uint32_t volumesize;
  Serial.print("\nVolume type is FAT");
  Serial.println(volume.fatType(), DEC);
  Serial.println();
 
  volumesize = volume.blocksPerCluster();    // clusters are collections of blocks
  volumesize *= volume.clusterCount();       // we'll have a lot of clusters
  volumesize *= 512;                            // SD card blocks are always 512 bytes
  Serial.print("Volume size (bytes): ");
  Serial.println(volumesize);
  Serial.print("Volume size (Kbytes): ");
  volumesize /= 1024;
  Serial.println(volumesize);
  Serial.print("Volume size (Mbytes): ");
  volumesize /= 1024;
  Serial.println(volumesize);

 
  Serial.println("\nFiles found on the card (name, date and size in bytes): ");
  root.openRoot(volume);
 
  // list all files in the card with date and size
  root.ls(LS_R | LS_DATE | LS_SIZE);
}


void loop(void) {
 
}

returns:

Initializing SD card...initialization failed. Things to check:
* is a card is inserted?
* Is your wiring correct?
* did you change the chipSelect pin to match your shield or module?

I've tried all of the example sketches for the SD card and they all fail to initialize the card.

[Reply #5 on:]

But on the shield they are supposed to be independent.

How can they be independent when both use SPI? They use different SS pins, so you should be able to talk to each without interference from the other, but that is not the same as independent.

I've tried all of the example sketches for the SD card and they all fail to initialize the card.

Perhaps the problem is the card. Not all cards play well with all SD readers.

[Reply #6 on:]

As PaulS said, they are never independent because they share the SPI bus. You can use either separately, but you MUST disable the other device to do so. Otherwise, you will have problems. This should be able to initialize and use the SD ok.

Code:

void setup()
{
 // Open serial communications and wait for port to open:
  Serial.begin(9600);
   while (!Serial) {
    ; // wait for serial port to connect. Needed for Leonardo only
  }

  // disable w5100 SPI
  pinMode(10,OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(10,HIGH);

  Serial.print("\nInitializing SD card...");
  // rest of your setup stuff