Can a TZ boot from Expresscard34 SSD?

The above says it all really. I'm really interested in finding out if the TZ bios includes this option.

Although most current SSDs in Expresscard34 format - like the Transcends and Lexars - are too slow for this (because they use USB interface internally so they're basically just normal flashkey thingies in a neat form factor)... there are new cards coming out now which use the proper PCIe interface and promise much better performance, like the Delkin models.

If you can opt to boot from one of these in the bios, it would surely be a great way to experiment with a new OS - e.g. ubuntu, osx, etc - without bothering with repartitioning and boot loaders, etc?

Anyone know if this option exists or have an opinion on why it's a good/bad idea?

 

I don't think its possible and even if so with the newer cards using the faster interface coming out, I think the slot in the TZ itself is too slow anyways. A member here had complained of that a while back.

 

the express card slot is slow? its a PCI-e 1x interface, 250MBps throughput. how can that be slow?

 

I think the confusion arises because the Expresscard34 format allows manufacturers of the cards to use either interface: USB or PCI-e.

So some SSDs use USB to interface with the system and others use PCI-e. Presumably the USB interface is cheaper/easier to implement, because most first generation SSDs in Expresscard34 format have (unfortunately) used USB.

So, assuming Sony have implemented the slot to the proper standard, either type of card should work. However the USB-based cards will give much slower throughput than the PCI-e-based cards...
Some people might blame the slot perhaps, if they expected their new SSD to run at the maximum speed allowed for in the Expresscard34 format, not realising that their card has a USB bottleneck built in to it by the manufacturer?

 

The service manual shows which interface it uses. See if you can hunt one down or order it from parts & services.

For example here is what the SZ uses:

 

Thanks iisdev... the service manual is probably a useful/interesting read in its own right but I don't think I need one to check this. The slot must support both USB and PCIe interfaces if they call it Expresscard(34 or 54):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expresscard

So unless Sony have ignored the standard and not implemented it properly - which I doubt - the slot will be fine. It's the cards themselves which use the USB (or PCIe) interface and thus the cards which are to blame for any USB-speed performance.

I've raised a 'pre-sales technical query' with Sony Style about this, to see if they could tell me the answer.
To their credit, they responded to my email very quickly - less than a couple of hours - and advised me to call the call centre for Vaio pre-sales info as they didn't know the answer. Fair enough.
I called the call centre where a woman with a lovely Welsh accent explained that she only had basic details available and would have to send my query on to the technical office... so I'm interested to see if they'll eventually be able to answer this one.

 

please keep us updated ... i'm interested in this as well.

 

Yes, please let us know what you find out!

I've never heard a Welsh lady on the phone before; I usually end up with representative that sounds like their not paying attention. I bet you're not using the US phone support are you?

 

Just a quick and somewhat disappointing update on this. I got this reply from the Sony pre-sales rep:

"Sorry for the delay I have received this reply You can’t boot from the express card slot. You can of course use it for storage but booting from it isn’t enabled in the BIOS – indeed I would be surprised if there are any machines on the market that allow you to boot from Express card slot or indeed the old PCMCIAs."

... so it looks like this is a non-starter, sadly.

Looks like I'll be repartitioning and fiddling with boot loaders if I want to have a dabble with OSX or whatever...

 

I'm sorry, but that response would make me doubt the competence of the sender, myself. Laptops have been booting from pc card slots since the Pentium II was released. I don't think Sony has ever supported the capability because they use Phoenix BIOSs rather than write their own, but I've got ThinkPads from the 90s that can do this.

Re: Rahu's comment on the transfer speed, the issue you're referring to is with the SDHC cards - Class 6 cards dn't run at full speed because Sony's port doesn't support that speed. The ExpressCard and MagicGate slots will run at Class 6 speed, likely because the former is required to use the ExpressCard name and the latter is Sony's own platform.

 

... but isn't 'Class 6 speed' a term unique to SDHC cards?

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the TZ's Memory Stick slot doesn't support Sony's latest, fastest cards - Memory Stick Pro Duo HG. They'll work OK, but will only work at Pro Duo speeds because the 'HG' technology isn't supported?

It's all a bit confusing...