He periodically logs in as either.

Photo analysis
Well, I'm a bit of a hardware hacker, and by looking at the photos of the dock adapter, and the OnSpec datasheet, I have made some guesses as to where the first five connector pins go: pin 1 - through R11, to T11 and pin 90 on the chip, CF chip enable pin 2 - through R12 to pin 74, SD power control pin 3 - through R10 to pin 63, SCL pin 4 - lost under chip pin 5 - through R8 to pin 97, SmartMedia power control pin 6 - power Pin 7 - GND Pin 8 - USB Pin 9 - USB Pin 10 - GND I might be wrong, but based on the photos, that's where things seem to go. It looks like we're missing a data connection...but then, there *is* that USB connection. SD and SmartMedia pins seem to have been brought out to -*test*-('") points... Peter

I couldn't entirely follow where the traces went in the photos... But, based on the chip side where the new interface pin traces are heading - and the number of wires required for each interface supported by that chip - my guess would be that the new camera acts like a MemoryStick. MemoryStick is the only memory card interface handled by that chip which can work in 4-5 lines. PD could have licensed the MemoryStick implementation core for their new camera's on-board ASIC. But, that's just a guess. A fairly wild guess since I'm just looking at pictures. :roll:

Could it be MMC, which has a 4-pin interface based on SPI? http://www.freelabs.com/~whitis/sd_card/

An MMC connection is looking more realistic. After reading the above link, I think it could be. After all judging by the circuitry, it doesn't look to advanced. Of course rigging that connection at home may prove to be more difficult.

-Sigh- I've recently learned the above and was looking to share it here. I guess I missed richardvoigt's post the first time around. In fact SD cards are also based on SPI, and SD cards are basically MMC cards with optional encryption goodness baked right in. My guess is that the 510 is emulating an SD card device for the transfer. I'm betting that the data is probably just encrypted during the transfer, but it's possible that it's encrypted on flash too.

If it is MMC, could you use a standard USB SD/MMC reader? Might have to work out the pins a bit, but there shouldn't be that many combinations. A scope would tell you which one is the clock line, leaving three pins (8 combinations).

Yeah, I believe that's what the PD dock is - an SD to USB adapter. It probably even presents itself to the OS like that. The question is, does it do it with encryption or not. I haven't encountered SD card encryption before. Wikipedia talks a bit about it in their SD card entry but they don't cover the implementation or usage details.

THe only way to know is to try...

The real trick is being willing to buy one. The 510's aren't NEARLY as good as the 410's. The preview display is crappier, the pictures themselves are crappier... However; in the name of science, I may have to truck down to the local CVS and pick one up. :)

510
I have several recycled ones I'd be happy to give up for the cause...