SD card mystery

[BillW50]

In John Williamson typed:

The OP's problem isn't that his netbook never could read the card,
it's that since an undetermined date, he can't read it on the first
attempt. The card used to work with the reader in his computer, so
*something* has changed, either in the computer or in the card.

It has been awhile since I read the whole thread, but this was just one
card with the problem right? As back then when I was reading the early
thread, others thought what I was thinking. Some sort of connection
problem. It could be with the card itself or the card reader, etc.

If it were the card reader, an USB card reader would take care of it. If
it is the copper tabs on the card itself... a clean pencil eraser works
really, really well. If the problem is itself of the card itself, well
you are stuck. My ADATA cards have a lifetime guarantee, but I never had
one fail yet. so I don't know if they honor them or not.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

HP G61 laptop. Win7HPx64. Fully updated.

I have been using a Sandisk 2G SD card (from a Ricoh compact camera) with
this laptop without problem for a couple of years. In the last month, on
plugging in the card, instead of the usual popup asking whether I want to
open folder to view files with Windows Explorer, I get an error message.
This states that the card is unformatted and must be formatted before
opening. If I try to view the card in WE, it says the file format is not
known, and the card must be formatted.

If I then eject the card (through the USB symbol in the notification area),
pull it and reinsert it immediately, Win7 behaves normally in the way it
always has (card is FAT32).

Any ideas? It's not a great problem as it is easily fixed, but it does
puzzle me. Result of an update, perhaps?

Did I miss something?

I didn't see anyone mention what to me is the obvious solution: copy
all the data to a new card and use that one. Make sure it's compatible
with the camera, i.e., don't use an SDHC card if the camera won't
accept it, and format it in the camera, if possible.

You can place the old card on the altar along with the candles, the
incense, and the head of the ox.

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

On Thu, 05 Apr 2012 18:52:22 +0100, Jeff Layman

[snip]

The card is a Sandisk Extreme III 2GB SD (not SDHC), which will be 5
years old in August. I guess it could be showing signs of wearing out
in some way. It's only shown this in the last month. No problem in the
previous 2 years with Win7. I have an old XP machine (USB1 ports only!
I had to add a USB2 card to be able to use faster transfer rates)
which does not like reading /any/ memory cards through the USB2 card,
and frequently just stops reading them. No problem with the USB1 ports,
or indeed, USB2 using an external HD to backup.

I have had two or three USB drives go bad on me. I think they
wear out. Look at the connector. It looks to be something that could
easily wear, corrode, or get dirty. The drives that failed, I
frequently used.

One of the drives did not have a cover and was stored in my
pocket. (The drive was in the middle of the handle for a jackknife. I
used to joke that I had the meanest USB drive in the world.) I expect
that pocket dirt got it.

With my current USB drive, when it is not in use, I keep it
capped and in a prescription bottle. The bottle is showing signs of
wear.

I do not trust USB drives much. I use them for transferring data
between systems. I would not trust one as a good backup device.

[snip]

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[BillW50]

In Gene E. Bloch typed:

Did I miss something?

I didn't see anyone mention what to me is the obvious solution: copy
all the data to a new card and use that one. Make sure it's compatible
with the camera, i.e., don't use an SDHC card if the camera won't
accept it, and format it in the camera, if possible.

You can place the old card on the altar along with the candles, the
incense, and the head of the ox.

Yes I heard lots of people say that card is shot including me who
thought it was indeed a good possibility.

 

[dweebken]

Thinking outside of the box....

Why don't you walk down to a store (Best Buy comes to mind) with that SD
card, plug it into a new computer or two, and see what happens?

Logically to me, if the card is the problem, then it won't work in the
new computers either.

If it works in the new computers, then your card is not your problem.

I have two laptops with Win 7 Pro X64 and they have built-in SDHC cards
and I regularly use cards up to 32 GB no problems. I do remember in
windows XP there was a problem reading SDHC cards - i.e. cards that were
over 4 GB, because Win XP didn't support that. When I used to have an XP
macine the fix was to install the fix in MS Hotfix Article ID: 934428 -
Last Review: October 8, 2011 - Revision: 4.0
Hotfix for Windows XP that adds support for SDHC cards that have a
capacity of more than 4 GB
Link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934428

This won't fix the OPs problem, 'cause he's already got W7HPX64, but it
might come in handy for some others reading this if they still have XP
and are having probs with >4 GB SD cards.

Oh, one other thing... SD(HC) cards come in different classes, Class 1
to Class 10 at present. Something I didn't realise until recently. Class
1 is slowest and class 10 is fastest. Cl 10 is needed for Full HD video
recording. Class 6 or sometimes Class 4 is usually ok for digital stills
photography. Usually the Class is shown on the label (but can be hard to
read) or on the original packaging. Maybe the OP is having problems with
the card's speed? Prolly shouldn't be an issue on the PC, but you never
know.

HTH someone

 

[Rodney Pont]

If it were the card reader, an USB card reader would take care of it. If
it is the copper tabs on the card itself... a clean pencil eraser works
really, really well.

I'd like to know how you get an eraser into a USB connector.

 

[BillW50]

In Gene Wirchenko typed:

On Thu, 05 Apr 2012 18:52:22 +0100, Jeff Layman

[snip]

The card is a Sandisk Extreme III 2GB SD (not SDHC), which will be 5
years old in August. I guess it could be showing signs of wearing
out in some way. It's only shown this in the last month. No
problem in the previous 2 years with Win7. I have an old XP machine
(USB1 ports only! I had to add a USB2 card to be able to use faster
transfer rates) which does not like reading /any/ memory cards
through the USB2 card, and frequently just stops reading them. No
problem with the USB1 ports, or indeed, USB2 using an external HD to
backup.

I have had two or three USB drives go bad on me. I think they
wear out. Look at the connector. It looks to be something that could
easily wear, corrode, or get dirty. The drives that failed, I
frequently used.

I never had an USB drive fail on me yet. Most of them I use as read only
devices though. I do somebody who has worn out USB flash drives in two
weeks. But he writes to them constantly and he buys cheap ones.

One of the drives did not have a cover and was stored in my
pocket. (The drive was in the middle of the handle for a jackknife. I
used to joke that I had the meanest USB drive in the world.) I expect
that pocket dirt got it.

I don't see dirt really hurting anything (cleaning should bring
everything back to normal). Although static electricity can.

With my current USB drive, when it is not in use, I keep it
capped and in a prescription bottle. The bottle is showing signs of
wear.

I do not trust USB drives much. I use them for transferring data
between systems. I would not trust one as a good backup device.

[snip]

I don't trust them much either. Although I do have great luck with them.
One fake 8GB I bought from eBay (and I got my money back) was really a
2GB SD card. This was a huge problem to use it since the first 2GB was
only usable. Although Windows didn't know the difference and thought 8GB
was there. So I created a 2GB partition at the beginning and left the
other 6GB unpartitioned. That worked. Knowingly it is the cheapest of
the cheapest, I know it could fail at any time (after all it is free
now). And I never trusted it with any original file. Although the silly
thing keeps going and going. ;-)

 

[BillW50]

In Rodney Pont typed:

I'd like to know how you get an eraser into a USB connector.

I mean on the SD(HC) card itself. If you mean inside the slot itself,
well that would be hard. It could be done with those standalone erasers
if it cut it to fit. But if you should disassemble it at this point
anyway. Ethanol or isopropyl alcohol also works, but not as well.

 

[Rodney Pont]

I mean on the SD(HC) card itself. If you mean inside the slot itself,
well that would be hard. It could be done with those standalone erasers
if it cut it to fit. But if you should disassemble it at this point
anyway. Ethanol or isopropyl alcohol also works, but not as well.

Ah, I'm slow, that should have been obvious. I even looked at a USB
stick and scratched my head

 

[Char Jackson]

With my current USB drive, when it is not in use, I keep it
capped and in a prescription bottle.

Let me guess, you learned that in spy school.

 

[choro]

Let me guess, you learned that in spy school.

! Are you implying he is a *spook*? !
-- choro

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Bill.

...they still will write to the card even if you have the write protect
switched on with the card.

My SanDisk microSDHC adapter - which holds the tiny micro card - has two
problems. The first is that the write-protect tab often gets slid to the
R/O position when I insert it into the camera and I have to remove and
carefully re-insert it. The other is that the adapter has physically come
apart; the back and front have come unglued. Still works, though, if I hold
it together while inserting. I've found that, as others said, these USB
devices (SD cards and flash drives) are nearly indestructible. That is, the
data is safe, even though the physical package is damaged. I've that they
still work after a spin in a washing machine.

My first USB flash drive was 128 MB - yes, MEGAbyte - had an elongated
clamshell package. The back of the case separated from the front; the small
memory card inside was hanging by thin wires. I just taped it together and
kept using it.

My 2 newest 2 GB SD cards are from Goodwill: $1 each. ;<)

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2011 (Build 15.4.3555.0308) in Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1


"BillW50" wrote in message
In R. C. White typed:

Hi, Jeff.

When I went out of state in 2010, I took along my new netbook. I saw
a good deal on a new SanDisk 4 GB "microSDHC Card with Adapter" and
bought it. Worked great in my laptop. But when I got home, my
desktop computer refused to read it. That's when I learned that SDHC
is different - and I had to buy a new adapter to read my new card in
my older external SD card reader. The micro card itself is
physically much smaller; it fits into the postage-stamp-size adapter,
which fits into the card reader, but there is apparently also an
electronic difference. I've now added an internal card reader that
has slots for both size cards.

Something like that might be your problem, too.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2011 (Build 15.4.3555.0308) in Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1


"Jeff Layman" wrote in message
HP G61 laptop. Win7HPx64. Fully updated.

I have been using a Sandisk 2G SD card (from a Ricoh compact camera)
with this laptop without problem for a couple of years. In the last
month, on plugging in the card, instead of the usual popup asking
whether I want to open folder to view files with Windows Explorer, I
get
an error message. This states that the card is unformatted and must
be formatted before opening. If I try to view the card in WE, it
says the file format is not known, and the card must be formatted.

If I then eject the card (through the USB symbol in the notification
area), pull it and reinsert it immediately, Win7 behaves normally in
the way it always has (card is FAT32).

Any ideas? It's not a great problem as it is easily fixed, but it
does puzzle me. Result of an update, perhaps?

I too can't read anything larger than 1GB SD card on my 9 Gateway and 5
Alienware card reader slots. Although my 3 netbooks can read at least up
to 16GB (I have three 16GB) cards just fine. And I too found that for
the other machines, you need an USB card reader to read the larger
(SDHC) cards.

I haven't checked on eBay lately, but I won auctions for them for 1 cent
or 6 cents each with free shipping from China. I don't know, but I have
over a dozen of them left and I have given many of them away. And they
work surprisingly great. So that is an option. They look a lot like this
one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180855915622

I guess now they go for less than 2 bucks each. The only flaw I found
with them is that they still will write to the card even if you have the
write protect switched on with the card.

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

Let me guess, you learned that in spy school.

Nope. I was packing it in my bag, and I wanted to be sure that
it did not pick up dirt.

Sincerely,

Gene "Double O as in 'Object-Oriented'" Wirchenko

 

[Ken Springer]

If
it is the copper tabs on the card itself... a clean pencil eraser works
really, really well.

LOL!!! I can't believe this kind of problem still rears it's ugly head!
Back in the days of the Atari 400/800, this was a problem with the
plug in memory cards for those old 8 bits. I regularly had to pull mine
out and go after the contacts. Found out that Scotch Brite pads, if you
weren't too aggressive, worked much better than an eraser.

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 11.0
Thunderbird 11.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.1.2

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <[email protected]>, R. C.

My first USB flash drive was 128 MB - yes, MEGAbyte - had an elongated
clamshell package. The back of the case separated from the front; the
small memory card inside was hanging by thin wires. I just taped it
together and kept using it.

My 2 newest 2 GB SD cards are from Goodwill: $1 each. ;<)

My first digital camera came with a 2 MB card! (I got an 8M one as well.
I subsequently found a card reader that wouldn't recognise the 2M one!)

1G USB sticks are now regularly given away: I got one for asking for a
free issue of a magazine (which I then cancelled: I did look at it, and
it was a good magazine, I just know I'd not have time to read it each
week), and my brother who works for the OED had some to give away with
their logo on them. Much as people may deride such "small" sticks, I
find them more than adequate for the use I'd put them to, which is
really transferring stuff between computers (I wouldn't use them for
long-term storage).
[]

"Jeff Layman" wrote in message news:[email protected]... []
If I then eject the card (through the USB symbol in the notification
area), pull it and reinsert it immediately, Win7 behaves normally in
the way it always has (card is FAT32).

Any ideas? It's not a great problem as it is easily fixed, but it
does puzzle me. Result of an update, perhaps?

[]
This original query still doesn't seem to have been answered! It doesn't
seem likely it's a loose connection, because the behaviour is
consistent. Someone's suggestion that it's the slowness of response of
the card that might be confusing the computer seems to have merit,
except I think Jeff said the odd behaviour had recently started on the
same card and computer where it didn't before. An update _might_ be to
blame, but if so that would suggest that - assuming the update is to
enable use of newer card types - there are newer card types whose use is
actually incompatible (at least to this minor extent) with older types,
which would be sad.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

I can live with doubt, and uncertainty, and not knowing. I think it's much
more *interesting* to live not knowing than to have answers which might be
wrong. - Richard Feynman, in 1981 Horizon interview