Corrupted SD card?....Weird

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

I just bought a Pentax Optio 30 for Mama.
I bought a new Sandisk 128 MB SD card to go with it.
I formatted the card in the camera and commenced to take a few test
shots. They all were normal and could all be reviewed in the camera.
I then loaded the card into my SIIG card reader connected to my PC (Win
Xp). When the DCIM folder appeared, Xp noted that the folder was EMPTY.
When I double clicked the folder to open it, I got a message tat said:
"File or directory is corrupted and unreadable".
I placed the card back in the camera to retake some pix.The camera said:
"Card is not formatted".
So I formatted it again in the camera and took a few pictures.
Everything behaved normally.
All of the pictures were viewable in the camera, so the data are there.
Back to the PC....DCIM folder is empty....Double click gives the same
error message as before, "File....is corrupted"
Now it gets really weird.
I put the card in my Panasonic FZ-15 and formatted it in the camera.
Took a few test shots in the FZ-15. All were viewable in the camera.
On the PC, I got the same results as before. Folder empty.. File corrupted.
Thinking that maybe my card reader was doing something nasty, I put a
512 MB Lexar SD card with a bunch of pix from my FZ-15, in the reader.
Everything was fine and normal. All the images were presented.

Is there some kind of magic that I can perform to make my Sandisk card
usable on my PC?
What could be corrupting the card?
If the card works in both cameras why won't it work in the PC?
Bob Williams

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Interesting Observation.
I'll try the card in a different reader/PC combination.
Bob

Paul wrote:
> I would say that you have a compatibility problem with the first card
> and the reader. Where I work we regularly see some devices (cameras,
> readers, etc) that have problems with certain card/device combinations.
> I remember one very frustrating problem with a Kodak not being
> recognised by the computer as long as a certain card was in the camera.
> The card and camera worked fine elsewhere. About 10 months later the
> card suddenly became a total failure. All cards have a certain
> tolerance. If the devices are at different ends of their tolerances
> there is a problem.
>
> Bob Williams wrote:
>
>> I just bought a Pentax Optio 30 for Mama.
>> I bought a new Sandisk 128 MB SD card to go with it.
>> I formatted the card in the camera and commenced to take a few test
>> shots. They all were normal and could all be reviewed in the camera.
>> I then loaded the card into my SIIG card reader connected to my PC
>> (Win Xp). When the DCIM folder appeared, Xp noted that the folder was
>> EMPTY.
>> When I double clicked the folder to open it, I got a message tat said:
>> "File or directory is corrupted and unreadable".
>> I placed the card back in the camera to retake some pix.The camera said:
>> "Card is not formatted".
>> So I formatted it again in the camera and took a few pictures.
>> Everything behaved normally.
>> All of the pictures were viewable in the camera, so the data are there.
>> Back to the PC....DCIM folder is empty....Double click gives the same
>> error message as before, "File....is corrupted"
>> Now it gets really weird.
>> I put the card in my Panasonic FZ-15 and formatted it in the camera.
>> Took a few test shots in the FZ-15. All were viewable in the camera.
>> On the PC, I got the same results as before. Folder empty.. File
>> corrupted.
>> Thinking that maybe my card reader was doing something nasty, I put a
>> 512 MB Lexar SD card with a bunch of pix from my FZ-15, in the reader.
>> Everything was fine and normal. All the images were presented.
>>
>> Is there some kind of magic that I can perform to make my Sandisk card
>> usable on my PC?
>> What could be corrupting the card?
>> If the card works in both cameras why won't it work in the PC?
>> Bob Williams
>>
>>

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Randy Berbaum wrote:
> Bob Williams <mytbobnospam@cox.net> wrote:
> : Interesting Observation.
> : I'll try the card in a different reader/PC combination.
> : Bob
>
> One other thought. I had a similar problem with an SD card I used in an
> MP3 recorder/player. If I formatted the card in the recorder and recorded
> to it, the card could not be read by my card reader under Windows. But if
> I formatted it under Windows the card could then be used in to record in the
> recorder and still be readable by Windows. So you might try formatting it
> in Windows and then see if your camera can use it without re-formatting
> it.
>
> I guess it can't hurt to try.
>
> Randy

That sounds like a plan and is easy enough to try.
Thanks for that tip.
Bob Williams