kingston 2gb problem!

[mscdex]

Recently I received a Kingston 2gb pcmcia drive for my ipaq 3635. At first it was working fine, copying mp3s, etc. But after I copied some things and i had my ipaq turned off to let it charge. Awhile later, I pick up my ipaq, turn it on, and what happens? I get a message box asking me if i want to format the storage card!? If i press no, the OS doesn't recognize it (even though i formatted it FAT16 using Cnetx's flashformat the firs time around), and if i press yes, all my data is lost? Can someone please shed some light as to what is going on? Thanks in advance.

BTW, after I press No on the message box, i go into FlashFormat, and it says 'no storage card detected.' Anyone else have these problems? :(

One more thing: the files show up when I put my ipaq on the usb cradle turn it off, then turn it on again (while still on the cradle), but not when I take it off the cradle! I hear the drive spin up (high pitched noise) when I try to access it while off the cradle, but the sound only lasts for a few seconds). Again.... any ideas?

[Janak Parekh]

You've tried all the obvious things (soft-reset, reseat sleeve, etc.), right?

If you're still having problems pop the card into a notebook and see what that yields you.

--janak

[mscdex]

Yeah, I tried reseating the sleeve, and soft resetting. And I have no laptops to try the card out on. I just find it strange that the card can be read and written to fine when it's on the cradle. :?

[JonnoB]

Yeah, I tried reseating the sleeve, and soft resetting. And I have no laptops to try the card out on. I just find it strange that the card can be read and written to fine when it's on the cradle. :?

It seems to me that the device is having problems getting power. Set your display to the lowest light settings and see if that makes a difference.

[mscdex]

Ok, I managed to get ahold of a laptop to try it out on, and the card works fine in it. I can see the directories, copy, delete, etc. fine. I tried setting the backlight to PowerSave, and then did a soft reset, and it still asks me if i want to format the card. Any other ideas? :?

Another thing: I took the power cable from the cradle and plugged it into my pc sleeve's power connector, and now the drive can be read, written to,etc. fine. Does this mean there's something wrong with my sleeve, or the drive itself?

[JonnoB]

Does your sleeve have a battery? If so, make sure it is charged.

[mscdex]

Yeah, it's the regular PC Card expansion sleeve. I charged both of them up in the cradle, still no go. But I took the power cable from the cradle and hooked it up to my expansion sleeve, and now both lights (ppc & sleeve) are blinking, and have been for about 15 minutes now. I thought they were both already charged! :roll:

[mscdex]

Ok, it seems that the charging was not the problem. I tried a suggestion I found on brighthand: turn the ipaq off, slide the exp. pack off, reinsert the card, turn the ipaq on, reseat the ipaq onto the exp. pack. That didn't work. Any other suggestions?

[Janak Parekh]

Sounds like the battery in your PC sleeve might be toast?

--janak

[mscdex]

The battery works fine because it works with other pcmcia ata cards, and the battery meter changes (i use battery pack 2002) from say 1 1/2 hours (w/o exp. pack) to 4 or 5 hours with the exp. pack on. So the battery can't be bad... at least I hope it isn't :(

[fmmanley]

I had that same problem. I actually have a PCMCIA Card reader in my pc, and my problem was XP formatted it differtly than the iPaq (I have the 3635). When I installed XP SP1 my problems dissappeared. My guess is that XP SP1 has better support for the iPaq file system. Hope that helps you. :D

[Pony99CA]

The battery works fine because it works with other pcmcia ata cards, and the battery meter changes (i use battery pack 2002) from say 1 1/2 hours (w/o exp. pack) to 4 or 5 hours with the exp. pack on. So the battery can't be bad... at least I hope it isn't :(
How old is your PC Card sleeve? The battery may be good enough to power some things, but not supplying enough voltage for the hard disk card.

Steve

[bmhome1]

I have a brand new 3955, dual sleeve and new 2GB Toshiba drive, and get the same "format..?" dialog box about 25% of turn-ons. Ejecting and re-inserting the drive usually gets it recognized, sometime two or three tries are needed. Then all is well for days on-end. Then it returns for a day or two.

I've made sure a My Documents folder is present, along with an invisible "ignore_my_docs" 0kb file present as has been suggested elsewhere.

Next I'm trying the new EUU to see if resolves the issue.

I've also wondered if BatteryPack 2003's drive icon/percentage display has involvement.

I have a feeling this is a quirk in PPC2002, it has happened once or twice (out of hundreds of turn-ons) also with CF cards.

[mscdex]

The battery works fine because it works with other pcmcia ata cards, and the battery meter changes (i use battery pack 2002) from say 1 1/2 hours (w/o exp. pack) to 4 or 5 hours with the exp. pack on. So the battery can't be bad... at least I hope it isn't :(
How old is your PC Card sleeve? The battery may be good enough to power some things, but not supplying enough voltage for the hard disk card.

Steve

I'm not sure how old it is, I purchased the unit and everything that came with it last August. Now, how long the previous person had it for, I don't know. But I was just hoping there was some inexpensive way of fixing this problem, so I don't have to waste money on another PC Sleeve, especially since I was sort of considering about buying an Axim. :?

[tekipaq]

8O Hi...I also have a 2 gig card and have had problems with it being recognized from time to time...I had my expansion pack switched out from HP and the problems are less frequent but still occur.

My worst nightmare was that after one of these episodes many of my files were toasted and were written to Filecheck files after error checking with Storage Tools. I needed to reinstall those programs. It would appear that the rom in this pcmcia drive might be slightly incompatible; although I have been using it for about six months; only from time to time are there problems.

I have gotten used to reinserting removing until it recognizes the card...It could take up to 15 minutes of playing with it to get it recognized.... but it does eventually get recognized again.

I wonder if this drive has any firmware updates available.....to make the drive more reliable....Just my two cents

[ddavtian]

Bringing back 6 months old topic :(

I'm having the same problem on my pcmcia card. I have it for almost a year (was brand new), worked fine until recently. Now very, very often I get the same "format?" question. Toshiba 2Gb card works fine on my laptop anf the pack works with CF convertor.

Did anybody find a solution?
Thanks,
David

[bmhome1]

See my post above. Having the "My Documents" folder and "ignore_my_docs" 0k file present has reduced my "format?" dialog boxes to maybe 10% of turn-ons now. Turning-off and on usually clears up the issue. Just accepted the quirk. I still wonder about BatteryPack's display icons involvement.

[rhmorrison]

If nothing sticks to Teflon then how does Teflon stick to the pan?
Scientifically speaking, Teflon will not chemically bond to anything, but can be forced mechanically into small nooks and crannies. This slippery substance adheres to their surfaces once manufacturers sandblast them to roughen them, apply a primer, and embed the Teflon into the primer

[maximus]

:nonono: Heheh.


p.s. huh ? where is the old nonono emoticon ? the one with the wiggling finger ?

[mscdex]

If nothing sticks to Teflon then how does Teflon stick to the pan?
Scientifically speaking, Teflon will not chemically bond to anything, but can be forced mechanically into small nooks and crannies. This slippery substance adheres to their surfaces once manufacturers sandblast them to roughen them, apply a primer, and embed the Teflon into the primer

Whoa.... déjà vu. :wink:

[blang]

I had this same problem with a 2 gig kingston card and my IPAQ 3955. Even my husband got the same error message on his 3955 with this card and no problems with his 5gig Toshiba card. I contacted Kingston and Compaq and could not get the problem resolved. Kingston finally sent me a 5 gig card and everything is working fine.

We both came to the conclusion that there was a compatibility problem with the 2gig kingston and the IPAQ 3955.

[GoldKey]

Anybody know of a cheap source for the 2 and 5 GB cards. Tigerdirect had them cheap a few months back but don't have them anymore. I got the CF to PC card adapter for my Dell and really want a ton of storage for when I travel (movies/music/transfer photos from camera). This would let me leave the laptop home on vacation.

[maximus]

purchased mine from dell for $145, but now it is $200+

dell (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A0009182&cs=19&c=us&l=en?order_code=DTAFD&DGVCode=SS)

The only place I find selling it below $200 is here (http://www.lacc.com/lacc/datasheets/accessories/TOSHIBA/HDD1232CZP40002.HTM)

[GoldKey]

Thanks, I found the 5GB at new egg for 180 with free shipping. Good deal, but I was hoping for the deal Tiger had on the 2GB a few months back (a friend paid about $80).