Don't Blame the Memory Card...Yet

[Jason Dunn]

Last year I bought a <a href="http://www.mobileplanet.com/private/pocketpcthoughts/product.asp?dept%5Fid=1435&pf%5Fid=MP853554&listing=1">Sandisk Cruzer with a 256 MB SD card included</a> (prices sure have dropped!) and I used the 256 MB SD card in my XDA. When I needed to copy over large amounts of data, I used the <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,2178">eMagic 6 in 1</a> memory card reader. I had been really pleased with the eMagic reader, and had no problems at all with any of my cards, until I got the 256 MB Sandisk card.<br /><br />When copying large files, I'd get "bad CRC" errors. I hadn't seen a bad CRC error in a decade! 8O I did a sector scan of the SD card, and it came up clean - yet no matter how many times I tried, I'd keep getting the same error when trying to copy over a large Pharos GPS map. I contacted Sandisk, sent back the card, and received a replacement. The entire process took over a month, which is quite ridiculous when you think about how vital a memory card is - I wish Sandisk would do cross-shipping. But I digress...<br /><br />I received the new card, and it had the same problem! I was quite displeased with Sandisk shipping me what I thought was another bad memory card, and nearly did a rant about my experience here, but I held off and contacted their tech support again. They asked me to try the memory card reader on a different computer. I thought this was a silly suggestion, but I grudgingly complied. I received the same errors when the eMagic reader was plugged into my laptop. I was starting to suspect the reader, so, playing a hunch, I put the SD card into a Pretec SD to CF adaptor, then put that into a CF to PCMCIA adaptor (boy did that look strange!). And, much to my delight, I was able to copy many large files, and even one singular file that was 130 MB in size!<br /><br />So the lesson of this story is that the next time you have a problem with a memory card, try using it in a different memory card reader - you may not have a bad card after all. Now off to get one of those <a href="http://www.mobileplanet.com/private/pocketpcthoughts/product.asp?dept%5Fid=1440&pf%5Fid=MP853544&listing=1">new Sandisk USB 2.0 All-in-One</a> card readers. [Affiliate]

[egads]

So the lesson of this story is that the next time you have a problem with a memory card, try using it in a different memory card reader - you may not have a bad card after all. Now off to get one of those new Sandisk USB 2.0 All-in-One (http://www.mobileplanet.com/private/pocketpcthoughts/product.asp?dept%5Fid=1440&pf%5Fid=MP853544&listing=1) card readers. [Affiliate]

I just started using the Sandisk USB 2.0 All-In-One and boy is it fast.
I highly recommend it...

[jizmo]

I've also used the Sandisk Cruzer and it has completely changed the way I exhange data between computers, pda's and digital cameras. I've never had such freedom of conveniently transferring data in a small package, and nowadays I'd feel downright crippled if I couldn't use my SD card with any desktop computer like I can today.

For the Sandisk cards, I heard some warnings but I myself don't have anything but praises. They've worked flawlessly for me and are quite moderately priced.

/jizmo

[Hank Scorpio]

I have a compact flash card with the name AVL on it. It's a192 mb card but I can only copy 18 mb before the whole thing freezes. I ran drfrag on it and then did a scandisk for errors and nothing, I've used 3 different card readers to see if it's the reader, but I get the same results for each one. The problem started when I lent the card to my brother and he tried to get pictures f of it through his Sandisk card reader on a Mac. since then it's been screwed. Anyone know how to fix it or is the card destined for the garbage? I bought it on eBay so I can't find out if there is a wareranty or where to send it.

thanks for any help

[Jonathon Watkins]

I've just bought a 256Mb Sandisk Cruzer as well - it should arrive any day now. :D

That USB2, 6 in 1 USB Flash Card Reader looks nice....... 8)

[fivespeed]

Jason, I don't know the specs of the eMagic reader. But I know most people that have problems with 256 MB SD cards in fact have card readers that only support up to 128 MB SD cards. I know fry's electronics was selling one for cheap (most people got in on that deal) which only supported 128 MB SD cards. They were getting CRC errors as well with their SanDisk 256's.

[PPCRules]

WAIT, Wait, wait. A bit too fast, Jason.

If the card doesn't work in any reader that another SD card works in, there is something wrong with the card. Maybe 'defective' is too strong a word for it, but there is something wrong. And again, if any other SD card works in the reader, you can't call the reader defective.

I would at best call it 'unacceptable', and the manufacturer or retailer should be obligated to take it back. I had this very experience with a Lexar CF memory card, where it worked in one reader but not another. I wasn't willing to accept the hassle having that around would cause so I returned it. And now I avoid an Lexar memory product so as not to get into that again. (I've had no other problems like that among about 6 or 7 other brand cards in seven or so readers and devices.)

[whitey]

Over and over again i hear and read about people having problems with SanDisk SD cards. After all the problems and issues with theese cards i would NEVER buy one!! Instead i got myself a Lexar 512mb SD and im very pleased with it. It reads and writes fast and i've copied also 350mb mpeg1 videos with no problem on it. Finally i can carry around my ipaq without bulky jackets!!

[JackG]

I just bought one from ecost.com http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?dpno=445222

and it is only $69 with free shipping in the USA

[klinux]

I got my 256MB Cruzer from Ecost three months ago for $100! Damn price drops. :)

I have a firewire CF reader for the last 12 months and love it. Where are those firewire multi-format readers!?

[MPSmith]

Over and over again i hear and read about people having problems with SanDisk SD cards. After all the problems and issues with theese cards i would NEVER buy one!!

I agree with you Whitey. Most of the problems I've read about (and have experienced) with Sandisk SD cards have nothing to do with a reader. Jason certainly might be right about the reader issue. The larger issue with Sandisk SD cards is that they quite often don't work. Period.

[Howard2k]

I had two working Sandisk MMC cards but then invested in a 128MB SD card for my camera. 3 faulty SD Cards in one month later and I'm now using a Lexar SD. It's faster and I've had no problems with it in any devices. The SD cards were losing data in a reproducable scenario in multiple devices.

Utter garbage.

[Paul P]

I purchased a Belkin USB 2.0 PCI card to go along with my Sandisk 6-in-1 reader. For some reason, I exprienced my first bluescreen ever after attempting to transfer a large file to my Sandisk 256MB SD. :) Now I am back to using USB 1.1, which is still a great deal faster as opposed transferring files directly to iPaq. One thing I noticed though is that USB 2.0 was not much faster when compared to USB 1.1. Maybe it was just my machine.

[trapper]

I received the same errors when the eMagic reader was plugged into my laptop. I was starting to suspect the reader

Why did you suspect the reader at this point? None of the critical components was changed. Getting the same errors at this point would have been expected. The Sandisk support may have meant to try a different reader on another computer.

[Janak Parekh]

Why did you suspect the reader at this point? None of the critical components was changed. Getting the same errors at this point would have been expected. The Sandisk support may have meant to try a different reader on another computer.
You'll notice he said that he started having problems when he got the 256MB card. I recently got a Lexar 512MB card, and one of the three readers I use gets very confused with it: reports corruption everywhere. The other two, and the Pocket PC, handle it fine. (The first one handled my 128MB Sandisk card without problems.)

I think the conclusion is keep your mind and options open -- it's not as obvious as it always seems.

--janak

[rmasinag]

I wish I can say the same thing about Memorex. I had 2 128 meg SM cards die with my precious photos, the second one a replacement. I 'm never getting any card from them again....

BTW...this my be off topic but my Imation FlashGo reader is really small and really reliable! I've had it for about 2 yrs now and still rocks, I must have used it on at least 50 different systems and it has not yet failed me. There is a USB2 version out. I'll buy it when I lose this one(hope not)

But for desktop I recommend a Firewire mutlicard reader. Personally the high thoroughput Firewire beats the peaks only specs of USB2.

just my 50 cents 0X

[rmasinag]

I have a firewire CF reader for the last 12 months and love it. Where are those firewire multi-format readers!?


I bought my my all in one(no xD) Firewire reader from synchrotech for about $80..expensive but worth the money. I sold my USB2 all in one reader for this one.

I think the reader is really manufactured by Carry(Taiwaneese company) under the Synchrotech name her in the US. :mrgreen:

[CESkins]

One thing I noticed though is that USB 2.0 was not much faster when compared to USB 1.1. Maybe it was just my machine.

The limitation is not your PC but rather the read/write speed of the memory card. I did some calculations with CF cards and you will see some benefit to moving to USB2 (especially for reads from the card) but not much.

I have a firewire CF reader for the last 12 months and love it. Where are those firewire multi-format readers!?

Firewire is no faster than USB2 (if memory serves) and USB appears to be a bit more ubiquitous.

[egads]

I purchased a Belkin USB 2.0 PCI card to go along with my Sandisk 6-in-1 reader. For some reason, I exprienced my first bluescreen ever after attempting to transfer a large file to my Sandisk 256MB SD. :) Now I am back to using USB 1.1, which is still a great deal faster as opposed transferring files directly to iPaq. One thing I noticed though is that USB 2.0 was not much faster when compared to USB 1.1. Maybe it was just my machine.

I went with the Adaptec USB 2.0 PCI card. Works great, never a problem. I use it with a USB 2.0 Diskdrive, USB 2.0 Scanner, and the Sandisk USB 2.0 6in1 reader...

[beezer23]

Word of warning on the Sandisk 6 in 1 reader... I've gone through two, supposedly defective units. From what I have read elsewhere, Sandisk may have some issues with non-Sandisk flash memory. Just food for thought... :roll:

[CESkins]

Word of warning on the Sandisk 6 in 1 reader... I've gone through two, supposedly defective units. From what I have read elsewhere, Sandisk may have some issues with non-Sandisk flash memory. Just food for thought... :roll:

Hmmm...sounds bad. I just bought a Dazzle 8-in-1 USB2 card reader and it has performed flawlessly to date. Also came with free software for creating DVD picture discs.

[st63z]

I got my 256MB Cruzer from Ecost three months ago for $100! Damn price drops. :)

Had bought mine for like ~$160-170 as I recall. But no regrets, have been using it everyday (hooked to my keychain) to transfer files back/forth to/from work, very useful :)

I purchased a Belkin USB 2.0 PCI card to go along with my Sandisk 6-in-1 reader. For some reason, I exprienced my first bluescreen ever after attempting to transfer a large file to my Sandisk 256MB SD. :)
I went with the Adaptec USB 2.0 PCI card. Works great, never a problem. I use it with a USB 2.0 Diskdrive, USB 2.0 Scanner, and the Sandisk USB 2.0 6in1 reader...

I use the Adaptec combo card in one PC (other combo brands in other PCs). I too like Adaptec but it might've been better if they just used the standard drivers instead of their own...

[Jason Dunn]

If the card doesn't work in any reader that another SD card works in, there is something wrong with the card.

Well, I only have three methods of testing the card:

1) In a Pocket PC
2) In the eMagic Memory card reader
3) In the Pretec adaptor

It works great in scenarios one and three, but not two, hence my feeling that the eMagic reader is to blame. Is there a flaw in my logic? :-)

BTW, I have a flu and fever of 101, so I just may be delusional... :mrgreen:

[Janak Parekh]

BTW, I have a flu and fever of 101, so I just may be delusional... :mrgreen:
No, I think you're making more sense than usual. :lol:

I think there are more defective cards and defective readers on the market than there should be. In your case, it was the latter.

--janak

p.s. Feel better, Jason. Don't sit at your computer for long periods of time. Stay in bed with your Pocket PC. ;)

[darrylb]

I got a SimpleTech Bonzai minidrive (which consists of a 128Mb SD card and reader) with my 3970 last year. I have never had a problem with it, until I bought a Sandisk 256 Mb SD Card. My experience was exactly the same as Jasons, I put the Sandisk card in the Bonzai drive and I got CRC errors. I too asked for a new card which also had the same problems. It was at this point that I started wondering about the reader.

I tried a cheap reader from Dick Smith Electronics (the Australian and New Zealand version of Frys) which worked fine with the 256 Mb card (even though it only said it worked on up to 128Mb cards :? ). So I ordered a Sandisk USB 2 6 in 1 reader which (surprise) works fine.

I did a bit of reading and came accross much the same thing with regards to readers that cannot read cards bigger than 128 Mb.

Which makes me wonder - does anyone know the technical reason why these readers dont work beyond 128Mb? The drivers these things use (in XP and 2k anyway) are much the same as the ones used for compact flash or even for that matter cdrom drives - they use a universal storage driver of some description - and the same drivers works on th 256Mb card fine. So there is something different in the readers. But my questions is what and why?

Why not make a reader that just reads the boundaries of the card and figures itself out?

Any ideas?

[hyonj]

Jason,

You mentioned the pretec SD to CF adapter. Where can a person get one of those? And what is the price? :)

Thanks!

[Dave Beauvais]

... my Imation FlashGo reader is really small and really reliable! I've had it for about 2 yrs now and still rocks ...
I have this reader, too, and like it a lot. (Though with all the little adapter modules, it's a total of four parts to keep track of.) Another nice thing is that its firmware is flash upgradeable! This page (http://www.imation.com/en_US/pages/forms/GoTo09_03_01.jhtml;jsessionid=UEPNSRPGJIZN2CTFOBQSFFIKMVYGEIV0?_requestid=56373) at Imation's site contains few firmware upgrades that improve compatability or resolve other problems.

If your reader is working fine, don't bother upgrading the firmware, though, since you can't downgrade it later if things get worse. FWIW, I flashed the latest firmware and it fixed a problem I was having formatting a SmartMedia card that my camera was having issues with. Prior to the firmware upgrade I was unable to format it.

Anyone having problems (or suspected problems) with their card reader should check to see if it is upgradeable via flash updates. Not all are, but I'm sure the Imation isn't the only one out there that is.

--Dave

[Jason Dunn]

You mentioned the pretec SD to CF adapter. Where can a person get one of those? And what is the price? :)

You can get one from MobilePlanet (http://www.mobileplanet.com/private/pocketpcthoughts/product.asp?dept%5Fid=1440&pf%5Fid=MP970838&listing=1) for $49.95. I find having one quite handy!

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

You'll notice he said that he started having problems when he got the 256MB card. I recently got a Lexar 512MB card, and one of the three readers I use gets very confused with it: reports corruption everywhere. The other two, and the Pocket PC, handle it fine. (The first one handled my 128MB Sandisk card without problems.)
I have an old SD-to-PCMCIA card reader, but through trial-and-error, I discovered that it can't properly support cards larger than 128MB. I get a lot of corrupted data when reading or writing data via this card adapter, so I never use it anymore.

[klinux]

Firewire is no faster than USB2 (if memory serves) and USB appears to be a bit more ubiquitous.

Indeed their speed is about the same but firewire was out a lot longer before USB2. All my PCs and Mac have FW but none has USB 2. Also, FW is more stable than USB 2 from anectodal comparisons. Don't get me wrong, I still have a USB 1.1 reader and obviously the Cruzer too but I am just used to 400 mbits/sec for too long!

[Pony99CA]

Last year I bought a Sandisk Cruzer with a 256 MB SD card included (http://www.mobileplanet.com/private/pocketpcthoughts/product.asp?dept%5Fid=1435&pf%5Fid=MP853554&listing=1) (prices sure have dropped!) and I used the 256 MB SD card in my XDA. When I needed to copy over large amounts of data, I used the eMagic 6 in 1 (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,2178) memory card reader. I had been really pleased with the eMagic reader, and had no problems at all with any of my cards, until I got the 256 MB Sandisk card.
I've got two questions for you, Jason.

First, as you mentioned that you bought the Cruzer, why didn't you try that reader when you had problems with the eMagic? A previous post said you only had your Pocket PC, your eMagic and your Pretec adapter, but the Cruzer is a USB SD card reader.

Second, are you going to update the eMagic review to reflect this new information?

Steve

[st63z]

I'm kinda confused.. Thought SD is more like CF and other formats where enough of the controller logic is on the card itself and is not like SmartMedia where all the intelligence has to depend on the reader. OK that's a gross simplification, but I thought the size recognition capability wouldn't be restricted as in SmartMedia...?