Strange SmartMedia Storage Card Issues

[barky81]

Well, this one is gonna hurt...

I have a 128 meg SmartMedia card that I access through a 4-in-1 PCMCIA adapter in my Dual PC Card Expansion Sleeve on my IPAQ 3870.

It seems to have "disappeared" on me.

That is, on startup, I get a "format this card" popup dialog. (Which I am currently declining...)

I cannot see the card's content in File Explorer (though inserting and removing it makes the "Slot2" folder appear and disappear?!?!?!!?)

If I look at it from Settings/System/Memory/Storage...it shows "Slot2" in the dropdown selector, but reports all memory counters at 0.00 MB (including total card memory).

Finally, if I look at it with StorageTools, it reports it as unformatted and won't let me scan it, or repair it or anything else.

BUT, on the desktop, if I stick the card in my USB reader, it shows "blank" in Windows Explorer, but if I select properties it reports the correct overall space, AND the CORRECT amount of consumed space taken up by files (even though I cannot see them). (Now, I am not talking about ActiveSync or looking under Mobile Device, which is useless...)

This is not the first time this has happened to me, though it has been months since the last time (different SmartMedia media). I wrote it off as a fluke before, but now I believe it's a problem--the question is where:

In the PocketPC software?
In the IPAQ ROM?
In the Dual PC Sleeve?
In the 4-in-1 Adapter? (name withheld until more info gathered)
In the SmartMedia (looks unlikely since they are different brands from different sources)?

Okay, anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions on recovering my data before I wipe out 118 megs of files?

Thanks!

[bmhome1]

Your SmartMedia card may be corrupted and need to be reformatted. But first, did you try a soft reset with the card inserted? In the future keep an archive copy of the card's files on the PC to revert to painlessly if it happens again. SmartMedia cards aren't particularly "smart" in general and are being phased out with more stable designs.

How was the card formatted originally? Was it formatted in a camera originally? If you use Storage Tools, select "backup Fat" for a backup directory install.

Be sure all cards have a My Documents folder present, even if empty. I also find the presense of an invisible file "ignore_my_docs" 0K helps (it will be added automatically by PDA), even though it is supposed to be not needed if the My Documents folder is present. This is a poor implementation of external card management by PC2002's design.

The dual slot sleeve will name added cards "Slot2" or even "Slot22" as needed when inserted. BTW, I never insert/remove cards without turning off PPC first.

Also, I have had very few problems with CF cards, especially in a Dual Memplug sleeve. But with the Dual PC card sleeve, more have happened, especially when a PCMCIA hard drive was inserted. A 4-in-1 PC adaptor for SD cards always works.

Even with all this, occasionally the "unrecognized card do you want to format" dialog will pop up. Soft resetting with card inserted usually cures the anomoly, and drive then mounts properly. All you can do is try to keep those ocurrances to a minimum, and accept the design's fluke.