Sandisk Secure Digital Memory Card Problems

[isilver]

I just recently purchased a new sandisk 256Meg card for my Axim X5. It's the first secure digital card that I have ever had. Some weird things are occuring and I am not sure if this is what the secure digital card is suppose to do or not.

I receive a card and it had no information on it. Everytime I delete a file it seems like that space is not recovered. It says I start off with about 240 megs. I put on a 5 meg file and it tells me there is 235 megs available. If I delete that file it still tells me that I have 235 megs available. Does this file get sored on SD card somewhere that I can't see it?

I have also noticed when I delete all the files on the card and do a soft reset it asks me to format the card. I of course choose yes because that will reset the size of the card back to normal.

I have even tried to replace the card with no luck. It seems like a lot of people are having these same problems.

Is this a issue with Sandisk or with my Dell Axim or what? If I was to purchase a compact flash card could I expect the same problems?

[Stealthboy]

I and many others had nothing but trouble with Sandisk SD cards. I'd suggest returning the Sandisk card and purchasing a different brand. Just do a search in the forums for Sandisk problems and you'll find plenty of unhappy Sandisk card owners. I returned the 2 256MB Sandisk SD cards I originally bought for Lexar after having the same problems you mentioned.

[PetiteFlower]

240 megs is the correct amount of space on a 256M card. This is a universal difference across all types of storage medium and it has to do with the industry "estimating" the number of bytes in a megabyte. You'll see the same thing on a hard drive or any other type of storage device.

Dell has had some issues with writing to SD cards(all brands) using the device rather then a separate card reader. Pick up a $20 card reader and see if you get the same problem. You'll also be able to use Scandisk and Formatting windows utilities with a card reader(because it shows up under "My Computer" as another drive). I've had no problems with my Sandisk card but I've had the card reader the whole time. It's also a HECK of a lot faster writing to the card through the reader!

[Anthony Caruana]

I've had a number of different Sandisk cards (CF and SD) and can say that I have had no problems with either. I have only used the SD card in an iPAQ 3850.

However, when I read some of the stories about Sandisk cards I ma not sure if that has just been luck.

Given the stuff I have read (just do a search on :google: for SD card issues) I doubt that I'll buy another Sandisk SD card

The comment about using a card reader is also pertinent. It is a much quicker way to transfer lots of data to your card than via the PDA/cradle.

Good luck

[Pat Logsdon]

There is a HUGE (87 page) topic on this subject (http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dellpda&message.id=16086&view=by_date_ascending&page=1) over on the Dell Handheld technical board.

One of the participants in that forum has created a site (http://freespace.virgin.net/jon.crawford/index.htm) that lists the cards that do and do not work in the Axim.

[PetiteFlower]

Hm I didn't think it had anything to do with the cards themselves, I thought it was a problem with the Axim and the way it writes to the cards.

[Pat Logsdon]

Hm I didn't think it had anything to do with the cards themselves, I thought it was a problem with the Axim and the way it writes to the cards.
From reading the threads over on the Dell Forum, it looks like it's a combination of Dell's reader and the SanDisk controller.

For example, I have a WORKING Sandisk 256mb SD card that was made in October of '02. Cards made in November of '02 to the current date will NOT work for more than a few weeks without corrupting.

The consensus seems to be that SanDisk changed the controller inside the SD card sometime around October of last year.

Another problem is that SanDisk controllers are rebranded by other resellers, like Lexar, Viking, Integral, Transcend, etc., so you may get burned even if you don't buy a SanDisk. Fortunately, it seems like Lexar gets about half of their stock of controllers from SanDisk, and the other half from Hitachi. The Hitachi cards work great.

I bought a Chinese (SanDisk) Lexar several weeks ago, which died within a day. I shipped it off to Lexar, and they sent me back a Japanese card (Hitachi), which is rock solid.

Simpletech cards (http://pocketpcthoughts.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=611919/search=simpletech%2520sd/ut=946b0a146be5ed46) all seem to work without a hitch, but are a bit pricier.

The way I see it, Dell didn't do anything wrong - all of the SD cards on the market worked in the Axim when it was released. SanDisk is the one that changed the controller - apparently before thoroughly testing it with the Axim.

[PetiteFlower]

Ah that explains why it's not limited to Sandisk cards.

Now if I continue to write to the card using only the card reader, I should be able to avoid the problem right? I don't know when my card was made but I've been using it for about 5-6 months now with no problems.

[Pat Logsdon]

Now if I continue to write to the card using only the card reader, I should be able to avoid the problem right? I don't know when my card was made but I've been using it for about 5-6 months now with no problems.
If you've been using it for that long, I'd imagine it's using an old (good) controller. But yeah, if you write to it with a card reader, you should be good. You might want to lock the card when it's in the Axim, however, just to be on the safe side. :wink:

[isilver]

Based on the poll above it seems that 50% of the people that use a SD card have had problems. What kind of world are we living in when technology gets released and only 50% of the people are satisfied. I hope the future holds more reliable components.

[PetiteFlower]

24 people is not a big enough sample to draw conclusions from though....and any poll from this page is going to be pretty biased anyway, so take it with a few grains of salt.

[isilver]

I have contacted Sandisk and they have informed me that there is a problem with the Dell Axim X5 systems and the new sandisks. What they have done is offered to exchange the SD card with a compact flash card for free. Here is what they have said:

This is an issue that we are currently researching further and are trying to determine a solution at this time. We can offer you an exchange of the SD card for a CF card of the same capacity regarding this known issue. We have no known issues with CF cards and the Dell Axim. Dell Axims are the only PDA's to display these types of issues using SanDisk SD cards.