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View Full Version : Corrupt SD Card saga continues


Trimac20
03-05-2004, 06:21 AM
This morning, on the bus I was looking forward to listening to my newly-created music playlist (after deleting the entire former playlist and creating a new one) numbering 65 or so WMA songs only to find, to my horror, they were totally unplayable! (you know, they are grey and not coloured in like usual song titles). On further investigation, I found that the 'Audio' folder I had created in my Storage Card folder, which contained all the songs, was gone! I did not delete the folder, so it appears it must have deleted itself.

Furthermore, I also realised a few programs stored on my SD Card were missing. Among them, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Realplayer and Age of Empires (all of which were stored on my memory card and not on the main memory). The programs stored on the main memory were fine. I'm going to try to re-format the card and (fingers crossed) re-install everything and hopefully it will work as normal, but what I want to know is what caused the file corruption? I admit I do occaisionally take out the SD Card ('hot-swapping) while the ipaq is still turned on but I am pretty sure this is permissable. A few days ago I used the cradle and synced it on another pc, but I don't think that would have done anything. The only other thing I can think of is the fact I used it briefly to take a few photos on a digital camera. Could this have potentially corrupted the digital memory card in some way? Come to think of it, the problems began shortly after I used the card in the camera.

So if you know what the problem is, please share your wisdom. As for me, a tedious re-formatting is in order. Well, at least I've got all the data backed up!

Janak Parekh
03-05-2004, 09:03 PM
Let me guess - is it a Sandisk? There have been scattered reports of spontaneous corruption with some Sandisk units. If so, and if the reformat doesn't help, you might have to get a replacement. :|

As for hot-swapping, that should not cause corruption so long as you're not accessing the SD card. I do it all the time with my Lexar 512MB unit without any ill effects.

--janak

Ripper014
03-05-2004, 10:01 PM
The Camera could be an issue... but camera's normally tell you when they need to reformat the card to use it... other than that... like Janak said... do not remove a card that is in use... that can create grief...

And the biggest thing... careful with SanDisk SD Cards... I have had 3 go bad on me... and the last one I refused to return for a replacement... I insisted on purchasing another brand with a credit instead... so far my Lexar is doing well...

JonnoB
03-05-2004, 10:26 PM
I recently had this happen to me. I have all of my games installed on a 256MB SD card. One day, when I went to launch a game, it said "This is not a valid application" ... or something like that. I tried another - same thing, then another - that one worked. I took out the SD card, deleted the programs with my reader and reinstalled them again. They are ok, but will it happen again. Yes, the card is a SanDisk.

Mark_Venture
03-05-2004, 11:59 PM
When I had the problems of file corruption with my SanDisk card, I just popped the card out of the iPAQ and into the memory reader attached to my PC. Ran scandisk on it. Popped it back in the iPAQ and it worked.

After this happening about 4 times in 3 months, I picked up a Lexar. No problems so far (going on 4 months now). The Sandisk is now a "spare" just in case...

Trimac20
03-06-2004, 04:56 AM
Yes, the Card is a 256 MB Sandisk SD Card. Damn, I don't know if I can return it. It cost me AU$199 and a 256MB SD Card is hard to find here.

Trimac20
03-06-2004, 04:58 AM
I reformatted the card and re-installed everything. So far working fine...just hope the Card doesn't play up on me again. :?

foosball_monkey
03-09-2004, 07:15 PM
Sandisk cards seem like they have a lot of problems and aren't highly recommended. Lexar, Panasonic, and PNY seem like they all get high ratings from reviewers on Amazon, newegg.com, and other sites. I recently ordered a 256 MB PNY card and hopefully I won't have any problems with it, but even if I do, they have a lifetime warranty on the card. :) Most cards only have a 5 year warranty, if at all.

tanalasta
03-10-2004, 06:44 AM
Yes, the Card is a 256 MB Sandisk SD Card. Damn, I don't know if I can return it. It cost me AU$199 and a 256MB SD Card is hard to find here.

Actually, good SD cards are not that hard to find in Australia. Smaller computer shops will stock them at reasonable prices compared to the exorbitant amount you'll pay at a bigger-chain store.

Your best option for a reasonable price other than purchasing overseas is via the internet. Ebay has some reasonable prices as does the websites mentioned above.