Strange SD Issue - Missing Data - No Reformat Necessary

[Paula]

Now I know I have seen many posts here regarding SD cards that have gone bad but this is a little strange. This morning I have a ton of files on my SD card, now I have none, yet when I look to see how much storage I have left on my SD card I am down 25 MB. This is the same ampount of space that my original files took up. My PPC can read and write to the card so the SD card does NOT need to be reformatted. The only thing I can figure is that somehow, without knowing, I deleted the files or did something so the files can't be read.

Because I can still read/write to the SD card without having to reformat the card is it possible to recall the deleted files the way you can on a PC?

Paula

[Pony99CA]

Now I know I have seen many posts here regarding SD cards that have gone bad but this is a little strange. This morning I have a ton of files on my SD card, now I have none, yet when I look to see how much storage I have left on my SD card I am down 25 MB. This is the same ampount of space that my original files took up. My PPC can read and write to the card so the SD card does NOT need to be reformatted. The only thing I can figure is that somehow, without knowing, I deleted the files or did something so the files can't be read.

Because I can still read/write to the SD card without having to reformat the card is it possible to recall the deleted files the way you can on a PC?
Maybe. Before writing to the card (which is probably too late), run a CHKDSK (or the Windows equivalent) on the card from your main PC.

I lost some files on an SD card once, but checking the disk on my PC recovered several of them. They'll come back with strange names, so you'll have to figure out what they contain and rename them yourself.

By the way, just because you can read from and write to the card doesn't mean you shouldn't reformat. If you're losing files, I definitely would reformat. After doing the recovery procedure above, copy the entire contents of the card to your PC, reformat the storage card, then copy the contents back.

Steve

[luiskim]

something similar happened to me too. I formated my SD card using a digital camera and took a buch of pictures. Everything was great until i inserted the card back to my PPC. The pictures that I just took were gone... there was 124mb free out of 124mb... and i took like lots of pictures with the camera in 3MP resolution...

The funny thing is that i was forgeting about it... i filled my SD card with music and used it for a like a month now... but last night i inserted the the SD card on my digital camera and all the pictures that i took a month ago were there were all the picutres... to put it in my ipaq and no pictures again... ???

[Paula]

Thanks Steve I will try that tonight when I get home from work. I was hoping that there was PPC software to do something like that.

Paula

[Pony99CA]

I was hoping that there was PPC software to do something like that.
Well, you came to the right place. :-) Check out SoftWinter's Storage Tools (http://www.softwinter.com/storagetools.html).

Steve

[Paula]

Steve,
I can't find ChKdsk on my XP machine. Could it be called something else now? Can someone direct me to it? I knew where it was on my Win 98 machine.

edited to add.
I found chkdsk.




Paula

[Pony99CA]

I can't find ChKdsk on my XP machine. Could it be called something else now? Can someone direct me to it? I knew where it was on my Win 98 machine.

edited to add.
I found chkdsk.
You can check a disk using Windows or in the DOS window.

In Windows XP, do the following:

Right-click the SD card.
Select Properties in the context menu.
Click the Tools tab.
Click the Check Now... button.
Ensure the Automatically fix file system errors check box is checked.
Ensure the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box is checked.
Click the Start button to do the scan.

The DOS window version will give you more flexibility, but is more difficult to use. Open a DOS command prompt and type CHKDSK /? for information.

After you've scanned the card, you may find files with odd names there. If you can't figure out what they are, try using a text editor to look at the bytes and figure it out.

Steve

[tanalasta]

I've had this problem before and I suspect it is possible some of your files have been corrupted. Think of the random data as "loss clusters".

Softwinter Storage Tools or cnetX flashformat are both available on trial and will scan your storage card and let you know what's going on. If you have a card reader, do what Steve suggested. I would do this before you save any extra data on the card just in case you lose it.

Out of curiosity, did you inadvertantly have a storage card error or remove the card/switch off the device whilst it was still writing?

A re-format of your SD card will almost certainly fix the problem :P

[Paula]

Thank you So much Steve. I will try this tomorrow as I am on my way out the door.

Tanalasta,
Nope I didn't remove the card while it was writing or turn the machine off. No errors of any kind poped up. I used it in the morning then that afternoon...poof all data was gone. I had 52, YES 52 books on that card. and notes for work. Now I have to dl all those books again. sigh..........

I will also look into the software you both mentioned...

OH the card is a Lexar (Japan) 256mb and what should I format it as FAT 32 or FAT 16?

[Steven Cedrone]

I had 52, YES 52 books on that card. and notes for work. Now I have to dl all those books again. sigh..........

Unfortunately, this seems to happen with SD cards. I know it doesn't help now, but in the future, get in the habit of backing up that card (I do mine once a week, or so)

Steve

[Paula]

Hi,
Well I finally got up the nerve to do the chkdsk. Not that I was afraid to do it, I was afraid that none of the data I lost was recoverable and I was right. It only recovered about 10 files of garbage eventhough Pocket Mechanic says there are 211 files on the card. Anyway it is not time to refort the card. Should I use Pocklet Mechanic or use my PC format disk?

As I stated above I have a Lexar 256 MB card I don't know how I should format the card FAT 32 or FAT16. Should I perfor a High level format (logical) or a low level format? Any hints anyone???

Paula

[Janak Parekh]

I'd say use the PC, because that's what I do. I don't think there's a strong benefit to formatting a 256MB card using FAT32, although what I'd do to be precise is to use the PC's defaults and/or whatever the initial format was on the card.

In either case, you're doing a "high-level format". AFAIK, there's no option to low-level format SD cards (as a matter of fact, you rarely low-level format hard disks anymore...)

--janak

[Paula]

Thanks Janak,
Pocket Mechanic offers a low level format which is why I asked.
So it looks like FAT 16 then. Ok... I'm going in.... goggles on, crash helmet on, protective clothing on. Here goes. :D

Paula

[Janak Parekh]

Pocket Mechanic offers a low level format which is why I asked.
Hmm - perhaps it does a "surface scan" of the flash card? I'd read the documentation to see what it does.

--janak

[tanalasta]

I would've formatted the flash card the moment I realised I was missing data as it usually means a corruption somewhere.

I have my card formatted to FAT16. Rule of thumb is to reformat it to the way it was originally. I did try formatting to FAT32 once and I know it works better for some, but I found my card corrupted within 10 minutes so I went back to FAT16.

Gotta buy a card reader! Backing up a storage card is a painful, slow process otherwise :P

I still recommend a trial of CnetX flashformat. Works very well :)

[Paula]

Well it's done. I am so afraid to use it. Once burned...

Tanalasta, I have a 7-in-one reader. It works great.
I will take a look at the software. Thanks.


Thanks for all your help everyone.:D


Paula

[jkendrick]

Your problem probably is the SD card as they can get flaky and require reformatting. However, if you are using the WM File Explorer it has a known bug that has the same symptoms you've listed. I'm copying a fix from a discussion on our site about this:

The symptoms of the problem are: when running File Explorer, the left dropdown (usually "My Device") is empty when you drop it down.
The problem comes with a combination of File Explorer browsing and inserting/removing the CF/SD card.
BTW: One work-around is to use another explorer-like program (not File Explorer)

------
Fix:
#1) remove the CF/SD card
#2) soft reset the PDA (to make sure the File Explorer process is stopped - not just window closed)
#3) Run any Registry editor program, and look for
"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\File Explorer"
#4) You will see a "StorageCardPath" value (containing "\CF Card"). (Or SD card) Delete it.

Now run "File Explorer", and all should be working fine again
[when you insert the CF/SD Card it will become visible, the StorageCardPath will be regenerated]
Depending on how you use the File Explorer with your CF/SD card, the problem may occur again, if so repeat the above registry fix

This problem does not appear with any of the 3rd party file explorer programs such as Resco File Explorer.

[Kacey Green]

I'd say use the PC, because that's what I do. I don't think there's a strong benefit to formatting a 256MB card using FAT32, although what I'd do to be precise is to use the PC's defaults and/or whatever the initial format was on the card.

In either case, you're doing a "high-level format". AFAIK, there's no option to low-level format SD cards (as a matter of fact, you rarely low-level format hard disks anymore...)

--janak
I'd like to be able to switch all of my devices over the NTFS, especially the windows based ones (cough PPC cough)

[Janak Parekh]

I'd like to be able to switch all of my devices over the NTFS, especially the windows based ones (cough PPC cough)
You don't want a flash card formatted as NTFS. NTFS isn't really that efficient for small filesystems (e.g., 1GB or less), and has a higher overhead for its indexing and log structures. Maybe when we get to 6GB+... but not now. As it is, my 30GB iPod is formatted FAT32 and does just fine for the data access patterns I throw at it.

--janak

[Kacey Green]

I turn off indexing, true it wouldn't be very usefull under 1gb but W?BIC :D

edit, once you approach 30GB fat32 becomes... well fat, then when you exceed fat32's capacity MS probably still won't give NTFS to us. :roll:

[Pony99CA]

edit, once you approach 30GB fat32 becomes... well fat, then when you exceed fat32's capacity MS probably still won't give NTFS to us.
I think they will, and probably before we need it. Microsoft has been pretty good at giving us features we don't need (yet). Now if only they would give us the features we were asking for (task manager, improved Word and Excel, better ActiveSync, etc.). :roll:

Of course, this assumes that Microsoft won't have moved on to some better file system by the time we can actually afford 30 GB storage cards. :lol:

Steve

[Paula]

Your problem probably is the SD card as they can get flaky and require reformatting. However, if you are using the WM File Explorer it has a known bug that has the same symptoms you've listed. I'm copying a fix from a discussion on our site about this:

The symptoms of the problem are: when running File Explorer, the left dropdown (usually "My Device") is empty when you drop it down.
The problem comes with a combination of File Explorer browsing and inserting/removing the CF/SD card.
BTW: One work-around is to use another explorer-like program (not File Explorer)



Thank you for this information and the fix I know it will come in handy one day. However, I know this was not the problem because I looked at the card on another PPC and I used my card reader and the card read as empty. I hate SD cards. I am so reluctant to use it now. I am going to buy a 1 gig CF card and use the SD card for things I don't care about.

Paula

[tanalasta]

am going to buy a 1 gig CF card and use the SD card for things I don't care about.

Lol 8) That's a good idea. And the CF card will be both cheaper AND faster. There are some reliable SD cards out there, but the ones that break really give the format a bad name. Otherwise, SD cards are one of the smallest, nicest memory cards available.