Format CF to capture VGA video until card full

[tailwind]

I got this technique from an taiwan digicam forum...

Background:

Compact Flash are just formatted like a harddrive, it uses FAT system ("NOT FAT32"), and by default...
128MB CF uses 2048 Allocate Unit Size
256MB CF uses 4096 Allocate Unit Size
512MB CF uses 8192 Allocate Unit Size

What to do:

What they suggested is to use a bigger allocate unit size than the default setting, when you try to format it simply by right-click and select "format", the allocate unit size is fixed. To avoid that...

(All the steps are according to windows XP, I don't if other version have the same equivalent)
1. Open Control Panel
2. Open Administrative Tools
3. Open Computer Management
4. Go to the Disk Management

5. Select the CF and format from here...now you can specify the allocated unit size.

Results:

I have a 256MB Dane-Elec CF card, before using this method, I could only record 63 seconds of VGA videos. Then, I formatted it using 8192 allocate unit size, and now I can record uptil I have 1 second left, that's 218 seconds (the card shows that I have 219 seconds buffer when it is blank), no idea why it won't record for that 1 second.

Side notes: with the old format, 3M Fine gives me 200 pictures, but after format with the bigger unit size, now it shows that I only have 199 pictures.
--
tailwind - S602Z
http://www.pbase.com/tailwind

 

[marius100281]

Wow! Amazing stuff if it works. I'm testing with my Kingston 256M card as we speak... I was able to record 66 seconds before at VGA setting.

...recording...
... breaking the 60 second marker ...
... breaking the 120 second marker ...
... breaking 180! ...

amazing that this works! I just recorded a full 219 seconds on my Kingston 256M card!

Thanks, tailwind!

I got this technique from an taiwan digicam forum...

Background:
Compact Flash are just formatted like a harddrive, it uses FAT
system ("NOT FAT32"), and by default...
128MB CF uses 2048 Allocate Unit Size
256MB CF uses 4096 Allocate Unit Size
512MB CF uses 8192 Allocate Unit Size

[snip]

Results:
I have a 256MB Dane-Elec CF card, before using this method, I could
only record 63 seconds of VGA videos. Then, I formatted it using
8192 allocate unit size, and now I can record uptil I have 1 second
left, that's 218 seconds (the card shows that I have 219 seconds
buffer when it is blank), no idea why it won't record for that 1
second.

Side notes: with the old format, 3M Fine gives me 200 pictures, but
after format with the bigger unit size, now it shows that I only
have 199 pictures.
--
tailwind - S602Z
http://www.pbase.com/tailwind

 

[AHB]

Hi,
Sorry but I don't understand this..
I've Sandisk CF-cards 128Mb.
On the VGA mode I can take 110 seconds.
(first format the CF!!)
So ....with a 256 Mb you can take twice the amount = 220 seconds.

It has something tot do with the allocation-size...try 2048 Allocate Unit Size (from the 128 Mb cards). If this also will do the trick, then we are sure!
Regards, Arno

Wow! Amazing stuff if it works. I'm testing with my Kingston 256M
card as we speak... I was able to record 66 seconds before at VGA
setting.

...recording...
... breaking the 60 second marker ...
... breaking the 120 second marker ...
... breaking 180! ...

amazing that this works! I just recorded a full 219 seconds on my
Kingston 256M card!

Thanks, tailwind!

I got this technique from an taiwan digicam forum...

Background:
Compact Flash are just formatted like a harddrive, it uses FAT
system ("NOT FAT32"), and by default...
128MB CF uses 2048 Allocate Unit Size
256MB CF uses 4096 Allocate Unit Size
512MB CF uses 8192 Allocate Unit Size

[snip]

Results:
I have a 256MB Dane-Elec CF card, before using this method, I could
only record 63 seconds of VGA videos. Then, I formatted it using
8192 allocate unit size, and now I can record uptil I have 1 second
left, that's 218 seconds (the card shows that I have 219 seconds
buffer when it is blank), no idea why it won't record for that 1
second.

Side notes: with the old format, 3M Fine gives me 200 pictures, but
after format with the bigger unit size, now it shows that I only
have 199 pictures.
--
tailwind - S602Z
http://www.pbase.com/tailwind

--
AHB

 

[chris gunn]

128MB CF uses 2048 Allocate Unit Size
256MB CF uses 4096 Allocate Unit Size
512MB CF uses 8192 Allocate Unit Size

What to do:
What they suggested is to use a bigger allocate unit size than the

So for 512mb you would use 16k?

5. Select the CF and format from here...now you can specify the
allocated unit size.

I thought I heard formatting off the camera was a no no!? Or is that
just for SM?

Results:
left, that's 218 seconds (the card shows that I have 219 seconds

Congrats!

Side notes: with the old format, 3M Fine gives me 200 pictures, but
after format with the bigger unit size, now it shows that I only
have 199 pictures.

Now you know why the smaller allocation size is the default!

--
cheers!

Gunn

 

[tailwind]

So for 512mb you would use 16k?

It depends...from that forum, one guy with the 256MB CF can only record 30 seconds of VGA video before using this technique, then he tried 8k and got 120 seconds, then he tried 16k and can record until the card is full (215 seconds). I guess it somewhat depends on the original speed of the card.

--
tailwind - S602Z
http://www.pbase.com/tailwind

 

[Hugo111806]

This trick works. I have a quite hold compact Flash, 256 Mb. I could record at maximum (219 sec) once formated with 8192 clusters. Thanks for this info. I think we can remove this limitation when talking about S602 problems. 256 Mb are so cheap now, you just can do a small movie with one or two and a good computer...

 

[John R Branson]

While we are on the subject of reformatting CF cards, can someone recommend a good USB (read/write) card reader for a PC?
Thanks
Johnny B

 

[ga-ga]

the camera!......
regards ga-ga

While we are on the subject of reformatting CF cards, can someone
recommend a good USB (read/write) card reader for a PC?
Thanks
Johnny B

 

[ga-ga]

It gave me 62 secs instead of 27 sec on my 128mb cheapo CF
..........but the camera format is so fast!..........
regards ga-ga

I got this technique from an taiwan digicam forum...

Background:
Compact Flash are just formatted like a harddrive, it uses FAT
system ("NOT FAT32"), and by default...
128MB CF uses 2048 Allocate Unit Size
256MB CF uses 4096 Allocate Unit Size
512MB CF uses 8192 Allocate Unit Size

What to do:
What they suggested is to use a bigger allocate unit size than the
default setting, when you try to format it simply by right-click
and select "format", the allocate unit size is fixed. To avoid
that...
(All the steps are according to windows XP, I don't if other
version have the same equivalent)
1. Open Control Panel
2. Open Administrative Tools
3. Open Computer Management
4. Go to the Disk Management
5. Select the CF and format from here...now you can specify the
allocated unit size.

Results:
I have a 256MB Dane-Elec CF card, before using this method, I could
only record 63 seconds of VGA videos. Then, I formatted it using
8192 allocate unit size, and now I can record uptil I have 1 second
left, that's 218 seconds (the card shows that I have 219 seconds
buffer when it is blank), no idea why it won't record for that 1
second.

Side notes: with the old format, 3M Fine gives me 200 pictures, but
after format with the bigger unit size, now it shows that I only
have 199 pictures.
--
tailwind - S602Z
http://www.pbase.com/tailwind

 

[model]

Anyone has tested that trick on 64 Mb CF card?

I don't understand,....does that trick improve the video blocking(because of slow CF card?) or just more to save on CF?

Thnx alot!

 

[Benoit Racicot]

Thanks for sharing this!

I tried this with my pokey Sandisk 256MB CF:

16k and 8k allocation units scored the same, so I kept the smaller allocation unit size to save space.

VGA video: 25 seconds. Before: 12 seconds.
QVGA video: until card is full, as before.
TIFF save: 20 seconds. Before: too long for me...
5-shot 6M Fine: 15 seconds.

Easy way to format using Windows 2000 (untested with other OSes) and the camera itself, no card reader needed.

Check in Windows Explorer the drive letter assigned to the camera.
Start-> Run, type CMD and click OK.
On the command line (remember DOS?) type:
(Be sure to replace E: with the correct drive letter!)

FORMAT E: FS:FAT A:8192

Wait until the end. Enter a volume label (11 characters, no spaces) like CF256_01 if you want. The camera does not seem to mind.

Close the window.

Disclaimer: it worked for me, can't say if it will work for you.

I got this technique from an taiwan digicam forum...

Background:
Compact Flash are just formatted like a harddrive, it uses FAT
system ("NOT FAT32"), and by default...
128MB CF uses 2048 Allocate Unit Size
256MB CF uses 4096 Allocate Unit Size
512MB CF uses 8192 Allocate Unit Size
--
tailwind - S602Z
http://www.pbase.com/tailwind

--
Benoit
http://www.pbase.com/glutier

 

[christ26]

I tried this with my pokey Sandisk 256MB CF:

16k and 8k allocation units scored the same, so I kept the smaller
allocation unit size to save space.

VGA video: 25 seconds. Before: 12 seconds.
QVGA video: until card is full, as before.
TIFF save: 20 seconds. Before: too long for me...
5-shot 6M Fine: 15 seconds.

Easy way to format using Windows 2000 (untested with other OSes)
and the camera itself, no card reader needed.

Check in Windows Explorer the drive letter assigned to the camera.
Start-> Run, type CMD and click OK.
On the command line (remember DOS?) type:
(Be sure to replace E: with the correct drive letter!)

FORMAT E: FS:FAT A:8192

Wait until the end. Enter a volume label (11 characters, no spaces)
like CF256_01 if you want. The camera does not seem to mind.

Close the window.

Disclaimer: it worked for me, can't say if it will work for you.

I got this technique from an taiwan digicam forum...

Background:
Compact Flash are just formatted like a harddrive, it uses FAT
system ("NOT FAT32"), and by default...
128MB CF uses 2048 Allocate Unit Size
256MB CF uses 4096 Allocate Unit Size
512MB CF uses 8192 Allocate Unit Size
--
tailwind - S602Z
http://www.pbase.com/tailwind

--
Benoit
http://www.pbase.com/glutier

has anyone figured out how to do this in windows 98? plz tell me if you have.

 

[Benoit Racicot]

Retrieved from Microsoft Support:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb ;en-us;Q67321

Cluster size depends on logical drive size...
This means FORMAT decides for you...

But then there's this:

http://www3.sympatico.ca/rhwatson/dos7/z-format.html

mentioning a Z switch, supposedly adding Z:16 will give you 8k clusters, Z:32 will give you 16k clusters.

I tried this with my pokey Sandisk 256MB CF:

16k and 8k allocation units scored the same, so I kept the smaller
allocation unit size to save space.

VGA video: 25 seconds. Before: 12 seconds.
QVGA video: until card is full, as before.
TIFF save: 20 seconds. Before: too long for me...
5-shot 6M Fine: 15 seconds.

Easy way to format using Windows 2000 (untested with other OSes)
and the camera itself, no card reader needed.

Check in Windows Explorer the drive letter assigned to the camera.
Start-> Run, type CMD and click OK.
On the command line (remember DOS?) type:
(Be sure to replace E: with the correct drive letter!)

FORMAT E: FS:FAT A:8192

Wait until the end. Enter a volume label (11 characters, no spaces)
like CF256_01 if you want. The camera does not seem to mind.

Close the window.

Disclaimer: it worked for me, can't say if it will work for you.

I got this technique from an taiwan digicam forum...

Background:
Compact Flash are just formatted like a harddrive, it uses FAT
system ("NOT FAT32"), and by default...
128MB CF uses 2048 Allocate Unit Size
256MB CF uses 4096 Allocate Unit Size
512MB CF uses 8192 Allocate Unit Size
--
tailwind - S602Z
http://www.pbase.com/tailwind

--
Benoit
http://www.pbase.com/glutier

has anyone figured out how to do this in windows 98? plz tell me if
you have.

--
Benoit
http://www.pbase.com/glutier

 

[Benoit Racicot]

And FAT32 is unreadable by digicams.

So Microsoft's answer was the best one.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb ;en-us;Q67321

Cluster size depends on logical drive size...
This means FORMAT decides for you...

But then there's this:

http://www3.sympatico.ca/rhwatson/dos7/z-format.html

mentioning a Z switch, supposedly adding Z:16 will give you 8k
clusters, Z:32 will give you 16k clusters.

I tried this with my pokey Sandisk 256MB CF:

16k and 8k allocation units scored the same, so I kept the smaller
allocation unit size to save space.

VGA video: 25 seconds. Before: 12 seconds.
QVGA video: until card is full, as before.
TIFF save: 20 seconds. Before: too long for me...
5-shot 6M Fine: 15 seconds.

Easy way to format using Windows 2000 (untested with other OSes)
and the camera itself, no card reader needed.

Check in Windows Explorer the drive letter assigned to the camera.
Start-> Run, type CMD and click OK.
On the command line (remember DOS?) type:
(Be sure to replace E: with the correct drive letter!)

FORMAT E: FS:FAT A:8192

Wait until the end. Enter a volume label (11 characters, no spaces)
like CF256_01 if you want. The camera does not seem to mind.

Close the window.

Disclaimer: it worked for me, can't say if it will work for you.

I got this technique from an taiwan digicam forum...

Background:
Compact Flash are just formatted like a harddrive, it uses FAT
system ("NOT FAT32"), and by default...
128MB CF uses 2048 Allocate Unit Size
256MB CF uses 4096 Allocate Unit Size
512MB CF uses 8192 Allocate Unit Size
--
tailwind - S602Z
http://www.pbase.com/tailwind

--
Benoit
http://www.pbase.com/glutier

has anyone figured out how to do this in windows 98? plz tell me if
you have.

--
Benoit
http://www.pbase.com/glutier

--
Benoit
http://www.pbase.com/glutier

 

[tailwind]

I guess it's related to the number of messages/data transfer between the CF card and the camera...

eg. the photo is 100 byte

if the CF is formatted to write data for every 5 bytes, that means there will be 20 messages transfer between the camera and the CF,

if the CF is formatted to write data for every 10 bytes, then there would be only 10 messages being transferred between them.

correct me if i'm wrong...

Anyone has tested that trick on 64 Mb CF card?
I don't understand,....does that trick improve the video
blocking(because of slow CF card?) or just more to save on CF?

Thnx alot!

--
tailwind - S602Z
http://www.pbase.com/tailwind

 

[ShinyTop]

Tailwind, if anybody want a nomination for best help on the Fuji forum I want you to have it for this one post. I followed your directions and now I get a full 219 seconds from my Ridata 256 (20x) where before I only got about 60 seconds. You need to post this anew whenever it falls off the page. Flesh out the directions a little for those who are not as comfortable on the computer as I am but a great hint. Just in time for my cruise I am leaving for tomorrow.

 

[Jim Gilliland]

Tailwind, if anybody want a nomination for best help on the Fuji
forum I want you to have it for this one post. I followed your
directions and now I get a full 219 seconds from my Ridata 256
(20x) where before I only got about 60 seconds. You need to post
this anew whenever it falls off the page. Flesh out the directions
a little for those who are not as comfortable on the computer as I
am but a great hint. Just in time for my cruise I am leaving for
tomorrow.

I agree. It even helped me out with my older 340mb microdrive, which also would fail on video before I did the reformat.

 

[Gary Bender]

Hi All

Yes I agree, as my two 128MB Ridata (20x) Cards would only get 69 secs of Video. After following the directions I can now fill the Card up. I haven't worked out if I get less number of pictures but I'm sure it would only be one.
Regards Gary

Tailwind, if anybody want a nomination for best help on the Fuji
forum I want you to have it for this one post. I followed your
directions and now I get a full 219 seconds from my Ridata 256
(20x) where before I only got about 60 seconds. You need to post
this anew whenever it falls off the page. Flesh out the directions
a little for those who are not as comfortable on the computer as I
am but a great hint. Just in time for my cruise I am leaving for
tomorrow.

I agree. It even helped me out with my older 340mb microdrive,
which also would fail on video before I did the reformat.

 

[mark allen]

--
regards, Mark: )

http://www.pbase.com/mark_allen/galleries

 

[Edwindf]

Hi

I also could only record short sections before 'storing' was activated. So irritating!

I tried reformatting at the higher level and bingo I could immeadiately record video for the whole capacity of the cf card.

thanks a mill!