Warning to newbies -- format your CF card!

[SunsetBeach]

I had shot about 60 photos on vacation in England recently using a new CF card when I got a "CF card error." I couldn't shoot any more, and I couldn't download the photos when I returned home. I sent the card to Tallyn's to see if a professional digital recovery service could help, but the firmware is blown -- this card is one of the few failures that Tallyn's has experienced, and their help seemed to be outstanding. So a warning to all newbies -- format your new card in your camera before you use it, and maybe problems like mine can be avoided.

 

[Bob the Printer88467]

I had shot about 60 photos on vacation in England recently using a
new CF card when I got a "CF card error." I couldn't shoot any
more, and I couldn't download the photos when I returned home. I
sent the card to Tallyn's to see if a professional digital recovery
service could help, but the firmware is blown -- this card is one
of the few failures that Tallyn's has experienced, and their help
seemed to be outstanding. So a warning to all newbies -- format
your new card in your camera before you use it, and maybe problems
like mine can be avoided.

I assume that you mean that the firmware on the card was blown? In which case it wouldn't matter where or how you formatted the card. It was doomed to fail no matter what.

I've been using CF cards since my second digicam (an Epson PhotoPC 600) back in 1997. I've never had a failure on a card and I've formatted both in the camera and with my PCs and a card reader. Formatting in camera only writes fresh FAT tables and such and doesn't do a low-level format. That's why it only takes a few seconds to format.



Sincerely, Bob the Printer

 

[Peter G]

I think he was suggesting this might clue you into the fact that the card is bad before going on the trip...

I had shot about 60 photos on vacation in England recently using a
new CF card when I got a "CF card error." I couldn't shoot any
more, and I couldn't download the photos when I returned home. I
sent the card to Tallyn's to see if a professional digital recovery
service could help, but the firmware is blown -- this card is one
of the few failures that Tallyn's has experienced, and their help
seemed to be outstanding. So a warning to all newbies -- format
your new card in your camera before you use it, and maybe problems
like mine can be avoided.

I assume that you mean that the firmware on the card was blown? In
which case it wouldn't matter where or how you formatted the card.
It was doomed to fail no matter what.

I've been using CF cards since my second digicam (an Epson PhotoPC
600) back in 1997. I've never had a failure on a card and I've
formatted both in the camera and with my PCs and a card reader.
Formatting in camera only writes fresh FAT tables and such and
doesn't do a low-level format. That's why it only takes a few
seconds to format.



Sincerely, Bob the Printer

 

[mike savad]

that's why you always carry atleast 1 spare. i download my 512mb card whenever i can, but i always bring my backup 256 and 128 cards as well.

---Mike Savad

I had shot about 60 photos on vacation in England recently using a
new CF card when I got a "CF card error." I couldn't shoot any
more, and I couldn't download the photos when I returned home. I
sent the card to Tallyn's to see if a professional digital recovery
service could help, but the firmware is blown -- this card is one
of the few failures that Tallyn's has experienced, and their help
seemed to be outstanding. So a warning to all newbies -- format
your new card in your camera before you use it, and maybe problems
like mine can be avoided.

I assume that you mean that the firmware on the card was blown? In
which case it wouldn't matter where or how you formatted the card.
It was doomed to fail no matter what.

I've been using CF cards since my second digicam (an Epson PhotoPC
600) back in 1997. I've never had a failure on a card and I've
formatted both in the camera and with my PCs and a card reader.
Formatting in camera only writes fresh FAT tables and such and
doesn't do a low-level format. That's why it only takes a few
seconds to format.



Sincerely, Bob the Printer

--
http://www.pbase.com/savad/
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=9050
http://www.artsig.com/go/users/view?id=52

 

[Kuren]

what brand and size was your card?

what brand and model was your camera?

I got a "CF card error."

--
Canon S400 owner, see http://tera.kuren.org/canons400/

 

[sillypoint]

I once had the read problems from zoombrowser. It kept on returning the message that there are no photos on the camera.

Actually problem is, the CF card was almost full and I believe the photos were fragmented like hell, thanks to Microsoft filesystems.

Camera let me delete couple of pics and zoombrowser worked like a charm again.

I guess formatting wont do much good. If anything, delete all the pics from the CF card to prevent excessive fragmentation and avoid using ti to over 90% of its capacity.

I had shot about 60 photos on vacation in England recently using a
new CF card when I got a "CF card error." I couldn't shoot any
more, and I couldn't download the photos when I returned home. I
sent the card to Tallyn's to see if a professional digital recovery
service could help, but the firmware is blown -- this card is one
of the few failures that Tallyn's has experienced, and their help
seemed to be outstanding. So a warning to all newbies -- format
your new card in your camera before you use it, and maybe problems
like mine can be avoided.

 

[JMR116]

Do cards for the S45 need formatting? If so, how would I do that? Never had a "CF Card Error" message but have had a couple of not-compatible messages that puzzle me.

I had shot about 60 photos on vacation in England recently using a
new CF card when I got a "CF card error." I couldn't shoot any
more, and I couldn't download the photos when I returned home. I
sent the card to Tallyn's to see if a professional digital recovery
service could help, but the firmware is blown -- this card is one
of the few failures that Tallyn's has experienced, and their help
seemed to be outstanding. So a warning to all newbies -- format
your new card in your camera before you use it, and maybe problems
like mine can be avoided.

 

[SunsetBeach]

My card was a Viking 256MB. I did have a spare, but that unfortunately doesn't save the photos I lost.

I had shot about 60 photos on vacation in England recently using a
new CF card when I got a "CF card error." I couldn't shoot any
more, and I couldn't download the photos when I returned home. I
sent the card to Tallyn's to see if a professional digital recovery
service could help, but the firmware is blown -- this card is one
of the few failures that Tallyn's has experienced, and their help
seemed to be outstanding. So a warning to all newbies -- format
your new card in your camera before you use it, and maybe problems
like mine can be avoided.

 

[Kuren]

what make and model camera did you have?

You said your firmware failed? Maybe it wasn't related to the card, then.

My card was a Viking 256MB. I did have a spare, but that
unfortunately doesn't save the photos I lost.