A bit odd – SD card failure?
I have an 8GB SD (micro) card. Scandisk Ultra cat 6 type. Has been used for quite a while (year, maybe 2) in a security camera. If the security camera “trips” I look at the content – usually boring eg cats & foxes in the garden – then reformat the card. I guess the card gets reformatted every few weeks.

The card seems to have failed. When I came to look at it (after transfer to a regular SD adapter) in the computer card slot the message was simply

“You need to format this card before you can use it. Do you want to format it?”

Normally the card contains a series of AVI files that I can look at. However, not this time. On a basis that the card will not contain anything of importance I say yes to the format option – but :

When the format menu pops up the card capacity is shown as
30.6 MB
File system FAT
Allocation unit size 512 bytes

Seems odd for an 8GB card!

When I say “go” to format then after the warning that “this will erase all data” Windows responds with “Windows was unable to complete the format. OK” –

No, not OK thank you Windows. Yes, I have checked that the card is not locked etc.

Any ideas folks. I have no special interest in what may be on the card so any sort of wipe/ format is ok – unless of course examining the disk content may show up the cause of the problem. I could just throw the card in the bin but it intrigues me as to WHY the card failed after a modest period of successful use.

Ideas welcomed

Snod

All flash-based storage devices have a limited amount of re-writability. I would probably be safe in saying that you've used up all of your SD Card's available life.

Solid State Drives that are now becoming popular in desktop and laptop computers are also plagued by a similar issue. They're instant access and usually lightning fast, but once the memory banks begin to be overwritten time and time again, they slow down and eventually fail.

There's not really a solution I'm afraid with exception to replacing the card. The 30.6MB partition you see might be a system made partition.

yeh, as Sponge (of an epic proportion) said, it's why computers slow up over time, despite you "deleting" everything, it's still on there taking up memory, that's how the FBI/CIA/MI5 etc can get stuff off a computer you thought was long gone, it actually is still there, just all compressed and broken down in a corner, it seems as you've formatted it so much, you think it's empty when in fact it's not. the 30 or so mb left is what you have to play with.

i'd recommend a new SD card, one with a larger capacity (16/32gb) and you should be ok.

I am sure you Gents are correct and the appropriate action is simply to snap the card and bin the bits. My thought/ hope was simply that there may be some bit of software that would let me scan through the card sectors just to see what really was there/ not there. What surprised me was the way in which it failed ie VERY quickly. It has worked perfect 5 days earlier, was re-formatted - - - and "died".

Snod

If you can see the card in windows try a scan disk?
Right click properties >> Tool >> Scan Disk.

Once done disconnect it and plug it back in and see if you get the option to reformat it again ?

Modern SD Cards have a technology built in that can detect failing sectors like a hard drive and mark them up as bad but allow the card to be usable. That being true your not going to get much further if its the boot sector on the card that has failed.

Have you tried connecting it to a different computer maybe with a different operating system.
I've had this message on a usb pen and it still seems ok
derek

Your camera may have formatted it to Linux or Mac rather than Windows NTFS. Check it out on a different OS.

Good thinking Derek. Did not work, but good thinking.

Under Win7 at least the card shows but attempts with Scandisk or to format get nowhere

Under XP - can't even see the card listed.

I SUPPOSE I could try (have you SEEN the size of the script on a micro card???) to read the serial number off the card and then contact Sandisk and see (a) if it is a genuine one of their cards - I am sure it is (b) beg for a replacement.

Don't think I can be bothered

Snod

For the sake of a couple of quid, I'd go out and buy another one. I got a 8GB Card for £8.99 a last year.

They're now £6.99 from Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-SDS...9512&sr=8-1&keywords=8gb+sd+card