4GB SD Card Unreadable

[nuclear]

My SanDisk 4GB Extreme 3 SD Card used to work on my PC's SD card reader. The SD card reader read it as a 4GB SD card.
I tried to use it on the Universal and it asked me to format the card to read it. I did not format it. Next I tried to plug it into the SD card reader on the Universal again and again and it would ask me to format it. I formatted it and it read! But sadly only as 1961MB or 2GB card. Next i took it out and tried it back on my PC's SD card reader. Now my PC would ask to format it.... omg. So i tried again and it still asked me to format it. This time the PC tried to format it but it failed. My PC is unable to read the SD card. I used an external SD Card reader and it failed to read my 4GB SD card too!.. omg Universal Destroyed my 4GB SD Card ;( .... and it only reads as 2GB on my Universal.
Can anyone help me get out of this miserable situation. :D

[agisofttm]

My SanDisk 4GB Extreme 3 SD Card used to work on my PC's SD card reader. The SD card reader read it as a 4GB SD card.
I tried to use it on the Universal and it asked me to format the card to read it. I did not format it. Next I tried to plug it into the SD card reader on the Universal again and again and it would ask me to format it. I formatted it and it read! But sadly only as 1961MB or 2GB card. Next i took it out and tried it back on my PC's SD card reader. Now my PC would ask to format it.... omg. So i tried again and it still asked me to format it. This time the PC tried to format it but it failed. My PC is unable to read the SD card. I used an external SD Card reader and it failed to read my 4GB SD card too!.. omg Universal Destroyed my 4GB SD Card ;( .... and it only reads as 2GB on my Universal.
Can anyone help me get out of this miserable situation. :D


Go to Sandisk Site - I belive there is a program to repair it - I have the same problem before year with 2GB Sandisk card with accesible only 986MB and corect it - I just don't remeber what was this utility but I'm sure there is a UTILITY :)

[nuclear]

Go to Sandisk Site - I belive there is a program to repair it - I have the same problem before year with 2GB Sandisk card with accesible only 986MB and corect it - I just don't remeber what was this utility but I'm sure there is a UTILITY :)
Alright just before I go looking out for this SanDisk fix utility I would like tell you that SanDisk hasn't officially marketed the 4GB Extreme III cards in North America and Asian Mainland. It comes from Japan so I wonder if i will be even able to recieve support on it or a fix utility. How big is this fix utility? Can you upload it here if you find one for a 4GB extreme III card or post the link please? How the hell does it suddenly become 2GB....?_?
On some SD card readers it wont read too! And on all other places it reads as 2GB and wont go above 2GB. I thought maybe its just a reading issue but it actually reformatted the firmware to 2GB >.< .... I am sueing either microsoft or sandisk on this, like I think enough is enough and both companies have reached their limit on troubling me...always i get imperfect stuff.
I am really stressed out after spending so much money and still having technical difficulties with these things.

[FOSA]

I believe using QTEK latest ROM with A2DP has no problem working with 4GB SD card

[cktlcmd]

I believe using QTEK latest ROM with A2DP has no problem working with 4GB SD card

I have to agree with FOSA. My 4GB Card works just fine. Plus, it worked fine even when I was testing the different AKU 3 ROMs.

[.dredd.]

Alright just before I go looking out for this SanDisk fix utility I would like tell you that SanDisk hasn't officially marketed the 4GB Extreme III cards in North America and Asian Mainland. It comes from Japan so I wonder if i will be even able to recieve support on it or a fix utility. How big is this fix utility? Can you upload it here if you find one for a 4GB extreme III card or post the link please? How the hell does it suddenly become 2GB....?_?
On some SD card readers it wont read too! And on all other places it reads as 2GB and wont go above 2GB. I thought maybe its just a reading issue but it actually reformatted the firmware to 2GB >.< .... I am sueing either microsoft or sandisk on this, like I think enough is enough and both companies have reached their limit on troubling me...always i get imperfect stuff.
I am really stressed out after spending so much money and still having technical difficulties with these things.

Try Panasonic SD Formatter...

[nuclear]

Try Panasonic SD Formatter...
Oh no... Both the cards aren't being read by the PC's SD card reader anymore. The PC's SD Card reader will always ask me to format the card but when I click to format it wont, just freezes.
From all my SD card readers only the Universals SD card reader works, only shows 2GB and I cannot load more than 2GB of data on the SD card. I can access the SD card from my PC using the Universal as an SD card reader. My USB card reader wont read it either. All my other 2GB mini-SD cards work flawlessly.
Maybe I should try another ROM and see if the SD card can be formatted back to 4GB and 8GB respectively. I was using a ROM that I was making myself while this incident happened. I think that ROM will need more fixing. For now I will roll back to a stable ROM. Some people suggest the Qtek Official ROM and some say that all the AKU 3 ROM's here work to read the 4GB cards well.
I just got to keep testing eh? Testing and learning how these SD cards function in which ROM?
Panasonic SD card formatter wont work because the PC cant read the SD cards, its like one of those corrupt damaged CD's that you cant even access.

[indra9110]

Oh no... Both the cards aren't being read by the PC's SD card reader anymore. The PC's SD Card reader will always ask me to format the card but when I click to format it wont, just freezes.
From all my SD card readers only the Universals SD card reader works, only shows 2GB and I cannot load more than 2GB of data on the SD card. I can access the SD card from my PC using the Universal as an SD card reader. My USB card reader wont read it either. All my other 2GB mini-SD cards work flawlessly.
Maybe I should try another ROM and see if the SD card can be formatted back to 4GB and 8GB respectively. I was using a ROM that I was making myself while this incident happened. I think that ROM will need more fixing. For now I will roll back to a stable ROM. Some people suggest the Qtek Official ROM and some say that all the AKU 3 ROM's here work to read the 4GB cards well.
I just got to keep testing eh? Testing and learning how these SD cards function in which ROM?
Panasonic SD card formatter wont work because the PC cant read the SD cards, its like one of those corrupt damaged CD's that you cant even access.


if you have digital camera.. put your SD card on digital camera and format it .. im doing many times and my SD card back to normal

cheers

indra9110

[nuclear]

if you have digital camera.. put your SD card on digital camera and format it .. im doing many times and my SD card back to normal

cheers

indra9110
Thanks so much indra. It worked. Both my 8GB and 4GB cards are back to life! The format also returned them to their original 4GB and 8GB state

[boi]

If you bought the card in high street store, return it.


My SanDisk 4GB Extreme 3 SD Card used to work on my PC's SD card reader. The SD card reader read it as a 4GB SD card.
I tried to use it on the Universal and it asked me to format the card to read it. I did not format it. Next I tried to plug it into the SD card reader on the Universal again and again and it would ask me to format it. I formatted it and it read! But sadly only as 1961MB or 2GB card. Next i took it out and tried it back on my PC's SD card reader. Now my PC would ask to format it.... omg. So i tried again and it still asked me to format it. This time the PC tried to format it but it failed. My PC is unable to read the SD card. I used an external SD Card reader and it failed to read my 4GB SD card too!.. omg Universal Destroyed my 4GB SD Card ;( .... and it only reads as 2GB on my Universal.
Can anyone help me get out of this miserable situation. :D

[boi]

thanks for that


if you have digital camera.. put your SD card on digital camera and format it .. im doing many times and my SD card back to normal

cheers

indra9110

[nuclear]

If you bought the card in high street store, return it.
Which Card the 4GB or the 8GB one?

[daddy k]

Which Card the 4GB or the 8GB one?

whichever one/ones your having problems with and brought from a high street store lol :rolleyes:

[nuclear]

whichever one/ones your having problems with and brought from a high street store lol :rolleyes:
I am still having the problem where the Pocket PC reformats my 4GB card into a 2GB card and SanDisk is unable to find a solution to it.

Also while using other ROM's my 4GB card is not read? It seems the hardware is compatible to read 4GB cards except the ROM is not designed to do so. For example Helmi's AKU 3.5 ROM cannot read my Sandisk Extreme III 4GB. Now SanDisk also doesn't believe that i have that card because they never marketed it, but they dont know that I got it from their factory! Now that remains a secret how i got it. Its really fast and amazingly I gave it to a few people.

Luckily i found a ROM that reads my 4GB card except the 4GB card is always reformatted to 2GB... Its very confusing because even my PC now reads it only as 2GB....It was working fine about 2 weeks ago as 4GB.

If I can get any help to make this card back to a 4GB please! Thank you for your help ^^

[mbirth]

From what I've read some weeks ago on the Panasonic homepage was, that SD-cards following the "old" SD-standard are designed for up to 2GB capacity. Everything above that is non-standard and will likely make problems. (Although there are some exceptions as you can read here on this forum.)

To come around these problems, they invented the SDHC-standard for sizes from 4GB and more. Sad thing is, that the reading device has to support this standard. The Universal doesn't afaik.

You can even read that on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital#SD_and_SDHC_-_compatibility):

Some manufacturers have produced 4GB SD cards that do not conform to the SD2.0/SDHC and are incompatible with existing SD devices, and are also incompatible with SDHC devices.


So if you have problems, stick to 2GB cards. They work flawlessly.

P.S.: I first bought one of those 4GB-SD-cards and it was recognized by my Universal as 4GB but after copying approx. 5-6MB on it, it suddenly stopped working. The Universal always asked to format this thing. The PC showed sizes of about 930MB, even the Panasonic SD Formatter wasn't able to do anything about it. So I returned it and got 2x 2GB cards. No problems at all.

[nuclear]

From what I've read some weeks ago on the Panasonic homepage was, that SD-cards following the "old" SD-standard are designed for up to 2GB capacity. Everything above that is non-standard and will likely make problems. (Although there are some exceptions as you can read here on this forum.)

To come around these problems, they invented the SDHC-standard for sizes from 4GB and more. Sad thing is, that the reading device has to support this standard. The Universal doesn't afaik.

You can even read that on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital#SD_and_SDHC_-_compatibility):




So if you have problems, stick to 2GB cards. They work flawlessly.

P.S.: I first bought one of those 4GB-SD-cards and it was recognized by my Universal as 4GB but after copying approx. 5-6MB on it, it suddenly stopped working. The Universal always asked to format this thing. The PC showed sizes of about 930MB, even the Panasonic SD Formatter wasn't able to do anything about it. So I returned it and got 2x 2GB cards. No problems at all.
Except I cant return it because I got it from Japan and it will be coming soon in retail markets by 2-5 months. I agree the 2GB cards work flawlessly. Except I would like larger storage.
I am using CNET Flash format to reformat the Card except it wont go back to being 4GB. It seems the firmware of the card has been overwritten

[daddy k]

example Helmi's AKU 3.5 ROM cannot read my Sandisk Extreme III 4GB. Now SanDisk also doesn't believe that i have that card because they never marketed it, but they dont know that I got it from their factory! Now that remains a secret how i got it. Its really fast and amazingly I gave it to a few people.^

are u for real?
listen if u are for real then please do a screen grab of your pda reading your big cards, and a quick picture using ur pda and post up that pic of the magic sandisk ultra 4gb that even they the manafacturers say isnt around, yet you say you got it from their factory but they are not releasing it for quite a few months, trust me memcard manafacturers do not need tht much time to manafacture stocks before they supply them so me thinks you are a little deluded

[Pyrojester]

are u for real?
listen if u are for real then please do a screen grab of your pda reading your big cards, and a quick picture using ur pda and post up that pic of the magic sandisk ultra 4gb that even they the manafacturers say isnt around, yet you say you got it from their factory but they are not releasing it for quite a few months, trust me memcard manafacturers do not need tht much time to manafacture stocks before they supply them so me thinks you are a little deluded


No, he's just a liar. Nothing more.

[Lurker0]

It seems the firmware of the card has been overwrittenThere is no a firmware inside the cards that might be overwritten using end-user tools. In your case most probably the card was re-partitioned. Read about MBR and partition tables for details. Quite easy to fix.

[nuclear]

There is no a firmware inside the cards that might be overwritten using end-user tools. In your case most probably the card was re-partitioned. Read about MBR and partition tables for details. Quite easy to fix.
Thank you Lurker. I will look up MBR and partition tables. I am really lost on this MBR and partition tables. If you can help me out and just walk me through on how to fix my card i will be really happy. Or any links will be helpful too.

Lurker... would this do? http://www.ptdd.com/mbr.htm

[tyl]

Look everyone, 4gb SD Cards work just fine. Ignore anyone who says otherwise, he/she/it's a chump....

Just make sure you get a decent cheapo card reader for your pc....

[nuclear]

Look everyone, 4gb SD Cards work just fine. Ignore anyone who says otherwise, he/she/it's a chump....

Just make sure you get a decent cheapo card reader for your pc....
Thanks tyl, i agree with you that 4GB cards work just fine. This is the first 4GB card i tried and it seems i am in a problem. I dont know what is different in this 4GB SD card compared to other 4GB SD cards, but i know this much that this is the SanDisk 4GB EXTREME III SecureDigital card. And it is now reading as 2GB only on 4 SD card readers. I will try to bring it back to 4GB using the MBR edit tool as specified earlier. Hopefully then it will work.
I am very sure that another 4GB SD card by moby or any other company will work as you say tyl ;)

[nuclear]

There is no a firmware inside the cards that might be overwritten using end-user tools. In your case most probably the card was re-partitioned. Read about MBR and partition tables for details. Quite easy to fix.
I downloaded partition doctor 3.0 and it only fixes Hard drives... Please help me out.

[Tunndoc]

Hi there. I am using a 4GB AGL SD Card. Everything works fine, I can install on to the card and run stuff off it. But as soon as I try to put any MP3 or video (DIVX) files on to the card it shows ghost files and folders of huge sizes i.e. 200gb, 168gb and the name of the files and folders created are strange characters. I try to delete them and the access is denied. Have to reset b4 i can even delete them. The folders will not open and the card when read on my PC also shows the same ghost files and folders.

My question is , is anyone else also facing the same problem and is there a way around it. I bought this card to get everything in the same place i.e. my music, videos, sat nav and programs. I can get my sat nav and programs but no music or videos. I have tried formatting the card and still get the same result.

Help will be appreciated.

Thanx in advance
Ciao
Tunndoc

[nuclear]

Hi there. I am using a 4GB AGL SD Card. Everything works fine, I can install on to the card and run stuff off it. But as soon as I try to put any MP3 or video (DIVX) files on to the card it shows ghost files and folders of huge sizes i.e. 200gb, 168gb and the name of the files and folders created are strange characters. I try to delete them and the access is denied. Have to reset b4 i can even delete them. The folders will not open and the card when read on my PC also shows the same ghost files and folders.

My question is , is anyone else also facing the same problem and is there a way around it. I bought this card to get everything in the same place i.e. my music, videos, sat nav and programs. I can get my sat nav and programs but no music or videos. I have tried formatting the card and still get the same result.

Help will be appreciated.

Thanx in advance
Ciao
Tunndoc
I heard that SanDisk is going to market 4GB Extreme III SecureDigital cards soon. I will just wait and do the same experiment again to see if the MBR gets rewritten to 2GB >.<..... Anyways can anyone help me to make my card back to 4GB? on eBay the same 4GB Extreme III cards are being sold again... I told the seller that my card got busted and he refunded me all the money.. it was like $80. Damn that card is really fast and my TomTom works perfectly with it, I transfer MP3 and other files really fast.

[nuclear]

Can anyone help me get my card back to 4GB!!!! >.<