Lexar Pro UDMA CF/SD reader (format error?)

jchin

Anyone have problems formatting their CF cards (Kingston Ulitmate and Sandisk Extreme III/IV) in a Lexar Pro UDMA CF/SD card reader? Gave me IOCTL error with 2 cards. However those CF cards formatted just fine in my old Belkin USB card reader, so it isn't the card. The Lexar reads the contents from the cards just fine. Very odd.

ziggy53

If these cards are to be used in a camera I recommend you only format the card using the intended camera to do the formatting. There are lots of possible incompatibilities using a computer and card reader to format flash memory cards.

CF cards have an on-card controller and the controller is very sensitive to timing issues and FAT structures. Sometimes just changing computers can also make a difference.

jchin

I have always formatted these CF cards using a Command Prompt window with this command:

FORMAT E: /Q/A:32k/FS:FAT32


With the Lexar UDMA reader, some cards generate that IOCTL error.

With the old Belkin USB 2.0 reader (model F5U248, so it is old, it does not even support SDHC), all the cards format fine.

I am wondering if there is a compatibility issue with the Lexar UDMA reader and some Kingston/Sandisk 8GB/16GB cards, those were the ones it generated that IOCTL error.

ziggy53

Have you contacted Lexar to see if there is a known issue with your description of use?

Art Scott

jchin wrote:

I have always formatted these CF cards using a Command Prompt window with this command:

FORMAT E: /Q/A:32k/FS:FAT32


With the Lexar UDMA reader, some cards generate that IOCTL error.

With the old Belkin USB 2.0 reader (model F5U248, so it is old, it does not even support SDHC), all the cards format fine.

I am wondering if there is a compatibility issue with the Lexar UDMA reader and some Kingston/Sandisk 8GB/16GB cards, those were the ones it generated that IOCTL error.

Just because one has always done something and not had an adverse effect by doing so....does not mean it is correct.

Lexar used to have a warning on their website and on the card package telling the consumer to ONLY FORMAT in camera.........I have seen the warning on other flash memory manufacturers sites also.........by formatting in a card reader or by computer can cause corruption of all sorts.....sometimes it is the first time you format out side of camera....other times it could be a year down the road and you have several hundred irreplaceable images that cannot be recovered.....you might be able to see them in camera, until you try to transfer with the card reader and then they just disappear........the camera then might say the card has so many images...but it will not display them and according to the card reader and computer the card is empty.......this a type of file corruption that I had once because I was in a hurry and formatted in the reader............

Lexar was nice enuff to replace that $180 card and then in a letter that came with the replacement explained to me what I had done and that they would not replace another card for thesame mistake.

Good Luck

jchin

Thanks guys. This is the first time I've heard of formatting on the computer as a straight FAT32 causing corruption. I find it odd that the specs were set by the computer industry and yet the camera formats the cards better, to me that is very odd

Scott_Quier

jchin wrote:

Thanks guys. This is the first time I've heard of formatting on the computer as a straight FAT32 causing corruption. I find it odd that the specs were set by the computer industry and yet the camera formats the cards better, to me that is very odd

Not better - differently. Not all cameras use the FAT32 structure. I think I remember some that used FAT12. More recently, they've been forced to use FAT16. Now, with the advent of cards larger than 4GB, the FAT32 is needed. But, still, there are differences in what is written to the card when the camera does it.

Bottom line is that the computer is more flexible in reading various FAT structures. The camera is less forgiving when it comes to writing data. It wants to see what it wants to see and if the camera doesn't .... they can sometimes throw a tantrum fit.

jchin

Lexar replaced the reader with a new one, finally. However, the new one does have similar issues. Curiously, if the read error occurs and I unplug the USB cable from the computer for a few seconds then reconnect it, performing the same task now reads fine (most of the time). Very odd. I think the Lexar reader is still faulty. I'll keep testing.

By the way, Art, there is nothing wrong with formatting on a computer as long as you know what you are doing (which I sure hope I know what I am doing with that FORMAT command since I've been working on these types of computers for 27+ years). I understand why everyone says to format in camera, it leaves less of a chance for human error because using the computer, the FORMAT command gives you many options and can cause the card to be formatted incorrectly (like wrong cluster size or file system type).