"Memory card error" ??

configurationspace · December 31, 2004

Hello there dgrin peoples.

I've got a little canon powershot S400 that has worked near flawlessly for almost two years now. Yesterday it stopped working properly. When I turn on the camera I get the message "memory card error". I have two CF cards, a 32Mb one and a 512Mb one. I get the same error message with both cards.

In my history of owning this camera, I have got the "memory card error" message only twice before. The two previous times I got the error message was when I stopped to take pictures while riding the motorcycle, the camera was cold, because it was in my tank-bag. Once it warmed up in my hands, the error message disappeared.

One other symptom. The camera can still power up just fine, I can play with the zoom, the menus, etc. If I ask the camera to format the memory card it gives me the error message E50 in the bottom-left side of the display screen, then it promptly powers off.

Between the time the camera was working and today it has lived a pretty sheltered life. One flight from Edmonton to Oregon. It's been x-rayed, and has been briefly exposed to -20C weather. When outside in Edmonton I kept it in a pocket close to my body so it never got too cold.

:dunno

I'm guessing this is either 1) a condensation problem that might take a few days to resolve itself or 2) some electronics may have been damaged by expansion and contraction from the temperatures the camera experienced and maybe the camera is now defective. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Any ideas?

luckyrwe · December 31, 2004

Can you format the card in your computer? I had a 512mb card go bad suddenly, and the manufacturer swapped it out, no questions asked. Are they the same brand card?

configurationspace · December 31, 2004

luckyrwe wrote:

Can you format the card in your computer? I had a 512mb card go bad suddenly, and the manufacturer swapped it out, no questions asked. Are they the same brand card?

The 512Mb card is SanDisk, the 32Mb card is Compactflash (which was bundled with the camera).

Somehow I doubt this is the issue. First, both of the cards can be read just fine by my laptop and both of the cards can not be read by my camera. Both cards worked just fine in the camera 5 days ago so it seems strange to me that somehow both of the cards failed in such a way that the camera can't read them but my laptop can. I just used the 512Mb card to transfer files from one computer to another, so it certainly works just fine.

I'll give your suggestion a shot once I figure out how to formal CF cards using Linux...

ysr612 · December 31, 2004

configurationspace wrote:

The 512Mb card is SanDisk, the 32Mb card is Compactflash (which was bundled with the camera).

Somehow I doubt this is the issue. First, both of the cards can be read just fine by my laptop and both of the cards can not be read by my camera. Both cards worked just fine in the camera 5 days ago so it seems strange to me that somehow both of the cards failed in such a way that the camera can't read them but my laptop can. I just used the 512Mb card to transfer files from one computer to another, so it certainly works just fine.

I'll give your suggestion a shot once I figure out how to formal CF cards using Linux...

most the time something like this happens to me it is dirty contacts or cold solder joint. If this is the case then most people would send it back to cannon for repair. I would take it apart and try to clean the contacts or even try to spray some cleaner in there.

configurationspace · December 31, 2004

ysr612 wrote:

most the time something like this happens to me it is dirty contacts or cold solder joint. If this is the case then most people would send it back to cannon for repair. I would take it apart and try to clean the contacts or even try to spray some cleaner in there.

What kind of cleaner? I'm guessing brake cleaner would be a bit much -- would WD40 do?

ian408 · January 1, 2005

configurationspace wrote:

What kind of cleaner? I'm guessing brake cleaner would be a bit much -- would WD40 do?

I wouldn't spray contact cleaner in there. Not at all. Now brake cleaner on the
other hand...might just get you a new camera

A quick google search would indicate you need to send the camera back for
repair. But since it's two years old, you might want to weigh the cost of
repair vs. a new one with another 1 year warranty.

Ian

configurationspace · January 1, 2005

ian408 wrote:

I wouldn't spray contact cleaner in there. Not at all. Now brake cleaner on the other hand...might just get you a new camera

A quick google search would indicate you need to send the camera back for
repair. But since it's two years old, you might want to weigh the cost of
repair vs. a new one with another 1 year warranty.

Ian

Thanks for the input. I guess I'll pull the thing apart and check it out. If I can find a broken connection great, but most likely I'm looking at buying another camera. :cry

ian408 · January 1, 2005

configurationspace wrote:

Thanks for the input. I guess I'll pull the thing apart and check it out. If I can find a broken connection great, but most likely I'm looking at buying another camera. :cry

While you're in there, take some pitchas!

Ian

configurationspace · January 1, 2005

ian408 wrote:

While you're in there, take some pitchas!

Ian

Got a digital camera you can loan me?

I'll try, I bet my neighbours have a digicam.

ian408 · January 1, 2005

configurationspace wrote:

Got a digital camera you can loan me? I'll try, I bet my neighbours have a digicam.

Prolly got one in the pile

ian

configurationspace · January 1, 2005

So I took the camera apart today. I can see why people replace these things whenever something goes wrong. There's nothing to solder. I'll take pictures as soon as I get my hands on a working camera.

ian408 · January 1, 2005

Oh there's solder there--done with a wave solder machine that makes taking
stuff off and replacing it impossible

ysr612 · January 1, 2005

I would have used the contact cleaner with lube in it.

ps just from typing to you on the other board I was pretty sure you would have it apart.

photocat · January 3, 2005

be careful with formatting outside of the camera. I wrecked a good card by formatting it on my mac... It then came to my attention that it said that a formatted card might work on the computer but not anylonger in the camera...

I had to go to someone with a pc to reformat it, cause it could be corrected with pc programming language...

configurationspace · January 10, 2005

I just realized I have a camera on my cell phone. The quality is not so good, but here goes the 1st "level" of dissection.

I started with this, a Canon S400.

With a little screwdriver and some time, you can get the side, front and rear faceplates off.

In this state it's easy to re-assemble the camera.

The first thing that I thought might have happened was maybe a broken connector to the memory card. You know, the little metal "spikes" that stick into the memory card. They're all there, in proper position.

I I think I'll go a little further and try to take the card reader housing off, and check that all the little solder points in there are alright. That's about all I can think of right now.

DoctorIt · January 10, 2005

config, you're a brave, brave man. Good luck!

ysr612 · January 10, 2005

DoctorIt wrote:

config, you're a brave, brave man. Good luck!

he is that

configurationspace · January 11, 2005

When you've screwed up as much as I have, one more time is no big deal.

Red Bull · January 19, 2005

I used to have a Powershot SD100, and I got a similar error a few times. The camera would display "Memory card error" and it wouldn't show any pictures. The pictures were still on there, but I would have to plug the card into the computer to get them on the computer. That SD100 used the tiny SD cards, so I'm not sure if it would be a similar error.

I bought a new card, and the error came back, but I realized I had to format the card. After I formatted, the card was fine and the error didn't come back. (Although I only kept the camera for about 6 months before getting a Powershot A80)

Not sure if that is like the problem you're having right now, though.

ian408 · January 19, 2005

Red Bull wrote:

Not sure if that is like the problem you're having right now, though.

RB, great effort but I think it's way past too late

CF, did you pray before you took the camera apart

Ian

configurationspace · January 21, 2005

I've taken it apart twice now. I put it back together after the 1st time just to make sure I could & to see if anything had changed. It's still not working (in the same way as before). I'm slowly taking it further and further to pieces to see if there's anything noticably wrong. I'll take some more pictures soon.

DoctorIt · January 21, 2005

configurationspace wrote:

I've taken it apart twice now. I put it back together after the 1st time just to make sure I could & to see if anything had changed. It's still not working (in the same way as before). I'm slowly taking it further and further to pieces to see if there's anything noticably wrong. I'll take some more pictures soon.

winter's tough, isn't it?

configurationspace · January 23, 2005

DoctorIt wrote:

winter's tough, isn't it?

There's no winter here in Oregon, at least none that sets off my Edmontonian "winter detector". We had a high of 50F today, tomorrow it'll be 62F. Hasn't even been raining. Been riding almost every day.

I just don't have the cash to buy a new camera, nor the cash to get my current camera "repaired". Provided I haven't fixed this camera in a month or two (the likely scenerio) I'll buy a replacement, and maybe I'll treat the replacement a little better.

DoctorIt · January 23, 2005

configurationspace wrote:

There's no winter here in Oregon, at least none that sets off my Edmontonian "winter detector". We had a high of 50F today, tomorrow it'll be 62F. Hasn't even been raining. Been riding almost every day.

I just don't have the cash to buy a new camera, nor the cash to get my current camera "repaired". Provided I haven't fixed this camera in a month or two (the likely scenerio) I'll buy a replacement, and maybe I'll treat the replacement a little better.

wow, i had no idea oregon was that warm

i wish you luck, but I'd have to say, I'd be amazed if you were able to repair it. thos little guys are notorious for being "throw away". Luckily, you should be able to pick up a replacement for a very reasonable price, maybe ebay. In your favor, there is a slew of 3-4mp cameras in the under $200 range now.

configurationspace · January 23, 2005

DoctorIt wrote:

wow, i had no idea oregon was that warm

i wish you luck, but I'd have to say, I'd be amazed if you were able to repair it. thos little guys are notorious for being "throw away". Luckily, you should be able to pick up a replacement for a very reasonable price, maybe ebay. In your favor, there is a slew of 3-4mp cameras in the under $200 range now.

It's unusually warm this winter, I'm told. In a "usual" January the daily high is about 42F and nightly low around 32F, and it would always be cloudy with rain on and off about every 5 minutes. But we're not having a usual winter.

I'm thinking a Canon S500 will be the next camera I buy. I like the design, and I don't feel ready to switch to an SD300 yet because I think it needs the smaller memory cards, no? I guess I could just sell my current memory cards but I also worry that the SD300 is a bit too small. I might accidentally throw it in the trash if it was in a pile of scrap paper or something.

luckyrwe · January 23, 2005

Will how well you can disassemble the camera come into play when deciding which model to purchase?

pierce · February 4, 2005

My S300 had a pin get bent in its CF socket, this rendered it DOA until we got it fixed by Canon USA (noone else I talked with would touch a repair on a digicam). With hindsight, I probably should have just gotten another camera, cuz another year or two later, and the battery&flash door latches are fubar, and the camera is nearly worthless.

ysr612 · February 5, 2005

I just ruined my sony dsc-p93 by riding in the rain, pictures will follow.

ps I did send it in for service but they said not worth it, as it was not a sony problem.

warhorse · February 5, 2005

Hi all. Found this thread through Google. I had the same error, and blowing on it NES style didn't work so I took it apart. I don't have any cleaner, so I took a wet paper towel to the contacts, dried it off, then blew on it. It didn't power on again until I actually put everything back together, but I was able to format my CF card! Sweet! It also seems to be normal that some of the pins on the CF connector are longer than the others.

Thanks all!

whizy · February 28, 2005

Same problem.
Greetings, All. I was directed to your site thanks to the magic of Google. My Powershot S400 also decided to go on strike with the "memory card error" grievance yesterday. Despite repeated offerings of 4 different CF cards, the camera still refused to work. I shall investigate my repair options and report back with any news of progress. Just thought I record the error for posterity.

configurationspace · March 12, 2005

Strange news.
Strange stuff. I don't know what to say, but my S400 is working again.

Before I say what I did to the camera, let me say I have (almost) no idea why it's working again.

1) I took the camera apart, as documented above.

2) I put the camera together again. This did not fix it.

3) I took the camera apart, one more time. I unscrewed the CF bay from inside the camera and wagged it around a bit, and gave it a few tugs.

4) I hid the camera along with my electric toothbrush under the kitchen sink when a new girlfriend came over for lunch one afternoon.

5) I left the dissasembled camera under the kitchen sink for two months.

6) I hastily put it back together and forgot a couple of screws in the process.

7) I reformatted my 512mb memory card with my dad's Canon A95

8) Put my memory card in my camera and voila, it works.

9) Tried to reformat my 32Mb card in my S400, did not work. Still gives "memory card error"

10) Reformatted my 32Mb card in my dad's A95, worked fine.

11) Put the formatted 32Mb card in my S400, works fine.

So call me crazy, but here's what I think happened.

Somehow BOTH of my CF cards were damaged SIMULTANEOUSLY in some way that my S400 could not format them, but my dad's A95 could.

All my dissassembly/reassembly was beside the point. All I've done is misplace a few screws from my camera. It seems to be working fine again. I wonder for how long?

"Memory card error" ??

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