2gb compact flash problems

With my new Canon S3, I can't get my 2gb Sandisk card to "low level format".
Is this necessary to format the SD card?

SJ wrote:
With my new Canon S3, I can't get my 2gb Sandisk card to "low level
format". Is this necessary to format the SD card?

My recommendation is always to format the card in the camera, not the
computer.

David

On Sun, 10 Sep 2006 21:10:33 -0400, "SJ" wrote:

With my new Canon S3, I can't get my 2gb Sandisk card to "low level format".
Is this necessary to format the SD card?

You can't do a LLF on a flash RAM device.
As a rule, you should format the card in the camera, unless you are
going to use the card as a "sneakernet" device, and will not use it in
your camera.
As for foprmating in the camera, the need to format the card is, for
all practical purposes, nill (note the word "need"). Formatting is
usually faster than "delete all" though, if you have a lot of images
on the card.
When you buy a new card, formatting isn't usually needed, either.
--
Bill Funk
replace "g" with "a"

Bill Funk wrote:
On Sun, 10 Sep 2006 21:10:33 -0400, "SJ" wrote:


With my new Canon S3, I can't get my 2gb Sandisk card to "low level format".
Is this necessary to format the SD card?


You can't do a LLF on a flash RAM device.
As a rule, you should format the card in the camera, unless you are
going to use the card as a "sneakernet" device, and will not use it in
your camera.
As for foprmating in the camera, the need to format the card is, for
all practical purposes, nill (note the word "need"). Formatting is
usually faster than "delete all" though, if you have a lot of images
on the card.
When you buy a new card, formatting isn't usually needed, either.
I understood (i.e. overheard a camera guy in the local store when
talking to a nice lady that had just bought about $5000 in equipment)
that the card formatting prevented the random error issue that sometimes
renders cards unreadable.. Something about deleting not getting rid of
all information and some garbage getting mixed in with the next set of
pictures?

Frankly, it doesn't really matter to me either way since I tend to
format the card after I'm done unloading it (I am not obsessive
compulsive.. I am *NOT* obsessive compulsive.. I am...), but I'd love to
hear opinions on this..


P.

--
I do *NOT* have a short attention sp...(Oooh!! shiny!!)

Philippe wrote:
Bill Funk wrote:
On Sun, 10 Sep 2006 21:10:33 -0400, "SJ" wrote:


With my new Canon S3, I can't get my 2gb Sandisk card to "low level
format".
Is this necessary to format the SD card?


You can't do a LLF on a flash RAM device.
As a rule, you should format the card in the camera, unless you are
going to use the card as a "sneakernet" device, and will not use it in
your camera.
As for foprmating in the camera, the need to format the card is, for
all practical purposes, nill (note the word "need"). Formatting is
usually faster than "delete all" though, if you have a lot of images
on the card.
When you buy a new card, formatting isn't usually needed, either.
I understood (i.e. overheard a camera guy in the local store when
talking to a nice lady that had just bought about $5000 in equipment)
that the card formatting prevented the random error issue that sometimes
renders cards unreadable.. Something about deleting not getting rid of
all information and some garbage getting mixed in with the next set of
pictures?

Shouldn't eavesdrop, just concentrate on nice ladies, particularly those
that blow $5000 on equipment. What you heard is rubbish, however,
formatting is quick and recommended.
It's possible on some cameras such as canon that full directories may
not get removed by erasure once they are emptied and no longer needed.
I've never checked and don't know, but it would be a very minor issue
anyway, wasting negligible space.
Dave Cohen


Frankly, it doesn't really matter to me either way since I tend to
format the card after I'm done unloading it (I am not obsessive
compulsive.. I am *NOT* obsessive compulsive.. I am...), but I'd love to
hear opinions on this..


P.

Philippe wrote:
[]
Frankly, it doesn't really matter to me either way since I tend to
format the card after I'm done unloading it (I am not obsessive
compulsive.. I am *NOT* obsessive compulsive.. I am...), but I'd love
to hear opinions on this..

.... so please the newsgroup postings back over the last couple of years or
so!

My opinions and advice remain broadly the same.

David

On Sun, 10 Sep 2006 21:10:33 -0400, "SJ" wrote:

With my new Canon S3, I can't get my 2gb Sandisk card to "low level format".
Is this necessary to format the SD card?

I've used low level and the quicker (low level unchecked) format on a
Sandisk 2gb in my S3 IS. Should work. But if the low level
unchecked format works, that should be just about as good. Have you
tried other SD cards? Might be a bad SD card.


---
Bob Anderson*Bitwisebob
Eugene Oregon

A lot of the older and smaller capacity cards were USB enabled. That means that the USB controller was embedded in the card and any old (dumb) reader/writer could be used. With the larger cards, they seem to have dropped the USB enabled logic so you need a smarter reader/writer to deal with them.
"SJ" wrote in message ...
With my new Canon S3, I can't get my 2gb Sandisk card to "low level format". Is this necessary to format the SD card?

"bitwisebob" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 10 Sep 2006 21:10:33 -0400, "SJ" wrote:

With my new Canon S3, I can't get my 2gb Sandisk card to "low level
format".
Is this necessary to format the SD card?

I've used low level and the quicker (low level unchecked) format on a
Sandisk 2gb in my S3 IS. Should work. But if the low level
unchecked format works, that should be just about as good. Have you
tried other SD cards? Might be a bad SD card.

Bob, I have determined the card is bad, I can't format it in my wifes SD400
either. The EBAY seller is giving me a refund. thanks for the help

On Mon, 11 Sep 2006 22:40:00 -0400, "SJ" wrote:

Bob, I have determined the card is bad, I can't format it in my wifes SD400
either. The EBAY seller is giving me a refund. thanks for the help

good deal... nice you had anothter camera to test it in.


---
Bob Anderson*Bitwisebob
Eugene Oregon