Smart Media Card Format

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Level 1

44 points

Smart Media Card Format

Hello,

I have a formatting issue with my Smart Media Card. I usually hook up my digital camera via USB to my computer to download the photos. However, recently tried putting my Smart Media card into a Smart Media card reader that I found. I think that was a bad idea because it formatted my card to a format the camera can't read or reformat. The card was prevously formatted as "MS DOS FAT 12". Now, the card is formatted as "MS DOS FAT 16". I tried several different format options in Apple Disk Utility to get my MS DOS FAT 12 format back, but with no luck. I don't know much about Window's formats so I currently have a friend looking into the problem, however, he isn't having much luck. Does anyone know of a way to get my card reformatted back to MS DOS FAT 12?

Thank You,
Video Guy

Blue and White G3 & QuickSilver G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8) Olympus D-380, 32 MB Card

Posted on Jun 8, 2007 6:53 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 8, 2007 7:41 AM in response to Video Guy

Does the camera not have the option to erase/format the card? Most of the ones I've seen do.

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Answer 2

Video Guy Author

Level 1

44 points

Jun 9, 2007 7:03 PM in response to Templeton Peck

Yes, the camera has an erase/format option, but the card is so messed up the camera is unable to format it.

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Answer 3

Jan Hedlund

Level 7

22,207 points

Jun 11, 2007 7:40 AM in response to Video Guy

It cannot be ruled out that a modern operating system automatically chooses to format this flash memory card (or any card of a given size) to MS DOS FAT 16. For that reason, you may want to carry out some experiments with standard formatting on a PC running something like Windows 98, or possibly Windows 95 (provided, of course, that you have access to a card reader which is capable of functioning under those circumstances).

Jan

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Answer 4

Video Guy Author

Level 1

44 points

Jun 11, 2007 9:02 AM in response to Jan Hedlund

Thank you for the information. However, years ago I remember the same reader formatting a 4MB card in a computer running Windows 98. I didn't think much of it because it was only 4MB and I forgot about the re-formatting problem until it formatted my 32 MB card. Are there any programs that specialize in formatting media cards?

Thanks,
Video Guy

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Answer 5

Jan Hedlund

Level 7

22,207 points

Jun 11, 2007 6:14 PM in response to Video Guy

Hi,

A number of formatting and recovery programs for various flash cards appear on the Internet. Sorry, cannot recommend anything. As often when PC software is involved, it is difficult to determine whether or not a program is good and useful (beware of spyware et cetera!).

You do not seem to be the only user having problems with reformatted cards. For additional information, try a Google search for "format smart media olympus" or something similar.

Good luck!

Jan

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Answer 6

Video Guy Author

Level 1

44 points

Jun 15, 2007 12:28 PM in response to Jan Hedlund

I've been looking for programs that will re-format the card. There really are a lot, it's just hard to find one that will work. I will keep looking, there must be something out there.

Thank you for your help and information,
Video Guy

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