Memory card HELP!

[Mach]

Hi all. I'm new to the community and to the Micro BR. I purchased a Kingston 1GB card and when I installed it everything looked great and seemed to work. Then I read where it had to be Initialized (Formatted) before it would work correctly.

I went through the steps to Initialize it and I got a CARD WRITE ERROR!, then the unit would not turn off or do anything...it froze up and the light stayed dim. I had to remove the batteries and start over. Now the card is not recognized and it says it is UNFORMATTED.

Did I fry the card? It works fine when I put the Boss 128MB card back in. Now, if I go get another card should I just insert it without doing the Intialize step? Will it work that way?

Thanks in advance for any help!

I also posted this earlier in a previous post 

[64Guitars]

Did you allow the Initialize function enough time to complete? Page 115 of the Micro BR manual (3rd edition) says:

• Depending on the capacity of the memory   card, initializing may take more than ten   minutes to complete. This is not a malfunction.   The progress of the initializing is shown in the   display. Do not turn off the MICRO BR until   the initializing has been completed. • Do not remove the memory card or turn off   the MICRO BR while the display shows "Keep   power on!" Doing so can destroy the data on   the memory card and/or render the memory   card itself unusable.

So, it's possible that you damaged the card if you didn't wait for the format to complete and turned the BR off while the display still said "Keep power on". Other than that, I doubt that you could have damaged the card merely by initializing it. It's more likely that the card was borderline incompatible to begin with.

Have you tried initializing it again? I would keep trying, at least two or three times. And use the AC power adapter for your Micro BR rather than batteries, if possible. Weak batteries could cause the initialize to fail.

Do you have a card reader for your computer? If not, I'd recommend that you get one. They're inexpensive and very handy. If you don't have any luck initializing the card in the BR, you could try initializing it on your computer via the card reader with this program:

http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/sd/download/sd_formatter.html

If it formats okay on the computer, try initializing it once more in the BR. If it fails, then the card isn't suitable for use in the Micro BR. If possible, take it back to where you purchased it and ask them to exchange it because it's incompatible with your Micro BR. Try a different brand if necessary. If you can't exchange it, then just use it in a camera or other device, or as a floppy disc alternative on your computer via the card reader. Then get a different card for your Micro BR.

If it fails to format on your computer using the Panasonic program, then the card must be defective. Take it back and insist that they exchange it. Failing that, contact Kingston and ask them to exchange it.

And, yes, for maximum compatibility, you should always initialize your memory cards in the BR before using them. Some cards come pre-formatted and they may seem to work in the Micro BR. But you can never be certain that they're 100% compatible, so it's always best to let the BR initialize it.

[Mach]

Hey 64Guitars thanks for the info. I had put the card in and it seemed ok at first, it read the card, started the "song creating" process and went on to display the play screen as indicated in the manual. But when I Intialized it went right to the ERROR message and froze up. Now it says it's UNFORMATTED and I get the ERROR message CARD WRITE ERROR every time.

I'm going to take the card back and try another brand and I'll use the power adaptor instead of batteries to intialize. I've read on the board here somewhere that the Kingston worked fine. I was just wondering if some cards are already formatted and ready to go when they are installed?

[Oldrottenhead]

i use the kingston 1gb card fine with my mbr, i did get an error message once but i think it was dirt on the card, cos it works ok now.

[Mach]

Well I went and returned the card with no problem and they let me try a different one right in the store before I bought it. I got a PNY 1gig and it initialized within 20 seconds of booting up.

Everything seems to work just fine, so now I can get to recording something. Looks as if we will get hit head on with that hurricane here in Fla. so if I lose power I have something to play with LOL. Maybe the "Hurricane Micro BR Blues" or "I was blown by Fay" ...anyway it's up and running.

[guitarron]

"I was blown by Fay"

perfect-lol

[drutgat]

I had an experience with the card that came with the unit in which I was very low on battery power while working on a song (it might have been trying to save the song, I don't know).

Anyway, the batteries died while I was using the unit, and every time I'm in that song, the unit displays an error message at the point that it died. I don't know whether or not this means that there is permanent damage to the card in the sector it was using at the time that the battery died, or if I could just erase the song and get rid of this message.

Either way, this taught me what 64 Guitars recommends: to use an AC adapter when initializing - or at the very least a set of freshly charged batteries which will easily last longer than ten minutes.

[64Guitars]

I had an experience with the card that came with the unit in which I was very low on battery power while working on a song (it might have been trying to save the song, I don't know).

Anyway, the batteries died while I was using the unit, and every time I'm in that song, the unit displays an error message at the point that it died. I don't know whether or not this means that there is permanent damage to the card in the sector it was using at the time that the battery died, or if I could just erase the song and get rid of this message.

I'd backup the whole card. Then, when you're confident that you have a good backup, initialise the card and restore the backup. If the error persists, use the BR Wave Converter to export the tracks to wave files, then create a new song on the BR and import the wave files into it.

[drutgat]

I had an experience with the card that came with the unit in which I was very low on battery power while working on a song (it might have been trying to save the song, I don't know).

Anyway, the batteries died while I was using the unit, and every time I'm in that song, the unit displays an error message at the point that it died. I don't know whether or not this means that there is permanent damage to the card in the sector it was using at the time that the battery died, or if I could just erase the song and get rid of this message.

I'd backup the whole card. Then, when you're confident that you have a good backup, initialise the card and restore the backup. If the error persists, use the BR Wave Converter to export the tracks to wave files, then create a new song on the BR and import the wave files into it.

What amazing advice. Very sensible and well thought-out.

Thanks so much.

Will do this.

Thanks once again

[blades]

so how do you back up a card?