smartmedia card error

[stanger]

i have a fuji digital cam and i bought a card reader for my 2 smart media cards, so i used the card reader a few times and now when i stick my cards in the cam it shows up card error. i don't know what happened and i payed 75 bucks per card. if anyone has had this problem and knows how to fix it please help.
thanks

[Melinda]

does the card work in your camera and not the reader?

[Melinda]

Never mind, i re read it, it makes sense...try re formatting the cards

[xkon]

Originally posted by Melinda
Never mind, i re read it, it makes sense...try re formatting the cards

:werd: i get the same error now and again on my fuji 2600z, and the only solution is a complete reformat... strange too, because the card can be read in the camera when its hooked up to the computer, but not when its in picture mode!

[stanger]

tried that man...still nothing.. do u use a cetain file to do this with?

[Melinda]

Just bring up the "my computer" window and right click on the card reader drive...about half way down the list should be a 'format...' option...try it and see if it works

[stanger]

nope nothing

[xkon]

did you try formatting it with just the camera? that should work

[stanger]

nope nothing...

[Melinda]

Does it work when you load it onto your computer and JUST not work in the camera?

And did it ever work at all in the camera?

[stanger]

i don't even have the cables i wish.. i only use the card reader

[Melinda]

No, but when you put the card into the card reader, can the card reader recognize it and can you see whatever's on there?

And did the cards ever work at all in the camera?

[stanger]

yup the cards use to work in the cam... and my comp can recongnize the reader and the card

[kenny]

I believe the error is caused when you format your card using an incompatible file system format. But, if that is the case, you should be able to format your card through your camera menu.

[Melinda]

Okay I'd call a good camera store and explain your problem...they may be able to help you...I know Vistek has a great digital camera department, I go to them for a lot of my troubleshooting Their number is 244-0333

[stanger]

thanks guys and girls! im still open to anything anyone has to say

[Davetronz]

Originally posted by kenny
I believe the error is caused when you format your card using an incompatible file system format. But, if that is the case, you should be able to format your card through your camera menu.
Kenny is correct. This error is very typical with transferable memory systems. If you were to take pictures and delete them from your camera then you wouldnt have the problem. If you take the pictures and then plug into your computer to upload and decide to delete pictures this screws up what could be compared to a File Allocation Table. Formatting the card through the camera will start new and close the gap in the table. You may also experience issues if you use a card reader or USB cable to format your card. Try to always do this in your camera to ensure compatibility.
The problem will exist when you use a card reader or a USB cord, it is basically all the same. I can compare it to trying to use MAC input output code with PC peripherals.

[kcchiefsfan]

I have been able to fix (3) Smartmedia cards that were all giving me the "CARD ERROR" message in my Olympus D-360L. This was even done using Windows XP. My reader is a PNY multislot reader. By going to www.pny.com website, I downloaded a file, under "Support", "Flashmedia", called "SMFormat_403.zip". It erases everything so make sure you have rescued as many files as you can. Afterwards, I was finally was able to access the camera's internal menu!I followed this up with a reformat using the camera's own function.

[Digia]

FastDak318's post explains why the SM card in my Olympus C2020Z suddenly didn't work: I had downloaded the pix into my Dell laptop, and then had deleted them from the card using the Windows Explorer delete.

I got it to work again only through the smprep.exe file which came with the Dazzle Zio SM reader that I had. That reformatted everything. Before this, I tried reformatting the card using the Windows Explorer, but that didn't work.

[Davetronz]

Originally posted by Digia
FastDak318's post explains why the SM card in my Olympus C2020Z suddenly didn't work: I had downloaded the pix into my Dell laptop, and then had deleted them from the card using the Windows Explorer delete.

I got it to work again only through the smprep.exe file which came with the Dazzle Zio SM reader that I had. That reformatted everything. Before this, I tried reformatting the card using the Windows Explorer, but that didn't work.
Thats because FastDak ruuuuulez! :D

[Digia]

If you are having "Card Error" problems with your digital camera (mine is an Olumpus C2020-Z), here is one method that you can try (it worked with a friend of mine). This method assumes that:

1) you have (or can borrow) another SM card that works
2) you have a card reader that works with a Windows computer

The steps are:

1) use the reader and computer's Windows Explorer to copy all the contents of the functioning SM to your hard disk, change SM cards in the reader, and then copy the contents to the bad SM card. This essentially replaces whatever bad formatting that's causing the problem with the bad card with the information from the good card. The original good SM is not changed at all.

2) Put the bad one back in the camera and reformat it again in the camera. The procedure may take an extra long time, and of course all the contents will be erased with the reformat.

3) The bad one that is reformatted in the camera should now work again.

Step 1) is just a way to change the card's formatting enough so that the camera can do the final reformatting. Hope this helps.