Sd Card Formatting


Vynx

Member
Joined
May 1, 2006
Messages
253
Right, it's so difficult to find any solid information on this, so here's my question:

How can I format my SD card in Windows XP without a card reader? I have heard several reports here and there that the GP2X will not recognise the card if I format it with XP. What I want to know is this: Is there any software or method that will allow me to format my card without needing to purchase extra hardware?

A quick response would be greatly appreciated.
 
? I have never heard of that, maybe you are confusing gp2x with gp32...

Well, i'll take your word for it. The card was Fat, but i've been told Fat32 is recommended. Wish me luck :(

Edit: I formatted the card, and I can now transfer data again, but it still registers at being around half-full.
 
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A good card reader is about ~$12, I wouldn't sweat it and just buy one.

If you don't wish too (I understand) then try using someone elses PC, most new Gateway and Dell PC's have one built in.

I believe somebody posted this fix:

Transcend fix utility

It is said to fix the 2GB/4GB cards to full capacity when they only show 1GB because of bad formats.

You could always try it, or find out what brand you have and check the FAQ's in the support center of their website.
 
A good card reader is about ~$12, I wouldn't sweat it and just buy one.

If you don't wish too (I understand) then try using someone elses PC, most new Gateway and Dell PC's have one built in.

I believe somebody posted this fix:

Transcend fix utility

It is said to fix the 2GB/4GB cards to full capacity when they only show 1GB because of bad formats.

You could always try it, or find out what brand you have and check the FAQ's in the support center of their website.


The link said it's only for Transcend Cards, mine's an Integral 2GB. You sure that won't mess up my card if I try it? If you could link me to the forum thread you found that fix, perhaps someone in there posted whether or not it'll work with other cards.

Edit: I checked out the Intergral website, and they say it should be formated via command line, and it doesn't mention doing it via Explorer, which is what i've done. - i'll try that if I can't exceed this invisible card limit
 
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A good card reader is about ~$12, I wouldn't sweat it and just buy one.

If you don't wish too (I understand) then try using someone elses PC, most new Gateway and Dell PC's have one built in.

I believe somebody posted this fix:

Transcend fix utility

It is said to fix the 2GB/4GB cards to full capacity when they only show 1GB because of bad formats.

You could always try it, or find out what brand you have and check the FAQ's in the support center of their website.


The link said it's only for Transcend Cards, mine's an Integral 2GB. You sure that won't mess up my card if I try it? If you could link me to the forum thread you found that fix, perhaps someone in there posted whether or not it'll work with other cards.

Edit: I checked out the Intergral website, and they say it should be formated via command line, and it doesn't mention doing it via Explorer, which is what i've done. - i'll try that if I can't exceed this invisible card limit


Edit Edit: Right, according to windows, half the SD card is damaged, which explains that space being taken up. I'm try an SD card formatting utulity, and then if that doesn't work i'll try to repair the bad sectors. If these don't work, i'm sending back the card, it seems kaput to me.
 
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This may or may not help, but I just bought a 2gb card and for whatever reason I could only format to 1gb in Win XP, I tried an sd fix patch and this appeared to fix the card but on filling it past the 1gb limit XP refused to fill the card, going back to format all i got was the 1gb limit, this drove me insane for a full day, trying everything including buying a new card reader to no avail..

Eventually I pulled out my old P2-300 with win98 installed popped my card reader in and hey, it said I could format to 2gb, which I did, this was filled past the 1gb limit and works fine.

Strangly putting this card back in my XP machine, which is several years newer and have never had problems like this before, still says its a 1gb card and refuses to read or write past this limit, dont know whats incompatible but something is.

So, to recap, try a PC with a different OS, It might work, did for me.

E
 
I had the same problem with my cardreader and WinXP. After several formats and still getting only 1Gb of my 2Gb card, I tried a Quick Format instead of full format, and suddenly I got the full 2Gb working.
 
This really isn't giving me much hope guys.....I just dropped $100 on a new 4 gb adata card and I was hoping just to pop it in my reader and format it to the full amount....and now I read this thread and I am getting antsy because the card hasn't arrived.

Its supposed to come in on monday (its sunday) so I'll let you guys know. I thought I was gonna have problems with my gp2x reading it, and now you guys are telling me that my computer *might* have a problem first, before it even goes in my gp2x....OH MAN......

DSR
 
This really isn't giving me much hope guys.....I just dropped $100 on a new 4 gb adata card and I was hoping just to pop it in my reader and format it to the full amount....and now I read this thread and I am getting antsy because the card hasn't arrived.

Its supposed to come in on monday (its sunday) so I'll let you guys know. I thought I was gonna have problems with my gp2x reading it, and now you guys are telling me that my computer *might* have a problem first, before it even goes in my gp2x....OH MAN......

DSR

You can always return it, and it is a downer, but such is life when it comes to computers.

A question, it wasn't formatted when you got it? Usually they are.

And it looks like the partition is messed up, not necessarily the format.

I am forced to do "quick formats" in XP all the time because of this problem, not only on SD, regular HDDs too.

Try CompuApps SwissKnife (it's free), it might be able to help you.

The problems you are having are technically Microsoft's fault, I have been able to use Linux and commandline Dos tools to properly partition things for years, XP is at fault.

If you have any problems return it immediately, Newegg.com is selling them for $87.99 right now anyway ;).

I wouldn't touch the format on any card as it comes from the factory unless it either doesn't work or you corrupted it somehow. It should be formatted and it should work with any NEW GP2X.
 
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If you have formatted your card incorrectly it can usually be undone.


I just checked Integral's website, see if this fixes anything:

*Press Start / Run
*Type "cmd" press the OK button
* This will launch the MS-DOS window and prompt
* Type format *: /fs:fat#
(* represents the drive letter that windows recognises the card as)
* Press return and follow the onscreen prompts
* Once the routine is complete type EXIT

#I would use Fat32 instead, I think FAT has a cap on size, The GP2X likes fat32.
 
If you have formatted your card incorrectly it can usually be undone.


I just checked Integral's website, see if this fixes anything:

*Press Start / Run
*Type "cmd" press the OK button
* This will launch the MS-DOS window and prompt
* Type format *: /fs:fat#
(* represents the drive letter that windows recognises the card as)
* Press return and follow the onscreen prompts
* Once the routine is complete type EXIT

#I would use Fat32 instead, I think FAT has a cap on size, The GP2X likes fat32.

fat does have a cap on it. I believe its 2gb like others have said.

I think I will format it when I recieve it, because of what happened in one of the other threads where a person didn't format when they recieved it, and there was some garbage on the card, and when he put it in his gp2x, it currupted the boot because the unit thought it was firmware....

so I'll see if my comp can read it first, and just make sure its formatted correctly....I'll let you guys know how it goes...

DSR
 
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I found the problem - half the card is corrupt :(

I've send it back and i'm expecting a refund. I'm going to use the money to buy a different card and a card reader to go with it.
 
Just to let you guys know. My new 4gb card works flawslessly. I had a little doubt, but it does work and works well.

Just to clarify, I recieved the card, popped it into my crard reader, which instantly read it as 4 gb. I then checked it properties to see if it was formatted correctly and it WAS NOT.

So I did as people here have suggested, and quick formated it to fat32. It formatted in less than five seconds. I have since reloaded all my programs, movies, and roms onto it, and have ZERO problems!!!

So if anyone else is considering buying a 4 gb card, an ADATA 150X 4GB SDCARD works perfectly.

Oh BTW I have a F100 model, and the 2.0 firrmware.


DSR
 
I think I will format it when I recieve it, because of what happened in one of the other threads where a person didn't format when they recieved it, and there was some garbage on the card, and when he put it in his gp2x, it currupted the boot because the unit thought it was firmware....
The 2.0 firmware uboot DOES NOT FLASH AND BRICK, you must hold start and select, and even then I doubt it has the same buggy SD card reading as the old u-"brick-it"-boot :).

All your fears were completely groundless, I find that very ironic, although I seem to be wasting a lot of time here, so I guess the irony is on me :rolleyes: .

:lol: :lol: :lol: , funny you didn't know that firmware 2.0 is brick-proof now that dignsys is no longer making the crappy firmware and uboot, a different company has taken over, that is why they skipped all the way to 2.0 :).
 
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I think I will format it when I recieve it, because of what happened in one of the other threads where a person didn't format when they recieved it, and there was some garbage on the card, and when he put it in his gp2x, it currupted the boot because the unit thought it was firmware....
The 2.0 firmware uboot DOES NOT FLASH AND BRICK, you must hold start and select, and even then I doubt it has the same buggy SD card reading as the old u-"brick-it"-boot :).

All your fears were completely groundless, I find that very ironic, although I seem to be wasting a lot of time here, so I guess the irony is on me :rolleyes: .

:lol: :lol: :lol: , funny you didn't know that firmware 2.0 is brick-proof now that dignsys is no longer making the crappy firmware and uboot, a different company has taken over, that is why they skipped all the way to 2.0 :).


Ok.

While i do know that the new firmware makes the unit almost completly un-brickable, I was still cautious about the fact that there might be something on the cvard that my unit wouldn't understand, and possibly freeze. Also when I did recieve it, it was not formatted as FAT32, so I had to format it by putting it into my card reader and quick formating it so that I felt comforable that it would work correctly, and I would not have any wierd size issues, or other incompatibilities. Just a precautionary thing, that's all.

DSR
 
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dsraa,

could you tell me what card reader you have ?

could help me out with a problem :)


Umm. I actually have no idea what brand my card reader is, I did get a fairly good card reader that was supposed to be able to read tons of different cards. So far, its read everything I've put into it, regardless of what device formatted the card, whether it was a camera or a pda or gp32 and such.

So don't always pick the cheapest of the cheap, pick something that can read a good amount of formats of cards.
Anything that connects via usb 2.0 should work well. If not, make sure you install the drivers that come with it.

DSR
 
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