Problem with SD card

[cubelindo]

Hi, I've bought a Sandisk Ultra SDXC 64Gb card from Amazon (not a merchant). I've tested it with h2testw (no errors, 64Gb capacity) so I suppose it is legit, and formatted with SDformatter.


The Pandora does not detect it. The green led turns on for a couple of seconds, but no SD icon appears on the desktop and no .pnd is deteted. I tried formatting using both a PC and a laptop with the same result. SD formatter does only Quickformat (other options revert to quickformat once it starts formatting) and the only filesystem available is exFAT


I tried formatting using NTSC filesystem and then the Pandora does detect the card (the icon appears in the desktop with its correct label) but does not mount it (unknown filesystem if you try)


If somebody can give me a clue about how should I proceed, i'd very much appreciate it


The only unix pc I have is the Pandora, btw


Is there any .pnd for testing/formatting SD cards with the Pandora?

 

[Askarus]

Gparted is the the tool I use for stuff like that. (It's in the repo)


Fat 32 should be the format to work with.


If you use NTFS you need the community codec pack.

 

[aholmes]

Send it back. That's what i did after I experienced too many problems with it. In the end the card got soo corrupted I sent it back to amazon for a full refund.


Stick with 32gb. much easier

 

[Askarus]

I use some very cheap 64GB cards in my Pandora and they run pretty well.


If you send them back I'd advice you to wait 1-2 month and get a 128GB card then. They should be at a reasonable price then.

 

[patnik]

Before I proceed, make certain that your OpenPandora has the CodecPack installed, which also adds support for extra large cards and NTFS filesystem among other things. The CodecPack must be installed whenever one gets a new OpenPandora unit ( the CodecPack is not installed from factory by default for licensing reasons ) or when one reflashes his/her OpenPandora unit firmware. The CodecPack.pnd can be downloaded from the software Repo linked via the Firmware page:


http://openpandora.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=199&Itemid=40&lang=en


"Community Codec Package"...... download this into a smaller capacity FAT32 formatted SD card. Follow the instructions on that page. Once installed your Pandora will now have NTFS support, some video codecs support, etc.


You are halfway done. We now must work on getting your Pandora to support that SDXC card.


I did these steps using WinXP. By default, Windows XP does not have exFAT support, which is what these SDXC cards are formatted as. So that means before we proceed, the WinXP installation must be updated to include this support. Get to Microsoft`s support pages, find the exFAT update, download and install the update (you may have to reboot your PC as well). Once completed, your WindowsXP will now properly detect any SDXC cards you may have.


Now, we must get that 64GB SDXC formatted from exFAT to NTFS.


Make sure that your SD card reader can support SDXC/UHC(Ultra High Capacity) cards. You may have to buy an updated model than the one you are currently using. A USB SDXC reader is simple enough for this. (In my case, I had bought a USB SDXC card reader just in case, but I discovered that after I installed the exFAT update, my USB SDHC card reader can also read my SDXC card. This is not guaranteed to work 100% for you, so keep that in mind. But it can`t hurt to try.)


On the net find a program called HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool v2.2.3. This program does not need to be installed at all, it is self executable. At least the version I have is such. Just download it for now and save it to your desktop. Don`t run it as yet.


Insert your 64GB SDXC card into your SDXC card reader. Then connect it to your PC USB port. If successful WinXP will notify you of connected hardware (chime sound). If you are using a built-in SD reader on your PC, again this device must support SDXC cards; if it does then great. If not, then no worries, just follow my advice and buy a USB SDXC reader, or a USB multi Flash Card reader with SDXC compatibility.


Please note the drive letter assigned to the 64GB SDXC card. This is important. If you have other USB drives connected simultaneously, as a safety precaution you may want to disconnect them for the moment and just leave the 64GB SDXC "drive" connected only. I assume no responsibility for any drive reformat error/mistakes that you might make!!! If you MUST leave your additional USB drives connected, then please, please, PLEASE take note of the SDXC assigned drive letter. Again, I cannot stress this enough, if you have to write it down even, watch and remember the drive letter that WinXP assigns your SDXC card "drive"!!!


Now,...open HP USB Format.


There should be a list of available USB drives detected by the program. Do you see your SDXC drive in the list? If no, close the program, disconnect the SDXC "drive" from the PC USB port, reboot if you must, then reconnect the SDXC drive again, then reload the HP Format program again. If your SDXC "drive" is now connected, wonderful. This is what we need to see.


Make sure you choose the SDXC "drive" only and no other drive ( remember what I previously said about other connected USB drives?) Make sure you choose the SDXC.


Assign it a volume name (optional).


Choose your Format speed. If you can spare the time, select Full Format (recommended). Otherwise choose Quick Format.


Format type, choose NTFS.


Leave any other options blank.


Press OK and let HP Format work.


When it is completed, close the HP USB Format completely. Then disconnect your SDXC card "drive" from your PC. Reconnect the SDXC "drive" again. In WinXP "My Computer" click on the Drive Properties. If all went well, your SDXC should now be detected as NTFS formatted. Great, this is what we want.


Disconnect the SDXC "drive" from PC, remove the SDXC card from the card reader and now insert the card into your Pandora. Your OpenPandora should now be able to detect and read any NTFS formatted SD/SDHC/SDXC cards you may throw at it.


Now prep the card ( proper folders and such, as per the steps in the wiki and/or User FAQ) and you can now have fun. ^_^ ^_^ ^_^


Hope that this helps.


....Patnik.

 

[Askarus]

@ Patnik


Why do you want him to make NTFS format?


I use FAT32 on my 64 GB SD-card.

 

[patnik]

To Askarus: Sometimes I tend to use my Pandora as a portable storage drive, keeping/transferring large files over 4GB ( FAT32 max is 4GB file size; NTFS does not have that barrier ) between my desktop, my laptops and my Pandora. Plus it makes it easier when I need to connect my Pandora to my external NTFS formatted hard drive to transfer files back and forth. So in my case, having my two Sandisk 64GB SDXC NTFS formatted cards is ideal for me.


But everyone case is different. At least there is that option for someone like myself.


....Patnik.

 

[cubelindo]

First of all, thanks to patnik, Askarus and aholmes for replying


I installed the codecpack and tried to make an NTFS format. Even though my Win7 laptop detects the card and formats it (like 2-3 hours) i had problems copying files form other PCs, like files disappearing or terrible file transfer speed I have ordered an SDXC USB reader/writer just in case. Thanks patnik for your walkthrough for this


In the mean time, I used gparted and format it FAT32. Now it seems it is working OK. Thanks Askarus for your advice, I totally fell in love with gparted.


I wonder why exFAT is not supported by Pandora?

 

[mcobit]

Because it is not free and cannot be distributed with the firmware.