Hacking Which Micro SDHC Card Brand Do You Use and Why?

[ZAFDeltaForce]

Writing now says 5.65, so I guess that's the average..?
Read speed is waaaay slower though.

That's quite odd. Read speed is usually higher than write speed, like how it's faster to read a one page essay than writing an identical one page essay.

We'll just have to wait for the final results of the software to determine anything though. You're using H2testw yes?

 

[Janthran]

Writing now says 5.65, so I guess that's the average..?
Read speed is waaaay slower though.

That's quite odd. Read speed is usually higher than write speed, like how it's faster to read a one page essay than writing an identical one page essay.

We'll just have to wait for the final results of the software to determine anything though. You're using H2testw yes?

Yep.
and it's definitely taking longer to read than to write, because writing only too 9 minutes and this is now at 20.

 

[ZAFDeltaForce]

Writing now says 5.65, so I guess that's the average..?
Read speed is waaaay slower though.

That's quite odd. Read speed is usually higher than write speed, like how it's faster to read a one page essay than writing an identical one page essay.

We'll just have to wait for the final results of the software to determine anything though. You're using H2testw yes?

Yep.
and it's definitely taking longer to read than to write, because writing only too 9 minutes and this is now at 20.

Post up the final results, we'll make the conclusion then

 

[Janthran]

What's all this about 2GB corrupted, though?

 

[Janthran]

That program corrupted a lot of stuff, and forced me to format my mSD.
>_>

 

[yellowsnowcone]

I have some unlabeled SD card because it was cheap and I wanted a 4GB card. I also don't know the class of it because it just says SD on it.

That card simply has no class. There isn't a requirement that they be off some class, just that if a card is rated, it must give sequential write performance of that many (2,4,6,10) MB per second. How often does your flash cart, phone, tablet, or Raspeberry Pi need fast sequential write speeds? Not often. But, there is no offical spec for 16K or 32K random reads.

Does that mean it's class 0?

No. Not having a class rating just means that the vendor offers no guarantee of sequential write speeds. Sequential write speeds only matter when you are copying large files to the device, however. Smaller writes and reads have no direct correlation, though they will generally be slower. Retail brands pretty much have to offer a rating, which isn't out of line with others in their price range, just as a simple marketing measure. Sandisk and Transcend, for instance, are well known for having pretty good random performance in their cheaper low rated models.

What's all this about 2GB corrupted, though?

I've never seen that, before. Google results indicate that similar errors seem to occur on cards that are actually lower capacity than they are sold as.

 

[Janthran]

Now it says it's 121 MB and write protected. It 's neither of those.
I am not happy right now. Anyone help?

 

[yellowsnowcone]

Now it says it's 121 MB and write protected. It 's neither of those.
I am not happy right now. Anyone help?

I've only used h2testw as a performance checking and verification program, like CrystalDiskMark, having found that many cards advertised as higher speed, such class 10, often have poor application performance. Until tonight, I hadn't read or heard anything about flash fraud in over 10 years, from the days when 256MB CF cards cost real money (oh, and verifying who's cards had stable UDMA support...what fun).

http://www.ryukent.c...lash-sd-memory/


Now, do you mean that Windows is now telling you that it's only 121MB and write-protected? If it's Windows giving you that, then I'd say that h2testw killed it, but that it would have died and/or corrupted data in the coming months, as you used it. The correct way for flash to fail is to become read-only, and hide any blocks that it failed to write to. I have killed a few over the years, and with a good flash device, it leaves you able to pull the last good set of data off of it.

If that is the case, now would be a good time to go get a reputable brand card.

 

[Janthran]

Now it says it's 121 MB and write protected. It 's neither of those.
I am not happy right now. Anyone help?

I've only used h2testw as a performance checking and verification program, like CrystalDiskMark, having found that many cards advertised as higher speed, such class 10, often have poor application performance. Until tonight, I hadn't read or heard anything about flash fraud in over 10 years, from the days when 256MB CF cards cost real money (oh, and verifying who's cards had stable UDMA support...what fun).

http://www.ryukent.c...lash-sd-memory/


Now, do you mean that Windows is now telling you that it's only 121MB and write-protected? If it's Windows giving you that, then I'd say that h2testw killed it, but that it would have died and/or corrupted data in the coming months, as you used it. The correct way for flash to fail is to become read-only, and hide any blocks that it failed to write to. I have killed a few over the years, and with a good flash device, it leaves you able to pull the last good set of data off of it.

If that is the case, now would be a good time to go get a reputable brand card.

Inserting it to my computer says it needs to be formatted, but I can't format it.
Trying to use Panasonic SD formatter says it's write protected..
And Windows is telling me it's 121 MB, along with SDFormatter.
So, my SD is screwed?
Also, does this site look legit to you for buying a replacement?
http://www.v2watch.com/genuine-sandisk-4g-micro-sd-tf-card-4gb-transflash-memory-card-without-packing-p-6972.html

 

[The Catboy]

I use Kingston and Sandisk.
Kingston: Class: IDK, Works pretty well, rather old though, but still good. As for the reason why? It came with my first M3 Real and it still works.
Sandisk: 4gig,8gig,16gig; all Class 2. I use them for all different things, the 4gig is for installing operating systems on computers, 8gig for all my game back ups and other things I run on my DS, my 16gig just for music, videos, and pictures.

 

[Devante]

I just remember the Japanese Kingstons were the only ones that would play the intros to the DS Castlevanias without skipping.

 

[yellowsnowcone]

So, my SD is screwed?

Looks that way.

Also, does this site look legit to you for buying a replacement?
http://www.v2watch.c...ing-p-6972.html

Your flag is US. If that's right, I would get this one, for a 4GB:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820134527
Kingston, from Newegg, in tamper-proof retail packaging, and also $6.

I just remember the Japanese Kingstons were the only ones that would play the intros to the DS Castlevanias without skipping.

Those would be Toshibas, if I recall. Them and Samsung are awesome all around, but if you buy them as their original brands, you pay for it.

 

[Janthran]

Your flag is US. If that's right, I would get this one, for a 4GB:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820134527
Kingston, from Newegg, in tamper-proof retail packaging, and also $6.

But the one I posted has a "secret gift" with it.

 

[yellowsnowcone]

But the one I posted has a "secret gift" with it.

But, do you really need another retractable pen, keychain flashlight, or button-cell-powered laser pointer?

If you've got a history with V2watch, or they have great rep, cool. I've never heard of them. I've spent a bit over $80k at Newegg over the years, so have a slight bias towards them, when the shipping isn't a problem (they have $5 Kingston and Sandisk 4GB w/ $1 shipping).