Hacking MicroSD card problem.

[Bean_BR]

So, I have an R4 (original) that I bought in 2008. It came with a Kingston MicroSD 2GB class 4 and a MicroSD card reader called "T-flash", like this:

Everything worked fine since then, but some days ago I was formatting the MicroSD with SDFormatter 3.1 (format type full/overwrite, size adjustment off) and in the middle of the formatting ocurred a error, because the card reader stopped working (f*ck). Then, I bought a new one (very different, just to be safe). Well, then I tried formatting the card, but it said that it couldn't. Then I tried to format through Windows (XP) it didn't worked either, tried again then it formatted.
But now some weird files show up, like "USBC°¿Mé." and have variable size (even exceeding the card limit), seeing them through properties show 0 Kb size. These files don't have extensions, can't delete them, rename etc and they erase directories and files where they show up. I can still add files to the card (I even managed to have it working on R4 two times) but it's unviable. Now if I format through SDFormatter and do a chkdsk it show as RAW storage type, but if I format through Windows and chkdsk again it says it is FAT type.
So what can I do? 2GB cards are cheap, but I want to make sure that there is nothing more I can do. Sorry for my english and thanks.

 

[Rydian]

Sounds like the card got damaged when the reader died, to be honest.

 

[Bean_BR]

Sounds like the card got damaged when the reader died, to be honest.

I'm thinking the same.

 

[Another World]

try running gparted live on it and making a new partition. i have a feeling this is what got screwed up when the format process was interrupted.

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php

there are also a bunch of partition tools on hiren's boot cd
http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd

here is another formatting tool that support USB devices.
http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low-Level-Format-Tool/

HP also makes a USB formatting tool.
http://filetrip.net/nds-downloads/utilities/download-hp-usb-format-tool-sp27608-f9973.html

-another world

 

[Bean_BR]

try running gparted live on it and making a new partition. i have a feeling this is what got screwed up when the format process was interrupted.

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php

there are also a bunch of partition tools on hiren's boot cd
http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd

here is another formatting tool that support USB devices.
http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low-Level-Format-Tool/

HP also makes a USB formatting tool.
http://filetrip.net/nds-downloads/utilities/download-hp-usb-format-tool-sp27608-f9973.html

-another world

Tried the last two and didn't solved the problem. What exactly the first one does?
Thanks for the help!

 

[Another World]

there are tools in gparted that will let you create a new partition. the partition is basically the boundaries for the data, it sets the drive up with areas the data can be written to. if the partition is messed up then you can format it all day long and you'll never get it working. i've never used it myself but we had many users report that gparted fixed some issues with their msd card.

-another world

 

[Bean_BR]

there are tools in gparted that will let you create a new partition. the partition is basically the boundaries for the data, it sets the drive up with areas the data can be written to. if the partition is messed up then you can format it all day long and you'll never get it working. i've never used it myself but we had many users report that gparted fixed some issues with their msd card.

-another world

Used gparted and it is working, but it appears that if I format the card I'll need to use gparted again, but at least it works. Thank you very much for the help!

 

[Another World]

no problem, glad it worked out for you.

-another world

 

[Bean_BR]

The problem with the card is back, but now I can't format through anything, can't even use gparted. I tried another 2gb card I have in my phone, I did absolutely nothing with it, I just did a chkdsk and it's says RAW type, I can't backup the files because "incorrect parameter" error and "insert a disk". It driving me nuts, is this a virus on my pc or whatever? Shit, I'm really mad!!