Hacking Micro - Format it?

[wilddenim]

Hey,

I'm having problems with my CycloDS or possible just my microSD. It's 8GB SDHC.

Latest cheats, StillAliveDS and SNES doesn't work on it at all. SNES used to work okay, now it doesn't.

My micro is nearly full, but I thought I'd fix the problems by deleting some games (1GB in total) but it still haven't fixed the problems.

Should I format my microSD and put in latest CycloDS firmware and cheats and see what happens?

How do you format anyway? Would it damage the microSD?

Thanks.

 

[krazykirk]

Formatting is reasonably simple, and it will not damage your microSD.

In Windows, open My Computer, and then right click on your microsd card drive. (Eg E

In the context menu, click format.

In the options, make sure that Fat32 is selected, and that all of the checkboxes are empty.

Then press format! Once Windows tells you that the format is complete, it's done!

 

[Destructobot]

Formatting you memory card every once in a while is a good idea. I recommend using the Panasonic SD Formatter rather than the formatter built into your OS. It dramatically improved performance when changing folders on my Acekard 2 compared to the Windows formatting utility.

http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/sd/d..._formatter.html

 

[wilddenim]

Wow, that wasn't difficult. But the free space is 7.40GB instead of 8GB? What a greedy. Thanks!

My card is SanDisk, using Panasonic (a different company) SD Formatter would cause problems?

It's just I love my CycloDS too much

 

[Destructobot]

Wow, that wasn't difficult. But the free space is 7.40GB instead of 8GB?
That's normal. My "4GB" memory cards have about 3.74 GB of total space. My "2GB" card has about 1.87GB.

QUOTE(wilddenim @ Jul 5 2008, 04:49 AM) My card is SanDisk, using Panasonic (a different company) SD Formatter would cause problems?

No. It worked wonders on my Kingston and A-Data cards. The formatting utilities that are built into various OSs are designed for magnetic disks, not flash memory cards, and as a result they don't really format the cards properly (they still work, but performance is compromised). The Panasonic formatter is designed specifically for SD cards, and it really does help.

 

[wilddenim]

Hmm, will use it next time I format. How often do you suggest I format my card?

Thanks

 

[Destructobot]

That depends on how often you erase and refill the card. As long as the card doesn't get corrupted, the main problem you'll face is file fragmentation. The more you delete and replace files, the more fragmented the card gets. I'd say reformat once you've deleted and replaced the total capacity of the card 3 or 4 times, or any time you experience weird problems with no apparent cause.

If you think the card is too fragmented, or if you get a "too many file fragments" error (or something to that effect, I don't remember the exact words) you should copy the files from your card to the computer, format the card, then copy the files back. This will defragment the card without causing excessive wear. Never use the Windows defrag utility on a memory card.

 

[wilddenim]

Hmm, thanks for the tip! My card are often full so guess I'll have to format every in a while.

Thanks so much for all the help! Much grateful for it.