Hacking Oh Great

[SeanoRLY?]

Ok, so less than 20min ago, I put my R4 on. I noticed the language had changed. I had no idea how this happened, or how to fix it, so I thought I would just replace the firmware.

So I put my Sandisk 1gig MicroSD into the Trans flash that came with the R4.
I pop it into my PC, and begin to delete the firmware. All is well until it begins to hang on one file. I just leave it for a few more min and it finally deletes.

I download the firmware 1.05 and go to copy the files. Again, it starts to hang, and then gives me an error saying "Disk in drive G not formatted" and it closes everything.

So i go back into my computer and then into Drive G (the microSD) and when ever i click it, it says "disk not formatted".
So i finally give up, and click OK to format. It begins to format, and then when it gets to the end, it says ERROR: Cannot format!

I've had no problems until now. And now im stuck with either a broken trans flash or a broken microSD (with no firmware now, btw.)

Im clueless as to what to do. I guess ill have to order a card reader. Or buy a new MicroSD.
Do you think I should maybe send an email to CheapMod and ask them if they can replace my MicroSD?

 

[adgloride]

If your using the microsd card reader that come with the R4 I would try another card reader first.

 

[SeanoRLY?]

I don't have another one =(

EDIT: Ok, I have come to the conclusion that its the MicroSD.
Why?

Well, thats because my printer has an onboard card reader, and I put the MicroSD in the Transflash Adapter that turns it into one of the larger SD's

I plugged it into my printer and just got a bunch of red lights. I then went into my computer and tried to format, and it didnt work!!

 

[hevyhomie]

hi,
did you format your micro sd card to FAT or FAT32?
i might think that is the problem

 

[SeanoRLY?]

I formatted it at FAT.

I sent an email to Cheapmod.net

Hopefully they get back to me soon.

 

[cory1492]

It's most definitely the cardreader (the b/n one I have here only works intermittently, giving similar errors to what you mention). It's possible it broke your microSD (I doubt it though, more likely the reader is broken and the one you tried to format it on isn't good at formating), but the cardreaders that come with M3DSS/R4 suck.

Using a printer as a card reader is not a great way to fix it. Alot of times those things won't format cards that have had their FAT tables damaged by doing an incomplete format (like you did). Your best bet is to head over to someplace that have floor/demo PC's running (futureshop/bestbuy come to mind) with built in card readers and try format your card when the employee isn't looking (or simply ask at the help desk if their tech could format it for you quick like, bring your SD adapter along too).

 

[ydnar64]

I have to disagree with cory... It most likly sounds like your MicroSD... It's unusual for them to crap out like that but it happens. Most of time it's when the file structure gets corrupted by being improperly interupted in the middle of an access to the MicroSD... Printers work fine for reading cards so i think your method was accurate. However it wouldn't hurt trying one other sorce to attempt to format it... I know if you had these issue with a hard drive you'd want to run a scan disk... Not sure if that would be effective on a microSD and look for and correct bad sectors...

 

[aphexpusher]

I have to disagree with cory... It most likly sounds like your MicroSD... It's unusual for them to crap out like that but it happens. Most of time it's when the file structure gets corrupted by being improperly interupted in the middle of an access to the MicroSD... Printers work fine for reading cards so i think your method was accurate. However it wouldn't hurt trying one other sorce to attempt to format it... I know if you had these issue with a hard drive you'd want to run a scan disk... Not sure if that would be effective on a microSD and look for and correct bad sectors...

I have already had many issues with corupted files/directories due to experimenting with all kinds of homebrew... I dont know why but ever since I have been fiddling with homebrew I have been corrupting the hell out of my A data.... anyways each time I have just reformated and one time that didnt work even. but I used scan disk and then I was able to format. or something like that. scan disk helped though.. I remember that much.

 

[jtroye32]

my guess is it's the shitty card reader that comes with the r4/m3 that caused all the problems.

 

[BlueStar]

Is your card reader the first batch crappy blue one or the better looking 2nd batch black one?

 

[MaHe]

Is your card reader the first batch crappy blue one or the better looking 2nd batch black one?

Well, the 2nd generation one ruined my microSD last Thursday. But it worked perfectly well until then.
I reverted back to my official 14 in one SanDisk reader. ;D

 

[cory1492]

It's unusual for them to crap out like that but it happens. Most of time it's when the file structure gets corrupted by being improperly interrupted in the middle of an access to the MicroSD... Printers work fine for reading cards so i think your method was accurate.

Most definitely, printer card readers will work fine for reading/writing/formatting uncorrupted boot/master/FAT table cards. They rely on specific data to be on the card to tell it how to use it, if it's not there then... function stripped USB generic disc driver windows accessories rarely have the ability to low level format a card where that data has been corrupt. Cameras, printers and some brands of all in one readers are problematic for this... under windows.

Using a laptop or PC with a built in card reader (usually PCMCIA or PCI instead of USB) should solve the formatting issue (making the card work once again with your printer card reader). An alternate method is to get/setup a linux box (or vmware/live cd install like kanotix) with USB plug and play support, use a known working USB reader, and use it's fdisk utility to properly reformat the card. (mkfs -t msdos -I /dev/sda)

BTW: I have newer grey card reader here. It worked really well for the first 16 or so seconds... then started popping up errors under windows. Between my "32-in-1" reader and the reader I got with DSLink (which works beautifully with a vmware linux), I haven't lost any SD card yet to corruption I couldn't cure.

 

[SeanoRLY?]

I have the small green transflash card.
Anyway, I'm sending the micro SD back tomorrow so I can get a new one. Im definitely gonna buy a card reader instead of that crappy transflash.

 

[Rezel]

Those/has this happend often?
I'm starting to egt afraid of using the usb reader that comes with R4 now.
I haven't got mine yet, I'm awaiting it this week. (hopefully)
Should I try and get another reader or its safe to use the one that comes with R4?

 

[Katalyst]

Those/has this happend often?
I'm starting to egt afraid of using the usb reader that comes with R4 now.
I haven't got mine yet, I'm awaiting it this week. (hopefully)
Should I try and get another reader or its safe to use the one that comes with R4?

Kind of a toss up. They've changed the reader like 3 or 4 times if I'm not mistaken. The one I got is blue, but I actually saw yesterday that there's another blue reader they were giving out (the one pictured in the review). That's not the one I got. The one I got is blue and has "T-FLASH" and the USB logo on the front. Works perfectly for me and I've used it a ton of times since I got it. If you just don't wanna risk it, go with another reader.

 

[mcbey]

I think you guys need to look at the fact that his r4 changed languages. Isn't the hardware not supposed to let that happen? Maybe it was the R4 itself that broke the TF.

 

[hidid]

got my r4 today and i'm already pissed..

first thing i did was putting my brand new sandisk ultra II into the card reader that came with it.. black plastic, green led.. two pyramides on the top.. already looked like sh.. cause the usb thing was a bit bent..
formated to FAT32 anyway and copied all the stuff to the card.. put it into the r4 and into my dsl.. everything worked fine except i havent put any games on it yet.. so i connected the cardreader again and began to copy some games.. and heres what happened:

whole system freezes right after i started so i had to reboot.. and now i have the same problem as SeanoRLY?..
the cardreader does not get recognized if i connect it to my pc with the card in it.. next thing i did was using my cell phone as a card reader.. connected everything but got a message that the card isnt formated and after trying it said failed to formate.. and now it doesnt even say that anymore..
i absolutely blame the cardreader

dont know why it freezed.. but my card is broken anyway..
i think what ydnar64 mentioned is right. ... "Most of time it's when the file structure gets corrupted by being improperly interupted in the middle of an access to the MicroSD" ...

i have already thrown that creepy cardreader against the wall ... so everyone who buys a r4ds.. dont use the cardreader thats in the package..

waited two weeks and now i have a r4 with no card..

the fact that the whole thing appeared after i put the card into the r4 makes me think though.. maybe its the r4 afterall.. but im pretty sure its because of this inferior cardreader...

im going to buy a new card (with a proper cardreader) .. so i will be sure if its the cardreader or a broken r4 which caused these troubles..

i'll let you know

 

[spokenrope]

Where'd you get your card from, and how long ago? I'm sure that you can return it if it wasn't purchased too long ago that you got it.

I'll really be interested in seeing if this is an isolated incident with your R4 or if the thing really does mess up your microSD card.

And is it always the green micro SD reader that causes problems? I got the blue version with mine and it seemed to be of a pretty decent build quality.

 

[hidid]

bought it at amazon germany last week... shitty thing is i cant find the bill so im pretty sure they wont take it back.. thats my bad though...

maybe i should sue those r4 people

the funny thing.. my cardreader is black with green led... i only read about the green and the blue ones.. so..maybe i just got fooled by those gameyeah guys

 

[N3CR0P57]

I've personally used 3 different card readers from R4. My blue case/blue led. my son's blue case/green led. and my son's friend's new black case/green led. No problems with any of them. I wonder how many people use the "safely remove hardware" button to disconnect. The reason I wonder is because I've always just yanked most USB devices(XGFlash 256, Mp3 player, mouse, printer, etc.) with no ill effects. My card reader is the only device I use the button for. Just something about that little blue light being on that makes me safely remove hardware everytime. I have on occasion had my computer freeze up when inserting the reader, but never to the point of having to reboot. It either fixes itself or I just unplug my hub and replace, problem fixed.

EDIT: also the only corruption I've experienced was while using DSFTP. It corrupted some files I uploaded into sub directories. All stuff uploaded to the root is fine, but DSFTP seems to have problems with sub directories for some reason. I formated and everything is fine. I don't use DSFTP anymore.