Corrupt Compact Flash

[Bullpower]

:confused: Anyone got any ideas?

I have had my Series 7 for a few years and not experienced any problems. However, last weekend my 64 meg Widget CF became corrupted for no apparent reason. I wasn’t adding anything / using the D drive :eek:

Having recovered from the shock, disappointment and loss of data, through a work colleagues Series 7 I was able to confirm that it was the CF that was corrupt rather than a problem with my kit - his CF worked in my machine / mine wouldn't in his etc. Or so I thought. . . .

Having bought a new ScanDisk 64 meg CF and spent several hours re loading / recovering the lost data / working from the mains, the same thing has just happened again :eek: :confused:

This time on successfully reloading my Street Planner Millennium Upgrade (the very last bit of software I needed to put on!!) my Psion's crashed (beeped / rebooted) and the CF is corrupted all over again!!!!!

This is really starting to do my head in. Has anyone any ideas as to what is causing this and what I can do about it?

Regards,

Bullpower

[netBookBabe]

Hmmm, we've been debating a similar topic the last day or so - you might care to take a look through the following thread:

http://www.pdastreet.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4027

I don't really know what the problem might be in your case, and I can't be sure from your post whether you've tried resetting the S7. If not, then I would certainly give that a go. Soft reset first, of course, if you haven't already tried it, and failing that, backup, hard reset and restore.

Julie

[Beakynet]

The last time I had a currpt compact flash card I checked it in a PC and discovered tht I could read the content of the card. On searching the card I discovered one or two currpt files that appeared to be causing the problem, one of them was a directory. Considering that the Psion reads the entire directory on inserting a card or switching to it, it is possible the there is a currpt directory.

If you were restoring the data from a backup, then you will likely copy the currpy directory back. If you are not restoring from a backup, then the problem could be somewhere else. Check if you can access the card on a PC (laptop and pcmcia adaptor or USB CF reader/writer).

It is unlikely that the CF card has broken as on notmal usage you will get more than 2 years out of it! It is a good idea to keep all data files on the C: drive and only programs on the CF. Also back up often.

[wanman]

Could always try Atelier's Essential Disk Utilites. These are excellent for CF cards and also for internal drives if you haven't added the DIMM Upgrade (which seems to confuse some of the utilities but work fine on non-upgraded 7/netbooks).

4 Utils are provided:

1 - Smart Format - Provides the ability to reduce cluster sizes on your CF card, providing more storage with less wastage.
2 - Optimise - Disk Defrag tool as per others available.
3 - Disk Editor - Enables you to manipulate your disks at the file system level. (Have not found a practical use for this yet)
4 - Check Disk - Checks your disks for errors in the Boot Sector, FAT, Directory Structure, File Structure & Lost Clusters and also has the ability to fix more comman errors found.

Even if you have upgraded your 7 or netbook with the DIMM 16/32mb cards, you can still use the tools quite happily for your CF Cards.

[Bullpower]

Many thanks for all your help / advice / pointers to other threads - seems like CF's are a popular topic. :)

Netbookbabe - tried soft and hard reset to no avail. Thanks for the thought though and the link to related thread. Lots to read and think about there - a CF reader looks to be in order. Thanks.

Beakynet - Sorry for being dim, but how did you identify the files which were corrupt? Thanks.

Wanman - got Essential Disk Utilities, on the CF - Doh! Luckily I'd back up to my PC :). I'll run it on the CF once I get access to it. Thanks.

I'll have a bash at as much of the information you've all kindly supplied later tonight and let you know how I get on.

Thanks very much everyone. Your help is very much appreciated.

[Bullpower]

- Have now managed to reformat the corrupt CF.

- Copied everything back on to now not corrupt CF :D - one app at a time in order to confirm OK / try identify where the problem was.

- Ensured that the CF is now a snug fit courtesy of Mr Benson & Mr Hedges and their mighty fine cardboard packaging :) (can't remember which site suggested that - thanks anyway)

Everything in the world is now at one and my trusty series 7 has been working happily for 24 hrs.:cool:

BIG THANKS to all for your help

[netBookBabe]

Love it when we get a result! :D

Julie

[Beakynet]

Originally posted by Bullpower
Beakynet - Sorry for being dim, but how did you identify the files which were corrupt? Thanks.



I know that you have it up and running, anyway, I went through every file on the CF card and found a directory and a file with a jibberish name. I also tried Scandisk on the CF card loaded into the PC and that identified a number of problems, though not fixable.

Glad your problem is resolved.