another SD formatting issues thread....

afex505

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Hi all, registered just to make this post! : )

Bought a G1W in May and i'm just now getting around to using it. I'm having quite a time with getting it to even recognize an SD card. Sorry for the long post but i wanted to make sure i covered all my bases.

Camera info:
- Purchased from Spytec (via amazon) for $50
- cracked it open, board is S1088_MVer1.0
- chipset is Novatek NT96650BG
- firmware is shown as G1W_DA380_20150117V01

Cards tried:
- Sandisk 16GB C10
- Kingston 16GB C10
- Lexar 8GB C6
- Transcend 8GB C4
- Samsung 8GB C2 (yes, Class 2! hah...)

PC Formatting details:
- Utilities used are SDFormatter V4 (from SDcard.org) or plain old windows explorer format
- Tried multiple format types on all cards (though i know FAT32 should work)
- Tried multiple cluster sizes (thought i know 32k should work)

Symptoms:
  1. If a card is in the unit when powered up, it always says "please insert SD card". Pressing a button will remove this message, but it of course acts like there is no card in there.
  2. If i ignore the message, and go to format the card on the camera, it says 'formatting' for about a quarter of a second, then goes away. Hitting record results in 'memory error' message.
  3. For reference, trying to format without a card in there actually results in a 'no card' message, so i know that in point #2 it must see something...
  4. If I boot the camera without a card and insert one when it asks, it shuts off. (is this normal?)
  5. If I take the card out of the camera while it's on, it shuts off. (this makes sense sort of)
  6. connecting to PC results in a mass storage device showing up (J1455, "NOVATEKN vt-DSC")
  7. If an SD card is in when connecting to PC, then attempting to access the drive on the PC (e: in my case) results in 'please insert a disk into Removable Disk E:'
  8. If an SD card is not in it when connecting to PC, i still see a mass storage device formatted FAT with a size of 96kb.
seems crazy that with all of those cards, none can be formatted on camera. Or rather, that the camera seems to 'think' that it is formatting them but then gives me 'memory error' when i try to record. I'd also love to try flashing the firmware, but of course if you can't get it to recognize any cards then you are kinda SOL...

Since i am long past the return date, If i cant get it up and running i guess i have to throw it in the trash : (

Any help from the community is well appreciated!
 
format the cards in camera, if it doesn't work then likely the camera is a dud, hindsight is a wonderful thing but you obviously should have checked it sooner
 
well holy crap, i just fixed it. after writing my last post i was finally motivated enough to take a look at this thing under my solder scope at work.

Turns out that two of the feet on the SD card holder had broken from cold solder joints and were visibly 'floating' in the air. I re-soldered them up and it is working flawlessly! (shown circled in green below)
i'm guessing either:
1) without those feet held down, maybe the SD card doesn't have enough pressure to touch the contacts, or
2) one of those feet is actually used as the GND, and was disconnected - though this would be shockingly bad design since one of the SD pins is also GND and should have been connected as well...

PK1pauGl.jpg


Anyway, just replying to the thread in case this helps someone! I also noted a few folks out there that were having issues with their cards becoming corrupted once in a while, i wonder if poor contacts are the reason to blame there as well...
 
The SD card contacts are held in place by pressure, so a loose cage will definitely affect that. Since SD cards are virtually all plastic, non-conductive on the outside, grounding the cage is more physical reinforcement than electrical, though EMI is sometimes a consideration.

KuoH

i'm guessing either:
1) without those feet held down, maybe the SD card doesn't have enough pressure to touch the contacts, or
2) one of those feet is actually used as the GND, and was disconnected - though this would be shockingly bad design since one of the SD pins is also GND and should have been connected as well...
 
well holy crap, i just fixed it. after writing my last post i was finally motivated enough to take a look at this thing under my solder scope at work.

Turns out that two of the feet on the SD card holder had broken from cold solder joints and were visibly 'floating' in the air. I re-soldered them up and it is working flawlessly! (shown circled in green below)
i'm guessing either:
1) without those feet held down, maybe the SD card doesn't have enough pressure to touch the contacts, or
2) one of those feet is actually used as the GND, and was disconnected - though this would be shockingly bad design since one of the SD pins is also GND and should have been connected as well...

PK1pauGl.jpg


Anyway, just replying to the thread in case this helps someone! I also noted a few folks out there that were having issues with their cards becoming corrupted once in a while, i wonder if poor contacts are the reason to blame there as well...

I can validate the findings of afex505. I use a Kinston 32Gb class 6. Worked fine for about 6 month. Than i got the memory error/insert memory card screen of despair. After changing sd cards and formatting them in every way possible i found this thread. If you got this problem and you checked that your sd card is not broke check the connections of the SD card holder. My G1WH works great again.
 
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