Memory Card read error...so frustrated

[Meshell2002]

We just got back from WDW yesterday.

During the last day of our trip I went to take some pictures and my screen on my Nikon d5100 read "please format your memory card".....I took pics all week and would get this error after taking over 100 shots on each card, so I would put in a fresh card....the message would go away.

I cleared off 1 old card and then formatted all my cards (I have 3 total-- 1 has been used for 4 mos the other two are new) before we left so I wouldn't forget which ones were new and which ones weren't....so I know they were all formatted

Literally cannot view any pictures on the cards because of the error message....not sure if they are gone/ ruined or if the cards have pics on them and my camera is the issue

The cards were transcend brand....but like I said one has been used and reused for several months without issue

This includes Jedi Training, ETWB, and my DD1's cake eating

I plan on taking my camera in to the local shop, but they are closed all weekend.....I'm just sick over this.

 

[DoDaLeCa]

Don't know if Transcend provides a disk recovery software or if there is another piece of recovery software you can use. My Sandisk and Lexar came with some recovery software (also available to purchase I believe).

Can you read the card in a computer (without reformatting or error correction initially so you don't lose any data)?

 

[photo_chick]

Are you using a card reader or pulling them from the camera? Sometimes a card reader can get files the camera won't.

It sounds like their could be dirt in your camera's reader/writer. It can cause wonkiness like this. That's just a guess though.

 

[hakepb]

Don't know if Transcend provides a disk recovery software or if there is another piece of recovery software you can use. My Sandisk and Lexar came with some recovery software (also available to purchase I believe).

Can you read the card in a computer (without reformatting or error correction initially so you don't lose any data)?

If Trancend does not have recovery software, I would try Recuva and run the Deep Scan.
https://www.piriform.com/recuva/features/deep-scan

I would also wonder about your batteries. I once had a point and shoot that seemed to corrupt a memory cards file "directory" if it unexpectedly shut down while it was recording a shot. (All the pictures were still there but I needed a deep scan to find where they were)

 

[Meshell2002]

Well the older card I started the week with has now started reading through the camera. I don't have a card reader....need to get one I guess.

The other two cards still appear to be blank and in need of formatting.....I'm pretty sure both were formatted before we left home and I KNOW I formatted at least one again when I first inserted it while I was waiting for Jedi training to start....while I was taking pics I was able to view histograms and play back pics so shouldn't they be on there somewhere?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Well the older card I started the week with has now started reading through the camera. I don't have a card reader....need to get one I guess.

The other two cards still appear to be blank and in need of formatting.....I'm pretty sure both were formatted before we left home and I KNOW I formatted at least one again when I first inserted it while I was waiting for Jedi training to start....while I was taking pics I was able to view histograms and play back pics so shouldn't they be on there somewhere?

Failure of all the cards seems very unlikely and that the camera is causing the problems. Until you get a chance to check the cards on a computer or some other device I wouldn't spend too much time worrying just yet. Even then software picture recovery is typically very good. Does anyone have a laptop? Most new ones have card readers built in to them so you could check out the cards.

For another trick - have you shut down the camera and removed the battery for a minute or two and then replaced? I've had that fix a similar type of error.

 

[hakepb]

Well the older card I started the week with has now started reading through the camera. I don't have a card reader....need to get one I guess.

The other two cards still appear to be blank and in need of formatting.....I'm pretty sure both were formatted before we left home and I KNOW I formatted at least one again when I first inserted it while I was waiting for Jedi training to start....while I was taking pics I was able to view histograms and play back pics so shouldn't they be on there somewhere?

Computers rely on file allocation tables (electronic versions of a libraries' card catalog) to find the actual pictures (a book in the library analogy) on a memory card)
For the most part, if something messes up th file allocation table, or trashes all of the cards in the catalog, a camera or computer will say the pictures/books on the shelves do not exist.
That's why I recommended the Recuva deep scan. It will search the entire contents of the card, kinda like going to the libraries shelves to look for books.

 

[Meshell2002]

I've tried inserting both of the newer cards into a USB card reader and when I do I get "you need to format the disc in drive H: before you can use it" message.

Recuva states "failed to scan the following drives H: Unable to determine file system type"

I tried both newer cards. They were purchased at the same time from Amazon.

I'm going to take out the battery for a while too....its all worth a try but I feel like its impossible to find these since I can't even scan the cards.

What's weird is.....I bought a new sandisk card when I went out today.....put it in and did NOT get the format error....even took a test shot without formatting.....it took the pic and played it back with histogram.....maybe I got a couple of bad cards? My older card I've been using for months is transcend so I know its compatible.....but maybe its just a bad lot? Yes I know I'm supposed to format any new card.....and I'm pretty sure I did with the misbehaving cards....but I was curious....and I've already formatted over my test shot.

If I try to format the other two misbehaving cards could that help me recover this mess? or does that make it harder? I don't plan on using them anymore (as I don't trust them)....but would like to see if I could recover any of our other pics that may be on there.

 

[DoDaLeCa]

Only format if you're ready to possibly lose all data on the card.

The fast format wipes out the file allocation table (basically the address book on the disk that tells the operating system where each file is) but the data is still on the card (but nothing in the FAT points to it so previous stuff might not be able to be found).

 

[photo_chick]

I have killed a group of cards before. I had them in my hand, touched a doorknob and got a good jolt of static electricity. After that the cards no longer worked. Strange things happen and something could have affected all of your cards at once. It's not common, but it does happen.

If a card reader will not pull them off and recovery software won't see it either chances are they are toast. If the images are really important I'd try taking it to a professional to see if they can recover the data. Don't reformat if you plan to try and get anything off them in the future. Either way I wouldn't use those cards again, reformatted or not.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Does Nikon provide for a recover image database option in the camera? This is different than formatting the card. The newest Sony's have this under the menu for memory cards in order to correct what it sounds may have happened.

Just for an example of how Sony describes it this is from the manual: "When inconsistencies are found in the image database file, caused by
processing images on computers, etc., images on the memory card will not
be played back in this form. If this happens, the camera repairs the file."

Also - don't format the card. It could make it more difficult to recover the pictures.

Sorry it didn't click before what your cards are but it's possible the Transcend cards are ending up causing the problem - I did have this issue with a Transcend in my NEX. I now only use SanDisk cards and haven't had it happen again. When I did a web search I found others who reported the same thing with the Transcend and the NEX. I do however use those same cards in other cameras where I didn't find similar reports and have not had the same problem. When it happened to me I was able to use recovery software and get virtually everything off of the card except one or two pictures that were taken at the time the camera started having the problems. I don't recall which I used but it either was the ZAR image recovery which is free: http://www.z-a-recovery.com/digital-image-recovery.htm Or the Sandisk recovery software.

 

[Meshell2002]

After talking to a tech friend of mine and after telling him about how Recuva refused to scan the card since it couldn't tell what file type it was supposed to be at his recommendation I tried using SDHC Card Recovery Pro's trial version just to see if it could read the card.....that thing found all my still pics and after purchasing the full version was able to recover all of them. The only thing I couldn't completely recover was the video from Jedi training (wish I could have gotten it but at least we got the stills back)....the card recovery pro software was able to see the video file just not reconstruct it.....so now I'm pretty confident that I had a couple of bad/ and or incompatible cards. My camera is fine, I used the sandisk card tonight for bday pics (retaken in case I didn't recover the others which I did eventually) and video and was able to transfer those tonight without issue.

The class 10 32GB transcend was fine (it was the older card that read from the camera) the class 10 8GB transcend were the 2 that were screwed up. I went back and read reviews on amazon.....they had occasional complaints with video use (maybe that was the beginning of the problem?)

I used the sandisk class 10 ultra 16 GB tonight without issue.

I never really thought it could be the cards I assumed it was the "worst case scenario" Probably because I have a memory card in my old point and shoot that is about 8 years old and hasn't had any problems.

Lesson learned....don't buy memory cards on Amazon, and don't test new memory cards on vacation

 

[mom2rtk]

So glad you got your photos back. I'm sure you'll sleep much better tonight.

 

[traylorc]

Lesson learned....don't buy memory cards on Amazon, and don't test new memory cards on vacation

Don't let this experience discourage you from buying memory cards on Amazon...bad cards can be purchased anywhere. Stuff happens...

Glad you were able to recover your pictures.

 

[My2Girls66]

I am glad you were able to recover your photos! I just used ZAR to recover photos my dad accidentally deleted from our trip to Cyprus. I was able to recover most of the photos but not the videos.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Lesson learned....don't buy memory cards on Amazon, and don't test new memory cards on vacation

I'm not concerned about buying off of Amazon but Transcend is off my list. One bad experience of incompatibility was enough especially when there are other options.