Steve'sDigicams

tekkie · Dec 20, 2004, 3:56 AM

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone else has come across a problem with regards to SD cards that have been formated using FAT16 on a Windows XP machine?

I am currently having a hard time with Minolta support in Europe who are kindly

telling me that I should format my SD card on a Windows 98 :shock: machine. And the reason given is that a FAT16 format on Windows XP is not FAT16. :?:

regards,

[EDIT] Minolta support in their last email to me compared sticking a SD card formated under Windows XP to putting Diesel into a petrol car. :?

JimC · Dec 20, 2004, 7:14 AM

Well.... Actually, I have read that Windows may do some odd things with FAT16 on larger size media. But, I suspect that the support person you talked to was confusing FAT16 with FAT32. If you select FAT under the File System type when formatting with XP, your Z3 should be able to read the card.

But, having said that, I always format a card with the camera menus, not the PC. That way, you insure that the USB drivers are not corrupting the media during the format process (which has been known to happen).

Panasonic also makes a utility designed to format Secure Digital (but I'd use the camera menus for formatting a card instead, unless there was a specific problem with the camera seeing it, so that a format was needed using something else first):

http://panasonic.jp/support/audio/sd...rmatter_e.html

tekkie · Dec 20, 2004, 7:38 AM

Well I would use the Z3 menu's format function if that was available.

Except in this case I just get a big message on the Z3's screen saying that the card is unuseable and I can't get to the format option in the menu.

The support person wasn't confused (or maybe still is) as I've got several emails from KM support now saying there is a difference between Windows 98 and XP FAT16 format. :?:

KM support suggested that I get a PC running Win98

my question to them was if they actually knew that Win98 hasn't been supported :idea: by MickeySoft for some years now.

I can tell you from experience and KM support have confirmed that SD cards MAY NOT be formatted in Windows XP as they will seas to work afterwards in the Z3.

JimC · Dec 20, 2004, 7:53 AM

Try the Panasonic SD Formatter utility with a Card Reader. If that doesn't work, I'd suggest that the card may be defective, so I'd get itreplaced.

tekkie · Dec 20, 2004, 8:25 AM

I will try the Panasonic tool later in the week. Ragarding the SD card itself, it must be OK as I can use it in my iPaq and PC just fine. :-)

codesuidae · Dec 23, 2004, 9:30 PM

I just ran into this myself, while trying to get my SD card to work with my laptop's built in reader (no luck so far). I formatted a 512Mb SimpleTech SD card from windows using a PNY Tech USB card reader. In the Windows XP format tool there are two filesystem types by default, 'FAT32' and 'FAT' (FAT16 presumably, although FAT12 is usually used on floppy disks). The camera does not like 'FAT32'. Reformatting with 'FAT' works fine on this 512Mb card.

The OP did not mention what size card he/she is using, but I know it works with 512Mb.

steve · Dec 23, 2004, 10:46 PM

Take your SD card into most any camera or electronic store and get one of the sales people to try it in another make of digicam that uses SD cards. You may be able to get it formatted in another camera and then it will work in yours. It could be a bad card too so don't rule that out.

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Dec 20, 2004, 3:56 AM	#1
tekkie Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 4	Hi there, I was wondering if anyone else has come across a problem with regards to SD cards that have been formated using FAT16 on a Windows XP machine? I am currently having a hard time with Minolta support in Europe who are kindly telling me that I should format my SD card on a Windows 98 :shock: machine. And the reason given is that a FAT16 format on Windows XP is not FAT16. :?: regards, [EDIT] Minolta support in their last email to me compared sticking a SD card formated under Windows XP to putting Diesel into a petrol car. :?

Dec 20, 2004, 7:14 AM	#2
JimC Administrator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Savannah, GA (USA) Posts: 22,378	Well.... Actually, I have read that Windows may do some odd things with FAT16 on larger size media. But, I suspect that the support person you talked to was confusing FAT16 with FAT32. If you select FAT under the File System type when formatting with XP, your Z3 should be able to read the card. But, having said that, I always format a card with the camera menus, not the PC. That way, you insure that the USB drivers are not corrupting the media during the format process (which has been known to happen). Panasonic also makes a utility designed to format Secure Digital (but I'd use the camera menus for formatting a card instead, unless there was a specific problem with the camera seeing it, so that a format was needed using something else first): http://panasonic.jp/support/audio/sd...rmatter_e.html

Dec 20, 2004, 7:38 AM	#3
tekkie Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 4	Well I would use the Z3 menu's format function if that was available. Except in this case I just get a big message on the Z3's screen saying that the card is unuseable and I can't get to the format option in the menu. The support person wasn't confused (or maybe still is) as I've got several emails from KM support now saying there is a difference between Windows 98 and XP FAT16 format. :?: KM support suggested that I get a PC running Win98 my question to them was if they actually knew that Win98 hasn't been supported :idea: by MickeySoft for some years now. I can tell you from experience and KM support have confirmed that SD cards MAY NOT be formatted in Windows XP as they will seas to work afterwards in the Z3.

Dec 20, 2004, 7:53 AM	#4
JimC Administrator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Savannah, GA (USA) Posts: 22,378	Try the Panasonic SD Formatter utility with a Card Reader. If that doesn't work, I'd suggest that the card may be defective, so I'd get itreplaced.

Dec 20, 2004, 8:25 AM	#5
tekkie Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 4	I will try the Panasonic tool later in the week. Ragarding the SD card itself, it must be OK as I can use it in my iPaq and PC just fine. :-)

Dec 23, 2004, 9:30 PM	#6
codesuidae Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 3	I just ran into this myself, while trying to get my SD card to work with my laptop's built in reader (no luck so far). I formatted a 512Mb SimpleTech SD card from windows using a PNY Tech USB card reader. In the Windows XP format tool there are two filesystem types by default, 'FAT32' and 'FAT' (FAT16 presumably, although FAT12 is usually used on floppy disks). The camera does not like 'FAT32'. Reformatting with 'FAT' works fine on this 512Mb card. The OP did not mention what size card he/she is using, but I know it works with 512Mb.

Dec 23, 2004, 10:46 PM	#7
steve Administrator Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 2,535	Take your SD card into most any camera or electronic store and get one of the sales people to try it in another make of digicam that uses SD cards. You may be able to get it formatted in another camera and then it will work in yours. It could be a bad card too so don't rule that out.