Olympus xD Write Error - What does it mean?

[ajbabyy]

I have an OLYMPUS xD Pictures Card

I had a photo shoot at my mate's place using my FinePix S9500 Digital Camera

We then uploaded the photos on her laptop by inserting the memory card
in the slot (not using a usb cord)

We later took some more photos and i took one video
in the middle of taking the video, "write error" came up
and the camera turned off

I turned it back on to see if the video was recorded but
unfortunately it wasn't
i was looking through the rest of the photos
when "card error" came up so i turned the camera off

I got home and uploaded the photos on my laptop using a usb cord
i found that some of the photos did not come out right
some were half cut off, and the other half were replaced with
black and gen pixels

I deleted all the photos in the memory card

I then tried to take a video but after about 15 seconds
of video-taking, "write error" came up
I tried to take another video and the same thing happened

I tried to figure out whether it was the memory card or the camera
so i used a different memory card, and it took a video fine

I have no idea what "write error" means, and why it keeps coming
up after 15 second of video recording.

Help and Comments would be much appreciated.

Aj
ps. I want to be able to take a video that's longer than 15 seconds!

[JimC]

Try formatting the card using your camera's menu choice for format (not your PC). The FAT (File Allocation Table) may be corrupted.

That can easily happen when someone deletes files using a PC without using the "Safely Remove" or "Eject" features built into the operating system, since some drivers will cache writes, leaving to incomplete writes left in the PC's memory causing FAT corruption when the camera or card is removed. If you see a "safely remove" icon in your system tray, make sure to use it before removing a card (or USB attached camera) if you use a PC to delete images. You can also right click on the camera or card reader under "My Computer" and use the "Eject" feature you'll see to make sure any writes in memory are flushed to the card before you remove it.

Personally, I don't delete images from a card using a PC (to minimize the chance for corruption), and I always reformat my cards using the camera's menu choice for format prior to every reuse. That way, I always insure that the card starts out with a fresh FAT, just the way the camera expects it, since it's performing the format.

[ajbabyy]

JimC wrote:

Try formatting the card using your camera's menu choice for format (not your PC). The FAT (File Allocation Table) may be corrupted.

how exactly do i format the card?

[JimC]

Use the menu choice for Format in your camera's setup menu.

Virtually any modern camera that uses memory cards is going to have a format choice in their menus. Personally I always reformat a card again prior to each reuse using a camera's menu choice for format.

With your S9500 (a.k.a., S9000), it looks like you probably get to it's setup menu when in playback mode. You'll see the options available under Setup on this page of our review here (and your user guide should show you these choices, too):

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_...s9000_pg4.html

Here's the choice for Format you'll find: