Month: October 2011

Pentax memory card problem & solution, part 2

Update: It worked. See here for details.

The previous solution didn’t work, after all.  I started getting “Memory card error”, “Card is not formatted”, and “Image can not be displayed” error messages again.

My new approach:

  • update my firmware (I was still running 1.00, while the new version was 1.02);
  • only connect the memory card to the computer through the camera’s USB option (as in, never plug the SD card directly into the computer)
  • only format the card in-camera;
  • never delete photos in-camera (only delete via in-camera formatting option)

 

My ‘test roll’ of 60 photos since the update has gone off without a hitch.
An interesting note: Before the firmware update, the computer didn’t see any folders or files on the SD card when the camera was connected via USB.  I’m sure it saw them sometime in the past week, so I imagine it was the memory card error that was affecting this.  Again, since the firmware update followed by formatting in-camera, this has been fixed.

 

Fingers crossed…

Pentax memory card problem & solution

While I use a K-x, this problem seems to affect more than just my camera model or brand of memory card (Kingston, class 4).

The problem(s):

  1. When trying to view the preview of my photos in-camera, some photos do not display, instead showing an “Image can not be displayed” error (or something to that effect). There was previously a “Memory Card Error” messaged displayed in the camera.
  2. When imported, these files are corrupted and do not display or import.
  3. Attempting to format the card in-camera produced the same “Memory Card Error” message.

The solution: Use your USB cable to connect the camera to the computer for importing, etc., instead of inserting the SD card into the computer directly. Then eject the camera from the computer and format the SD card through the camera’s menu.

This solved the problems listed above, for me.

Based on what various Pentax forum posters say, the mistakes that led to the problem appear to be any mix of the following: