CF card issue

[ashna_s]

<p>I was in the middle of a wedding, I took pictures as the photographer from the brides home up till the church, as I was walking into the church for the start of the ceremony I got an "err" message and it stated the cf card in slot 2 was unreadable, I couldn't understand why as i was still using the card in slot 1. Unable to do anything else i switched on and off the camera. </p>

<p>After the reception I arrive home and upload all my images on 2 back up drives. To my disappointment I see all the images from the point i got the message in my camera before walking into the church, ( the images from the brides home approx 300 images) gone, they just dissapeared, nothing was formatted they just dissapeared. </p>

<p>My question is, the data recoverable? <br>

I just upgraded to 128 gb udma flash card, and my old card reader doesnt read 128gb so Ive had to upgrade. I will be receiving it soon, i ordered it online. Until then I cant test to see if i can recover it or not, the computer or software i searched for wont allow me to recover the cf card hooked up to the d3s because it doesnt recognize it as a "drive".</p>

[glen_h]

<p>I have a D70s which sometimes forgets it has a CF card. I turn it off, take the card out, put it back in, and it usually finds it again. It has only once written an unreadable file, and that was only for one image on the card. </p>

<p>The recovery should be similar to recovering data on a magnetic disk, where you need to be able to read it block by block, separate from the directory. Don't write anything on it until you find someone who can do that.</p>

 

[rick_m.]

<p>With the card in the camera, can you see the images? Did you review the images on your screen during the shooting day?</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>There are several commercial programs which will recover data from an "unreadable" disk or memory card. One of the best is "EasUS", which costs about $80. I recovered an entire 3 TB drive which Windows said was unformatted. All the files were recovered with the original names and extensions, as well as the directories. Another program is "Card Recover Pro". Sandisk and Lexar have a free product which ships with their cards, but neither work well enough to bother.</p>

<p>You won't recover images unless the camera writes them to the card. However, all the images taken before the crash should be recoverable.</p>

<p>EasUS is a Chinese product. I suspect it was invented by Red Army hackers in Shanghai. I unplugged from the internet before using it, just in case ;)</p>

[ashna_s]

<p ><a href="/photodb/user?user_id=692072">Rick M.</a> <a href="/member-status-icons"><img title="Subscriber" src="/v3graphics/member-status-icons/sub10plus.gif" alt="" /></a>, Nov 10, 2014; 12:00 a.m.</p>

 

<p>With the card in the camera, can you see the images? Did you review the images on your screen during the shooting day?<br /><br /><br /><br />RE: </p>

<p>Yep, I was taking shots through out and making sure it was written on the card and I was able to review them enabling me to take more shots if i didnt like the one the last one turned out... everything was fine up till the err message thats why im so baffled</p>

 

[ashna_s]

<p>Re: <a href="/photodb/user?user_id=419409">Edward Ingold</a></p>

<p>I'll give that program a try thanks for the info ... ive been searching so many forums to find a decent one that wont lead me to take it to a camera shop to have to pay an arm and a leg to have it recovered</p>

 

<p ><a href="/photodb/user?user_id=692072"> </a></p>

[mike_halliwell]

<blockquote>

<p>I got an "err" message and it stated the cf card in slot 2 was unreadable, I couldn't understand why as i was still using the card in slot 1.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Are you saying the images from the card in slot 2 are corrupt even though you weren't using slot 2. That makes no sense.<br>

<br>

Could you go through the card/slot set up? Did you have 128GB cards in each slot? Were they running sequentially, 'cos if that's so just how many pictures were you expecting to take? With 2 slots and 128GB cards, having one clone the other or RAW to one and JPEG to the other is more normal.</p>

<p>The last time we had an 'Images Disappeared' post it turned out the files had gone to the SD card in a body with 1 x SD and 1 X CF slot.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p> they just disappeared, nothing was formatted they just disappeared.<br>

</p>

</blockquote>

<p>That's very odd corruption. Do you mean in a folder you have normal images that just end...kinda DSCN0025, DSCN0026, DSCN0027 and then nothing? Has the card reached DSCN <strong>9999</strong> and created a new folder? Maybe somewhere else? On the other card? Whose 128GB cards are they, which maker?<br>

</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Yep, I was taking shots through out and making sure it was written on <strong>the</strong> card and I was able to review them enabling me to take more shots if i didnt like the one the last one turned out... everything was fine up till the <strong>err message</strong> thats why im so baffled<br>

</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Which<em><strong> THE</strong></em> card do you mean? The error message said card 2 was dead. But you're still not writing to slot 2, right?<br>

<br>

In which case the images are still on CARD 1<br>

</p>

[ashna_s]

<p>RE: Mike Halliwell</p>

<p> </p>

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<p>That's very odd corruption. Do you mean in a folder you have normal images that just end...kinda DSCN0025, DSCN0026, DSCN0027 and then nothing? Has the card reached DSCN <strong>9999</strong> and created a new folder? Maybe somewhere else? On the other card? Whose 128GB cards are they, which maker?<br>

Which<em><strong> THE</strong></em> card do you mean? The error message said card 2 was dead. But you're still not writing to slot 2, right?<br /><br />In which case the images are still on CARD 1</p>

</td>

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<p>I was writing in card slot 1 the entire time slot 2 was untouched. <br>

The type of disk was sandisk both 128 gb, the card in slot one saved all the images from the church so on, its the pictures prior to the message and the church that went missing ~300 images.<br>

I had reformatted the card before using it again. I only write one .Nef/ raw image on the card, when I was uploading the images they came in 2 file folders because they hit the 999 mark and other then the 2 folders on the card there was nothing else. The images started from ex.DSCN0335 but the images from DSCN0001 - DSCN0335 gone <br>

Overall i still had 1900 images stored and that were view able but the 300 that disappeared and that were unable to be viewed by the camera left me baffled, as I never encountered such a problem.</p>

 

[mike_halliwell]

<p>Yup, weird all right!</p>

<p>So the error message relating to Slot 2 is not directly related to the corrupt card. Maybe it's a sign of a camera processor hiccup, kind of a OS glitch.</p>

<p>I take it there's nothing on Card 2? I suppose the glitch could have diverted the write pathway? Which <em><strong>may</strong></em> explain the apparently incorrect Err message. If the camera is set to PLAYBACK from ALL FOLDERS, you might have seen them somewhere else!</p>

<p>Without sounding existential, if you saw them in Playback, then they truly existed on a card, so should still be on the card. I've had good success with Sandisk's own recovery software.</p>

[elliot1]

<p>It is not clear whether you used both slots or just 1? Do you have the 'lost' images on a 2nd card? If not, I suggest you use a professional data recovery service to try and restore those lost images as they are obviously extremely valuable/important.</p>

[dmigliore]

<blockquote>

<p>I had reformatted the card before using it again.<br>

</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Do you mean you reformatted it after getting the error or before you started shooting this particular wedding?</p>

[rick_m.]

<p>Ok. If you put the card back into the camera, can you see the pictures taken after the err message? Can you see any pictures from the card at all?</p>

<p>To clarify. If you look at the card setup in your camera does it say use card one first and then card two or does it say to use both cards at the same time? </p>

[ashna_s]

<p ><a href="/photodb/user?user_id=1159437">Mike Halliwell</a> <a href="/member-status-icons"><img title="Frequent poster" src="/v3graphics/member-status-icons/2rolls.gif" alt="" /></a>, Nov 10, 2014; 04:26 a.m.</p>

 

<p>Yup, weird all right!<br>

So the error message relating to Slot 2 is not directly related to the corrupt card. Maybe it's a sign of a camera processor hiccup, kind of a OS glitch.<br>

I take it there's nothing on Card 2? I suppose the glitch could have diverted the write pathway? Which <em><strong>may</strong></em> explain the apparently incorrect Err message. If the camera is set to PLAYBACK from ALL FOLDERS, you might have seen them somewhere else!<br>

Without sounding existential, if you saw them in Playback, then they truly existed on a card, so should still be on the card. I've had good success with Sandisk's own recovery software.</p>

<p>Re::<br>

Checked the all folders option and it still didnt show... all the data was written on card slot one and the 2nd card in slot two was used for overflow.</p>

<p>Yeah it is weird ... there was nothing ever on slot 2.</p>

<p>Re:<a href="/photodb/user?user_id=418088">Danielle Migliore</a><br>

card was formatted before the start of the entire wedding... not anytime after</p>

<p>RE:<a href="/photodb/user?user_id=692072">Rick M</a> <br>

Ok. If you put the card back into the camera, can you see the pictures taken after the err message? Can you see any pictures from the card at all?<br>

To clarify. If you look at the card setup in your camera does it say use card one first and then card two or does it say to use both cards at the same time?<br>

_____________________________<br>

- yes i can see the pictures after the err message all the images after the err message worked out perfectly fine, their veiwable and can be seen. its the 300 pictures before the err message that are of concern because they disappeared<br>

card slot one was the primary card in use and card slot 2 was used for overflow</p>

 

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>Sounds like you might have got a fake card Ashna. The scam with fakes is that the card reports a capacity greater than it really has, and will overwrite previously recorded data once its real capacity is exceeded. The camera, quite rightly, gets confused and issues an error message.</p>

<p>So, did you buy the card from a reputable source? If the card was being sold at a bargain price, then that should ring alarm bells.</p>

<p>128GB is a massive amount of data, even by today's standards. About 2000 RAW+JPEG images I'm guessing. Personally I'd prefer to have a greater number of smaller cards and swap them out during lulls in shooting. That way there's less to lose if a card does go bad.</p>

[ashna_s]

<p>Just to let everyone know who helped me out in the forum, I used the easeus progam as suggested and it recovered all the images that were corrupted to start... the card is good, it seems that there seemed to have had a hiccup with the processor in the d3s. </p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>I am glad everything works out fine. To some degree, you lucked out.</p>

<p>However, before I would completely trust that card, I would test it thoroughly like filling it up (at least most of the way), which I understand will take time for a 12MP DSLR to fill 128G. Additionally, whenever you capture something critical such as weddings, since there are no do overs, I would set the D3S in the backup mode so that it writes every image file onto two memory cards. That is going to be much safer.</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>I agree that testing the card would be a good step.<br>

This program: http://fightflashfraud.wordpress.com/download-h2testw-free-and-test-flash-memory/<br>

will do a thorough test on any flash memory device. I always use it before putting any new card or USB memory stick into use. Actual capacity and read/write speed are tested as well as the integrity of the device. However you need to remember that USB is a shared buss and memory speed may be affected by the device used to read the card, and by whatever else is using the same USB hub.</p>

[ashna_s]

<p>RE: <a href="/photodb/user?user_id=24372">Shun Cheung</a></p>

<p>Agreed the first thing i did was set my 2nd sd card as a back up but I will do the sd card test thanks for all the help !</p>