Nikon Z9 FW 3.0 Full Memory Card Format Feature

[ShunCheung]

With firmware version 3.0, the Nikon Z9 has added a new memory card "full format" feature, which means erasing all files on the card with no possibility of recovery. For those who have a Z9, please use this option very carefully. You need to be 100% sure that you don't need those images any more or they have been transferred to a safe place.

Interestingly, this full format feature is only available to CFexpress Type B cards. If you put an XQD card into the Z9, only the conventional "quick format" is available.

https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.com/z9/en/18_added_functions_300_21.html

[Bill J Boyd]

Shun,

Thanks for explanation.  I have been using the Full Format function, but had no clue why it was there.  Again...many thanks.

[ShunCheung]

14 minutes ago, Bill J Boyd said:

Shun,

Thanks for explanation.  I have been using the Full Format function, but had no clue why it was there.  Again...many thanks.

You are welcome. When FW 3.0 was released on October 25 (2022), I was traveling with no internet connection, such that I am now catching up with the some 20 new features added in 3.0. Unless you would like to erase any trace of your images and videos on the card, for example, you are loaning your card to someone else or are returning a loaner card, I would use the traditional "quick format" option so that it would still be possible to recover your "deleted" images, before their memory location is overwritten.

[Rob Davies]

Another not greatly publicised feature was 1 button FX/DX toggling.... very handy.

[mike_halliwell]

16 hours ago, robert_davies2 said:

feature was 1 button FX/DX toggling.... very handy.

I prefer the one touch feature change of toggling, even if it's, say, a 4 option rolling choice.

I never liked the press an Fn button and twiddle a rotary dial to cycle through the choices. I can see how it could lead to inadvertent changes, but..... i could live with that.

[Alfred_Pennyworth]

This comment raises an important point about the risks associated with using the new "full format" feature on the Nikon Z9 camera. While it can be a useful tool for permanently deleting data from a memory card, it also means that any files that have not been backed up or transferred to a safe location will be irretrievably lost. Therefore, it's essential to exercise caution and only use this feature when you're absolutely certain that you no longer need the data on the card.

[mike_halliwell]

One of the downsides of high capacity cards is, if you have to try and recover a corrupt or accidentally deleted image, it takes a very long time and the number of recovered files is often bigger than your hard-drive!

Makes you wonder what the actual capacity of the card is? I've often recovered 1500 images from a card that tells me it can only fit 1000.... and some are from very early on in the cards life!

[bgelfand]

On 12/3/2022 at 8:41 AM, ShunCheung said:

Interestingly, this full format feature is only available to CFexpress Type B cards. If you put an XQD card into the Z9, only the conventional "quick format" is available.

CFExpress use the NVMe protocol over PCIe. To the best of my knowledge the XQD cards do not use NVMe. NVMe supports a Secure Erase command which the controller on the CFE card executes. The controller sets every bit on the card to a high state. Since the flash memory is NAND, this reads out as zero. I do not know which protocol XQD uses, but I suspect it does not have a Secure Erase command nor does the controller support such a command.

 

I would add not only insure the images have been loaded to your computer, but that the computer files have been backed up - at very least to your on site backups.

Remember the old Data Processing adage, "Never go nowhere you can't get back from no how!" 😉

Edited May 14, 2023 by bgelfand

[ben_hutcherson]

1 hour ago, bgelfand said:

On 12/3/2022 at 10:41 AM, ShunCheung said:

 

CFExpress use the NVMe protocol over PCIe. To the best of my knowledge the XQD cards do not use NVMe. NVMe supports a Secure Erase command which the controller on the CFE card executes. The controller sets every bit on the card to a high state. Since the flash memory is NAND, this reads out as zero. I do not know which protocol XQD uses, but I suspect it does not have a Secure Erase command nor does the controller support such a command.

I was under the impression-and don't 100% hold me to this-that XQD cards were AHCI over PCIe.

I have quite a bit of experience with AHCI PCIe drives. Macs started using them 2013-ish and the last new computer revision that used them was the 2019 iMac. I don't currently have anything with an easily accessible AHCI PCIe drive(most everything 2015 and newer got a firmware update from Apple that supports booting off NVMe and I've upgraded mine using this style drives to big, fast NVMe) but I recall secure erase being available.

[bgelfand]

5 hours ago, ben_hutcherson said:

I was under the impression-and don't 100% hold me to this-that XQD cards were AHCI over PCIe.

I have quite a bit of experience with AHCI PCIe drives. Macs started using them 2013-ish and the last new computer revision that used them was the 2019 iMac. I don't currently have anything with an easily accessible AHCI PCIe drive(most everything 2015 and newer got a firmware update from Apple that supports booting off NVMe and I've upgraded mine using this style drives to big, fast NVMe) but I recall secure erase being available.

I think you are correct; XQD uses AHCI over PCIe. Your SATA SSD may well have implemented some secure erase; my Crucial SATA SSD has a "sanitize function. The $64-question is did the XQD controller implement such a command? I have not found an answer to that. I suppose it might be in the XQD technical specifications, but I do not want to go wading through those even if they are available on the Web.