Notices

Storage Card Forum Talk about CF, SD, and Microdrives. What's good, what's bad? - No Ads

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 01-12-08, 11:46 AM   #1 (permalink)
Aximsite Rookie
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 24
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
4 GB SDHC card scam

I recently bought a 4 GB SDHC card from eBay. That is, I thought it was a 4 GB card. It was announced as 4 GB, and both the PC and the PPC reports that the capacity is 4 GB. The card also works fine - until I try to put more than 2 GB (compressed files) on the card. If I do that I get a lot of unreadable files and folders with strange names. These are impossible to delete from Windows. From the PPC it is possible to delete them. But if I start the PPC with the SD card installed, it might freeze the system.

So I am convinced that this is a card with a compressed file system, and that the real capacity is 2 GB. I am going to confront the seller with this. But I wonder if there is a utility that show the real capacity of the card, or that the file system is compressed. Can anyone direct me to such a utility?
trondis23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsor Ads
Old 01-12-08, 01:50 PM   #2 (permalink)
Aximsite Major League
 
bigtsr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Burlington,Ontario
Posts: 456
Device: Nokia 2680 slide
Carrier: Rogers
Thanked 29 Times in 28 Posts
You didn't indicate what PPC your using.
If it's an Axim 51v it won't access SD SDHC units normally.
There is a AX 51V driver for SDHC availiable here on Aximsite
which you can install however.
bigtsr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-13-08, 03:34 AM   #3 (permalink)
Aximsite Rookie
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 24
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Hi!

Yes, I have a Dell Axim X51. But I have installed the driver that I found on this site, and the card works normally untill I put more than 2 GB.
trondis23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-13-08, 01:57 PM   #4 (permalink)
Aximsite Major League
 
speedy1979's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 432
Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts
You have just learned a painful lesson. Never buy any kind of flash media on ebay. Most of the flash media being sold on ebay is fake. Ebay actually has warnings about this.
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

HP IPAQ 211: WAD, WA, PocketPlus, PocketWeather, MemMaid, Pocketmusic, etc.
speedy1979 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-13-08, 02:40 PM   #5 (permalink)
Blogger
 
radimus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Tampa
Posts: 5,197
Device: AT&T Fuze
Carrier: AT&T US
Thanked 44 Times in 40 Posts

Awards Showcase
Aximsite Silver Reviews Top Notch MyPDA Aximsite Bronze Referrer Aximsite Veteran Staff News Editor Medal Aximsite Active Silver Member Aximsite Active Bronze Member Aximsite Bronze Contributors 
Total Awards: 8

simplest thing to do is get a USB SDHC reader and mount it in windows

Disk Mangement will give you all the details you want
__________________
Quote:
"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." -- John Quincy Adams

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
and
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
and
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
and
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
radimus is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-08, 12:26 AM   #6 (permalink)
Aximsite Elite
 
spud42's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: in a house
Posts: 3,854
Device: Nokia 6300
Carrier: Macquarie
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

Awards Showcase
Aximsite Active Silver Member Aximsite Contest Winner Aximsite Active Bronze Member 
Total Awards: 3

Originally Posted by speedy1979 View Post
You have just learned a painful lesson. Never buy any kind of flash media on ebay. Most of the flash media being sold on ebay is fake. Ebay actually has warnings about this.
sorry but i dissagree with this statment. i have bought several CF abd SD cards from ebay and never had a fake or problem. as long as you are aware where the card is comming from you shouldnt have a problem. but do beware cards shipped from china or hongkong.....
__________________
... here are a few of my favorite things.... Hx4700 WM6.1 , AcerAspire One A150 , Canon 30D DSLR . . . .new GF not necessarily in this order.....
spud42 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-08, 12:30 PM   #7 (permalink)
Aximsite Hall of Fame
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 7,875
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Originally Posted by trondis23 View Post
I recently bought a 4 GB SDHC card from eBay. That is, I thought it was a 4 GB card. It was announced as 4 GB, and both the PC and the PPC reports that the capacity is 4 GB. The card also works fine - until I try to put more than 2 GB (compressed files) on the card. If I do that I get a lot of unreadable files and folders with strange names. These are impossible to delete from Windows. From the PPC it is possible to delete them. But if I start the PPC with the SD card installed, it might freeze the system.

So I am convinced that this is a card with a compressed file system, and that the real capacity is 2 GB. I am going to confront the seller with this. But I wonder if there is a utility that show the real capacity of the card, or that the file system is compressed. Can anyone direct me to such a utility?
Are you putting the files into folders? There is a limit to the number of directory entries permitted in the root directory of the card, i.e., "Storage Card" or "CF Card" or "SD Card." When you get to that limit, the card reports memory shortage, when in fact it's really short of directory entry space. There is no limit in the folders, so delete a couple of files, create some folders and put files in there. Might help.
JakeRich is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-15-08, 06:30 AM   #8 (permalink)
Aximsite Rookie
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 24
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Originally Posted by JakeRich View Post
Are you putting the files into folders? There is a limit to the number of directory entries permitted in the root directory of the card, i.e., "Storage Card" or "CF Card" or "SD Card." When you get to that limit, the card reports memory shortage, when in fact it's really short of directory entry space. There is no limit in the folders, so delete a couple of files, create some folders and put files in there. Might help.
All my files are inside folders. And the card does not report memory shortage. It still reads 4 GB. But everything above 2 GB is unreable, and not possible to delete from Windows. (I have a card reader installed in the PC.)

I have sent the seller a mail about this, but no reply so far. I will give him a couple of days, and then report him to eBay. But I still haven't found a utility that verify my suspicion that the card is compressed and show the wrong capasity.
trondis23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-15-08, 11:41 AM   #9 (permalink)
TechnoGuy
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Originally Posted by radimus View Post
simplest thing to do is get a USB SDHC reader and mount it in windows

Disk Mangement will give you all the details you want
Did you see this post.
  Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-08, 06:22 AM   #10 (permalink)
Aximsite Rookie
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 24
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Originally Posted by TechnoGuy View Post
Did you see this post.
Yes. I have both a built-in card reader and a separate USB reader that came with the card. But Windows doesn't show anything special about the card - it says the capacity is 4 GB. What Disk management tools are you referring to?
trondis23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-08, 08:35 AM   #11 (permalink)
Aximsite Elite
 
spud42's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: in a house
Posts: 3,854
Device: Nokia 6300
Carrier: Macquarie
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

Awards Showcase
Aximsite Active Silver Member Aximsite Contest Winner Aximsite Active Bronze Member 
Total Awards: 3

right click on "my computer" selsect "manage" from the list
when this opens, "disk managment" is the last option under "storage" click on "disk management" and it will open a list of all your hard drives and partitions on those drives along with your cd and dvd drives both real and virtual if you use daemon tools or alcohol120 or game drive etc.... and most importantly for you it shows usb drives and cards in readers .....
__________________
... here are a few of my favorite things.... Hx4700 WM6.1 , AcerAspire One A150 , Canon 30D DSLR . . . .new GF not necessarily in this order.....
spud42 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-22-08, 07:11 AM   #12 (permalink)
Aximsite Rookie
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 24
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Found a tool

Hi!

I just found the tool to verify the memory card. It can be found on c't-ftp-Service, and the name of the tool is H2Testw. This site is in German, but the program can be installed in both German and English. And yes, it verifies that the card is not a 4 GB card. Beware!
trondis23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-22-08, 09:39 AM   #13 (permalink)
TechnoGuy
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Did you escalate this with ebay, If so what has been done so far.
  Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-08, 06:20 AM   #14 (permalink)
Aximsite Rookie
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 24
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Originally Posted by TechnoGuy View Post
Did you escalate this with ebay, If so what has been done so far.
I am going to if the seller doesn't do anything about it. I just read an article on the net that there is a big scam going on with USB memory sticks and memory cards. Several big brands has been involved, especially in Germany. But they have all been scammed by their suppliers. That might be the case with this seller also. He is not neccessarily the bad guy here. I just sent him the program and asked him to check his cards. So I am awaiting his answer.
trondis23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-08, 01:39 PM   #15 (permalink)
dfmclore
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Originally Posted by speedy1979 View Post
You have just learned a painful lesson. Never buy any kind of flash media on ebay. Most of the flash media being sold on ebay is fake. Ebay actually has warnings about this.
I have purchased almost all my flash memory from E-bay without any problems whatsoever including;
(1) 128 Sandisk SD (Music)
(1) 128 Lexar CF (Music)
(1) 128 PQI Mini SD + Adapter (Data)
(1) 128 Sandisk Tranflash + SD Adapter (Pics, Ringtones and Data)
(1) 2G Sandisk Tranflash + SD Adapter (Pics, Ringtones and Music)
(2) 512 Sandisk CF and Kingston CF (Music)
(1) 1G Sandisk SD (Music)
(1) 1G Sandisk CF (Music)
(1) 1G PNY CF (Music)
(1) 4G Sandisk Ultra II SD (Music)
(1) 4G Sandisk Ultra II CF (Music)
(1) 1G Kingston (?)
(1) MCAF-10 Xd to CF Adapter (veiwing pics from camera)

If you buy off of E-Bay then you need to read carefully and check your PDA's specs.
  Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
card, scam, sdhc

Sponsor Ads

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:51 PM.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.3.0
Copyright © 2003-09 LeckMedia, LLC