4 GB SDHC card scam

[trondis23]

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?

[bigtsr]

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.

[trondis23]

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.

[speedy1979]

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.

[radimus]

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

[spud42]

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.....

[JakeRich]

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.

[trondis23]

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.

[TechnoGuy]

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.

[trondis23]

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?

[spud42]

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 .....

[trondis23]

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!

[TechnoGuy]

Did you escalate this with ebay, If so what has been done so far.

[trondis23]

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.