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leica m8 card format issue


kmjones

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so i just got my leica m8 and thought i could just put in one of my 8gb lexar sdhc cards and be on my way. however everytime i insert the card i get an error "sc card full" and when i go to format the camera just sits with the blinking red light for minutes and doesnt stop. i can not click anything and i can not turn the camera off without removing the battery.

 

i have taken the card out and put it in a card reader on my computer. deleted all the existing files from my d90 and inserted the new firmware file m802_004.upd, hoping i would be prompted to update firmware on the camera and be able to take some photos. but when i reinserted the card i had the same message and same lock up.

 

cant find a similar issue anywhere. does anyone have any idea?

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km, welcome to the forum. Sorry that you come with a problem. :(

 

I haven't had the problem you're having, but some M8s are finicky about which cards they take.

 

Seems strange that the camera recognizes the card but thinks it's full. Some of our more technical people could probably tell you something more specific, particularly since the camera doesn't even recognize the software update. (What is your current firmware version BTW?)

 

First thing: Try reformatting the card with your computer. Or maybe with the D90, since it was working there. Then see if the M8 recognizes it. If so, you could reformat it again in the M8.

 

If that doesn't help, try another card, maybe another sample of the same, maybe another brand or size.

 

 

I'm sure you've used the forum search function; searching on "SDHC" gives a lot of hits. Recently there have been a number of problems with M9s in this regard, where a couple years back (obviously), the problems were with cards in the M8.

 

 

May be a problem with the camera, but let's try other roads first. :confused:

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firmware currently is 1.201. i searched the forums, found some people that had the same issue with the camera freezing while formating but said it was a one time thing and that after taking the battery out and trying everything again it worked fine. mine just doesnt want to work. i did try reformatting on both my d90 and mac and still no luck. if anyone has a proven SD card that they could suggest that would be greatly appreciated. im thinking testing a brand new card is my only other option to proving whether something is wrong with my m8 or just user error.

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Don't remember what the difference was between 2.01 and 2.04; both should work the same at the card level. Once we get that sorted, the firmware update is quick and easy.

 

I think trying another card as you say is the next way to go.

 

I've used SanDisk, Patriot, PNY, Transcend, HP cards on my M8, and maybe another brand or two. I had one bad-out-of-the-box PNY, and since then generally stick with the better-known brands.

 

The M8 isn't a quick camera at writing data, so you don't gain anything with it by getting the fastest available.

 

Is the camera used? Is the dealer near-by? After trying another card or two, it might be worth a trip to visit him.

 

I hope some of the other folks check this thread, because there's a lot of expertise available here.

 

Good luck. Do remember to post back to let us know how the problem gets resolved.

 

It's really annoying to pull something out of the box and get such an all-or-nothing negative response. :(

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alright, so i went through everything in my apartment and finally found an old 2gb kingston pro SD card and it seems to be working fine.

 

im just curious now as to what about the other cards was the problem. is that they were SDHC, 8gb, formatted by another camera......

 

thanks for all the help though!

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Good news! Glad you can finally take a picture!

 

No one seems to have any idea why some cards work better than others. I think once we find one that works, we give up trying to figure out why the others don't. ;)

 

Thanks for letting us know it worked out!

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alright, so i went through everything in my apartment and finally found an old 2gb kingston pro SD card and it seems to be working fine.

 

im just curious now as to what about the other cards was the problem. is that they were SDHC, 8gb, formatted by another camera......

 

thanks for all the help though!

So you can use the "old" SD card to update the M8 firmware and then the new SDHC card should also be acceptable.
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alright, so i went through everything in my apartment and finally found an old 2gb kingston pro SD card and it seems to be working fine.

 

im just curious now as to what about the other cards was the problem. is that they were SDHC, 8gb, formatted by another camera......

 

thanks for all the help though!

 

In other words: you used a SDHC card while probably the firmware was some instances behind and could only work with SD cards. Most probably there is nothing wrong with you 8Gb card.

 

Also: always format in camera any card that is 'new' to that camera. Even if the card is brand new, and certainly when it has been used in another camera.

If you don't format, you may loose you file-numbering, as one of the more innocent scenarios.

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I have nearly the same problem encountered since few days ago, still unresolved :confused:

 

My M8 reads "SD card full" after the card being read in computer. It

cannot format cards either. The syndrome repeats in swapping with

different SD cards which are working fine with other cameras. My M8

can detect and report when being inserted a locked card. It displays

"SD card full" again when the card insert has been unlocked.

 

I have then tried almost all brands new SD cards from 2G to 8G but just could

not solve the problem.

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What firmware release are you using?

And what do you do with your card in the computer. Mac or PC?

 

Also: if a card is working fine in an other camera, you can almost be sure it will not work in your M8, unless

first formatted - in the M8 - .

 

And if that does not work, give it a FAT32 format in your computer first and try again. A format in M8 first that is!

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I have nearly the same problem encountered since few days ago, still unresolved :confused:

 

My M8 reads "SD card full" after the card being read in computer. It

cannot format cards either. The syndrome repeats in swapping with

different SD cards which are working fine with other cameras. My M8

can detect and report when being inserted a locked card. It displays

"SD card full" again when the card insert has been unlocked.

 

I have then tried almost all brands new SD cards from 2G to 8G but just could

not solve the problem.

Swapping cards between cameras without formatting them is a recipe for disaster. I did it once from my M8 to my DMR - The DMR had to be revived in Solms..:(
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Reformat the card on a PC by right clicking on the icon and selecting reformat. Remember to first save off all the files you want, because they will be "gone" after reformating. Make sure it is FAT 32. Reformating essentially cleans a File Allocation Table to the M8, even though the PC does not find it corrupted.

 

You may also then want to reformat it in the camera. This used to be answered in the FAQ section on the Leica web site.

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So I think there is something quite wrong with the M8's current handling of SDHC cards.

 

I've had very bad problems--file corruption and the "card full" error--with Sandisk Extreme and now with new Hoodman SDHC cards (4GB). I started a thread about that here:

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/118945-so-have-we-seen-defect-before.html#post1262921

 

I've never had these problems with the 2GB Sandisk Extreme (non SDHC) cards. So something is not quite right...admittedly it might be my particular camera.

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I had the same problem with my M8 when it was new. Took the camera back to my kind dealer who took a plane SD card, downloaded the new firmware on it and then put that onto the camera. His portrait became the first ever picture taken by my M8, dear man. The service-oriented people of the world should be taken well care of! :)

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