Formatting Compact Flash

[davidmknoble]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

So, with some extra time at home, I'm cleaning up SD and CF cards and reformatting to look for bad sectors and clear them.  I have used SD Formatter for years successfully (https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/).  I have also had periods where a CF card locks my S007 and have been told it is typically a bad write to the card, and probably just a bad portion of the memory.

So, my question is, what are the 'best practices' for deep formatting a compact flash card?  Is it only in camera or is there software similar to SD Formatter? 

I'm sure there is another post with this information, but 'format' and 'formatting' find every occurrence here of 'medium format camera' which is... well most posts.

Thanks!

David.

[helged]

On 3/21/2020 at 4:32 PM, davidmknoble said:

So, with some extra time at home, I'm cleaning up SD and CF cards and reformatting to look for bad sectors and clear them.  I have used SD Formatter for years successfully (https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/).  I have also had periods where a CF card locks my S007 and have been told it is typically a bad write to the card, and probably just a bad portion of the memory.

So, my question is, what are the 'best practices' for deep formatting a compact flash card?  Is it only in camera or is there software similar to SD Formatter? 

I'm sure there is another post with this information, but 'format' and 'formatting' find every occurrence here of 'medium format camera' which is... well most posts.

Thanks!

David.

Possibly a question for the Digital Form https://www.l-camera-forum.com/forum/6-digital-forum/

 

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[AndreasG]

Should be possible with standard formatting software, which is part of the OS, either Windows or Mac. However, you need an adapter to connect to the PC/Mac.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

The question is, does it make sense at all to continue with the CF standard? Memory is low, it is outdated and "bulky".

[jaapv]

The best practice is to use SD Formatter and then do an in-camera format.

edit - I see you mean CF cards...   Should you want to repair your cards and if you are on Mac, I find Diskwarrior an excellent and proven program.

https://www.alsoft.com/

[frame-it]

On 3/22/2020 at 12:32 AM, davidmknoble said:

So, with some extra time at home, I'm cleaning up SD and CF cards and reformatting to look for bad sectors and clear them.  I have used SD Formatter for years successfully (https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/).  I have also had periods where a CF card locks my S007 and have been told it is typically a bad write to the card, and probably just a bad portion of the memory.

So, my question is, what are the 'best practices' for deep formatting a compact flash card?  Is it only in camera or is there software similar to SD Formatter? 

I'm sure there is another post with this information, but 'format' and 'formatting' find every occurrence here of 'medium format camera' which is... well most posts.

Thanks!

David.

if a Cf card actually has "bad" sectors..insert the card in a reader, delete the partition, and then reformat to another type e.g fat32, that should make the cards controller mark the bad sectors, then insert into the camera and format once...if its not fixed its time to get a new card..these cards have limits once they have bad regions in the memory

[davidmknoble]

On 3/23/2020 at 6:37 AM, frame-it said:

if a Cf card actually has "bad" sectors..insert the card in a reader, delete the partition, and then reformat to another type e.g fat32, that should make the cards controller mark the bad sectors, then insert into the camera and format once...if its not fixed its time to get a new card..these cards have limits once they have bad regions in the memory

Thanks @frame-it, that sounds like a good idea.  These are relatively new (and to answer @helged - I use the CF because the S007 uses the CF and SD, and I prefer two cards to one if I have a choice - so I figured S forum folks might know how to deal with CF).  @AndreasG, I have the adapter, but I had read that some of the mac disk software was not the best to use on CF cards.  However, using it to find the bad sectors this way makes some sense. I can also try the alsoft program, thanks @jaapv

Thanks for all the replies!  I'll put a note here when done on results... 

[zeitz]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Throw the bad CF card in the trash.  Treat your S007 to a fresh card.

[davidmknoble]

Just a follow up with what I found that works with my CF cards and the S007.

I removed the SD card from my S007 and used only a CF card for 3 days now flawlessly, no lockups, no slow writes and I used about 1/3 of a 32gb card.  Here is what I found (using a MacBook Pro):

1.  I mounted CF card to the MB Pro
2. Using disk utility, I formatted to Ext FAT using advanced features, secure format type 2 (write 0's on every sector).
3. I put into the S007
4. I formatted in the S007

My conclusion was that formatting by writing zeros to every sector forced the system to mark bad sectors.  Simple formatting just erases the directory of files, but doesn't review the individual drive memory.  This process took about 3-4 minutes total. 

My CF cards were not that old, so I hated to assume there was an irrecoverable problem.  I also learned from some various web sites that we should never delete an image in camera on a CF card.  I do that on SD cards all the time and have never ever had a problem.  Second, ensure the CF card is ejected prior to removing from a computer.

While CF cards are older technology, they are still super fast and I can backup and load images on back drives and computers considerably faster than SD cards.

[Harrydog]

Off topic a bit but if I format my sd card in my CL does it wipe the profiles I have saved? I assume it does so you just have to re back them up after?