Help? Olympus C3030 card errors

I hope someone has some ideas I can try!

Camera involved is an Olympus C3030.

Recently, it appears my camera will not read any of my SmartMedia
cards. I get a card error, but the camera will NOT format any of the
cards.

This all started when I got a new Dell computer running Win XP Pro
(previous computer is Win95 and still running... with SanDisk Parallel
Port card reader)

I have a Dazzle 6 in 1 USB card reader on the Dell.

Having taken some test images for a new lighting and background setup,
I wanted to see them quick, so I downloaded to the WinXP computer. All
fine, no problems... until I put the card back in the camera!

Suddenly, the camera will not recognize it. I can't format it, take
pictures, view pictures, anything.

I put the card in the Win95 machine card reader and it won't recognize
it and cannot format it.

I can format it in the WinXP Dazzle card reader (format to FAT as
manual says) and the card appears to work. I can take the previously
downloaded images from the camera and load them back onto the card and
read and open the files.

I can't get the camera to recognize it though!

I have purchased a small and inexpensive SmartMedia card off eBay, but
am afraid to put it in the camera. Is there anything going on that I
should know in using cards on two different OSs?

Or is my camera broken down?

Cynthia

 

try running the SMPrep program on the SM cards that came with the reader
(incase cards got corrupted somehow) then blow into camera card slot, insert
card, and try to format.

did you click on the icon to remove (unmout the media), or just yank them
out? your os most likely corrupted them.

yup, you got XP/SM ;-)

SMPrep should fix er' up. should be under programs / dazzle / somewhere.

Hope it helps

 

No cards came with the reader and as far as I know, I have no SMPrep
program. Though since the manual said I didn't need to install any
drivers for WinXP, it's possible the SMPrep program is on the OnDVD
software CD that came with the reader. I'll look!

The Olympus manual says to not format cards with the reader, and only
in the camera, but trying to format them with the reader was sort of a
last gasp, since the camera wouldn't touch them.

I do know the trick about blowing into the camera slot, I read it here
first, many moons ago... didn't work this time. Believe me, with 3
cards at stake and eBay photos that needed shooting, I tried!

The update so far is that the new 32MB card I bought to test things is
working so far. I have only put it in the WinXP Dazzle reader. Twice
now and returned to camera with it still working. (Though I about had
a heart attack the second time, but blowing in the card slot worked
that time.)

It may be safe to put the new 128MB card I bought in there, but I
think I'll keep using the new 32MB card for a while to test things
thoroughly. I won't put any of the new cards in the Win95 machine, nor
will I put any of the old badly behaving cards back in the camera.

There is no icon to remove that I have seen. There is a light on the
card reader, but it was out. I always check that before removing
media.

The manual just says to watch and be sure the access light is out,
then gently grasp the card and pull it out. Can't say I like it as
well as my old Win95 reader, which has a nice eject button that seems
easier.

It's quite horrid when you have digi-camera and can't use it! A black,

Ah, OK, perhaps it is with the Dazzle OnDVD software CD. I didn't
think I'd use that, so I didn't install.

Thanks! I'm beginning to suspect that the camera just didn't like
having stuff switched between the two readers. And the one card that
wasn't switched was corrupted by those that were. Why, I couldn't say.

I wish I had the money for a new camera, but this one is it for now.
Until this incident, couldn't complain, great little camera!

Cynthia

 

worded not the best... use the program that came with the dazle reader...



Though since the manual said I didn't need to install any

should be in programs / dazzel / somewhere - could always use winows explore
and search for smprep.exe, if you got a dazzle reader, it should be there
somewhere.

right, and the os/pc tell you how to remove the cards correctly. when you
don't and things go wrong, this utility will help (BTW, you may loose pano
support on restructring a corrupted oly brand card, other cards no
prob - ) - after that, then format in camera... (smprep is a different "low
level" type of format - like you said - last gap - if this don't work what
now - daignostic step. if this works - you *know* the cards were corrupted -
and you *can* trace steps and prevent. (someone my be able to point out how
to get pano support back - seen it online - never bothered myself as other
methods work...)

keep your work flow process the same, (try to do things in the same order -
helps troubleshoot / repair / diag / recover when things go wrong...
especially if intermittenet - I'm supprised how many "intermittent" problems
are really because things are not really repeated the same) remove media
correctly from the the computer when you are removing / changing media,
you'll be fine - (just don't yank it and stick in a *new* one and start
using files - you'll be playing russin rolette. one day the file structures
will get confused, (ya ever popped out a cd when the computer still wanted
it, even tho' you wern't using it? you get a "reinsert volume xxx, bla bla"
blue scren? ok, pop it back in - you do this with a writeable device - goood
luck - at least cdr's lock the drive - mem cards don't)

in explorer, right click on the drive letter, and click "eject" or something
like that- it dosen't pop out, but lets the os know you are done - after
done and lights are out, all's good to pull.

More like the OS on the pc didn't want to release control of the card and
thought the next was the prior one removed and continued to mess up file
structers..




And the one card that

the OS assumed too much ;-)

got an oly 4040, dazzle 6-1 reader, and pny reader - portable, and a kodak
4-1 upstairs myself Only SM card lost (since ny c2000 - was dropped on
the rug and rolled over - looked like a pringle - all other glitches were
repairable / recoverable - 1 32m & 6 128 meg SM cards ? years old... BTW, it
just happend to be my *free* 8 meg destroyed, so that was luck.

 

, (ya ever popped out a cd when the computer still wanted

....and you don't even get the cortesy of a blue screen..

 

I've had a 3030 for several years. I leave the SM card in the camera and
download the images via USB using Camedia. When they're in the PC, I shut
off the camera and detach it. If you ask on the NG about downloading
images, 9.5 out of 10 will say, use a card reader. But using one requires
that you remove the SM card and replace it again, time after time.

Cynthia, you don't have to take the card out of the camera. If you get this
thing solved, put the 128 card in and leave it there. And you never have to
format a card-- ever. This was discussed here a couple of days ago. The
consensus was, why format? I delete the images in the camera, and I've
never formatted an SM card.

 

This is the second or third time I've read here about corrupted memory
cards related to the Dazzle 6 in 1 multi-card USB reader. IIRC, the
problem is related to a corrupted partition table or FAT (File
Allocation Table) error. The fix is to use DOS fdisk to repartition
the card, so a new FAT is written to it. The card for the C-3030 uses
FAT16 and a single partition. Use fdisk only to do the partitioning
and NOT the Windows GUI interface. And format the card in the camera,
not with the computer.

No, I don't think your camera is broken. I have a C-3030 also, and have
never had any problems with corrupted cards. I use a dedicated SM only
reader. Put the new eBay SM card in your camera and see if the camera
reads it. Then go to the card setup menu and reformat it. And, then
get rid of that Dazzle multi-reader and get a dedicated SmartMedia ONLY
reader. Or hook your camera directly to the computer via a USB cable.

 

not an issue for me, as I use 6 128 cards, and a 32... so they are coming
out sooner or later

unless you plan to use more than 1 before you offload the pics.

If you get this

and limit yourself to how many picture you can take?

This was discussed here a couple of days ago. The

That was the consensus?
well, if you only have one card, and never remove it, of course it would not
be needed.

 

and what OS? just wondering. My PNY reader did the same thing under XP when
not removing cards properly.

IIRC, the

yup, SMPrep rebuilds the FAT as well, through XP. Didn't know you could
fdisk usb through dos in XP?

The card for the C-3030 uses

fat 16 from dos in XP? there are no usb dos drivers. if you boot to dos, no
usb, if you run from dos shell can you access usb? is it not just going
through xp if it does? (I don't know, just asking)

And format the card in the camera,

 

OK, I found the Dazzle CD... no SMPrep program on there. I installed
EVERYTHING on the CD... and still no program.

I also went to the website and looked under downloads, it's not there
either. Sigh.

Do you know where I might be able to find or download it?

You'd think, but both a search of the CD and my harddrive after
installing everything on the CD did not turn it up.

Well, I tried selecting Eject from the right click menu... but that
just gives me an error message saying that it cannot eject.

At this point, all I know to do is wait for the drive light to be off
and pull the card out. So far, it is not having trouble with the new
card. But I worry about it, because if I start using other cards
later, will this all happen again?

That's a good idea. I generally do tend to do stuff the same, but
probably got a bit panicked when this started happening.

My question now is, if I can't eject the media properly, how exactly
do I go about switching cards. Should I turn the computer off or
restart it between putting media cards in the reader?

Or do I need a better reader? I'm game to buy another.

Again, doing this just gave me an error message saying the media could
not be ejected. Perhaps the computer knows it is done...

I can buy that, but since right clicking and selecting eject doesn't
seem to be working, I'm not sure what to do here. Right now, it's not
an issue, since I'm only using the one card at present.

Well, that's good to hear. I'm pretty careful with my media cards, so
this really surprized me when it started happening. I never had read
anything to suggest that I couldn't use my media cards between OS's,
it just never occurred to me it could be a problem.

Cynthia

 

I actually did try this, I downloaded the update to my Camedia
software and the drivers... but I was not able to download from the
camera to the PC via USB.

Frankly, though, I prefer a reader as it is not unusual for me to go
through several cards when I shoot. I always shoot SHQ and full
resolution and when I get my setup ready, I like to do a bunch at
once.

So just leaving a card in there is not the best solution for me.

Cynthia

 

what a rip, i have it on mine... I'll dig up the cd and see if an XP version
is on.



mine installed under
"C:\Program Files\Dazzle\6 In 1 Reader\SMprep.exe"
click on start / programs / 6in 1 reader /...
and there are other utilities there... perhaps in xp you don't need drivers,
but the utilities would be added if dazzle software loaded under xp?

bummer, perhaps it *does* need some device .inf installed. beta testers /
tech writers may have had different build version, or just assumed based on
MS usb mass storage "specs"... (just guessing...postulating (also, the
fact the manual says this, may also be the reason - as the other poster
stated he has seen others have problems with device - don't know if all with
xp.. or they may have not installed drivers because it worked with whatevers
os storage class adaptor (usb driver) that happend to be on already...)

shutting down should unmount the drive, esp if it is not crashing on
shutdown... should be ok, but is a pain :-(

won't hurt, but a pain.

may or may not make a diference depending on how the device uses the XP
driver, unless a new one is provided.

its when the order of things change, or new things are added, when things
like this pop up thier heads... usually every combination of events is not
tested, usually because of the logistics of it all, but most of the time
issues can be resolved.

 

Did some research last night... on dpreview. I did come up with the
manufacturer of the Dazzle and found a link to download drivers.

The drivers did install a 6 in 1 reader utilities that included
smprep.exe

However, when attempting to run it, got an error message.

So maybe it doesn't work on XP.

I found out that there are discontinued card readers on which it will
work... but it seems like none of those were meant to work on XP. It's
possible that one could get them to work on XP, but it's also possible
that the smprep.exe will not.

So I'm not sure that buying another reader will work in this instance.

See above. Found the drivers at:

http://www.scmmicro.com/downloads.html?PID=18&s1=7&s2=63

Installed them, but it's a no-go.

Don't know. but yep, there's no eject feature for this currently
working under WinXP!

Now, I do have some little icon in the task tray that appeared after I
plugged the reader in, it says "Safely Remove Hardware" when I hover
over it.

When I open it, it brings up a dialog box with a list, there is so
far, only one thing on the list, USB Mass Storage Device.

There is an option to "Select the device you wish to unplug or eject,
and then click Stop. When Windows notifies you that it is safe to do
so, unplug the device from your computer."

Now, I had taken that to mean that this controlled the connection from
the card reader to the computer. I.E. if I wanted to remove the card
reader while the computer is running (unlikely, since I have more USB
ports), I would use this to do so safely.

But perhaps it could be used to unmount the media?


Also, under Properties/Drivers tab, there is the option to Update the
Driver and Rollback the Driver.

Is it possible that perhaps I could use this to get it to recognize
the 6 in 1 drivers? I hate to mess with stuff too much at this point,
as things are at least working so that I can download images.

Also, I found a link for media repair:

http://www.scmmicro.com/downloads.html?PID=18&s1=7&s2=63

I may email the guy and see if he thinks he could fix the three bum
cards so that the camera could recognize them again. It's a relatively
cheap solution if it works.

I agree... but it may be what I need to do if I am going to use
multiple cards in the reader. What you have been saying sounds like it
is what is happening.

That's my feeling.

Yeah. It's irritating though, as I am generally so blame careful.

I never, ever do anything to the files with the reader... Just copy
them to a digi-negs folder. Then, I make a copy of that folder for
editing purposes, so that I still have all the originals. And I always
save stuff in non-lossy format before I edit.

Card goes back in camera... I usually don't erase it until I've backed
up the downloaded stuff to CD. Then I erase the card in camera. Take
more pictures, repeat. Rarely ever used format in the camera, unless
the camera was suggesting such. No problems until the new computer
arrived.

If card is not in camera, because I'm needing more than one for a
shooting session, it is in a hard shell case I bought specially, that
holds 4 SM cards very safely.

I don't blame myself too much on this one, there was no way to know
that this could happen. No warnings in the manual, nothing.


Cynthia

 

do you know somone with a non-xp pc that you could install the dazzle on to
fix your cards?

also viable. I'll have to bookmark that for later reference if needed by
someone, thanks.

I have a 6 card wallet. 7 cards, when one gets full, swap it for one in
wallet opposite the others (start with contacts in) - contacts out is
used... I uses the 6in1 under 98se, drag the folders over to the desktop,
quick view the thumbs in camedia, then rename the folder as a general
description (location and subject etc.) , I then move to my storage hd
(which has an usb external backup) ... eject, then next card. format the
cards in camera (usually when next card is copying to pc) then put back in
wallet. sometimes I weed out pics before move and backup steps. save edits -
usually with a dash-m (for mod) as tiff or psd if I want to keep layers.
usually shoot in JPG, but sometimes tiff, and by keeping the original number
in the modded one, as I learn new techniques, it is eaiser to do a search
for the original, and try something new... any descripton I put in comment
field In PS. (if any) - (I also group in subfolders by year / month) - not
very orginized if looking for a specific pic you don't know the name of, but
enough for me due to long folder names and that I put the file number on any
prints made.


Had to use smprep when I decided to ignore batt warning when taking a pic,
and when I improperly ejected from my pny reader... it had no repair
utility, hence the upgrade to the dazzle (which reads more cards as needed
now anyway - my brother has a sony (stick), and I picked up a exilim (sd
mem) and my aunt has a canon a20 (cf)...and my oly


heard rumor the new ms os is codenamed longhorn - the funny slogan remark
I've heard is "MS Longhorn.
It cuts the cheese, not the mustard." Hopefully not true :-/

 

or perhaps a usb card for the 95 machine? (if you have the latest 95 release
with usb support)? just tossing out ideas.

sometimes I get into things and get "tunnel vision" and forget to even look
at the focus lock light above the lcd.
(saving up for and SLR, perhaps a digital rebel. would be nice to have
readings and info in an optic view, and the other benifits... and I have
some compatable lenses, that helps the decision towards canon...)

I even hesitate to DL "critical" updates for 98se, twice I had sofware
issues afterwards.

 

Unfortunately, no. I've just moved up here in September and don't know
many folks up here in North Dakota. And of those I do know, most don't
have computers.

My husband had Win98 running, but recently upgraded to WinXP Home, so
no luck there.

So all I've got is the Win95 computer, with no USB.

Unless I can perhaps find a smprep.exe utility that will work on my
parallel port reader. SanDisk has drivers for Win95... WinXP is not
supported.


But I'm not sure it's a good idea to try and switch the cards back
between OS anyway at this point. Still, it might be worth trying.

No problem!

Funny, I save my edits with a _m for master, also keeping the original
number in the filename. And usually as PSD files. I generally shoot in
JPG... but full res and super high quality.

I'm pretty good about changing batteries quick when they look to be
running low. I do a lot of closeups, so the LCD monitor is on a lot
and I do have to watch out for the batteries. Set comes out of the
camera and goes immediately into the charger. I do somewhere have the
adapter to use household electricity... but finding it after the move
may be interesting! Besides, I hate trailing cords about.

Well, considering I just got a new computer with WinXP... Longhorn is
likely to be a ways down in my future. If I should here bad things
about it, will avoid as long as possible.

Cynthia

 

Win xp doesnt need to be supported.

99.99% of all card readers work with XP out of the box without any drivers.

Win XP pro can format memory cards for a camera (most need to be formatted FAT 16 which Xp
will happily do).

The smprep program only gave the card a simple fat16 low level format. If the card is ok XP
should be able to fix it.

I dont know about Xp home, I havent used it.

 

Well, my two new SmartMedia cards remain working. The prior three
remain scrambled. I finally got up the nerve to use the new 128MB card
in my camera and Dazzle reader... I am just being very careful to shut
the machine down between switching cards in the Dazzle reader. It is a
pain, but better that than scrambled cards.

So far, so good. Both my new 32 MB and new 128 MB cards remain working
and useable.

Now, I did try getting a SMprep compatible reader off eBay. I got the
SanDisk SDDR-09-01, new in box. Yes, I knew this was a risk, SanDisk
says on their site that this reader is not supported under WinXP.

However, they also suggest it might be possible to install and use it
under WinXP so I figured it was worth a try... both to fix the three
cards that have been scrambled, and to have around for future
problems.

I tried. It appeared to install OK, i.e. I got a drive letter using
the SanDisk Win2K drivers for the device as suggested.

However, upon inserting the media in the reader, I could not access
it, just got an I/O error message. Nor could I get the green drive
light to stop until I safely removed the hardware. Eject did not work.

Fortunately, the test did not scramble my new 32 MB card.

But it looks like I cannot use SMprep or older readers that support it
on this WinXP machine.

So I guess I enjoy my new cards, be careful about switching between
them and move on.

Unless anyone has any great ideas about how to install the SanDisk
Imagemate SDDR-09 under WinXP Pro and make it work!

Otherwise, perhaps my saga has helped someone else avoid the same
problems.

Now, to go take pictures of the SanDisk reader for eBay! <G>

Cynthia