Check card - I think I need help to recover my data.

Desertfox

Desertfox

Active member
Hi there

I was recording half way through, took out my 16GB SD card and inserted another SD card. When I tried to use the previous card again, HMC says CHECK CARD with an X on the top left the screen.

I came home hoping that the data is in tack but the computer couldn't even see the card!

Am I the only one having this kind of issue... this is a big issue for me.

When I changed the card, I remember pressing STOP and waited for the amber light to stop blinking.

So what went wrong and does anyone think there is someone who can do a data recovery?:violent5:

Or is this another case of **** happens!
 
Do a search for "check card", there is another long thread on this and Jan from Panasonic wants anyone that has had a problem to post there with a description of the card and what happened.
 
Thanks Denwa

I found out it's not the camera's fault. It's the cards fault.

This happened before thrice in a row with a brand new camera formatted 16GB Kingston Class 4 card.

Weird thing is, it doesn't happen with the 8GB Kingston Class 4 card... lesson learnt but not heed!

I'm just out of luck and stubborn to use the same brand and card size I guess.
 
Have you been formating the card in camera only? The filesystem can go screwy if the card was formatted on a computer. Cards should be formatted in camera.
 
I got it wrong... The card doesn't work. I formated the card on camera for the first time and used it for the first time.

Trying to find some data recovery people online. -- This is bad. Any recommendations?
 
I found this outfit in Germany: http://card-recovery.biz/us/service.php

It has some good info about failures \ damage too.

It would seem that there is a NAND reader called the PC-3000 which can read the NAND memory chips (if they are not physically damaged), which bypassess the controller issue which results in the 'check card' issue (it would seem). Didnt find a price for this unit or what expertise is needed to unsolder the memory chip etc, but depending it might be a viable option for some...
 
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Thanks burners... I will check it out!

I tested some trial softwares online... the ones that recognises the 16GB card will only search for .jpg .mov or those usual files. Not .mts unfortunately.

Although the PC or Mac doesn't recognise my card, at least I know some software knows it's a 16GB card and can run a scan through it.
 
Burners said:
I found this outfit in Germany: http://card-recovery.biz/us/service.php

It has some good info about failures \ damage too.

It would seem that there is a NAND reader called the PC-3000 which can read the NAND memory chips (if they are not physically damaged), which bypassess the controller issue which results in the 'check card' issue (it would seem). Didnt find a price for this unit or what expertise is needed to unsolder the memory chip etc, but depending it might be a viable option for some...
Click to expand...

Coincidentally, I just arrived in Germany and I'm thinking whether I should try and do data recovery here since I can't find any reputable company back in my own country that does data recovery for SD cards. However, it's very expensive...

I'll try to e-mail Kingston . Not too sure if the lifetime warranty stated on the card true and valid.

Whatever it is, knowing that this problem does exist, I'm worried sick about shooting my next gig here in Germany. I'll stick to shooting 8GB memory card to be safe. :violin::violin: Hopefully the violin players I'm shooting stop playing before the 8GB card is up!
 
I use OCZ cards. There are others with good reps. Kingston shoud honor there warranty. AData did. They claimed to have had a bad batch of microcontroller chips.
 
Desertfox said:
Thanks burners... I will check it out!

I tested some trial softwares online... the ones that recognises the 16GB card will only search for .jpg .mov or those usual files. Not .mts unfortunately.

Although the PC or Mac doesn't recognise my card, at least I know some software knows it's a 16GB card and can run a scan through it.
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, which trial software did you download. I'm going to look into having Dat a Rescue 3 for Mac around just in case I have any problems with cards.
 
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Did the card crap out the first time you used it? What I've been doing with new cards is letting the camera record on it until it's full several times before actually putting it into service to make sure the card isn't defective. If it's going to crap out, that would be the most likely time when it would, and spares me the hassle of finding I have a defective card in the middle of a shoot.
 
Mike, I had a card die after using it 5 times, with about 8 to 18 GB of video on it each time. Only formatted in camera. (A-DATA).

Is there some sort of software that will do a burn in test for these cards?
 
Mike Harvey said:
Did the card crap out the first time you used it? What I've been doing with new cards is letting the camera record on it until it's full several times before actually putting it into service to make sure the card isn't defective. If it's going to crap out, that would be the most likely time when it would, and spares me the hassle of finding I have a defective card in the middle of a shoot.
Click to expand...

Yes mike... it crapped out the for the first time. I used it straight out of the packaging and formatted it in Cam.
 
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