Strange CF card issue. Has this happened to you?

[Disfidare]

I'm having "issues" with CF cards and my (borrowed) Canon EOS 300D - though I'm not sure if they are coming from the card, the card reader or the camera itself.

The camera's USB port doesn't work (it was broken before it was lent to me) so hooking up the camera directly to the computer via a usb cable isn't an option. I need to use a card reader to get the images off the card.

Everything was working fine until I somehow managed to bend the pins in my card reader. I purchased a new one, but every time I plugged it into my computer it would either hang or give me the blue screen of death. Thinking the card reader was defective I took it back to the store.

They tested it and said it worked fine on their computers with another card. They tried to read my card with their computers and it said the data was corrupt and the the card was possibly cactus.

I said that this was strange because the camera was still able to both read and write to the card with no problems. They tested my card in a newer Canon model in the store - and it worked fine. That camera was also able to read and write to the card.

The people at the store connected that camera to their computers via a cable and got my photos off for me, which were all fine. No data corruption.

I bought a new CF card, and for a week everything was going along swimmingly... until yesterday. I plugged the CF card into my card reader - BANG! Back to hanging and blue screen of death.

I've tried the card in other computers (with internal card readers) and they either don't see the card or say that the data is corrupt. And yet the card still works fine in the camera.

Does any one have any ideas? What could be causing this?

[irispatch]

These days there are a number of CF card types some require a specilized reader. Some will work with older/cheaper reader but are very slow others just will not work with some readers. Given that you bent pins in the origianl reader there could be some minute damage to the slots for the pins that are causing you problem. It could even be your computer having issues. I would get a new card ortwo ( they are pretty cheap these days.) Remember to format the card in camera every time you put it back into the camera after downloading the photos. That helps precvent corruption in the future. If you continue to have issues with a new card I would have your computer looked at to see if there is a "bug" or some other issue that might be causing the problem.

[BCampbell]

Okay, let's break this down.

You could read the card on your old reader.
You can't read the card on your new card reader.
Your reader works with other cards on other computers.
Your reader does NOT work with your card on other computers.
Your card will read on another computer when transferring from another camera.
A new card will not work in your reader.
The new card will not work with other readers on other computers.

Wow that is weird. The first thing I would do is format your card, reinstall the drivers for your card reader, and try starting from there.

I suppose there's a possibility that the camera itself is corrupting your data. If the USB port doesn't work that's a hint that time has taken a toll on your poor relic¹. There could be some kind of odd problem. I wonder if the previous owner installed one of the third-party (read: hacked) firmware updates? It's unfortunate that you're not able to install the last Canon firmware, I would also suggest that.

It's also possible that there's something entirely innocuous that you're doing when handling the card that's causing the problem. Something while inserting/removing it from the reader or the camera, especially. Check the instructions for your reader to see how they recommend you insert/remove. Is the camera on when you remove the CF card?

¹I can call it that because I primarily shoot with a 300D too. Good luck. I mean it.

[dakwegmo]

What version of Windows are you running?

[Disfidare]

Thanks for the feedback.

It's all a bit confusing

irispatch - the two cards in question are a Scandisk Extreme 4gig and a Scandisk Ultra 4gig. The new reader is from Manaccom, though I've also tried reading the them with several generic internal and external readers, and the first card was also tested by the computer shop where I purchased the second card. My computer is running the latest updated version of XP, as is the other 3 machines I tried (plus the ones at the computer store) - though I'm the first to admit that XP is hardly infallible I was told about formatting the card in the camera after each use and have been pretty careful about doing it. I bent the pins in the old reader with the older card - I thought I'd damaged the card too doing that, which is why I bought the new card and new reader.

dakwegmo - fully updated, legit Windows XP.

BCampbell
You could read the card on your old reader. -The old card worked for a time with the old card reader, the old card reader died (bent pins) and I bought a new card at the same time. I tested the new card and the new reader with my laptop in the store before I purchased them both and everything was working fine.

You can't read the card on your new card reader. - Yup, that's right.

Your reader works with other cards on other computers. - I can't say this for sure, but (see above) it last week it worked with my laptop with the new card. The reader was eventually recognised by my sisters computer yesterday (after first being picked up as an 'unknown usb device') but I didn't have another card handy to test it.

Your reader does NOT work with your card on other computers. - Yes, that's right. It doesn't work with my card on other computers. On the other two I checked it hung one and blue-screen-of-deathed the other.

Your card will read on another computer when transferring from another camera - yes, the shop where I bought the new card & reader tested this for me on a shiny new Canon. That camera was able to both read, write and transfer data on the card.

A new card will not work in your reader - I don't know. I suspect it would.

The new card will not work with other readers on other computers. - that's right. I've tried it on a few, friends with card readers.

The camera is always off when I remove the card.

With there not seeming to be any obvious physical damage to the camera's usb port, I was starting to suspect the the firmware too... but given that it IS damaged somehow updating it isn't an option. And it's still odd that if it's a firmware issue, it's one that another Canon camera can deal with.

Yes, the camera is a bit of a relic. I'm saving for my own, and until this all happened, the 300D has been a great learning tool. This is my first foray into SLR cameras.

[BCampbell]

Wow this is pretty bizarre.

Originally Posted by Disfidare

Your reader works with other cards on other computers. - I can't say this for sure, but (see above) it last week it worked with my laptop with the new card. The reader was eventually recognised by my sisters computer yesterday (after first being picked up as an 'unknown usb device') but I didn't have another card handy to test it.

Well, this might be the place to continue. You could try yet another reader on your computer, to try to eliminate that possibility. If it works fine, it's probably your reader, if not then it probably isn't...

I would also make sure all associated drivers are up to date. Maybe even uninstall and reinstall the reader. Also check your USB drivers.

Some older readers aren't compatible with newer CF cards. It can be weird. A new reader shouldn't have a problem, but you never know. If you're using some off-brand, maybe get a name-brand reader.

Your reader does NOT work with your card on other computers. - Yes, that's right. It doesn't work with my card on other computers. On the other two I checked it hung one and blue-screen-of-deathed the other.

Forgive me if this has been answered, obviously this is all a little confusing... have you tried using your reader, on another computer, with someone else's good card, that hasn't been used in your camera? That might help narrow things down too.

The camera is always off when I remove the card.

OK, I didn't want to get pedantic, but as you probably know by now the 300D has very, very slow access times (in fact, it doesn't use the new high speed cards to their fullest), so there's a chance of removing the card while it's writing if you're not careful.

And it's still odd that if it's a firmware issue, it's one that another Canon camera can deal with.

Well it's a long shot, but I was thinking that maybe your 300D has some third-party firmware, and that could be causing the issue. That's unlikely though; can you ask the previous owner if they ever updated the firmware? And have you checked the USB port to verify it's not working? In any case you don't want to be stuck transferring that way, it's USB 1.0!

Yes, the camera is a bit of a relic. I'm saving for my own, and until this all happened, the 300D has been a great learning tool. This is my first foray into SLR cameras.

No worries, that thing is actually quite the workhorse. I'm in a similar situation; I got a deal I couldn't refuse on mine about a year ago, and my upgrade path is a 5D, so it'll have to do for now. It's actually a great place to learn, if you're patient; the thing is so tough to work with that you really have to hone your skills and squeeze every drop of quality out of it you can. You don't have as much room for error as a newer model.

Anyway, you might even want to try contacting Canon and the manufacturer of your card reader. The problem is, they'll tell you the problem is with the other, or with the card itself, so it'll be tough to get anywhere. I hope you do get it working, if it had no problems until you busted the one reader this must be fixable... I'd try not using the first card at all, formatting the newer card, uninstalling & reinstalling the reader, and see what happens. Eliminate possibilities one by one, I guess.

If you do get it working and have any questions about the 300D, feel free to PM me, as I said I've been shooting with it for a year or so and I'm pretty well acquainted, I'll try to help as much as possible.

edit: One final thought. I do seem to remember reading about people having troubles with 4GB and larger cards, without using the hacked firmware. It doesn't fully explain why it used to work and now doesn't, but maybe try a 1 or 2GB card (the 300D takes small enough photos that 2GB is actually a lot of space, I get over 300 shots on mine in RAW). And again some readers have problems with larger CF cards. It could just be a bad combination.

[LoveDSLR]

Originally Posted by Disfidare

the two cards in question are a Scandisk Extreme 4gig and a Scandisk Ultra 4gig.

Maybe your 300D has a problem with >2 GB CF cards? I believed SanDisk first introduced 4 GB card with a selector that optionally splits it into two separate 2GB chunks.

[BCampbell]

Originally Posted by LoveDSLR

Maybe your 300D has a problem with >2 GB CF cards? I believed SanDisk first introduced 4 GB card with a selector that optionally splits it into two separate 2GB chunks.

Yeah, there's a bug in the back of my head that's saying this might be the issue. Still weird that it would have worked fine initially, but sometimes these are things that surprise you.