Micro SDHC

UffDa

UffDa

Gold Member
Joined
Sep 11, 1999
Messages
42,596
So, I finally upgraded my cell phone to one that can take a micro SD card. Great, now I can download pictures to my computer without having to send by email. WRONG!!! In my ignorance, I purchased a 4GB Sandisk micro SDHC card and while it works in my phone, neither of my computers can read it.:mad: I took it to work where we have 4 fairly new Dell computers and none of them can read the card. I have been told after the fact that the problem is the High Capacity card.

I searched for the problem and son-of-a-gun, it seems that there are thousands of people with the same problem and there are few if any solutions. Many of the "experts" give things to try and none of them work.

By the way, the card came with a adapter and a USB reader. When I plug it into a USB port, the LED starts flashing like it is supposed to, but the computer doesn't not recognize that the card is there. My card reader work with any other card that I have tried.

Any ideas?
 
I have a few SonyEricsson cell phones that came with those micro cards and USB addapters. I have never had any problems with those on my vaio or any other computer. (I have the 8GB card in my phone)

I presume we are talking about the super small cards that are about 10mm squared ?

If you want I can send you one of the adapters I have and see if that helps at all ?

Just drop me a PM if you want me to send one. :):thumbup:
 
Thanks Haze, but from what I understand it's only the SDHC cards that are causing problems. The older micro SD cards seem to work fine. Apparently, older devices are not compatible with SDHC format.

This is what I have.

sandisk-microsd-4gb.jpg
 
I have some cameras that use micro cards. I use 16GB cards. I have no trouble reading those cards on either my desktop PC or my netbook using the adapters that came with the cards.

But, it sounds like not everyone may be so lucky. So, a person wanting to do such a thing would be well-advised to test it out ahead of time on his specific equipment.
 
When I first got my Lexar Micro SDHC 2GB card for my Motorola phone, it wouldn't read either. Same with the 4GB I'm using now. I popped the card into the phone, switched it on and formatted the card with the phone. Then I took the card back out, put it in the adapter and plugged it into the computer. Comp had no trouble reading it then, the file folders were there for pictures, music and more. I've uploaded songs to it and downloaded pictures from it with no problem, but I had to format the card with the device first.
 
It depends on how the card is recognized by the computer ie. FAT32 or FAT64. This is why SDHC cards will not necessarily work when SD cards would.

Without knowing the computer make, model, OS, drivers, SDHC card brand, model, and SDHC adapter, we can only randomly speculate.
 
I assume your phone a mini usb or the like?

Plug your phone via a patch cable (ex. mini usb to usb) to your pc and you should be able to pull them down that way.
 
spyder10 said:
It depends on how the card is recognized by the computer ie. FAT32 or FAT64. This is why SDHC cards will not necessarily work when SD cards would.

Without knowing the computer make, model, OS, drivers, SDHC card brand, model, and SDHC adapter, we can only randomly speculate.
Click to expand...

SDHC uses sector addressing whereas SD uses byte addressing, so SD readers simply cannot talk to SDHC cards at a hardware level. The file system is important as well (FAT16 vs FAT32), but computers understand both.

Uffda, your adapter is a "microSD to SD" adapter. It might be okay - the adapter itself should be a passive device - but keep in mind that it could be an issue. More importantly, though, you have to plug it into a card reader that specifically supports SDHC. This is the SDHC card reader I use: http://www.sandisk.com/products/readers-accessories/micromate-sdhc.
 
It all depends on the PC. Older PC's will not be able to read the newer HCSD cards directly. Like Haze stated...use the patch cable. This is the most likely work-around for this issue.

BTW, what are your PC specs? (age, model, OS, etc.)
 
I was fooling around with it last night. Just for the heck of it, I took a closer look at the card in my Canon camera. It's SDHC and I have no problems downloading pictures from the camera to the computer. I removed the card and tried it in the reader. Nothing. I tried the micro SDHC in the camera and it works fine. OK! I put the micro back in the phone and downloaded pictures to it. Then I took it out of the phone and tried it in the camera. No go. The camera says that the card is locked. It seems that the formats are not compatible.

I am going to get a standard micro SD card and see if that works.

As I said in my original post, I was ignorant about SD cards. I didn't know that there was a difference between SD and SDHC. From what I have seen on the internet, I am not alone. :rolleyes:

If you are not careful, you learn something once in a while. At the current prices for memory it is no great loss. I can use the micro cards in my cameras.
 
My new phone takes Micro SDHC also. Got a 4GB Micro with a USB adaptor. Works great. Had to fiddle around with the formating of the card before the card would work in both the phone and computer. Had to format the card using the phone, then when I wanted to pull the card and copy the pictures, I first had to tell the phone to transfer the pictures to the card. For some reason they are not auto saved there.

If your card is working fine in your phone and you know the photos are on the card because the phone said so, plug the card into your computer. If it doesn't "Auto Play" IE open the Cards folder, then go into "My computer" and click on the drive assigned to your SD Card Reader.

Also, you can go on Newegg or many other hardware sites and get new USB Card readers for under $20 that will read SDHC and Micro SDHC. Got one for my computer a few months ago that works pretty well. Good Luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top