Re: Corrupted IBM Microdrive (1GB) won't format in camera(!?)

I ended up corrupting my IBM 1GB Microdrive on my mac, and now my camera will not read *or* format the microdrive.

The "Disk Utility" will not format as FAT16, which is what the camera needs.

I have tried running the "newfs_msdos" command in the Mac OS terminal, but no luck (see below).

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get this card formatted? Offline email/comments/nasty-grams appreciated.

Thanks, _Andy

********************************************************* >newfs_msdos -F 16 -S 512 -a 171 -b 512 -c 16 -s 2104704 -u 63 -v MICRODRIVE disk4

newfs_msdos: warning: sectors/FAT limits file system to 43774 clusters

/dev/rdisk4: 700384 sectors in 43774 FAT16 clusters (8192 bytes/cluster) bps=512 spc=16 res=1 nft=2 rde=512 mid=0xf0 spf=171 spt=63 hds=255 hid=0 bsec=2104704 *********************************************************

-- Andrew Rother (andyrother@mac.com), March 16, 2003

Answers

PLEASE DID YOU FIND OUT HOW TO DO IT? It Happens to me ?

Thanks Mike

-- Mike Perez (baseball@lineupve.com), June 17, 2003.

Here is what you need: - the "newfs_msdos" command below - a digital camera that will format the (again) formatted CF card

I *was* able to run the command below and get the card formatted in an older Fuji FinPix 995.

I was unable to get the card formatted in a new (and no longer with me) Minolta Dimage 7i.

I don't know what other cameras will format the card in this situation, so please don't ask.

I *do* suspect, however, that older cameras will work better. A case of the newer cameras being "smarter", and therefore unwilling to blindly, unconditionally format a CF card.

[As always, this information is provided free of charge. If you manage to somehow make your situation worse, you are entitled to a 0% refund of your free advice. And anything you manage to screw-up along the way is yours to keep, also free of charge.]

Here is the fix:

1) Open "Disk Utility" and "Unmount" the microdrive.

2) Open a "Terminal" window.

3) Run the command below. You may need to change "rdisk1" to "disk1":

newfs_msdos -F 16 -S 512 -a 171 -b 512 -c 16 -s 2104704 -u 63 -h 16 -n 2 -m 0xf8 -v MICRODRIVE rdisk1

4) Here is the full screen output after running the "newfs_msdos" command: > newfs_msdos -F 16 -S 512 -a 171 -b 512 -c 16 -s 2104704 -u 63 -h 16 -n 2 -m 0xf8 -v MICRODRIVE rdisk1 newfs_msdos: warning: sectors/FAT limits file system to 43774 clusters /dev/rdisk1: 700384 sectors in 43774 FAT16 clusters (8192 bytes/cluster) bps=512 spc=16 res=1 nft=2 rde=512 mid=0xf8 spf=171 spt=63 hds=16 hid=0 bsec=2104704

5) Put the card into any/all of your cameras, and see if the camera can format the card.

Rock on, _Andy

-- Andrew Rother (andyrother@mac.com), June 18, 2003.