Microdrive Failure - !!! Beware of HAMA Cardreader !!!

[DiscoPimp]

just bought a
hama USB 2.0 PocketDrive 6in1
and it messed up my Microdrive ...

here's how:

have a 1Gb Microdrive which has never ever had the slightest problem. I normally transfer using my camera (on battery only since i don't have an AC adapter). Never a single problem !

I use Mac OSX 10.2.6 so (according to the hama manual) do not need to install a driver. So i plug the thing in a USB port (no, not in a hub) and CAREFULLY slide in the Microdrive (in the CF/MD slot). I did it very carefully, since i read the rants about how fragile these things are.

The readers ACCESS LED starts flashing and suddenly i hear a repetitive warning (i suppose) beep coming from the card. Of course the disk doesn't mount and i get an 'initialize ?' dialog on my computer.

When i put the MD back into my Fuji S2, it turns out that the beeping didn't come from the reader but (believe it or not) from the tiny Microdrive itself. I get a 'card not initialized' from the S2, but when i try to format, it won't let me, givin me a 'CARD ERROR' ...

the bastards from the photo dealer who sold me the damn thing won't even take the card reader back and gives me the finger about my broken microdrive.

ibm doesn't have any support for the drive

fuji doesn't know

hama doesn't respond to my emails

and there is NOTHING on the www about this beepin shit ... or any other Troubleshooting guide for the Microdrive ...

HELP ANYONE ??????????????

:mad: :mad: :mad:

[Wichita Wayne]

IBM sold it last year. So you might try to contact hitachi. Also try to mount the thing in a friends reader. I use the Imation FlashGO and have been very happy with its service. It cost about $70 but to me it was worth it. I tried several cheaper models and they just didn't work with the MD. One even screwed the thing up but I was able to reformat it with the camera. I was erasing and writing files to the MD with the computer. Something I rarely do any more. I wouldn't be too quick to blame the reader for what seems to be the failure of the MD. I have also heard the constant beep beep beep from a hard drive but it was from a laptop drive installed in an external case that was not properly formated for the computer that I was using it on. I used Fdisk to remove the partition and started from scratch with a FAT16 format and everything was fine. Maybe with a good reader (that you know will work) you might be able to delete the MD's partition and start from scratch with a new partition and format. If so be sure to format it with FAT16 rather than FAT32.