cf cards

[Fruengalli]

Haven't posted for a while due to storm damage to my desktop & a slow rebuild BUT the new gear doesn't see my CF cards (all raw but sd cards with jpegs are no problem). On board card reader & USB 3.0 external zip, nadda, nought, zero. The lights are on but no one is at home. Plug in the camera via USB (not my preferred choice) & away she goes. Windows 7,i5 4590,8mb,4gb graphics with ssd so this thing motors. Any clues????

[ricktas]

bent pin inside the CF slot? Not uncommon.

[Fruengalli]

bent pin inside the CF slot? Not uncommon.
Tried an external & it still stalls but only with CF cards. Powered up but no action. Should have added Sandisk 50mbs min all formatted in camera.

[farmmax]

Was the external reader a usb 2 or 3? If a 3, can you borrow a usb 2 reader and give it a go in that. Some people are reporting similar problems with usb 3 readers.

[Fruengalli]

Was the external reader a usb 2 or 3? If a 3, can you borrow a usb 2 reader and give it a go in that. Some people are reporting similar problems with usb 3 readers.
USB 3.o reader tried in 2 & 3 ports

[arthurking83]

I'm guessing by the description given, that the CF card is not seen.
If it's formatted in the camera, the PC will see it by default. Formatting isn't the issue.

I'm guessing that it's a connection problem, or is the CF card reader device some thirdparty 5 1/4 " bay drive type 'onboard' type.

Is the connection to it secured properly?
Is the CF card reader the same physical device .. ie. if a 3.5" or 5.25" multicard reader device are they the same .. or is the SD card reader a different physical unit.

If this onboard CF reader is one of the slots in a multi port device, where only the CF reader is the only one not working, try a new driver from the manufacturer.

FWIW tho, even this may not help.

I have a Cool Panel III multi port 'onboard' card reader. It has all manner of connections and PC sensor readouts too.
Pretty impressive looking.
It reads almost all of my cards bar one. I have Sandisks and Lexars and PQI branded and others I can't remember.
But I have this one super fast Patriot branded CF card that this on board CF slot just won't read at all .. ever, no matter how many drivers I try to load for it.

It just happens to be one of those incompatibilities that I've learned to ignore.

It then forced me to get a Lexar USB3 card reader tho .. which was a blessing. This device reads all cards without trouble .. even the Patriot card that the other one won't.

So for the sake of completeness .. is this a new system? Is the card reader a new device?

If you plug in the CF card, and go to device manager, do you see any devices in the list with a [!] (exclamation mark)?

If so, check for drivers.

Under the heading Disk Drives, you will see all of the external card type devices listed there.

As an example my system has this 5.25" bay device with multiple slots, and they are listed as:

Generic Compact Flash USB Device
Generic SD/MMC USB Device
Generic MS/MSDuo Pro USB Device
.. and more.

These (and more) are the slots only on the 5.25" bay Cool Panel device(which for all intents and purposes are 'onboard').
All the media slots are connected via the one internal USB cable.

The other listing I have for media slots is the USB3 Lexar reader which shows as follows:

Lexar CF USB_3_0 Read Device
Lexar SD USB_3_0 Read Device

I know that if one of those groups goes down, then it's a connection issue, or the device is dead or something like that.
It's unlikely that one of the listed devices in the group will drop off the list by itself.
They're interconnected.
If you see a list where one of the listings in a group is not there, then it's probably an internal malfunction in the device.
(alternatively a driver problem, but less likely)

The driver for my Cool Panel bay is a single file, which basically converts each drive slot into a readable device via a USB connection.
They're either all there or not.

Which USB port are you using for conenction .. to the camera, to the external USB reader .. etc.

Each port may connect to a different USB port internally.

If the camera is recognised and the CF card with it via that method, did you connect the external reader to that same USB port as you did with the camera.
(if so this is beyond strange, it's Twilight Zone territory! :D)

Again, connect up as much of this stuff as you can and check device manager for any anomalies.
(you may have to click on each sub heading to see all the devices .. eg. maybe for the USB gear list) .. and all drives in the Drives list .. etc.

[Fruengalli]

Was the external reader a usb 2 or 3? If a 3, can you borrow a usb 2 reader and give it a go in that. Some people are reporting similar problems with usb 3 readers.

You could be onto something there. Took the CF card to work & bunged it into the USB 2.0 reader & up it came straight away. I'll try again at home on a 2.0 port & see what happens. Thanks for that!

- - - Updated - - -


I'm guessing by the description given, that the CF card is not seen.
If it's formatted in the camera, the PC will see it by default. Formatting isn't the issue.

I'm guessing that it's a connection problem, or is the CF card reader device some thirdparty 5 1/4 " bay drive type 'onboard' type.

Is the connection to it secured properly?
Is the CF card reader the same physical device .. ie. if a 3.5" or 5.25" multicard reader device are they the same .. or is the SD card reader a different physical unit.

If this onboard CF reader is one of the slots in a multi port device, where only the CF reader is the only one not working, try a new driver from the manufacturer.

FWIW tho, even this may not help.

I have a Cool Panel III multi port 'onboard' card reader. It has all manner of connections and PC sensor readouts too.
Pretty impressive looking.
It reads almost all of my cards bar one. I have Sandisks and Lexars and PQI branded and others I can't remember.
But I have this one super fast Patriot branded CF card that this on board CF slot just won't read at all .. ever, no matter how many drivers I try to load for it.

It just happens to be one of those incompatibilities that I've learned to ignore.

It then forced me to get a Lexar USB3 card reader tho .. which was a blessing. This device reads all cards without trouble .. even the Patriot card that the other one won't.

So for the sake of completeness .. is this a new system? Is the card reader a new device?

If you plug in the CF card, and go to device manager, do you see any devices in the list with a [!] (exclamation mark)?

If so, check for drivers.

Under the heading Disk Drives, you will see all of the external card type devices listed there.

As an example my system has this 5.25" bay device with multiple slots, and they are listed as:

Generic Compact Flash USB Device
Generic SD/MMC USB Device
Generic MS/MSDuo Pro USB Device
.. and more.

These (and more) are the slots only on the 5.25" bay Cool Panel device(which for all intents and purposes are 'onboard').
All the media slots are connected via the one internal USB cable.

The other listing I have for media slots is the USB3 Lexar reader which shows as follows:

Lexar CF USB_3_0 Read Device
Lexar SD USB_3_0 Read Device

I know that if one of those groups goes down, then it's a connection issue, or the device is dead or something like that.
It's unlikely that one of the listed devices in the group will drop off the list by itself.
They're interconnected.
If you see a list where one of the listings in a group is not there, then it's probably an internal malfunction in the device.
(alternatively a driver problem, but less likely)

The driver for my Cool Panel bay is a single file, which basically converts each drive slot into a readable device via a USB connection.
They're either all there or not.

Which USB port are you using for conenction .. to the camera, to the external USB reader .. etc.

Each port may connect to a different USB port internally.

If the camera is recognised and the CF card with it via that method, did you connect the external reader to that same USB port as you did with the camera.
(if so this is beyond strange, it's Twilight Zone territory! :D)

Again, connect up as much of this stuff as you can and check device manager for any anomalies.
(you may have to click on each sub heading to see all the devices .. eg. maybe for the USB gear list) .. and all drives in the Drives list .. etc.

Thanks Arthur. Tried all of the above & more.Deleted devices & let it all reload etc etc. but farmmax has led me along the usb 2.0 only path might be the solution. Works perfectly at work on a 2.0 port so I will pursue this at home later & in the meantime I will get a Lexar & solve all my problems eh?

[Fruengalli]

Just got home & tried the USD3.0 external reader in the front port (2.0) & all the cards worked a treat. I guess because the cards aren't 3.0 they don't get recognized ??? Science...

[arthurking83]

Just got home & tried the USD3.0 external reader in the front port (2.0) & all the cards worked a treat. I guess because the cards aren't 3.0 they don't get recognized ??? Science...


Won't be the card.

It'll more than likely be the USB driver on the 'on board' reader.

What brand/model/series/or whatever other specs and details.

I've had a horrendous time with a USB3 HDD dock. This thing takes two HDD's and runs off the USB3 system.
At least with this crappy device, it actually worked .. but the problem was only for a few minutes(if I actually used it).

On USB2 tho it worked perfectly(transferring a 1.3Tb test transfer without problem .. except the 11 hours it too to complete!)
On USB3, it stopped at about the 200Mb mark every time.

Spent months loading/unloading/updating drivers .. then the firmware for the device .. etc, etc .. ad infinitum

The problem was with this particular device was the crappy SATA to USB chip (obviously USB3 in this case).
Crappy because it was another useless JMicron device! (I've had troubles with this companies hardware before!)

JMicron make the small chips and stuff inside your devices .. lot of them. 99.9% sure if you have a device .. it has a JMicron chip inside it .. causing the issue :p

Anyhow, eventually they got around to writing a proper firmware for the stupid HDD dock and now I finally have USB3 speed.


FWIW: similar 1.3 Tb transfer(most likely a bit more as the photo collection would have grown by a bit more) .. only took just under 3 hours!! That's the difference between USB3 and USB2 ..:D
Granted not everyone transfers 1.3 Tb of data every day .. but it clearly brings the point home as to why speed is good.

If you can't find the details of the onboard card reader, it will make it hard to track the actual proper issue down.

An easier way to start is to go searching for USB3 drivers .. they help massively.

I realise that your USB3 system is probably working for other devices too(mine worked perfectly on every USB3 device I could get except this stupid HDD dock .. and the problem back then, was that was my most important hardware device :rolleyes:

Sorry if I sound like a PITA, and of course you can get some aspect of the device to work ... in whatever way.
But it's easy for folks to blame the wrong thing when so many unseen things are working in the background.


Another short note too: in my first reply, I said I had this Patriot CF card. It is 8Gb and was purchased a long time back .. for the D300.
I said it doesn't work in the internal card reader thingy I have .. but what I didn't say is that this thing also doesn't work on the D800E.

I reckon what my card's issue is cheeky bugga cheapo manufacturer trickery of some form.
I don't know what exactly, but it must have something to do with the formatting or something.

Back then, while Patriot wasn't unknown .. they weren't well known .. now .. they well known for their RAM modules.

But(again) this card still works. In the Lexar USB3 reader, it's faster than the supposedly faster rated Lexar 800x CF card I have .. but this is writing to the PC and back.
On the D300(where I can test it properly) .. It's as fast as the Lexar 800x card I have.
(that is the two cards clear the buffer full condition in about the same time) .. pretty quickly that is :D

So in my instance of lame card histrionics .. I can safely blame the card. Not an issue for me as the Lexar USB3 external thingy is my preferred reader anyhow!

But in your situation(just from experience with devices and drives(DVD/CD) and this annoying JMicron group of incompetents .. I'd be more inclined to blame the driver/firmware/device as a starting point.

[Fruengalli]

Won't be the card.

It'll more than likely be the USB driver on the 'on board' reader.

What brand/model/series/or whatever other specs and details.

I've had a horrendous time with a USB3 HDD dock. This thing takes two HDD's and runs off the USB3 system.
At least with this crappy device, it actually worked .. but the problem was only for a few minutes(if I actually used it).

On USB2 tho it worked perfectly(transferring a 1.3Tb test transfer without problem .. except the 11 hours it too to complete!)
On USB3, it stopped at about the 200Mb mark every time.

Spent months loading/unloading/updating drivers .. then the firmware for the device .. etc, etc .. ad infinitum

The problem was with this particular device was the crappy SATA to USB chip (obviously USB3 in this case).
Crappy because it was another useless JMicron device! (I've had troubles with this companies hardware before!)

JMicron make the small chips and stuff inside your devices .. lot of them. 99.9% sure if you have a device .. it has a JMicron chip inside it .. causing the issue :p

Anyhow, eventually they got around to writing a proper firmware for the stupid HDD dock and now I finally have USB3 speed.


FWIW: similar 1.3 Tb transfer(most likely a bit more as the photo collection would have grown by a bit more) .. only took just under 3 hours!! That's the difference between USB3 and USB2 ..:D
Granted not everyone transfers 1.3 Tb of data every day .. but it clearly brings the point home as to why speed is good.

If you can't find the details of the onboard card reader, it will make it hard to track the actual proper issue down.

An easier way to start is to go searching for USB3 drivers .. they help massively.

I realise that your USB3 system is probably working for other devices too(mine worked perfectly on every USB3 device I could get except this stupid HDD dock .. and the problem back then, was that was my most important hardware device :rolleyes:

Sorry if I sound like a PITA, and of course you can get some aspect of the device to work ... in whatever way.
But it's easy for folks to blame the wrong thing when so many unseen things are working in the background.


Another short note too: in my first reply, I said I had this Patriot CF card. It is 8Gb and was purchased a long time back .. for the D300.
I said it doesn't work in the internal card reader thingy I have .. but what I didn't say is that this thing also doesn't work on the D800E.

I reckon what my card's issue is cheeky bugga cheapo manufacturer trickery of some form.
I don't know what exactly, but it must have something to do with the formatting or something.

Back then, while Patriot wasn't unknown .. they weren't well known .. now .. they well known for their RAM modules.

But(again) this card still works. In the Lexar USB3 reader, it's faster than the supposedly faster rated Lexar 800x CF card I have .. but this is writing to the PC and back.
On the D300(where I can test it properly) .. It's as fast as the Lexar 800x card I have.
(that is the two cards clear the buffer full condition in about the same time) .. pretty quickly that is :D

So in my instance of lame card histrionics .. I can safely blame the card. Not an issue for me as the Lexar USB3 external thingy is my preferred reader anyhow!

But in your situation(just from experience with devices and drives(DVD/CD) and this annoying JMicron group of incompetents .. I'd be more inclined to blame the driver/firmware/device as a starting point.
The on board is a Thermaltake PCIe so I'll investigate the chip set but I'm going to pursue the 2.0 thing. In the mean time the lexar is on its way. Thanks