SD Cards that work, or do not, in the DS

Taking a card out of your computer without explicitly ejecting it can lead to file system corruption - a chkdsk or a reformat could fix it in that case (this happens to me about once a month since I don’t usually eject my cards carefully.)

If you are using a card bigger than 2 Gigs or the card isn’t formatted as FAT16 just copying a file on the card may take it from working to not working if the file ends up on the wrong part of the card or the directory information happens to use a FAT32 feature that the FAT16 code doesn’t understand.

I have seen several times that there are active programs that prevents the PS Audio SD card from being safely ejected from my HTPC.

I have installed this utility: SD card unlocker

It terminates the apps that blocks it and then you can eject it in a normal manner.

Thanks for the answer, Ted. I’ve used the Eject drop-down both times I removed the card. I may have been lucky that the installs worked before without formatting first. Now I know the proper procedure.

Since the issue of SD cards that do/don’t work seems to keep coming up, I’d suggest that PSA put together an article that brings together all the information in threads like this one. Post it in the Support/How To section, which would make it easy for people to find and we could easily refer people to it if needed. Start with the basic stuff, like making sure the files are unzipped, copied to the root directory (not a folder), and the card inserted with pins up. Then move to more advanced stuff like formatting in FAT16 if the card doesn’t work.

There is currently a video from Alex that is helpful as far as it goes, and he does mention ejecting the card correctly – which I didn’t know about until recently. But he also says that you need a 2GB card, which are hard to buy at retail now; and we know that larger cards do sometimes work. Can PSA clarify this? For instance, do earlier products actually require a 2GB card, while newer ones have better card readers or better firmware that can handle larger sizes? This seems to be a real mystery. Or is the best advice "Try whatever card you have on hand, and if it doesnt work then . . . "?

Good idea

I started this thread so that the herd wisdom is located in a common location. A detailed, organized FAQ would be even better.

@magister0 … can you provide a link to the video? Thanks.

I’;ll ask Dave or Dennis to jump in and then we will do exactly that. Great idea.

Dennis replied:

2 or 4 gig SD card will work, as long as they are formatted FAT-16. FAT-32 will not work, the PIC code does not support FAT-32. 8 gig and larger should work if formatted FAT-16, but I have not personally tried them. All files must be the root directory of the SD-card, not in a subdirectory or .zip file.

The only cards I have seen that did not work have been cards that are formatted wrong or are bad and have errors.

And here’s more from our Director of Engineering:

Several PS Audio products use Secure Digital (SD) cards for various purposes. The most prevalent use is for updating the firmware in the internal microprocessors.

Earlier PS Audio products (circa 2009-2010) were restricted to using SD cards that had a size limit of 2GB max. More recently, products have been tested with SD cards with up to 8GB capacity. Higher capacity cards may work but have not been tested.

SD cards are designed to be used in many different applications. The PS Audio applications require that the SD memory card be formatted using the FAT16 standard. On a Windows computer, to format an SD card, insert the card into the proper SD card slot, or if your computer does not have one, purchase an SD card reader and connect it to your computer. Now, with the card installed in the reader, find the SD card in your Windows file explorer, and right click it. This will bring up a pop-up. One of the choices will be to format the card. Left clicking Format will bring up another pop-up that allows you to do the formatting. One of the choices in this window is to choose which formatting standard to use. If you have a larger than 4GB SD card, it will say that FAT32 is the default. Click on this pull down menu, and choose FAT instead. Then proceed to format the SD card.

Files you download, or have emailed to you may be either direct, or may be zipped (processed to minimize the size and combine the files all into one). If they are zipped, they will have a .zip extension at the end of the file name. If they are not zipped, the 3 digit extension will say something like .hex, or .cfg, or something similar. If the files are not zipped, you just have to copy them from the source to the SD card. If they have been zipped, you must use a computer program to unzip them.

Your computer may already have an unzipping program installed. You can test this by double clicking the zip file. If you have such a program, the file will start the unzipping program. You then can follow the instructions for this program to unzip the files and copy them to the SD card. If you do not have an unzipping program, you should either obtain one, or ask for the files to be resent to you in an unzipped format.

The PS Audio firmware update process requires that the files be readable directly on the SD card. If you look at the files on the SD card with your file explorer program (Explore in Windows, Finder in Apple), you should see the several files available when you look at the SD card. If instead you see a folder that you have to click on before you see the files, they will not load. In this case, you need to move the files from the folder to the top level of the SD card directory.

If you have trouble copying files to the SD card, take a look at the card itself. On the side of the card you will see a small slider switch. Make sure this switch is in the ‘unlock’ position.

This has been converted to an FAQ you can access here.

Great information, Paul

This thread should help many.

It will help PC users but not Mac folks. Macs can read FAT16 cards but can’t easily format or write to FAT16. I believe there are some folks who have managed to do it by connecting a digital camera and treating it like a drive. FAT32 cards do seem to work, at least sometimes.

Paul,

This is great – it clarifies many things. I also thought of the Mac issue that stevem2 mentioned. Is there any other help for Mac folks? Also, perhaps you should mention that it’s best to eject the card properly. This may be the source of the problem for those who have cards that used to work fine and now don’t.

@alcarp: here is the link to the video;http://www.psaudio.com/ps_how/how-to-update-with-an-sd-card/

Edit: I googled and found this: http://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=7108

Scroll down to the fourth or fifth post to see the detailed instructions. This is old (2008), so perhaps someone with a newer Mac could verify that this method still works.

I found similar instructions but I don’t think most Mac users are that comfortable using Terminal windows and commands (why I said “can’t easily”).

Paul McGowan said This has been converted to an FAQ you can access here.
This is helpful and addresses the size question pretty well. 2GB (or less) will be a standard SD card and I believe they generally come formatted FAT16, which is why most people have had success with new cards and no formatting. A card 2-32GB will be a SDHC card and I believe those are generally formatted as FAT32 from the factory, so these will probably require a reformat before they can be used. I assume we should avoid the SDXC cards that have 32GB - 2TB capacity.

The one thing that is not address is what Speed Class to use. These cards can come in Normal Speed (2,4,6 Mbps), High Speed (10 Mbps) or UHS, which again, I assume we want to avoid. Paul, can you comment on any restrictions on the card Speed Class? I assume your card reader has some upper limitations.

Thanks.

And most of my cards have already been formatted by a digital camera (Nikon and Sony), which is why I likely found success with them, even on 16GB cards.

Had I formatted them on the Mac, perhaps things wouldn’t have worked out.

I have had cards formatted on Macs that worked and they were FAT32. Others have reported the same (Oddeophile for one). It may be that we just got lucky. I’ve had FAT16 cards that the DS or PWD would not read. The only way to know for sure with a given card is to try it. If the DS goes through the proper initialization sequence and the display shows the right version afterwards, you should be fine, whatever card was used. Where you have the option, stick with FAT16.

stevem2 said I have had cards formatted on Macs that worked and they were FAT32. Others have reported the same (Oddeophile for one). It may be that we just got lucky. I've had FAT16 cards that the DS or PWD would not read. The only way to know for sure with a given card is to try it. If the DS goes through the proper initialization sequence and the display shows the right version afterwards, you should be fine, whatever card was used. Where you have the option, stick with FAT16.
Yup exactly my results Steve you are correct.
ksalno said
The one thing that is not address is what Speed Class to use. These cards can come in Normal Speed (2,4,6 Mbps), High Speed (10 Mbps) or UHS, which again, I assume we want to avoid. Paul, can you comment on any restrictions on the card Speed Class? I assume your card reader has some upper limitations.

Thanks.


I am pretty sure it doesn’t work that way. The card doesn’t dictate the speed, the reader does. A faster card will work well in a fast reader, where a slower card would be limited in that same fast reader to how much data it can deliver. But a fast card in a slow reader would be limited only by the speed of the reader. So bottom line, it shouldn’t matter.

Paul McGowan said

Your computer may already have an unzipping program installed. You can test this by double clicking the zip file. If you have such a program, the file will start the unzipping program. You then can follow the instructions for this program to unzip the files and copy them to the SD card. If you do not have an unzipping program, you should either obtain one, or ask for the files to be resent to you in an unzipped format.

On Windows machines you can have Windows Internet Explorer unzip the files for you if you don't have a program to do this for you. I'm trying to remember the procedure, but it might be to select the zipped folder, right click, and select the option to 'open with' IE. Or something like that. I'll have to go home and try this evening and see if I can recreate the exact steps.

Edit: Oh, and by the way, there is lots of room on the SD card that came with the DS. All you have to do is make a folder in the root directory that you can store all the old files in (drop and drag to an ‘archive’ folder), then put all the new files in the SD card’s root directory and you don’t need to keep buying new SD cards.

–SSW