Bloody SD cards

[poon]

Guys,

I have read the various threads on this forum and am still needing help.

I have formatted a 2gb SD card into Fat32 via the disc utility option on my iMac, the iMac is telling me that the disc is verifed and ok.

I have not yet put any MP3's on the card and have inserted it into the slot on the my RS4, it says it is corrupted. I have tried this with 2 different cards both of which I know to be working.

They are Sandisk 2gbSD cards, not high speed, could this be the problem?

Also, leaving the SD cards aside, what iPod options are there and or Phatbox? I don't have a PC just numerous iMacs so something OSX compatible would be helpful!

Thanks

[AlexW]

You need to format them as FAT16.

[pippyrips]

You need to format them as FAT16.

Mine work fine formatted to FAT32.

[poon]

the cards were Fat16 to start with and showed as corrupt, so I reformatted them to fat32!

Maybe I should just get a phatbox but don't want the same problems!

[pippyrips]

You need to format them as FAT16.

Mine work fine formatted to FAT32.

[no_RS]

A couple of things..

1. Have you tried to putting some music on the SD card and then putting in the RNS-E.
2. Have you tried formatting the cards in a PC rather than a MAC or try to get the sat-nav to format the cards.

For ipod interfaces, the Audi one is a bit clunky to operate but does work (uses playlsists) or dension provides solutions, the problem is always how the head unit controls the ipod and how much of each track name gets displayed if any. I have the audi kit, I disconnect the ipod and decide on the album, start it playing and re-connect to the dock. I would also not recommend having the ipod visible.

[poon]

A couple of things..

1. Have you tried to putting some music on the SD card and then putting in the RNS-E.
2. Have you tried formatting the cards in a PC rather than a MAC or try to get the sat-nav to format the cards.

For ipod interfaces, the Audi one is a bit clunky to operate but does work (uses playlsists) or dension provides solutions, the problem is always how the head unit controls the ipod and how much of each track name gets displayed if any. I have the audi kit, I disconnect the ipod and decide on the album, start it playing and re-connect to the dock. I would also not recommend having the ipod visible.

I put some mp3's on it first then loaded it, it came up corrupted so I reformated and erased the card and it still showed as corrupted.

no PC's in my house!

Could it be because the card is not high speed?

Ideally I want to be able to see the track/album names on the MMI display and not have to remotely operate an iPod

[UNI555]

Just been through all this, don't know what's causing your problem but it's not because the card isn't high speed, mine isn't either and the only problem is that I had to load it one file at a time.

[rjkflyer]

Hmm, I cannot explain your apparently corrrupted cards. Only suggestion is to see if a photobooth service (Tesco, Boots etc) could reformat your cards in a PC just to remove any possibility of a OSX related problem.

Am puzzled though, as I have Macs too, but/and have 2 off 2GB SD cards working 100% fine with full file structure and track listing on the RNS-E.

HOWEVER: Two things to be aware of for other Mac owners planning to do this:

1. Firstly, iTunes tends to default to AAC file format, not MP3. AAC albeit better, won't play on the RNS-E. So you need to re-rip your iTunes tracks you want on the cards to MP3, which you seem to have done (or had anyway)
2. Secondly when you copy the MP3 files to the cards,the UNIX file system shyte gets copied to the cards too. On your Mac, they look to be OK as all you will see in the Finder are the music files. However if you inspect it on a PC, you'll see all the .Trash and .DStore files that UNIX 'hides' on the cards too. These will show up in your MMI and drive you mad. Unfortunately the ONLY way to get rid is to read the card on a PC (or in my case under Vista under VMware on the Mac as i have no PC) and then trash the unwanted files. (every time you read the card under OSX it will put these files on).

[klauster]

why are you all using crappy 2gb cards? I have 2 4gb cards working perfectly

[poon]

why are you all using crappy 2gb cards? I have 2 4gb cards working perfectly

how? that is my question

[PetrolDave]

Here's what has worked for me reliably for the last 4 years:

1) when I get a new SD card (NOT SDHC) I always get a Hi-Speed one and I always format it to FAT32 even if it says it's already formatted.
2) check that the MP3 filename doesn't contain any non alphanumeric characters, if it does change them.
3) save the MP3 files into folders organised by artist and by album.
4) check that the path name (i.e. folder names plus filenames) is LESS then 64 characters long.
5) (optional) create an M3U playlist for each album and store that in the root folder - this makes it easier to choose which album to play and lets you choose the 8 characters that get displayed on the DIS.

poon - if you're still having problems I can send you a 16MB (!) card with all these shown. PM me if interested.

[poon]

Here's what has worked for me reliably for the last 4 years:

1) when I get a new SD card (NOT SDHC) I always get a Hi-Speed one and I always format it to FAT32 even if it says it's already formatted.
2) check that the MP3 filename doesn't contain any non alphanumeric characters, if it does change them.
3) save the MP3 files into folders organised by artist and by album.
4) check that the path name (i.e. folder names plus filenames) is LESS then 64 characters long.
5) (optional) create an M3U playlist for each album and store that in the root folder - this makes it easier to choose which album to play and lets you choose the 8 characters that get displayed on the DIS.

poon - if you're still having problems I can send you a 16MB (!) card with all these shown. PM me if interested.

Dave,

Thanks for the reply, I have done all except point 5, PM on its way

Cheers

Stu

[rjkflyer]

Poon - just tried a brand new 2GB SD card, untouched by Mac, in my RNS-E and is, as expected, fine.

Reformatted it on my Mac to MSDOS (FAT) - you don't get an option in Disk Utility to choose 16 or 32 it appears.
Still worked fine.

Suggests maybe a head unit problem?

See also my comment re the UNIX trash that gets put on when you copy files from the Mac.

[poon]

Poon - just tried a brand new 2GB SD card, untouched by Mac, in my RNS-E and is, as expected, fine.

Reformatted it on my Mac to MSDOS (FAT) - you don't get an option in Disk Utility to choose 16 or 32 it appears.
Still worked fine.

Suggests maybe a head unit problem?

See also my comment re the UNIX trash that gets put on when you copy files from the Mac.

When I formatted the card in MSDOS (fat) and looked at info on card it said fat32, I then inserted card into head unit without transferring any files and it still said corrupt so doubt its a UNIX trash issue. Previous owner was using SD cards, I saw/heard it work. I'll ask him if he knows how he did it.

Thanks for the replies

Stu