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SD card on mac...

Started by edcito, May 28, 2011, 07:35:29 AM

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edcito

So, here I am trying to replace the stock 4gb sd card with a genuine transcend class 10 32 gb. I'm using a mac and virtual windows 7 64 bits running on parallels. Some weird stuff happening:

- I didn't format the sdcard the first time I plugged it in to my mac to copy the contents of the stock sdcard
- I just copied everything before I put in the module, everything was fine
- This morning, when trying to transfer some dsnd's from my mac to the module I get the following error: " The         contents of the file you are trying to copy cannot be written or read, error -36"
- I click ok, and the file was copied but it's zero kb...
Starting to panic...
- I read on the forum that maybe the card needs to be formatted, so I downloaded the sdcard formatter recommended by deve loper and fired up windows, put the card and format it.... result: the card is succesfully formated but it's now only 2.2 gb! :o
- I then installed ubuntu to see whether the rest of the space is on a hidden partition somewhere but no.... gparted says it's only 1 partition of 2.2 gb...

-shut down windows 7 and ubuntu.
- Check on the transcend website for the serial number and there it was: "this serial number is genuine"
-Removed and inserted the card on my mac again
- Now, disk utility says the card it's "Apple SDXC reader media" size 32.46! :o with one volume fat32 of 2.2 gb
So I thought I solved the problem, copied some files to the card and deleted them and everything works well again... until I opened the module and replace it....
Now I get a bunch of "fat" and  "No OS" errors....

Can I send the card to Sweden or wherever 2box format them? Because it seems that Mac OS, sdcards formatted in windows and 2box bootloaders and Os don't play well together....

Have a nice weekend everyone :patbat2box:





Baby Samus

Remember the card has to be formatted in a specific manner in Windows, that is the file system must be FAT32, and the cluster allocation size must be 32k.  Also you should delete the smaller partition on the card - you only want one partition using all the space.

Deve Loper

Hi.

My 32 GB SDHC card (which works perfectly) results in this when I use windows "chkdsk <drive>:" (<drive> being e or d or something):

The type of the file system is FAT32.
Volume Serial Number is FC30-3DA9
Windows is verifying files and folders...
File and folder verification is complete.
Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.
   32,410,624 KB total disk space.
   32,410,592 KB are available.

       32,768 bytes in each allocation unit.
    1,012,832 total allocation units on disk.
    1,012,831 allocation units available on disk.

1 allocation unit is used for the root folder (as it should).
Your Transcend might have different sizes, but it should look similar.
Reformatting a factory new card is not recommended, especially the clusters might not be allocated on erase block boundaries anymore. I thought the utility on the official SD card site would fix it, but I didn't test it extensively.

And yes, one of the reasons DrumIt doesn't support external cards is because of this kind of trouble.

Deve.

edcito

#3
QuoteAnd yes, one of the reasons DrumIt doesn't support external cards is because of this kind of trouble.

So where do we put our own samples then?
I guess the reviewer of the magazine Digital Drummer was right: 2Box might end up being a "Empty sound" system, instead of "open sound"........

Ultimately, is my fault for formatting the card in windows and mac... I think that messed up the partitions..
Will try again with ubuntu today, using a sd card reader.

final edit: Nope, there's no way I can bring the sd card back to life... I'm screwed then....


GenuineHuman


Baby Samus

#5
Quote from: edcito on May 28, 2011, 10:58:35 PM
So where do we put our own samples then?
I guess the reviewer of the magazine Digital Drummer was right: 2Box might end up being a "Empty sound" system, instead of "open sound"........

Ultimately, is my fault for formatting the card in windows and mac... I think that messed up the partitions..
Will try again with ubuntu today, using a sd card reader.

final edit: Nope, there's no way I can bring the sd card back to life... I'm screwed then....

Hi edcito, just so you know, you cannot kill an SD card just by formatting it or creating partitions on it.  You should be able, as with all solid state media, to format and re-partition the card multiple times.  All you need to do is check the card in a windows partition program, like this one:

http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htm

That will show you how many partitions are on the card - so if you still have a little MAC partition, just delete it from the card then expand the FAT32 partition (or delete both and create a new one).  Once you have done that, load the SD Formatter software and reformat the drive (FAT32, 32k cluster size, 32GB partition size).  If that doesn't work, the card must be faulty I would assume.  To cut a long story short, you aren't screwed at all - we have many users on the forum using many different types of SD cards and and most people have no problems.  Just avoid formatting and partitioning under MAC/OS and you should be fine.

Hope this helps.

edcito

Thanks for that, I tried again with the software you recommended but it seems the Sd card behavior is completely different when connected directly to the computer or assembled in the 2box module.
Connected with a SD card reader directly to my mac, I managed to format it correctly (in windows on a virtual machine) and can read/write.

But when I assembly it into the module and then connect it to the computer (using windows on a virtual machine) then it behaves completely different, saying that the card needs to be reformatted.... and the circle starts again: sd card shrinks again to 2.2 gb, must take it out of the module and assembly the stock card etc...

I think there is something hardware dependent on the module that influences the sd card behavior?

I ran the benchmark on your other post and it seems this is the case, since connecting it directly with a Sd card reader, I get 17MBs read and 14mbs write, but when I connect it with the module it gives only .9mbs read and write....



p929

Have you tried connecting it to a native windows machine? -  at least to be sure that the problem lies on Mac and/or the virtual machine...

another solution (not aesthetic at all) is to connect an SD card extension to the module, then you can move the card from the module to mac, without having to dismantle everything over and over. Either way I guess you don't have to connect it too often, right?

Baby Samus

#8
Quote from: edcito on May 30, 2011, 07:57:16 AM
Thanks for that, I tried again with the software you recommended but it seems the Sd card behavior is completely different when connected directly to the computer or assembled in the 2box module.
Connected with a SD card reader directly to my mac, I managed to format it correctly (in windows on a virtual machine) and can read/write.

But when I assembly it into the module and then connect it to the computer (using windows on a virtual machine) then it behaves completely different, saying that the card needs to be reformatted.... and the circle starts again: sd card shrinks again to 2.2 gb, must take it out of the module and assembly the stock card etc...

I think there is something hardware dependent on the module that influences the sd card behavior?

I ran the benchmark on your other post and it seems this is the case, since connecting it directly with a Sd card reader, I get 17MBs read and 14mbs write, but when I connect it with the module it gives only .9mbs read and write....

I'm not sure I understand.  Firstly, the 2Box has only a USB 1 socket, not USB2.  Therefore, when you connect the module to the PC via USB, it can only transfer a max of 12mb/s - this is the maximum speed of access over this port so the card will never reach its full speed.

Secondly, DO NOT try any of this through a virtual machine - a virtual machine cannot have full access to your computer's hardware because the resources are emulated and shared, hence the reduced read/write speeds.  All procedures are done under Windows 7 (64-bit).

The card will be able to reach its full speed through a card reader over USB2 as your test shows, as USB2 has a bandwidth of up to 480Mb/s.  The extension cable  will also allow the card to be accessed at full speed, as it is plugged into the 2Box motherboard and not running through the USB interface.

So to sum up, your card will not run at full speed over USB1, but this speed only affects the rate at which you can transfer files from the PC to the module and this is to be expected.  Do not use a virtual machine to format or partition your cards.  Only follow these instructions under Windows, (or use the alternate MAC software/methods, BUT DO NOT USE A VIRTUAL MACHINE.)

edcito

#9
Quote from: p929 on May 30, 2011, 06:53:16 PM
Have you tried connecting it to a native windows machine? -  at least to be sure that the problem lies on Mac and/or the virtual machine...

another solution (not aesthetic at all) is to connect an SD card extension to the module, then you can move the card from the module to mac, without having to dismantle everything over and over. Either way I guess you don't have to connect it too often, right?

Thanks for the hint, I ordered a extender from eplay...
Will see if it works ::)

On a side note, in a german forum there is someone who modded the module really nice: he cut a space so the sd card is accessible without dismantling the module, really neat! If I had the tools!
Let me find a link, it's like 76 pages of pure german reading pleasure ;D

edcito

#10
Quote from: Baby Samus on May 30, 2011, 07:37:17 PM
I'm not sure I understand.  Firstly, the 2Box has only a USB 1 socket, not USB2.  Therefore, when you connect the module to the PC via USB, it can only transfer a max of 12mb/s - this is the maximum speed of access over this port so the card will never reach its full speed.

Secondly, DO NOT try any of this through a virtual machine - a virtual machine cannot have full access to your computer's hardware because the resources are emulated and shared, hence the reduced read/write speeds.  All procedures are done under Windows 7 (64-bit).

The card will be able to reach its full speed through a card reader over USB2 as your test shows, as USB2 has a bandwidth of up to 480Mb/s.  The extension cable  will also allow the card to be accessed at full speed, as it is plugged into the 2Box motherboard and not running through the USB interface.

So to sum up, your card will not run at full speed over USB1, but this speed only affects the rate at which you can transfer files from the PC to the module and this is to be expected.  Do not use a virtual machine to format or partition your cards.  Only follow these instructions under Windows, (or use the alternate MAC software/methods, BUT DO NOT USE A VIRTUAL MACHINE.)

Thanks for the clarification, I will use a windows machine of my wife and report back, but not until the sd card extension arrives from Hong Kong..... I'm too tired to open the module every time, must have opened at least a dozen times ::)

edit: Well, after perusing the german forum and specifically the posts of user "AA", he's using a virtual machine so the hardware virtualization is no the problem but the fact that mac OS tries to index the card every time I plug it via usb port of the module, messing up the file system and partitions.... one solution to this is add the card to the spotlight privacy tab so that every time you plug the card, the mac won't index it and mess it up.. (if you dont have a mac ignore this hehe)

now I know that the culprit is the 1.1 usb port on the module and the mac combo. This wont support cards bigger than 4gb. So from now on I will use the sd card extender cable and attach it to the module externally.
By the way, to jman: How are you transferring your huge kits to the module? per the module's usb? any file bigger than 4GB?

Baby Samus

Quote from: edcito on May 30, 2011, 09:30:37 PM
Thanks for the clarification, I will use a windows machine of my wife and report back, but not until the sd card extension arrives from Hong Kong..... I'm too tired to open the module every time, must have opened at least a dozen times ::)

Yes, I think most of us have bought that very same item from e-bay - sorry I just assumed you had one already and were using it!

edcito

#12
Quote from: Baby Samus on May 31, 2011, 12:24:37 AM
Yes, I think most of us have bought that very same item from e-bay - sorry I just assumed you had one already and were using it!

Ha, yeah, I was using a SD card reader like this:


But now I ordered the extender cable. But still I'm sad about the USB 1.1 on the 2box :-\
Why not offer a configurable option: Selling the module in 4gb, 8gb,16gb or 32 gb configurations?

fishmonkey

Quote from: Baby Samus on May 30, 2011, 07:37:17 PM
DO NOT try any of this through a virtual machine - a virtual machine cannot have full access to your computer's hardware because the resources are emulated and shared, hence the reduced read/write speeds.  All procedures are done under Windows 7 (64-bit).

Do not use a virtual machine to format or partition your cards.  Only follow these instructions under Windows, (or use the alternate MAC software/methods, BUT DO NOT USE A VIRTUAL MACHINE.)

using a VM on a Mac shouldn't be a problem per se.

Quote from: edcito on May 30, 2011, 09:30:37 PM

edit: Well, after perusing the german forum and specifically the posts of user "AA", he's using a virtual machine so the hardware virtualization is no the problem but the fact that mac OS tries to index the card every time I plug it via usb port of the module, messing up the file system and partitions.... one solution to this is add the card to the spotlight privacy tab so that every time you plug the card, the mac won't index it and mess it up.. (if you dont have a mac ignore this hehe)

an excellent (but not free) ongoing solution for this kind of problem is BlueHarvest:

http://www.zeroonetwenty.com/blueharvest4/

edcito

Quoteusing a VM on a Mac shouldn't be a problem per se.

I'm using parallels an the SD card is not recognized by the VM when inserted in the SD card slot. Maybe VMware does? I don't know, but parallels don't work....