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SD Memory Card Formatter for Linux

sdcard.org

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Re: SD Memory Card Formatter for Linux

#11

Post by Sephr »

donatj wrote: post #10

Hmm… I recently bought a modern original PlayStation memory card that saves to SD. The first SD card I bought just would not work with it no matter what I tried. Support actually had me download the “SD Memory Card Formatter for Windows” from this site and reformat my card. Did not fix the issue. I ended up just buying a new SD Card which did fix the issue. At the time it just felt like support was grasping at straws…

You may have purchased an SD card with a fake/spoofed capacity, which can cause all sorts of issues. This is apparently a pretty big issue with stores like Amazon that comingle inventories from multiple vendors.

Re: SD Memory Card Formatter for Linux

#13

Post by snvzz »

throwaway628035 wrote: post #12

Console hacking forum users such as gbatemp stress the use of "Panasonic SD formatter" when formatting SD cards as FAT32 and guiformat for exFAT, I don't know if there is a reason behind this advice or if it's just cargo culting.

>I don't know if there is a reason behind this advice or if it's just cargo culting.

Easy to reproduce results is probably what they're going for. If that tool doesn't have much configuration possible, many footguns are prevented.

Re: SD Memory Card Formatter for Linux

#14

Post by donatj »

Sephr wrote: post #11
donatj wrote: post #10

Hmm… I recently bought a modern original PlayStation memory card that saves to SD. The first SD card I bought just would not work with it no matter what I tried. Support actually had me download the “SD Memory Card Formatter for Windows” from this site and reformat my card. Did not fix the issue. I ended up just buying a new SD Card which did fix the issue. At the time it just felt like support was grasping at straws…

You may have purchased an SD card with a fake/spoofed capacity, which can cause all sorts of issues. This is apparently a pretty big issue with stores like Amazon that comingle inventories from multiple vendors.

I would bet money it was a Microcenter store branded one, the ones they have at the checkout counter. They are what I almost always use and they have never given me issues before. I am also sure I have thrown it into something else at this point though it is difficult to say what.

Re: SD Memory Card Formatter for Linux

#15

Post by evahop »

I can't speak to the relevance or necessity of all this but I have adapted a script from this blog post[0] when formatting my Raspberry Pi's. If I recall correctly GNU Parted's manual also mentions a 4MiB offset and both link to a common article[1].

[0]: https://web.archive.org/web/20230405090708/https://3gfp.com/... [1]: https://web.archive.org/web/20230406150117/https://lwn.net/A...

Re: SD Memory Card Formatter for Linux

#16

Post by FreeFull »

donatj wrote: post #10

Hmm… I recently bought a modern original PlayStation memory card that saves to SD. The first SD card I bought just would not work with it no matter what I tried. Support actually had me download the “SD Memory Card Formatter for Windows” from this site and reformat my card. Did not fix the issue. I ended up just buying a new SD Card which did fix the issue. At the time it just felt like support was grasping at straws…

Maybe the memory card uses SPI to communicate with the SD card? The SD card standard mandates SPI support, but some SD cards are non-compliant.

Re: SD Memory Card Formatter for Linux

#17

Post by soulofmischief »

senko wrote: post #8
gdgghhhhh wrote: post #3

I fear it's closed source?

Is closed source not allowed for Linux? If you want an open source SD card formatter for Linux, you can mkfs.vfat /dev/mmcblk0 all day long, works just fine.

It's allowed but people who use Linux want to know about these things ahead of time, as many of us seek to reduce the amount of closed-sourced code running on our systems to give us peace of mind.

Re: SD Memory Card Formatter for Linux

#19

Post by scns »

idle_zealot wrote: post #4

I've always formatted SD cards like any other block device. This page mentions a secure section of the card that can somehow reduce performance if you don't treat it specially? What is this security section for, and do standard UNIXy partitioning tools have the ability to handle them properly, or do I have to use this proprietary(?) tarball if I want good SD performance?

IIRC there is a reserved area in the beginning of th SD cards flash which is used for internal housekeeping. When this area is overwritten/formatted the card is bricked. [add] The size depends on the size of the card. I think it is around 32KB on cards with a capacity under 2GB.

Re: SD Memory Card Formatter for Linux

#20

Post by ezconnect »

das-hinterland wrote: post #5
gdgghhhhh wrote: post #3

I fear it's closed source?

It may be proprietary but it's developed by Tuxera, the same lads who created and maintain the NTFS drivers for Linux.

SD Cards have computers inside of them. Security conscious users will be really worried using a blob for their stuff.
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