8GB SD Card not recognized

[Jonesy]

PCLOS KDE4 fully updated.

I have an CamLink all in one USB card reader that I assume works fine but now I have got a new 8GB SD card for my phone it is not being reconized when I try to access it from my computer. The old 2GB card is still seen ok. I know the new 8GB card is not faulty because I can access it in a windows machine and a Palm Pilot and of course my phone.

The red light comes on in the card reader a few seconds after it is inserted to say it is there but it is not being seen/ mounted by the computer. 

[Archie]

Hmmm I am getting the same thing. My card reader was working previously. I've had this issue before and it is with a kernel module that doesn't get loaded.

Did you keep a history of your Synaptic updates? Can you post a list of maybe your last couple of updates sessions or before you realized your card reader wasn't working anymore?

Thanks.

EDIT:

Sorry, Jonesy. I got mine working real quick. Unless you have a Sony VAIO, maybe my fix won't apply to you. But it was definitely a kernel module on my issue. I checked what was missing on /etc/modprobe.preload and spotted that the kernel module sony_laptop was not loaded. I modprobe sony_vaio and my card reader now works.

[Jonesy]

The card reader has always worked, still does.  It wasn't until I tried to use the 8GB card I found the problem. The old 2GB SD card still works just fine. So do all the CF cards for my Nokia camera.

I loaded the module you mentioned but without success but since this is a PC not a laptop I guess I was hoping for too much. I agree that it could be a problem with kernel modules not being loaded. I had a similar issue a couple of years back on KDE 3.5 and gave up at that time but I thought that it would be long gone by now.

I checked out the specs on the Realtek CamLink AIO card reader and it is totally compatible so thats not the problem at least.

[CaptainSarcastic]

I've seen this happen on SD cards, and (if I remember rightly) it seems to be some quirk in how the device (usually phone) formatted the card in the first place.  Does it show up in Gparted?

[MCP]

Is the sd card an SDHC card?  If so this could be the problem.  I noticed it when I tried to read my daughters card from a new camera.  I don't know if it requires some addition to read it.

Let us know if you find the solution.

MCP

[Jonesy]

Is the sd card an SDHC card?  If so this could be the problem.  I noticed it when I tried to read my daughters card from a new camera.  I don't know if it requires some addition to read it.

Let us know if you find the solution.

MCP

Yes it is SDHC. Googling around it seems to be a long running issue with several Linux distros. No one seems to have the answer but the problem appears to be Kernel module related, as was also suggested by Archie. The card is recognized by the card reader and there is HD activity when it is inserted but thats as far as it gets.

[CaptainSarcastic]

Is the sd card an SDHC card?  If so this could be the problem.  I noticed it when I tried to read my daughters card from a new camera.  I don't know if it requires some addition to read it.

Let us know if you find the solution.

MCP

Yes it is SDHC. Googling around it seems to be a long running issue with several Linux distros. No one seems to have the answer but the problem appears to be Kernel module related, as was also suggested by Archie. The card is recognized by the card reader and there is HD activity when it is inserted but thats as far as it gets.

Have you checked to see if it shows up in Gparted?  I have a 32GB SDHC card in my laptop and it runs just fine, but I formatted it using the computer rather than a proprietary device.  In cases where I was dealing with an SD card that was formatted by a proprietary device and I couldn't just reformat it without losing data, the method I usually used was to tether the device and access the card that way.

[Jonesy]

It is possible and quite probable that it is seen by Gparted in some way but I can't know for sure since it makes Gparted become unresponsive 'scanning all devices' and I have to kill the process.

I have formatted it in WinXP to FAT 32 and exFAT but none have made any difference. Works fine in Win.

[CaptainSarcastic]

If it works in Windows but not in Linux that's odd - I have never experienced that, personally.  My SDHC cards either worked in both or in neither.

[Archie]

A workaround may be a a card reader that you plug in on a USB port. This way, the SDHC might get treated a a removable HD. I don't know if it would work; I've never tried it but I guess that's worth a try.

[MCP]

A workaround may be a a card reader that you plug in on a USB port. This way, the SDHC might get treated a a removable HD. I don't know if it would work; I've never tried it but I guess that's worth a try.

I have a small usb sd card reader.  When I plugged it in with an sdhc card it won't read it.

Just my experience,
MCP