Low level format a memory card?

danalog · June 15

A while back I picked up a D-Link DMP100 mp3 player from a thrift store. Popped in an 8mb SmartMedia card, formatted it in the player's software. What I didn't know is that the software and player would somehow format the card in a way in which it wouldn't be recognized by anything anymore. If I put the card in a camera that takes SM cards, it shows no card or card error, and the camera can't format the card. On a Windows machine with an integrated Smart card reader (Compaq NW9440) no card is recognized as present in Disk Management. It works fine in the player though.

I can't format the card in regular FAT32 from the D-Link software, but that seems to be the only application that can read this SM card now.

Does anyone have any advice on how to low level format the card? I know it's a tiny card but SmartMedia cards are stupidly expensive and I rarely use them, so I'd love to not need to buy a new one.

Timme · June 16

SD Memory Card Formatter can supposedly help.

danalog · June 16

55 minutes ago, Timme said:

SD Memory Card Formatter can supposedly help.

It's not for SM but I'll give it a shot

TomChaai · June 19

There is no low level format with consumer grade tools, you will need a manufacturer chipset-specific tool to perform actions like this, probably even need to be done via a specialized card reader as normal readers don’t always allow those vendor-specific commands.