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A few weeks ago I was going to download the pictures from an SD card and I noticed the lock mechanism had become stuck in the middle, so I went to push it back to unlocked and the card peeled apart partially. Ever since then, my computer wouldn't read it. I tried formatting it, etc. to no avail.

What's odd is that if I put the card in my Nikon D3000, it functions fine through the PC connection.

I'm not certain that the unlocking issue was what caused this, but it strikes me as odd that the card works fine (formats/saves pictures/etc) as long as it's in the camera.

How can I fix this? Is this any danger to the camera? (The price of a new SD card obviously being WAY cheaper than a camera)

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Just an FYI about SD cards, since many people don't realize this: the write-protect switch doesn't physically stop writes, it just sends a signal to the OS asking the OS to not write to the card; most OSes (including cameras) respect that request. – drewbenn Nov 6 '11 at 4:11
More on read-only enforcement: superuser.com/questions/354473/… – Bob Nov 7 '11 at 20:10

2 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

I would strongly recommend getting a new card. The danger to the camera, ultimately, is that it gets stuck in the slot because of the card seperating. While I would imagine that Nikon repair could sort that out, it may cost you a lot more than a new card to have it done because such a situation would not be warrantee.

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That's a good point; it's an 8GB stick so it's not removed often except to remove pictures, but I'll see about getting a new one. – Bob Nov 5 '11 at 22:31
up vote 2 down vote

If you still have images on the card you need to retrieve, plug your camera into the computer via USB. Then remove the card, thank it for its service and locate a trashcan. Not only is the card a potential danger to your camera, both in circuitry and hardware, it will fail on you sometime soon and all your photos will be lost.

I would also keep on eye on the locking mechanism. Did the card peel apart in your CF Reader? If so, I wonder if the card was placed upside down?

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It was outside of the reader, but that's a valid point about it probably breaking soon. – Bob Nov 5 '11 at 22:32

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