Timeline for How often should memory cards be formatted?
Current License: CC BY-SA 2.5
8 events
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| Aug 4, 2010 at 23:11 | comment | added | Joanne C | @Eruditass: The impact is relative to the speed of the device, it's not a catastrophic problem. My point is, from above, formatting and erasing all of the files will have the same effect on fragmentation. Where you will feel the effect is as you start to fill the card, not when it is empty and, well, when you're filling the card with shots, formatting is a bad idea. :) | |
| Aug 4, 2010 at 22:49 | comment | added | eruditass | Yes, memory cards have the same access time for random access as sequential, but they still read in chunks. The chunks being located in different places is what causes the speed issue. | |
| Aug 4, 2010 at 22:30 | comment | added | eruditass | @John see my link above. Fragmentation is a major issue and that is why class numbers are calculated on the slowest most fragmented speeds but often perform better. @SoapBox: In theory, yes, who knows what kind of metadata and allocation table modifications are done throughout its use on different devices? I just play it safe, that's all. | |
| Aug 4, 2010 at 22:23 | comment | added | eruditass | @Guffa: lack of fragmentation is why class 2 (based on slowest speed) can perform at class 10 speeds at times: The memory of a card is divided into minimum memory units. The host writes data onto memory units where no data is already stored. As available memory becomes divided into smaller units through normal use, this leads to an increase in non-linear, or fragmented storage. The amount of fragmentation can reduce write speeds, so higher SD card speeds help compensate for fragmentation. sdcard.org/developers/tech/speed_class lagom.nl/misc/flash_fragmentation.html | |
| Aug 4, 2010 at 20:54 | comment | added | SoapBox | Also, if you delete every file there will never be fragmentation. Fragmentation only happens when free blocks are mixed with use blocks, which only happens when you delete some files but keep some around. | |
| Aug 4, 2010 at 20:52 | comment | added | Joanne C | Also, fragmentation on a FAT file system is more common when deletion is scattered. If you empty the filesystem with deletes then fragmentation isn't a concern. Besides, the biggest issue with fragmentation was because DOS was a dog and older hardware could only handle one I/O request at a time. | |
| Aug 4, 2010 at 20:34 | comment | added | Guffa | As memory cards have random access, fragmentation should not be a problem. | |
| Aug 4, 2010 at 20:27 | history | answered | eruditass | CC BY-SA 2.5 |