Retrieving photos from unrecognized memory card?

[bluebird]

I have a Nikon D600, and I keep cards in the #1 and #2 slots. My #1 card was in my computer when the computer went to "sleep" and when I turned it back on, I got a message reminding me to eject my card. Now, when I put that card in my computer, it doesn't show up anywhere, and when I put it in my camera it says "For" and the shutter lock engages. There may be some recent photos on there that I don't have backed up yet. Is there a way to pull anything off the card, or do I just have to re-format it and hope that I pulled off all of the important stuff?

Thanks!

 

[PapaST]

The file system might have gotten corrupt. I think when inserting into camera and you see "For" it's because the camera doesn't recognize a workable file system and it adds or formats necessary files to make it usable. I'm not sure if that means the pics were lost. I would insert the card again into your computer, try different USB slots if you're using a reader. Depending on your OS I would look into your Disk Management tool to see if your OS recognizes it there and shows the state of the file system.

This is one reason I use Slot 1 for pics and Slot 2 to backup slot 1. Let us know if you get any other errors.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

I would try using Recuva and see if your can salvage your photos. Then you can choose to reformat the card or return it for a replacement. You don't mention what brand it is but most offer lifetime warranties. Personally speaking I won't use a card once it's gone bad like that. They're too easily, and too cheaply replaced.

 

[bluebird]

Recuva is a Windows-only software and I have a Mac

I recently adopted the system that you describe, PapaST, but there were some occasions recently (when I was on vacation) when I walked out of the house with card #2 still in my computer, so all I have is card #1.

 

[bluebird]

The brand is SanDisk.

 

[ryan20fun]

Sorry to hear that there is a problem with the SD card.

Have you tried using Ontrack software? -30MiB download size
They list it for Mac as well, So you can give the demo a shot.

I recall an older version of the software working very well, They even have a option to recover data from a device without a file format, So that should work for you.
I do not know the limits

HTH
Ryan.

 

[Fred Kingston_RIP]

Did you try the Mac's disk utilities? And see if you can use it to repair the card???

 

[480sparky]

THIS POST IS NOT SPAM!!!!

I use RStudio64 for file recovery. It's not just for images files.

For free, you can try MJM.


As a side note: NOW is the time for EVERYONE to make sure they're covered in the lost-file arena. Corrupt cards, missing files, accidentally deleted.... we will ALL be there some day. So RIGHT NOW is the best time to have your software in place!!!. Learn how to use it, make sure it works with your files (not all software can recover the various proprietary raw file formats!!!!), and have a destination folder all ready to go.

NOW. Not tomorrow. Not next week. NOW.

 

[bluebird]

When I insert the card into my SD slot, it doesn't even appear in finder - it's as if it isn't there! Card #2 works great so it isn't my machine or reader.

 

[ryan20fun]

When I insert the card into my SD slot, it doesn't even appear in finder - it's as if it isn't there! Card #2 works great so it isn't my machine or reader.

Have you looked in the disk managment part of the Mac?
I expect it to have something similar to Windows, Which would show any and all drives.

 

[480sparky]

Don't reformat or use the card until you've tried all the options available for recovery. How far down that rabbit hole you go is up to you, and depends on how bad you want the images back. There's plenty of free software out there, as well as paid. And if you're desperate enough, there's services that you can send the card to.

 

[bluebird]

I'll try some more tonight. I need to pull out my backup hard drive and make sure the older photos made it across somewhere, either on card #2 or on the backup hard drive.

One reason I was worried about retrieving these is because it should have included the photos that a friend took of my recent military promotion, using my camera. Unfortunately, the photos aren't on card #2 (which was also in the camera at the time), so I suspect that she did something wrong and didn't actually take any pictures.

 

[Fred Kingston_RIP]

When I insert the card into my SD slot, it doesn't even appear in finder - it's as if it isn't there! Card #2 works great so it isn't my machine or reader.

Don't use "Finder"... use the disk utility in the Utilities folder under the Applications folder...

If the Disk Utility CAN'T see the card... no amount of free or paid software will do you any good... the card needs to be seen at the hardware level before any software can do anything...

 

[RocketCowboy]

Don't use "Finder"... use the disk utility in the Utilities folder under the Applications folder...

If the Disk Utility CAN'T see the card... no amount of free or paid software will do you any good... the card needs to be seen at the hardware level before any software can do anything...

Exactly! The SD card won't show up in finder if it is not a valid format/file system, but if it doesn't show up in Disk Utility the. It's a different problem. You've already validated the reader can read other cards, so I would start to suspect the SD card itself has failed if Disk Utility does not see it at all when inserted.

 

[bluebird]

Well, it didn't initially show up in the Disk Utility. Stellar Phoenix can see it but says it doesn't contain any data, and the size shows up as 1GB, which is about how much empty space was on the card (it's a 32GB card). After running Stellar Phoenix, now it shows up in Disk Utility but there is no option to verify or repair, those buttons are ghosted. Hopefully everything is on my backup drive...