Nano Biscotte stopped working...computer won't read SD card

[redeyejedi]

I'm having a problem with my Nano board today. I charged my saber last night and now it won't boot up or turn on. I took my saber appart and can't find any problems with the electronics. My computer is not reading my SD card what so ever and freezes up trying to read it. I tried another SD card and the computer read it immediately. What should I do? This is my 1st plectar labs board and I'm lost.

[Silver Serpent]

Did you make a backup of your SD card? If so, you should be able to reformat your SD card and reload all the files back on it. If the SD card is so dead that you can't reformat it (try on another computer before you toss it), then you will need to replace the SD card.

If you don't have a backup of your files, shoot an email to the store, and Tim may be able to help you out.

[redeyejedi]

Did not back up my SD card. My computer will not even read the SD card at all. No way to reformat it or any thing. Don't have access to another computer. I contacted Tim at the shop and I ordered a new SD card. I hope this never happens again and I hope that the SD card is the only problem. My saber has worked fine since the 1st time I fired it up a month ago. Really wasn't expecting any thing to happen to it. Do the P-labs boards do this offten?

[shmoetech]

Its not the board, its the card...same thing happened to me, running an igniter board, i did back it up just in case. i used new card and not had a prob. since then

[redeyejedi]

Thanks for letting me know. That makes me feel a lot better knowing that the SD card is he problem.

[Johannes Huber]

Hi!,

Just a quick question: Is there any particular action or set up that seems to ruin the SD cards? Obviously, there are things we shouldn't do (put it in the toaster, throw it into the laundry machine...), but I'm curious if there are less obvious issues that relate to the use of the SD card such as where the card is mounted, how things are wired up, etc. Putting things together in a saber is a bit trial and error (at least for me) and I am curious if there are ways to minimize the rate of card failure (beyond the backing up of the data). Thanks!

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Hi!,

Just a quick question: Is there any particular action or set up that seems to ruin the SD cards? Obviously, there are things we shouldn't do (put it in the toaster, throw it into the laundry machine...), but I'm curious if there are less obvious issues that relate to the use of the SD card such as where the card is mounted, how things are wired up, etc. Putting things together in a saber is a bit trial and error (at least for me) and I am curious if there are ways to minimize the rate of card failure (beyond the backing up of the data). Thanks!

Well, what I would strongly recommend to everyone is the following:

1. Backup the card.
2. Remove card when soldering to the board. CAREFULLY place SD card on anti-static bag or something similar.
3. Make sure card is installed and/or removed when there is NO POWER to the board. Insert the kill key, or disconnect the battery first.

DO those things and then whatever issues you have should be minimal, and IF you do have issues, you can recover from them easily.

[redeyejedi]

Thanks forgetful jedi. That could explain what happened. I think I may have removed the SD card when there was power to the board. I had no idea this would happen. When my new SD car arrives I will be sure to be more careful when removing it or installing it.

[Arryck Corso]

I had a somewhat similar problem with the SD card in my saber as well. The saber would just randomly shut off. It was very odd and extremely frustrating. I even stumped erv!!! After running every test I could conceive of I sent the board to MH and it turns out I had a corrupted SD card. The source of the corruption was most likely from the SD card not being properly "ejected" from the computer. So I would highly suggest that you make sure you're ejecting the card the right way as a precaution as well.

[redeyejedi]

Thanks for the input. I didn't even realize that just pulling the SD card out of the computer would corrupt it. Live and learn. I always used USB cables for my cameras and stuff. This is my first real experience handling a mini SD card. Is there anything else I should know not to do?