"This card cannot be formatted"

[palmTE]

Just did the following:

i. Put a new SD card in, went to CardInfo, found the format dialog.
ii. Go back to home screen, card app not running now
iii. remove card to check label, since I was about to name it

iv. Go back to CardInfo to format the card. Now I have an error, "This card cannot be formatted".

Nothing was being written to or read from the card. It can't be this easy to hose an SD card!!

So, um, what to do now? It's a new card with a warranty, and I did keep the receipt, though it'll be a mail order hassle.
What should I have done? I have that "you bonehead!" feeling ... bbbuht I've never seen anything about powering off to insert/remove a flash card, only don't remove it while being written. It's a RiData 1GB 66x

[npbeers]

I that that same problem a couple years ago with a Sandisk 1GB SD card while viewing it in CardInfo.... If the card is maybe partially inserted, but the spring bounces it back while inserting it or removing it I think this may happen while in CardInfo since it is trying to read from it just being in the program.... my best guess is that it shorts something out in the card.... I had to end up returning mine two days after i got it. I couldn't read it in my palm, camera, or computer....

sorry to hear this has happened to someone else....

[The Palmster]

I had the same thing happen to a Kingston 1GB card. Contacted Kingston online and after verifying the card number, Kingston sent me a replacement by overnight courier and gave me their account number to send the defective card back. No hassles. Great customer service!

[spvwolfy]

Not to be stupid, but is the lock switched so you can't format it. It could be something as simple as that or you could have a bad card.

[Church Punk]

try to format it with another application, or other hardware (computer, card reader, camera, etc...)?

[palmTE]

It was user error in my case - the friction from popping the card out slid the lock switch 1/2 way. Doh!

[dglcinc]

I was receiving the same error message on a Transcend 80x 512M card I used to use in my camera. Lock switch appeared in right position, however when I slid to lock and back to unlock and reinserted the card, it now magically is working. Thanks for the tips from other users.