SD Card problem, Help Please

[Peter Franks]

2011 running SL, I've copied some stuff onto an 8GB SD card and it was fine, until a couple of days later, when I added something else to it, MP3s, and now when I insert it says:

The disk inserted was not readable by this computer
Initialize - Ignore - Eject

I gather Initialising will kill all the work that is on there. Any suggestions?

It never asked me to initialise BEFORE I drag and dropped the stuff on there. Is that stuff now lost?

I was asked for this format, I've never used it before, always use USB sticks.

 

[Weaselboy]

Yeah... I'd say that thing is a goner. You could try something like DiskWarrior to resurrect it, but given the fact it is asking you to initialize (format), I am not optimistic.

 

[Peter Franks]

Thanks, any idea WHY it didn't ask me to 'initialise' when I first put it in the MacBook Pro?
Disk Utility repair/verify aren't highlighted for the card. So no joy there
Why, only when I"d spent hours filling it, after a period over 4 days, about 5 or 6 times of inserting it? That's what I don't get.

 

[CoastalOR]

Thanks, any idea WHY it didn't ask me to 'initialise' when I first put it in the MacBook Pro?
Why, only when I"d spent hours filling it, after a period over 4 days, about 5 or 6 times of inserting it? That's what I don't get

My experience is that SD cards are FAT32 format out of the package. The Mac OS can read and write to FAT32, but it is not as robust and reliable for the Mac as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format.

I think the SD card directory has become corrupted or the card has failed and can no longer be read by the Mac so that is why it is prompting you to initialize it. BTW, Disk Warrior can only repair directories for Mac formatted media.

 

[Weaselboy]

Thanks, any idea WHY it didn't ask me to 'initialise' when I first put it in the MacBook Pro?

I'm with CoastalOR. It was likely already formatted to the old DOS FAT32 format out of the package.

 

[Peter Franks]

Thanks for your answers. I never had any problems with USB sticks. And I've used dozens of them over the years, And never been asked to format or initialise any of them.