Files on SD card do not show up

Sylpher · 04-10-2009, 10:01 PM

Good evening. I hunted pretty heavily on here and did not find this issue mentioned, but if I missed the huge detailed thread on this issue my apologies. When I first got my PRS-700 I picked up a good sized SDHC card and grabbed a few books from Sony's site. When I tried to copy them to the card they would not show up on the device so I could read them. Confused I contacted Sony and they informed me that since the files have DRM I can only read them directly from the device.

I suspected this but I wanted confirmation from them directly. Slightly annoyed by this I said "oh well" and decided to use the SD card for music since I couldn't think of anything else useful to do with it so I put a couple albums on the card, moved the books to the internal memory and everything worked out fine.

Until today! I picked up a couple more albums off Amazon MP3, specifically because the lack of DRM. I copied the albums over just like I did before but none of the files show up in the Audio section after disconnecting the device. So I proceeded in trying all of the following things:

Copying the files using eBook Library
Copying the files using Calibre
Copying the files directly onto the SD card using file explorer
Taking out the SD card from the PRS and plugging it into a different card reader and copying them using file explorer

Each time I did this I allowed the unit to reindex the files. When they didn't show up I would shut the unit down completely and bring it back up and still nothing.

Out of ideas I decided to try removing one of the albums I had copied months ago (the album was also purchased from Amazon MP3 mind). I put the SD card back in and verified the files were gone. Then I put the album back on and....

Now it doesn't show up either!

I am at my wits end. If DRM free MP3s can't be read from the SD card then what use is the SD slot? I was annoyed that I can't read my legally purchased books off of the card. Now if I can't even listen to music with it...well...I guess I have an extra card for my camera!

Any suggestions are very welcome.

Andybaby · 04-10-2009, 11:03 PM

well firstly i wouldnt blame amazon for anything. they are Mp3 (just taged with your email address if i recall correctly)

the problem is obviously with the 700.

what i would do is,
format the memory card to Fat 32
Load the Mp3s into Sony Library, create your playlists or W/e
then go to the SD card part, click the triange go to sync, and sync all music.

SDHC cards are $2 a gig(online. in the sony store its probably 8-10 times that), they are never wasted purchases.

Sylpher · 04-10-2009, 11:15 PM

Thanks for the quick reply! The card is formatted as FAT32, but I'll give a reformat a shot. As an update I tried another card I have and it works! I'll update with my results after the format. (I tried using sync too, but I'll give it another shot)

I only mentioned it was Amazon MP3 so people wouldn't bother with posts like "Are you SURE it is an MP3. Did you download it from iTunes? Are you sure it is DRM free?"

As a side note the card is a PNY 8GB. The other card I tried (the one that works) is a Kingston 4GB. I hope the reader's SDHC support isn't sensitive. Needing to format the card everytime I want to add music is bleh.

Andybaby · 04-10-2009, 11:20 PM

SD cards can get corrupted if interrupted during a write cycle. Devices are more sensitive to this than computers who does crc checks on files and has built in error handling. thats my best guess.

I didnt Know PNY made SD cards...

I only trust sandisk or Kingston.

though currently, all of my removable media is Kingston Micro SD cards, with converters.

Sylpher · 04-11-2009, 09:46 PM

The format worked! This brings up more questions for me, though. I'm always very careful to make sure to use the eject options or "safely remove" before ejecting the SD card. Is there something else I might be doing that is causing the issue? Alternatively is there something I could be doing to make sure I am not corrupting anything?

I appreciate all your help.

04-10-2009, 10:01 PM	#1
Sylpher Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: PRS-700	Files on SD card do not show up Good evening. I hunted pretty heavily on here and did not find this issue mentioned, but if I missed the huge detailed thread on this issue my apologies. When I first got my PRS-700 I picked up a good sized SDHC card and grabbed a few books from Sony's site. When I tried to copy them to the card they would not show up on the device so I could read them. Confused I contacted Sony and they informed me that since the files have DRM I can only read them directly from the device. I suspected this but I wanted confirmation from them directly. Slightly annoyed by this I said "oh well" and decided to use the SD card for music since I couldn't think of anything else useful to do with it so I put a couple albums on the card, moved the books to the internal memory and everything worked out fine. Until today! I picked up a couple more albums off Amazon MP3, specifically because the lack of DRM. I copied the albums over just like I did before but none of the files show up in the Audio section after disconnecting the device. So I proceeded in trying all of the following things: Copying the files using eBook Library Copying the files using Calibre Copying the files directly onto the SD card using file explorer Taking out the SD card from the PRS and plugging it into a different card reader and copying them using file explorer Each time I did this I allowed the unit to reindex the files. When they didn't show up I would shut the unit down completely and bring it back up and still nothing. Out of ideas I decided to try removing one of the albums I had copied months ago (the album was also purchased from Amazon MP3 mind). I put the SD card back in and verified the files were gone. Then I put the album back on and.... Now it doesn't show up either! I am at my wits end. If DRM free MP3s can't be read from the SD card then what use is the SD slot? I was annoyed that I can't read my legally purchased books off of the card. Now if I can't even listen to music with it...well...I guess I have an extra card for my camera! Any suggestions are very welcome.

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04-10-2009, 11:03 PM	#2
Andybaby Wizard Posts: 1,279 Karma: 1002683 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: New York Device: PRS-700	well firstly i wouldnt blame amazon for anything. they are Mp3 (just taged with your email address if i recall correctly) the problem is obviously with the 700. what i would do is, format the memory card to Fat 32 Load the Mp3s into Sony Library, create your playlists or W/e then go to the SD card part, click the triange go to sync, and sync all music. SDHC cards are $2 a gig(online. in the sony store its probably 8-10 times that), they are never wasted purchases.

04-10-2009, 11:15 PM	#3
Sylpher Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: PRS-700	Thanks for the quick reply! The card is formatted as FAT32, but I'll give a reformat a shot. As an update I tried another card I have and it works! I'll update with my results after the format. (I tried using sync too, but I'll give it another shot) I only mentioned it was Amazon MP3 so people wouldn't bother with posts like "Are you SURE it is an MP3. Did you download it from iTunes? Are you sure it is DRM free?" As a side note the card is a PNY 8GB. The other card I tried (the one that works) is a Kingston 4GB. I hope the reader's SDHC support isn't sensitive. Needing to format the card everytime I want to add music is bleh.

04-10-2009, 11:20 PM	#4
Andybaby Wizard Posts: 1,279 Karma: 1002683 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: New York Device: PRS-700	SD cards can get corrupted if interrupted during a write cycle. Devices are more sensitive to this than computers who does crc checks on files and has built in error handling. thats my best guess. I didnt Know PNY made SD cards... I only trust sandisk or Kingston. though currently, all of my removable media is Kingston Micro SD cards, with converters.

04-11-2009, 09:46 PM	#5
Sylpher Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: PRS-700	The format worked! This brings up more questions for me, though. I'm always very careful to make sure to use the eject options or "safely remove" before ejecting the SD card. Is there something else I might be doing that is causing the issue? Alternatively is there something I could be doing to make sure I am not corrupting anything? I appreciate all your help.

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