Well, I'm stumped, myself.
One thing I'd suggest is, can you try the same thing with a smaller card, maybe? Like LaughingVulcan, I remember an 'official' 2 GB limit, too, so I'd be interested to now if you see something similar on a smaller card.
I think you're the first to do an actual file inventory on a 4 GB, so the reports of them working, might simply be a matter of us not realizing they were only
partly working.