[Leica] Curious M10 startup time issue

[Frank Filippone]

My motto is:  If your audience is not too technical. Then try to explain to them in a way they understand.  Leaving out some details is part of that.

There is no spec that says a camera can not do a low level format, but then too, there is no camera (model or company) that I know of  that performs a low lever format.... all nerdy info.

Face it, it IS voodoo.... or was that doo-doo?  Nerdy Doo-Doo.....

The entire point is that if your card starts acting funny, then it is appropriate to do a low level format on your computer.  Then a format operation IS REQUIRED in your camera.  As I said, they are 2 different things....

For those of you that are almost asleep...... in actuality Richard and I ARE being nerdy.... but we agree that you MUST format using your camera, preferably every time you want to dump your existing data and start over....

I think Kyle started this,,,, what's your status?

Frank Filippone
Red735i at verizon.net

Frank, I don't want to get into bitty-details, but "the computer" can, and by default, does a quick format where the contents are not zeroed out.
Likewise, there is no requirements that a in-camera format to not to do a low level format. It's all depending on the firmware. FAT/ex-FAT specs are specs, either they adhere to it, or not. Then there are wearing level optimizations on the card firmware vs. in-camera. Any way, it's kind of like magic, but let's not make it into voodoo ;-)

On Tue, May 17, 2016 at 1:02 PM, Frank Filippone <red735i at verizon.net>
wrote:

> There is a common mistake here.....
>
> First of all, the Camera format is very different than a card format....
> The following is a simplified tutorial so we get stuff clear.
>
> During a LOW LEVEL in-the-computer format, the card is completely 
> formatted, including the files and the file directory.... it IS now empty.
> Blank.  NADA.  Like new.
> During in-the-Camera format, the basic File Directory is modified.  
> Old entries are deleted, and therefore, the card "looks" blank to the 
> OS.  The Image Files are still there, but the directions to the file 
> locations have been wiped clean so the camera ( or computer) can not 
> locate them. A set of directories is put on the card so the camera can write or read to it...
> they really are directory ( or Folder, whichever language you speak) 
> locations with camera known names, nothing more.
>
> The Correct Computer based formatting for a SDHC ( or really any) card 
> is
> FAT32 ( up to and including 32GB) or exFAT( for 64GB or more)......  
> NOT NTFS..  NTFS is what your computer (Windows or MAC OS-whatever) 
> wants to do when you ask it to format anything.  To be clear, NTFS is 
> the WRONG format for these cards..
> See this:
> http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/312/~/formatting-a-memor
> y-card,-flash-drive-or-device-using-a-pc
>
> Here is the location of the SD Association freebie card formatter....
> https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/
> Download and run it on your card in the computer.
> After you do that, THEN you MUST format in the camera.....remember, 
> this is a DIFFERENT type of formatting..... and does different things....
>
> If your card starts acting funny, you should go to the computer,. 
> Download any images you can using whatever methods or programs you 
> want. THEN do an in-the-computer format.  This may make the card useable again.....
>
> If the card is formatted by the computer WRONG, strange results WILL 
> happen.
>
> Comment... if you have performed a format by way of your camera, you 
> can recover the lost images.  If you have formatted the card in the 
> computer, you are SOL.  Your images are lost.
>
> Will any of this "fix" the M10 slow startup time?  I don’t know, but 
> it is a quick experiment that might just work.....
>
> Frank Filippone
> Red735i at verizon.net
>
> No offense, but it is my understanding that you should NEVER format 
> camera cards in a computer.  Always format them in the camera you plan 
> to shoot them in.
>