Hi all,

Well I just finished a photoshoot, went to put the card into my card reader and it wouldnt work

After a bit of mucking around/tinkering, I realised that one of the pins in the reader was bent and thus shorting out.

When I put the card into the camera (Canon 5D), it comes up with 'CF card not formatted' and when put into any different card reader (tried 2 different ones), it wont detect the CF card.

I have tried recovering the data using recovery software, but the card cannot be detected as a drive by anything and thus I can't run any recovery software on it.

Any ideas on how I can recover the data? There are some shots on there that I can't lose.

Cheers in advance!

Luca.

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TD06 - Oink.

there are data recovery places that can probably handle it, its a pretty difficult situation as the card is likely damaged from the short. perhaps if you knew which pins shorted we could assess the likely result.

i cant find a pin out diagram though.

Looking at the pins (Ie. have the pins facing you) - It is the top row, second from the left. It was bent and coming into contact with the pin to its immediate right.

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TD06 - Oink.

bend it back :P

Bump. Urgent!

Bent it back already - Card won't work. That's the problem

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TD06 - Oink.

What brand of card is it?

Usually the higher spec brands come with recovery software

Google brings up a lot of programs for 'cf card recovery'. Maybe try a few of them?

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[COLOR="Gray"]550Nm off a 2L... Just wish it was in the dak dak...[/COLOR]

Sandisk ultra 2, 2gb.

I've tried the recovery software, but the actual card is dead and can't be detected as a mounted drive.

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TD06 - Oink.

If you bent the pins then it's a hardware issue rather than a software problem. If it was simply a case of you couldn't read the cards contents that you could use recovery software to retrieve the images. However you said the pins were bent and if they had touched each other and shorted out maybe there is irreparable damage? So if there is a physical problem, software recovery applications won't be your answer. I'm assuming you've straightened the pins? I'd suggest calling up a data retrieval place and mention that you've lost your pics and mention the bent pins, see what they say.

I don't know what the insides of a memory card look like, but I'm guessing the problem is only with the pins and the rest of the card is ok. I wonder if you could buy another card, pull apart your old one and make a new one using parts of the new and old. Long shot, but it may be more straightforward than you think? I've done this with various computer parts before.

No pins stuck in the card etc?

Go to dick smith etc, buy another cheap reader and try it..

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you mirin?