Hello all,
just ran into this problem for 1st time on my Olympus 4040. Got it solved with a little help from Olympus tech support.
I have had a 128MB card in my 4040 for last year with no problems. This last trip I didn't want to take the laptop so I bought a few more smartmedia chips and filled them up, 4 in all, no problems on the trip.
Upon returning, I download the last chip in the camera to my laptop, no problem.
Then I swap out chips, turn on the camera and it comes up with error code saying the chip needs formatting!
At this point I'm worried my pics may be lost!
I swap in the other chips and get same error code.
I swap in the 16MB chip that came with the camera and get same thing. Hitting the format button to see what happens then gets a "card error".
A call to Olympus tech support was helpfull.
Suggested to first reset the camera by pulling the batteries for 1/2 hour.
Then if problem remained, the card reader contacts were suspect. Recommended cleaning procedure is to swab some alcohol on the smartmedia contacts, then push card in/out 10 times. Swab again and push in/out another 10 times. Remove card and let everything dry for 10 minutes, then insert card and fire it up.
The camera reset did not clear the problem.
The cleaning procedure did! All pics safe and sound.
- Tim
