Reading SmartMedia (SM) data cards

[Ricoh]

I hope this is the correct place to ask.

Having acquired an Agfa ePhoto 780 I'm struggling to download the images off the SM card to my computer. The card is working fine in camera, enabling images to be captured and viewed on the LCD.
I’ve also acquired a Hama “35 in 1” card reader which has an SM slot amongst others, and also downloaded Disk-Drill (V 4.x - that’s the only version that will download and run on Windows 8.1) hoping it would recover the images. The articles I’ve read suggest that’s the way to go. Disc Drill doesn’t see the mounted SM but if I plug an SD in the same Hama card reader it does.
Any thoughts or tips?
Thanks for reading.

 

[santino]

So is your data on the SM damaged? If not, don’t the pictures show up in explorer? Usually there is no need for special software.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I just plugged a 20 year old 8MByte Memory Stick from a Sony Cybershot into a Sandisk USB3 reader on this Win10 machine, and it reads the DCIM directory and JPEG just fine.

I would try a different computer with newer OS in case it needs to load a driver.

I've used Smartmedia from an HP camera before- and it worked.

 

[Ricoh]

So is your data on the SM damaged? If not, don’t the pictures show up in explorer? Usually there is no need for special software.

I don’t believe so, I can take images and review afterwards in camera.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Does the camera have a USB or other type of connection? Can you plug it into the computer?

 

[Ricoh]

I just plugged a 20 year old 8MByte Memory Stick from a Sony Cybershot into a Sandisk USB3 reader on this Win10 machine, and it reads the DCIM directory and JPEG just fine.

I would try a different computer with newer OS in case it needs to load a driver.

I've used Smartmedia from an HP camera before- and it worked.

I’m a bit stuck having W8.1 and update to W10 is not straightforward and apart from that I don’t want to risk losing Lightroom 6.14, Photoshop CC and/or Nik suite (I know it shouldn’t happen, but sometimes the unimaginable happens). My plan going forward is to get another laptop, W11 or W12 maybe
In the meantime there’s a possibly the SM section of the Hama ‘35 in 1’ card reader could be defective in some way (reads SD cards ok) but don’t want to speculate on another. BTW W8.1 recognised the reader off the bat.

 

[raydm6]

Sometimes I find I have to mount an SD card (or USB device) several times for the computer to recognize it. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it does occurs occasionally.

 

[bcostin]

This probably a dumb suggestion, but double check that that the SmartMedia card is inserted the right way up. About half the time I read SmartMedia I insert the card wrong. 🙂

There's usually a little arrow near the slot, and on several of the readers I have the SM reader orientation is opposite the other media types like SD.

 

[Ricoh]

Does the camera have a USB or other type of connection? Can you plug it into the computer?

Unfortunately not, the camera is 1998 vintage and only has a small circular socket labeled TV, but the camera wasn’t supplied with the cable. Back in the day I guess it was thought the level of entertainment needed was to replicate the TV reception.

 

[Ricoh]

Sometimes I find I have to mount an SD card (or USB device) several times for the computer to recognize it. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it does occurs occasionally.

I must have tried the SD quite a few times without failure.

 

[Ricoh]

This probably a dumb suggestion, but double check that that the SmartMedia card is inserted the right way up. About half the time I read SmartMedia I insert the card wrong. 🙂

There's usually a little arrow near the slot, and on several of the readers I have the SM reader orientation is opposite the other media types like SD.

Thanks, I will have another look at this in the morning.

 

[Ricoh]

This probably a dumb suggestion, but double check that that the SmartMedia card is inserted the right way up. About half the time I read SmartMedia I insert the card wrong. 🙂

There's usually a little arrow near the slot, and on several of the readers I have the SM reader orientation is opposite the other media types like SD.

It wasn’t a dumb question after all. The card orientation was ok, but I wasn’t pushing it in far enough. With the correction the card reader illuminates but I can’t get W8.1 to read the card; it doesn’t even show up in the file navigator.
Baffling!
PS The SM card is ok in the camera, to write image files and for reviewing.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Old Sandisk USB2 Card Reader, Windows 10, 8MByte SmartMedia from an Olympus D460: read just fine, right now.




This Model:

ImageMate 12 in 1 SanDisk Sddr-89 V4 Card Reader USB Cable Stand for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for ImageMate 12 in 1 SanDisk Sddr-89 V4 Card Reader USB Cable Stand at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

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Note- this model cannot read newer CF cards 64GBytes and higher.

 

[Ricoh]

Old Sandisk USB2 Card Reader, Windows 10, 8MByte SmartMedia from an Olympus D460: read just fine, right now.
View attachment 4821259

Shows it can be done. I presume it was a case of exploring the USB drive in file navigator.
No new driver has been added to my computer for the Hama so presumably its using a generic USB (BTW, all are USB 3 on my laptop).
Do you think for one moment W8.1 cf W10 could make a diffference.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I doubt that Win8.1 is the problem. Win XP supports this Sandisk reader.

Either the card reader is bad, or some strange incompatibility. The newer Sandisk reader I have does not have SmartMedia. I had to pull out the old one.

 

[JeffS7444]

IIRC there are some things to be aware of when using Smartmedia cards, such as older cards being 5 volts, and newer ones being 3.3 volts. Devices designed around the older 5 volt standard probably won't work correctly with 3.3 volt media.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

IIRC there are some things to be aware of when using Smartmedia cards, such as older cards being 5 volts, and newer ones being 3.3 volts. Devices designed around the older 5 volt standard probably won't work correctly with 3.3 volt media.

The card that I used is labeled 3V. Olympus M-8P. The Olympus D-460 was announced Feb 2000.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Parts Of Your Camera - AGFA ePhoto 780 User Manual [Page 11]

AGFA ePhoto 780 Manual Online: Parts Of Your Camera. LCD button Menu button Info button Focus switch Memory card/port compartment Video viewfinder Optical viewfinder Shutter button button Optical viewfinder 3.3 V Memory card Wrist strap hook LCD screen button button Resolution Status...

www.manualslib.com

You Agfa should use the same 3.3v card that mine does.

 

[JeffS7444]

The card that I used is labeled 3V. Olympus M-8P. The Olympus D-460 was announced Feb 2000.

If the OP was trying to read a 3V card in a card reader which predates that standard, then no surprises if it doesn't work.

OTOH, my Sandisk ImageMate 12 in 1 SDDR-89 v4 is relatively "modern", so it can read both 5 volt and 3.3 volt SM cards.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I used the Sandisk SDDR-89 to read the 3v card. The newer SDDR-289 dropped the SmartMedia slot, but can be used to read CF cards 64GBytes and larger. The SDDR-89 could not read my Lexar UDMA7 64GByte cards.