Topic: Formatting new SD Card

[deer0373]

Gonna buy a new SD card today in preparation for my new 999ci. I have read that the card will need to be formatted prior to using it. Is there a way to format it using the unit, or do I just need to format it with my PC?

[Goosedwnr]

I usually have just formatted it using the PC. I have Sandisk Cards and have yet to have a problem with them. I bought a bunch of 8 Gigabyte cards when Walmart had them on clearance last year. You should be fine formatting them on the Computer.

-Cory

[ScottMN]

Gonna buy a new SD card today in preparation for my new 999ci. I have read that the card will need to be formatted prior to using it. Is there a way to format it using the unit, or do I just need to format it with my PC?

I never buy anything less then class 10 cards and watch ads closely to get good premium cards at a good price. San-disk is a good bet but they also have 4 or more series that go from (slow/care less if I lose it) to (incredibly the best and fastest) The card will probably work out of the box in your 999 but what card you get depends on how much you value your data and how fast it reads and writes. Do a search on sdhc/mmc card comparisons and ratings. I have 18 trail cameras, several digital cameras and probably a Tera byte of card storage with them all. There is no doubt a difference in brands & you get what you pay for. If you are an old fart like me you past down your old ones to the grandkids to learn with!

[deer0373]

Thanks for the input fellas. This is my 1st SI/DI unit and I hope to be able to capture some pretty decent images. I think I'm gonna get the Sandisk 4GB for now and see how much I can put on it. Thanks again.

[Humminbird_Greg]

Welcome to the Humminbird Side Imaging Forums Jeff.

You probably won’t have to format that SanDisk 4GB SDHC memory card before using it.  If/when you do format it, it is very important that you do so with the correct formatting software.  Depending on how old your PC is whether it will already come with it or not.  You need formatting software (and a memory card reader) that was designed for the SDHC memory cards.  I just use the HumminbirdPC program to format the memory cards as I know that it is using the formatter recommended by the SD Association.

Scott is right: you should buy the card speed that you need for the job.  If you are just going to transfer Nav Data (Waypoints, Routes and Tracks) you do not need a fast memory card.  If you are going to make Sonar Recordings you want a pretty fast memory card.  Screen Snapshots fall somewhere in between those two.

Post back your experiences please so others can learn from them!

[deer0373]

Thanks Greg. I've certainly learned a lot in the short amount of time I've been "visiting" and will probably have a TON more questions once I get my new unit (tomorrow) and start playing with it.
I will definitely update this post once I have some experience with the unit/card/screen shots etc.

[fcc1]

I have a  4 GB SDHC card that I used last August to update my 998c Si.  The 6.680 update is still on the card.  Now I see that the latest update for my unit  is 6.740.  do I have to delete the ealier version off that card, or can I just down load the newer version on this same card and will my unit pick up that newer 6.740 version and ignore the older version on the card?

Thanks,

FCC1

[bobcoy]

When you go to download print out the instructions. You do not need to delete anything on the unit, but reset to defaults before and after the update. Have only the new update on the SD card.
Bob

[deer0373]

I spent yesterday playing around with my new unit, learning the various features. I was very pleased with the quality of the images and how easy it was to change settings based on conditions.
I ended up getting the SanDisk 8G SDHC card with a speed of "4". Not really sure of the proper terminology for the rating scale though. I did not take any recordings, but I did save a few screen shots. I didn't have any issues with saving them to the card, or transferring them from the card to my PC. I believe the next time I am on the water, I will try to take some recordings and see how the card performs with those as well. I will attempt to post some of the screen captures in the Gallery.

[rnvinc]

I have a  4 GB SDHC card that I used last August to update my 998c Si.  The 6.680 update is still on the card.  Now I see that the latest update for my unit  is 6.740.  do I have to delete the ealier version off that card, or can I just down load the newer version on this same card and will my unit pick up that newer 6.740 version and ignore the older version on the card?

Thanks,

FCC1

The unit is supposed to only recognise the new version...and prompt you if you want update from your present version "X.Xxx" to the new version "X.Xxx"....

I find it's not worth the off chance of bricking my unit by having more than 1 version on a SD Card at a time...

I keep all versions released for my unit in a HB folder on my PC and pick 1 for transfer to the SD Card (depending on what version I want to experiment with)...

There are times I go to the water with 3 or 4 different versions on separate SD Cards for experimenting...

SD Cards are cheap....bricking the unit is...well.......you ain't gonna like the cost....

Rickie