can CHDK harm the memory card?

[LiSkynden]

Sorry if this has been asked like million times, but im just checking. I already know that it wont harm the camera but what about the memory card? I have a bit expencive card and im not planning to ruin it 

Thanks in advance.

[a710is]

NO. unless you excessively abuse it yourself physically by inserting it/ removing it millions of times. but that wouldn't be CHDK's fault.

[LiSkynden]

Are you saying that if i bang it with a hammer it may get damaged? 
Just kidding.

I was just refferring to one thread here where someone said he broke his memory card. 
This one
Allbest S5is release

[PhyrePhoX]

that dude probably was so excited to try chdk that he stuck the card in the cardreader the wrong way - maybe.
also you have to consider that you probably will set the write protection of the card very often. since it is only cheap plastic (the contacts are made of metal at least) it is likely to break after about 10.000 uses, which is like a million years on a non-chdk-enhanced camera, but like ONE year on a chdk one

[LiSkynden]

that dude probably was so excited to try chdk that he stuck the card in the cardreader the wrong way - maybe.
also you have to consider that you probably will set the write protection of the card very often. since it is only cheap plastic (the contacts are made of metal at least)

Yeah probably.

it is likely to break after about 10.000 uses, which is like a million years on a non-chdk-enhanced camera, but like ONE year on a chdk one

I always upload my pics straight from camera so i hardly take out the SD card.
I was thinking about this CHDK the same way that normal hard drive of a computer ... i mean, you can load bad stuff on it but if something goes tits up, you can always format it... right?

Thanks PhyrePhoX, ... have to trust a guy that has 666 posts 

[wontolla]

I'll ask because it is still on topic:

also you have to consider that you probably will set the write protection of the card very often. since it is only cheap plastic

Have somebody ever tried to "modify" the card reader so you don't have to switch the protection of the SD card every time?

This way you can always leave it in "read only - autoload CHDK" and write from the PC without switching the little plastic 10,000 times.

My card reader is glued, so I ask before I "break" it.

Thanks PhyrePhoX, ... have to trust a guy that has 666 posts

You can trust him. Although 666 sounds a little bit diabolic.

[BB]

I have read here (or at DPreview) that some cheap card readers don't even read the switch position...

Try your reader first before you try to pop it open and "fix" it.

Or just get the cheapest card reader you can find... Try it, and if you break it while moding it--no great loss.

-Bill

[fe50]

also you have to consider that you probably will set the write protection of the card very often. since it is only cheap plastic

That's it - after extensive testing chdk on my 2 cameras now i have two SD cards (cheap ones) that formed cracks in the plastics beside the write protection slider 

Solution:
I put some superglue on it and polished it with a needle file (after the glue was dry)

[GrAnd]

Have somebody ever tried to "modify" the card reader so you don't have to switch the protection of the SD card every time?

EVAWR did. He shorted the pin to the ground, afair. Ask him for detail.
BTW. My cardreader has been broken after a year of CHDK using - now it ignores write protection at all.

[wontolla]

Thanks guys, I'll try to "fix" it. Will be back with instructions if I'm successful. Worst thing can happen is I have to buy a new one.

...now it ignores write protection at all.

Now that's what I call a reconfigurable device. It adapts to the user's needs. Isn't it amazing this new technology?

[fudgey]

Btw, is SD card write protection done in the reader hardware or does it in the operating system? If it's in the OS, we could just patch or configure the Linux kernel to disregrad it...

As for harming memory cards, Flash memory has limited write/erase cycle lifetime. It varies but it may typically be in the order of 100000 writes. That's plenty for normal camera use, even when juiced up with CHDK. But it would very easy to modify CHDK to constantly overwrite some small file on the card, be it for debug purposes or for a kludgy way to communicate via USB by reading/writing to a file cunningly named a JPG. This kind of things would make CHDK wear out cards faster.

How often is the CHDK configuration file updated? Each time you change something in the menus?

[PhyrePhoX]

each time you exit alt mode it is saved, when something changed, afaik

[fe50]

...
As for harming memory cards, Flash memory has limited write/erase cycle lifetime. It varies but it may typically be in the order of 100000 writes. That's plenty for normal camera use, even when juiced up with CHDK. But it would very easy to modify CHDK to constantly overwrite some small file on the card, be it for debug purposes or for a kludgy way to communicate via USB by reading/writing to a file cunningly named a JPG. This kind of things would make CHDK wear out cards faster.
...

It seems to be not a problem - the flash chips has intelligent algorithms to avoid / handle defect cells, e.g by using reserve cells or bypassing to healthier cells.

In the german c't magazine they made tests with writing up to 16 million times on the same logical adress without any problems. The tests has been carried out with USB sticks, but they said the flash chips on SD cards handle this the same way.
"Flash-Haltbarkeit" on c't FAQ

For some information about SD cards and the flash chips inside i've attached a sample datasheet...

[wontolla]

[fbonomi]

oh, thanks for the pics. I will try that too when I have a second reader.

and remaining on damages "caused" by CHDK, the thing that really worries me is the little door of the camera, the one that  you open to get the card out. At least on my 570, it looks poorly built, not done to opened and closed 50 times a day :-)