Low level formatting of an SD card

From what I understand Disk utility doesn't properly clear out file fragments on an SD card which in time will affect write speed. I use SD cards for shooting video so this is a potential issue. Which software can people recommend? One thats been suggested to me is this: https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/

Thanks

kicklite said:

From what I understand Disk utility doesn't properly clear out file fragments on an SD card which in time will affect write speed. I use SD cards for shooting video so this is a potential issue. Which software can people recommend? One thats been suggested to me is this: https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/

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Well I'm not sure about the part of "not properly clearing out file fragments". Formatting a drive of any kind will "properly" do that. That said, in a bit of reading I just did, that tool from SDCard.org supposedly is the preferred method of formatting these cards because it ensures it's done per the standards set by the SD Association. According to Wikpedia:

SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards have a "Protected Area" on the card for the SD standard's security function; a standard formatter may erase it, causing problems if security is used. The SD Association provides freely-downloadable SD Formatter software to overcome these problems for Windows and Mac OS X.[81] The SD Formatter does not format the "Protected Area", and the Association recommends the use of appropriate application software or SD-compatible device that provides SD security function to format the "Protected Area" in the memory card.

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I would just stick with their recommended tool. (EDIT: to clarify... use their tool "if" you need/use the security function, or if your camera requires it. If not, don't sweat it. If in doubt, just use it and call it a day.)

Thanks for your reply. Actually, I'm not sure about "not properly clearing out file fragments" either. This is the best interpretation I can give based on what I've read on various video related boards. According to various people, a PC will properly do a low level format whereas a Mac will not, leading to write speeds being insufficient in a card that otherwise would be. This, a number of them claim, is based on both technical knowledge and practical experience. It doesn't happen right away but supposedly will sooner or later.

According to various people, a PC will properly do a low level format whereas a Mac will not, leading to write speeds being insufficient in a card that otherwise would be. This, a number of them claim, is based on both technical knowledge and practical experience. It doesn't happen right away but supposedly will sooner or later.

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Unless someone can provide a testable technical basis for that claim, I'm thowing the BxxxSxxx flag on that one.

kicklite said:

Thanks for your reply. Actually, I'm not sure about "not properly clearing out file fragments" either. This is the best interpretation I can give based on what I've read on various video related boards. According to various people, a PC will properly do a low level format whereas a Mac will not, leading to write speeds being insufficient in a card that otherwise would be. This, a number of them claim, is based on both technical knowledge and practical experience. It doesn't happen right away but supposedly will sooner or later.

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Agreed with MacInWin. Sounds like FUD from Windows "enthusiasts" who've never used a Mac.

kicklite said:

According to various people, a PC will properly do a low level format whereas a Mac will not, leading to write speeds being insufficient in a card that otherwise would be. This, a number of them claim, is based on both technical knowledge and practical experience.

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I don't know if there's any truth to what you're reading or not (I agree…sounds like BS).

What I can says is…if you "talk" to enough "various people"…you can get just about any possible answer to just about any possible question. Which of course means MANY of those answers will be wrong…and only a few (or one) answer will be correct.

What I can tell you is this. If you start (for example) with a bare unformatted 32gig SD card…format it…and let's say it formats to 30gig. Now you have 30gig of storage space on this SD card.

Now let's say you use this SD card for a while. Saving & deleting files over & over again. And you decide you want to reformat the SD card again. If you reformat the SD card…and again it formats to 30gig (same as it did the first time)…what is the concern?

If the SD card (the 2nd time around) only formatted to say 28gig (instead of 30gig). Then I can see having a concern. Since there's a 2gig difference. But I'm guessing this isn't happening.

- Nick

In particular talking to Windows fan boys, they are all 'experts' on Macs lol! The formatting process will always use a small amount of free space on any drive.

+1 what Harry said. And... there is no such thing as "Low Level Formatting" a SD drive. Low Level Formatting went out years and years ago along with MFM hard drives - and could only be done at the factory.

What a bunch of FUD.

The only thing the formatter from sd card association is good for is for maintaining what they call the "Protected Area" for the SD card's "security function". What is this security function you ask? Why that is the area that keeps CPRM (Content Protection for Recordable Media) data.

Yep, you got that right, content protection. This area is not accessible through the file system. It's only accessible from devices that are cprm enabled. If you're not writing content protected media to the card, there ain't no need for that area - imho.

And formatting has nothing to do with "clearing out file fragments". File fragments are what are created during writes to a drive and pieces of a file being written to different areas of a drive due to there not being enough free contiguous space. This has nothing to do with Disk Utility and formatting the drive nor any other formatting utility but the way in which the various operating systems write to drives.