Sony A200 - Please help!

Hey all,

So I have a Sony a200 and I just bought a new memory card for it. I've tried to connect the camera via usb in order to format the compact flash card before I use it but I haven't been able to do this because, when I connect my camera to (several) PCs, nothing happens.

I connect the a200 via the USB port to the PC and no information comes up at all, as if I haven't done anything. The drive does not appear on My Computer. On the camera, though, it won't let me see the display screen that usually appears when it's not connected to anything, which leads me to believe that there is some sort of connection going on between the computer and the camera.

Can someone please suggest how I can solve this problem? I'm vacation away from home at the moment and I really need to start taking some pics :P I'm worried if I don't format my lexar platinum ii compact flash drive before I take the photos, it's going to make me do so when I get home and then I'll lose all the files (that's happened to me before with another memory card).

Anyway, please help if you can; I'd really appreciate it :)

Thanks in advance.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mouma

Hey all,

So I have a Sony a200 and I just bought a new memory card for it. I've tried to connect the camera via usb in order to format the compact flash card before I use it but I haven't been able to do this because, when I connect my camera to (several) PCs, nothing happens.

I connect the a200 via the USB port to the PC and no information comes up at all, as if I haven't done anything. The drive does not appear on My Computer. On the camera, though, it won't let me see the display screen that usually appears when it's not connected to anything, which leads me to believe that there is some sort of connection going on between the computer and the camera.

Can someone please suggest how I can solve this problem? I'm vacation away from home at the moment and I really need to start taking some pics :P I'm worried if I don't format my lexar platinum ii compact flash drive before I take the photos, it's going to make me do so when I get home and then I'll lose all the files (that's happened to me before with another memory card).

Anyway, please help if you can; I'd really appreciate it :)

Thanks in advance.

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Format the flash card with the camera (in the menu), not the PC. Take a couple of pictures. Connect the USB. Those pic files should show up. - TF

Thanks for responding. Ok, so I formatted the memory card on the camera as you advised. I'm now back from vacation, though, and I'm still unable to connect the camera to my pc and upload the photos. Does anybody have any suggestions as to how I can do this? When I connect the a200 to my computer, a red light appears on the back of the camera but nothing happens on my computer screen... :rolleyes:

Any help would be greatly appreciated! :)

Here is what I see with an A350:

Turn camera off.
Connect USB to PC & camera.
Turn camera on.
LCD says something like 'Initializing USB' for a couple of seconds and then goes blank.
Red light comes on at the same time and stays on for a couple more seconds.
Open Windows Explorer and look for the new 'drive'.
Look through the folder tree for the one with the files (On mine= 100MSDCF).

TF

I had never hooked my A200 directly to any of my computers before tonight. I use 1 or 2 GB CF memory cards, so that I can change cards when changing location, then use a separate card reader to transfer my photos.

Anyway, I hooked up my USB cable, then turned on the camera.

As Old Clicker said, the camera display showed "Initializing USB". Then the computer installed drivers (it said) to use the camera as a disk drive.

I went to "Computer" found a new drive, G in my case, which opened to show Folder "DCIM" which contains Folder "101MSDCF" where I found all my photos.

Either XP or Visa should give similar results. If you get no messages on your computer, the cable might be bad. A replacement should not cost too much, though Sony should replace it if faulty.

Let us know how it goes.

Phil

Hey,

Thanks for your suggestions. Just to let you know, it did turn out to be a faulty cable, so I got myself a replacement and everything's working fine now.

Thanks very much once again for your help :)