Memory Card or Slot Corrupted - 122kb size

[Auzern]

Hello guys,

When I switched on my PSX console and tried to load a saved game, it said, "An error has occured reading the game data". I tried with all the games that I had game saves of; but it still failed. I even tried formatting with games that have options to do that with. But it still saved.
Now when I put my PSX Memory Card (1mb) in my PS2 console, it says 122 kb, and there is no save game in that. Its completely blank.
But when I trying saving or loading a game in PSX with that same memory card it still shows up the same message again ( "An error has occured reading the game data" ). If there really is an error, how does the PS2 detect the memory card and shows the faulty drive partition which is 122kb instead of 1mb.
I have lost all my 11 years save games for this reason. And also, I have tried it in the 2nd slot. It still shows up the same message. I also bought a new memory card cause I had got upset with this.
But guess what, it still shows the same message. Damn!! Is there something wrong with the memory cards are something wrong with the memory card SLOT.
And you will be surprised, the new memory card shows 122kb in the PS2 console too. I had first hooked it up to the PSX though and then tried saving which failed.

Now I have used original memory cards in the PSX and all give me the same error. Why is this happening? Is there any way to re-partition the memory card of PSX? I have tried uLaunchELF on the PS2 with this card and it shows me empty with 122kb remaining. Any help will be appreciated by the way. Thanks.

[psxscenefan1]

Damn!! Is there something wrong with the memory cards are something wrong with the memory card SLOT.
And you will be surprised, the new memory card shows 122kb in the PS2 console too. I had first hooked it up to the PSX though and then tried saving which failed.

The memory card reader in the console could be failing, thats the only thing I can think of since it affects different cards. If you have a pc adapter that can read cards you might want to try some data recovery software for flash memory, though it could be corrupted too much by now.

[Berion]

PSX mc have 16 blocks. Each block have 8KB. 16*8KB=128KB=1Mb. So, everything is ok (16s block is for table, it will not show in OSD).

About error:
It's memory error or controler damage.

[Auzern]

I don't think there is memory error because I have tried it with 3 different PSX memory cards.

I bet the memory controller is damaged.
Is there any fix for it?

[80T]

1. Try to play a different game in your PSX console and see if you can save. If you can't, go to -> step 4
2. In case you can, then reset your console and see if you can load the game.
3. If the save is there but you can't load the game, try loading that game into your PS2 console. If it loads the game save then your PSX has trouble reading from MemoryCard.
4. Try putting a PSX game into your PS2 -> save the game -> reset console -> try to load the game save.
5. Take your game off the PS2 and load it into your PSX -> see if it loads the game save -> If it loads then your PSX has trouble reading the MmoryCard.


Notes:

Be sure your PSX game region (PAL/NTSC) can be loaded both in your PSX and the PS2 (if you have a ModChip that would save you from this trouble)
Berion is right about the PSX MemoryCards: You must not confuse bits b with Bytes B. 1Byte = 8bits. So: 128 KB X 8 = 1024 Kb = 1 Mb
Another (bad) thing about PSX MemoryCards is that the physical memory chip is an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) and this kind of technology only allows a limited number of reads/writes to it until it becomes damaged/unusable.
I recommend you to make a PC adaptor [LPT port] to read/write your PSX MemoryCards when you have old/important data stored onto them.
Search Google for Memory Card Captor Sakura and you will find the necessary software and diagrams to build such an interface.

Last but not least, make sure you are using Genuine PS1/PSone MemoryCards.

[Berion]

I recommend you to make a PC adaptor [LPT port] to read/write your PSX MemoryCards when you have old/important data stored onto them.
Search Google for Memory Card Captor Sakura and you will find the necessary software and diagrams to build such an interface.

He mention that has PS2, so IMO better solution (much much easier) is make mc image by low level software i.e by Memory Card Annihilator v2.0.
Anyway, as i understand, he want wipe all data because of this error. He can also use MCA20.

[80T]

From my "experiences" with MCA, if the card itself it's troublesome, then it cannot do magic... I had a similar problem with a PS2 MemCard and it didn't helped me much.
I even tried to format the Card as 16/32/etc. MB but it would always stop at 99% :| I never tried MCA with PSX Cards...
And besides MCA I remember it was another similar elf but I can't recall it's name atm.

[Berion]

Memory Card Killer and Memory Card Formatter but i don't know if they work with PSX cards.

We have tried many cards with diiferent damages and always work. Interesting. Anyway, it's worth trying. ;]