HP 50g & SD Cards: Performance, Format, Notes

[JDW]

Although we had discussed my two SD cards some time ago, today was the first time I tried to put both to practical use on my 50g. I've run up against problems.

When I use my partitioned card, I see it in File Manager as Port 3, but only the 32MB partition. I don't see the second larger partition. Why not?

When I subsequently select the SD 32MB partition in File Manager and then press the OK/F6 button, I see the following files:

TRASHE~1 (DIR)
FSEVEN~1 (DIR)
SD32MB (STRING)
~1.TRA (STRING)
and so on.

Those are hidden files put on there by MacOS X.

When I down-arrow to select ~1.TRA, then push the NXT button on the calc, and then push the PURGE/F1 key on the calc, I get the "Are You Sure?" confirmation. I press F1 for YES. But the 50g beeps and tells me the following:

Error:
Disk
Protected

But the SD is NOT Locked or otherwise protected. So why can't I delete that file?

I then tried to delete it another way by typing this:

:3:~1.TRA

And I then pressed the TOOL button on the calc, and then I pressed F5/PURGE. The ":3:~.TRA" vanished from the stack with no beep or error, but when I go back into the File Manager, the silly file is still there. But why? I've tried it without quoting the file name, using single quotes, and using double quotes, but to no avail.

Frustrated, I turned off my 50g, removed the partitioned SD card, then put in my 256MB SD card, which has only the one 256MB partition. Same problem on that card too. I cannot delete hidden files. Even worse, when I press F3/FORMA to format the 256MB card, I get the "WARNING" dialog and choose YES. The calc tells me "Please Wait..." for a second, but then beeps with the error:

Error:
Disk
Protected

But again, this SD is not locked or otherwise protected!

So I then put an equation on the stack. I then typed the following:

:3:X

I then pressed the STO button. But the calc beeps at me and says:

STO Error:
Disk
Protected

How do I resolve these problems?

I am able to put content on the SD card using my iMac, and then I am able to read that content off the SD and store that in Port 0 just fine. But the calc is not allowing me to delete files off the SD or format it or STO any file from the calc onto the SD. I don't understand why.

Thank you.