[NTLK] MP2100 - Can't format flash card

[NewtonTalk]

> I just got a used linear flash card for my MessagePad 2100, a SMART 16MB
SM9FA8163IP280. 
> Every time I put it in and try to format it I get a -10551 error message.
Is there anything 
> I can try to fix it or is the card just broken?

-10551 means "Flash card is busy". Might be a good idea to give it some time
before trying to format it.
Is this a Cisco card? Used older cards of this manufacturer are often
unreliable, since they have been used in routers. Flash RAM chips have a
limited number of write cycles. In a Newton you'll never reach that number,
but in a router write cycles could occur any couple of milliseconds around
the clock. This is why Cisco regularly replaced these cards. Occasionally
some of these replaced cards pop up at eBay. 

Frank

-- Newton software and hardware at http://www.pda-soft.de