FAQ

Q: What is the nature of an "Image"?

A: An Image represents the complete content of the usable data area of a medium. It includes all partitioning-, formatting-, and filesystem-data. Information that is specific to individual memory media   such as serial numbers are not part of an image.

Q: What is the nature of a "ShortImage"?

A: A ShortImage is almost like an image. The difference is that it does not include the whole usable data area of the medium, but it is reduced to the data area that is in use actually. Creating a ShortImage requires that the CopyStation supports the file system used on the medium. ShortImages are very useful when just a fraction of the usable data area is in use. This speeds up the copy process accordingly.

Q: Can I use third-party tools for creating Images?

A: Yes, as long as these tools create image files consisting of simple raw data of the usable data area starting at the beginning of the medium. altec CopyStations write images per default into .img files. CopyStations based on the altec PowerSoftware support additional proprietary .ii files (text-based). Additional information for the according .img file is stored there. However, these .ii files are not necessarily needed.

Q: I'm getting error messages about too small destination media although the original image is from the same manufacturer/type of memory medium.

A: As it turns out, especially in the low-price segment, often there is a dispersion of the capacities within one and the same product model. That is, although all memory media are labeled identically, their actual capacities slightly differ from each other. As a result, an image that has been created from a medium with a larger capacity cannot be copied onto ones with a smaller capacity.

To cope with that situation, altec CopyStations offer a feature that can be used in junction with ShortImages. After the shortened image has been written, every single target medium can be manipulated individually and adopted for their actual capacity. This requires that the file system used is supported by the CopyStation.

Q: Is it possible to duplicate memory media including their identification data such as serial numbers?

A: The specifications of all memory media (SD/MMC, Memory Stick PRO, CompactFlash, USB Flash Drive, etc.) do not provide mechanisms for altering these structures. Therefore it is not possible to change them. Possibly there are manufacturers that have implemented secret commands that can be used to change informations such as the serial number. In case of some altec CopyStations there is a chance to implement support for such commands. It is to negotiate with the manufacturer whether he   is willing to provide the according information so that these commands can be supported.

Q: Does the verification works with CRC or MD5 check sums or bit by bit checks?

A: All altec CopyStation works with a byte by byte check. This assures that all bits of the source and the destination media are identically. Working with check sum is less save since check sums reduce a great amount of data to a not unique integer (For example a data image with 4 GByte is reduced to
a 32 Bit CRC check sum). Also it is slightly slower, since the data have to be read too and the calculation needs more time than the simple compare operation.

Q: I found a MD5 option in the job settings. Does this option activate MD5 checks for the written data on the destination media?

A: No, this option is used to validate jobs and the associated images to detect changed images. To do this a MD5 checksum for the image is calculated at image reading time and saved into the image information file. When you save your job this MD5 checksum is also written to the Job-File. When loading the Job both MD5 checksums will be compared. When starting your job the software will read and calculate the MD5 checksum from the image again. The new checksum is than compared with that one from the image information file.

If you want to check writen data on the media please use the option "Verify image" or "Use File Copy verify". The verification of the data will be done in a byte by byte manner.

Q: I can not find a software update for my CopyStation in the Download section. What can I do?

A: In beginning of the year 2010 we replace many CopyStation related application with the PowerSoftware. So please check first if your CopyStation is compatible with the PowerSoftware. This is the case for the IQ CopyStation, the USB CopyStation, the FlashCard CopyStation III and the Lite CopyModules familys.

Older SD MultiCopyStation hardware can use the HighSpeed CopyStation software under Windows 2000 and higher.

If your CopyStation is not compatible with both of the application please contact our support team via mail.

Q: Why media do sometimes fail at a subsequent verification after a successfull write and verify operation?

A:

If you have plugged in a medium in different PC or device the operation system may automatically modify some of the data (for example file access time stamps). This is especially the case when using NTFS formatted media or you use the Microsoft Explorer for browsing the content of your medium. Since the standard setting for verification is done on a bitwise sector base altec CopyStations will mark that kind of media as failed. An alternative solution is the using of the FileCopy verification (needs FileCopy licence) which only verify the content of each single file.

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