How come my Olympus SP-560 UZ digital camera only saves pictures to the internal memory and ignores the card?

Question

I've formatted 3 different xD cards (2 of them new), and nothing works. I've spent forever looking through the camera, and the closest thing I can find is the section on "backup" - which is dimmed and I can't access it. (It just skips from "memory format" -- which I've done -- to "language".

Answer 1

From page 66 of the manual:

"Pictures are not recorded to the internal memory when a card is inserted in the camera."  - This is pretty obvious.

From page 67:

"If you use a non-Olympus card or a card used for another application, such as for a computer, use [FORMAT] function to format the card"   - I assume you are formatting the card in the camera on not on a computer right?

Are you using a compatible card?

xD-Picture Card (16 MB - 2 GB) (TypeH/M, Standard)

If you've made sure the above three conditions are met, then it sounds like you've got a faulty camera.  Check your warranty expiration and contact Olympus about it.