It is aimed to detect, notify, and save an abnormal area in semiconductor
memory for greatly improving reliability. An inside of semiconductor
memories provided for a memory card comprises a user area, a substitution
area, an area substitution information storage area, and a management
area. An inside of semiconductor memories comprises a user area, a
substitution area, and a management area. The user area is a data area a
user can use. The substitution area is substituted when an error occurs
in the user area. The area substitution information storage area stores
area substitution area information. The management area stores
substitution information. The information processing section performs
substitution on two levels as follows. When detecting an operation
indicating a symptom of failure in a semiconductor memory area, the
information processing section performs area substitution during an idle
state of the memory card. When detecting a faulty operation in an area,
the information processing section immediately performs area
substitution.