Develop Bugs

SD Card Randomly Appears Empty

Hey, I've had my Evo for a couple weeks now, and have recently started experiencing an issue that has been since happened quite frequently - the SD card will randomly appear empty, and I won't be able to add files to it. The only way to get around this, it seems, is to reboot the phone.
At first I thought my MicroSD card that came with the phone was defective, so I got Best Buy to exchange it today, but it just started happening again! My phone is rooted and running the latest RvU ROM, if that could have anything to do with it. Does anyone have any help, or is this just a hardware problem? (If it is, I'll just exchanged the phone at Best Buy, since I'm within my 30 days.)
Thanks!

vonStemmington said:
Hey, I've had my Evo for a couple weeks now, and have recently started experiencing an issue that has been since happened quite frequently - the SD card will randomly appear empty, and I won't be able to add files to it. The only way to get around this, it seems, is to reboot the phone.
At first I thought my MicroSD card that came with the phone was defective, so I got Best Buy to exchange it today, but it just started happening again! My phone is rooted and running the latest RvU ROM, if that could have anything to do with it. Does anyone have any help, or is this just a hardware problem? (If it is, I'll just exchanged the phone at Best Buy, since I'm within my 30 days.)
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing for me. I tried Baked Snack and now Fresh 0.5.3, both have the same issue. Rebooting seems to work for a short time, but it always fails when I'm using programs that access the SD a lot such as the Gallery app or the Camera. As long as I stay clear of those it seems to hold up a bit longer, but I've had it fail while using Astro File Manager too.
When I was running The latest stock OTA I had no issues. I posted a similar question in the threads for both ROM's with no response yet. Because of that, I was beginning to think I had a bad card too.
I don't want to go back to stock. I just can't understand why this keeps happening.

Glad to know I'm not the only one.. I just wish there was some resolution to this.
I contacted HTC and they said it wasn't a known issue with the phone, so they said I should go to Best Buy and exchange it. So maybe our SD slots are just defective?

I have this problem too. It empties every day it seems and I need to reformat the SD card just to get it working again. It erases all my pictures and video and is very frustrating.
It seems to happen most often when I am taking a picture or going into Gallery, but has happened in other instances as well.
I hope HTC releases a solution that addresses this.
Also, it tells me in the notification bar that the SD card is damaged or unsupported file type or something along those lines.
And for the record, I am running a stock Evo.

i welcome u guys to my world.i been having the problem since day one tried everything and nothing worked.fully rooted,new radio,tried few roms,formated SD card,put in a new SD card and still that random SD failure.i reboot about 3-4 times a day and its really irritating.im afraid i might brake my evo one day or jus claim for a new one.

GHOST99K said:
im afraid i might brake my evo one day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is how I feel

I'm tempted now to go back to stock and verify, but I never had a single issue on my phone until it was rooted. However, it's possible that the problem was there and I didn't encounter it.
If I take that step and find that it is still an issue on the stock OTA, I will most likely try to get the card replaced or have the phone if it persists after a new card.
It's very inconvenient and makes the camera pretty unreliable. Plus I am a field tech, and I store .pdf's on the card for different devices. If the SD is frakked I can't be sure I can get to important paperwork in the field.

It's not the SD card.I have already reformated the SD and even put a new 16gb SD card but same issue everyday.
Sent from beneath the earth using XDA App

It's definitely not the SD card. I've formatted it, gone to Best Buy and had the SD card replaced, and used a different SD card.
It could be the ROMs we're using, but I've got a serious problem with this phone if using a rooted ROM does this.. And few other people are experiencing the problem. That leads me to believe it's a hardware defect.

My suggestion jus get your phone exchanged ASAP.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Yeah.. I've contacted Best Buy and they'll let me know when they get their next order in

Unfortunately I am am outside my 30 day exchange period so I cannot do that.

Well, I hate to break it to you guys, but custom ROMs is not the issue. I am stock and have had my phone since launch morning (June 4) and today, for the first time, my SD card contents disappeared. I was changing wallpaper when the default wallpaper kept coming up as the wallpaper. Note that the when selecting a wallpaper, the gallery showed all my images (cached?) but when I went to Gallery, nothing was there. I pulled the battery to reboot and now the SD card contents are back.

I had the same thing happen with me. I've also experienced other strange things related to the card. When hooking the phone up to my macbook, sometimes files copy and sometimes they don't (to the card). I was thinking it was an app corrupting the card. I've tried large files (100-200mb) and small files (like apks or old video game console roms). It seems that when data is going to the card very aggressively, it doesn't wasn't to copy. What I mean by aggressive is like 2+ dialog boxes of files being copied at the same time.
More often than not, it seems like lots of small files pisses the phone off and it parts me back by bowling the card. Lots of files means hundreds to thousands.
I saw this thread awhile ago but didn't look at it until today. At least I'm not going crazy or even maybe have a bad card. The cards never gave me any problems with the devices its been in for maybe the last 3 years until last week.
I gotta find another card to try. I am using sandisk 16gb. Maybe a different brand? Anyone try that yet?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I'm doing a test now. I removed the suspect 16gb card from the phone and put in a 8gb card that has never been in the evo ever. I put the 16 in a sd adapter which goes into a usb adapter. All are official sandisk. I formatted the 16 in my macbook as fat32. I am now copying 8557 files to the card which size total is about 6.97gb. After a few minutes, I'm down to 6291 files to go and almost half way finished copying. I have not received one error message or anything that might lead me to believe there is something wrong somewhere. I'm starting to think there's nothing wrong with the card(s). It's the gd phone! I am so pissed now!!!! I keep looking back at the progress window and it's chugging along no problem. I am thinking about something tho. When I was changing cards I noticed that even when the card's lock bar was down, the card could wiggle a little. HMM. I'm gonna get a piece of thick paper and put it on top of the card and see if that helps make the card not want to wiggle as much when the lock bar is in place.
I will report back if I find out if it works or not in like 24 hours or less.
I don't think it makes any difference what rom you are running but I went to the one stock rooted "EVO_1.47.651.1_Rooted_stockrom.zip" one calkulin posted.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=712695
That link is just in case someone stumbles across this post later and wonders what I'm talking about.

So far, so good. I will give progress reports when I'm at work when I'm able to. I hope I may have stumbled across a simple fix to a defect.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I had the issue you guys are talking abou this is what I did to resolve my issue.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Just got a new SDHC card and simpleroot worked. The SDHC that came with my phone died. I placed a spare in there that was a 2gd regular micro and Hboot would not read the IMG for nothing.
If simple root is not working then it's the Sh!tty card acting up.
Happy ending for me.

vonStemmington said:
It's definitely not the SD card. I've formatted it, gone to Best Buy and had the SD card replaced, and used a different SD card.
It could be the ROMs we're using, but I've got a serious problem with this phone if using a rooted ROM does this.. And few other people are experiencing the problem. That leads me to believe it's a hardware defect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For those who post before reading the thread, I am STOCK and this also happened to me. Battery out/in fixed the issue (for now).

So far I'm going on around 16 hours without the card screwing up. If you wanna try this, get a business card. Pull the card out of the phone. Lay the card on the business card at a corner. Measure about twice as long and normal width. Cut the business card. Fold the piece in half length wise so its the same size as the sd card. If it's too big, snip the non folded end of the paper and measure it so that its the same size as the sd card. Put the card into the phone and make sure its ask the way in. don't force it to hard. Then hold the card down and slide the paper, folded end first, on top of the sd and into the card bay. Make sure the paper isn't sticking out of the card well where the battery would be on top of. Gently push and lock the lock bar down onto the card. If you have to push firmly then the paper is too thick. Place the battery in the phone and put the cover back on. That extra bit of thickness added to the card I think is keeping it from scooting around in the sd card well and judging by the size of the contacts on the card, it wouldn't take much movement to get off the contacts. The folded end under the lock bar and the other end being held down by the battery I think is doing the trick. Just power down before removing the battery next time.
So far, this is working for me and I'm keeping my fingers crossed...
Just another update and bump off the topic...
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I agree the ROM probably isn't the problem, but definitely come back and let us know if the paper helped at all. It could just be that the SD card is loose.. It seems like sometimes if my SD card stops being read, but I leave the phone alone, it'll work again later, without rebooting, which is odd.

Fried SD card

Unplugged my Desire from the charger yesterday to discover the SD card had failed totally. Rebooting failed to recognise it and once the screen switched itself off I couldn't get it back on. With SD card removed the phone seems fine but the card is not recognised in any reader now and can't even be reformatted. Did the card just die (it got very hot) or has anyone else had this experience?

A possible SD card failure not caused by the phone or reader. IVe seen this happen and be reported before with certain brands. You should return the SD for a replacement (assuming you have tried all the normal ways to try and read it)

I had my 32GB class 2 do the same thing, I whipped it out and put it into a USB reader then reformatted. I fully believe that its down to not 'ejecting' the card first before unplugging it since I selected the device (card) to be read as a drive.
Just be careful dude, its a royal pain restoring everything, keep a regular backup of your card if you can spare the GB. its's real time saver.
I was a bit worred too about the heat of the device effecting the micro SD card, but from what I read its still well within the safe requirements of the card even at 40C.
most cards come with 2 years+ warrantly especially Sandisk so check that out if you've well and truely screwed the card up (it happens, sadly.)

Had this same problem yesterday with an 8gb card. Just wont but with the card in the phone. So far it has done it twice in a week , one 4gb , one 8gb, both times while I've been using HTC's music application. Don't know if its just a coincidence or not...
Do you use a task killer? Wondered if I'm shutting something I shouldn't be.
Was it a goldcard?

Thanks for the responses. No task killer active and cannot reformat the card because no reader will recognise it. Guess it has gone to the great card graveyard in the sky

May it rest in peace my friend...I sympathise and am sorry for your loss...
Before purchasing a new one make sure that it's not something with the phone.Can you live a few days with the spare 4GB card that came with the phone?Fill it and use that for a few days and see if something similar happens again.Except for if you've been using that already...

could creating a ext cache partition have anything to do with it ?
i had the same problem but managed to get most my data back first time....stupidly i formatted it and carried on using it. couple of days it died compeltly !
learnt my lesson and make sure i backup every few days- pain yes but it's the same with any data if you don't want to lose it back it up !

...premature death announcement there. After a couple of days rest in a darkened jacket pocket, the card is suddenly visible to my laptop again! Clearly on its last legs as several files corrupted and it refuses to reformat but at least I rescued most of the data.
As usual the only backup you ever need is the one you didn't do!

Try formatting with a digital camera...
I had a similar problem with a corrupt SD card in my old phone. Computer wouldn't read it, but managed to format it using a digital camera after which it worked again (and still is).
Might be worth a try before consigning it to the bin...
G

How to convince them my SD card is broken?

I'm not sure this is the right place to ask this, but I'll give it a shot considering its about SD card partitioning for the Desire ROMs.
I recently bought an A-DATA class 6 card, 8 GB. The very 1st day I switched to this card (after I properly partitioned it with gparted), I had problems with the ext partitions. Nandroid backups were corrupted the moment they were done through recovery (tried Ra 2.0.1 and 2.0.0/CWM 2.5.6.7, all with the same problem), sometimes when my phone died suddenly (4 in 1 reboot into recovery) or even when I ran off battery and the phone shut down normally, after I turned it on the ext partition wasn't recognized, apps from phone were all missing, but fat32 was ok. In fact, I never had any issues with fat32 partition, except when I had corrupted files by nandroid backups and the phone was telling me "error: card is read-only" or something like that. When I mounted the card to PC it prompted me to scan the card cause it had problems, and then it was fixed. I repartitioned the card numberless times, both with gparted and in recovery when I had amon ra, and always the same problems. And now, it says the card has 3.6GB occupied, but if I get to count all the files in it, it barely gets to 1.5GB.
And lately I wanted to do a titanium backup of all my apps. My usual backups consist of 170-190MB, now after I performed a backup, most of the files were corrupted in it, and after the PC scanned for issues and fixed them, the backup folder had 25MB left, meaning all the other files were corrupted. How can I prove the store I bought this stupid thing from, that its broken? Cause I know it is, I switched to my stock card class 2 that the phone comes with, and everything is back to normal, no issues at all, it runs perfectly except its not that fast.
How will they believe me if the fat32 runs ok, they probably haven't even heard of ext partitions on SD cards...

Hey man. Sounds like a bit is a tough situation. I have an a-data class 10
And luckily it works fine.
I'm under the impression that with memory (ram anyway as I've returned
Many sets of dead sticks) is not tested if you say its faulty they take your word
and replace the part when it gets to them and either bin or recycle the "faulty"
Part. Thats just my speculation though from personal experience. I've had ram
Returned in a week and believe if the company had to test the ram first it would
Have taken much longer. May be worth a shot, worst case scenario they just send
You back your current card. Only other thing I can think of is that you stress the card
untill it actually does fail but that could take a hell of a long time.

esk02k said:
Hey man. Sounds like a bit is a tough situation. I have an a-data class 10
And luckily it works fine.
I'm under the impression that with memory (ram anyway as I've returned
Many sets of dead sticks) is not tested if you say its faulty they take your word
and replace the part when it gets to them and either bin or recycle the "faulty"
Part. Thats just my speculation though from personal experience. I've had ram
Returned in a week and believe if the company had to test the ram first it would
Have taken much longer. May be worth a shot, worst case scenario they just send
You back your current card. Only other thing I can think of is that you stress the card
untill it actually does fail but that could take a hell of a long time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah, its been on the same "stress" as the stock card, I'm having these problems since the 1st day I introduced the card inside, like I said.

lvnatic said:
Nah, its been on the same "stress" as the stock card, I'm having these problems since the 1st day I introduced the card inside, like I said.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no what i meant was that you stress the card untill it actually pops then send
it back.

esk02k said:
no what i meant was that you stress the card untill it actually pops then send
it back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, haven't thought of that, does the warranty even cover that?
How would I be able to heavily stress the card? I heard ext4 does that, but what does generally stress a SD card?

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-lightweight-tools-to-check-the-speed-of-your-usb-flash-drive-windows/
You could try Check Flash, seems to have a Burn it! mode which should be just what you are looking for

ooie said:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-lightweight-tools-to-check-the-speed-of-your-usb-flash-drive-windows/
You could try Check Flash, seems to have a Burn it! mode which should be just what you are looking for
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks great, thanks. Does it read it from the phone directly? Thing is, I don't have an adapter which could be mounted to the PC, only via the phone. Downloading now.

Strange SD Card problem

I had a strange problem happen to my SD Card on my SG3. I have a Patriot 16GB class 10 card that I used on my EVO 4G for a almost 2 year without a problem. After when I got my new phone I clean all folders that I no longer needed except my pictures and some applications. Put the card in my SG3 and everything was OK. I was able to copy files take a pictures and everything seems to work the way it should. Last week I was on a trip and during the process to taking a picture I got a message that my card was removed and basically disappear. I reboot the phone and nothing happen. then a little bit later I saw another message that card was found and everything show up again. Then I check do I have all the pictures and most of them were there except on a last one was (when card disappear) basically it was look like that picture was taken a half way. So I delete that bad picture and continue. A day later it happen again but this time when card show up again instead a normal card I have that message in notification bar with a little sd card that it says Blank SD card. then if I pull down and click on it phone is asking me to format the card. I try to mount the card but got the same message Blank card or unsupported file system. Ok so I didn't have at that time my adapter to plug in to my laptop and wait until I got home to try to repair the card.
Here is what I got now and I'm not sure is phone damage the card or card slot on the phone is not good.
I use minitool under windows and GParted as well under linux. Both of them recognize my card as 60 GB Unallocated space (it is a 16GB). when I try to recreate or format both of them said successful but card is not show up. I have to plug it back and then it goes again as a 60GB unallocated space.
Does any one know how to format a 16GB card as FAT32? I mean the settings I have to use to put to get back again this card as a 16GB not as 60GB.
Sorry for the long explanation and thanks for you help in advance.
P.S. I' not rooted and on LG8 update.

Bro,did to trid any other sd?
sent from my htc

ventzi said:
I had a strange problem happen to my SD Card on my SG3. I have a Patriot 16GB class 10 card that I used on my EVO 4G for a almost 2 year without a problem. After when I got my new phone I clean all folders that I no longer needed except my pictures and some applications. Put the card in my SG3 and everything was OK. I was able to copy files take a pictures and everything seems to work the way it should. Last week I was on a trip and during the process to taking a picture I got a message that my card was removed and basically disappear. I reboot the phone and nothing happen. then a little bit later I saw another message that card was found and everything show up again. Then I check do I have all the pictures and most of them were there except on a last one was (when card disappear) basically it was look like that picture was taken a half way. So I delete that bad picture and continue. A day later it happen again but this time when card show up again instead a normal card I have that message in notification bar with a little sd card that it says Blank SD card. then if I pull down and click on it phone is asking me to format the card. I try to mount the card but got the same message Blank card or unsupported file system. Ok so I didn't have at that time my adapter to plug in to my laptop and wait until I got home to try to repair the card.
Here is what I got now and I'm not sure is phone damage the card or card slot on the phone is not good.
I use minitool under windows and GParted as well under linux. Both of them recognize my card as 60 GB Unallocated space (it is a 16GB). when I try to recreate or format both of them said successful but card is not show up. I have to plug it back and then it goes again as a 60GB unallocated space.
Does any one know how to format a 16GB card as FAT32? I mean the settings I have to use to put to get back again this card as a 16GB not as 60GB.
Sorry for the long explanation and thanks for you help in advance.
P.S. I' not rooted and on LG8 update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows will format it just fine under Disk Management. The fact that its reading it as a 60GB... I'd bet on the card as bad. I have hours and hours trying to save thumb drives and SD cards. 97% of them had no hope. Sometimes the card reader can act up... but not likely, and the phone's kicking it out too. Try to stick with Kingston or SanDisk even if you have to pay a little more. Yes, Cards do go bad like that.

a454nova said:
Windows will format it just fine under Disk Management. The fact that its reading it as a 60GB... I'd bet on the card as bad. I have hours and hours trying to save thumb drives and SD cards. 97% of them had no hope. Sometimes the card reader can act up... but not likely, and the phone's kicking it out too. Try to stick with Kingston or SanDisk even if you have to pay a little more. Yes, Cards do go bad like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. It is look like that this card is going bad. It kind a surprise me since I didn't have any problems under my old phone. I will play a little bit more to try to repair it but....... looks like will be a lost a time.
Do you think that because it was a class 10 card causing a issue? I saw a couple treads but most of the SD card that people use are class 4.

ventzi said:
Thanks for the reply. It is look like that this card is going bad. It kind a surprise me since I didn't have any problems under my old phone. I will play a little bit more to try to repair it but....... looks like will be a lost a time.
Do you think that because it was a class 10 card causing a issue? I saw a couple treads but most of the SD card that people use are class 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think the class would be an issue. How old is your card?

The Root said:
I don't think the class would be an issue. How old is your card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably 1.5 year. I got my EVO 4G back in sept. 2010 and bought the card a couple months later when rooted my phone.

Yeah, like root said, the class wasn't the issue. The different phone might have pissed it off but you really never know. I never liked Patriot myself, but then some people like them. Gotta back stuff up or have it auto upload somewhere.

a454nova said:
Yeah, like root said, the class wasn't the issue. The different phone might have pissed it off but you really never know. I never liked Patriot myself, but then some people like them. Gotta back stuff up or have it auto upload somewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do have all the pictures auto uploaded to my DropBox account and all apps I backup on my PC. I just wondering if the card slot of the phone is bad. I have a new 4GB class 4 card. I will put in to the phone, format and try to see if it happen again.

last week suddenly received a message that the card was blank. did everything i could not to format it. finally gave in and tried formatting the sd card but couldn't. had to buy a new one. sounds like yours is going bad as well.

also try this thread as it has helped many
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1355528

a454nova said:
Yeah, like root said, the class wasn't the issue. The different phone might have pissed it off but you really never know. I never liked Patriot myself, but then some people like them. Gotta back stuff up or have it auto upload somewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I first got my SGS3 I used my old card from my OG Droid. I got an OTA update and my phone quit working (I got the "Unfortunately the process com.android.phone has stopped working" message). I took the phone back and they asked if I had ever had an SD card in it. I said "Yes, my old card from my Droid." I was told that this is a "known issue" with the SGS3 and that any SD card I used should be formatted in the phone itself. I'm not sure if this is the issue here, but it might be.

ventzi said:
I do have all the pictures auto uploaded to my DropBox account and all apps I backup on my PC. I just wondering if the card slot of the phone is bad. I have a new 4GB class 4 card. I will put in to the phone, format and try to see if it happen again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bet it will be fine. Only one why to know.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

a454nova said:
I bet it will be fine. Only one why to know.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope so. Thanks for you help.
P.S. I did play with couple more tools but unfortunately no luck at all. It is time to look for a new one.

Is my phone killing my memory card(s)?

Ok so i had a 32gb card and it started failing on my phone, it would work sometimes or ask me to format it, sometimes it would work fine so i assumed it was about to die soon so i was able to back everything up,.
Bought a new 64gb sandisk card, the one suggested from the accessories list...well i've been using it for about a week now and it just died on me today.
doesn't even get detected...
i never formatted, it, read that this phone could support it right away...well now nothing works and i've lost everything....again!!!
this is really frustrating...i've lost some major saved games and it's depressing
could it be the phone...or was it just a bad card
i've used the original charger and battery at all times...
any clues?

krazyq said:
Ok so i had a 32gb card and it started failing on my phone, it would work sometimes or ask me to format it, sometimes it would work fine so i assumed it was about to die soon so i was able to back everything up,.
Bought a new 64gb sandisk card, the one suggested from the accessories list...well i've been using it for about a week now and it just died on me today.
doesn't even get detected...
i never formatted, it, read that this phone could support it right away...well now nothing works and i've lost everything....again!!!
this is really frustrating...i've lost some major saved games and it's depressing
could it be the phone...or was it just a bad card
i've used the original charger and battery at all times...
any clues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look for File Restore Plus software. it will retrieve all of your lost files in your micro SD card. this happened to me a few times but this software saved my butt!

I may be wrong here but I seem to remember some people having issues withe the 64gb cards. Search around and youll probably find something.
Also check www.sdcard.org for more info on the sdxc cards and a sd formating tool that may help.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app