Develop Bugs

SD Card Unexpectedly Removed

I'm having the dreaded 'SD Card Unexpectedly Removed' issue. The card seems to work fine in other devices, but my Note 2 cannot deal with it. Mine is a SanDisk 32GB Class 4. It was working fine for weeks, and now all of a sudden, it loses the card every time the phone goes to sleep. Once the phone wakes up, it flashes the warning, then says 'Preparing SD Card', and it works fine until the phone goes to sleep.
I noticed that many Verizon Note 2 users are having the same issue...
http://forums.androidcentral.com/verizon-galaxy-note-2/231647-sd-card-unexpectedly-removed.html
Is anyone else seeing this problem?

It did happen to me with my sandisk 32GB class 4 card. I swapped it with a 16 GB card from a 2 year old
moto droid unused in my basement dump and it worked. It has been over 3 wks now and no issues. I dont think it is a device fault but sense that many note 2 users have bumped into this issue lately..something fishy.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

Hi guys.. I've same issue last night.. All data missing.. Cannot open on computer also.. Any solution?
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

I had this problem also. I had 32 gb class 10 sandisk sdcard 1st time I bought this phone. It was working fine for the 1st 3 weeks but after that I got that dreaded message everytime I wake my phone. I thought its my phones hardware but when my brother and I swapped cards, that message never appeared again. I currently have a 16 gb class 10 sd. My brother has tmobile galaxy s2, that message showed after 2 days of using that card. I reformatted that card and checked it for errors multiple times. There was no problem. I dont know probably some samsung phobes have issues about sdcard 32 gb and above. I have read it in galaxy s3 forums also.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app

I'm actually having a similar problem with my sn2 not reading my 32gb SanDisk card, I'm going to try to reformat it and see what happens. Just got the phone two days ago.

I fixed my problem by installing the new twrp 2.3.2.3 recovery using goo manager. I followed these instructions from the twrp website.
In goo manager tap menu on your phone and hit install openRecoveryScript, tap yes, verify filename displays your devices name and hit yes. The file will download and install on your device, now reboot.
Hopefully this helps people

I have a sandisk 64gb class 10 I havent had this problem as of yet...
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app

I'm just gonna throw this out there... It kinda seems like the latest Samsung phones are happily corrupting SD cards right and left. Now, maybe some cards are more susceptible to this, but the fact remains that this is not just anecdotal anymore. We need to get the various phone groups that are seeing this issue to band together and contact Samsung for a fix.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app

My Sandisk class 10 32gb card died on me too. Went to best buy exchanged for another one, reformat it. ... so far so good.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app

Mine worked fine for a while, too. I'm not sure what triggered it, but I think the phone did something to it. The reason I think this is simple. I have had many devices with SD cards in them, and never have I had one go bad. This phone was using a card that I had used for months before in another phone, and within a month the card was bad. When I looked online, I found hundreds of cases of the same issue, mostly with Samsung S3 and GN2 phones. It seems too much to be a coincidence.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app

havocd said:
I have a sandisk 64gb class 10 I havent had this problem as of yet...
+1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I am having the same issue. It is with all SD-Cards I try after some time. I have 2 32gb Sandisk class 10 that I tried and a handful of 2 and 4 gb class 4 and class 6 cards. After sometime, 20 minutes to a couple of hours I starting getting the "SD Card unexpectedly removed" Then a quick scanning s Card message. I tried formatting the cards with different computers and even using my Linux machine to see if it would fix it.
Has anyone come up with a solution yet? Should I swap the phone out for another one since I have ruled out the SD-Card as being the problem.
My 14 days hits this weekend and it is easier to get things done at T-Mobile before that time frame expires.

How about card format? All fat32? Exfat?

All fat32 for me. Phone is stock, holding out on root for awhile so I can learn why Touchwiz is so hated.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium

Maybe format on your computer in exfat, maybe make a difference?

stevessvt said:
Maybe format on your computer in exfat, maybe make a difference?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
curious about this as well.
you guys not having problems, you format exfat??/ what is the difference between exfat and fat32?

I tried ExFAT, but the phone did not recognize it at all.
I wonder if anyone has had this issue with a Samsung brand card?
Swyped from a hand-held Galaxy.

Im getting the same problem with my 32 gb sandisk sd card but luckily amazon is still willing to exchange it out for me
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

I formatted mine to exfat to see what would happen. I checked online and this phone supports exfat natively. I moved my files back on to the card after the format and then tossed it in the phone and it worked. It has been over an hour and still has not removed itself unexpectedly.
Will report back in tomorrow after I give it some time to settle.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium

It is still removing itself almost everytime the phone goes to sleep. The last time it actually unmounted and tols me it was safe to remove the sd card when I woke the phone up.
What cards are people running? I have 2 I am testing this with:
SanDisk ultra 32GB SD-HC U1 (comparable to class 10), 1 is formatted to exfat and is half filled with mp3's, the other is fat32 and half filed with mp3's.
The mp3's are different on each card, I have a folder of music that I always throw back on the card but thought it might be corrupted so last night I made a new folder and added fresh music to see if that was the issue.
I found the official sd formatter program from the SD Alliance to try. I just formatted 1 of the cards with it and am moving the music back now. It will be a while though. From sd to computer the speeds are 12 to 30 MB/s but from computer to sd it is 2 to 5 MB/s?
Hope to have this figured out by the end of the day.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium

SD card fried.

I had asked for some insigh on the issue of my external sd card unexpectedly ejecting itself (not physically) , and someone told me the fix was to format it on the computer first, then put it back in thw phone and format it. The problem got even worse and then deleted all my data, and now wont even recognize that the card is even inserted. Am i screwed? Im hearing other people are having this problem as well. Whats the deal!?
Samsung Galaxy Note® II

Will the sd card read on the computer?
Also when you format your card.... That is basically deleting your data....

DarkManX4lf said:
Will the sd card read on the computer?
Also when you format your card.... That is basically deleting your data....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes i forgot to mention that i formatted on computer and in the phone and then reloaded my data, and then the problem came back worse and it wiped my sd card out.
Samsung Galaxy Note® II

Funny you mention that about your sd card, my lexar 32gb card got fried. Lost all data too. I now have the 64gb SanDisk microsd card so hopefully it lasts longer than the year that I got out of the lexar
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

pwhitersxs said:
Funny you mention that about your sd card, my lexar 32gb card got fried. Lost all data too. I now have the 64gb SanDisk microsd card so hopefully it lasts longer than the year that I got out of the lexar
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My 16gb from Samsung lasted 2 years when I had got the Epic 4g non touch.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium

Having the same issue as well. I bought a sandisk class 10 sd card 32gb when I got my note a month ago. I started to notice the same messages about my card once I updated out of the lk1. My card is draining my battery life as well. So right now I'm experimenting with a blank 8gb sd card in my phone. It's only been a few hours but I havent had any kind of sd card messages. I think the sd card is the problem...why...idk
Sent from the Great Big Galaxy

Has this happened to anybody whom switched their external memory for the internal? I ask because I would like to do that, but if the SD card fails will it perma-brick the phone?

my 32g SD card (forgot which brand) fried one month after i got my note 2. it was fine the night before, then the next morning a message on my phone said something about it cant read the SD card. my computer couldnt even read the card. lost everything from pictures and videos, man o man

I've gone through two micro sd's, both Sandisk, a 32GB and a 64GB.
The 32GB card was Fat32, the 64GB card was ExFAT. They both worked okay for a while, then I noticed the Android media scanner running too often, then I started getting the "unexpected removal" messages. In both cases once the "unexpected removal" messages started the battery life becomes unacceptable.
I was storing about 26GB of ALAC music files, using iSyncr->iTunes and Rocket Player.
I tried formatting on the phone and starting over and formatting on the computer and starting over, and low-level formatting the 32GB card. It would work for a little while and then the behavior would start again.
I'm not using any card at all now. I may try again with something other than a Sandisk to see if it makes a difference, but I don't feel like gambling the cost of a new card for a while.
[ Edit ] If it matters, my Note2 is not rooted, and running the stock ROM with all updates.

I had the same thing happen to me this week with a Class 10 Sandisk 64GB Ultra. I had had no errors since purchased at the time I got my Note 2 (release day). Suddenly the card was unreadable mid day on the Note 2. It couldn't be read by PC either. I did reformat on the PC and was able to recover some of the data with the Sandisk recover tool purchased from the Sandisk website. After reformatting I did try to use it again in the Note 2 but it failed nearly immediately. I am in the process of replacing it under warranty and am now using the 16G Sandisk card that I had been using in my Evo 4g
I am using the leaked stock LK8 kernel with H20 rom with no other issues otherwise.

pvgas said:
I had the same thing happen to me this week with a Class 10 Sandisk 64GB Ultra. I had had no errors since purchased at the time I got my Note 2 (release day). Suddenly the card was unreadable mid day on the Note 2. It couldn't be read by PC either. I did reformat on the PC and was able to recover some of the data with the Sandisk recover tool purchased from the Sandisk website. After reformatting I did try to use it again in the Note 2 but it failed nearly immediately. I am in the process of replacing it under warranty and am now using the 16G Sandisk card that I had been using in my Evo 4g
I am using the leaked stock LK8 kernel with H20 rom with no other issues otherwise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung makes the best flash memory.
Try a Samsung microsd card.
-Wizzle

XxLostSoulxX said:
My 16gb from Samsung lasted 2 years when I had got the Epic 4g non touch.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still have that same 16gb micro sd that came with my OG epic. It's been two years exactly this month! I guess I should back everything up soon
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium

dammit. you guys are all freaking me out now. LOL
Time to back up.

rawdikrik said:
dammit. you guys are all freaking me out now. LOL
Time to back up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ferreal. I still use my 16GB from my mytouch 3G fender edition hahah
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium

I'm still using the one that was inside my Hero
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium

That's why it's always good to keep a backup of all the data on your phone on a hard drive. Then, if you have to replace your sd card, you can just drag the file right onto it.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

I would try the HP disk format tool. I've fixed several corrupted flash memory devices with it.
http://download.cnet.com/HP-USB-Disk-Storage-Format-Tool/3000-2094_4-10974082.html

This seems to be a relatively known issue with specifically SanDisk 32GB Class 10 UHS-1 red/grey cards and the Note 2. When it started happening to me, I pulled out the card, tested the crap out of it like a dozen times, reformatted the card in my PC, and put it in my Acer A500 tablet and put the Patriot 32GB Class 4 that was in the A500 in my Note 2. Both are working fine now for the past week.
There's a more extensive discussion of this on the T-Mobile Note 2 forum:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2031009

Did you remove that little blue plastic sheet covering the card's aluminum housing? I was was half through doing that before I decided that I better check the internet first.

Micro SD Card Problems

I seem to be having trouble with my SANDISK 32GB Class 10 micro SD card. When I first got the Note II in November, I had a PNY card that was giving me trouble, so I got the SANDISK card to replace it. it's been reliable until this morning, in that the card lost all data, and even after reformatting it, it seems to work for about 10 minutes, thenphone does not recognize it. It's been trouble free for almost 3 months.
I seem to read that these SD cards on the Note II is extremely unreliable in general. Perhaps I need to switch brands. What would the very very very best brand of the micro SD card would you recommend? What micro SD card would be the most durable? I've always thought that SANDISK was good, but how about other brands? I'd like to keep using a 32GB Class 10 card if possible. I'm looking to use a card that will last more than 3 months.
Also, I'm completely stock on my phone...as I did not do any rooting.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. BTW...I love the Note II!!
Thanks,
Mike

mikefly562 said:
I seem to be having trouble with my SANDISK 32GB Class 10 micro SD card. When I first got the Note II in November, I had a PNY card that was giving me trouble, so I got the SANDISK card to replace it. it's been reliable until this morning, in that the card lost all data, and even after reformatting it, it seems to work for about 10 minutes, thenphone does not recognize it. It's been trouble free for almost 3 months.
I seem to read that these SD cards on the Note II is extremely unreliable in general. Perhaps I need to switch brands. What would the very very very best brand of the micro SD card would you recommend? What micro SD card would be the most durable? I've always thought that SANDISK was good, but how about other brands? I'd like to keep using a 32GB Class 10 card if possible. I'm looking to use a card that will last more than 3 months.
Also, I'm completely stock on my phone...as I did not do any rooting.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. BTW...I love the Note II!!
Thanks,
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd try taking it out and cleaning the connections. Its worked for me in the past.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium

I had a samsung 32gb class 10 that would keep resyncing by itself after a SD card failure. I thought it was my card going out so I bought a new one to replace it. After a day or 2 with a Sandisk one I noticed it doing the same thing so now i know its not the SD card but the reader. Havent figured out a fix yet

A class 10 64GB sandisk card has been in my Note 2 since the day I received the phone. I haven't had any issues with it, and have about 20GB of space left.
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Micro...SDQU-064G-AFFP-A/dp/B009QZH6JS/ref=pd_cp_pc_0
It was on sale for ~$40 last November
Running Stock, unrooted.

My wife's N2 has the exact same issue. I'm about to send it back... And she's the one that never jacks with ROMs and crap...

Since I installed saber kernel it has been happening alot . Almost every five minutes... or less.
Sent from my SGH-I317M using xda premium

Same problem here. Had the 32gb sandisk class 10 for about 3 weeks and now everyime I turn the phone on it said sd card unexpectedly remove. Tried switching to the pny 32gb class 10 and the same thing happened. Is there a fix for this, and how is the samsung 32gb class 10 sd card?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium

Samsung is fine ive made a thread a while back about this I do believe its the 32 gig san disk cards I bought a samsung and works fine . The sandisk started doing it in my wifes gs3 I thinks its just there cards tbh
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

My 64 gb class 10 sandisk works great, its in my second phone now. You have to be careful when you remove them so you minimize scratching and damage it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium

I had issues with my SanDisk 32 as well try this
Put card into pc (windows) save any files you want to keep
Open terminal command where your car is at and format the card (I use fat32) then type
F dsk /h
Worked for me no issues since

+1
Swapped my Sandisk for a friends PNY. Fine ever since.
tyshemi said:
Samsung is fine ive made a thread a while back about this I do believe its the 32 gig san disk cards I bought a samsung and works fine . The sandisk started doing it in my wifes gs3 I thinks its just there cards tbh
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

my wifes 32gb sandisk also crapped out. didn't work in her phone, my note II, or pc in several different readers. tried for a few days and nothing. i put it in the pc a week later and up pops the card. quickly d/l everything off the card.
so weird

I can't believe a reliable card made by Sandisk is giving issues, guess I'll get a samsung card next time.

Had the same issue with my card, removing and re attaching constantly. Got SanDisk to replace it, just took about 7 days turnaround time. New one is still working fine. Let's hope it stays that way.
Sent using Galaxy Note 2 w/ CleanROM 4.0.5

Astom22 said:
Had the same issue with my card, removing and re attaching constantly. Got SanDisk to replace it, just took about 7 days turnaround time. New one is still working fine. Let's hope it stays that way.
Sent using Galaxy Note 2 w/ CleanROM 4.0.5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Sandisk 32 GB also had this issue. Can you expand on the steps you took to get Sandisk to replace your card?
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app

My 64 and 16 are both great. Only the 32 is having an issue. This seems to have a very high failure rate for a reputable chip maker...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app

riprod said:
My Sandisk 32 GB also had this issue. Can you expand on the steps you took to get Sandisk to replace your card?
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Contcted through their website first, then called their customer service number for their site. It will go faster if you tell them it is mounting and un mounting in your phone and doing the same on your computer. Because my computer would register it, I they wanted to wait and see if it would fail on my mac. I believe the response to my online query through their site got me response to send it back. They sent me a packing label and everything.
Sorry to ramble, but go through their site and you will have a new one in about 7 days.
If none of this made sense, sorry, I'm tired. Pm me questions and I will do my best to be more clear. Good luck.
Sent using Galaxy Note 2 w/ CleanROM 4.0.5

I gave up and started to use Dropbox more. I'm not happy about it but it is what it is.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

I've been having this problem as well. I figured it was just an issue with the phone because the card works ekse where. One thing I've noticed is when it says the sd card has been removed I can go into my files and pull up what I need. I just can't go directly into the app to open it (I.e. gallery or music player).

Rockamakis said:
I've been having this problem as well. I figured it was just an issue with the phone because the card works ekse where. One thing I've noticed is when it says the sd card has been removed I can go into my files and pull up what I need. I just can't go directly into the app to open it (I.e. gallery or music player).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried everything they suggest to fix it, multiple reformats, both internal and with a computer. Once it starts doing that, it won't stop. It's the card, not sure what, but it's just a bad card.
My new one is working fine, so far.
Sent using Galaxy Note 2 w/ CleanROM 4.0.5

Kingston 64gb cards keep corrupting.

A while ago I installed a new 64gb card to replace my 32gb card. Shortly thereafter I began to get "sdcard is damaged..." messages. I formatted and started over with my Kingston 64gb card. It lasted for a day and then became corrupted again. A month ago I sent my card in for warranty when this kept happening. New card shows up in the mail and it is happening again. Works flawlessly for a few days and then corrupt.
I'm running ManelScout4Life 's latest paranoid. Three last corruption was noticed after flashing the update.
Any suggestions?
Rocking the Paranoid Android 3.15 on my Note 2

Try formatting the sd card on computer in a different format

Maybe there's a chance the card is not legit?
I've always had these kind of problems when purchasing fake cards that look almost identical to original ones.
Try using it with an USB adapter on your pc, see if it corrupts after transferring a good amount of data.

I can try exfat but I'm pretty sure it's not supported in paranoid.
Rocking the Paranoid Android 3 on my Note 2

I truly believe it's an issue with the phone. There's been a bunch of threads about this phone killing memory cards
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

I know the card is legit because it is a warranty replacement from Kingston. I have no issues with my previous 32gb card. I don't get why 32 would work but not 64...
Rocking the Paranoid Android 3 on my Note 2

[Q] Galaxy s3 sd card killer

I have been replaced 3 sandisk sd cards two class 4 and sandisk ultra class 10.
Do you think its software? hardware? or sandisk?

I have read in several places that Sandisk has issues. Especially the class 8 and higher class cards cause they get too warm.
Sent from my wickedly awesome Galaxy S3 using my fingers. Duh!!!

>SanDisk cops to malfunctioning Micro SDs in Galaxy S3s<

I have the 32GB Ultra High Speed Sandisk card. One day the phone froze, forced me to pull the batt and rebooted. After reboot, it notified that the sd card was damaged. I pulled the sdcard and plugged it to my laptop, all worked fine. Put it in my tablet, all fine too. Well lo and behold, I put it back in the phone, rebooted into recovery, cleared cache/dalvik cache, and it worked fine again since. Weird glitch I guess. I almost reformatted the sdcard for no reason.
S-beamed from my GSIII via xda premium

I also noticed that it happens only when its less than 2gb left on the card
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

[email protected] said:
I have the 32GB Ultra High Speed Sandisk card. One day the phone froze, forced me to pull the batt and rebooted. After reboot, it notified that the sd card was damaged. I pulled the sdcard and plugged it to my laptop, all worked fine. Put it in my tablet, all fine too. Well lo and behold, I put it back in the phone, rebooted into recovery, cleared cache/dalvik cache, and it worked fine again since. Weird glitch I guess. I almost reformatted the sdcard for no reason.
S-beamed from my GSIII via xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting to hear that there is a possible "fix", wonder if it would work for stock/non-rooted folks to clear cache in stock recovery...

I have 32gb SanDisk that just got fried last night. This is about to be my second time getting it replaced smh. Even my 16gb has lasted me 2 years.
Sent from my Galaxy S3

Kingstone.. 16GB dead
when i woke up the notification of (unexpected sd card removed) was there. and now anything can read my SD card 16GB class 4........... wtf is wrong with this S3?
I have the latest firmware XXEMH1

First, you're in the wrong forum. I believe thst firmware belongs to the international s3.
But it sounds like your sd has simply just failed. It does happen sometimes.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4