Develop Bugs

Is my microsd card dead?

A couple of months ago I purchased a 16gb microsd card from ebay.
I bought it for only $15 but I think I now understand why it was so cheap...
The card itself was new and all, but unbranded. So I think it's safe to say that it was a counterfeit sd card I still have the card right now and I can store music, movies, files, etc in the card; HOWEVER, when I try to boot android from the card I keep getting the "unable to mount to sdcard" error.
Is my card broken/dead? And if so, is there any way to fix it besides buying a new one??
I'm planning on buying a new one if there is no absolute way in fixing the card. What would you guys recommend for a new sdcard??
Thanks!

urkrnboy90 said:
A couple of months ago I purchased a 16gb microsd card from ebay.
I bought it for only $15 but I think I now understand why it was so cheap...
The card itself was new and all, but unbranded. So I think it's safe to say that it was a counterfeit sd card I still have the card right now and I can store music, movies, files, etc in the card; HOWEVER, when I try to boot android from the card I keep getting the "unable to mount to sdcard" error.
Is my card broken/dead? And if so, is there any way to fix it besides buying a new one??
I'm planning on buying a new one if there is no absolute way in fixing the card. What would you guys recommend for a new sdcard??
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't even work with that SD card knowing it's counterfeit. Did you try to use another Android type? Did it work before?
Me, I wouldn't even trust the damn thing. Go get yourself a nice Sandisk microSD card (like you shoulda done in the first place )

rr5678 said:
I wouldn't even work with that SD card knowing it's counterfeit. Did you try to use another Android type? Did it work before?
Me, I wouldn't even trust the damn thing. Go get yourself a nice Sandisk microSD card (like you shoulda done in the first place )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I should've but being a poor college student every penny counts
And yes, android DID work before...this error started popping up recently. I also heard from other sites/forums that msdcards CAN go dead.
I'll pick one up tonight. Any suggestions?
I'm thinking of a Transcend 4gb class 6.

I dont know what to say about the SD card, other than doing a format with the Windows Command prompt and also formatting the boot sector, but I would recommend a SanDisk. I have never had a problem, and the transfer rates are amazing. I have an 8 Gig now, and im either getting a 16 Gb or waiting to find a 32 GB

thesyntax said:
I dont know what to say about the SD card, other than doing a format with the Windows Command prompt and also formatting the boot sector, but I would recommend a SanDisk. I have never had a problem, and the transfer rates are amazing. I have an 8 Gig now, and im either getting a 16 Gb or waiting to find a 32 GB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just got home from Fry's.
I ended up purchasing a sony microSD 4gb class 4
I know Sony is a reputable brand so I trust them. But if any of you know any cons with Sony microSD let me know! I can already see a difference in speed with this new microSD.
Yipeeee!

Blank SDXC card since this morning

I've not seen any messages from other users anywhere in this section of XDA. So i was wondering if any of this sounds familiar to anyone of you.
I bought the 64gb SDXC card from Sandisk 2 weeks ago. Formatted it in the phone when prompted after i inserted it. After this i used it for over 2 weeks and had no problems whatsoever..
This morning i woke up and the phone said it had a blank SD card in it and asked me if i wanted to reformat it...
Since i have a lot of pics, video's and other personal files on it. This is really not on my wishlist.
This weekend when i get back home, ill try to recover my files and try to reformat the SDXC card. Which i bought from a proper store so it's really not a fake since i paid over 70 euro's for the thing.
Was just wondering if more people have been experiencing any problems with these cards? Or what might be the problem with it. Furthermore, when i formatted the card in the phone itselve. Dit i formatted it into FAT32? I think it was still Exfat myselve, but this is just a Q a friend asked me.
Oh btw, i did not root the phone, so no SU or other tricks. Just a stock version.
P.s. Sorry, i had my eyes shut when posting. This should be in "Questions section" My apologies to the Mod's

Looks like your card corrupted and might still work if you format but I reckon you should get a replacement.

Hmm that's not really the answer i was hoping for. Since the card is only 2 weeks old. And what sais the new card won't be corrupted either then within 2 weeks. I am not looking forward into spending 70 euros every other 2 weeks for a new SD card and losing my data all the time.
There must be some cause to what made this happen..

Sorry mate but when this happens it's almost 100% certain the card's f ***ed, I mean it's happened to me plenty times and if you keep the card you just sitting on a timebomb of lost data.

Maybe if it's a faulty card i can get a new one since i just bought it 2 weeks ago thrue warranty service.
140 euros for 1 card is too much..

Yeah it is a faulty card so they have to replace it, but tell them this has happened more than once though because it just makes it easier.

It helps if you tell us which ROM & kernel you are using. I had the same issue with 2 of my 64gb when using AOKP with Siyah & his exFAT vold.zip mod. Since I have two 64gb cards, I formatted one with exFAT & FAT32 on the other in linux. I'm currently using AOKP & a FAT32 formatted 64gb card with no issues.
I do have a nandroid of Omega 6.0 so if I need exFAT on my 64gb for large movie files, I can go back to that.

It happened to me 2 times., when I first put my card in it said it was blank and asked if I wanted to format it. I did and the next day it said the same thing. Then I format it in my computer put the card back in the galaxy and said the card was blank. Fat32
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

@RMXO
As i said in OP i'm using stock ROM. I did not alter the device in any way.

Got my money back. Can buy another in time. Will do with 32gb now. Kinda worried it 'll happen again. Since Samsung never officially announced the device to be compatible.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

Erikdeperik said:
Got my money back. Can buy another in time. Will do with 32gb now. Kinda worried it 'll happen again. Since Samsung never officially announced the device to be compatible.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I was pretty sure Samsung did say the S3 supports adding up to 64gb external storage.

msgnyc said:
Actually, Samsung did say the S3 supports up to 64gb SDXC external storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ist more a kernel thing... reading exfat, ntfs, fat32 and so on, so normally compatible in sdxc means the kernel can read exfat. Otherwise you have to format to fat32

Twiz kernels support the exFAT fs but AOSP/AOKP does not and card has to be formatted with a FAT32 fs in order to work in those ROMs... I had this same issue were my card stopped working after a week or so as well. I purchased it from Amazon so I have been able to return it for a full refund but I've been seeing more and more similar issues so am not sure if I should order another 64GB or a 32GB... either way, definitely try and get a refund, good luck!

It's a format issue. SGS3 has a problem with exFAT above 32GB of storage which eventually corrupts data after a certain amount of data has been reached on the sdxc card IIRC, so you have to format it to fat32 if you are planning to use more than that. Problem is windows cannot format 64GB in fat32 format, so you need to find 3rd party programs to do such task.
I believe 32gb exFAT is fine as plug and play however.

SD card not being read

Okay, I've not really payed much attention to my Play at all, I've probably picked it up once this week to realize the sd card was not being read, after formatting it and trying over 3 sd cards I come to believe something is up with the phone itself, My S3 also cannot read the sd card, any suggestions, I think its an issue with the phone itself, I've flashed back to gingerbread and still nothing.

TheCraig said:
Okay, I've not really payed much attention to my Play at all, I've probably picked it up once this week to realize the sd card was not being read, after formatting it and trying over 3 sd cards I come to believe something is up with the phone itself, My S3 also cannot read the sd card, any suggestions, I think its an issue with the phone itself, I've flashed back to gingerbread and still nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Format it with a computer.
This worked for me...
Sorry for my bad English. It's not my native language.

If the microSD is not being read, put it in a BlackBerry. The Blackberry should ask you to format the card so it will be usable. For some reason, this worked for me and now my microSD is working fine. I already added a new UHS-1 card by Sandisk to my cart before I tried to fix it. It saved me some money .
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

Try to plug your sd card, when the phone is on/stqnd by...
I use 2 Gb micro sd n get work, before i do that, my 32 Gb n 16 Gb can't read on my phone n its broken...
After I use the 2 Gb micro SD, i buy the new one 32 Gb, n hola, it's working again...
Sent from my R800i using xda app-developers app

[Q] Anyone have problems with 64GB SanDisk SDXC card?

I have a Bell Note 2 and I recently bought the 64GB SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I card. Since using it, I noticed that (when installed) the Device Status of the phone changes to Modified and I can't check/download Android updates from Samsung. Also, the Samsung Video Hub app won't let me use external storage to save movies (which I could do using my old 32GB PNY card). The card seems to read/write okay though.
I contacted Samsung by email, the reply was laughable (solution was for a different issue on a different phone). I also contacted SanDisk and they suggested reformatting to FAT32 using a utility from www.sdcard.org. I haven't tried this yet but I know that FAT32 will reduce file sizes to 4GB. I don't know if it will have an effect on the read/write speeds of the card.
Just wondering if anyone else using this card was experiencing the same issues. If you haven't checked, maybe you might want to.

I miss the build quality, sleekness, and how quick the battery would charge/how slow it would drain.

outkast22 said:
I miss the build quality, sleekness, and how quick the battery would charge/how slow it would drain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, you lost me there....

I've been looking at that same card. I'm definitely interested to see how this resolves for you.
-----
I would love to help you, but help yourself first: ask a better question
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

I just bought one.I formatted to fat32 using a third party formatter from the web called eause formatter.Everything is working good now on mine.

NaughtyBot said:
Sorry, you lost me there....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He posted that twice already in the "What iPhone users miss" thread...

No problems here. It even worked in my ancient Desire Z, TF101, and HTC Raider
Sent from my SGH-I317M using xda premium

Somehow I had my 64gb sndisk hot corrupt. I had to reformat.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium

Well, I tried to do what the SanDisk guy told me but the formatting utility that he mentioned doesn't have the option to change file formats. Started out as exFat, still exFat. Some of you have mentioned using other formatting/partitioning utilities - the folks at www.sdcard.org say the following:
"The SD Formatter was created specifically for memory cards using the SD/SDHC/SDXC standards. It is strongly recommended to use the SD Formatter instead of formatting utilities provided with operating systems that format various types of storage media. Using generic formatting utilities may result in less than optimal performance for your memory cards.
The SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards have a "Protected Area" on the card for the SD standard's security function. The SD Formatter does not format the "Protected Area". Please use appropriate application software or SD-compatible device that provides SD security function to format the "Protected Area" in the memory card."
So there you go.

I am using the card with the t-Mobile version and it working fine.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

Works without any problems in mine.

The weird thing is that it starts out okay and only shows up after I've reloaded all my apps. Even then, I can still read and write to the card. I just can't get updates because it says that my phone is modified. I can't see how an app would cause it. There are no side-loaded apps. And it doesn't happen with my 32GB card.

Just a quick update for anyone who might be wondering....
After making this thread, I went to my local BestBuy and bought another SanDisk microSDXC that was exactly the same as the one I had. I put the same files on the card and the phone did exactly the same thing. I did discover however that the problem shows up when I reboot the phone with the card installed but doesn't show up (at least not right away) when I unmount/hotswap/remount the card with the phone left on.
Then I took the card to the BellAliant store where I bought the phone and had them try the card in a brand new phone. Same problem on the new phone.
Nothing funky on the card, just my songs (transferred using DoubleTwist AirSync) and my photos (transferred via PC). This card hasn't been reformatted and my phone hasn't been rooted.
So I don't know what's going on, if its only a problem with Galaxy Note 2's that are being sold in this area. I can't believe that no one else is having this issue.
Anyway, I put in a support ticket with Samsung (again), not expecting anything new. The Samsung tech that I spoke with did say that only TWO (I think) 64GB microSDXC cards were tested and approved for the Note 2 and that the SanDisk was one of them. Also, the girl at the BellAliant store said that they were told that the phone only worked with a TOTAL of 64GB (internal + external) but I KNOW she was wrong about that. Just some of the things you hear when trying to troubleshoot something that no one seems to have an answer for....

iMHO you really should format it fat32 and retest.
-- other suggestions for tools --
Might search for mini partition tool or gparted live cd. I've used the gparted live cd to partition my 64gb sandisk previously for dual booting my og atrix.
-- I'm sure there are better suggestions on tools, but I strongly suggest converting it to fat32 before further testing / actions.

The Note II ONLY supports FAT32
When I got my new 64GB SanDisk card I powered off the phone. Pulled the back cover and replaced my 32Gb with the new 64GB micro SD card right out of the packaging and then replaced the cover and powered it up. Phone recognized it and accepted file transfers to it without issue. No problems to date and I have been using it for 3 weeks without issue.

ExFAT works fine with my note 2 on perseus. Doesn't play well with note2core though
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app

If the Note II only supports fat32, then someone needs to tell my note because it's working fine with my card on exfat. stock kernel and all.

I too have bell note 2 with 64gb sandisk and everything is fine. I jusy put the card in the phone and formated with phone. Its exfat btw.
I suggest u to format the card with phone so it can format with the appropriate fike system.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

warfanax said:
I too have bell note 2 with 64gb sandisk and everything is fine. I jusy put the card in the phone and formated with phone. Its exfat btw.
I suggest u to format the card with phone so it can format with the appropriate fike system.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See, that's the strange thing. The card DOES "work" - it formats fine and I can transfer files to and from it. The ONLY problem is that, when I put my files on it, the status of my phone changes to "modified". Then, when I go to updates, it won't even try to connect to the servers, just tells me that my phone is modified and that updates are not available. As I mentioned above, I've duplicated the problem with two identical cards and in two different phones (one of which was in-store, brand new).
I realize that I can just take the card out of the phone when I know an Android update is available to download, I just don't always know when updates are available. In either case, doesn't seem like it should act that way. And I didn't want to force-format the card to FAT32 with a 3rd party format utility because that would destroy the "protected partition" on the card and void the warranty (those 64GB cards are expensive).
I understand that I might just have to live with this, it's just odd that no one else is experiencing it. Think I'm going to let this thread die. Folks on XDA tend to not like re-reading the same thing over and over. Thanks to all who replied.

NaughtyBot said:
See, that's the strange thing. The card DOES "work" - it formats fine and I can transfer files to and from it. The ONLY problem is that, when I put my files on it, the status of my phone changes to "modified". Then, when I go to updates, it won't even try to connect to the servers, just tells me that my phone is modified and that updates are not available. As I mentioned above, I've duplicated the problem with two identical cards and in two different phones (one of which was in-store, brand new).
I realize that I can just take the card out of the phone when I know an Android update is available to download, I just don't always know when updates are available. In either case, doesn't seem like it should act that way. And I didn't want to force-format the card to FAT32 with a 3rd party format utility because that would destroy the "protected partition" on the card and void the warranty (those 64GB cards are expensive).
I understand that I might just have to live with this, it's just odd that no one else is experiencing it. Think I'm going to let this thread die. Folks on XDA tend to not like re-reading the same thing over and over. Thanks to all who replied.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you think formating an sd card with fat32 would void the warranty? Never heard such thing before. You can format any file system you want.

Note 2 ruined the 2nd sd card

Hi, It ruined the first one, then I bought 32GB SanDisk and it ruined it, what's happening? Can it be fixed?
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

Take it out and format them to FAT32 and try again because some card came as exFat. Good Luck

I don't know if you should blame the phone or the card. I had a 32GB Sandisk and had nothing but problems with it. I changed to a smaller Kingston card a few months back and not had a problem since.

Dmwitz said:
I don't know if you should blame the phone or the card. I had a 32GB Sandisk and had nothing but problems with it. I changed to a smaller Kingston card a few months back and not had a problem since.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
u should blame the card, its official that 32/64gb sandisk cards dont like new samsung phones. anyway send it to sandisk and you will receive "updated" version of that card which dont bug with sammy phones.

ahkiongkc said:
Take it out and format them to FAT32 and try again because some card came as exFat. Good Luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you thank you thank you, it worked again