Develop Bugs

Strange problem with a 64GB Sandisk micro SD

Hello people
I have a 64GB original Sandisk micro SDXC to use with my NOTE. It used to work fine and didn't seem defective at all until the recent 3 weeks. When I 1st realize something is wrong with it, I was attempting to reset my phone to factory and thus I backed up all data on internal SD. Then I transferred backed up files to a place (well, at least I thought) they would be left untouched on my external SD. After resetting phone I wanted to restore data, open SD direction - Where are the files I just copied a while ago?? They weren't there. Like they were never copied. A day later I deleted a folder I didn't want on the micro SD, all good. After a while the folder re-appeared there, including all the content in it! I thought it's something to do with the file manager (stock "MyFiles" manager) and tried Filexpert, FTP client, SSH. I even took the card out of my phone and tried to delete that folder from a PC. Nothing helped. When I attempt to delete it is successfully removed and there is the ability to recalculate space usage statistics without the removed folder, BUT Soon as I restart/power off/power on/dismount/re-mount, the folder is revived. I tried to copy a single file, just to sustain my concern. The file successfully transferred and stored in card. I could see it on phone and use it, all fine. I then restarted my phone - the file was no longer there, GONE! like never copied before.
I though reformatting the card would solve the problem. On phone - settings->Storage->Format SD card->yes->yes. "Done" message appeared, but nothing really happened. I inserted the card back in my PC, ran the Format process and shortly I got an error message "Unable to complete format process". Neither Quick nor full format work.
Did anybody faced a similar problem like this? Please help me out with any advice, I'll appreciate it!

Try here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1826077

squicky said:
Try here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1826077
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the fast reply.
Unfortunately, that thread doesn't suit my specific issue.
The thing is, my card is acting like a sort of "Read Only" device, only with the ability to temporarily modify things on it, until next "refresh".
Format is impossible in any way I tried - exFAT \ NTFS throw the same error "Windows was unable to complete the format".

mustasusi said:
Format is impossible in any way I tried - exFAT \ NTFS throw the same error "Windows was unable to complete the format".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why mine was sent to SanDisk (RMA) - I'm on first of probable four weeks of waiting for the replacement. I hope you will find a competent technical consultant :silly:

squicky said:
That's why mine was sent to SanDisk (RMA) - I'm on first of probable four weeks of waiting for the replacement. I hope you will find a competent technical consultant :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was hoping to sort this without any special efforts like going out of home. I need to check if mine is still under warranty, but sure isn't any workaround regarding this? I'd rather save time or the 128GB may come out while I'm still waiting my replacement...

mustasusi said:
I was hoping to sort this without any special efforts like going out of home. I need to check if mine is still under warranty, but sure isn't any workaround regarding this? I'd rather save time or the 128GB may come out while I'm still waiting my replacement...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine was brand new, so I haven't got chance to even try it out properly But as I wrote on that thread, I've tried every possible option and non of it worked - otherwise the consultant I was spoking to wouldn't even let me do RMA.

[Q] Everything disappeared

So I was copying some stuff to SD and unplugged the USB cable. When I looked with root explorer, everything on the internal storage is gone. Not hidden, gone. Any one else see this?

Does restarting your phone fix this?

Nope. I've searched around can't find anything situation quite the same. I had it plugged into my pc, was downloading a file, could not see the file after it completed, even after a refresh. Looked in emulated\0\downloads ah! there it is. Moved it, unplugged, bam! everything gone. Fortunately most of my stuff is cloud or backed up elsewhere. Lost some pictures from this morning. Hate that, I had stuck my tractor pretty good and had to get a roll-back to get it out, had 3 nice pics...

chip.hughes said:
Nope. I've searched around can't find anything situation quite the same. I had it plugged into my pc, was downloading a file, could not see the file after it completed, even after a refresh. Looked in emulated\0\downloads ah! there it is. Moved it, unplugged, bam! everything gone. Fortunately most of my stuff is cloud or backed up elsewhere. Lost some pictures from this morning. Hate that, I had stuck my tractor pretty good and had to get a roll-back to get it out, had 3 nice pics...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, this is NOT idea, but it sounds like you corrupted your internal while unplugging.
I would, do what we all try to avoid doing..
wipe internal in recovery.. or even from a CPU.. CPU would be A LOT easier.
Biascally erase internal, which will hopefully fix it, but then you need to adb-sdideload a ROM as your internal is wiped and we have no sd card slot..

andybones said:
No, this is NOT idea, but it sounds like you corrupted your internal while unplugging.
I would, do what we all try to avoid doing..
wipe internal in recovery.. or even from a CPU.. CPU would be A LOT easier.
Biascally erase internal, which will hopefully fix it, but then you need to adb-sdideload a ROM as your internal is wiped and we have no sd card slot..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Andy, What is the command to sideload a rom with adb? Also, do you happen to know of a website that has a reference of adb commands? I am trying to put together some commonly used adb commands and other useful info that I can refer to as needed when tinkering with my phone.
Edit:
I forgot to ask, what are the commands to wipe the internal memory?

Touch Screen is Unresponsive and I Need to Back-up My Phone

AT&T SGS3 running AOKP 4.2.2
I dropped my phone and broke the touch screen. It displays, but is unresponsive to touch commands. I'm looking to:
-Back it up on my PC or External Card, and
-Get it back to stock. I paid for the extra warranty so they'll just send me a phone before I even send mine back in, but I at least want to make a reasonable effort to cover up my rooting. I can just imagine them deciding I owe them $600. Basterds.
I have read the related threads, and they gave me some ideas, but I wanted some fresh thoughts. I currently have CWM on it, and I know you normally can't see the external card with CWM, but I haven't had a chance to poke around too much because I'm still at work.
I'll keep you guys updated.
Thanks.

Mendax_ said:
AT&T SGS3 running AOKP 4.2.2
I dropped my phone and broke the touch screen. It displays, but is unresponsive to touch commands. I'm looking to:
-Back it up on my PC or External Card, and
-Get it back to stock. I paid for the extra warranty so they'll just send me a phone before I even send mine back in, but I at least want to make a reasonable effort to cover up my rooting. I can just imagine them deciding I owe them $600. Basterds.
I have read the related threads, and they gave me some ideas, but I wanted some fresh thoughts. I currently have CWM on it, and I know you normally can't see the external card with CWM, but I haven't had a chance to poke around too much because I'm still at work.
I'll keep you guys updated.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even though the phone doesn't respond to touch does the computer recognize it as a storage device when you plug it in? If so you should be able to back up your photos and personal files. You could even do a nandroid in recovery then dump those from internal storage to your PC. However I've never tried restoring a nandroid backup to another phone.
Or if you already had USB debugging active you could likely fetch the files you want using adb through terminal but I couldn't help with that.
Just some of my thoughts
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

OK I just did a backup to my external SD card. CWM had a specific option for it, which originally I thought would be the obvious course, but I read on here that CWM didn't normally see external storage for some reason.
I just hope my external card is big enough. It should be.
*EDIT* Error on the data back-up. Probably not enough space. Is there anyway I can check what the issue is? because it would be really easy to buy a bigger SD card.
Also, are there any issues with restoring onto another phone? Would I just have to flash the same ROM onto it before restoring?
Thanks

m1batt1 said:
Even though the phone doesn't respond to touch does the computer recognize it as a storage device when you plug it in? If so you should be able to back up your photos and personal files. You could even do a nandroid in recovery then dump those from internal storage to your PC. However I've never tried restoring a nandroid backup to another phone.
Or if you already had USB debugging active you could likely fetch the files you want using adb through terminal but I couldn't help with that.
Just some of my thoughts
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would like to think that I had USB debugging on but I'm not entirely sure. Knowing me it would have been one of the first things I did.
I'm at work and they have a security guard against data transfer via disk. I can't see the actual storage, just the media Icon, or whatever that is. This may just be a result of the security settings here.
I'll have to check all this at home

Mendax_ said:
I would like to think that I had USB debugging on but I'm not entirely sure. Knowing me it would have been one of the first things I did.
I'm at work and they have a security guard against data transfer via disk. I can't see the actual storage, just the media Icon, or whatever that is. This may just be a result of the security settings here.
I'll have to check all this at home
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK I'm not seeing the storage when I USB to my desktop (Windows 7). Lame. I thought it might be that easy.
Hmm. Can't I use Odin or something to back-up to my desktop, then mount the files?

Mendax_ said:
OK I'm not seeing the storage when I USB to my desktop (Windows 7). Lame. I thought it might be that easy.
Hmm. Can't I use Odin or something to back-up to my desktop, then mount the files?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also having trouble getting it to go to download mode. It starts to, then reverts to normal boot up.
A new phone's on the way, but I need to get some files of this one, and get it back to stock before I send it in.
What's the likely hood they would charge me for the phone if I send them back the broken phone with a custom ROM? Especially considering that it was undoubtedly a hardware issue and we paid for the extra warranty.
They already processed the return and shipped me a phone. They would have to get my phone, boot it up, and get mad enough to want to punish me, rather than just processing the refurb. I think it's highly unlikely they would try to rescind my warranty, but I'm really trying to give a college try at getting it to stock.
Anymore ideas would be appreciated.

m1batt1 said:
Even though the phone doesn't respond to touch does the computer recognize it as a storage device when you plug it in? If so you should be able to back up your photos and personal files. You could even do a nandroid in recovery then dump those from internal storage to your PC. However I've never tried restoring a nandroid backup to another phone.
Or if you already had USB debugging active you could likely fetch the files you want using adb through terminal but I couldn't help with that.
Just some of my thoughts
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, so I'm thinking about what you say about "dumping my nandroid onto my desktop". Would there be a way to access the files from this image using my desktop? There has to be some sort of "virtual droid" or emulator package where I could mount the data.
Thanks. This sucks

removes newouis
I gave up on recovering my pics and media. They weren't that valuable.
I flashed a stock ROM, but I didn't Triangle Away so my counter reads "1". Do I need it to read "0"?
I performed a factory reset hoping to wipe everything, including my personal photos and media, but there seems to be some confusion as to whether or not this deletes your pics and media. I performed this through the stock recovery as there is no way for me to do it through my ROM without a touchscreen.
What's the latest verdict on this? I read a few threads and it seems people still aren't in agreement.
Does a factory reset/delete through the stock recovery delete EVERYTHING including pics and media? If not, how can I do this? I was thinking that I need to flash CWM again and do some formatting/partitioning?
I'm really trying to read all I can, I just don't have hours to do this right now. I'd greatly appreciate some help.
Thanks

The stock recovery will not delete anything stored on internal storage. AFAIK cwm has the options to and you can use the volume buttons to scroll up and down and power to select the choice.
Making the iPhone jealous one user at a time.

mkfryan said:
The stock recovery will not delete anything stored on internal storage. AFAIK cwm has the options to and you can use the volume buttons to scroll up and down and power to select the choice.
Making the iPhone jealous one user at a time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK so I was finally able to look at my storage on my PC via USB, after getting it back to stock ROM, and the reset appears to have deleted everything. There are no pics or vids in the DCIM folder where in the past this is where they've always been. I'm going to content myself with this observation.
Now I just need to set my flash counter to 0. It's at 1. Although I think it's highly unlikely they're going to retro charge me for a phone that's already on the way. Also, my screen has been degrading over time. Now I believe I can't see anything on it. Is it still possible to use Triangle Away when I can't use or see the touch screen. I'm sure I'd have to go from the ADB shell or something. Any thoughts on this would be great. Thanks.

[Q] Data recovery on Xperia S (rooted)

Hi all,
Just wanted to start by saying, big thanks to DooMLoRD and the rest of the xda-developers forum for providing me the tools to get root access to a friends phone, who has recently accidentally deleted all their photos and videos. If we are successful, I'll definitely be suggesting that they make a donation to Doom for his epic contributions
I'm trying to help them recover the lost media. I know that typically performing data recovery on a phone requires root access, so I have gone ahead and done this. On with...
My question:
I've got an Xperia S running Jellybean (4.1.2) which is rooted. However attempting to use my data recovery tools on the phone, the device is not shown as a storage device. As you may well be aware, the S does not come with external storage. The S also has the 'mass storage mode' removed. Nice one Sony, give professionals another reason to avoid your products in the future...
I don't want to Flash the phone since any added files will start destroying the potentially recoverable data (plus I'd simply rather not format the phone if possible).
Is it possible to mount the internal storage of the Sony Xperia S as a drive so that I can run my PC based data recovery tools on it?
I imagine App Store apps are too lightweight to handle a file-based undeletion. If I could just see the device in my recovery apps I'm sure I'd be in business! I've attempted Recuva and R-Studio.

Doing some more research (like a good little n00b) I imagine I'm going to need SD Mounter.
I'm a little thrown off because 'SD' usually describes SD cards (of which the Xperia S has none). Also, the screenshots (for SD mounter) seem to indicate it's for ICS so I'm not sure if there's going to be a compatibility issue there.
Am I barking up the wrong tree by making this assumption? Should JellyBean have access to the mass storage and the option is simply not showing for some reason? Anyway, I'll continue working under my assumptions until someone suggests otherwise...
To get SD Mounter running, I'm going to need BusyBox. The problem is, I'm trying to read the BusyBox installation FAQ, and I'm finding it very vague. Like...
and save it under the name "busybox"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but it does not specify WHERE. Make a folder called 'busybox' on the root folder of the phone? Somewhere on my PC (the page suggests its for the PC rather than the phone)? Also I'm seeing Linux-looking command lines, but I'm on a PC... can I run this via the command prompt in Windows? I downloaded the 'binaries' like it said, but there aren't any executables in here...
Can anyone shed some light?

There's an app called BusyBox Installer, that installs it correctly on my Xperia S. That SD Mounter app works perfectly on 4.1.2, though. I use time to time. It just messes up a bit with Media Scanner, requiring me to do a reboot on the phone to make it work again.
I wish you lot of luck trying to recover your files. I once tried something like that, but came unsuccessful. There were some media I wish I had saved, but it wasn't THAT important, so I just gave up.
Suggest to your friend, though, to get an account on Mega, Box.net or Dropbox. All of them has auto backup of camera media to the server. All of them has options to backup only on WiFi, and even when charging only. The first two has 50 Gb of free storage for life (Box, you just need to sign with your Xperia device), and the later only 2 Gb, but you can get more and more with promotions.
Alternatively, he can enable the Google+ Auto Backup. There is 15 Gb (shared with Gmail and Google Drive) for pictures on original resolution or unlimited on 2048px, compressed. On Google+, though, you have the Auto Awesome, which make some awesome images.
Hope it helped. If I can help any further, just tag me
Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk

Hey Felimenta97, thanks for your swift response!
Felimenta97 said:
There's an app called BusyBox Installer...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see 'BusyBox Installer' in the Play Store, is that the one? Seems strange that the Play Store would add an app that requires rooting. Just wanna make sure I shouldn't be looking for it somewhere else (plus I'm away from that phone at the moment)
Felimenta97 said:
It just messes up a bit with Media Scanner, requiring me to do a reboot on the phone to make it work again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's okay. I've warned them this process might even brick their entire phone. They are prepared (I hope) for complete loss/compromised apps
Felimenta97 said:
...I wish you lot of luck trying to recover your files. I once tried something like that, but came unsuccessful...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*touches wood*. Gah I'm suddenly 10 times less confident this file recovery is gonna work. Wish me luck! They'll be crushed if I can't get their media back...
Felimenta97 said:
...get an account on Mega, Box.net or Dropbox...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh trust me, I've already given them the lecture
Thanks for your help!

TheWaste said:
Hey Felimenta97, thanks for your swift response!
I see 'BusyBox Installer' in the Play Store, is that the one? Seems strange that the Play Store would add an app that requires rooting. Just wanna make sure I shouldn't be looking for it somewhere else (plus I'm away from that phone at the moment)
That's okay. I've warned them this process might even brick their entire phone. They are prepared (I hope) for complete loss/compromised apps
*touches wood*. Gah I'm suddenly 10 times less confident this file recovery is gonna work. Wish me luck! They'll be crushed if I can't get their media back...
Oh trust me, I've already given them the lecture
Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I'm a lazy person, who can't find a way to break quotes into multiple parts (serious, how do you Do that, without having to write the quote code every time? It is not much, but I'm really lazy, so yeah.
Yep, that's the app. There's no reason for Google to block root apps. It's a function of the OS itself, just hidden from users. It's one of the easiest things to do on a Nexus device, after all. It's hidden because, if used without caution, can soft brick your device. But, don't worry, that shouldn't do any harm. At it least it hasn't with my device until now haha
As I said, I had already lost lots of stuff, and I didn't bothered much to go any further to recover it. It was a simply Install Recuva, run on the SD card and see if I could restore anything. Nothing? OK, no worries. As you already mentioned in your first post, avoid at all costs writing new files to the SD Card partition.
About the lecture, yeah, I imagined you had already told them, but it doesn't hurt to tell anyway.
About the SD Card on the Xperia S, another technical info you might or might not know, and also doesn't hurt to tell. Until Android 2.3, devices with a big internal storage required a partition for cache, one for data (apps and their own data), one for system, and one SD Card. The last one in Fat32 (plus others, but those are just too small and insignificant, for most, anyway) Think of a normal hard drive with plenty of partitions. Since Xperia S was developed (and launched) with 2.3 (one of Sony's biggest mistakes with this phone), it had to follow those "guidelines".
With Android 4.0 and beyond, the above mentioned data and SD Card turned into one partition, in Ext4 format. That data partition stores both apps and their data, and also other types of media, like media, documents, and etc. That storage goes into a mounted folder.
Anyway, again, wish you good luck. If they aren't very close friends/relatives, you should charge some money for all the hassle if you recover haha
Sent from my SGP311 using Tapatalk

Felimenta97 said:
how do you Do that, without having to write the quote code every time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, actually I still kinda do. #hen I hit 'reply' I empty the quote block, copy the empty quote block a few times, then copy-paste the parts of the text I'm replying to as I go
Felimenta97 said:
avoid at all costs writing new files to the SD Card partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah absolutely.
Felimenta97 said:
Until Android 2.3, devices with a big internal storage required a partition for cache, one for data (apps and their own data), one for system, and one SD Card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jeaz. Thank god I don't have to eff around with that!
Felimenta97 said:
With Android 4.0 and beyond, the above mentioned data and SD Card turned into one partition, in Ext4 format. That data partition stores both apps and their data, and also other types of media, like media, documents, and etc. That storage goes into a mounted folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't need to re-format the internal storage of the phone to attempt recovery do I?
Thanks again Felimenta!

TheWaste said:
Haha, actually I still kinda do. #hen I hit 'reply' I empty the quote block, copy the empty quote block a few times, then copy-paste the parts of the text I'm replying to as I go
Yeah absolutely.
Jeaz. Thank god I don't have to eff around with that!
I don't need to re-format the internal storage of the phone to attempt recovery do I?
Thanks again Felimenta!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not in Xperia S case. As I said, it is on Fat32, so it is easily mount-able on Windows.
On any phone with Android 4.0 or more, you'd need a Linux to do the recovery. You can't format it, or else you will turn the device into a really expensive paperweight.
Sent from my SGP311 using Tapatalk

Writing to externalSD...

I'm having issues that I cannot be sure if its affected by Googles dropped support of writing to externalSD or not.
When I hook my phone up to the laptop via USB I do this to transfer music to the micro externalSD, which is 64GB card, into my Music folder. The first thing I do is make a new folder on it to label the folder by band name. When I do that it just sits there idling and won't change names from New Folder to a band name folder. Same thing happened when I tested another way by just dropping a music file on it. It just acts busy and never processes the transfer.
The only way I've gotten it to work was taking the micro externalSD card out of the slot of the phone and putting it into the bigger card then insert it into the laptop and do my work that way. It works that way but I can't tell if its that KitKat issue that's affecting it or its something else.
Has anybody been transferring files via USB or doing what I do?

heXacode said:
I'm having issues that I cannot be sure if its affected by Googles dropped support of writing to externalSD or not.
When I hook my phone up to the laptop via USB I do this to transfer music to the micro externalSD, which is 64GB card, into my Music folder. The first thing I do is make a new folder on it to label the folder by band name. When I do that it just sits there idling and won't change names from New Folder to a band name folder. Same thing happened when I tested another way by just dropping a music file on it. It just acts busy and never processes the transfer.
The only way I've gotten it to work was taking the micro externalSD card out of the slot of the phone and putting it into the bigger card then insert it into the laptop and do my work that way. It works that way but I can't tell if its that KitKat issue that's affecting it or its something else.
Has anybody been transferring files via USB or doing what I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use the Samsung Kies application, it works. At least it works for me using Kies. Haven't tried just using the file explorer.

The external SD restriction is only from within the OS itself. It only affects third-party file managers (or any app trying to modify files on the external sd). Doing anything on a computer should work. Something is wrong with your phone.
I've had this happen when my devices' OS gets messed up. Factory reset (or reflash when I was using custom roms) usually fixes it. I don't know the details, but something with the way the phone presents its storage to the computer gets messed up.

I only hit the idle if my phone screen is off, if I keep it awake it writes like a charm

thanitos said:
I only hit the idle if my phone screen is off, if I keep it awake it writes like a charm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah and file transfers will slow to 0kb/s and eventually (after a long time of waiting) the computer will say something about the device not being found. Right?
This is what I was saying. As long as you aren't running a custom rom (which you can't on the n910a), then a factory reset SHOULD fix it.

spexwood said:
Yeah and file transfers will slow to 0kb/s and eventually (after a long time of waiting) the computer will say something about the device not being found. Right?
This is what I was saying. As long as you aren't running a custom rom (which you can't on the n910a), then a factory reset SHOULD fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I just keep my phone awake though, not really interested in factory reset, lol, maybe the op will though, I just don't transfer enough stuff

thanitos said:
Yeah, I just keep my phone awake though, not really interested in factory reset, lol, maybe the op will though, I just don't transfer enough stuff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, thought you WERE the OP. Lol
Didn't realize you were a different person.
If it works for you then do what you're doing. If it gets worse or something, try my suggestion though. It should fix it, but yeah, factory resets can be annoying.

spexwood said:
Sorry, thought you WERE the OP. Lol
Didn't realize you were a different person.
If it works for you then do what you're doing. If it gets worse or something, try my suggestion though. It should fix it, but yeah, factory resets can be annoying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah titanium backup would make it a bit nicer, an icloud style backup would be a godsend

I'm the OP of this thread, lol. Anyways. Did a couple things to test out ideas.
One... Kies... I hate it. Sorry asjshenry. Thanks for the advice though.
Two... tried a different Samsung USB. Same issue.
Three... I may have done something wrong last time with this but when I dragged and dropped a file into the micro externalSD via USB it worked fine. No idling or freeze up. I stated it did this the first time I tested it but I may have done something different than I thought I did.
Four... while still using a different USB I went ahead and tried to create a folder and name it. It just hung there idling.
I guess my last resort is factory reset. I'd like to think it isn't the phone but maybe Windows 8.1 just not playing nicely with the Note 4. A lot of weird things have happened on 8.1 including my Bluetooth mouse not working anymore 4 days after I bought it. It stopped working after Windows pushed an update. Not really sure but I have noticed odd behaviors from 8.1.
I'll try factory reset tomorrow and report back. If its the same issue still then its got to be something with Windows.

OK so I finally got around to factory reset and tried again. Still having same issues. There must be some kind of syncing error with Windows 8.1 or something. I don't get how it will allow me to drop a file in (i.e. a song) without issues but it will not allow me to create a folder and name it.
Only way I can do this is by taking out the micro SD card and put it in the bigger card and then into the laptop.
It gets annoying doing it that way because of having to take the case off then back door then the card and then put everything back together again.

heXacode said:
OK so I finally got around to factory reset and tried again. Still having same issues. There must be some kind of syncing error with Windows 8.1 or something. I don't get how it will allow me to drop a file in (i.e. a song) without issues but it will not allow me to create a folder and name it.
Only way I can do this is by taking out the micro SD card and put it in the bigger card and then into the laptop.
It gets annoying doing it that way because of having to take the case off then back door then the card and then put everything back together again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry reset didn't work. I agree, it might be Windows 8. I'm still on 7, so can't any further (if there is something that can be done).

heXacode said:
I'm the OP of this thread, lol. Anyways. Did a couple things to test out ideas.
One... Kies... I hate it. Sorry asjshenry. Thanks for the advice though.
Two... tried a different Samsung USB. Same issue.
Three... I may have done something wrong last time with this but when I dragged and dropped a file into the micro externalSD via USB it worked fine. No idling or freeze up. I stated it did this the first time I tested it but I may have done something different than I thought I did.
Four... while still using a different USB I went ahead and tried to create a folder and name it. It just hung there idling.
I guess my last resort is factory reset. I'd like to think it isn't the phone but maybe Windows 8.1 just not playing nicely with the Note 4. A lot of weird things have happened on 8.1 including my Bluetooth mouse not working anymore 4 days after I bought it. It stopped working after Windows pushed an update. Not really sure but I have noticed odd behaviors from 8.1.
I'll try factory reset tomorrow and report back. If its the same issue still then its got to be something with Windows.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows 8.1 does this to my note 4 and S3, it's a Windows issue not your phone

floatingtrees said:
Windows 8.1 does this to my note 4 and S3, it's a Windows issue not your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you figured out what is causing it?

heXacode said:
Have you figured out what is causing it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea, I avoid it by creating the folders on the computer and droping them on the SD card

floatingtrees said:
I have no idea, I avoid it by creating the folders on the computer and droping them on the SD card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It must be a syncing issue then. I've been trying to track down similar issues but haven't found anything I was looking for. Have you noticed that the more 8.1 gets updated the more there are problems? I'll keep looking till I find what the issue is.

heXacode said:
It must be a syncing issue then. I've been trying to track down similar issues but haven't found anything I was looking for. Have you noticed that the more 8.1 gets updated the more there are problems? I'll keep looking till I find what the issue is.
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Click to collapse
Additional updates haven't worsened or fixed the problem for me, also forgot to mention that the size of the card plays no effect on solving the issue I've tested it on a 32gb and a 128gb card. Let me know if you come up with a fix

floatingtrees said:
Additional updates haven't worsened or fixed the problem for me, also forgot to mention that the size of the card plays no effect on solving the issue I've tested it on a 32gb and a 128gb card. Let me know if you come up with a fix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have 2 laptops or PC could you test this problem on a different one and see if the problem persist? I actually have 2 laptops but the screen on the older one got fried so I have no way or seeing if its a persisting problem.
I will also make some time tomorrow and see if I can speak to a geek squad rep or Microsoft rep online and see if they have any suggestions. I'll have to speak to them about other problems that I see coming up with each updates they push out too.
If I can't get anywhere with fixing all these problems then I will be converting the laptop fully to a Linux OS of my choice. I'm not liking anything at all with windows 8.1 and this laptop is barely a year old.
Also its interesting that you said you had the same issue with the S3. I have the S3 too here before I got the Note 4. I didn't see this problem with the S3 on this laptop and it has been awhile since I had the S3 hooked up to that laptop to transfer music over. That's what is leading me to think that an update broke stuff.
I'll update this tomorrow if I get anywhere.

heXacode said:
If you have 2 laptops or PC could you test this problem on a different one and see if the problem persist? I actually have 2 laptops but the screen on the older one got fried so I have no way or seeing if its a persisting problem.
I will also make some time tomorrow and see if I can speak to a geek squad rep or Microsoft rep online and see if they have any suggestions. I'll have to speak to them about other problems that I see coming up with each updates they push out too.
If I can't get anywhere with fixing all these problems then I will be converting the laptop fully to a Linux OS of my choice. I'm not liking anything at all with windows 8.1 and this laptop is barely a year old.
Also its interesting that you said you had the same issue with the S3. I have the S3 too here before I got the Note 4. I didn't see this problem with the S3 on this laptop and it has been awhile since I had the S3 hooked up to that laptop to transfer music over. That's what is leading me to think that an update broke stuff.
I'll update this tomorrow if I get anywhere.
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Click to collapse
Sorry it took so long to reply, I took the 5.0.1 update recently and tried creating and renaming a folder on my note 4 using my windows 8.1 machine, I got the same result, folder was created but windows explorer hung and crashed during renaming the folder. I tried it again on my windows 7 machine and it successfully created and renamed the folder without any hiccups. also its worth to mention that i do not have usb debugging enabled, and every time I connect my phone to the windows 8.1 machine I get a usb connected sound and then a second later I get a usb disconnected sound and then the windows explorer window showing my phone and external SD

floatingtrees said:
Sorry it took so long to reply, I took the 5.0.1 update recently and tried creating and renaming a folder on my note 4 using my windows 8.1 machine, I got the same result, folder was created but windows explorer hung and crashed during renaming the folder. I tried it again on my windows 7 machine and it successfully created and renamed the folder without any hiccups. also its worth to mention that i do not have usb debugging enabled, and every time I connect my phone to the windows 8.1 machine I get a usb connected sound and then a second later I get a usb disconnected sound and then the windows explorer window showing my phone and external SD
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Click to collapse
Thank you. That confirms my suspicion that it is within Windows 8.1. Debugging is not needed for anything.
I had to dig deep to figure out the problem,and according to an article some updates plus components become corrupted without our knowledge. Only way we know something is wrong is one thing after another stops working (i.e. my Bluetooth mouse, writing to external SD, etc).
There is a fix for it as long as it can complete it thoroughly. If not then a fresh install of 8.1 is your only last resort.
This is what I did from this link...
http://www.eightforums.com/3407-sfc-scannow-command-run-windows-8-a.html
Right click on command prompt to grant Administration rights. Click ok. Command prompt will open. Run this...
sfc /scannow
Wait for it to fully scan.
Mine said it couldn't fix all problems. I had to go to Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restore health link...
http://www.eightforums.com/26512-dism-fixing-component-store-corruption-windows-8-a-8.html
This will take awhile and look like its hung up at 20% but let it finish.
My results were...
Error: 0x800f0906
The source files could not be downloaded. Use the "source" option to specify the location of the files that are required to restore the feature. For more information on specifying a source location, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=243007
Had to go to that link and was lost on what to do. So I read through the forums for similar error code by others and the author recommended to do a refresh of Windows or do a complete reinstall of Windows to correct the problem and run sfc /scannow to confirm all is good after reinstallation.
This leads me to believe several updates became corrupted and a lack of a component store. I have no clue how that broke and it's all on Microsoft for that mess.
My last resort is now to reinstall a fresh copy of Windows 8.1 to correct all issues. It's going to be a pain in the are with all that stuff I have saved on the laptop and backing up everything.
Check out those links and run them to see if your stuff gets corrected. You may have better luck than I did and if you do then reboot after all that and test the external SD issue.

heXacode said:
Thank you. That confirms my suspicion that it is within Windows 8.1. Debugging is not needed for anything.
I had to dig deep to figure out the problem,and according to an article some updates plus components become corrupted without our knowledge. Only way we know something is wrong is one thing after another stops working (i.e. my Bluetooth mouse, writing to external SD, etc).
There is a fix for it as long as it can complete it thoroughly. If not then a fresh install of 8.1 is your only last resort.
This is what I did from this link...
http://www.eightforums.com/3407-sfc-scannow-command-run-windows-8-a.html
Right click on command prompt to grant Administration rights. Click ok. Command prompt will open. Run this...
sfc /scannow
Wait for it to fully scan.
Mine said it couldn't fix all problems. I had to go to Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restore health link...
http://www.eightforums.com/26512-dism-fixing-component-store-corruption-windows-8-a-8.html
This will take awhile and look like its hung up at 20% but let it finish.
My results were...
Error: 0x800f0906
The source files could not be downloaded. Use the "source" option to specify the location of the files that are required to restore the feature. For more information on specifying a source location, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=243007
Had to go to that link and was lost on what to do. So I read through the forums for similar error code by others and the author recommended to do a refresh of Windows or do a complete reinstall of Windows to correct the problem and run sfc /scannow to confirm all is good after reinstallation.
This leads me to believe several updates became corrupted and a lack of a component store. I have no clue how that broke and it's all on Microsoft for that mess.
My last resort is now to reinstall a fresh copy of Windows 8.1 to correct all issues. It's going to be a pain in the are with all that stuff I have saved on the laptop and backing up everything.
Check out those links and run them to see if your stuff gets corrected. You may have better luck than I did and if you do then reboot after all that and test the external SD issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ran sfc /scannow and it failed verification and didn't fix anything, so then i ran dism as you said however I used a bat file I had instead, and it fixed whatever sfc was complaining about. If you want to try it copy this into a notepad and save it as a .bat file and run as admin
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
pause
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
pause
SFC /scannow
pause
since sfc passed I ran windows update and took all the important and optional updates, restarted and ran sfc again and it passed again. I plugged in my phone and created a folder and tried to rename it and as always explorer hangs again, and crashes, without unplugging my phone I go back to where I created the folder and tried to rename it and it works, problem is if you unplug, explorer will hang and crash first every time before working, also this method doesn't always work, for example sometimes external sd disappears from the list, other times when you click on it, it brings you into phone sd instead of external, and lastly another bug I've noticed is that the language changes after a crash on the list of available memory, there were a couple of instances where everything was replaced with Chinese or Japanese characters. I hope this was helpful but I doubt this problem could be fixed, unless windows 10 fixes it we're going to have to deal with it