[Q] Formatting External SD Card - Galaxy Tab Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Has anyone ever tried to format their external SD card in their SGT?
I found an "old" 4GB microSD card which is the right size for the tab, but when I install it, I get the message that it's damaged and needs to be formatted.
Now when I format the card, I get the message to enter a security code (or pattern lock) just to be sure, before formatting.
After selecting format, nothing happens! What gives?

Sef_P1000 said:
Has anyone ever tried to format their external SD card in their SGT?
I found an "old" 4GB microSD card which is the right size for the tab, but when I install it, I get the message that it's damaged and needs to be formatted.
Now when I format the card, I get the message to enter a security code (or pattern lock) just to be sure, before formatting.
After selecting format, nothing happens! What gives?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you expecting to happen? Mount it on your computer and see if its there

Anyhow, I used another device (SE Vivaz) to format the SD Card, it did in fact format it.
Then inserted the card in my SGT. It is now working, but the format card option is now grayed out. Will check with PC connection later.

Related

Problem with Micro sd card

I have AT&T Tilt with Sakajati's HyperDragon IV Windows Mobile 6.1 OS ROM, I also have this 8 GB micro SD card, which has around 3.5 GB of data, but for some reason I am not able to write on it any more. When ever I tried to format it I get this message which says " The card is write protected" I don't remember putting any password or anything. I can read data from that card on any computer or phone, but can write anymore data on the card. I can't delete anything from the card either.
Can someone suggest what could be wrong with the card and how can I unlock it?
I have tried low level format also, the format completes without any error, but when see in file explorer all the files are still there. If I try to format from SD formatter, I get error "The memory card is write protected", windows format doesn't give any error, just runs and in the end says "Windows can't comeplte the format". Card is working file and have no problem in reading the data it has, just can't write new one ot delete old one.
This is very weird problem... any help/comment is good.
Not sure if this will help....
I've had very similar issues over time...
Because of high TomTom & Music Use.
Both are loaded and work off my SD Card (6 GB worth)
What I finally found that worked for me, was to get a 2nd card and backing up my SD card to my Desktop PC, so later I could transfer to the 2nd SD Card when needed.
Then I do a Complete Format [Full FAT32 Format] of the old SD Card, via the Mini SD adapter on my Desktop PC.
I found that formating within the phone doesn't always work...
If this is not the case I can think of 2 other reasons for potential problems..
~Some ROM's require the removal of SIM & SD Cards when installing?
~If you were using an adapter formating the SD Card and it was not set to write mode?
Best of Luck!
JAC,
Thanks for your reply, but I have already tried FAT32 formatting using micro sd card, but as I said before, but it errored out.I even tried low level format, but didn't work. There is no locking swithc or anythign in micro SD card, not sure how the data can be locked. If it was ecrypted I was not able to read data on other devices. So what happened? Any help!!!
Like everything else, sometimes things just wear out, break or are just low quality to begin with. If you can read it on other devices, then transfer it and get a new card.
There is also a trick used by nefarious suppliers that takes a 4GB (or any size chip) and format it in a way that it appears as a larger chip. Then when you go to write to it the whole thing goes crazy.
This is why I recommend using reputable resellers and buying good quality Name Brand Chips, Like Sandisk or Kingston.

[Q] External SD Card Wipes anything copied onto it!

Here's a weird one. I am not trying anything complicated. I just want to copy some music to my new 32GB external SD card that arrived in the post today. I put it into a microSD to SD adaptor, and slide it into my laptops SD slot. It shows up as fat32 and I drag 30 gigs of music on to it. After a long time it completes, and I check in with XP to make sure its all good. Yep fine.
However, the moment I insert it back into my I9000 things get weird. The status bar pops up the usual "Initialising SD card" message, then the media scanner comes up and completes in like a second. Then when I try to browse it from within the phone, the entire music directory has disappeared, and the OS is reporting that there is 28gb of 32gb free on the external sd. So I unmount the SD, slot it back into my pc, and find to my dismay the music directory has indeed been erased.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.. I need my tunes!!
Cheers,
C
Samsung Galaxy S I9000, running Firmware 2.2, Baseband: I9000XXJPH, Kernel version 2.6.32.9 root(at)SEI-28 1
My 1st guess is fake/faulty card.
Copy files onto card with a reader.
Eject.
Insert again into reader.
Try to copy from card. (If it fails -> card is faulty or is FAKE)
CheekyGreek said:
The status bar pops up the usual "Initialising SD card" message, then the media scanner comes up and completes in like a second.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I were to guess, when the phone says it's "Initializing SD card" it's likely formatting the card and erasing whatever data you had on it...
When you install the card in your PC, do you format it again and then copy the files? If so, try not to format it on the PC and let the phone do the formatting.
I fully agree. Let the phone format the card and then use MOUNT mode to copy the music over. It seems Fat32 (formated on PC) won't work well for our phones prob due to a flag setting or something the like too big cluster settings. Let the phone sort it out.
Thanks for the help peeps. Here's what I've tried:
Xan: I tried copying files to and from the device using my PC's card reader, and found no problems with it. It is a Kingston MicroSD SDC4/32GB bought from a reseller on Amazon. Are there any tools for around for the pc to run diagnostic tests on SD cards? Maybe I should give that a go? But from the looks of it I think the error lies in the phone somewhere...
An Droid: I am inclined to agree with you. In my original post I stated that it said "Inititialising SD Card", this was a mistake, as it actually says "Preparing SD Card". I have tried formatting it from both the PC and the Phone and still get the same problem.
Icky Boo: I tried this method last night. Used the USB Debugging mode to Mount the phone's card's onto my PC. My Computer displays the two cards as two seperate Drives. I then tried copying all my music onto it. When the copy completed, I pressed "Turn of USB Storage Mode" on the I9000, which immediately prompted the status bar to again show "Preparing SD Card". Then when I used a file explorer to look at the card, it only had about a gig of music copied onto it. It is quite clear now that in "Preparing SD Card" it is doing something strange. Is there anyway to disable this?
Also there is a directory on the SD called Lost.DIR which seems to increase in size every time this happens. Could be a clue?
Finally, just to confirm my phone is mounting it correctly, to browse the SD card from within the phone the path is /sdcard/external_sd/ right? (I understand this is the new path for Froyo 2.2?)
Thanks for the help, sorry for the essay!
C
UPDATE: Ok, Xan, you were right all along. Finally got a new SD card (sandisk this time, not Kingston) and it works just as it should. Thanks for the help and to everyone else too

Can't format SD card after S-OFF

I'm having issues getting my SD card to work now after S-OFF. When I boot my phone up, I get a notification saying "Blank SD card, SD card is blank or has unsupported file system" When I touch the notification, it says
"Format SD card
Are you sure you want to format the SD card? All data on your card will be lost"
When I select format, it just closes. What do I do? I have tried rebooting but that didn't help.
tanner4137 said:
I'm having issues getting my SD card to work now after S-OFF. When I boot my phone up, I get a notification saying "Blank SD card, SD card is blank or has unsupported file system" When I touch the notification, it says
"Format SD card
Are you sure you want to format the SD card? All data on your card will be lost"
When I select format, it just closes. What do I do? I have tried rebooting but that didn't help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just do the format on your computer instead.

[Q] Damaged SD card

Hi guys,
I tried partitioning my external sd card to linux swap, and something must have gone wrong. Now,a notification on my Galaxy S reads "Damaged SD card - SD card damaged. You may have to reformat it." This was the first thing I tried, but the Internal SD is formatted instead when I try. (Rom bug?). When i mount my phone via USB, only the formatted (damnit) internal SD is found.
I'm currently on TiramiSlim (best rom!!) with Devil 0.94. If you have any help it would be appreciated, any further questions don't hesitate!
yahoo907
In first i think that partition ext sd card is useless but it's my opinion.
In fact if you want to recover your ext sd i advise you to reformat your sd card with the windows disk utility: you select all volumes, delete them and recreate a new one with ntfs format (android will do his work when you'll insert your sd in the device).
If it doesn't work try to make the same but with a Linux system (Linux is powerful ^^).
Please reply me your results.
Have you tried to format the SD card with an SD Adapter & then make sure that USB debug is enabled on the device.
I had this issue.
Sometimes it shows that the card is damaged & then it reads it later on!
I plugged the Card into my Digi-Cam Formatted it.
Changed the Rom.
Now it works.
Anyways safely remove the drive when plugged into a computer!
i don't have an sd-card adapter unfortunately, the only way i can plug it in is via my phone. I cannot seem to find a disk utility on windows that will read the external sd, i can only find the internal from my computer.
i will try and get hold of an sd-adapter and let you know if it works
fixed the problem!
yahoo907 said:
fixed the problem!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how did you fix the problem?
My phone recognizes the internal storage but i keep getting "sd card is damaged, try reformatting it" in the notification bar.
when I click on format, it says "unmounting sd card" but nothing happens.
Thanks,
Luke
*edit.. nvm.
I put my SD card in my old x10 and in settings/storage I erased my SD card.
Works fine now

External sd card cant be detected

Hi guys,
My external sd card suddenly cant be detected by both my phone and my computer
I tried flashing to many different roms and still no hope
Any suggestion please? :crying:
Thanks!
Connect your SD card via card reader to PC and try format it. If you don't see files or PC don't see this card - it can be damaged.
Card reader u mean the card adapter? i don have 1 of those
and when i connect my phone along with the external sd in it
the phone recognizes it as removable disk H but i was not able to open it
does this mean its not damaged?
wie2 said:
Card reader u mean the card adapter? i don have 1 of those
and when i connect my phone along with the external sd in it
the phone recognizes it as removable disk H but i was not able to open it
does this mean its not damaged?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The file system (partition) on SD card is broken - you need format SD card
mozambik said:
The file system (partition) on SD card is broken - you need format SD card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any other method to actually format it without the card adapter?
The easiest way is connect card via card adapter to PC and check that card and files are visible. If card is recognized but you can't access to it you need format it.
You also can do this in your own phone: in settings - memory - try disconnect external SD card and then erase/format external SD card.
mozambik said:
The easiest way is connect card via card adapter to PC and check that card and files are visible. If card is recognized but you can't access to it you need format it.
You also can do this in your own phone: in settings - memory - try disconnect external SD card and then erase/format external SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Theres no such option "erase external sd" theres only erase sd card
i know this would earase my internal storage but i did it anyway following ur steps
still doesnt work
wie2 said:
Theres no such option "erase external sd" theres only erase sd card
i know this would earase my internal storage but i did it anyway following ur steps
still doesnt work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
formating/erasing options depends on which rom you use.
When you connect phone with PC and tap mount SD card (or something like that) on phone screen, you should see card on PC - can you see it? You write that it has assigned drive letter H - right click on that and format it.
I tried that it says "theres no disc in drive H:" Please insert a disc and try again
try mount SD card with and without USB debuging.
try format SD card via recovery
If you have different SD card try it to eliminate ROM/settings problem.
i cant erase my external sd because its not detected
the recovery cant mount it because the external sd is not found
trying with and without debugging also didnt work oh my god
i don really understand the last option though
"If you have different SD card try it to eliminate ROM/settings problem."
In your case there are two posibilites:
1) sd card is damaged - logically (file system/partition) or physically
2) phone is damaged - logically (ROM bug/phone settings) or physically
If you put other SD card in your phone and phone will see it and you will have access to files from that SD card you can be shure that phone is ok

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