Database Users

Storage Card Memory Loss--Fault of Card or MDA?

I have the T-Mobile (USA) MDA, an HTC Wizard. In it I have a Sandisk 2GB miniSD card.
For the second time now, suddenly and inexplicably, most of the data on the card is missing. There was no operation I executed that could have deleted the data, it was suddenly gone, for no apparent reason. This happened once before?
Has this happened to others? Is it a bug in the MDA, that it sometimes deletes data from the storage card, for no reason? Are those miniSD cards inherently unstable, sometimes suddenly losing their data? Or might I have a defective card?
If the card is defective, I think I could call Sandisk, and get a new card under warranty. (If the MDA is defective, nothing I can do about it, no longer under warranty.) So, I'd like to have some idea--bad card or bad MDA?
Also, I have a USB card reader that can read miniSD cards, and have used that before to transfer data to the card from the computer. That seems to no longer work. I wonder if that is also an indication of a bad card. (Although it could also be the a failure of the card reader, or of my Windows XP installation.) Now I can only transfer data back to the card via ActiveSync.
Is there a utility, that either from the computer, or directly on the PPC, can check the disk surface of an SD card for errors, and fix them (similar to chkdsk)?
Any insight into this problem would be appreciated. Thank you.

I assume you checked the SD on a computer to verify the files were actually gone, and not just "hidden" from the MDA?
Do you have another chip you can test run? Maybe in a camera or something?

Myrddin Wyllt said:
I assume you checked the SD on a computer to verify the files were actually gone, and not just "hidden" from the MDA?
Do you have another chip you can test run? Maybe in a camera or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Hidden from the MDA" in what way? (Even when files are deleted they are not "actually gone", and can sometimes be recovered.) Do you mean turned into "hidden files"? No, that's not the case, as I have Resco Explorer set to view all hidden and system files, not to hide any files, and it didn't see the files, nor did any app. Nor did ActiveSync, when connected to the computer, Explore.
As I mentioned, my USB miniSD card reader doesn't seem to be functioning either, so I cannot look at the card directly on the computer.
I'm not sure what you mean by "test run another chip"? I do have another miniSD card, a 1GB card I had purchased first. I don't see what point would be served by "testing" that. It is not that this card is constantly deleting files. You could test this card, and it would seem to be OK. But it has happened twice already, that most (not all) of the data on the card was suddenly missing. So, there is definitely a problem, either on the card, the MDA hardware, or an app or the OS (WM5) on the MDA. But you cannot test it out by putting in another card, as one wouldn't necessarily see the same problem right away, as one also might not with this (problem) card.
Something strange happened since the original post though. Fortunately, I had a lot of the data from the storage card backed up to my PC. Via Activesync, I copied some of that back to the MDA Storage Card. After doing so, suddenly it looks like all the missing data has been restored, including a lot of data that I had not yet copied back.
What could have happened? Still wondering whether to call Sandisk and report a defective card.

undelete tools for normal harddisks work just fine on sd cards in sdcard readers

Rudegar said:
undelete tools for normal harddisks work just fine on sd cards in sdcard readers
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Click to collapse
That isn't the question. I didn't ask how to undelete the files. And, as I said, my card reader isn't working either.
Also, as I said, I had the data backed up to HD, so really don't need to undelete.
So----what's the problem then? Obviously something's wrong if a memory card suddenly and inexplicably loses its data, now for the second time.
So I was asking--what could be causing this to happen? Has it happened to others? Is it likely a defective card? Or defective PPC?

me said:
Is it likely a defective card? Or defective PPC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but without an alternate means of testing either, it's a waste of time to speculate. Hence my admonishment to go find a card reader. You can run a complete format and look for bad sectors on the suspect SD chip that way...something you cannot do from the PPC to the best of my knowledge. Chances are, the boot sector (where the location of files in memory is written) on your SD chip is failing (if the chip is old, that is VERY likely, as flash memory has a limited number of rewrites that usually hits around the 2 year mark for heavy users, and if you're moving music on-and-off a lot, that's you....).
So, no, there's no way to be SURE, without getting your hands on a reader (and c'mon, they're like, $10).

my DREAMY G1 can't ROOT!! weak SD & usb, bluetooth etc*&$^%$

Thanks for Looking, really desperate.
I can’t root this ^#%@ G1. Basically I can not get nesscarry rooting files flashed on my G1. I guess the short question is why does my G1 not accept files from my win7 box. Not through the preferred SD card method but, not through wifi, Bluetooth, ADB. Droid explorer, etc, etc. I’ve tried everything , every method …nill.
BUT, otherwise the phone works fine. Internet, phone, G1 crapware, etc. You can assume I’ve tried every thing I can find on the web. But if you want to read details go please do
BACKROUND:
After many, many attempts with every recipe and every set of ROMs around, I ‘ve narrowed it down to it not liking the taste of my SD cards…most of the time, For some reason I can do the initial rc29 downgrade but not much more.
1) Connecting with USB cable to PC. android shows up in “devices and printers” and so does its “removable disk (after mounted from phone). However, double clicking, rt click trying to for mat it just gives errors
2) Putting in SD card while up and running returns “unrecognizable media”
3) Now, I can format SD (yes fat 32) on the PC card reader, add files, whatever, put card in phone and turn it on , at least I don’t get an error, but I get no better acces to card.
I was just about to physically take the phone apart and see if there was some flotsam, corrosion, a piese of bacon making the sd connection physically corrupting the physical conectoion. THAN I remembered blue toothe behaves the same way and WI FII won’t connect at all. Seem that indicates something systremic…Radio??
Help Please?!?!
PK
BTW:
ATEMPS AT REMIDIATION:
5 different New SD cards three, 4 gig, one 6 gig, one 2 gig different meg cards
SD reformats both quick and full adnaseum
4 different USB cords including brand new top of the line.
Re set to RC29 time and time again (remarkably it is apparently reading the flash drive

Storage Card Problems(this is a long one)

Hey Guys,
I've been having a TON of problems with my storage card lately. I was using doubletwist to sync music when the problems first happened. Basically the storage card flipped out, it wouldnt allow any access either through the computer or on the phone. So i turned off the phone popped the Storage Card out and then back in. When I plugged my HD2 back into the computer i discovered that all my files on the storage card had been deleted.
I called t-mobile customer care and they told me to call the htc accessories line to get a new one. Did that and the lady says theres nothing they can do as all the cards are back ordered.
I'm worried that its going to happen again, and on top of all this my 16 GB Storage card is now 971 MB, i was adding my applications when it said the card was full so i checked and thats what the computers giving me.
I figured that maybe if i formatted the card it would work but i cant find that option anywhere when i right click on the card when plugged into the computer.
So basically all i have now is a 971 MB Sd card with a few applications on it instead of the 16 GB preloaded SD card that held about 200 pictures taken with the phones camera(that are now gone along with Transformers and everything else that was on the phone)
Sorry for the long rant guys but im really frustrated...
Any Help?

Have you connected the phone to the PC in 'disk drive' mode? If not, then do that to 1) be absolutely sure you can't see/recover any of the files, and then 2) to format it (it has to be connected this way for that option to be available)

I'm not an expert on here (more of a "user" than a "maker") but I have had my share of SD card problems.
If you are using the class 2 card that came with your phone, order a class 4 or class 6. The class 2's are known to cause performance problems for the HD2. When I upgraded to my class 6, I noticed the difference right away on graphics-heavy apps that use the SD card in realtime (i.e. not just to store profiles).
You need to decide if you simply want to get your SD card back or try and save data on it first. If you just want to format it and start over, try these:
Try first using the sd formatter in your HD2, in the "Tools" folder.
If you have a card reader or a card slot in your Windows PC, try inserting the card (or, as sirphunkee said, mount your HD2 as "disk drive" and not as active sync) and go to control panel > administrative tools > computer management > Disk Management and see if Windows can read your card. If it can, you should be able to right click on the drive and select "format". You could also try assigning it a new drive letter. Sometimes it seems to kick start the Drive Management services into accessing your card with a proper mount.
Download SD Formatter from Panasonic. Sometimes when windows can't do it, this program can.
If you have an uBuntu OS installed, sometimes using gParted is also effective.
I have also seen threads on here about downloading the default factory files that should already be on the card, with links...
Hope this helps. But bottom line you should definitely NOT wait for another crappy class 2 card from TMo/HTC and go get a class 6 (you can find them easily enough online for about $50).

sirphunkee said:
Have you connected the phone to the PC in 'disk drive' mode? If not, then do that to 1) be absolutely sure you can't see/recover any of the files, and then 2) to format it (it has to be connected this way for that option to be available)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So instead of using active sync to connect use disk drive mode. Got it, but once i do that if there were files to recover i would see them correct?

googlesax said:
So instead of using active sync to connect use disk drive mode. Got it, but once i do that if there were files to recover i would see them correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, as long as you're looking at the card's contents via file explorer on the pc, not the phone...the one one the phone won't be able to see the card at all when it's connected that way.
Basically, when you connect in disk drive mode, the pc handles the card just like a regular external USB hard drive.
You'll probably be able to format and use it again now that you're connecting it that way, but if it still acts up then go through any and all of mfrey's steps above, including just upgrading to a higher-class card if possible. The stock cards that come with the HD2 seem to be somewhat inconsistent in quality and potentially unreliable, and as he said the speed difference of a faster card can definitely be noticible in every day use.

i connected the phone via disk drive mode as suggested but i had the same results after connecting multiple times so i decided to format the card through the phone as mfrey suggested. After doing so the card still reads as a total of 971 MB both on the phone when checked under settings and on the computer.
Im going to try going to t-mobile to see what they say about my problem because i dont see how this could happen, ive been using this sd card for about three months and up til a few days ago it worked perfectly
Wish me luck guys

googlesax said:
i connected the phone via disk drive mode as suggested but i had the same results after connecting multiple times so i decided to format the card through the phone as mfrey suggested. After doing so the card still reads as a total of 971 MB both on the phone when checked under settings and on the computer.
Im going to try going to t-mobile to see what they say about my problem because i dont see how this could happen, ive been using this sd card for about three months and up til a few days ago it worked perfectly
Wish me luck guys
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you able to see the drive in Drive Management in Administrative Tools? If so, when you right-clicked it, was there an option to delete partition? Did you try SD Formatter (it's free)?
If it's the factory class 2 that came with your phone, it could be bricked...

[Q] Uh, No Samsung Kies Option?

Am I crazy? Kies wont recognize my phone in either of the two USB modes. I use Kies for my Captivate and its quite handy. Im really upset with this phone so far between the whole Bing thing, the lack of an internal SD card, possibly no Kies connection, no TV out, and a few other things that are bugging me. I was hoping that there was more similarity between the Captivate, Fascinate, and Vibrant, but apparently there are a few very major differences...
~T.J.

Ongoing issue. I doubt it will be fixed, but one can hope. It works with PC suite software.

02CWRX said:
Am I crazy? Kies wont recognize my phone in either of the two USB modes. I use Kies for my Captivate and its quite handy. Im really upset with this phone so far between the whole Bing thing, the lack of an internal SD card, possibly no Kies connection, no TV out, and a few other things that are bugging me. I was hoping that there was more similarity between the Captivate, Fascinate, and Vibrant, but apparently there are a few very major differences...
~T.J.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what do you mean "no internal SD card"? the SD card it inside the battery cover. as for the TV out, it seems to be a software issue and from what i have seen it may be fixed when the 2.2 update comes out.

jatilq, how would one get the PC suite software that works with the Fascinate? I've spent the better part of 2 days trying to get Kies to work with no luck whatsoever.

Mylt1 said:
what do you mean "no internal SD card"? the SD card it inside the battery cover. as for the TV out, it seems to be a software issue and from what i have seen it may be fixed when the 2.2 update comes out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the Captivate there is an "internal SD card" (not accessible by the user), as well as the external SD card slot which the user can fill with a card of his/her choice.
On the Captivate, this boils down to 2 GB of "Internal Phone Storage", 16 GB of "Internal SD card" space (13 GB usable), and however large of an SD card you put in it for "External SD card" space. Thus, a 16 GB card will net you 32 GB of total available storage space on the phone.
On the Fascinate, you have 2 GB of "Internal Phone Storage", and the "External SD Card" of your choice (ships with 16 GB). Thus, the 16 GB card it ships with nets you only 16 GB of total available storage space on the phone, as opposed to the 32 GB the same size card would get you on the Captivate.
~T.J.
EDIT: Here is a quick Google (not Bing...) image search of the phone storage menu from a Captivate. Notice this whole menu is the internal card. If you scrolled up, above it is the menu for the external card which looks identical. The available internal phone memory is only 700 MB because of the user, when new this is 1.74 GB or so just like the Fascinate.
http://media.tested.com/uploads/0/3/10454-screenshot_super.png
EDIT AGAIN: It looks like the Vibrant is also setup the same as the Captivate. Way to go VZ...

Durangodude said:
jatilq, how would one get the PC suite software that works with the Fascinate? I've spent the better part of 2 days trying to get Kies to work with no luck whatsoever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, i'm curious what the PC suite software is. I have a few employees that have fascinates and we're trying to figure out how to sync the fascinate with Outlook for contacts and calendar. I have a Captivate and use Kies.

Some here may have different opinions, but I personally will accept the lack of the on-board storage chip, knowing that I have a flash for my camera. They probably figured the camera flash was a more worthwhile feature to most people, and cut the on-board storage as a compromise to keep costs down.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

Oh, and BTW, I believe I remember seeing an official statement from Samsung somewhere, stating that Kies updates are only intended for the GT-i9000, and should not be applied to the US Galaxy S variants. I don't have a link to the source handy though, sorry.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

it would appear, that on aggregate from other forums as well as my own install attempts, that the SCH-I500 is NOT compatible with kies.
all driver issues have been worked out, USB modes understood and adjusted, and now it just says "not supported".
latest versions, appropriate permissions, reboots, etc... it's not going to happen.
the galaxy S phones really are in no-mans-land. even the manufacturer won't support it, which is really odd, I thought it was well received across multiple carriers.

[Q] Windows Explorer not seeing External SD

Hello
For some reason, when I plug the tablet to my PC I can only see the internal SD Card. Does someone know how to see the external SD card? Other posts have suggested to copy the files to the internal SD and then copy from here to the external SD. That would be a huge pain. Does anyone know how to tackle this?
Thanks!

If you know how to use ADB you can access it at mnt/external_sd
You will have to learn ADB commands but it is acccessable through that.

In the "First start information" document that came with my Acer, it states:
Transferring files from a microSD card (optional) to your PC
Remove the card from the tablet and use a card reader or USB adapter to access the card as an external storage device.
That works, but it is a pain. What I've done instead is:
(1) Root Acer
(2) Install cifs.ko module (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1058713)
(3) download cifsmanager from Marketplace
Cifsmanager can then be used to mount disks on your Windows PC via a network connection. You can then use any application to access files on the PC (so use a file manager like Astro to copy files back and forth). Personally, I find I just leave the files on the PC and access them via the network (play movies, read books, etc.).

Thanks for the information. Other than that issue, this tablet rocks.

guilleaguirre said:
Thanks for the information. Other than that issue, this tablet rocks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Acer overlooked the MicroSD I think. Since it can be seen by adb I'm assuming the fix is easy for a team of programmers to write in.
If enough of us email their support or call them and drop the Asus bomb, they may include it in the next big update.
That's what I did. I said "I'm not able to access the microsd card in the unit from the PC as I would normally my phone and it's extremely inconvenient. I'm aware the Asus EEE Transformer does so it doesn't seem to be an OS limitation".
Once enough people complain it will hopefully get noticed. Hopefully it's in their agenda anyway.

This issue is one of the reasons I sold my gtab and switched to the Acer. At least I can store data on the acer's sdcard. The gtab erases all data on the sdcard every time you reboot.

Neoprimal said:
Acer overlooked the MicroSD I think. Since it can be seen by adb I'm assuming the fix is easy for a team of programmers to write in.
If enough of us email their support or call them and drop the Asus bomb, they may include it in the next big update.
That's what I did. I said "I'm not able to access the microsd card in the unit from the PC as I would normally my phone and it's extremely inconvenient. I'm aware the Asus EEE Transformer does so it doesn't seem to be an OS limitation".
Once enough people complain it will hopefully get noticed. Hopefully it's in their agenda anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please let us know how this turns out. I've emailed support for other issues (cell standby mostly), and keep being told my unit is defective and I need to send it in via mail (which conveniently would take me past the return/exchange date) ... so I'm not really happy with support.

this is something i never understood. my 1st tablet (and android anything) was an archos 101, and when plugged into usb, 2 drives would appear in windows. internal and external drives. i thought that was the way android did things. grabbed a gtab expecting the same thing as well as the iconia.the gtab went back and i bought the iconia and plan on keeping it, but it is the 1 big thing that irks me about it. everything else is perfect.

I just picked up my Acer this week, and today when I set it up to transfer music via Airtwist to my A500 I noticed that there seems to be no way to set it up to store the music on my microSD card; it comes up saying it needs to store it on the internal. Probably the same issue that keeps it from showing up in Windows. Now I just have to figure out how to set it up to transfer into the microSD so I don't have to drag it all there the hard way.

vcs111 said:
This issue is one of the reasons I sold my gtab and switched to the Acer. At least I can store data on the acer's sdcard. The gtab erases all data on the sdcard every time you reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's simply not true. Why would you want to discredit a device like that, I don't get it. Maybe you had a mod/rom on there that wasn't working right but I had stock on there 80% of the time and TnT lite on there 20% and I've NEVER had anything being erased on my SDcard.

Dalrimple said:
Please let us know how this turns out. I've emailed support for other issues (cell standby mostly), and keep being told my unit is defective and I need to send it in via mail (which conveniently would take me past the return/exchange date) ... so I'm not really happy with support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've gotten some reps that made me want to pull my hair out and some that actually 'SEEM' to try. I was able to call and make the report (for free!) I actually have reported several things since I got the unit now and when I write back about it I'm told that they're working on a bugfix - this is a BIG upgrade from before where I was told the same thing as everyone else so they're not ignoring us. We just have to be patient and consistent. In the next week I'm going to post a list here with some known issues and see if we can get it validated.
One thing I hate is when people post their issues as 'fact' like I see a few people doing. We have to try to coordinate and work out what are really issues and what are more, individual problems (like people complaining about weak wifi, etc.).
Then I'm going to make a list and give Acer a call and see what exactly they have in their systems as 'known', etc.

Neoprimal said:
That's simply not true. Why would you want to discredit a device like that, I don't get it. Maybe you had a mod/rom on there that wasn't working right but I had stock on there 80% of the time and TnT lite on there 20% and I've NEVER had anything being erased on my SDcard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. Ran several diff ROMs on mine, it never erased my SD card.