Develop Bugs

microSD card corrupted...

I decided to replace the 512 MB card in my Cingular 8525 with a 2 GB card. When I put the 512 card in its adaptor, the PC read the directory, showed a FAT format, but would not copy/read/or otherwise manipulate any of the files. I plugged the card back into the 8525 and found that it couldn't even see it. Giving up on any kind of file recovery, I tried to reformat it in the PC, but then IT couldn't detect the card! After I played with it awhile, I finally got it to start the format process, but it always failed just before the "green line got to the end" and, after several attempts, it reported "disk cannot be formatted."
Is there any way I can save this card, or is it a (VERY small) boat anchor?

I've seen yesterday in the Sandisk site and somebody told me that they have some kind of software tool (file recover, unformat, etc.), that's very capable, unfortunately it is not free, there's a trial version (does not allow to save any files). Sofware's name is "Rescue Pro", if you can get yourself a copy you might give it a try.
Another thing about an SD (in my experience), I'm talking about a Verbatim 512MB SD, i borrow it to a friend, when he was giving it back, just cancelled all his things up, stopped the card reader (from XP), extracted the SD and it was dead, fortunately I had kept my proof of purchase and they (Verbatim) exchanged it with a new one (in europe the warranty is at least 2 year long), they asked me to send it to Ireland to check if it could be recovered and within three weeks (just because there was christmas in the middle) I got a new one back.
hope this helps

Try putting it in a Digital Camera with SD Slot (put in SD Adapter first;-))
Then format it via your Digital Camera
Or
Download VaioSoft Recovery Manager and try to format with that one
http://vaiosoft.com/products/recoverymanager.htm
Eelcol

that link is not working please post another link for that software

What PQI support suggests
I´ve had trouble with PQI miniSD cards, so I asked support from PQI on corrupted files, this is their answer in order to check if the card is damaged or not and includes several tips on using memory cards, it´s alittle bit long to read, but maybe it worths, so here it goes:
Some hints of using flash memory cards
1. Do NOT remove the memory card while it is operating, otherwise it may be
damaged.
2. Do NOT turn off the device, while the operation of writing /reading is
not completed.
3. When the battery power of system is low, do not write to the memory card to prevent loss of data.
4. Make sure the device (card reader/phone/camera/pda/camcorder) has finished reading/writing to the card before you take another shot/turn it off or the data will be corrupt/lost and the card will be damaged. You can tell by the device indicator light where it flashes when it is reading and writing to the card. Wait until the indicator light is off and stops flashing before you take another shot/turn the device off or remove the card/drive.
Before you continue, please make sure you have a reader that can read and write to 2GB card properly. DO NOT use in built-in reader on laptop and desktop, or old readers made 2 years or longer ago, because these readers can only use up to 1GB card. I recommend using it in external USB 2.0 reader that is made within 1 year ago.
If you do not have such reader, then connect the device (gps/camera/pda/camcorder) to the computer with USB cable and the card inserted and if works you should see new drive letters show up under My Computer.
Otherwise, if used in devices that do not support the 2GB card, the card will be damaged.
Please try the following troubleshooting guide first and see if it can solve the problem. Try one step at a time. If one works, then you can stop trying. You don't need to try all of them.
The following guide will erase all the data on the drive/card. So make sure you backup your data first before you try the steps below:
1. First, remove the card/drive from your computer.
Download the low level format tool below to your computer.
http://hddguru.com/download/software/HDDGURU-Low-Level-Format-Tool/LLFsetup.2.36.1181.exe
Install the program into your computer.
You should see a new icon called "Hard Disk Low Level Format Tool".
a. Insert the card/drive and run the program.
IMPORTANT!!! MAKE SURE YOU SELECT THE CORRECT DISK OR YOUR COMPUTER MAY NOT START LATER!!!
It should shows as BUS: USB. Select the BUS: USB. Also check the size and make sure.
If you don't see BUS: USB, that means the card is unreadable and need to be replaced. In this case, please STOP here and close the program and DO NOT continue below.
b. Then click Continue->Low Level Format->Format this Device.
c. Wait for a few minutes until it finish successfully with a message of asking you to partition and format it. (if you see formatting error, you can stop the formatting and the card needs to be replaced.)
d. Flash Card:
Put the card back to your device (camera/phone/pda/camcorder) and then use the format utility in the device to format the card.
Please let me know your test results. Thanks.
Reference: Program homepage
http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/2006.04.12-HDD-Low-Level-Format-Tool/
2. Please go to the site below:
http://www.sdcard.org/Downloads.aspx
Please try to download the software sdfv2000.exe (for windows only) and the manual for your reference.
Install the sdfv2000.exe in your computer, then insert the card into the card reader (if you do not have reader, you can try to connect your device to the computer with USB cable) and then run it:
a. Check the drive letter and also the size and make sure it is the correct card.
b. Click Option:
Format Type: Full Erase ON
Format Size Adjustment: ON
c. Click OK, then click Format. Wait until it finish.
d. You will be prompted to remove the card after it finish. Then go ahead and insert it in your (camera/pda/camcorder etc) and see.
16. T-mobile MDA (cannot format 2GB mini SD card)
Please install the software below to your phone (you can download the free trial):
http://www.pdatopsoft.com/PocketPC/StorageTools---Analyze,-Defragment,-Verify,-Repair-and-Format
Then use the Storage Tools software above to format the card and see.

does this method also apply on mini sd and mmc rs dv cards?????

Actually this was given for miniSD´s
Awais said:
does this method also apply on mini sd and mmc rs dv cards?????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assume that this applies to all types of SD cards, I don´t know about the others.

Awais said:
that link is not working please post another link for that software
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://vaiosoft.com
goto recovery manager
Eelco

luiggi said:
I assume that this applies to all types of SD cards, I don´t know about the others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is there any technical differnece between mmc and sd cards???/
cuz we can also use mmc or rs dv cards in htc devices but sd card is not useable for nokia and other mmc supported sets

Thanks for all of the input! I tried formating it with my camera with no success, then took the easy way out: I took it back where I bought it and got it replaced.
I'm filing this information away for next time, though! Thanks again.

Awais said:
is there any technical differnece between mmc and sd cards???/
cuz we can also use mmc or rs dv cards in htc devices but sd card is not useable for nokia and other mmc supported sets
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SD cards where made to improve the lack of speed of MMC cards, also they include the writing protection/lock, it is the small switch you see in one side of the SD.
Also, SD cards are slightly different from MMCs phisically, SDs are thicker than MMCs (that's why you cannot put them in a Nokia phone), the electrical specs should by backwards compatible (aside from phisycal differences).
Recently some updatings/improvements have been done to MMC specs, they claim to be the fastest memory card technology available, there are MMC plus, etc.
I know all these things that I read recently (I just can't remember where).
hope this info can be used, and one last thing is that information on this subject can be found easily on the net, it's juest a matter of look for it, personally I like a lot an electronics web site: www.epanorama.net

thanks for the useful info and that link too

hmm today i got a miniSD topram, 2gb and it worked fine it was fat format i believe so i went to the winxp format utility and formated with fat32 16k everything seemed to work fine then i put it in the pda phone and nothing it did not see it, so then i put it back in the PC to format back to fat and nothing it does not see the card now at all
what happend i have been trying a million apps to some how force a format but none have worked, windows pretty much hangs while trying to read the card and at end says there is no media there, so do other apps

Low level format
losborn said:
I'm filing this information away for next time, though! Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Low level format tool once done good job for me
http://www.killdisk.com/

I would proberbly say its fubarred, but you could try using software like SCAN DISK and carios other things.

Memory card fixes
Guys
We've seen this issue quite a bit lately.. Memory card simply locks up Windows when inserted.. It seems to be related to a flakey FAT table on the card. Formatting does nothing... Disk manager can't deal with it either..
The solution we found that worked was to use Paragon Partition Tools to remove the partition table on the card.. Recreate it.. then reformat..
Unless the card is physically cactus, it works every time..
Good luck!
Andy
www.pressdigital.com.au
Press Digital Support Team

???
any link for a free-ware partitioning tool !!!
wanna know more about erasing and recreating partition table on micro-sd cards

http://hddguru.com/download/software....2.36.1181.exe
Thank you, Luigi.
This work perfectly. My microSD 2GB was formated a 1GB and with this program now is all OK. I have microSD a 2GB again.

memory card recovery
This tool can help you to recover your files from damaged media.
www softorbits com/flash-drive-recovery

This device cannot be accessed because it is smaller than 65535 sectors.
:crying: It says "This device cannot be accessed because it is smaller than 65535 sectors" when I tried to low level format using LLFT.
---------- Post added at 07:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:08 PM ----------
losborn said:
Thanks for all of the input! I tried formating it with my camera with no success, then took the easy way out: I took it back where I bought it and got it replaced.
I'm filing this information away for next time, though! Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good for you. But I'm still getting headache as I can't contact the manufacturer.
I had formatted the micro SD card in ext4 format for using with app2SD. I had it in 2 partitions.
And then after a while, the card stopped functioning (with so little and useless 30MB storage).
I had tried things like recovery, formatting, partition recovery.
Nothing can return it to original state. I just want it to be blank. It's ok I lost all the data.

Windows 7 asking to scan for errors on Storage card

just wanna ask everyone but everytime i plug in my phone to use as device storage on Windows 7 it asks me if i wanna scan and fix files on the storage card
is this bad for my Micro SD Card??

Scanning for errors isn't bad for your microSD card. If anything, it's good for the sake of your files. Over the time you've owned your microSD, you may have unplugged it from your computer without properly ejecting it first, corrupted files through daily use on your phone, soft reset your phone as files were being written to it, etc., and all these theoretical situations can take their toll on the FAT32 file system. Scanning for errors simply checks the integrity of the file system and makes corrections as needed. If you are getting this message in Windows, I highly recommend scanning for errors to prevent future issues and to get rid of that message. Most likely you won't find anything wrong, and even if you do, Windows will repair it.

Are apps stored on the ROM partition?

Phones typically have a partition of encrypted memory for the OS and Apps. Most Win7 Phones have 512MB of this ROM. In other phones, the ROM severely limits the number or size of apps. Are apps in Windows 7 Phone stored in the ROM as well?
I didn't think so until I saw some phones have 1GB of ROM. If just the OS + 60MB of pre-installed software is allowed, what's the advantage of 1GB of ROM?

ROM should be Read Only Memory, so I guess that nothing except maybe major system updates will be installed on the ROM.

ROM is a misnomer but nevertheless the ROM partition is what manufacturers refer to for application space.
I don't see the point of having larger ROM partitions unless apps will be stored on the ROM. I'm hoping that if Windows 7 Phone stores apps on the ROM, it can efficiently recognize and install only the necessities onto the ROM and string the rest of the app over the single storage volume. Otherwise, we're looking at an OS with severely limited app storage.

I read in the Microsoft spec that any app pre-installed by the manufacturer needs to be restorable. So they probably have a backup copy of the app in the ROM section in that case.

athompson said:
I read in the Microsoft spec that any app pre-installed by the manufacturer needs to be restorable. So they probably have a backup copy of the app in the ROM section in that case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you are correct, however, as stated in the original post, the limit for pre-installed software is 60MB.

I know that side-loading isn't possible, but I still have to ask: can you remove the sd card and load an app directly onto it with a card reader? I know that removing the card causes a hard reset, but if you pull the battery first, then can you remove the card, mess with it, replace the card and then replace the battery without having the device hard reset? It seems like you could at least access the sd card file system this way (but I'm probably missing something).

Farmer Ted said:
I know that side-loading isn't possible, but I still have to ask: can you remove the sd card and load an app directly onto it with a card reader? I know that removing the card causes a hard reset, but if you pull the battery first, then can you remove the card, mess with it, replace the card and then replace the battery without having the device hard reset? It seems like you could at least access the sd card file system this way (but I'm probably missing something).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Surely, if the OS is split between the SD and phone memory then trying to just use the SD in that way would result in corruption?
Also, I imagine that the OS does self consistency checks, in some way, so that when you reinserted the SD card it'd notice that it's been altered?
Of course, that's a guess and I could be completely wrong.

I think I read in another thread that a few people have pulled the sd card, and couldn't read it with a reader. I guess it's encrypted (makes sense, but it still sucks).

Farmer Ted said:
I think I read in another thread that a few people have pulled the sd card, and couldn't read it with a reader. I guess it's encrypted (makes sense, but it still sucks).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Da_G mentioned its like a RAID0 with striping between the internal flash and the external flash card. Striping means that the data is divided between the two storage divices, which makes access faster (since you can get them both in parallel). It also means that if one of the memory devices fails, all data is lost. Which comfirms what we've seen in the Microsoft documentation, that if you remove the flash card and replace it with a different one, all your data is lost.

athompson said:
Da_G mentioned its like a RAID0 with striping between the internal flash and the external flash card. Striping means that the data is divided between the two storage divices, which makes access faster (since you can get them both in parallel). It also means that if one of the memory devices fails, all data is lost. Which comfirms what we've seen in the Microsoft documentation, that if you remove the flash card and replace it with a different one, all your data is lost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That makes me think, If it's like a raid0, and your internal memory has 8gb, then you dump in a 16gb card, will it be like raid where only 8gb of the 16gb will be usable (in the raid) ?

DavidinCT said:
That makes me think, If it's like a raid0, and your internal memory has 8gb, then you dump in a 16gb card, will it be like raid where only 8gb of the 16gb will be usable (in the raid) ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a good point, it doesn't sound too cool, does it. From what I understand about raid0, the purpose is to divide the data between two different disks, so you can get twice the IO bandwidth (since you can load half the file from each one, get it twice as fast). Raid0 doesn't do any backup, so if either hard drive fails, the whole thing is unrecoverable. Which is why most people don't use raid0.
But since it doesn't do any backup, it means there's no 'wasted' space, which means the full 16gb will likely be usable.

RAID0 is in ", better expression is JBOD (but data is stripped between the drives somehow).
Anyway, it is similar to current WM. There is IMGFS with some reserved space (a lot more actually, so all image updates fit in there without flashing phone, I'd be guessing that about 200MB is left as reserved space). The rest of the storage is as userspace, where are all stuff installed.

DavidinCT,
Your thinking of RAID 1 (mirroring) RAID 0 is striping without parity. So it basically writes/reads across both .. it looks like one volume but writes/reads could be on either storage.. depending on where they were written..
So.. when you remove the card .. or if you alter the card... it beaks the stripe set.. and toasts the storage volume.. if the storage is encrypted that would additionally complicate things..

Have you cloned a failing SD card that was formatted for internal storage?

Hey guys,
HTC 10 user. Not even a year into my 128GB MicroSD card's life and it's forcing write-protection. I think it's about to die. I can read off it. I can't write.
This SD Card was formatted as internal storage and is encrypted.
I bought a similar 128GB MicroSD card and I'd like to simply clone the image to the new SD card.
Has anyone SUCCESSFULLY done this?
I've attempted it and I pop in the new SD Card and it doesn't detect the card. It simply asks me to insert a card, like the card doesn't even exist.
I've actually tried TWO cloned 128GB cards - they aren't detected.
From what I can tell, I'm doing identical clones of the original MicroSD so I am not sure what I am missing. I'm using a cheapo freeware utility to do the clone in Windows. I don't have the utility name in front of me and I'm not home at the moment.
I have two more things I'd like to try, but I don't know if it's a futile effort: I'd like to try a dd clone from a linux live cd. I'd also like to try EaseUs clone utility, but I fear that's some kind of trial and I'm going to have to shell out some $$ to utilize it.
I know I can unload the original SD's contents to a PC, toss a new card in there, format, and start fresh...download all the play store, f-droid apps again, likely re-download all my audible books, drag my music back onto the card from the PC, and start a-new. That isn't my question, though.
I'm really wondering if I can clone an encrypted, internal-storage SD. I don't WANT to have to download my apps again. I don't want to have to rebuild caches and whatever else has been thrown onto my MicroSD.
Thanks!

I've done this before using clonezilla and it worked fine, no issues at all.
It's not as user friendly as a windows application probably.... but it gets the job done by doing an exact copy.
It even has a mode to keep reading on broken sectors (when you go into advanced mode), that way you can make the best copy possible.
You can read some instructions here
I did it directly from 1 card to another by inserting the source card into an adapter with the readonly slider lock thing to make sure I didn't write empty data to my source.
You can also first create an image from the source and then write the image to the new card.
Please keep in mind to not insert both cards at the same time when using Windows, it will crash Windows.
Windows doesn't understand that there could be 2 drives with the same ID's connected at the same time

[Method] Merging SD Card with Internal Storage

This post documents a method of enabling Adoptable Storage with adb commands on sony phones where previously similar solutions seem hard to find. Please link similar methods if they exist somewhere else, I am curious to read.
Personal success on SO-02K (NTT DoCoMo XZ1c ) fw version 47.2.B.5.38 Android Pie, 128G A2 card.
The method results in a fraction of the microSD Card being recognised by the system to be able to transfer apps to, and another fraction where the sd card remains external storage.
The Stock Camera will only be able to save to the mentioned external storage partition after this process, and it will fail to save to internal storage.
Some apps may not work when transferred to the sd card and have to stay in onboard storage.
Premise
I carried out the process with a freshly flashed phone, with a minimal amount of apps present in the system. I cannot guarantee same success with an almost-full phone, although in principle it should be the same. If anyone has success on a more full system please let me and others know.
ADB Debugging should be turned on in developer options and authorization of PC given in advance; root or bl unlock not necessary.
SD Card will be WIPED in the process. For your data's safety do backup everything on your phone, both internal memory and external memory before proceeding! Don't yell at me if in the end it'll have to be restored.
Process
adb shell
sm list-disks this should return two integers such as 179,0
sm partition disk:179,0 mixed xx where the 179,0 should be your result in step 2 and xx be the amount of space reserved for /sdcard ; wait until command finishes. For the mixed xx see Miscellaneous#2 for explanation. Please also reply if you know the command to revert the changes made in this step, because I'd expect it be useful in the future and I don't know what it is.
Turn on force allow apps on external in bottom of developer settings if haven't done so.
Open camera app, click on OK until warnings go away, then set save directory in SD Card. Test if it saves successfully, if not, see Miscellaneous#1.
Reboot, then try moving some apps to your sd card! Some core function apps are not movable; that is to be expected.
Miscellaneous
If your camera won't allow you to open up settings (keeps saying cannot save), then you have run into a problem I have never seen before. If you can go into camera settings but the SD Card option is greyed out, that means either you have not reserved enough space in mixed xx or the command may have gone wrong. Or the card may not be in perfect condition for Adoptable Storage. You can unplug the sd card to see if the camera works fine after that, but I haven't tried that. If anyone knows the corresponding command to revert the changes made in Process#3, please let everyone know!
The mixed xx part allows a part of the sd card to remain.... an sd card. xx% of the space in your card will be recognised as external(portable) storage by your phone, and is readable by a PC. This portion will be the place where your future photos and videos are saved in, as the camera will fail saving to internal space. Thus you may want to use the fastest card you have and set xx based on your use patterns. The other part, the (100-xx) % of space is recognised by the phone as internal storage that it can put apps in, although some apps (especially some games) will still save assets in the phone's on board storage no matter where you move the main app.
This post is re-written from original post(chinese)

Thanks for sharing this but in my experience it does not work. I followed the guide and It looks like it worked, however now I don't understand how to move the apps away from the internal memory to exploit the new storage space provided by the SD "internal" memory... each time I try to move an app I get a "not enough memory" error message although there are about 64Gb free, no matter what app I try moving. I also noticed that deleting an app from the phone and then re-installing the app in the phone will finally install it in the SD but several apps I tried didn't work any more once re-installed in the SD storage.

indago said:
Thanks for sharing this but in my experience it does not work. I followed the guide and It looks like it worked, however now I don't understand how to move the apps away from the internal memory to exploit the new storage space provided by the SD "internal" memory... each time I try to move an app I get a "not enough memory" error message although there are about 64Gb free, no matter what app I try moving. I also noticed that deleting an app from the phone and then re-installing the app in the phone will finally install it in the SD but several apps I tried didn't work any more once re-installed in the SD storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi and Merry Christmas!
I do get system warnings saying the phone is full while it isn't; it seems that Android freaks out a little trying to gather disk usage info when the SD card is merged with internal space. However I can move most non-system-apps.
Did you move the app with the (Press&Hold App Icon)->App Info ->Storage->Change function? I found I didn't include this part in the original writing and might have been a source of confusion. Assuming it was done in App Info, could you tell me what apps don't work, and perhaps I can try on my phone. I also wonder how much storage did you allocate to each of the two partitions on the SD card.
Another potential source of error is the card itself, in some cases, the card may have bad blocks that Android doesn't correct for and cause read problems, as my SD card now begins to show. Sometimes I wake up to see my home screen devoid of apps, and I have to reinsert and restart the phone multiple times before the SD card gets recognized by the phone again.

Did you move the app with the (Press&Hold App Icon)->App Info ->Storage->Change function?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes.
Assuming it was done in App Info, could you tell me what apps don't work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all. I was not able to move any app.
I also wonder how much storage did you allocate to each of the two partitions on the SD card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
50% of 128Gb, that is 64Gb each.
Another potential source of error is the card itself
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it doesn't seem the card, since the remaining 64Gb left for external storage, that is where the camera app is saving photos and videos and some other apps save data, still works fine.

Here it is the screenshot of how Android now sees the storage configuration (android settings > storage) after I performed the procedure described above for configuring adoptable storage (writings are in Italian but I think it should be easy to understand).

indago said:
Here it is the screenshot of how Android now sees the storage configuration (android settings > storage) after I performed the procedure described above for configuring adoptable storage (writings are in Italian but I think it should be easy to understand).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mine looks the same. I don't know what to suggest. I'll look around on other forums to see if people have the same problem.
This post is re-written from original post in Chinese which in turn is adapted from a lost post on gfan.com.
It also turns out that googling sm partition would give a lot of information most dated back to android 6.

I've been looking around as well, but was able to find only people reporting failures in enabling odoptable storage on Sony devices. However, one difference between your phone and mine is fw version: mine has 47.2.A.11.228 (no brand) - don't know if this can make any real difference.
By the way, I'm wondering whether it could be possibile to install a rarely-used app in the internal memory, then "park" the app in the SD card's external memory by moving its files, then eventually move it back to internal memory only in the case you need opening that app. If it works, it could be a trick for keeping all the apps you want "freezed" in the phone, by taking the usually unused apps in the external memory, then moving one of them in the internal memory only in the rare circumstance you need using it. Then moving it back to the external memory if you think you won't use it any more for a long period. Obviously one could simply uninstall and reinstall those rarely-used apps on occurrence, but that would take more time, consume data traffic and lose the app existing data, so I think that >IF< this kind of trick could be feasible, I'd go for it.

indago said:
I've been looking around as well, but was able to find only people reporting failures in enabling odoptable storage on Sony devices. However, one difference between your phone and mine is fw version: mine has 47.2.A.11.228 (no brand) - don't know if this can make any real difference.
By the way, I'm wondering whether it could be possibile to install a rarely-used app in the internal memory, then "park" the app in the SD card's external memory by moving its files, then eventually move it back to internal memory only in the case you need opening that app. If it works, it could be a trick for keeping all the apps you want "freezed" in the phone, by taking the usually unused apps in the external memory, then moving one of them in the internal memory only in the rare circumstance you need using it. Then moving it back to the external memory if you think you won't use it any more for a long period. Obviously one could simply uninstall and reinstall those rarely-used apps on occurrence, but that would take more time, consume data traffic and lose the app existing data, so I think that >IF< this kind of trick could be feasible, I'd go for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Striking news in the new year-- my sd doesn't work now. Yesterday I checked everything worked, but now no apps installed on my sd card open. using sm list-volumes shows both internal and portable partitions on the SD are mounted, but the apps still refuse to open.
The card looks like it's corrupted, now the two partitions can't even be recognized with my card reader, I guess I'm screwed.

at my asus max m2 .... working, camera, i can move app to sd card and they still works
butttt the only thing is at settings/storage/ information; it shows numbers that dont are correct and a option "to forget sd card " ?!?!?
well i don't know.....