I've been experiencing some maddening issues with corruption of sdcard data. After much googling and finding some other reported occurrences of this, but not finding much info that's been helpful in solving the problem, I thought I'd compile and post some data in the hopes that others could add to it - hopefully leading to some kind of conclusion and maybe even a solution. I apologize because this is going to be a long post - hopefully it will be worth it.
Issue description:
There's a directory called LOST.DIR on sdcards in android phones. From what I've gathered, it contains lost/corrupted/orphaned files from the sdcard. When these files are moved to LOST.DIR, they're renamed with seemingly random strings of numbers and any file suffixes are stripped. Other OS's (Mac, Windows, etc.) have similar directories that serve similar purposes. The problem that I and others are experiencing is an alarming rate of sdcard data corruption, causing the LOST.DIR directory to fill up rather quickly, sometimes reaching multiple GB's in size. I’ve seen up to a dozen new files per day appearing in this directory. It's gotten to the point where I no longer trust that any data I put on my sdcard will remain intact.
I've read a few theories on how/why this happens. I've read that this is a Mac-related issue and only happens when mounting the sdcard on a Mac. This is not the case, as I've had this issue occur regardless if I'm mounting the card on a Mac, on a Windows PC (XP or 7), or even when mounting the card in a card reader and not from the phone directly (though I don't think the data corruption is occurring during mounting the card, but rather when the card is unmounted from the phone either when shutting the phone down or when unmounting the card from the phone during a request to remount the card via USB). I've even had a few (rare) occurrences of new files appearing in LOST.DIR without mounting the card on any device except the phone itself. I've also read that it's ok to just delete the files in this directory to reclaim space on the sdcard, but I've found that the files in LOST.DIR are often files I need, or files that various applications need to function. For the most part, when files are found in LOST.DIR, they've actually been removed from their original location. Deleting the files in LOST.DIR means you'll never be able to recover those files.
Once files end up in LOST.DIR, it's painstaking to recover them. Since they no longer have file types/suffixes, you may have to try opening the files in a utility to be able to tell what they are. Or by trial and error try appending different suffixes until you can open the files in an appropriate application.
Examples of files from my sdcard that have ended up in LOST.DIR:
whole mp3's
partial mp3's (more on this below)
photos & videos taken with the Epic's camera
xml config files
cached browser files
sql lite db's stored by various apps on the sdcard (causing one or two apps to FC since the sql lite files are no longer where the app expects them to be)
flashable zip files
etc.
Basically, any file I have on my sdcard can become corrupted or orphaned and end up in LOST.DIR in a near-unidentifiable state. To add to the pain, sometimes the files in LOST.DIR are not complete files, and sometimes they're not moved there intact. I was playing an album stored on the sdcard, and one track cut off in the middle. I found the other half of the mp3 file in LOST.DIR. I've lost entire photos and videos to LOST.DIR, but for the most part the files that are moved there are munged together with other files. If you view some files in LOST.DIR with a utility that can open any file as text, you'll see that a single file in LOST.DIR can really be multiple files or parts of files munged together into one. I've seen parts of text files mixed in with jpg's from browser cache mixed in with html mixed in with xml mixed in with other unidentifiable data. Obviously if this happens the data is not recoverable.
Some theories which I've ruled out or partially ruled out:
Mounting/unmounting method: I always shut down, mount, unmount, etc. the phone and the sdcard properly. If I have the card mounted on a Mac or PC, I always use the appropriate OS-specific method of unmounting the card before turning off USB mounting on the Epic. I ran tests where I kept track of every step I took in booting, unmounting, remounting, etc. the sdcard to confirm this. Other users have also ruled this out as a cause (though I'm sure improperly unmounting a card can cause data problems)
Journaling: I confirmed this happens regardless of whether journaling is turned off or on
Ext4 file system: don't think this has anything to do with it, as I've seen this happen on Ext4 and RFS
ROM's: I confirmed that this seems to be happening on multiple ROMs: midNIGHT/Bonsai, Baked Snack, stock deodexed, etc.
Kernels: Seems to be happening on multiple kernels: Bonsai kernel, Baked Snack kernel, maybe one or two others I've tried
Card file system corruption: I've reformatted my sdcard more times that I can count in trying to get rid of this problem, doesn't seem to have any effect
Epic4g itself: this seems to be happening on many different android phones, so I'm ruling out a design flaw with the Epic4g
Theories I haven't ruled out:
android (froyo?) bug related to data integrity when mounting/unmounting the sdcard (let's hope not)
damaged or defective sdcard
I've read that some people have had success in banishing this problem by moving to a higher-class sdcard (doesn't really make sense to me, but whatever). I'm currently using the OEM 16gb (I'm assuming class 2 or 4) card that came with the Epic. In researching class 6 cards, it seems that the 8gb cards are generally more reliable than the 16gb cards, so I ordered a highly-rated 8gb class 6 card (still waiting for its arrival). I'll gladly give up storage space if I can count on data integrity. If it's a low-level android bug, then who knows if/when it will ever get dealt with.
Here are two links that have more info and user experiences with this issue:
- Google Code issue:
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2500
- ZDNet article:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/sybase/could-your-sd-card-cause-your-android-smartphone-to-crash-or-lose-data/1128
To be honest, I don't know how long I've been experiencing this problem. I don't know if it happened on Eclair, but it definitely happens on Froyo.
I apologize that this is so long, but hopefully it will help someone else and possibly even lead to some helpful information in dealing with this problem. I'll post my findings once I receive the new class 6 sdcard.
Peace.
Good info.
Do the original files get messed up anyway? I'm guessing the original files stay intact yeah? Or do they end up being messed up and unusable?
So for example, an mp3 file ends up in LOST.DIR but really it's still on your sdcard and you can play it with Media Player?
Let us know if a higher class card == less LOST.DIR files once you get that.
rsage said:
I've been experiencing some maddening issues with corruption of sdcard data. After much googling and finding some other reported occurrences of this, but not finding much info that's been helpful in solving the problem, I thought I'd compile and post some data in the hopes that others could add to it - hopefully leading to some kind of conclusion and maybe even a solution. I apologize because this is going to be a long post - hopefully it will be worth it.
Issue description:
There's a directory called LOST.DIR on sdcards in android phones. From what I've gathered, it contains lost/corrupted/orphaned files from the sdcard. When these files are moved to LOST.DIR, they're renamed with seemingly random strings of numbers and any file suffixes are stripped. Other OS's (Mac, Windows, etc.) have similar directories that serve similar purposes. The problem that I and others are experiencing is an alarming rate of sdcard data corruption, causing the LOST.DIR directory to fill up rather quickly, sometimes reaching multiple GB's in size. I’ve seen up to a dozen new files per day appearing in this directory. It's gotten to the point where I no longer trust that any data I put on my sdcard will remain intact.
I've read a few theories on how/why this happens. I've read that this is a Mac-related issue and only happens when mounting the sdcard on a Mac. This is not the case, as I've had this issue occur regardless if I'm mounting the card on a Mac, on a Windows PC (XP or 7), or even when mounting the card in a card reader and not from the phone directly (though I don't think the data corruption is occurring during mounting the card, but rather when the card is unmounted from the phone either when shutting the phone down or when unmounting the card from the phone during a request to remount the card via USB). I've even had a few (rare) occurrences of new files appearing in LOST.DIR without mounting the card on any device except the phone itself. I've also read that it's ok to just delete the files in this directory to reclaim space on the sdcard, but I've found that the files in LOST.DIR are often files I need, or files that various applications need to function. For the most part, when files are found in LOST.DIR, they've actually been removed from their original location. Deleting the files in LOST.DIR means you'll never be able to recover those files.
Once files end up in LOST.DIR, it's painstaking to recover them. Since they no longer have file types/suffixes, you may have to try opening the files in a utility to be able to tell what they are. Or by trial and error try appending different suffixes until you can open the files in an appropriate application.
Examples of files from my sdcard that have ended up in LOST.DIR:
whole mp3's
partial mp3's (more on this below)
photos & videos taken with the Epic's camera
xml config files
cached browser files
sql lite db's stored by various apps on the sdcard (causing one or two apps to FC since the sql lite files are no longer where the app expects them to be)
flashable zip files
etc.
Basically, any file I have on my sdcard can become corrupted or orphaned and end up in LOST.DIR in a near-unidentifiable state. To add to the pain, sometimes the files in LOST.DIR are not complete files, and sometimes they're not moved there intact. I was playing an album stored on the sdcard, and one track cut off in the middle. I found the other half of the mp3 file in LOST.DIR. I've lost entire photos and videos to LOST.DIR, but for the most part the files that are moved there are munged together with other files. If you view some files in LOST.DIR with a utility that can open any file as text, you'll see that a single file in LOST.DIR can really be multiple files or parts of files munged together into one. I've seen parts of text files mixed in with jpg's from browser cache mixed in with html mixed in with xml mixed in with other unidentifiable data. Obviously if this happens the data is not recoverable.
Some theories which I've ruled out or partially ruled out:
Mounting/unmounting method: I always shut down, mount, unmount, etc. the phone and the sdcard properly. If I have the card mounted on a Mac or PC, I always use the appropriate OS-specific method of unmounting the card before turning off USB mounting on the Epic. I ran tests where I kept track of every step I took in booting, unmounting, remounting, etc. the sdcard to confirm this. Other users have also ruled this out as a cause (though I'm sure improperly unmounting a card can cause data problems)
Journaling: I confirmed this happens regardless of whether journaling is turned off or on
Ext4 file system: don't think this has anything to do with it, as I've seen this happen on Ext4 and RFS
ROM's: I confirmed that this seems to be happening on multiple ROMs: midNIGHT/Bonsai, Baked Snack, stock deodexed, etc.
Kernels: Seems to be happening on multiple kernels: Bonsai kernel, Baked Snack kernel, maybe one or two others I've tried
Card file system corruption: I've reformatted my sdcard more times that I can count in trying to get rid of this problem, doesn't seem to have any effect
Epic4g itself: this seems to be happening on many different android phones, so I'm ruling out a design flaw with the Epic4g
Theories I haven't ruled out:
android (froyo?) bug related to data integrity when mounting/unmounting the sdcard (let's hope not)
damaged or defective sdcard
I've read that some people have had success in banishing this problem by moving to a higher-class sdcard (doesn't really make sense to me, but whatever). I'm currently using the OEM 16gb (I'm assuming class 2 or 4) card that came with the Epic. In researching class 6 cards, it seems that the 8gb cards are generally more reliable than the 16gb cards, so I ordered a highly-rated 8gb class 6 card (still waiting for its arrival). I'll gladly give up storage space if I can count on data integrity. If it's a low-level android bug, then who knows if/when it will ever get dealt with.
Here are two links that have more info and user experiences with this issue:
- Google Code issue:
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2500
- ZDNet article:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/sybase/could-your-sd-card-cause-your-android-smartphone-to-crash-or-lose-data/1128
To be honest, I don't know how long I've been experiencing this problem. I don't know if it happened on Eclair, but it definitely happens on Froyo.
I apologize that this is so long, but hopefully it will help someone else and possibly even lead to some helpful information in dealing with this problem. I'll post my findings once I receive the new class 6 sdcard.
Peace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I had to guess, it sounds like silent write corruption on the SD card, whereby writes to the card are reported successful, but the written blocks are (ocasionally) corrupted, which don't show up until they're later read. In which case I'd suspect the controller on the SD card itself is to blame.
If it wasn't silent corruption, i.e., writes were returning errors, the SD card should remount read-only automatically and there would be some OS-level notification. Although I suppose any such notification could be ignored.
The mounting issue is possibly a red herring, for two reasons. First, data blocks written to the SD card are also cached in RAM. Thus, once mounted, most of the read operations on critical file system metadata will come out of the file system buffer cache and not actually from the SD card. So even if the write corruption is an on-going thing, it could easily go masked until a device reboot or SD card unmount/remount, at which point the cached blocks are purged and (the corrupted versions) read from the card.
Second, fsck_msdos, which is responsible for populating LOST.DIR, runs at the time the SD card is mounted which is why mount events often corresponds to lost files showing up there.
rsage said:
Here are two links that have more info and user experiences with this issue:
- Google Code issue:
- ZDNet article:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to outright dismiss the existence of a kernel-level software bug, but the fact that relatively few folks for a given device are frequently reporting the issue leads me to think it's often hardware (likely SD card) related, or a result of a very unusual set of circumstances. At least, for the many bugs folks report having on the Epic, rampant SD card data corruption is not one I'm aware of.
See if the new SD card helps, if it does, I'd say you just have a bum card and wouldn't even blame it on a particular brand or class.
If you continue to have issues even with the new card, it would be nice to rule out a hardware defect with your particular Epic, but short of you getting a new phone or other people reporting the same issue, that would be difficult to do.
Otherwise the two best things to do are to: (i) figure out a set of files/operations/whatever that reliably repeat the corruption issue, if possible, and (ii) narrow the sources of corruption down by avoiding mounting the SD card on other machines. You may have to occasoinally "Unmount SD card" and remount it from the Settings -> Sd card and phone storage for the corruption to show up though.
p3dr0maz said:
Good info.
Do the original files get messed up anyway? I'm guessing the original files stay intact yeah? Or do they end up being messed up and unusable?
So for example, an mp3 file ends up in LOST.DIR but really it's still on your sdcard and you can play it with Media Player?
Let us know if a higher class card == less LOST.DIR files once you get that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very good question - the answer is "all of the above"
Some files (I'd say ~25%) have been recoverable once I've been able to figure out what they are. The majority of the files have been unrecoverable though - either because part of the file remained in its original location and part of the file got moved to LOST.DIR, or because several files or pieces of several different files got moved from their original locations to LOST.DIR and got "munged" together in one file.
mkasick said:
If I had to guess, it sounds like silent write corruption on the SD card, whereby writes to the card are reported successful, but the written blocks are (ocasionally) corrupted, which don't show up until they're later read. In which case I'd suspect the controller on the SD card itself is to blame.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very good theory, though I and others have noticed one thing that goes against it - some of the files were living and being used on the sdcard for quite a while before they got corrupted and moved to LOST.DIR. A couple examples: 1) I had listened to the affected mp3 several times before one day it suddenly cut off near the 1/2 way mark, after which I discovered the other half of the file was in LOST.DIR, and 2) I had used/read several other read-only files and sql lite db's numerous times before they suddenly no longer existed and were found in LOST.DIR (sometimes recoverable, sometimes not). When the latter happened, a zero byte file with the same name existed in the original file location, but the real file had been renamed as something like "567801" and moved to LOST.DIR. So it seems that when they were originally written to disk, the writes were successful.
The mounting issue is possibly a red herring, for two reasons. First, data blocks written to the SD card are also cached in RAM. Thus, once mounted, most of the read operations on critical file system metadata will come out of the file system buffer cache and not actually from the SD card. So even if the write corruption is an on-going thing, it could easily go masked until a device reboot or SD card unmount/remount, at which point the cached blocks are purged and (the corrupted versions) read from the card.
Second, fsck_msdos, which is responsible for populating LOST.DIR runs at the time the SD card is mounted, which is why mount events often corresponds to lost files showing up there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great information, thanks!
Not to outright dismiss the existence of a kernel-level software bug, but the fact that relatively few folks for a given device are frequently reporting the issue leads me to think it's often hardware (likely SD card) related, or a result of a very unusual set of circumstances. At least, for the many bugs folks report having on the Epic, rampant SD card data corruption is not one I'm aware of.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Possibly (and hopefully) you're right. Another possibility is that it's a more widespread issue, and users aren't realizing it for various reasons. Most of the corrupt/orphaned files I'm seeing in LOST.DIR wouldn't necessarily cause any overt symptom that anyone would notice - files like browser cache files, etc. It might not be noticeable to the user until a more important file is affected, and the issue may be dismissed out-of-hand or chalked up to some other more common issue usually fixed by clearing the data for a problematic app. One of the most common things I see on these boards is sudden and unexplained FC's of various apps, sometimes remedied by clearing data for the app, sometimes by reinstalling the app, and often users simply wipe all data and start over - never sure what the cause of the problem was. Every phone that's mentioned in various threads on this issue, or other android phones I've personally checked, have had LOST.DIR and LOST.DIR has never been empty. This seems to be true even if a specific phone wasn't having any issues that the user noticed. Obviously my sample size is very small, so I'm not saying this is universally true. But I think it's at least a possibility that the issue is more widespread and users may not be noticing it due to the nature of the affected files or maybe they're thinking it's some other problem.
I've also read a fair number of comments on this issue like "dude, wow I didn't know I had this directory but I do and there's 2gb of stuff in there!" Well, that 2gb of "stuff" had to come from somewhere
See if the new SD card helps, if it does, I'd say you just have a bum card and wouldn't even blame it on a particular brand or class.
If you continue to have issues even with the new card, it would be nice to rule out a hardware defect with your particular Epic, but short of you getting a new phone or other people reporting the same issue, that would be difficult to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, though this problem does seem to span many different brands/models of android devices (for those that have noticed the problem), so I'm thinking it's probably not my Epic. I'm hoping it's the card like you said. MicroSD cards aren't the most reliable storage media on the planet, so I'm really hoping it's just the card.
Otherwise the two best things to do are to: (i) figure out a set of files/operations/whatever that reliably repeat the corruption issue, if possible, and (ii) narrow the sources of corruption down by avoiding mounting the SD card on other machines. You may have to occasoinally "Unmount SD card" and remount it from the Settings -> Sd card and phone storage for the corruption to show up though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. Though I've had occasions when I've been testing and the files in LOST.DIR will increase without me really doing anything. In other words, I'll do a fresh boot of the phone, look in LOST.DIR with Root Explorer or ES and check the file count, then shut down the phone normally, wait a while, reboot normally, and there may be a few additional files in there. Of course there are always background processes running and probably accessing the card even if I'm not doing anything on the phone, so who knows. I've also rebooted the phone, checked the file count, properly mounted and unmounted the phone via USB on a Mac or PC, then checked the file count again just to see that there were a dozen new files in there. Good times...
mkasick - you seem very knowledgeable about the mechanics of reads/writes and internal android processes - do you think it's possible that the characteristics of certain ROM's, kernels, CW versions, or simply the act of flashing things all the time could have anything to do with this? I'm thinking not...
rsage said:
Very good theory, though I and others have noticed one thing that goes against it - some of the files were living and being used on the sdcard for quite a while before they got corrupted and moved to LOST.DIR.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Wikipedia page on the FAT file system explains how it works a bit, although I imagine there's more illustrative examples out there. But basically, file data blocks are stored in clusters, and there's a table that contains entires for each cluster in the file system, where each table entry contains the index (location) of the next cluster, if that cluster is part of a file.
So it's quite possible that file data blocks for a given file are written out fine, but when the FAT is modified while writing/modifying a file that happens to be adjacent to it, the cluster indexes for the existing file are corrupted.
rsage said:
1) I had listened to the affected mp3 several times before one day it suddenly cut off near the 1/2 way mark, after which I discovered the other half of the file was in LOST.DIR
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is likely the result of a single corrupt cluster index. The corrupt index points to a cluster in the middle of the mp3, and if it were accidentally changed to "0" then (roughly) half the file is lopped off. Later, when fsck_msdos runs and scans the FAT and directory entries, it sees a chain of valid clusters that's not attached to any file. So it gives it a new file name and stuffs it in LOST.DIR.
rsage said:
When the latter happened, a zero byte file with the same name existed in the original file location, but the real file had been renamed as something like "567801" and moved to LOST.DIR.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the entire file was in LOST.DIR, it sounds like a corrupt directory entry. That's a bit more suspicious, particularly if other part of the directory entry (name, time, etc.) were OK.
rsage said:
Most of the corrupt/orphaned files I'm seeing in LOST.DIR wouldn't necessarily cause any overt symptom that anyone would notice - files like browser cache files, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One way orphaned files happen is when a file is deleted, and it's corresponding directory entry is removed, but the updated FAT hasn't been written out yet. The phone shouldn't be doing this too often, as long as the SD card is always properly unmounted (e.g., phone is properly shutdown). I could see computers doing this rather frequently, particular if the USB device isn't "safely removed".
Afterall, orphaned files in that instance aren't a safety/corruption issue. There's just less free space in the file system until a fsck or other consistency check tool is run.
In any event, I don't find the existence of these alone to be terribly surprising, especially in absence of missing files or other more significant corruption.
rsage said:
One of the most common things I see on these boards is sudden and unexplained FC's of various apps, sometimes remedied by clearing data for the app, sometimes by reinstalling the app, and often users simply wipe all data and start over - never sure what the cause of the problem was.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In almost all instances I expect those are due to data corruption on the /data file system, which, with ext4 can often happen on a phone crash or battery pull. Even with a journal, ext4 uses a delayed allocation scheme whereby newly allocated data may not be committed up to a few minutes after being "written", a window during which if the phone crashes, those files will experience data loss.
rsage said:
Every phone that's mentioned in various threads on this issue, or other android phones I've personally checked, have had LOST.DIR and LOST.DIR has never been empty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As an anecdote: I usually end up with 2-3 orphaned files in LOST.DIR everytime I do a kernel upgrade, which I issue from within Android using redbend_ua without a clean shutdown. But I've never seen more obvious corruption. And I never see files in LOST.DIR after preforming a clean shutdown and clean unmounts.
rsage said:
But I think it's at least a possibility that the issue is more widespread and users may not be noticing it due to the nature of the affected files or maybe they're thinking it's some other problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may be right about that, particularly if the affected files are thumbnails or related to the media cache.
Still, I suspect if the problem were somewhat-spread among Epic owners here, we'd see a lot more posts about SD card corruption.
rsage said:
do you think it's possible that the characteristics of certain ROM's, kernels, CW versions, or simply the act of flashing things all the time could have anything to do with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since most of those activities don't result in SD card mutations, I suspect not. Also, it doesn't look like "the problem" is confined to users to root and custom ROM.
A few more notes:
If it always happens after a phone crash, random reboot, etc, it's just file system corruption and there's little that can be done. Amusingly, RFS is essentially a "journaled FAT" and would solve that problem, but it's not
used on SD cards on Samsung devices, which otherwise seems like a perfectly appropriate use for it.
I'm suspicious of it being a bug in the file system driver. If it was, corruption would be discovered at random times instead of specifically after a reboot or remount event, which is when folks seem to report it happening.
It could be a bug in fsck_msdos. I'd be a bit surprised if it was, but I don't think fsck_msdos is used particularly often outside of Android or other embedded devices, so the code may not be as well vetted as, say, fsck.ext3. One way to tell would be to disable fsck_msdos entirely and see if data still goes missing.
EDIT 10char
k0nane said:
Just to jump in with my opinions - I'd format that SD card. If you continue to have issues, something else is at fault - but at this point, it sounds like you've just got a corrupted/out-of-sync FAT, and the easiest way to guarantee a fix is a format.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone didn't bother to read the thread...
stackz! said:
Someone didn't bother to read the thread...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did read the thread. I missed the part where he stated he'd formatted his SD card. Piss off.
mkasick
Thanks for the great post, that really clarifies what could potentially be happening with the data. I'll report back when I have more info.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
You know Ive noticed this also,photos will just up and dissapear or get corrupted and wont open and really lag the gallery app,same thing happens to songs; Ive never worried about it,I just chalked it up to a bad sdcard,and Ive always got 3 backups of all data I plan on keeping. I would also like to know what the real cause is,keep us informed...
Sent from my MyFrankenstein EC05OCE using XDAPA...
I have also had this same problem. Its really disgusting. This is about all I can take from this phone. I'm about to smash it and go back to a dumb phone. What's the point of a smart phone is the data is not relable.
OK sorry about the ranting.
I started a thread about this in Q&A. I refomatted the card yesterday again I think that's the 5th time. And so far its good AFAIK 21 hours in. O all the things/Devices I had moded hacked I have never had data ****ing up like this.
Sent from the Drivers Seat of my Suby txting and Driving doing 100MPH+ in a school zone! Ha.
zman519 said:
I have also had this same problem. Its really disgusting. This is about all I can take from this phone. I'm about to smash it and go back to a dumb phone. What's the point of a smart phone is the data is not relable.
OK sorry about the ranting.
I started a thread about this in Q&A. I refomatted the card yesterday again I think that's the 5th time. And so far its good AFAIK 21 hours in. O all the things/Devices I had moded hacked I have never had data ****ing up like this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel your pain. Found your thread in Q&A, I missed it when I was searching the forum before I started this thread, probably because there's no reference to LOST.DIR. A lot of similarities in our setups and the issues we're seeing. Keep us posted.
By the way, you mentioned that you've had files go down to zero bytes but then at some point go back to normal. I've never had a file come back from this kind of corruption. Do you have any idea how this happened - did you run any kind of utility on the sdcard from windows or android OS for example?
How repeatable is the corruption?
If, for example, you reformat the SD card, restore its contents from backups, is it the same files that are corrupted after some time? Roughly how long after a reformat is corruption observable?
mkasick said:
How repeatable is the corruption?
If, for example, you reformat the SD card, restore its contents from backups, is it the same files that are corrupted after some time? Roughly how long after a reformat is corruption observable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only answering for myself - never been the same files for me. Seems that it could be any file at any time, I've never actually seen the same file get corrupted twice before or after a reformat (assuming I was able to restore it after the first corruption). I can see new corruption after a reformat as soon as I start unmounting/mounting the sdcard. If I reformat then never unmount/mount the card via USB, occurrences are much rarer (though I have seen a few occurrences after just rebooting the phone, which of course unmounts & mounts the card as well).
rsage said:
I can see new corruption after a reformat as soon as I start unmounting/mounting the sdcard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And these are confirmed missing files that are no longer in their original location, or are zero-length or something?
When you say "unmounting/mounting", do you mean just on the phone, or only after mounting/unmounting it on a PC? For example, if you were to reformat, copy a bunch of data over, verify (on the phone) that it's correct, then click "Unmount SD card" on the phone a bunch of times (remounting inbetween), does that pretty much guarantee corrupt/lost files?
Also, do you store any apps on the SD card? If so, do those appear to be OK, or can they get corrupted as well?
Edit: The more times you mount/unmount the SD card, does corruption appear to worsen? Is this independent of how much you otherwise actually use the card?
mkasick said:
And these are confirmed missing files that are no longer in their original location, or are zero-length or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I've seen both. I've had files go completely missing (photos taken with the camera, an mp3 or two, etc.), I've had files go to zero bytes (zip's, sql lite db's), and I've had files stay in place but get partially truncated (other mp3's, maybe some others).
When you say "unmounting/mounting", do you mean just on the phone, or only after mounting/unmounting it on a PC? For example, if you were to reformat, copy a bunch of data over, verify (on the phone) that it's correct, then click "Unmount SD card" on the phone a bunch of times (remounting inbetween), does that pretty much guarantee corrupt/lost files?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say 90% of the issues I've had have been noticed after mounting the card, while in the phone, on a Mac or Windows PC. I notice the issue after I then unmount the card from the Mac/PC, at which point the Epic mounts the card. However, I've also seen it happen when shutting down the Epic, removing the card, and mounting it on a Mac or PC with a card reader (I see the evidence after reinserting the card back in the Epic and booting back up). I'm not sure if it's happening when the card is unmounted from the Epic, or when it's mounted on some other device, I could try to track that down.
I have less often seen it happen when shutting down and restarting the phone. I haven't tried repeatedly hitting unmount/mount in the Epic settings.
Also, do you store any apps on the SD card? If so, do those appear to be OK, or can they get corrupted as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good question - until a few days ago, I had no apps on the SD card. I've been noticing the data corruption well before that - weeks, if not a couple months. Really don't know how long it's been going on. Within the last few days I have had to move some apps to the SD card. I haven't had an actual app/apk get corrupted (that I'm aware of), but I have had data get corrupted for apps that store data on the SD card.
Edit:
Edit: The more times you mount/unmount the SD card, does corruption appear to worsen? Is this independent of how much you otherwise actually use the card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, and yes
rsage said:
I feel your pain. Found your thread in Q&A, I missed it when I was searching the forum before I started this thread, probably because there's no reference to LOST.DIR. A lot of similarities in our setups and the issues we're seeing. Keep us posted.
By the way, you mentioned that you've had files go down to zero bytes but then at some point go back to normal. I've never had a file come back from this kind of corruption. Do you have any idea how this happened - did you run any kind of utility on the sdcard from windows or android OS for example?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not run any thing on the sdcard with the data on it, win or android. At frist I saw this happening to videos I hid with "pandora" (its a media hider) so I thought that was messing up the data. But then my nandroid imgs where not the right hash & some times 0 bytes so at that point I ruled out pandora.
This is just an idea I have know testing to conferm it. BUT what if the problem is simpley a junk samsuck sdcard? I mean look at it, the usb cable is junk that came with the phone, froyo from them is junk, bluetooth, gps on 2.1 (if it where not for the devs hear the phone would be totaly junk to me and I would have got a new phone)
Sent from the Drivers Seat of my Suby txting and Driving doing 100MPH+ in a school zone! Ha.
rsage said:
I'd say 90% of the issues I've had have been noticed after mounting the card, while in the phone, on a Mac or Windows PC. I notice the issue after I then unmount the card from the Mac/PC, at which point the Epic mounts the card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think what we're establishing here, and correct me if I'm wrong, but data corruption appears to be correlated with mount events on the Epic. The more times you mount, the higher probability of encountering data corruption.
Furthermore, there's instances in which the corrupt data was observed to be OK on a PC prior to the remount. And it's independent of how much the card is actually used on the Epic between mounts.
If that's all the case, then there's definitely something suspicious about the mounting process. It's certainly not spurious corruption. It could still be "bad cards," in the sense that the mounting process is correct but tickles something in the controller. But I'm inclined to believe it may be a software-level issue afterall.
I'm still curious if the problem persists across multiple SD cards in the same device.
zman519 said:
This is just an idea I have know testing to conferm it. BUT what if the problem is simpley a junk samsuck sdcard? I mean look at it, the usb cable is junk that came with the phone, froyo from them is junk, bluetooth, gps on 2.1 (if it where not for the devs hear the phone would be totaly junk to me and I would have got a new phone)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's possible, new card is coming today so hopefully I'll have new info soon
Related
i just got my storage card nuked and i think it was by "save attachments on storage card" .. its cleanswept except for some attachment dir and a WMDRM dir.. anyone experienced this before?
Im curious if there is a way to save my storage card like file recovery for windows!?!? I've had smartphone for 2 years and never experienced such (nor used the mail portion) .. its really a drag if this is normal wm5 behavior.
anyways two questions:
- is a way to generally clone a qtek9100 with all regs and storage
- is there a way to recover lost files if nothing else is written to car? (so called quick formats)
sardaukar said:
- is a way to generally clone a qtek9100 with all regs and storage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Backup apps:
SPB Backup - www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/backup/?en
Sunnysoft Backup Manager - www.sunnysoft.cz/en_clanek.php?clanekid=51
Sprite Backup - www.spritesoftware.com/pocketpc.php
Or, otherwise, copy all files over, and export the registry using Tascal Registry Editor or so. Restoring would likely be iffy, though.. e.g. overwriting the Pocket Outlook database and such - if it can be done.
sardaukar said:
- is there a way to recover lost files if nothing else is written to card? (so called quick formats)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes - there's dedicated software for this. I got one from Sandisk that came with their 1GB Ultra III compactflash card that I've got in my camera next to a 2GB memorystick.
http://www.lc-tech.com/software/rprowindetail.html
as for the nuking, I assume now it was something todo with windows mediea player and device syncronization which hadnt fully initiated ..
anyways, when you tlak of recovery what do you mean, as the link you post leads to pc software.
u put sd card in camera and mount as usb and run pc software to recover?
sprite backup seems to be very nice and feature rich.
I just had the exact same thing happen to me...was just left with the attachments directory.
The good news is that the SD card shows that there is 250MB used so i know the files are there...i just cant see them. I'm trying that SD program referenced in the last post to see if i can at least see the files.
Unfortunately, all my backups are on the SD card itself. I hadnt copied them to my HD.
wow, this is nuts - there's some serious bug lurking around!
Update on this.
I was able to recover the files with some data recovery tools. The one in this thread is useless - its meant for media files only.
I still wonder why this happened. Either way, I'm switching back Outlook attachments to main memory for a bit and see what happens.
d'oh
Well, let us know which data recovery tool you used - might come in handy for others
yup same thing happened to me... and same way, attachments on storage card
space was still missing but the files were too
didnt bother recovering though as i had backups luckily
The same happened to me twice! The first time I thought it was due to FAT FS, so i reformated it with FAT32, but it happened again.
I do have my attachements at SD, as well as I save pictures from camera to it.
BTW, the same thing happened once with my wife's iPaq 2490 (attachement at SD).
As for fixing: just use standard MS Windows checkdsk (or use Check now from drive options) if you have a card reader. It saves all files to FOUND directory (but, unfortunately, it renames it to strange names, so you'll have to find out what is what)
If this happens to you, FinalData Enterprise and EasyRecovery Pro are known to recover files very well. They will find all files and filenames. They wont restore the top level folder names but if you dont have many, you can change them yourself. More important to me were the lower level filenames and the integrity of those files.
Most of the other trial recovery programs i used couldnt do what these two products could. They typically just showed a bunch of .chk files or else tried to recover media files only.
I still want to know how this happened and if there's a way to replicate the problem. There's some nasty Outlook bug lurking around that needs to be fixed!
same thing happened to me. just realised that i have 300 meg os missing disk space that i thought had gone for ever.
can anyone recommend a freeware tool ?
Wait, my new 2gb card died 2 days ago! The Wizard won't even find it, and my PC finds it, but all the stuff on it is missing except for a couple of directories and it won't let me format it. It has to go back to China now. I'm so pissed off.
Anyone know a card recovery app?
I know the ones i mentioned earlier should work.
Someone said chkdsk may work...try that although i worry that if it recovers cross linked files (most of them are), it'll dump a bunch of useless chk files on the card.
i tried checkdisk and it didn't seem to retrieve any files. grrrrrrrrr.
Well maybe it s a bug which occurs on march 14.... because that same thing occured to my sd yesterday while I was using tt5 on the road... ;(
sardaukar said:
as for the nuking,.....bla bla.....
sprite backup seems to be very nice and feature rich.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd choose SPB Backup. According to my knowledge the WM5 compatible version of Sprite Backup does not have the self extracting functionallity yet. (weird because that among other features made Sprite Backup stand tall above all other backup/clone solutions).
Hope they will include this self extracting feature soon.
2 GIG Mini SD Speed
Just got mine from Singapore yesterday. I did not format it as it came already formatted. I have noticed that playing video divx / mpg1's are very slow versus internal memory. I did the reg edits for cache size but found no real changes to media playback. Anyone out there playing with media playback on a Cingular 8125?
mike freegan said:
Wait, my new 2gb card died 2 days ago! The Wizard won't even find it, and my PC finds it, but all the stuff on it is missing except for a couple of directories and it won't let me format it. It has to go back to China now. I'm so pissed off.
Anyone know a card recovery app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From experiance with this same issue on a 1gb, the card eventually starts having block failures. Fortunatly the place I bought it replaced it with another. Whatever nukes it, perminatly damaged mine. Hope in your case it didn't damage it.
I'm wondering if this is related to the reboot issue some of us are experiancing... and if it has something to do with pocket outlook or pocket windows media player 10.
Grey
Block failures are a hardware fault.
The only way you could induce one with software would be to rewrite the same location more than ~1m times, which would cause it to fail - flash has a limited lifetime, although the limit is very high.
So let me get this straight:
REGARDLESS of the BRAND of the miniSD card, the Wizard HAVE an ISSUE whereby, if MEssaging Attachement is saved to the card, the device CAN RANDOMLY nuke the card?
I haave the same issue with my ATP miniSD card (and they're considered one of the most reliable one), but instead of nuking it, it just doesn't show the file OR...worst... rename the card to "Storage CArd 2".
Depends on what people are running into.
If you're getting a corrupted card BUT you can reformat it, then it may be something with the storage card attachment thing. (I personally run with this turned on and have NOT had it happen)
If, however, the card CANNOT be reformatted - that is, its TOAST - then its NOT a software problem. The card has physically failed. Since the 2GB cards are quite new, this is entirely possible.
One other possibility - if you have a card that won't reformat first try writing a few kilobytes of zeros to it using psdwrite. If you can THEN reformat it, then the card was scrambled - it did not die.
Using "r2sd" to dump ROM images to the card has been known to interfere with reformatting to full capacity due to the internal data patterns that show up in certain places with certain ROMs. Writing a block of zeros to the front of the card will fix this, as it will wipe the data that is being misinterpreted.
Hello all!
Yesterday, while trying to load a couple files and install a program, my Hermes kept locking up. Found out my Card was almost full. (Lexar XD 2Gb)
Turns out somehow during that process, it correpted two folders on my Card, the Programs Files and the Live Search Folders. I have no access to those folders (can open them, but cannot delete files) and programs using them like AvantGo will not work.
I tried deleting both on the Device itself, then on the PC (2 pcs, work and home) through activesync, and finally putting the card into a Card Reader and trying to access and delete from my PC. Nothing worked.
I then tried to Fdisk to find errors, but Fdisk would report it couldn't do it after 10 secs. Tried the reboot and check also, no go.
So it looks like a few folders are corrupted. Anyone know of any (preferably free) software that can fix this issue. Otherwise I'll trun to Frys and get a new card, but it has a lot of stuff on it and I'd rather not have to do that at this time.
I should mention, most of the folders work fine, all my music, pictures, file back up etc work ok. Its just those two upper lvl folders and anything inside them. Wierd!
Thanks!
Do not know any software which can fix the issues you described.
But you mentioned that you are going to buy another disk.
I don't believe that's necessary.
You should be able to format the disk. Usually formatting the disk should clean all the badly recorded parts on the disk.
You might also want to invest in a good back up software in the future for when similar occasions happen again.
Well, a quick google shows all sorts of software out there, most of it more for saving stuff (mostly image related) but others that are supposed to fix corrupted sectors supposedly, looking for peeps in here that have run into same problem.
Been planning on a new card at some point, 4-8gb would be nice, just wasn't planning on going that way quite yet.
And I back things up, but you cant back up installed programs, you have to re-install them. Like I said, all the Data and stuff is fine.....
A piece of software called DelinvFile might help. 15 day trial available.
Hi,
I've done a search and haven't been able to find anything solid on this so I apologize if it's been covered. I've been using the Atrix for a few days now and I noticed that when I view click on the "Files" app (the default file viewer that comes with the Atrix) it comes up with a list of the following options:
Internal phone storage
SD card
Shared folders
Protected Content
This is different than previous Android phones I've used in that I get a file structure instead of options of where to look. That's fine; I can just click on one of those options to view the contents. However, I use a application at work to use my phone as a glorified picture frame. It's called Slideshow Bob and it does not recognize the external SD Card. This hasn't been an issue with prior Android devices, but from little I can glean from doing an online search, this does seem to be a limitation with some Motorola models. Again, I have had no problem accessing my pictures in Slideshow Bob from any of the Samsung Android devices I own and this is my first Motorola phone with this OS so I'm wondering if this is a bug that will be remedied or if they've basically limited file access from apps on this phone. I'm sure that's not the case with every app, but it certainly is for some. Anyone else have any issues or workarounds they'd like to share?
iirc, none of the currently released Samsung Android devices have built-in storage plus an expansion slot, which is why you've likely never seen the issue.
Basically, Android was never designed to have more than one expansion slot, so that ends up being mounted in /mnt/sdcard (or /sdcard, with one symlinked to the other). Since there's no standard on where additional storage ends up being (and most programs assume there's no additional storage anyways), programs usually don't know where to look.
There is probably an option is Slideshow Bob of where to get the pictures, try /mnt/sdcard-ext/[folder name], where [folder name] is the name of the folder on the external sd card where the pictures are.
Sogarth said:
iirc, none of the currently released Samsung Android devices have built-in storage plus an expansion slot, which is why you've likely never seen the issue.
Basically, Android was never designed to have more than one expansion slot, so that ends up being mounted in /mnt/sdcard (or /sdcard, with one symlinked to the other). Since there's no standard on where additional storage ends up being (and most programs assume there's no additional storage anyways), programs usually don't know where to look.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
My Samsung Captivate had 16GB of built-in memory and an SD expansion card slot which I filled with an additional 16GB card. In the android file manager I could access the expansion card by going into the ext_sd (or something like that) under the main sdcard directory. I could also see this folder in Slideshow Bob.
harolds said:
There is probably an option is Slideshow Bob of where to get the pictures, try /mnt/sdcard-ext/[folder name], where [folder name] is the name of the folder on the external sd card where the pictures are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
There is no such option. There is an option for the default folder, but it's a text field you have to type in, not a directory structure. I tried typing in the path to the external sd card, /sdcard-ext/MEDIA, directly (which ASTRO file manager shows exists), but the app says the directory does not exist. I really think Motorola is doing something to limit what apps can and cannot access for whatever reason. This has never been an issue with my Samsung Captivate or Galaxy Tab.
I think this actually has to do with the external sd card being mounted separate from the internal. In my previous devices the external card was seen as a directory on the internal sd card. With the Atrix it is an entirely separate item and some apps may not be able to access it as a result of having that different mounting. I don't have any other apps with which I need to navigate to a directory (other than various file managers) so I can't test how endemic this is. I imagine it might be an issue for apps that rely on a folder structure for data access such as music apps that are folder based instead of reading from what's in the media library.
I just tried another slideshow app. It is a problem, I think, with Slideshow Bob. It can't see any folders not on the internal sd card. In my Samsung devices the external card was viewed as a folder on the internal card and was, therefore, not a problem.
Apps having directory navigation problems on the Motorola Atrix
Kenny, I have the same problem with the PowerAmp app. My phone is also rooted and I have root explorer which shows me the music files exist. I can even play one file at a time with the power amp from explorer. But I get the same issue when I try to navigate to the music using poweramp. One more possibility is that the Atrix is running Android 2.2.1. Perhaps there is an issue with the upgrade. (I thing this "upgrade" is a disappointment compared to 2.2. I'd rather try Gingerbread.) AT&T has a 30 buyers remorse period and I've only had the Atrix for a week. I love the phone and I would hate to take it back but wtf? I'm just like the rest of you, I just want the damn thing to work!
p.s. My wife's Samsung Captivate never had this issue either.
Update: I found this issue in the Poweramp forum and I also spoke to an at&t support specialist and they verified what was said earlier about the problem is in the difference between the Atrix file system versus the Captivate. The Captivate mounts the external sd card as a folder inside the internal sd card while the Atrix has it mounted separately. The Poweramp administrators promise a fix in a week so I'm glad they are aware of the problem. This seems like an easy bug to fix. I will snoop around the market to see if an app can "trick" the Atrix file system to put the external sd in an internal sd folder. If anyone is aware of such an app, let us know.
The Atrix is promised the Gingerbread upgrade later this year. It has a new file system (ext4) which promises to be faster for phones like our Atrix or the Nexus. As I said, it seem an easy problem to fix, I'm sure this problem will be a thing of the past by then, I'm going to keep my Atrix and wait.
Kenny, you might want to check your app's web site to see if they have a fix in the making.
The Atrix being my first android phone im still learning things every day and I have had similar issues with the sd card and storage partitions. while checking out different files and what not I stumbled upon this default.prop file which contains the following..
#
# ADDITIONAL_DEFAULT_PROPERTIES
#
ro.secure=1
ro.allow.mock.location=0
ro.debuggable=0
persist.service.adb.enable=0
EXTERNAL_STORAGE_MOUNT=/mnt/sdcard
I was wondering if any one with more android experience is familiar with creating and editing prop files for certain activities could confirm if we switch the last line to sdcard-ext if this would now read or set our external sd card to be the sd card that the system and most apps read and write to. I haven't tested it myself but being familiar with different registry edits in winmo and windows im thinking this will work.. anyone agree or have some information they can share?
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Ok... I have been a member for awhile, reading this and that...
I have been using WM based phones ever since i could remember (minus a small sidekick phase). So, when I found out that WM7 wasnt avail for my HD2... I was quite upset.
I decided to take the plunge and try Android for my SD card. W O W!!!!
Very fast, & functionable. I have stayed away for installing roms and such because of their instability. But this is absolutely beautiful.
Now i haven't updated to the new release that came out this morning, and was wondering if i should because i have been having some small issues.
1. When running WM6.5 since the install, i have had a problem with messages updating on main screen, don't know if it is related or not.
2. This was a fresh install of WM6.5 along with an SD card format. I am not allowed to store any info on card anymore. It's a 16g card, and I don't like to waste space. I no longer have a place for my tunes..... not cool. Not to mention can't store pics, and all the movies I burned via DVDFab.
3. Now I have read that there is a way to 'partition' my SD card, but there are so many ways to do this. I would like to do this with the best way/program so i dont fry my card. Link to the most stable way of doing this would be appreciated.
4. Now as impressed with AmeriCanAndriod as I am.. I have a question about the lockscreen... It is NOT about it's size/fullscreen as i have read on here... But when i walk away and it appearantly locks itself, it goes BLACK. the buttons on the device still light up, but screen will not activate and i have to end up pulling the battery. I have read that this is not advisable since shutting down is where the OS saves it's data to the SD card itself.
Yes, I am as green as it comes to this, but I am not a complete fool. I do try and look up issues pertaining to my problems. I can strip a PC down and rebuild it again in minutes, but phones are new to my tinkering. I love my HD2, and love all the things I have read I can do with it.
I understand that the forced close issue has been rectified in the build released this morning. Can this be confirmed????
Also will I be able to save the data.img and restore my apps and settings i have installed if I want to update to the new release?
Partitioning the SD... Will it cause me to reformat card and have to re-install Andoid on phone?
LASTLY..... Thank You to the AmeriCanAndroid Tean for making a beautiful OS that can easily be installed. Having a dual boot system is perfect for me. All the power and funtionabilty of WM & all the fun of Android. You couldn't ask for more. All the talent in this OS truly shows in this streamless, beautiful, user friendly system.
~Bdwlf2~
First off, this is not the place where to post. You should post in the builds own thread located here. Second i know that black screen happens to me as well but what i do is leave it for about 3 min on standby and its cleared up by then. Make sure to have the latest build from the thread mentioned above. And yes you will be able to keep the same data.img from the previous release unless specified. Partition yes you will format but simply drag and your Android folder to your desktop and once you're done drag it back in simple.
Thank You for the reply. I was going to post in the AmeriCanAndroid thread, but since this is my first post. I had a popup tell me I had to post HERE, instead of that thread until I reach 10 posts.
If a Moderator wishes to move this, I have no problems with that. I wanted to post where it was most relevant in the first place. I just want to be able to reply without the 'newbe' restrictions.
Relieved that I can save my things, by saving the data.img file.
Partitioning, would love a link to the best/safest method.
Blackscreen.. So I just hit a button and leave it for awhile? That's not very practical if I had a buisness call to make, or an emergency. Is there a workaround? Can I shut off the Auto Lock?
What folder do I add music, ringtones, movies and other goodies to? Can WM 7 Android share these same files? (as long as they're not OS specific obviously)
Ah, i see your reasoning, no problem. A good guide on partitioning that i used as well can be found here. And well there inst really a fix to the black screen problem and i haven't searched for one since it only happens on boot of Android. What seems to make it come back faster for me is locking and unlocking the phone quickly. And you can just place a folder and name it anything you want on the root of the SD card. Heck you can put all your mp3,photos,documents on the root of the SD card and Android will still pick them up, it doesn't matter. And when you say "Share" do you mean Bluetooth sending? Then yes, you can.
Nope... SD card will not let me install anything while i was hook to puter. I was running WM at the time, not android. That shouldn't have been a problem. I am about to hook SD card directly to copmuter itself and copy files that way.
I have had all music located on card before this install, nicely organized by artist or genre, along with my movies, pics, etc. But wont allow me to do this now. I am little confused about that, unless android locked SD/root to android application only. Since most programs that lock things usually prompt you for user allowances, which i did not see, i am ruling that out as an option. Phones and computers are very similar as i am finding out.
The blackscreen doesn't occur on Droid boot... It happens when it sleeps, hibernates, or whatever you call it. Can not wake it from this state.
The Data.img.... Do i put that in after i update and run android, or do i put it in the very begining when i copy droid folder to SD card?
Thanx
~Bdwlf2~
Yup, android put a 'write protect' on SD card. Trying some format tools now. Had to put a re-partiton on it to get rid of protection, which made it a Bad Disk. So trying a recovery on it now. I refuse to be beatin by an object smaller than my thumbnail. Arrrgh!
Android does not lock the SD card to application only, that's very odd that you cant copy files to the SD card. Maybe its a setting on your computer that wont allow you? And about the black screen problem, there seems to be no one reporting about that on the thread as far i can see. Are you running SetCPU or a Task Killer by any chance? Those make Android behave very odd. If not i would suggest downloading the latest build again and formatting your SD Card and putting Android on it again. You can also move your stuff your desktop and put it back again. About the Data.img, you don't really need to move it anywhere. When there is a new update to the build, i simply extract the contents of the new build to the Android folder on my SD card and over write. Simplest method I've seen yet.
bdwlf2 said:
Yup, android put a 'write protect' on SD card. Trying some format tools now. Had to put a re-partiton on it to get rid of protection, which made it a Bad Disk. So trying a recovery on it now. I refuse to be beatin by an object smaller than my thumbnail. Arrrgh!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That seems very odd. I've been using this build since February 24th and it has never locked up like that. But nonetheless you found a fix, good work.
No, not running any of those programs. I have extensively swapped data with this card numerous times.
I checked all setting in android prior to putting into puter. In therory, android should NOT write protect the disk, but something did. I have read this happening to others just in XDA forums alone.
Just got disk back to the "good" state using MiniTool Power Data Recovery... Let's take a peek as to see if it works correctly now.
Hmmmm... I think I should have used, repair damage partiton after recovery... still not working.
***scratches head***
I may need another cup of coffee for this.
How about a simple reformat?
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA Premium App
Nope. Tried that.
Windows formatter - no
SD formatter - no
Mini tool -nada
MyDefrag - not
Test disk - running now... pending
Try to reformat the SD from Windows Mobile?
Yup, first option....
Would go partially thru it, then stop. Worked fine yesterday. This starting to become un-nerving.
I will find a way. There is always a way. Unless something shorts/melts/breaks/ or fry's... there is always a way. Just a matter of correct knowedge and tool combination.
bdwlf2 said:
Yup, first option....
Would go partially thru it, then stop. Worked fine yesterday. This starting to become un-nerving.
I will find a way. There is always a way. Unless something shorts/melts/breaks/ or fry's... there is always a way. Just a matter of correct knowedge and tool combination.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright good luck.
Trying HDD Regenerator v2011
Seems to be doing something, using limited Demo mode. At least it is identifying the bad sectors.
This one is gonna take awhile. If it works, or i find something that does, I will post. I've read other's have had this problem, and I can save the person buying/tossing out cards.... Then the work is worth it.
57min into it and only scanned 11mb????? This may be a month to scan 16g. If my math is correct. That's 1gig (1000mb) / 11per hour = 90.90hrs to complete 1g of scanning, multiplied by 15 (usable gigs) = 1363.6363hrs or 51.81 days? 51 days to complete scan?!?!?!?! Gonna look for another program. Wow.
Good thing I have a small 2g card. Unfortunately it won't hold 1/2 of my music. Argh, and I just put a 2 HD movies on there.
If you want to partition or format your SD you HAVE to be in Windows Mobile.
Also, if you are repartitioning your SD, I recommend you recreate your data.img or else it will have issues.
I tried to format in WM... Fail. All the files reappeared.
I did notice .android_secure file. That wasn't there before.
I have unmounted, seems like it is remounting itself. I even unmounted and yanked battery immediately. No success.
Yes, Android still boots.... Something in there is locking card. If card was bad, Android would obviously not be booting.
I cant add or remove data from that card. I have tried several programs.
**** Edit****
Please Do Not ask if switch on adapted is locked, I have two adapters, both UNLOCKED... For some reason, my "Spidey Senses" are telling me that I am about to be asked that question. Being asked this will only cause me to "sigh" loudly before i bang my head on desk. Which will still leave me with locked card and now a fresh migrane.
As some of you may remember, my first Note 3, which I got a week ago yesterday, was returned for a full refund the next day due to a Nandroid restore failure through TWRP.
However, some of you may also remember that I had an extremely annoying error message pop up continually for the entire 24 hours I had the device.
The error: Unfortunately IndexService has stopped
This error revealed itself every 1-2 minutes. I could not figure out why as there was little information anywhere on the Internet.
However, after picking up a new Note 3 yesterday, and after many hours of trial-and-error file transfers, I think I found the reason ... a corrupt or otherwise damaged/flawed PDF file.
All other files, Word, Excel, Images, Videos, etc., were NOT the cause, and it had nothing to do with the SDCard. It doesn’t matter if you use a 64MB, 32MB, Class 6, Class 10, or UHS-1 type card. The card is not the problem. I know this because, this time, with my new Note 3, I never put in an SDCard. I transferred all files directly to internal storage and, unfortunately, the IndexService error still appeared … every 1-2 minutes.
This time, however, I noticed that the error message appeared only AFTER I transferred all my files to the device, so I knew it had to do with these files, and that’s where I focused my attention.
It took about 9 hours last night and early this morning. I began by deleting all personal files from the device. Result: No error messages. Then, directory-by-directory (I have 12,554 files and 371 directories), I transferred them back to the device, each time waiting about 3-4 minutes to see if the error message would appear. I read in other forums that the problem might be related to PDF files, so I first transferred all other file types. Result: No error messages. Then I begin transferring PDF files. I did so in groups of about 50 at a time. Yes, I have many PDF files; about 2,100 of them. It all came down to two PDF files. Wow, 2 out of 2,100! I can’t explain why, but when I transferred those two files to the device, the error message appeared, and when I deleted them, the error message disappeared.
Fortunately, the two files were not important, so I permanently deleted them; however, before doing so, I thought that they might have originally been written using a very old version of Adobe, and that they simply couldn’t be “read” by the Adobe reader on the Note 3. With this in mind, I opened them in the latest version of Adobe on my PC, and then re-saved them with a new file name; however, the result was the same. They still caused the indexing error. So, at this point I have no idea why they are causing the problem.
Finally, after all my files were transferred to internal storage, without the 2 problem files, I waited 1 hour. No error message. I then put in my Sandisk 32GB UHS-1 card, copied all the files over, and then waited another 30 minutes. No error message. This morning I deleted all the files from internal storage so that I only had them on the SDCard. No error message. It has now been over 24 hours, and still no error message.
SUMMARY:
1) The indexing error is NOT caused by the external SDCard.
2) The indexing error is PROBABLY caused by a problem PDF file(s)
3) The size of the PDF file is irrelevant. My problem files were each about 10MB; however, all smaller sizes, and even the remaining larger-sized PDF files do not cause a problem.
4) Others have suggested that I turn OFF a particular service, but it didn’t work for me.
5) Others have suggested that the error relates to files larger than 200MB. This does NOT appear to be the case in my situation. I have many files that are more than 200MB, and there isn’t a problem.
6) Another xda member said to create a file called .nomedia and place it in the root of the directory where the problem files are located. I tried this, but I still get the error message.
I hope this helps others.
Peter
PeterGuru said:
As some of you may remember, my first Note 3, which I got a week ago yesterday, was returned for a full refund the next day due to a Nandroid restore failure through TWRP.
However, some of you may also remember that I had an extremely annoying error message pop up continually for the entire 24 hours I had the device.
The error: Unfortunately IndexService has stopped
This error revealed itself every 1-2 minutes. I could not figure out why as there was little information anywhere on the Internet.
However, after picking up a new Note 3 yesterday, and after many hours of trial-and-error file transfers, I think I found the reason ... a corrupt or otherwise damaged/flawed PDF file.
All other files, Word, Excel, Images, Videos, etc., were NOT the cause, and it had nothing to do with the SDCard. It doesn’t matter if you use a 64MB, 32MB, Class 6, Class 10, or UHS-1 type card. The card is not the problem. I know this because, this time, with my new Note 3, I never put in an SDCard. I transferred all files directly to internal storage and, unfortunately, the IndexService error still appeared … every 1-2 minutes.
This time, however, I noticed that the error message appeared only AFTER I transferred all my files to the device, so I knew it had to do with these files, and that’s where I focused my attention.
It took about 9 hours last night and early this morning. I began by deleting all personal files from the device. Result: No error messages. Then, directory-by-directory (I have 12,554 files and 371 directories), I transferred them back to the device, each time waiting about 3-4 minutes to see if the error message would appear. I read in other forums that the problem might be related to PDF files, so I first transferred all other file types. Result: No error messages. Then I begin transferring PDF files. I did so in groups of about 50 at a time. Yes, I have many PDF files; about 2,100 of them. It all came down to two PDF files. Wow, 2 out of 2,100! I can’t explain why, but when I transferred those two files to the device, the error message appeared, and when I deleted them, the error message disappeared.
Fortunately, the two files were not important, so I permanently deleted them; however, before doing so, I thought that they might have originally been written using a very old version of Adobe, and that they simply couldn’t be “read” by the Adobe reader on the Note 3. With this in mind, I opened them in the latest version of Adobe on my PC, and then re-saved them with a new file name; however, the result was the same. They still caused the indexing error. So, at this point I have no idea why they are causing the problem.
Finally, after all my files were transferred to internal storage, without the 2 problem files, I waited 1 hour. No error message. I then put in my Sandisk 32GB UHS-1 card, copied all the files over, and then waited another 30 minutes. No error message. This morning I deleted all the files from internal storage so that I only had them on the SDCard. No error message. It has now been about 6 hours, and still no error message.
SUMMARY:
1) The indexing error is NOT caused by the external SDCard.
2) The indexing error is PROBABLY caused by a problem PDF file(s)
3) The size of the PDF file is irrelevant. My problem files were each about 10MB; however, all smaller sizes, and even the remaining larger-sized PDF files do not cause a problem.
4) Others have suggested that I turn OFF a particular service, but it didn’t work for me.
5) Others have suggested that the error relates to files larger than 200MB. This does NOT appear to be the case in my situation. I have many files that are more than 200MB, and there isn’t a problem.
6) Another xda member said to create a file called .nomedia, and place it in the root of the directory where the culprit files are located. I tried this, but I still get the error message.
I hope this helps others.
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been trying to get this problem solved as well -- thanks for spelling out what *isn't* working; I've tried several of these things as well. Killing the app/service, asking the s-finder not to index files, putting the .nomedia files in place have all failed to make it go away. It is a little mind boggling that this is an issue as I've had the same loaded SDcard data (fresh card now, same data) on a note1 and note2 and never had this sort of trouble.
Even when I've killed the indexing service it seems to come back without power cycling, perhaps there is something triggering it to come back.
Hopefully there is an official answer on this soon, the phone becomes unresponsive for seconds all too regularly.
Lance
Looks like we've gone through the same thing ...
lance_lascari said:
I have been trying to get this problem solved as well -- thanks for spelling out what *isn't* working; I've tried several of these things as well. Killing the app/service, asking the s-finder not to index files, putting the .nomedia files in place have all failed to make it go away. It is a little mind boggling that this is an issue as I've had the same loaded SDcard data (fresh card now, same data) on a note1 and note2 and never had this sort of trouble.
Even when I've killed the indexing service it seems to come back without power cycling, perhaps there is something triggering it to come back.
Hopefully there is an official answer on this soon, the phone becomes unresponsive for seconds all too regularly.
Lance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It looks like we've gone through the same thing. Sadly, when the IndexService error exists, it REALLY sucks battery power.
I hope you get yours resolved.
Peter
P.S. So far today ... no errors.
Peter a big thank you for the effort on this one. Im not having the issue(yet) but i had been wondering about the cause after reading your posts.
Sent from my SM-N900W8 using xda premium
PeterGuru said:
It looks like we've gone through the same thing. Sadly, when the IndexService error exists, it REALLY sucks battery power.
I hope you get yours resolved.
Peter
P.S. So far today ... no errors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since I'm going to be travelling this week and need the phone to be reliable, I tried just deleting my document archives for now ( ~ four thousand PDF files mostly)... and what a difference in battery life and keeping that error message away. I hope they fix it so I can have my docs back.
Lance
I'm not sure if they will fix it ...
lance_lascari said:
Since I'm going to be travelling this week and need the phone to be reliable, I tried just deleting my document archives for now ( ~ four thousand PDF files mostly)... and what a difference in battery life and keeping that error message away. I hope they fix it so I can have my docs back.
Lance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest, I'm not sure if "they" will ever fix it.
At least you know, for sure, that it has to do with your PDF files, just like my situation. Perhaps you can now do what I did, and start copying all the PDF files back to your device, but in large groups ... perhaps 100 at a time. Then wait about 5 minutes, and try another 100.
Logically speaking, though, it would be best to try half your PDF files, so about 2000 first. Then, if you get the error message, remove them all, and re-copy 1000 of them. Slowly but surely you'll narrow down the culprit files. Yes, it may take you a few to several hours, but it can be done, and you'll probably discover that it's simply a few files, or even just ONE file that's causing all the problems.
Peter
PeterGuru said:
To be honest, I'm not sure if "they" will ever fix it.
At least you know, for sure, that it has to do with your PDF files, just like my situation. Perhaps you can now do what I did, and start copying all the PDF files back to your device, but in large groups ... perhaps 100 at a time. Then wait about 5 minutes, and try another 100.
Logically speaking, though, it would be best to try half your PDF files, so about 2000 first. Then, if you get the error message, remove them all, and re-copy 1000 of them. Slowly but surely you'll narrow down the culprit files. Yes, it may take you a few to several hours, but it can be done, and you'll probably discover that it's simply a few files, or even just ONE file that's causing all the problems.
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Peter,
I appreciate your comment -- but the issue is pretty widespread and I suspect the noise level will rise as people start really using their devices (only released on Verizon in the US this past week). They would be unwise not to fix it; the two previous generations of the stock note phones did not show this problem. A bit selling point is the ability to have so much storage (between internal and SD). It is possible that I will someday put the effort in to find any specific files that cause the problem, but the whole directory is synchronized with dropbox and I don't want to have to separate it and lose sync just to work around samsung's bug.
I guess I will give some of it a shot, at least I will copy the folder with mostly books (large files, a few hundred) before the archives of technical literature -- that is a start to see if I can narrow it down. I'll have my nexus7 with me, which happily deals with the same files...
Cheers,
Lance
So if I let this service to run long enough to do its job, will it ever finish? As I noticed it runs only when the screen in on. And the culprit pdf (600Mb) in my case is the only one I really need. Is there any way to block it without root access and permanently?
Thanks!
I think if you add a file named .nomedia to a folder it will prevent any indexing in that folder. A very similar problem can occur with a corrupt music or video file. In that case also, the battery life is killed quickly since it can't complete its scanning. Best to identify the bad files and get rid of them, but if that's not an option, add a .nomedia file to the directory.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317
This is what I was going to suggest; however, it doesn't always work ... but give it a try.
The ".nomedia" file should be created within your device.
Peter
Sent from my mobile device
Im surprised you couldn't find anything on the Internet about this issue as it was discussed here in several threads a couple of weeks ago & corrupted .PDF files were seen to be the cause.
I think you could have saved yourself A LOT of time by simply searching XDA for posts "Note 3 indexservice" ....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2463788
Sent from my SM-N9005 using xda app-developers app
I'm astounded at your brazen reply. Yes, I searched everywhere, including xda, and there were, at the time, no concrete answers. There were many ideas, but nothing definitive.
Case in point, the ".nomedia" idea from another member on xda seemed believable, but it didn't work for me. Also, and I repeat, AT THE TIME, the majority of suggestions had to do with files over 200MB, but this was also not the case with me.
If you want to help, offer ideas and suggestions. Simply trying to make a person feel bad is counter-productive.
Peter
Sent from my mobile device
Please don't blame the messenger.
Search is your friend.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using xda app-developers app
What you don't seem to understand is that the unit I have now is the second Note 3. My problem began with my first unit, which I got on release day in Canada, which was October 4. I returned this particular unit the next morning for a full refund. Believe me, I looked at your link, and the date was October 5, AFTER I returned the original unit.
Peter
P.S. Had YOU done a search, you would have known about my issue, which I posted in a few threads on October 4.
Sent from my mobile device
Yes so anyway just in case it's still not clear, i just posted to explain that we found out about the .pdf file corruption causing it a week or so ago.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using xda app-developers app
So is there any way to change pdf files so our Note would not go ballistic about it? How to distinguish between ''good and bad'' pdfs?
Deleted lost interest...
Yeah... I use ezPDF from my S2 on, mainly because it does not have problems with handling any kind of pdf... Adobe and Polaris on the other hand are inferior in my opinion. Any way I am thanking everybody who contributed information on the issue! Hope permanent solution emerges and it should not be the one by eliminating pdf files from my collection.
Regards!
Hi,
This is my temporary solution to the problem…
1. Create folder named ''.nomedia'' (not file in folder) - (I didn't try, but I think that you can name it whatever you want as long as it starts with ''.'')
2. Reboot
3. Copy pdfs to your phone or SD card
4. Unplug USB and move pdfs to folder .nomedia
5. Reboot – because as soon as pdf file that is causing the problem is on the phone's memory, Index service starts and will not stop until you reboot your phone
6. You can access your pdfs through file manager and open them from there.
Unfortunately there is no option to sync your files with any cloud storage, but at least they can be in the memory of the phone to make good use of them.
IMPORTANT: if my solution is already mentioned somewhere on XDA I sincerely apologize!
(and there was a bit of a sarcasm in the final notice)
Pat. said:
Deleted lost interest...
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Click to collapse
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