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[Q] External sd problems

Hi guys
I'm having some extremely irritating problems with my A500. It doesn't detect any external sd card I've tried so far. It says external sd is unavailable under storage in settings and the external_sd folder is empty in root/mnt. I've tried 3 different cards so far with no success. Anyone have a any advice for me on how to mount the card? I think the problem might be that it doesn't get mounted when I insert it. I can't root because the GingerBreak mod that's been posted needs an external card to work. So maybe some advice on how to root some other way? Then I can try restore a stock image and see what happens.

I had to insert mine and then reboot the tablet for mine to show inside of a file manager.
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App

lawmangrant said:
I had to insert mine and then reboot the tablet for mine to show inside of a file manager.
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, thanks for the tip. I forgot to add it to my original post. I've tried rebooting with all 3 of the cards I have. I'm starting to think it's a hardware problem...

Have the cards you're testing been formatted NTFS or FAT32? If NTFS they probably won't work without some help.
The stock device only deals with FAT32 mSD cards; I haven't tried the NTFSMount app from the Dev forum on an NTFS-formatted card yet, only USB devices.

Vereynn said:
Have the cards you're testing been formatted NTFS or FAT32? If NTFS they probably won't work without some help.
The stock device only deals with FAT32 mSD cards; I haven't tried the NTFSMount app from the Dev forum on an NTFS-formatted card yet, only USB devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey. I've formatted the cards multiple times, to FAT32 every time. Might try exFAT tomorrow just to see what happens.

exFAT didn't work. Not that I expected it to, lol. Maybe the GingerBreak apk can be modified to use the usb storage instead of the external sd. Any idea where I can get the source code to take a look at?

If you've tried multiple cards, all FAT32 and all work on other devices, I'd return the tablet while you can, sounds like a hardware problem indeed

Slight problem with the returning, lol. I live in South Africa and ordered my tab from the USA since my own country is so backwards. I don't really mind not having an external sd card, I just wanna root again since almost all the apps I use need root. I'm considering returning, even if it's gonna take a lot of effort, time and money...
EDIT - Another reason I can't return it (and this is a horrible thing) is that SuperUser Permissions is still installed. The recent update made me lose root. So I'm kinda stuck with this app that's proof that I voided my warranty. The only way to get rid of SuperUser is to use some apps that all need root. To get root I need the external sd to work. To get that to work I need to send it for repairs. A very messed up situation

I'm almost positive that it's a hardware issue now. Even when I try to do an update.zip from recovery mode it can't find the file even though it's on the card. Let's hope they don't see the SuperUser app when I return it...
I thought about maybe waiting for Acer to release an update that will unlock the bootloader. But since the SD card slot isn't working I won't be able to install the update. That so much depends on one little slot amazes me. If you wanna know what the single point of failure for an Android device is, look no further.

I know some android tabs came out without external SD card support. I live in the uk and have a 32GB version and the SD card worked out the box. Maybe you have to wait for an update. Just my 2c though. You won't need an external SD to receive OTA updates though.
Sent from my A500

Here's an image of what recovery mode says when I select Install Update from external source. Seems the system can't mount the card. Sigh

I like that message at the end.... "Install from sdcard complete."
You had rooted before the update, which means it had to have seen the sdcard then. So it's unlikely that the hardware just went bad. Are the sdcards your trying of different sizes, classes, and/or manufacturer?
I'd go with the same sdcard you used when you rooted before and reformat it using the HP USB Format tool. Selecting fat32, of course. And don't select quick format. See if that helps. Sorry if I missed somethiing relevent above.
Here's the link to the HP first tool. http://download.cnet.com/HP-USB-Disk-Storage-Format-Tool/3000-2094_4-10974082.html
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

Lol, the "fake it till you make it" strategy. Fail Google.
I've tried it with the original SD and two other ones. My guess is some app tried to mount the external SD in /mnt/sdcard and messed up some associations or dependencies or something.

I'm amazed. After everything I've tried it suddenly worked. I was busy in settings and accidentally selected storage. And there it was in all its glory... A working external sd card! I'm rooted again, backed up and ready to roll!

To anyone finding this thread hoping for answers for a similar problem: It was a hardware problem indeed. I fixed it myself by opening the tab and bending the MicroSD slot's pins back into place.

SD card help

I just picked up a Xoom last week and have been messing with it since and ran into a problem.
I have put in two different SD cards into the top slot and none of them are showing up when browsing with File Manager HD. When I go into Settings->Storage, under SD card it is greyed out and says insert an SD card for mounting.
I don't mind wiping the card, but how do I get the Xoom to recognize the card?

Have u formated it to fat 32?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

I just took it out of my phone and tried to stick it in.
The card works fine on my phone and on my Gtab.
I haven't rooted it either.
Ok, so now under SD Card it lets me select Mount SD Card, but nothing happens. Why is it so hard to use this feature?

snowwhite007 said:
Have u formated it to fat 32?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow, this sucks monkey balls.
my gtablet running an HC ROM, which doesn't even support HC, can have access to the SD card fine and is changeable between my phone/camera/pc, but for it to work with the XOOM has to be formatted to FAT32. Also, I can't write to it unless I root.
what's the point of the SD card then?

Mine worked straight from a card I had in a LG EnV Touch. I don't know what the deal is. Has your XOOM just come back from the upgrade or is it the WiFi version?
Sent from my DROID2 using xda premium

couchmonkey said:
wow, this sucks monkey balls.
my gtablet running an HC ROM, which doesn't even support HC, can have access to the SD card fine and is changeable between my phone/camera/pc, but for it to work with the XOOM has to be formatted to FAT32. Also, I can't write to it unless I root.
what's the point of the SD card then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Without root, you can access music, video, pdfs other files from your micro sdcard...up to 32GB, which adds lots of storage. There is no apps-to-sd in Honeycomb, but if you root, you can have R/W access to the micro sdcard and save your nandroids to it, TB backups, write files to it, etc. When you root, you'll find the micro sdcard at mnt/external1, on same directory level as sdcard (32GB internal storage) and mnt/usbOTG. Xoom uses micro sdcard for media storage/playback in non-rooted state and that's fine. But if you root you have a hell of a lot more features. that's our reward for the work (pain) of rooting.

okantomi said:
Without root, you can access music, video, pdfs other files from your micro sdcard...up to 32GB, which adds lots of storage. There is no apps-to-sd in Honeycomb, but if you root, you can have R/W access to the micro sdcard and save your nandroids to it, TB backups, write files to it, etc. When you root, you'll find the micro sdcard at mnt/external1, on same directory level as sdcard (32GB internal storage) and mnt/usbOTG. Xoom uses micro sdcard for media storage/playback in non-rooted state and that's fine. But if you root you have a hell of a lot more features. that's our reward for the work (pain) of rooting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so I'm trying to figure out the best way to root.
which way is it?

couchmonkey said:
so I'm trying to figure out the best way to root.
which way is it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the best way I know: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1249798
It can seem pretty daunting but we all did it, some have done it multiple times, and so can you.
In the first section where it talks about setting up adb on your pc, there's a link to an alternate approach to setting up the files. It's supposed to give you just the files needed for rooting and nothing more. I never tried it but you could if you want to...may save a step or two.
Anyway, this guide should have everything you need.
Take your time, print out the instructions and read them carefully. The Xoom was made to be rooted, it's just a complex device, so there's no 'one click' magic.

[Q] External SD - Tab no see it.....SOLUTION FOUND SEE OP

UPDATE well it looks as though I have found a solution to my woes. I made several attempts of formatting the 2gb card in my laptop to no avail. I tried my old captivate that it originally came out of and the cappy had troubles reading it. I then stuck it in my evo and it registered instant, so I did asdcard format on my evo and then finally the tablet registers the card. In case this helps anyone else
First off someone please enlighten me on the tabs use and the way it mounts the external SD, I read somewhere that it only uses it for media files such as music books and pics. I have an 8GB that belongs in my EVO, and a 2gb that I had for my captivate I was hoping to use in my Tab for now.
Here's my story, maybe someone can shed a little light here: My tab was purchased with Stock 3.1, I was getting annoyed by the constant update request so I went ahead and rooted and installed CWM without incident, then I decided to install the Stock rooted update from here, however when I insert my SD cards they say they are unavailable. So I stick my 2gb in my laptop format to fat32 (should this be different?, typically it works in every other device I own) It still won't read, I did exactly as others point out in other threads but still I am stumped as to how the card is made available to the OS ? Now in a fit of frustration I pulled my 8gb out of my evo put the 2gb in and wham there it is, I put the 3.2 download on the 8gb popped it in tab entered CWM and flashed the update, I don't know if the 2gb is mountable in CWM I will try tonight but the 8gb was mountable through CWM however my 8gb also was not available to Android even after the update.
So what the heck is the use of the external SD and how is it used?

I think you might have an issue with your ROM,
I use my external SD for my titanium backups and other files I want to keep portable. I have used the SD card through my PC via USB and directly by putting into the PC's card reader.
Have you tried using a file manager? I use File Manager HD and the external card shows up as Storage on the left bar.
As for the filesystem, I think I may have originally formatted as FAT but I have also pulled my SD out of my Blackberry and used it to install Honeylicious through CWM,
All in all I dont think you should be having the issues that you are having...
Good luck

If it won't mount in CWM you need to format it in your android phone, that fixed it for me. Once it is formatted correctly you'll see a notification that an SD card is installed. Also my PC wouldn't see it until I put a custom rom on. Also to store items on it you can use a file manager to move things to and from it.
~Sent from my Droid SuperCharge~

>DARKMAN< said:
If it won't mount in CWM you need to format it in your android phone, that fixed it for me. Once it is formatted correctly you'll see a notification that an SD card is installed. Also my PC wouldn't see it until I put a custom rom on. Also to store items on it you can use a file manager to move things to and from it.
~Sent from my Droid SuperCharge~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 8gb card did mount in CWM but would not mount in the OS, or when it would I would get it was unavailable or sometimes even empy when I know there is only about 1 gb free space, I did not test the 2gb in CWM mainly because it was late and I needed to go to bed, but I will try tonight. The 8gb is the one I updated to rooted 3.2 with, I still need to go to 3.2.1 ? Is there a rooted Stock 3.2.1 floating around I really havent looked much into it yet

I have noticed that getting the iconia to read some sd cards is like tossing dice..Most people who have this issue says one card works perfect in every device but not in the iconia.. Some say the card will work sometimes and not others .. Some say the card works in cwm and not with file manager..
The issue here i think is that you have two CARDS THAT ARE FUSSY ABOUT mating with the iconia. OR Your rom .i would read the threads in the rom you are using.. IF still nothing that sounds like your issue ask the DEV about this.. If STILL No luck you can either try to buy a new diffrent card or flash a new rom to try and Diag. this issue..
Good luck..

Silly question
Is your microSD formatted FAT32?
If it is anything else, your unit may have trouble reading it depending on what ROM you are using - Not all ROM's are capable of reading NTFS or other file systems.
Sometimes, microSD's freak out as well, and the only way to get it back to normal is to format it in a Symbian phone (Nokia)
Also, make sure you are using the correct mount point for the card - /mnt/external_sd - Root Explorer and other apps like it can get there.
Other than that, you may just have a bad microSD, I have had many of them die for seemingly no reason.

[Q] Dead SD card reader???

Hi All!
I am a great fan of this forum, Android and my GT540.
I first rooted my phone when is had 2.1, then shifted to the LeWa custom roms and then after the recent update to Miroslav_mm's Project IceScreamSwift I "bit" the bullet and installed this ROM.
Miroslav is an absolute genius, this ICS 4.0.4 ROM is so smooth. I used a 256 MB swap file on my class 4 micro sd and overclocked to 825 Mhz and this thing flys :laugh: I can't believe this GT540 can keep up with the industry's best. The only down side is the 3" screen Thanks Miro!!! Great work.
Anyway, back to my topic. Sadly my SD card reader is not working. I have read on the net that this is a common problem. I wonder whether the swap file had anything to do with it or was it the latest ROM I installed? I'm just wonder whether anybody else had the same problem and is the situation recoverable?
I am going to try and test the card on by PC using and adapter to see if the card is actually gone but I firmly believe it is the reader on the phone since it is not registering or giving any errors. When I tried to mount using the recovery menu it stated no such file or directory.
I read one guy stating that his reader started to work again after some time pasted for no apparent reason. I hope mine does the same
I look forward to your comments. Thanks!

ArchieBall. said:
Hi All!
I am a great fan of this forum, Android and my GT540.
I first rooted my phone when is had 2.1, then shifted to the LeWa custom roms and then after the recent update to Miroslav_mm's Project IceScreamSwift I "bit" the bullet and installed this ROM.
Miroslav is an absolute genius, this ICS 4.0.4 ROM is so smooth. I used a 256 MB swap file on my class 4 micro sd and overclocked to 825 Mhz and this thing flys :laugh: I can't believe this GT540 can keep up with the industry's best. The only down side is the 3" screen Thanks Miro!!! Great work.
Anyway, back to my topic. Sadly my SD card reader is not working. I have read on the net that this is a common problem. I wonder whether the swap file had anything to do with it or was it the latest ROM I installed? I'm just wonder whether anybody else had the same problem and is the situation recoverable?
I am going to try and test the card on by PC using and adapter to see if the card is actually gone but I firmly believe it is the reader on the phone since it is not registering or giving any errors. When I tried to mount using the recovery menu it stated no such file or directory.
I read one guy stating that his reader started to work again after some time pasted for no apparent reason. I hope mine does the same
I look forward to your comments. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had kind of a same issue, i was using Miros 4.0 ICS ROM, but went back to SDSL 2.1, i had partitioned my sd card before to have native swap of 256 mb, when i tried to flash SDSL 2.1 by Recovery, it would flash it and all, but it wouldnt install it correctly, every time i tried to reboot the ROM, i got stock on Silver SDSL logo, then i would go back to recovery to try and flash it again, and recovery wouldnt read my sd, i would say E:/ is bad, so i thought i might have been my sd card reader, after flashing by fastboot, there was no problem with my sd card, i was able to use it normally, then i tried to flash it again by recovery but same problem, recovery wouldnt read my sd card, i tried using another SD card and it worked on recovery, so i think something happen to my other SD card when i went back from Miros ICS to SDSL 2.1, the card works correctly but i cant flash any rom using recovery with that SD card.
Hope this helps!

Thanks for sharing your experience!
I will give it a try and let the community know if its :good: for me too.

Bad news people. The above didn't work for me. I tried several different ROMs (including flashing the standard ROM) but no luck.
The SD card reader seems to be "dead". The funny thing was that when the SD card disappeared after a few days use of Miros latest ICS ROM (June.2012) it was still working very smoothly despite the lack of the 256MB swap file and SD card. Ofcourse many of the installed apps disppeared too. Now that my sd card doesn't work I can't go back to the ICS ROM since it is only available in "recovery" form. Does anyone know if a "fastboot" form exists?
Now that I have lost the SD card feature I will not be able to use the phone anywhere near its full potential. Very sad indeed. Time for a new phone
Unless anybody else has a solution for the above......the moral of the story is be very careful with ROMs and SD card usage as pointed out by our esteemed developers.
Just for reference only, my last setup when the SD reader was working was (2 GB SD) partitioned as follows:
partition 1: data 1.5 GB
partition 2: ext4 0.25GB for Link2SD
partition 3: swap 0.25GB

Hm you already tried to clean the SD ston on your phone ? maybe it just bacame dirty with the time.

Thanks for the comment andreas! but could you please explain the meaning of "SD ston"?
If you mean the pins in the reader, they appear to be clean.

ArchieBall. said:
Thanks for the comment andreas! but could you please explain the meaning of "SD ston"?
If you mean the pins in the reader, they appear to be clean.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oops slot of course yeah okay

Just and update for those interested.
I finally got my hands on an external card reader and discovered my 2 gb card is actually dead. I remember taking a about 30 photos that day when it had the newly installed Miro's ICS and noticed it locked several times. I don't know if that had anything to do with it. Anyway, my PC did not recognize the card had been inserted so I couldn't reformat/revive it.
I tried to insert a new 4 gb card into my phone today again (previous attempts failed) but before doing so I carefully bent the connectors in the card reader slightly outward, inserted the card, jammed a piece of paper under the clip (so it would press down and make good contact) and believe it or not it read the card I have since installed "AOKP 4.0.4 ASIS b40" and loven' it.

[Q] Micro Sd Issues.

So i recently Updated to NK2 and everything was just normal, until lately i kept on trying to save a pic or an Mp3 on my sd card with no success, so i decided to format itto see if the issue would go away.
To my surprise i tried to format it and it wont let me, i tried on my phone , on my Pc, on a ubuntu Pc and it would say "format successfu!" yet I would insert the sd card on my phone and everything was still there!.
i dont know what else to try!.
it wont let me save, erase or ,format the Micro sd!.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
P.s.: It's a "SanDisk Ultra 64 GB microSDXC Class 10 UHS-1"

Have you tried formatting as root? There could bave been some weird permissions fluke that happened. Is your device rooted? You need root to enable being able to write to the sd card yourself from the phone, otherwise only apps can if i understand it correctly.
Sent from my SM-G900A using Tapatalk

Rakuu said:
Have you tried formatting as root? There could bave been some weird permissions fluke that happened. Is your device rooted? You need root to enable being able to write to the sd card yourself from the phone, otherwise only apps can if i understand it correctly.
Sent from my SM-G900A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah I'm rooted and all.
The case is that my Micro sd card happens to be a bad batch of cards which I recently found.
I was researching on it and this card happens to lock itself, apparently there is no way to unlock it, according to Sandisk.
so I contacted Sandisk and see if I can excange it (Hopefully, I am Still under warranty) otherwise I'm stock with a card full of music and pictures I no Longer want, and that it wont save any other files , until i buy myself a new one.
thanks thought!

Zixx said:
yeah I'm rooted and all.
The case is that my Micro sd card happens to be a bad batch of cards which I recently found.
I was researching on it and this card happens to lock itself, apparently there is no way to unlock it, according to Sandisk.
so I contacted Sandisk and see if I can excange it (Hopefully, I am Still under warranty) otherwise I'm stock with a card full of music and pictures I no Longer want, and that it wont save any other files , until i buy myself a new one.
thanks thought!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow that blows, glad you got it figured out though.
Sent from my SM-G900A using Tapatalk

Sandisk cards have lifetime warranties as long as you have proof of purchase your good to go. I exchanged mine with no issues but I ended up getting a 64gig Samsung card.