Database Users

My solution for the case of "SD Card blank or has unsupported filesystem"

Hi guys. I got a problem with my SD card after I recorded a video on my Nexus One (rom from Paul for very first Froyo over my rooted Nexus). I tried to to mount the SD card to my computer, but after clicking on the mounting button, the card appeared to have something wrong and displayed the warning message "SD Card blank or has unsupported filesystem". I could not access to the data on the card. I cared about my data so I tried to get the card out and used a card reader to read the content of the card from my Windows machine, but it seemed that Windows could not recognized the card. I thought the card was spoiled. I tried to save the card anyhow by trying to format it since I had the backup data on my computer already. Because I could not see the card on my Windows, I could not format it. I tried to format it on my N1, but after clicking on the format button, nothing happened. It seemed that my SD card was really spoiled.
But actually, I found a way that could help to save the SD card for my case. My solution is to try to partition the SD card using the ultility from my Recover section (I am using RA for nexus 1.7.0). The card after partitioning seems to work ok again. So I think the problem for my case is that the recording application already overwrote some data to the partition table on the card and that made my card inaccessible. Partioning the card again will help in this case but about the existing data on the card, I am not quite sure if it is still there. For my case, it's all gone.
Just a little experience to share ...

Hope this solution helps! Am doing the recovery thing now...

hi
i have got the exact same problem... samsung galaxy s with a 32gb micro sd... says unsupported file system and does not format it... windows cant see it in the memory card reader... could u please help me out...
thanks man !!

psychopython said:
i have got the exact same problem... samsung galaxy s with a 32gb micro sd... says unsupported file system and does not format it... windows cant see it in the memory card reader... could u please help me out...
thanks man !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try to partition your card on an Android phone with RA 1.7.0 (or newer) installed. You can have a look at following page which is about RA for nexus v1.9.0 alpha:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=611829
Good luck.

thanks man !
will give it a try... i first have to figure out how to get my phone into recovery mode. the three button method does not work for me.

psychopython said:
thanks man !
will give it a try... i first have to figure out how to get my phone into recovery mode. the three button method does not work for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
whoa whoa if you have a galaxy s, do NOT flash the one he linked to. that is for the nexus one only. if you need to partition in windows, try plugging in the card to a reader and opening disk management (type "disk management" w/o quotes after pressing the windows key)
right click the card and hit format

Check your data before formatting it may not be corrupt
I had the same problem, rather than format the card straight away, I mounted it in ra recovery so that it was accessible over usb, then copied off all my data before formatting the card.

[Q] SD card problem

I have a MyTouch 4G rooted, with Ice Glacier 1.1.6 and I was trying to remove some files from my SD card and when i eject my phone, all the files i deleted appeared back onto the sd card. I tried everything to fix this problem. When i tried to format the card using a card reader, i get an error saying format wasnt able to be complete. i tried error checking as well. i am not able to add files to the sd card too. does anybody know what is going on??
thanks!

Try formatting it thru the phone.
Settings -> Storage -> Format SD Cards

just tried that, did not work. after i click format, the sd card would get mounted again and everything is still on the sd card..
this is what i have noticed, i can delete files using astro and it will stay off until i unmount it and mount it again. thats when the files appear back on the sd card.

Hmm... can you open the files on your PC?

yeah i can open files on my PC. this is weird. when i take pics, itll save onto the sd card but will be gone when i unmount or connect my phone to the computer so i can see the files on the sd card

I've heard of this once before. Solution was to put the sd card into an adapter and format with a camera.

format with a camera? meaning to plug this sd card in a digital camera and plug the camera into the pc then format?

No, format through the cameras menu options.

whenever i tried to turn on my camera with this messed up sd card in there, the camera doesnt even want to boot up....any other suggestions??

Sorry, thats all I got.

Sounds like a bad disk. Run a CHKDSK /f from your pc.
Sent from my HTC Glacier

chkdsk didnt work. at the end of the process, it says "disk error occurred during the writing of the file allocation" ??

It appears you need to go shopping. However, the SD card should be replaceable under warranty, unless our warranties specifically exclude the card. Call your local T-Mobile dealer and see if they'll replace it.

Yeah I think its time for a larger memory card anyway. So all I have to do is copy everything from my old memory card onto the new one that I will get then stick it in my phone right?
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

[Q] Sd issues. a500 not recognizing sd card

Hi all. I have a stock a500 with 3.1. Not rooted. I put in the 16gb SD card with files in it and I don't get any indication of the card in the bottom right corner. My phone however will recognize it and the files that are on it. Any suggestions? Ty for any replies

"Try unplugging it, and plugging it in again" - Mistabishi 'Printer Jam'.
What FS is the card formatted to? Have you tried any other card that is known to work? Also, try formatting the SD as FAT32 again from the phone.

I am having the SAME issue on my acer. It wont recognize my 16gb sandisk card. I tried formatting as described and I tried another card. Both are showing up in my HTC inspire but nothing on the acer. Whats the deal? When I go to storage in settings- the external SD total space is recognized but it is not allowing me to access it for storage using app2sd?

this SD card worked just fine on the transformer I took it out of.

da9b16 said:
I am having the SAME issue on my acer. It wont recognize my 16gb sandisk card. I tried formatting as described and I tried another card. Both are showing up in my HTC inspire but nothing on the acer. Whats the deal? When I go to storage in settings- the external SD total space is recognized but it is not allowing me to access it for storage using app2sd?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you even able to see the SD card? check /mnt/sd-external to see if it shows up. If it's there, create a directory, then delete it. Also, check the ".android-secure" hidden directory that should be on the SD card after using app2sd. If the permissions are not set correctly, you won't be able to use app2sd with it (reason for create/delete of the directory). Sidenote, I've seen quite a few apps named app2sd, some of them listed are showing up on my end as non-working with the A500 where others listed should work fine.
Forcefedfun said:
this SD card worked just fine on the transformer I took it out of.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still, that does not give me anything to go on. Did you format the card again? Is the card formatted in FAT32? Have you tried formatting the card from your computer using a card reader? I've had SD cards not show up before, reformatting them correctly solved the issue each time. If you don't know what filesystem the card is formatted with, grab a LiveCD with gparted on it (almost any gnome distribution) and I can help you from there. I haven't used Windows since XP SP2 was first released (FCKGW-... if you know what I mean) and I have refused to touch anything Apple since the IIe. Hence the signature.

formatting
Not sure what format they are in. I used a thunderbolt to for mate and a fsscinate and neither were visible. I'll go check what you recommended above though.

What are you guys talking about?
To the OP: You won't have any indication at the bottom. That feature doesn't exist on our devices (but some custom roms based on xoom and ?ASUS? have it). Just check the System screen to see if it finds your sd or simply make a photo from your camera (just set it to save the pictures to your SD). Or use a program and check /mnt/external-sd
To da9b16: a2sd won't work on this device (besides it has enough internal memory).
You'll only be able to access SD directly from your internal memory if you root the device and use a program that creates a symlink from /mnt/external-sd to /sdcard (USB Mount All does this but it's not free) or if you simply navigate to /mnt/external-sd with a file explorer.
I hope that this clears some confusion.

bpivk said:
What are you guys talking about?
To da9b16: a2sd won't work on this device (besides it has enough internal memory).
You'll only be able to access SD directly from your internal memory if you root the device and use a program that creates a symlink from /mnt/external-sd to /sdcard (USB Mount All does this but it's not free) or if you simply navigate to /mnt/external-sd with a file explorer.
I hope that this clears some confusion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just needed to know what the MNT portion of that statement which tells me dir. Thanks! Done and done!

almost same problem
da9b16 said:
I just needed to know what the MNT portion of that statement which tells me dir. Thanks! Done and done!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey i have a similar problem , when i put my SD card does recognize but the apps like photo gallery or play music wont read any file from my SD card what can i do

CWM wont show SD card contents...

So I rooted this stupid tablet and put the custom acer recovery app or whatever it is on it. Installed the proper CWM, and when I boot into recovery and try into install zip from SD card all it shows is "Lost.dir". Nothing else. What am I doing wrong?? The ROM/Kernel I want are on the root of my sd card, why isn't it showing up?

Because the tablet isn't stupid it knows exactly where the files should go but you didn't put them there? You just put your files into a wrong directory namely your internal storage.
/sdcard/ = internal storage which isn't used by CWM
/mnt/external_sd/ = SD card which is accessed by CWM
EDIT:
And in case you're looking for USB... The tablet mounts it under /mnt/usb_storage

bpivk said:
Because the tablet isn't stupid it knows exactly where the files should go but you didn't put them there? You just put your files into a wrong directory namely your internal storage.
/sdcard/ = internal storage which isn't used by CWM
/mnt/external_sd/ = SD card which is accessed by CWM
EDIT:
And in case you're looking for USB... The tablet mounts it under /mnt/usb_storage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Files can also be put on a USB flash drive and CWM will see them there also
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App

Some SD cards can not be seen bybrecovery.try formatting your card on another android device or a format utility from your PC.use fat file system.if still no luck try a fifteenth SD card
Goodluck

FAT, FAT32, external sd, usb drive, no matter where I put it, or what i do doesn't show it.
I give up.

joe3681 said:
FAT, FAT32, external sd, usb drive, no matter where I put it, or what i do doesn't show it.
I give up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take your time and have patience. I know the feeling. How are you transferring the data to the micro SD card? Can you use a file manager app to access the card, /mnt/external_sd?
Sent from my HoneyVillain 1.1 HC3.2 using Tapatalk

Again over and over ..try another SD card maybe two this is a very common issue.very common
Try diffrent SD cards if you have not

Or use a USB drive and flash from there. I do it all the time if I'm to lazy to copy the files to my SD card.

I am also stumped with the the acer reading the micro sd card. I am able to see it using root explorer. However, I cant see it when it is connected to my computer. I had to place my sd card in my galaxy tab in order to transfer files to it, and then place it in the iconia. That appeared to be the only way to put the rom on the root of my sd card. I want to save my stock back up to my computer in case I damage my sd card, but there seems to be no way to do it with out removing the card and placing it in another device. Am I missing something? Dont want to start another thread, so I'm asking here because it looks like it's been seen by other users.

dxwilliams40 said:
I am also stumped with the the acer reading the micro sd card. I am able to see it using root explorer. However, I cant see it when it is connected to my computer. I had to place my sd card in my galaxy tab in order to transfer files to it, and then place it in the iconia. That appeared to be the only way to put the rom on the root of my sd card. I want to save my stock back up to my computer in case I damage my sd card, but there seems to be no way to do it with out removing the card and placing it in another device. Am I missing something? Dont want to start another thread, so I'm asking here because it looks like it's been seen by other users.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI ( just in case ) !!!
When fully booted... SD CARD is the internal storage... and the physical card is shown as EXTERNAL SD CARD !
When at CWM recovery... SD CARD is the real physical card !

again KNOWN ISSUE
dxwilliams40 said:
I am also stumped with the the acer reading the micro sd card. I am able to see it using root explorer. However, I cant see it when it is connected to my computer. I had to place my sd card in my galaxy tab in order to transfer files to it, and then place it in the iconia. That appeared to be the only way to put the rom on the root of my sd card. I want to save my stock back up to my computer in case I damage my sd card, but there seems to be no way to do it with out removing the card and placing it in another device. Am I missing something? Dont want to start another thread, so I'm asking here because it looks like it's been seen by other users.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This Is a flaw.well if its actually a flow its a honeycomb issue.nothing you can do to fix this.unless I have missed it recently
its talked about alot on this forum.

No problem here but I am running the rom listed below. I see it on the tab and when I plug it in the computer. Everything works.
Sent from my Acer Iconia A500 running HoneyVillain 1.1 HC 3.2 for A501, OC'd 1.5GHz

[Q] Access to bootable sd card from stock OS after 1.4.1 update

I have a nook color with dual boot from sd card. The sd card having an android 3.0 version.
After I got the 1.4.1 update, I noticed that I was able to access the sd card( the boot partition alone) from the stock OS boot of nook.
But now, dont know how, I dont see that anymore.
Was this a flawed update that was fixed or am I missing something.
Do help please.
I could really use the advantage of using the bootable sd card as a regular storage card when using the stock OS of nook. I prefer reading on the stock OS of nook.

Not sure why you're not seeing the SD card anymore, does it still boot?
SD card installs create multiple partitions on the SD card and the Nook will only be able to access the first one (boot). It should be accessible with any version of the Nook default OS.
You should have a media partition with a decent amount of room (1-5gb depending on NC version). That would give you more room than the 100-or-so mb on the boot partition.
Just found out that you can point the emmc install to see the "sdcard" partition of the sd card using the following info:
racks11479 said:
use root explorer and edit vold.fstab to "4" instead of "auto" for sdcard mount
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Yes, I can boot from it. Every time I plug in the SD card, the notification already says that it is safe to remove the SD card. In the device Info part of the setting, the "Unmount SD card" is already greyed, though it does say that the SD card is found.
It is however useful for me to know that the boot partition should always be accessible.
I did remove the SD card a couple of times without unmounting it first, could this possibly have corrupted the card?

srn_28 said:
Yes, I can boot from it. Every time I plug in the SD card, the notification already says that it is safe to remove the SD card. In the device Info part of the setting, the "Unmount SD card" is already greyed, though it does say that the SD card is found.
It is however useful for me to know that the boot partition should always be accessible.
I did remove the SD card a couple of times without unmounting it first, could this possibly have corrupted the card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to boot the uSD card (the one with Android 3.0 on it) and see what happens.
If it can, then it's good, if not, you can say it's corrupted.

Yes, I can boot from it. So I assume the card is OK
I plugged in other uSD cards and they get recognized fine. So I assume the Nook stock OS device recognition is OK.
I should probably recreate the boot partition as a last ditch effort

I had the same problem at first, but now I have mounted the correct sdcard partition that I wanted to mount.
I couldn't get it to work with editing the vold.fstab file at first. Then at some point after I manually mounted the correct partition through adb shell and edited the vold.fstab it now works.