Database Users

32gb Micro SDHC woes

Hi all,
Apologies for the rambling post below but....
I would like to report major problems I have experienced with 32gb Micro SD cards with a number of Android devices, and most recently my new Desire HD.
The problems occur when I copy across my music library to the 32gb SD. It is a mixture of MP3 and AAC (mp4) files and the initial amount of data is a minimum of 5gb. All the data copies across fine, as I can tell from the available space under settings/SD & phone storage. However, the stock music player app does not recognise roughly half the music, and some of the music it has recognised produces a "cannot play this file format" message if i try and listen to it.
Using Astro File Manager, I then browse to the location on the SD card where I have copied the music and find that the music (that was not recognised) , is not physically on the SD card (despite the available space remaining suggesting the files are there).
If I then copy new music to the Desire HD on the SD card, the music copies over but the same scenario above occurs.
If I keep the SD card in the phone for 24 hrs the phone will crash numerous times and the only way I can turn the phone back on is to remove the battery.
I have tested 4 different 32gb Micro SDHC cards, 2 Class 4 SanDisks and 2 Class 6 Kingstons, same results with both.
Phone-wise, I have tested this on an HTC Wildfire and Samsung Galaxy S (running Android 2.1) and an HTC Desire and HTC Desire HD (running 2.2). I will test on a Samsung Galaxy Tab tonight.
Also, I have tested the above after formatting the SD card in the devices themselves, and from formatting the SD card from Windows 7 using FAT32 and 32kilobytes as the allocation unit size.
Has anyone else experiences issues with 32gb Micro SDHC cards? FYI, the stock 8gb Samsung SD card that comes with the Desire HD works without any issues whatsoever.
regards
Michael

I'm so glad you've posted these findings, I was contemplating buying a 32GB microsd card but could not justify paying more than twice the amount it costs for a 16GB card. I think I'm going to settle with a 16GB card now.
EDIT:-
Just thought about something, where are you doing this from, Windows 7 ? There is a Microsoft Windows update that fixes a problem with Windows 7 not reading 32GB or higher memory cards properly.
h t t p : / / support.microsoft.com/?kbid=976422

Very interesting and useful info for who tend to use 32GB microsd with DHD.
Is there anyone using 32 GB without any problem? We need to find out if DHD has a common problem with 32 GB or not.

eozen81 said:
Very interesting and useful info for who tend to use 32GB microsd with DHD.
Is there anyone using 32 GB without any problem? We need to find out if DHD has a common problem with 32 GB or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have one I got last week thats working perfect! 32GB class 4 from mymemory.co.uk (their own card, no manufacturer name).
I've copied a bunch of music and some HDTV episodes onto it so it's almost full, all files are definitely there and I've had no issues with playback. Using Astro too.
Copied them over on a Windows 7 system with Android Manager WiFi, I've used the regular USB cable once or twice which works fine too.

I also have a 32gig card.
Initially I had similar problems to you bit sure what fixed it, HTC sync works and I did reboot one or twice, but its all working
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

No issues with my Integral 32GB Class 4 card.

Try formatting with 32k cluster size...I've read that it helps with stuttering video issue, maybe it also helps with this...

Then nice to know it's a spesific problem not common. Thanks for the feedbacks guys.

I'm having exactly same problems as post 1. Someone suggested it might be a fake 32GB card so I'm currently running h2testw on it to see.

doogs20 said:
I'm having exactly same problems as post 1. Someone suggested it might be a fake 32GB card so I'm currently running h2testw on it to see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was the case with my 32GB one. h2testw reported only the first 1.8GB usable.
I suspect these are factory rejects being snatched before being destroyed/recycled.

I've been using a Kingston Class 4 32Gb card for 2-3 months now with absolutely no problems. Almost full of music and Sat Nav maps, and not even a hint of problems. Make sure you buy from a reputable, or at least traceable, supplier!

Sounds like the card is faulty or fake, ALWAYS test with H2TESTW and format it with Panasonic's SD Formatter app BEFORE using it with any device! Too many dodgey cards out there!
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

Mind if I ask where the hell did you find 32GB class 6 Kingston or other cards.
I can't find anything higher than class 4. Also on their official page there aren't any 32gb microSDHC class 6+.

Ho everybody this is the answer. I have bought over 10 32gb micro SD cards from eBay and amazon.
Some would not even format. Dome would format but while trying to transfer the files half way through the card would fail and would not be able to format or only see the card as 8gb.
Some would format and transfer would be good but by the time I would check for the data on the card the data would have disappeared.
Let me make one thing clear ALL THESE CARDS WERE CHEAP NOCK OFFS AND CHEAP QUALITY FROM CHINA.
I payed from £25 to £80 from eBay and amazon and they all failed.
I bought ONE FROM SCAN.CO.UK and it worked first time and still works with no issues thank God.
IT IS NOT THE DHD IT IS THE CARDS.
The reason they all failed and why its so hard to believe is because not everyone that buys the cards would transfer so much data at the beginning which is why the card failed, the huge amount of data being transferred showed the true defects in the card.
I really hope this helped.
Kind regards
Imran
Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

thanks guys for this discussion it really helped me as i was planing on buying one such card from ebay now would prefer a more reliable vendor and would read more reviews.

I've had a Lexar class 10 32GB I got from Amazon for £70 - works really well. Took a bit longer to 'prepare' when I first put it in, but no problems since.

buyed Bad SD Card?

Hey,
I am just flashing Windows Phone 7 on my HD2 now... I buyed a "Class 10 16GB Card" from a German Reseller (Media Markt) today. But while Im flashing using DFT I just have a Speed from 61 kbytes/sec... I think its not that fast, is it? Have I buyed a "fake class 10" card or something? what do you think?
Robin

I done near think you buyed you a fake XP
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

dave3588 said:
I done near think you buyed you a fake XP
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Than Ill just go to MM on monday and ask for a refund. I will get one

just started again - was copied over in 1 Minute ca Works great But still some kind of slow

I have both 8GB class 4 and class 10, after 1 week using, Class 4 still best for WP7. With Class 10, I got restart many times

lol this is dragging up some old threads!
righty, quick SD card lesson
WP7 needs quick 4KB RANDOM writes/reads there are various threads showing you want seems to be best
Now, Class 2 and Class 4 have slow sequential speeds, compared to class 6 and 10
The class system is defined by srquential speeds, this is useful info if your using it for a digital camera, the higher the class rating the quicker you can read an write those large files
However windows phone 7 doesnt mess about with large files, it needs to access many smaller files in a random order.
Now, They way in which SOME SD cards get higher sequential speeds (and thus a high class rating) is by working some magic, unfortunately this same magic has a side effct of reducing random access, so the general rule of thumb is this
Class 2-4 will give you a higher CHANCE of working
Class 6-10 will give you less CHANCE of working
I say chance because apart from some PNY class 2 cards there are not any cards out there on the market sold as "high random access speeds"
Its luck, pure an simple, a Sandisk 8GB class 2 might work for one person, but not someone else, the reason for that is almost every card is made differently.
So statistically you will have better luck with a class 2 or 4.....

When moving to Yuki-Xbmod Mango rom I had 4 SD cards
16Gb Transcend Class 4
2Gb Sandisk Class 2
4Gb Kingston Class 4
4Gb "No Name" Card
The "4Gb no-name" card was the only one that worked.
I needed at least 8Gb and I didnt want to buy one and take teh risk so after asking my friends and trying there cards I found a "8Gb no-name card" that worked and had no choice but to swap my 16Gb card for a 8Gb card!!
My experience shows no-name cards work better.

Note 2 killed my Lexar 32gb Card AGAIN!

I've read loads of internet threads and other reports about Samsung phones (GS3, Note 2 etc) killing SD Cards from various manufacturers, so when my Lexar 32GB card (that I had used previously in my Note 1 since I bought it!) died unexpectedly I thought maybe it was the card.
Luckily Lexar are guaranteed for 10 years so I sent it back and they sent me a brand new one in return. But....
JUST THREE WEEKS LATER my Note 2 reported, after a reset, that the card was damaged and needed formatting - losing all the data on it AGAIN!
I can't see two cards both being faulty to be honest - it MUST be my Note 2 suddenly killing them. There seems to be no answer from Samsung about this - they just keep quiet. So I thought I'd post this and also a poll here to see how many cards have been killed/data lost by the Note 2 on XDA.

Sandisk. 'Nuff said.
Haven't tried a Samsung card but seem to get great reviews mostly. I haven't had a lexar fail me yet but on the other hand haven't used one enough to really push it. Tried lexar because they're usually the fastest or close to it.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

adamelphick said:
I've read loads of internet threads and other reports about Samsung phones (GS3, Note 2 etc) killing SD Cards from various manufacturers, so when my Lexar 32GB card (that I had used previously in my Note 1 since I bought it!) died unexpectedly I thought maybe it was the card.
Luckily Lexar are guaranteed for 10 years so I sent it back and they sent me a brand new one in return. But....
JUST THREE WEEKS LATER my Note 2 reported, after a reset, that the card was damaged and needed formatting - losing all the data on it AGAIN!
I can't see two cards both being faulty to be honest - it MUST be my Note 2 suddenly killing them. There seems to be no answer from Samsung about this - they just keep quiet. So I thought I'd post this and also a poll here to see how many cards have been killed/data lost by the Note 2 on XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been using lots of MMC/SD/microSD cards since they came out and I got several from various makes and price brackets (top-end Sandisk and Kingston included) failing on me over the years. Since I got my OG Note, almost 2.5 years ago, I have been using high-end microSD cards from Samsung only, class 10 32GB ones at first and then UHS-1 64GB ones since I got my Note II 6-7 months ago. I have yet to have a problem with them.
I have read that certain Sandisk cards had a manufacturing problem (admitted by them) which got them failing on some devices like the Note II, you may search for it.
Anyway, the only smartphone that I would buy (again) *today* is the Note II and the only microSDs that I buy today are Samsung's top-end ones.

I don't think your note killed anything, simply the card died - it probably would have died in any device; or maybe not if the device that is not i.e. heating as much as note etc. But I really can't believe there's an error in note that kills cards.
I.e. my 32gb died in my GPS, what should I have said "my Mio killed SD card!"? No, the card simply died, end of story. They manufacture them in such quantities that it's normal.... Remember when the CD-Rs first appeared? I still have some like 10-15 years old and they work just fine. Nowdays I burn a DVD and in a week I try to read it and it is unreadable! And I'm not using some crap brand. So I wouldn't blame your Note Simply mass production....

dalanik said:
I don't think your note killed anything, simply the card died - it probably would have died in any device; or maybe not if the device that is not i.e. heating as much as note etc. But I really can't believe there's an error in note that kills cards.
I.e. my 32gb died in my GPS, what should I have said "my Mio killed SD card!"? No, the card simply died, end of story. They manufacture them in such quantities that it's normal.... Remember when the CD-Rs first appeared? I still have some like 10-15 years old and they work just fine. Nowdays I burn a DVD and in a week I try to read it and it is unreadable! And I'm not using some crap brand. So I wouldn't blame your Note Simply mass production....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point ! :thumbup:
Best regards
Sifou
Using a Samsung N7100

Its mainly about the quality on the microSD card and mass production.

adamelphick said:
I've read loads of internet threads and other reports about Samsung phones (GS3, Note 2 etc) killing SD Cards from various manufacturers, so when my Lexar 32GB card (that I had used previously in my Note 1 since I bought it!) died unexpectedly I thought maybe it was the card.
Luckily Lexar are guaranteed for 10 years so I sent it back and they sent me a brand new one in return. But....
JUST THREE WEEKS LATER my Note 2 reported, after a reset, that the card was damaged and needed formatting - losing all the data on it AGAIN!
I can't see two cards both being faulty to be honest - it MUST be my Note 2 suddenly killing them. There seems to be no answer from Samsung about this - they just keep quiet. So I thought I'd post this and also a poll here to see how many cards have been killed/data lost by the Note 2 on XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hello Londres guy, I hope you can understand my french.
So, my Note 2 have killed once my sd card, and I found something intéressant, that day I have download a pic of dogs from reddit, but I did't finish that, It was cancel by myself,
BUT I found the server was still working, the server which made from download, so my phone has been hot, and the batterie has gone very rapide, and the day after, my sd card is dead.
I took a look the server which is named multimédias have took 60% my batterie, it si why my note2 is hot, and i think is him, who writes alway in the sd card For a day and half, who make the sd dead fastly.
So maybe it is reason for the Sudden Death too, I mean if this server writes in the eMMC without stop, he can make the eMMC dead.
---------- Post added at 10:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:40 AM ----------
for now I use my note2 very careful, I take a look the tasks, or the page de la batterie, if the server be here, I must make this server to default, and if i will download something, make sure it in the sd card, i dont want my emmc be broken.

I dont think the phone is responsible for killing sd. Might be a specific sd card problem.
Im Using a 32gb Samsung class 10, they are not very expensive in amazon. I used to have Sandisk cards with no problems.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

I've been using my SanDisk 64gb sd card since I bought my galaxy note 2 (in January) and had no problems at all.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

I also lost a SanDisk Class 4 32 GB card in my Note II, but it's interesting that I can still use the card as a USB memory through an adapter. Meaning, Windows recognises it without a problem as soon as I stick the memory in and check disk doesn't show any errors or bad sectors. On the other hand, no phone is able to recognise the memory anymore, no matter the phone manufacturer.
I did not want to risk again so I bought a 64GB Samsung UHS-1 card, factory exFAT formated. No problems so far, I've been using it for couple of months now. The only thing I noticed is that the write / read speeds are far below the specified ones, although these cards should be very fast.

Buy a Kingston card, they have lifetime warranty. I had issues with a 32gb card and got a new one free from them.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

I bought a 64gb scandisk with 10 year warranty. Keeping recite handy. But been Ok for nearly 3 months now no problems.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

fu*k now my note 2 was killed my samsung 32gb class 10 !

Did you try to repair the file system via CheckDisk utility?
File system gets corrupted if there is some error writing or power loss during file operations, or you disconnect the card.
Usually all the data is there, only the partition table gets corrupted.
Go to command prompt and type:
chkdsk /X /F <SD card drive letter on your system:>

my device has killed 3 (yes three!) 64gb class10 sandisk cards 2 got replaced and the third one.. i m still trying to make it work. Last measure, i did was formatted the factory formatted empty card with a prog called sdcardformatter and reformatted same in twrp recovery. For somedays its working but still getting 2-3 sdremoval error messages
now i will try mrlo suggested chdsk method

Same case with me on Kingston 32gb card

my Sandisk 32Gb mem card also died unexpectedly after a couple of months.
It just keeps automatically ejecting on its own
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

mikebat07943 said:
my Sandisk 32Gb mem card also died unexpectedly after a couple of months.
It just keeps automatically ejecting on its own
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes that was the case with me
Sent from the New S Pen

There are lots of instances of this happening on the Web. Cannot be a coincidence. Seems it is worse after latest update. Some seem to think the voltage is to high or fluctuates and kills the controllers.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 2

after getting 3 64gb cards killed, i really doubt n worried which card to get? i think every 64 and 32 gb cards also getting wasted! i think i have no choice but to settle with old 8gb card. also , i am thinking to switch rom to some thing else. i am currently with arhd19. will this help?

Samsung 64gb xcsd class 10 card problems

Is anyone else using this card, or had these problems? Card mounted fine when I first took it out of the package. File Transfer from my backup on my Ubuntu 13.10 powered Dell d630 Lat. to the card in a USB 2.0 reader was real slow. Had problems with files disappearing, folders showing up empty, and apk files becoming corrupt and unusable. Card comes in extFat32 format.pulled the card, wiped it and formatted it to fat32 using gParted.transfer the second go round was a lot faster for the most part, but files disappearing and folders coming up empty still happening.i even re downloaded several files just incase they were corrupted during the transfer. Is it a bad card, or are there problems with how s4/MJA handles 64gb cards?
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium HD app

I have the same card and I have no issues. Just take card back and swap it. Less headache and down time
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Bought it on ebay.i hope this is a freak thing among the 64gb cards.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium HD app

I recently bought a sandisk class 10 64gb XDHC card and have had 0 problems. I agree with the poster above. Be sure (Since it's off of ebay) you really are getting what you pay for. My card was $50 from amazon. Don't know if you got it super cheap or something from ebay but that could be your problem. I would exchange it and if that still doesn't work then you are most likely getting mislabeled fake cards. Memory I always try to get from the manufacturer or reputable company because there are TONS of fakes out there.
Again I'm on 4.3 MJA stock with root and philz recovery and have no problems with mine albeit a different brand.
Best of luck though!

For what it's worth I had the sandisk 64gb ultra (from amazon) and had issues constantly with it becoming unmounted, despite anything I tried.. Some have no issues with the sandisk. Prior to that I had a sandisk 32gb ultra and never had an issue at all, which is what I expected from the 64gb sandisk.
It didn't take me long to switch to the same samsung 64gb (from amazon) you've got, no issues at all, and it's been several months now....
I think the others said it right, get that thing replaced for another...

S4 64memory sd card

Hey. It will work 64GB sd card with no lag and overheat phone? I wanna buy 64micro sd.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA-Developers Legacy app

Yes, I ran a SanDisk 64gig for a while with no issues.

I have 128Gb SDXC microSD card and it work fine with my S4 (exFAT formatted). I have successfully tested some 64Gb cards too.

Make sure get faster card. im using 64GB with u1 class sandisk.
fine for me, no lagging

SiNxHaCk said:
Make sure get faster card. im using 64GB with u1 class sandisk.
fine for me, no lagging
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi, i buyed 64 memory card 10class with no logo brand name, and pasting files from pc it taking long 32gb time 11hours, wtf i wanna buy SAND DISK 32GB Ultra, so faster speed than this bull****??????????????????? im pissed of when it taking to long copied files.

1. Self-censoring is not sufficient to avoid an infraction from moderators. I highly suggest editing your post and removing all the curse words within it.
2. Buying a no-name MicroSD card is the source of all your problems. I bet that card was really inexpensive, right? That's because the card manufacturer lied to you and told you the card was Class 10 when it really is Class 2 or Class 4. These cards are far slower than a true Class 10 card, but are far less expensive as well.
3. It's good to see you've learned the lesson here, which is to only buy brand name MicroSD cards. Sandisk is a good choice.