MicroSD card problem, intermittent :(

[Palantirion]

I bought a 32Gb Card from Amazon, copied my old card's data to it, installed it and booted up my Droid (running 2.2 + Zeam, rooted). Everything worked fine, even apps installed to my SD card. Then, later, I noticed that my phone took FOREVER to mount the SD card when hooked up to my computer, and would randomly unmount itself during transfers. It got to the point where it would be faster to shut off the phone and pull the card to transfer files to it. (My wife's droid has the same Zeam setup but isn't rooted and has the factory 16Gb card, and still operates with no problems.) Most recently after rebooting (to get rid of the most recent OS update message) my phone refuses to see apps the card (it finds pics and vids in non-stock locations). Occasionally it would see the card and load apps, but only after a couple minutes after bootup. Most often it will load no apps from the card.

Any ideas of what is going on? Could this be related to the most recent OTM update?

[fish1552]

Can't say with any certainty, but could it be the type of memory you purchased? Sometimes, what looks like a good bargain online can turn into problems later on. And cheaper brands can sometimes have a short life span. I experienced that with an extended life Droid battery (got maybe 30 days - if that).

It may also be suffering from fragmentation. Rather than try to explain it myself, the very bottom of this link will do a good job. http://www.sdcard.org/developers/tech/speed_class/ I'm starting to wonder if mine is having this problem. While I have the original card gotten with my phone, it sometimes takes maybe 5 minutes or so to access mine?

I'm also wondering if heat can ruin an SD card. My phone gets very hot sometimes on a car charger and the SD card sits right at the hottest part.

Just throwing some options out there and maybe someone else can jump in with more info?

[Bear in NM]

If you have the time and wnat to know for certainty if the card has problems there is a program I use on all my cards to verify the integrity of the card itself. The program is called h2testw.

Download H2testw 1.4 Free - Check your USB for errors with this tool. - Softpedia

This is one link to the program, if you google you can find tons. The program was made by a German individual, but can be had/run in english. When used it will/can be configured to write/read/verify every sector on any sd card type. It takes a very long time to test a 32gig card, but the program does work. I have used it to troubleshoot other cards of mine that have errors.

I too bought my 32 from Amazon. The packaging said sandisk, bulk packaging. The other thing that was recommened in many places is to format the card on the pc and not the phone. I did this, ran the check program to verify my card had no bad sectors. This may not cure your problem, but can at least rule out bad card sectors.

Craig

[Palantirion]

If you have the time and wnat to know for certainty if the card has problems there is a program I use on all my cards to verify the integrity of the card itself. The program is called h2testw.

Download H2testw 1.4 Free - Check your USB for errors with this tool. - Softpedia

This is one link to the program, if you google you can find tons. The program was made by a German individual, but can be had/run in english. When used it will/can be configured to write/read/verify every sector on any sd card type. It takes a very long time to test a 32gig card, but the program does work. I have used it to troubleshoot other cards of mine that have errors.

I too bought my 32 from Amazon. The packaging said sandisk, bulk packaging. The other thing that was recommened in many places is to format the card on the pc and not the phone. I did this, ran the check program to verify my card had no bad sectors. This may not cure your problem, but can at least rule out bad card sectors.

Craig

-Thanks for the link, I'll check it out asap. I think we have the exact same card, so it's good to know that it's working consistently for another user.

Any chance that the most recent Froyo update (which seems to randomly re-assert itself in notifications, as it's blocked by Nandroid on bootup) is mucking up my SD apps?

[Bear in NM]

I do not have apps on my sd card, but I do have an issue with my 32. None of the recoveries play very well with it. I generally have to reboot into recovery several times to get a proper "stick" where recovery will stay and propery report mounting my sd properly. My card does not have errors, and does movies, photos and music just fine, just recovery issues. If you want to troubleshoot for sure, try what you are doing with your 16. If the 32 checks out with the program I linked, and your 16 works with your apps to sd, then that kinda points to some compatibility issues with the 32 and your phone and/or rom. I have the one posted, but it is not fatal, just inconvenient sometimes.

There are very few threads with issues describing the 32g card, and I am sure their are boatloads of folks using them, so I have kinda concluded that the problems may not be systematic across the boards, just some phones and some cards. My best guess.

Craig

[Palantirion]

I swapped back to my 16Gb card and all apps loaded fine. Ran fine for a couple days, with the update notification bugging me. I just "allowed" the update, which then got blocked during reboot by nandroid, and now - WITH the OEM card - my SD-installed apps are not showing up.

[Bear in NM]

Pal,

That is goofy. While I am rooted, it is my understanding that any version of Froyo has apps to sd native and proper. I know I had one or two that worked on the rom version of Froyo I ran. i would tend to think that if your phone will play your sd card music or photos that this would rule out some kind of wierd mount issue, with the 16 or 32. I guess you could either try reinstalling the apps, or even move back to the phone, check functionality then move back to your card. Dunno, kinda strange.

Craig

[Palantirion]

Pal,

That is goofy. While I am rooted, it is my understanding that any version of Froyo has apps to sd native and proper. I know I had one or two that worked on the rom version of Froyo I ran. i would tend to think that if your phone will play your sd card music or photos that this would rule out some kind of wierd mount issue, with the 16 or 32. I guess you could either try reinstalling the apps, or even move back to the phone, check functionality then move back to your card. Dunno, kinda strange.

Craig

-Is it possible that the update being blocked is triggering an event that keeps apps from being read properly from the SD card? Like that part of the card is waiting for a process to finish? They still show up under management, but I can't access them or change their details (like move to phone). I've been considering the update to be allowed to finish, but I don't want to lose root and have to reroot again.

[Bear in NM]

Pal,

The nuances here are certainly over my pay grade. But I am a little confused about the update situation. If you are on a custom rom of any kind, and getting the update notification constantly then you do need to do something about it. What has happened to folks is they get the notification and the ota attempts to download in the background. They dismiss it and the cycle repeats.

The "fix" if you have either Clockwork Recovery or SPRecovery is to accept the update, and either recovery will block the installation for good (it will fail) and then you will not be bothered with it anymore. The caveats are that this has historically worked with CW and SPR, this is for a Droid1 for sure and this has worked with previous OTA's. If you are getting OTA's I would research that some to confirm you can block it properly. I am not up to speed on the current OTA situation, other than seeing some folks mention a maintenace release is either out there now or close.

We have to remember that VZW/Moto can manipulate this OTA, controlling how it will update, and what would or would not break it. In the past the update had to read the otacerts.zip file, and CW and SPR would block it. The current one, dunno.

Craig

[danceswithbongs]

I have a pretty good recollection that OG does not like having a 32 shoved into it. Just too big.