Duke4.net Forums: SD Cards Suck - Duke4.net Forums

Jump to content

Page 1 of 1
  • You cannot start a new topic
  • You cannot reply to this topic

SD Cards Suck

User is offline   MusicallyInspired 

  • The Sarien Encounter

#1

I had a 32GB micro SD card in my phone for like 5 years. Just now tonight randomly while my phone was charging my phone decided that my SD card didn't exist anymore. I took it out and put it in my computer with a card reader and that didn't recognize it either. Just nothing. As if no card was inserted into the reader. I tried other SD cards and they still work. This specific card just for whatever reason just decided it didn't want to function anymore. It was loaded with music and pictures and videos. Is there anything I can do? Probably not, eh? Maybe the gold contact leads got worn? They're a bit worn...

Crap.

This post has been edited by MusicallyInspired: 27 August 2018 - 06:46 PM

0

User is offline   TerminX 

  • el fundador

  #2

https://www.walmart....-Wt-Oz/16817418
0

User is offline   Mark 

#3

You can't get at the phone's contacts but use a pencil eraser to clean the card's contacts. Its worth a try.

You do have those files on backup in case you need a new card, right?
0

User is offline   MusicallyInspired 

  • The Sarien Encounter

#4

The videos and photos, no. Everything else, yes. Not the end of the world. But if I can get them back that would be lovely. I'll give it a try.
0

User is offline   Mark 

#5

I've seen marker pens that have a conductive ink. No idea how much they cost. If its cheap you could try that on the contacts.
0

User is offline   Jimmy 

  • Let's go Brandon!

#6

Actually it's pretty common for SD Cards to fail after a couple of years. It's best not to use them over long periods of time, especially if you use them on a daily basis. They should be replaced fairly often (if they're holding sensitive/irreplaceable data.)

This post has been edited by Jimmy 4k: 28 August 2018 - 06:00 PM

0

User is offline   MusicallyInspired 

  • The Sarien Encounter

#7

Yeah....probably breathed its last. Over the course of its lifespan my phone would tell me the card had gotten "corrupted" and I'd have to reformat. This time it just straight up stopped working. It just sucks that it was my 32GB card. Only one I got.
0

#8

View PostJimmy 4k, on 28 August 2018 - 05:59 PM, said:

Actually it's pretty common for SD Cards to fail after a couple of years.

Even if data is written to it once, then the card is stored in a box until you need the data again?
0

User is offline   Tea Monster 

  • Polymancer

#9

Clean the contacts with an ink eraser or some isopropyl alcohol.

Try it in the card reader. Make sure the card reader is plugged into a USB port on the back of the motherboard of the computer, not in a front case port or an external hub.

Solid state memory (NAND or Flash) has a finite amount of read/write cycles. It is possible that your card has just reached the end of this cycle, but you would have had to really hammer it to do so.

There are a variety of different ways of recovering data, both through recovery software and physical means, but that will start to get expensive.
0

User is offline   MusicallyInspired 

  • The Sarien Encounter

#10

I've had it since I got my first smartphone 5 years ago. I've had to reformat it a few times as the card just randomly became corrupt randomly. Would the finite read/write cycles explain the card just randomly becoming unreadable by my phone after not doing anything?

Then again, some data is tied to the SD card and the phone could have been possibly reading and writing to it randomly for different purposes. I don't think I had any apps installed on it anymore but....who knows.
0

User is offline   Tea Monster 

  • Polymancer

#11

I don't know how you used your card, so I can't really say. Also, there are loads of different makes and models of card. A lot of cards sold on the interwebs are fake, so it could be that you got a substandard one. They can work for a while and fail, due to dodgy components. I think it's probably unlikely that you ran up against the read/write cycle limit of the card,. The cards have firmware built in that should load balance the data storage to minimise this effect. Without knowing a lot more about the card, where it was bought and how it was used, I can't really say.

Try the eraser/alcohol and then reload the card.

Does Windows recognise it? Have you tried it on a different machine/card reader?

Was your phone an Android? Did you have Google Photos enabled to back up your pics, maybe unintentionally?

This post has been edited by Tea Monster: 08 September 2018 - 11:30 AM

0

User is offline   MusicallyInspired 

  • The Sarien Encounter

#12

I bought the card in the same store I got the phone. Don't recall the brand at the moment. It's inside my phone which is in a case that requires an alan wrench to get the 6 screws out. Don't feel like doing that right now. Yeah, it's an Android. Galaxy S3 when I first got it. S5 now. I don't use any Google services, Photos or otherwise. I made sure of that. But all my photos and videos were definitely saved on the card. There's nothing wrong with my card reader. It reads other cards fine. But I don't have any others to test it on. I did only test on the front panel, though. But seeing as the phone doesn't read it either I figured it didn't make a difference. I'll have to try the alcohol thing at some point.
0

User is offline   Person of Color 

  • Senior Unpaid Intern at Viceland

#13

SD cards are disposable, you fucking idiot. You're supposed to write to them ONCE, then throw them DIRECTLY into the trash. Christ. It's fucking amateur hour here.

This post has been edited by Person of Color: 10 September 2018 - 04:53 AM

0

User is offline   Tea Monster 

  • Polymancer

#14

If the card is in the phone, can you see any of the pics on the phone? If so, plug the phone into a PC and back them up that way.

Back panel can make a difference.
0

User is offline   MusicallyInspired 

  • The Sarien Encounter

#15

No, the card is unrecognized by anything. Including the phone. It was just sitting on my desk and then randomly my phone notified me that the SD card was removed. It hasn't been recognized by anything since. Don't see any pictures and when I connect my phone to my computer only the onboard memory shows up.
0

#16

I don't think that is a memory problem, did you try some tool similar to EaseUS? At least you should be able to save your data.
0

User is offline   MusicallyInspired 

  • The Sarien Encounter

#17

Anything I plug the card into acts like I plugged nothing in at all. How do I recover data when nothing will recognize it in any way, shape, or form?

Also, I never said anything was a memory problem.

This post has been edited by MusicallyInspired: 11 September 2018 - 10:51 AM

0

#18

View PostMusicallyInspired, on 11 September 2018 - 10:51 AM, said:

Anything I plug the card into acts like I plugged nothing in at all. How do I recover data when nothing will recognize it in any way, shape, or form?

Also, I never said anything was a memory problem.


You are right, it was a thought of mine.

Honeslty i never used it, so i can't guarantee that will work for sure (you can give a try with some free tools), but some softwares are able to recognize devices that usually cannot be with the OS.
I.e: a similar thing happens when you are about to mod a console or some corrupted hard drive, you can't always do it with just the normal programs.

Once again, it is just a chance you can try.
0

User is offline   Tea Monster 

  • Polymancer

#19

You can take it to a recovery service. They might be able to isolate the chip from the rest of the card and access it directly. That is going to be expensive - unless you have a pal in an IT forensics department or similar.

Do try the contacts and the rear port.
1

User is offline   MusicallyInspired 

  • The Sarien Encounter

#20

I will. I just don't have any of that alcohol solution you were talking about. I will attempt it.
0

User is offline   LAW 

#21

Even though the flash cards are very popular I just rarely use them. The capacitors inside the microSD are very small. When the capacitor contains an electron, the the system will read "0" from this particular cell of memory. If the capacitor is empty, then the system will read "1". I tell this to everyone and it is confirmed: it is very easy for something to "push off" an electron from the said capacitors. I know that this sound like a scenario from the Star Trek episode, but even a loose photon from the Sun, can push the electrons out, resulting in the data loss.

Additionally the capacitors are not perfect. They can contain a charge, but not forever. I always say to people to "refresh" the charge from time to time, just by using the SD card, USB stick or SSD. And that time should be no longer than 6 months.

Another reason why I don't like flash cards is their lifespan. From my tests which I have been conducting over the years it seems that each memory cell of the flash card can survive up to 3000-5000 writes and data erases (because an erase counts as writing "zero"). The reads are theoretically infinite. Of course the real number of maximum writes is a confidential data and manufacturers hide it. All this is based on the lab experiments. SSDs on the other hand are far more durable. From the last tests which results I recall myself, I can tell you that a generic SSD with the capacity of 128GB can survive up to (more or less) 130TB in data writes and erases. 512GB can whiststand up to about 520TB of wear and tear and so on. As you can see, it is easy to remember.

After the fair amount of writes and erases, the firmware which resides inside the flash card will try to use an algorithm to spread the data on the less frequently used parts of the flash memory. It is a death row anyway, but the card prices are so low. I also laugh at the notebooks with the eMMC storage. It is just a naked USB stick inside and it is going to die sooner, than the people think. I can only imagine how fast the Windows log files will destroy the memory cells.

Please: never consider the flash memory as an archive with important stuff. I have liked the Panasonic cards in the past, then the SanDisk. But something bad is happening to SanDisk after it was aquired by the Western Digital. Besides SanDisk is currently using the Samsung chips and not the best ones, so currently out of consumer grade microSD I would go with Samsung.

Ad vocem your problem, you can visit some really good data recovery company. If only partition header is broken, then you will have a chance. But be warned: it won't be a cheap service.

This post has been edited by LAW: 30 October 2019 - 10:31 AM

1

User is offline   Danukem 

  • Duke Plus Developer

#22

I have seen LAW's avatar for years but only recently I became a fan of Benny the Jet and now I know who it is. I'm pretty sure that shot is from Dragons Forever.
1

User is offline   LAW 

#23

View PostTrooper Dan, on 30 October 2019 - 08:23 PM, said:

I have seen LAW's avatar for years but only recently I became a fan of Benny the Jet and now I know who it is. I'm pretty sure that shot is from Dragons Forever.


Yeah - he was the "real deal" and yes - it is from Dragons Forever. I hope you haven't considered my avatar to be a photo of mine :o
0

Share this topic:


Page 1 of 1
  • You cannot start a new topic
  • You cannot reply to this topic


All copyrights and trademarks not owned by Voidpoint, LLC are the sole property of their respective owners. Play Ion Fury! ;) © Voidpoint, LLC

Enter your sign in name and password


Sign in options