Database Develop

How safe is data on MicroSD/SDHC?

Every once in a while I'm having the same sort of problem whith my storage card, whether it's MiniSD, MicroSD or SDHC. To be more precise some/all files disappear leaving nothing but some bloody FILE*.CHK files, which seem to be completely useless. I did some google-search and there seems to be no practical way of retrieving the lost data.
I'm curious: why is it happening in the first place and has anyone been successful in combatting this issue? (don't tell me about backups )

I have yet to have a problem with the mem card in my Kaiser. it is a 6Gb Sandisk. Do you have an off-brand?
My old HTC Sable had issues like you describe...

arent .chk files left over by scandisk on a windows box?
this could be due to not ejecting the hardware before removing it from the pc!
under what circumstances are you experiencing this

Yes when combatting this issue I find that handguns are useless and shotguns are all the rage. When trying to do the official combat I like to taunt the problem a bit with the pistol (which just makes it mad) and then go all out with the shot gun. It's always good to have someone else at your side with a missle launcher or something, ya know, for the hardcore combat.

.CHK files are recovered file fragments from Scandisk. I would try a low level format of your SD card and then reformat as FAT32 (for the love of ____, do not use NTFS). NTFS is not designed for removable media and will give you nothing but headaches.

How do you low level an SD card. You only really hear about that with SCSI drives now days, Or do you mean a full format?

im not sure that the post that says dont format ur sd card as ntfs is accurate, while it may be true that a windows mobile device will probably not recognise this disc at all, i use an sd card formatted as ntfs in a laptop with no problems!
try hdtune @ www.hdtune.com/ this might be useful!

ChumleyEX said:
How do you low level an SD card. You only really hear about that with SCSI drives now days, Or do you mean a full format?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use an SD card reader with a PC and use a program such as Boot/Nuke to do a DoD-certified erase of the contents.
andaroo said:
im not sure that the post that says dont format ur sd card as ntfs is accurate, while it may be true that a windows mobile device will probably not recognise this disc at all, i use an sd card formatted as ntfs in a laptop with no problems!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can format removable media with NTFS, but you need to be extremely careful since NTFS is constantly caching data from the drive. Unless you disable write-back caching or eject the card each time prior to removing it (which cannot be done on a phone), you run a high risk of corrupting the data on it.

The problem with NTFS on removable media seems to be a windows issue. Not sure if that is windows mobile as well but it also seems to be fixed in a service pack. If I were having problems I wouldn't be using something with user rights and permissions on a device that does nothing with that.

motocrossmann said:
I have yet to have a problem with the mem card in my Kaiser. it is a 6Gb Sandisk. Do you have an off-brand?
My old HTC Sable had issues like you describe...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's Sandisk SDHC 4GB

This is why I released my new software SD Sync Any Kaiser users tried it already? Currently only One way Sync (PPC -> Desktop) happens..
Regards,
Carty..

andaroo said:
arent .chk files left over by scandisk on a windows box?
this could be due to not ejecting the hardware before removing it from the pc!
under what circumstances are you experiencing this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Forgot to mention when trying to fix this I used the windows disc-check utility, but initially problem started after I installed one of the games (Tomb Rider I think) and the battery power was down to 2-3% when I turned my Kaiser off. I couldn't access the programm files folder from ppc, and it was empty when I opened it on pc...except there was tombrider.exe left...

NotATreoFan said:
.CHK files are recovered file fragments from Scandisk. I would try a low level format of your SD card and then reformat as FAT32 (for the love of ____, do not use NTFS). NTFS is not designed for removable media and will give you nothing but headaches.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, interestingly it doesn't display the file system in the properties menu like it would for the hard drives... but I'm pretty sure I didn't format the card...unless was formatted NTFS when first inserted in a device...

ChumleyEX said:
Yes when combatting this issue I find that handguns are useless and shotguns are all the rage. When trying to do the official combat I like to taunt the problem a bit with the pistol (which just makes it mad) and then go all out with the shot gun. It's always good to have someone else at your side with a missle launcher or something, ya know, for the hardcore combat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great job that you know all this stuff...must have used it alot coz you sound quite like a specialist
You might have forgotten to mention granades - there are different types of them like smoke granades or even those which can kill (OMG!) someone...that kind of stuff...

User X said:
Hmmm, interestingly it doesn't display the file system in the properties menu like it would for the hard drives... but I'm pretty sure I didn't format the card...unless was formatted NTFS when first inserted in a device...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you didn't format it, then it would be FAT32 formatted by default.

Extensive application in MicroSD
User X said:
Forgot to mention when trying to fix this I used the windows disc-check utility, but initially problem started after I installed one of the games (Tomb Rider I think) and the battery power was down to 2-3% when I turned my Kaiser off. I couldn't access the programm files folder from ppc, and it was empty when I opened it on pc...except there was tombrider.exe left...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You installed the games in the MicroSD, right?
I experienced it twice, sorted out that it happens when I'm using an application that installed in the MicroSD and then turned the device off. The strange thing that it is only occurred when using a large sized and resource extensive application (especially games), it doesn't happen when using light application such as YahooGo!, MapKing, etc. I end up to install all apps in main memory, and lived peacefully (finger crossed)
I hoped someone could explain why this happen, even better cured it
Regards,
Jeffry

Saving data from *.CHK
User X said:
Every once in a while I'm having the same sort of problem whith my storage card, whether it's MiniSD, MicroSD or SDHC. To be more precise some/all files disappear leaving nothing but some bloody FILE*.CHK files, which seem to be completely useless. I did some google-search and there seems to be no practical way of retrieving the lost data.
I'm curious: why is it happening in the first place and has anyone been successful in combatting this issue? (don't tell me about backups )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually you still can save your files, it still there just with mixed up name and extention
1. Sort the file by it's file size, you could get an idea what file it was by it's size
2. Change the file extention according to what you think it supposed to be judging by its size, ie:
small file to *.txt and open it with notepad, read what's in it and change it to what it's supposed to be .pwi, .xls, etc
2 - 6 MB files to *.mp3
etc
I know it's painful especially with my 2GB data, also you cannot saved your application this way, but I saved my most recent and important data this way, for the rest I just have to satisfy with my 1 month old backup
If anyone could suggest better way, pleaseee let me know

Just happen again
[email protected]!!! me and my big mouth... it just happen again this morning, same thing, install app in storage card, device turned off and wham!
But this time I did some googling and found this utility really helpfull
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download
Well, anyone could explain what caused it and how to prevent it?
Any information will be appreciated
Thanks

jeffry_p said:
You installed the games in the MicroSD, right?
I experienced it twice, sorted out that it happens when I'm using an application that installed in the MicroSD and then turned the device off. The strange thing that it is only occurred when using a large sized and resource extensive application (especially games)...
Jeffry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes mate! Sounds very much like what happened here - after intstalling Tomb Rider (4-6MB) in the MicroSD I launched it and then soft reset - my program files vanished...And I dont think I could do anything about that, the .CHK files I got after running the checkdisc utility were all the same size - 32kb, something to do with the cluster size I think...
I guess the question of the cause and the way to prevent it remains open...

Bump
No one can help?
Anyone also experienced this problem? Please tell us your experience, who know we could sort out something
Thanks

PIE now freezes my phone with every single use

Let me preface by saying that I know almost no one uses PIE anymore. I typically don't either, but until a stable Opera 9.5 is out, I'm using Opera Mini, PIE, and Skyfire. PIE unfortunately, is the only one of those three that I can access my bank account on right now.
PIE freezes the phone every single time I use it now. I don't know why. I have plenty of free memory left (both ROM and RAM) and nothing running in the background when I try to open it. I have KaiserTweak as well as MemMaid... should I tweak the IE settings in either of those apps? I don't know what the deal is, and I hate that I have to rely on PIE, but I do for now

did you use advanced config and change the temp internet files storage location to the SD card?

Yes. That was one of the first things I did when I got the phone. Are you saying this is good for performance or bad?

I'm saying thats your problem.
Well it's more of a suggested problem, it's a know issue with doing that.

ChumleyEX said:
I'm saying thats your problem.
Well it's more of a suggested problem, it's a know issue with doing that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I'll try putting it back to default and see how that goes. Thanks!

I had the same exact problem at once and i had to disable the proxy each time and sometimes it still wouldn't work. I hated using the internet. I then decided to do a hard reset and it fixed things (or i might have flashed to another ROM, can't exactly remember).

I migrated from a Wizard to a Kaiser and I ported quite a few things from old Kitchen - one of these was the registry entries to put IE temporary stuff on the Storage Card. This was my first mistake and I was flamed for asking why (search, search, search apparently...).
For some reason IE on the Kaiser dies a death when the cache etc is set to use the Storage Card. I changed the .RGU files in my kitchen and flashed a new ROM and I have not had a problem since.
Andy

Thanks for the posts guys, I appreciate it. I'm going to undo my Storage Card cache settings and hopefully all will be good.

Yep, that fixed it! Thanks again everyone!

att TILT erased all my data on the SD Card

Hi All
I had stored all my data and some apps on my 4gb Sandisk SD card and all of a sudden all the data from the card is gone. I notice error messages of applications like google map etc that i had installed on the Sd card when they were trying to run they could no longer see the files. IS there a fix for this problem? I see i n other places they decribe a lengthy procedure including buying some softwares for restoring data, however if i do that i think the data can vanish anytime again. I also see others complaining about this,, please let me know if there is any other easy way to restore data, and how can i permanently fix the problem? does att help??

Put the card in your computer, see if you can run a disk check on it.
I've had my SD card 'look blank' or not even show up on the Tilt three times since I've owned it and all three times I did a filesystem check and it found errors. Once corrected, the card was fine again.

Yeah, you need to find out a little more information as to what is going on.
First off figure out if it is the phone or the card that is the problem.
Remove the card and find some other way of reading it. It could be something as simple as a bad connection on the terminal pins. Maybe clean them or see if they are bent out of place.
Maybe the card has bad sectors. Doing what khaystsus said will help you find that out.
At any rate, there are alot of things that could cause the same problems so a little more investigation and information is needed for anyone to help you any further.

Mikeb32078 said:
Yeah, you need to find out a little more information as to what is going on.
First off figure out if it is the phone or the card that is the problem.
Remove the card and find some other way of reading it. It could be something as simple as a bad connection on the terminal pins. Maybe clean them or see if they are bent out of place.
Maybe the card has bad sectors. Doing what khaystsus said will help you find that out.
At any rate, there are alot of things that could cause the same problems so a little more investigation and information is needed for anyone to help you any further.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I will try with the computer, ,but this is not a isolated problem if you do a search in google, you will see very many people complaining of the same thing.
examples
http://forums.wireless.att.com/cng/board/message?board.id=cingular&thread.id=95047
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/.../thread/8f3276df-9444-4098-b0f4-6155582a2765/

Of course this is not an isolated problem -- this can happen on any WM phone. given the right conditions
It happened several times on my old ETEN.
One culprit is if you run the tweak to store your IE cache files on the card instead of internal memory -- this has been known to corrupt the card.
Other things can happen also -- which is why I backup my card at least once a week.

srimoorthy said:
Thanks I will try with the computer, ,but this is not a isolated problem if you do a search in google, you will see very many people complaining of the same thing.
examples
http://forums.wireless.att.com/cng/board/message?board.id=cingular&thread.id=95047
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/.../thread/8f3276df-9444-4098-b0f4-6155582a2765/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you run a checkdisk on the card yet? What were the results?

No not yet, did nt get much of a chance yesterday going to do it today if i am able to find my card reader !

POLL: Bell I9000M Internal SD Issues?

Just wanted to do a poll for everyone using Bell's I9000M in regards to failing Internal SD cards. Hopefully this gives us a little insight into this widespread issue.
Please vote ONLY if you have a Bell I9000M Galaxy S Vibrant

i agree, it does seems the i9000m have some Internal SD problem that is only related to this model.
still waiting for the poll

AllGamer said:
i agree, it does seems the i9000m have some Internal SD problem that is only related to this model.
still waiting for the poll
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Up and running. I'm gunna see if we can get this thread stuck to the page for a while too.

once we are done with this poll, it will be interesting to compare it to the same poll for the i9000 model and the USA models as well

I'd like to know too if the users that had their Internal SD fail were heavy users of the phone (i.e. had 9GB of music on it and numerous apps.). I'm not an extreme user (i.e. don't put a crap load of stuff on it) and I was wondering if that's why mine is okay.

nemethb said:
I'd like to know too if the users that had their Internal SD fail were heavy users of the phone (i.e. had 9GB of music on it and numerous apps.). I'm not an extreme user (i.e. don't put a crap load of stuff on it) and I was wondering if that's why mine is okay.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not have a lagfix, but I did have the card nearly full. Not a lot of apps. But a pile of music which I listened to fairly regularly.

No issues for me with my Bell Galaxy S regarding internal SD mem.
No lag fix with JH2

7.5 gigabytes free on mine, but I haven't had SD failure yet. It freezes every once in a while but it seems most people relate that to no signal, although it just froze on me today after sending a text message, ie. I had a signal.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App

Electroz said:
I did not have a lagfix, but I did have the card nearly full. Not a lot of apps. But a pile of music which I listened to fairly regularly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When did you get the phone? What were the last 8 digits of your phones serial number (top number listed on your box)? I wonder if it's an issue with early phones.

nemethb said:
When did you get the phone? What were the last 8 digits of your phones serial number (top number listed on your box)? I wonder if it's an issue with early phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Serial number is still the same since repairs so I'm not posting it. But the battery manufacture date is august 12th. The bell store received the phone on august 24th.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App

Haven't had any issues with the internal SD on mine. Have an extra 16gb card in for media. My phone will crash when I'm in a couple areas at work that have spotty 3g and/or wifi. Never had it happen while at home.

Poll is now a sticky at Electroz's request. Hopefully this will generate some insight that will help get to the bottom of all this mess. (the other messes are on their own for now lol)

I replied in another post. I think it is highly likely a bad batch of SD card went into the i9000m production if numbers are higher than the other variants.

thedauntlessone said:
I replied in another post. I think it is highly likely a bad batch of SD card went into the i9000m production if numbers are higher than the other variants.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that could be another possibility.
anyways, just to chime in to what people wanted to know.
Internal SD full of apps, 400+ consuming about 1000 MB (super heavy user, keep changing programs very often as i keep testing out new Apps i find online)
mostly taken up by the GPS off line maps
is not even enough space to load the entire NAM maps, i had to chop it down to the most states i visit the most
my music mp3 and videos are on my external 16 GB full 100 MB free

Mine is bricked... was running 2.1 with firmware... keep your receipts people as you have a 60day DOA policy with these phones... after that, it's a lengthy process to send it back to Samsung direct via your carrier for replacement.

correction 30days return policy ... unfortunatly
well mine had that exact brick, internal SD will not mount. U would say im a failty heavy user with lots of mp3s on the phone and many apps. Ive sent mine in last monday, and speaking to another member i should get it sometime this week if all goes well. Ill report back when I get it.
The error is very bad because nothing on the phone works properly with this Error, it boots and runs fine it seems, but apps done function at all. My phone was stock with 2.1 (non working 3 button reset version)

Mine still works, but I'm not an extremely heavy user of the SD card.
What happens exactly? Is it just that the thing won't mount? Or is there another issue?
I'd like to test it out. Should I just put very large files on it until I max it out? What should I do after that?
And finally, does a factory reset bring it back to life?
P.S. Just checked my battery -- manufacturers date is July 25th, 2010.

This is a very interesting Poll!
On #project-voodoo IRC I helped a user who had issues with his SDcard on a Bell I9000M
Turns out that his internal SD MoviNAND chip was dead!
The system automatically used his external SD as a backup for /data, as the "mmcblk1" device become "mmcblk0".
The internal SD was so dead that the Linux Kernel didn't detected any existence of it anymore.
The symptom that the phone was working (using the external SD) but he couldn't mount his SD card anywhere.
Eventually he had a replacement from Bell in a few days.
What killed the sdcard ? An old Ext2 lagfix when creating the giant 1GB+ loop files.
But it wasn't the lagfix fault. It just acted as accelerator.

supercurio said:
What killed the sdcard ? An old Ext2 lagfix when creating the giant 1GB+ loop files.
But it wasn't the lagfix fault. It just acted as accelerator.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's the most important thing people have to understand
the lag fix is not what really kills the internal SD, it just kills it faster, as in the hardware already had some issues, so it just put it out of its misery faster
better sooner than later, at least this way you can claim the warranty before it expires (1 year if i recall)

AllGamer said:
that's the most important thing people have to understand
the lag fix is not what really kills the internal SD, it just kills it faster, as in the hardware already had some issues, so it just put it out of its misery faster
better sooner than later, at least this way you can claim the warranty before it expires (1 year if i recall)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What i mean is that the memory chip was defective from the beginning.
Copying bunch of data to the vfat partition from a computer (music, videos..) would have done the same thing.

[Q] USB Host support(solved)

Does nook color have usb host support??
Has anybody tested it?
If not, is any body working on it coz hardware definitely supports at least usb 1.3.
Edit: the applications are endless
usb drives,external hdd, internet data cards depnding on drivers avaliblity u can attach any hardware and ditch ur notebook.
EDIT 2 : Verygreen has it working
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bovg4aBFnA8
I can't thank you enough for this green, i wanted this really bad, that's why decided to look into it too(that didn't work out too well though).

Don't believe it supports it. No idea if anyone is working on it either, but I know id definitely want it.
Sent from my D1

Looking at the nook color teardown, it seems the nook has a chipset which SHOULD support USB OTG, but it would required the drivers and OS supporting it as well.

Personally I think bluetooth support will be the closest we'll get (at least for quite a while)

rigy73 said:
Does nook color have usb host support??
Has anybody tested it?
If not, is any body working on it coz hardware definitely supports at least usb 1.3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What would you do with it, beside a keyboard and a mouse?
I'd rather have bluetooth instead of usb host support.

I'd like to be able to ditch my laptop while running around the Gulf of Mexico. Between helicopter weight limits and the limits of what I can carry swinging from boats to platforms. Less is more. Id like to carry my nook and ext. Hard drive for movies.
zoom2

btw, those eager to try external keyboard already can give it a try with all the BT progress made by fattire (the real hero).
Since I want to stay on the safe side myself, I compiled this 2G SD image that you can boot into and have working bluetooth (keyboard and external audio confirmed working). Of course use at your own risk and such:
htt p:// handhelds.ru/nook/2g_bt_card_image.img.gz
go to settings -> wireless & networks
make sure that bluetooth is enabled and then you can explore and pair devices in "bluetooth settings" there.
Range so far is in the area of 13", so usable for a keyboard at least.

verygreen said:
btw, those eager to try external keyboard already can give it a try with all the BT progress made by fattire (the real hero).
Since I want to stay on the safe side myself, I compiled this 2G SD image that you can boot into and have working bluetooth (keyboard and external audio confirmed working). Of course use at your own risk and such:
htt p:// handhelds.ru/nook/2g_bt_card_image.img.gz
go to settings -> wireless & networks
make sure that bluetooth is enabled and then you can explore and pair devices in "bluetooth settings" there.
Range so far is in the area of 13", so usable for a keyboard at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May i ask about this image... is it Froyo or Gingerbread (CM7)? Working BT sounds great, but a bit more info couldn't hurt..

Divine_Madcat said:
May i ask about this image... is it Froyo or Gingerbread (CM7)? Working BT sounds great, but a bit more info couldn't hurt..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, sorry, did not mention it.
It's CM7 from yesterday with bt patches applied on top (they were committed later on after I tested that they worked).

BTW, it's the image used by IOMonster in that video from yesterday that you referenced in the BT progress thread (I just don't have enough posts to actually post to dev forum I originally wanted to reference it there sine it seems people are eager to play with thing at least somewhat).

verygreen said:
Ah, sorry, did not mention it.
It's CM7 from yesterday with bt patches applied on top (they were committed later on after I tested that they worked).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome! Its also nice to see CM7 as an SD runnable build. Thank you!

Divine_Madcat said:
Awesome! Its also nice to see CM7 as an SD runnable build. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it would be useful for a wide testing if you post the link in the dev thread about bt work.
and I am sure tons of people are waiting to get their hands on this.

1.86GB .img doesnt fit on 1.84GB SD Card...bummer.

verygreen said:
I think it would be useful for a wide testing if you post the link in the dev thread about bt work.
and I am sure tons of people are waiting to get their hands on this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is the dev thread for you - please join in when you can, and thanks again for your work!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=989637

acomiskey said:
1.86GB .img doesnt fit on 1.84GB SD Card...bummer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just write what fits and then reformat 4th partition as fat.
the fat partition is empty anyway.
that way you can even write to 1g sdcard if you must, the fat sdcard partition would just be really small.

Since I cannot still post in development forum, for those who try the image and it does not work, I had some problems if you d oa soft reboot from other image into SD.
Try powering off your nook and then booting from SD.
Also if that did not work, you might want to change /system/etc/wifi/tiwlan.ini
(you need to remount /system read-write first of course)
look for BThWlanCoexistEnable = 2 line
change it to BThWlanCoexistEnable = 1
save the file
power off the nook again and then turn it back on and boot from SD.

verygreen said:
just write what fits and then reformat 4th partition as fat.
the fat partition is empty anyway.
that way you can even write to 1g sdcard if you must, the fat sdcard partition would just be really small.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only have a 1Gb card handy right now so that would be great, what the best way to right that? Would Win32DiskImager do the job for writing? Not sure about the reformating part though. Thanks !

webvan said:
I only have a 1Gb card handy right now so that would be great, what the best way to right that? Would Win32DiskImager do the job for writing? Not sure about the reformating part though. Thanks !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not familiar with windows tools, sorry.
I imagine whatever you use to write the image will just write as much as it can and then abort
after this happens, start a tool you use to manage partitions on windows (volume manager? I dunno, used to be fdisk in DOS and Windows95 days).
point it at the SD card.
Tell it to delete the last partition.
Then tell it to create another partition on SD card that would span the rest of the free space and set the type to fat.
If a separate format is required, I imagine there would be a way to then format this new partition.

Thanks, will try that and see what happens.

bswett said:
I'd like to be able to ditch my laptop while running around the Gulf of Mexico. Between helicopter weight limits and the limits of what I can carry swinging from boats to platforms. Less is more. Id like to carry my nook and ext. Hard drive for movies.
zoom2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This would be great for me once someone get video working properly (no audio delay). Right now I would have to reencode all the video I have which is too much work.