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Storage card pretents to be empty when it is not?

I am running Duttys March 4 Dual Touch, No Cube on my Kaiser. Probably unrelated, but yesterday every thing on my 6GB Sandisk Storage Card disappeared
About 750mb of data! The card appears empty in File Manager until I select "Show all files" when a single folder called WMDRM containing a single 132kb file shows up.
If I go to Settings> System> Memory The storage card shows 738mb used and 5084mb free. So it appears the data is there but inaccessible. If I browse the card from activeSync the same is also the case. Properties tell be 738mb used, but nothing is visibel except the single small file.
Any ideas on how I might be able to get it back? Really want to get my data back....

Storage Card scrambled files?
logger said:
I am running Duttys March 4 Dual Touch, No Cube on my Kaiser. Probably unrelated, but yesterday every thing on my 6GB Sandisk Storage Card disappeared
About 750mb of data! The card appears empty in File Manager until I select "Show all files" when a single folder called WMDRM containing a single 132kb file shows up.
If I go to Settings> System> Memory The storage card shows 738mb used and 5084mb free. So it appears the data is there but inaccessible. If I browse the card from activeSync the same is also the case. Properties tell be 738mb used, but nothing is visibel except the single small file.
Any ideas on how I might be able to get it back? Really want to get my data back....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may have scrambled your files.
Put it into a USB card reader and try to access it on your PC - if it looks the same there, try looking at it with a good file undeleter like Fix-It Utilities or Norton, see if you can recover anything.
I just had a laptop hard drive fail on my last week, so I feel your pain. Fortunately I had fairly recent backups so I didn't lose too much.
Makes me think of someone's tagline I saw once:
"There are 2 kinds of people in this world, those with a backup plan in place, and those that have not yet had a catastrophic disk failure"
Good luck!

Search this site for SD CARD2
Most likely the issue is cause by the infamous Win CE bug.
If I have not posted the solution here, do a google search in the Web, you'll find detailed instructions.
[Edit] Your data is there, so don't do anything foolish, or else you'll have to reinstall everything. The SD CARD2 issue is very simple to resolve.

Thanks guys. Had a look as SD CARD2 threads and they did not seem to relate to me. Ran Pocket Mechanic and its Scandisk feature on the Card and it reported loads of "lost clusters". I then ran it again with "Automatically fix errors" and "discard lost clusters" and it merrily removed them all. So now my 738mb of data has gone. Rats. Oh well I will just start again a fresh and hope it does nto happen again.

i feel your pain. it's happened to me quite a few times on my XDA II, and once recently on my Kaiser when i damaged the mini-usb port (entirely my fault) and it started writing corrupted data onto the card when copying files over through activesync
I've since taken to keeping copies of my card data in addition to backups of my device. i usually carry 2 cards with me, one backup and one "current"; and i also keep backups of my SD cards on my PC, just in case.

Strangely, After a few hours most of the data on the card spontaneously returned. One minute it was empty and the next it had all the folders and files back again. Albeit with a lot of lost clusters and a heap of files reported as 32kb. Was able to recover a lot of the stuff and have got another 2GB card to use in the mean time.
Is there much point in reformatting the card? From experience, does anyone know if formatting might "fix" whatever caused it to lose clusters and go bad? Am considering sending it back for a warranty claim but how can I ascertain if it is actaully faulty once I reformat it.

Reformat or replace?
logger said:
Strangely, After a few hours most of the data on the card spontaneously returned. One minute it was empty and the next it had all the folders and files back again. Albeit with a lot of lost clusters and a heap of files reported as 32kb. Was able to recover a lot of the stuff and have got another 2GB card to use in the mean time.
Is there much point in reformatting the card? From experience, does anyone know if formatting might "fix" whatever caused it to lose clusters and go bad? Am considering sending it back for a warranty claim but how can I ascertain if it is actaully faulty once I reformat it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had USB flash memory seem to be faulty, especially when trying to transfer large amounts of data for a backup - then rebooted and re-inserted and had readable data. I would try reformatting, and then back up often and watch it like a hawk. Or, if it wasn't too expensive, just discard. Or, try to get a replacement - I did get an SD card replaced once at N/C because it wouldn't read in anything I tried it in, and I complained and was heard.

I bought a replacement 2GB panasonic microSD in Japan a couple of days back. (Always find the memory quality excellent there.) Their eyes were out on stalks when they saw my 6GB card. Must not be wideley available there yet. Anyway I plan to use the 2gb for the time being to rule out hardware and software causes. Have reformatted the suspect 6gb card. Will soon start using it again with everything backed up to the max and hopefully the problem will not return. I have been flashing a few different ROMs. Because of this I am becoming ever more reliant on the Storage Card for system recovery. So cant afford to have a dodgy one.

Hi, folks.
I use a HTC cruise with WM6.1 from Bepe. This morning, all files from my 8GB miniSD card just vanisehd!!! I removed the card from the phone and tried to access the files in windows with a sd card reader, but no file was seen. Although, there was only 3,5GB free!!! The files weren't there, but they kept occupying space. I used this software to recover the files. Awesome! They were all there, except for the ones stored in root. Also,I had to rename all root folders, the subfolders were OK. I just had to filter files marked as "good" and then copied them to my HD. The phone is working as usual, but I can't explain why exactly this happened? Would it be a vicious virus? A joke from Micro$oft? Any ideas?!?

Lost Folders??

So, I had a folder on my storage card named "My Documents".
Inside I had several subfolders including tomtom maps, videos, ebooks, etc...
Everything was fine, until last night, just before going to bed I was playing around with Dinasoft Memmaid program (first time using the software) and did a scan and a clean, then went to bed.
So today, I went about my life, then synced my phone with my laptop for a few hours to charge the batteries...
...and when I wanted to update my ebooks subfolder, I noticed that my entire "My Documents" folder in my SD card, was gone...
I have to confess that I didn't read much about the documentation of Memaid, but I don't think its functions is to wipe out an entire folder. I have a backup of the files so it's not an important issue.
But I just want to find out the explanation for the missing folder?
P.S. my phone was also extremely slow and unresponsive, but all went back to normal after a soft reset.

Ok...
Today the same thing happen again, but this it's more severe...
Now ALL the folders in my storage card are gone!!!
The entire 2GBs worth of data from my Sandisk 8GB HCSD card....
When I right click on properties on the SD card, it shows that the card has 2GBs of storage being used...
But when I go to file explorer there's nothing...empty...
Surely, this can't be normal...
Has anybody encountered a similar situation?????

Sounds like a Counter Fit SD Card. Where did you get this card?

No....you serious??? don't say that....
I bought it online.
www.play.com
If it's counterfeit I would be very pissed off.
I mean when it arrived it didn't look like counterfeit. It had all the right packaging.

Here;'s my thinking. People who have bought counter fit SD cards are typically getting, say, 2GB cards marked as, say, 8GB. Since the card is showing that it is one thing when it is really another you get data corruption and file start to disappear.
Since you used Memmaid it tried to "fix" the file system. Causing data corruption.
Here's what I would do. Copy all the contents of your SD card to your computer. Reformat the SD card and try again.

Tilt corrupt files

I have an ATT Tilt that I'm still running WM 5 on. (Correction: it is actually WM 6) I am having some trouble with some corrupt files showing up on my memory card. I went so far as to buy a new memory card and removed several 3rd party apps that I had installed. Even after this, the files returned on the new card. I cannot access or delete them. I cannot tell which files are being corrupted, I assume they are program and documents that should be otherwise usable. The file names show up as a series of squares, other odd shapes, numbers and letters.
Some of the 3rd party apps I am using are
Total Commander
WMWifiRouter (added after this problem started)
Google Maps and Mobile Apps
Opera Mini
I haven't made any alterations to ROM or anything else.
Any help would be appreciated on how to proceed in clearing this up. One app that I notice is affected is "Notes". I have lost some data that I had saved in that.
Thanks!

How did you get windows mobile 5 on it?

I have the same problem from time to time. There is no real fix that I have found. What I think is happening is, the phone is reading/writing to the memory card, and either it stops (beause you put the phone to sleep, or soft reset it) or some other method. Since the file was never closed/finished correctly, it gets curroped. I strongly recommend backing up your SD card every month or 2. That way, when things do crash, you do not lose all your files.
Last time it crashed. I hard reset the phone, and re-formated the sd card in my PC. It has been 3 months and so far no problems. Maybe you can try that...

Oops my mistake I have WM 6
CE OS 5.c.1622
Sorry

other things to check or try changing include:
1. the brand of the micro sd card
2. any power saving settings that might be getting applied to the micro sd card (in my opinion, power saving settings are notorious for such behavior and my advice is to just disable any power saving settings for the micro sd card/slot)
3. your usage habits regarding closing programs. my recommendation is to CLOSE programs (as opposed to MINIMIZING them to the background) when you are done using them.
4. how/when you remove the card from the device (if you ever do) and/or how you remove the card from your desktop/laptop (if you occasionally use a card reader). on your desktop/laptop, it is advised to "Safely remove hardware" before physically removing the card from the card reader. on your device, it is advised to close all programs that might be accessing files from the card, wait a few seconds, and then remove the card. most people will suggest shutting down the device before removing the card but it is my understanding that the card slots in the kaiser are indeed hot swappable (i've been using it that way for almost 2 years and have never experienced any issues with my 8GB sandisk).
5. getting a card reader is highly recommended, especially if you want to try to recover lost data or to repair the file system on the card. as a bonus, the card reader will also allow nearly 5 to 10 times faster read/write access when transferring files onto/off the card from your desktop/laptop as compared to activesync via usb sync cable.
6. avoid setting your programs to use the card as "cache". example, some people like to set their browsers' cache folders to the storage card. this can also cause file system errors in some rare and remote scenarios.
all these portable devices (phones, digital cameras, mp3 players) use the fragile FAT32 format as their file system but i've always hoped that M$ would some day provide an alternative file system (something like NTFS without its security features perhaps to keep things simple for the pda phone), but alas that day has yet to come!

Try copying all your files to your computer (in case something happens)and run an error check from your PC with a card reader. Right click on the card in Windows Explorer (if you have Windows), choose Properties, then choose the Tools tab, then click Error Check, and run the check.

had the same problem, lost all my programs. I copied a very old back up over to the card . once I had done that the original files reappeared.

/sdcard vs /sdcard-ext???

So I posted this question over and Android Forums, but no one has answered after 5 days. Hopefully I'll have better luck here.
What is the point of having an "on-board" sd card and an external card? I understand that -ext is your actual SD Card, but what is the /sdcard then and how is it different than regular "on-board storage"? What goes to either directory by default? This is the first Android phone I've had that does this, so I'm trying to familiarize myself with this.
I just bought a high quality 32GB SD card, so I'm a little disappointed that not everything is going to my SD card and instead to some onboard storage.
What are the benefits of putting things in either of these two?

I could be wrong but I think the internal memory is actually 12-16gb, but its partitioned with certain parts reserved for the operating system and apps.
I have noticed that transferring files from my computer to the internal storage is a bit faster than the external.
But then I do have a basic cheap 16gig SD card, so other cards might be faster.
I've not had any problem with the location of files, but then again I am a neat freak and I keep everything organized and know where everything is at all times

The reasoning comes from an operating system perspective. This is very much like a linux OS. Internal storage is different than ram. Android lives on seperate partitions as designed by google. Storage for the purposes of pictures, music, etc was left to be taken care of by sdcards. Since actual sdcards are more complicated than the average graduating flip phone user, manufacturers starting adding this "external" storage since it would be convenient for users like my mom. Then because geeks designed these, they still wanted to add more storage, so they designed storage you could actually get to! Hence sdcard-ext. Because many/most apps look for /sdcard as a file system, manufacturers could not skip it and just add more to the system partitions, or program installs would fail. They would either half to give a free memory card with purchase of the phone (carriers don't want to give anything away for free, and this is how it was 2+ years ago) or make storage on board that could be reachable.
In a windows point if view, think of it as all programs look for drive d: for extra storage rather than hogging c:, but since carriers didn't want to give away free d: drives, they said install it inside since it is cheaper on the board then to add a sdcard after. So, now /sdcard is like d: and /sdcard-ext would be like e:
I hope that made any kind of sense. It is honestly a useless mess, but sufficient for the unknowing or uncaring masses who just want to save more mp3's or pictures.
Nowell29
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk

My issue is spotify fills up the internal "sdcard" Id ideally like to point spotify to use my external sd card as its a 32 gb card. But that wont work.
Has anyone tried to create a symlink to point a folder to an external folder?

Is there a way to dictate what goes where? For example, if I wanted my apps to go to my actual SD card (/sd-ext), could I do it?

AMTrombley0924 said:
Is there a way to dictate what goes where? For example, if I wanted my apps to go to my actual SD card (/sd-ext), could I do it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure that without some mild hacking*, there wouldn't be a universal way to do it. If it's doable at all, it will be on an application-by-application basis.
Some apps seem to just "do the right thing". For instance, as soon as I installed and formatted my sdcard, the camera and gallery applications moved my pictures from /sdcard to /sdcard_ext, and from then on, that's where pictures are stored as they're taken.
OTOH, Amazon MP3 is pretty stupid about keeping all downloaded music on /sdcard. When I bricked my phone for about a month, that's one of the things that kept me from trying for a full replacement: I couldn't pull the files out of an internal filesystem, so I'd lose all that music. If I could have had those stored on a removable SDcard, it wouldn't have been a factor.
*example of mild hacking: move application-specific directories from /sdcard to /sdcard-ext and replace /sdcard directory with a softlink to /sdcard-ext equivalent. It's hacky and crocky, but I think it would work, as long as /sdcard-ext is available and has the appropriate directory (target of link).

hopefully one of you would know this answer...
i have the droid 4 as well and i have an aftermarket stereo in my car that has a USB connection. i can plug in my phone and it wont recognize any music until i turn on USB mass storage (obviously) but the problem i'm having is that (what i think is happening) the phone is pretty much mounting the internal sd card first for some dang reason and then the external sd card second. but i can't back out of the /sdcard folder to go into /sdcard-ext where all of my music is.
is there any way to change the mounting order? <--- that's my question.
My phone is rooted and currently running the latest CM9 ROM.
Thanks
-Andrew

Apps will always install on the internal sdcard, no way around this.
Spotify to external SD is simple. First, erase everything and logout. During the login screen press menu and you will be able to change the default location. Login and synch and you're done.
Disabling the internal mount;
etc/vold.fstab
put an "#" before the line "dev_mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard:: 25 /devices/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/mmc_host/mmc1"
This should disable mounting the internal drive. I haven't tested it though. It is possible the OS won't be able to see the internal mmc when it's not mounted.
It's also possible to swap internal with external. BUT... I've read mixed reports on an LG forum where users complained about problems with their phones. So be carefull if you want to test that out. Have to say though, apart from LG users I haven't read problems on other devices. Search for drive swap vold.fstab if you wanna try.

would it be possible to re-partition the phone's memory so that it's: system, internal, and sdcard, rather than having the sdcard and sdcard-ext seperate? I have a 16 gb micro sd card that I plan on keeping in my phone at all times that I plan to store general media on, but I'd like to keep all my apps on the internal storage. I know the process will probably cause me to lose all my data, but I've got nothing important on it. Also if this was the case would I also have to install a new version of android? Forgive me if I seem ignorant, I've only partitioned my hard disk via a bootable usb, so I'm a bit inexperienced.

Moved some apps to SD Card and Internal Storage still full

Anyone else have an issue when trying to format an SD Card as Internal Storage? I just got a 128GB Samsung EVO Plus UHC 3 Class 10 SD Card for the purpose of extending the small 64 gb storage on the unit. When its formatted as internal it shows as a 256 GB Card with 132 GB Being used. When i go to app mgr and transfer the apps to SD Card i see the relative increase in space being used on my SD Card however my internal storage space stays just as full, which i believe shouldn't be the case. Anyone else have a similar issue, or know any workarounds to this issue? I do not think its device related as my girlfriends Razerphone 2 is acting the same way with the card i got for her. When we format it as removable storage it shows up correctly as a 128 GB but i dont want to be restricted to media only i dont plan on removing this card from the device.
Any assistance is much appreciated!
Thanks!

I have same issue but know not ofa work around or fix.

Even when you move apps to the SD card, the amount of data moved varies, and you'll still have necessary files on the internal storage. So I doubt you'll ever fully resolve that.
Regarding the idea in general, it's not a good idea to install apps on to the SD card in the first place. They are not designed to handle the amount of data writing that happens with normal app use and can corrupt the card relatively quickly. It's best to leave apps on the internal storage, and just put independent files (photos, videos, documents, etc) on the card.

Mr_Mooncatt said:
Even when you move apps to the SD card, the amount of data moved varies, and you'll still have necessary files on the internal storage. So I doubt you'll ever fully resolve that.
Regarding the idea in general, it's not a good idea to install apps on to the SD card in the first place. They are not designed to handle the amount of data writing that happens with normal app use and can corrupt the card relatively quickly. It's best to leave apps on the internal storage, and just put independent files (photos, videos, documents, etc) on the card.
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Click to collapse
Yeah but that isnt quite the issue. I see the gigs of storage space on my SD get used but the space on my internal storage remains exactly the same as it was before i moved as well. I paid extra for the Class 3 card just for better read and write speeds to be usable as internal storage. The 64 gigs on this is too little and id rather not have to redownload apps every time i decide to change a game.
On my previous HTC 10 with Android 8 when i combined my SD as internal it basically combined as a single storage with my internal had just one big storage drive. I didnt have a class 3 card for that one, it definitely slowed things down but was hoping for better results with this faster SD, just now it seems like the feature is broken and not working as intended on this Device model altogether