topic Re: TF Memory Card problem in Tech Help - Software/Hardware etc

TF Memory Card problem

shutter — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 19:43:18 GMT

I have a 32GB TF Memory card. It has the following stored on it.

Android wallpapers on SD Memory Card 77 items

LOST.DIR 0 items

Music Vids on SD Memory Card 14 items

.fseventsd 1 item

.Spotlight-V100 2 items

none of which are important, or wanted to be saved any more.

so... i have tried to........................

Delete all of them

Delete the contents of folders separately

Format the card using two different versions of formatting. (Linux "Discs" and also "USB Stick Formatter

None of these will remove the content... even though they all report a "success" !.

I also tried to install a downloaded .iso file of Linux Mint 20.2 mate ..... to see if "burning" that to the card would destroy the content .... but again,.... despite it saying that the burn was successful... it did not appear on the listing when re-inserted into the USB slot.. (i have a TF card adapter,)

Also tried it in the "official" card reader slot on the laptop. but all is same as reported above.

Any suggestions as to how i can remove the offending stuff, and regain the use of the 32GB memory.

thanks

Re: TF Memory Card problem

billnotben — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 20:00:19 GMT

Are you sure it's definitely 32GB and not a fake. I always try "Fake Flash Test" on all the memory cards that come my way. It's surprising how many 64GB and 32GB cards are only 4GB, and 4GB cards which are sometimes just 32meg.

It's a tiny program that runs without any installing and is very quick as it does random writes throughout the cards supposed range which it then attempts to read back.

It's destructive to any data on the card and the card will need formatting afterwards.

fakeflashtest

Re: TF Memory Card problem

shutter — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 20:25:58 GMT

@billnotben No ! I'm not sure if it's a fake..... I suppose it could be... will use your linky and find out.

EDIT EDIT EDIT....

Unfortunately, it does not run in WINE on Linux mint !... so still none the wiser.. cheers anyway.

Re: TF Memory Card problem

RobPN — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 20:36:11 GMT

Has the microSD adapter got a lock switch on it?

If so, it may be locked.

Re: TF Memory Card problem

shutter — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 20:56:21 GMT

@billnotben Thanks for the heads up on the fake card software.... I did a "kinda" search on google to see if there was a Linux equivalent... and apparently there is... ( called f3 ) ( which you have to use on the "command line /Terminal screen )

so I followed the instructions on this page ...

https://www.shellhacks.com/check-real-actual-size-usb-flash-drive-sd-card/

and here is the result .

gerry@SAT-PRO-11inch:~$ sudo apt install f3
[sudo] password for gerry:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
f3 is already the newest version (7.2-1).
0 to upgrade, 0 to newly install, 0 to remove and 0 not to upgrade.
gerry@SAT-PRO-11inch:~$ lsblk
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda      8:0    0 465.8G 0 disk
├─sda1   8:1    0   512M 0 part /media/gerry/F046-8847
├─sda2   8:2    0   513M 0 part
├─sda3   8:3    0   513M 0 part /boot/efi
├─sda4   8:4    0     1K 0 part
└─sda5   8:5    0 464.3G 0 part /
sdb      8:16   1 29.5G 0 disk
└─sdb1   8:17   1 29.5G 0 part /media/gerry/9016-4EF8
gerry@SAT-PRO-11inch:~$ sudo f3probe --destructive --time-ops /dev/sdb
F3 probe 7.2
Copyright (C) 2010 Digirati Internet LTDA.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.

WARNING: Probing normally takes from a few seconds to 15 minutes, but
         it can take longer. Please be patient.

Bad news: The device `/dev/sdb' is damaged

Device geometry:
             *Usable* size: 0.00 Byte (0 blocks)
            Announced size: 29.51 GB (61896704 blocks)
                    Module: 32.00 GB (2^35 Bytes)
   Approximate cache size: 0.00 Byte (0 blocks), need-reset=no
       Physical block size: 512.00 Byte (2^9 Bytes)

Probe time: 292.7ms
Operation: total time / count = avg time
      Read: 232.7ms / 2049 = 113us
     Write: 57.0ms / 2049 = 27us
     Reset: 0us / 0 = 0us
gerry@SAT-PRO-11inch:~$

going to investigate further..... maybe there is a "fix" for it....

@RobPN no it's not locked

Re: TF Memory Card problem

billnotben — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 21:22:35 GMT

Yes I've always found that software (Fake Flash) useful as it's such a quick check. The other well known one checks every byte so on a big one it could take hours.

I suppose you've been trying "quick" format. Is there an option for a full format? Though it would take a long time. Is there anything like windows where in tools you also have "error-checking" check drive for errors and correct.

Re: TF Memory Card problem

shutter — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 21:31:46 GMT

@billnotben Yeah, tried all sorts of types of format... including overwrite with zeros etc etc etc... everything shows "completed"... or "finished"... etc... but always the stuff is still on the card...( and it's readable ! ! ! ) .. so I can copy and paste it to wherever I want.... except.... i don't want ! ! ! ! ..

the printout says its "damaged"... and doing searches to fix damage sd card in linux does not come up with anything useful.... so looks like it's a "bin job "

Thanks for your input.

cheers

Re: TF Memory Card problem

Dan_the_Van — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 12:39:44 GMT

Hi @shutter

Is your problem you have 32GB SD card but you only see around 29 GB ?

This is normal, it's to do with the way the operating system calculates the disk size

Manufacturers of these devices use standard metric values to describe disk space e.g. 1000KB = 1MB, 1000MB = 1GB, and so on. Your computer however measures space using binary such that 1024KB = 1MB, 1024MB = 1GB. So, that means your 32GB drive in decimal is now described as 30.5GB drive in binary by the computer.

The second factor is that because the drive is solid state, the controller in the drive sets aside about 7% of the space in order for it to function properly. So remove 7% from our new figure of 30.5GB and you are left with approximately 28GB.

I did find this information with a google search

HTH

Dan.

Re: TF Memory Card problem

billnotben — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 12:59:38 GMT

One last thing that has sometimes worked on a card my PC won't read or handle properly is to find a phone that will format it. Usually I end up trying a few phones.

But as your software seems to suggest that card may have some sort of damaged hardware.

Re: TF Memory Card problem

Mook — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 13:02:22 GMT

@shutter From a terminal try the following:

This will produce a list of devices, so find your TF Memory card in the list making a note of it. The remainder of this will assume it to be /dev/sdb1 However, you must verify the correct device and change it in the following commands:

sudo umount /dev/sdb1 sudo mkfs.exfat /dev/sdb1 sudo fsck /dev/sdb1

The fsck command should say there are 0 files meaning the format was successful. Once you've done this pull the card out and reinsert it to have it auto mounted.

Re: TF Memory Card problem

shutter — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 13:07:00 GMT

@Dan_the_Van No that is not the problem...

I refer you to my original post.....

i have tried to........................

Delete all of them

Delete the contents of folders separately

Format the card using two different versions of formatting. (Linux "Discs" and also "USB Stick Formatter

None of these will remove the content...

Using the f3 command line / Terminal on my Linux Mint machine.. shows that the card is damaged... therefore cannot be written to, or formatted...

Re: TF Memory Card problem

shutter — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 13:24:45 GMT

@Mook Thanks for your input..... the card was actually sdc1... and here it is on the initial insertion.....before carrying out your terminal work.

now showing the results of the terminal work....

And,...... Finally...... ( after re-insertion ............ )

Re: TF Memory Card problem

Mook — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 13:34:14 GMT

The device must be unmounted first you've not done this.

Re: TF Memory Card problem

shutter — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 14:02:22 GMT

@Mook Aha !.... I see an error in my terminal work..... misread the unmount command..... should have typed in UMOUNT ( small letters) not UN****** ! ! !

so give it another go now...

OK... re-done it ..... here is the result

and then i did the f3 command lines again....

Re: TF Memory Card problem

shutter — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 14:07:06 GMT

@Mook after doing the umount again... and removing and re-inserting the card still shows the content as originally posted.

will see if I can do a format on my Android Tablet/phone ( as suggested by @billnotben )

Re: TF Memory Card problem

dvorak — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 14:20:42 GMT

@shutter I don't know if you've noticed it but on the terminal output it says "Bad news: The device /dev/sdc' is damaged".

This normally means the device is dying / dead.

Re: TF Memory Card problem

Mook — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 14:44:45 GMT

I think you may need to send it to landfill @shutter because if that doesn't work then there's something really wrong.

Re: TF Memory Card problem

shutter — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 14:47:52 GMT

@Mook after doing the umount again... and removing and re-inserting the card still shows the content as originally posted.

will see if I can do a format on my Android Tablet/phone ( as suggested by @billnotben )

WELL, that didn't work either ...

Re: TF Memory Card problem

shutter — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 14:53:00 GMT

@dvorak Yes,indeed I did "kinda" notice that when I was reading the results.... but... always worth a tryout..

@Mook Yeah..... but it ain't going to help build a motorway ! ah well.. kept me busy for a while, and been educational along the way.... I know what f3 and terminal work to do now, if something similar happens..

cheers all

😀