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Help Samsung Galaxy S3 KILLS SD CARDS!!!!!!

Yo guys.
this is my 1st pose...i actually register just to share the tips
I had similar problems with u all..
been buying new sd card , reset the phone etc.
All not working...

And what the heck...i try inserting a thin piece of paper above my sd card.
after 3rd try , it ACTUALLY WORK...!!!!!:):):):D
Fyi
i use paper that usually use in credit card receipts ...it just happen to be there when i try this.:p
I cut and double folded it at the half size of my SD...

So I guess the problem is mechanical give away of the tension spring in the sd card slot...
 
Tec_guy_2100 said:
SAMSUNG S3 external memory card error FIXED!!
(previously access was unavailable in S3 or PC).

Steps used to Fix the SD card:
1. S3 set Developer options (ON)
2. Set Protect SD card (checked)
3. Remove battery
4. Install 32g card
5. Install battery
6. Turn on S3

Download SanDisk Android app. - external 32g shows up - YES!!
Scandisk app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sandisk.mz
Click to expand...
Works for me (ADATA 16GB class 10), thanks a lot!
 
thats all well and good now that it reads it but how do we stop it happening again???:confused:
 
Tec_guy_2100 said:
SAMSUNG S3 external memory card error FIXED!!
(previously access was unavailable in S3 or PC).

Steps used to Fix the SD card:
1. S3 set Developer options (ON)
2. Set Protect SD card (checked)
3. Remove battery
4. Install 32g card
5. Install battery
6. Turn on S3

Download SanDisk Android app. - external 32g shows up - YES!!
Scandisk app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sandisk.mz
Click to expand...




Other options to fix:
Not sure if this was posted but:

Try this:
TestDisk Download - CGSecurity

(they talk about it on page 10 or 11 in the thread below)

The thread below may work too

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1355528
 
Hmm...sounds to me that the phone is somehow screwing up the partition table? Hence why one is unable to format a card screwed up on the Android phone. Most PCs usually have Windows OS. Android is Linux at core and I'm just guessing that maybe some bug in the phone's stock OS is causing some mayhem on the partition structure of the SD card which confuses Windows.

The phone could still read it after the above mentioned tweaks. Makes sense seeing that the native OS that caused the problem can be used to fix it without going through too many hurdles.

My mother and sister just got an S3 as part of a free phone upgrade. I will definitely keep an eye out for this.

I have my hands on software that can recover data from drives with messed up/lost partition tables and such. I bet I could probably salvage data from the SD card if/when the phone decides to f*** it up. Fiddling with the phone is probably going to be a hassle. I bet it would be easier to just use my above mentioned recovery software to recover the data and just wipe out and redo the partition structure/MBR. :P

I've been able to recover videos off of a harddrive from a linux based DVR from my cable provider with little effort. (the only protection they put on the system is that the harddrive seems to have zero partition structure. That must have been stored on the NAND side of the device). But despite that I was able to recover whole videos. (they weren't encrypted. So thus they were watchable after fixes to the file formats).

So yeah, Linux related troubles on a storage device is definitely something I can handle. :D
 
I just got my Samsung Galazy S3 a month ago. I had a Motorola Atrix for two years and was hating it. I take a lot of pics and I had Pny 16gb card - class 10 most likely. I put it in my new Samsung and it had like 200 pics and videos on it. I had no issues for a month then a week ago I had my phone charging up cuz its battery sucks down so fast and I came in the room to check notifications and it said I had no SD card or unable to read format. NOthing worked - rebooted - took it out and back in and finally I put it in a reader and it said it needed to be reformatted - and I had a smaller 8gb card I stuck in the phone. The phone completely wiped out my 200 pics - luckily most of them were uploaded to dropbox thank god. I looked it up and found this site plus a few others. I called AT&T and they said to call Samsung. I called Samsung and they said no known issues but they are full of caca and I can tell you that this phone gets HOT and it gets hot right on the sd card and right on the sim card - not all the time but last time it got hot I opened the back and felt those two slots which are under the battery and it was boiling hot. The heat is wiping out the cards and Samsung wont recognize this as an issue so I would say if u take a lot of pics to not rely on an external card or to put it in save to it and take it out or it will be wiped out by the heat.
that's just my opinion
 
Wow ! Can't believe such a widespread problem is so in the dark. None of my mainstream friends who own this have reported such problems. Could it be related to rooting?
 
I have noticed my S3 getting hot sometimes- near the SD and Sim card holders. I wonder if Catalyzt has found the cause of all these happenings. ?
 
catalyzt said:
...snip...

...I can tell you that this phone gets HOT and it gets hot right on the sd card and right on the sim card - not all the time but last time it got hot I opened the back and felt those two slots which are under the battery and it was boiling hot.

...snip...
Click to expand...

My S3 has killed 4 32GB SD cards (mix of Transcend and SanDisk). I noticed the same thing while using a SD card tester app to verify a card I suspected was going bad. The app did a bunch of read/write operations and during the test, and after only a few minutes the card got so hot it was uncomfortable to touch.
 
devastatorx said:
I think the solution is to use a pc on windows xp, an external card reader ( i used a targus ) and then just keep playing with it.
Click to expand...

(EDITED)
The solution is for Samsung to admit that they have a problem, and for Samsung and Sandisk to fix the problems. Supposedly, Sandisk has reportedly fixed theirs. Those with bad cards may want to contact Sandisk for replacements. Samsung will probably never own up to their phone having a problem.
 
So if anyone is still following this thread, is anybody still having problems with the SIII frying the sd cards? I had my sd card replaced and don't want to put it back in the phone if it is going to get fried.
thanks.
 
I haven't had any problems with external disk as yet but just want to teell you all that google+ does a really good job of backing up my photos. The trick is to save bandwith by forcing it to use WIFi only.

JM
 
A few days ago, I formatted a Kingston 64GB to FAT32 format with a 32K cluster size and no issues yet in my S3.

Exfat was giving me nothing but constant problems.
 
I've had the same 32gb card in my S3 for almost a year. It has all my music I play on my car stereo via bluetooth. Never had the first problem.
 
Szadzik said:
If both you and your wife experienced that, it just means you connect the phones to a PC that breaks the cards or has virus or something like that.
Click to expand...

I have an Unlocked S3 with a 32gb original sandisk microSD installed, after a month of use, I noticed the memory card reporting the SD card is corrupted. I later removed the card and it was not readable by any media. I bought a new SD card and inserted it into a blackberry phone, after a while I noticed the card is corrupted as well.
My final findings was, my laptop is the culprit, the Laptop was actually the one damaging those SD card. To proof my theory, I bought a new SD card for my S3 and I stopped connecting my S3 to any laptop either for charging or for data transfer.
My S3 has been working very fine since then, so everyone should becareful where you plug in the phone into. Most of these laptops have inherent viruses that damage :DSD card
 
asot77 said:
Has anyone tested if having the camera storage settings set to memory card makes it more likely for the card to die? I've had a 64gb sandisk since february and the first thing i did was change the camera storage to memory card. But immediately i noticed the camera app crashing and slowing down so i changed it back to phone and now manually move the files to the card. Not sure if this was due to the card or just a bug with the camera but generally both the gallery and camera apps dont seem to handle memory cards very well. I wonder if this could be the reason for all the sd cards getting fried.
Click to expand...

I think the problem with my S3 SD card started when I changed the camera storage to memory card. I got this new SD card and I refuse to change it to external memory card. Everything has been working so far:D
 
mrteejoy said:
I think the problem with my S3 SD card started when I changed the camera storage to memory card. I got this new SD card and I refuse to change it to external memory card. Everything has been working so far:D
Click to expand...

S4 user here. I think that might be the culprit. At least, I've noticed that the more I take pictures/video when the camera is set to write to the sdcard, the sooner it dies. I've had two die on me (16G PNY, 8G sandisk).

I'm going to buy an sdcard, but I think I'll wind up only using it for ROM backups and movies when I'm on the road. I refuse to let the camera write to the sdcard, since at least for me that seems to be related.
 
A brief update...
Well it has been a couple months now since Lexar sent me the fourth sd card for my S3. So far so good I have been saving pictures and videos to the card, so far (knock on wood) no issues
Hopefully everyone will get past the sd card issue
 
After replacing my 32GB SanDisk card almost a year ago,I have had zero issues. I use the card for camera storage, default download folder and media storage so it gets heavy use. So based on my personal experience I highly recommend a SanDisk card manufactured recently.
 
I just bought a Samsung 32gb class 10 microcard for my Samsung Galaxy G3, I know i paid more then buying a SanDisk card but feel it's in my best interest to stay with a Samsung marked product. So far all has worked fine so time will tell.
 
I used the same SanDisk card on my LG phone for 2 years without issue, a few months after installation into my S3 my phone had a day with excessive and unexplained battery drain and was hot to the touch. That evening I got a message that my card wasn't working and after trying it in numerous other devices I've come to the conclusion it's just toast.. I had always assumed I had cracked the card or damaged it somehow, though the amount of times I had handled it were few..

A good thing about the S3 is the amount of internal memory, I didn't run out of space without a card so I didn't bother to buy another..
 
Hi all, I'm new here. I found you by searching for solutions to why my S3 kills SD cards.
I think this is a serious problem. It costs Samsung users time and money. The various threads in different forums make it plain that Samsung is ignoring this issue. For an expensive device that is supposed to make life easier, this is appalling.
I do not work for a competitor of Samsung. I'm just an owner/user, and I expect the products I buy to work as promised. This is a breach of trust in my view.
Has Samsung offered a fix to anyone? Please advise.
 
I just lost my sd card over the weekend, and had to reformat again today. All of the pictures and videos of my 15 month old son are gone. I had no issues for over a year. I'm using an 32gb ADATA.
 
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