Can't get my SD card to store ANYTHING, my Tab S is out of memory,, HELP PLEASE

[Davyo]

Hi all,,,, recently got my Tab S 16gb 4G from T-Mobile, the minute I got my Tab S, I installed my brand new Samsung 64gb card,,, I guess I was not smart enough to realize it would not just be a plug and play thing.

I can't transfer/move Anything to my card and now my Tab S 10.5 is full,, I have very few apps or my Tab S and very little media pictures/videos.

I've gone on YouTube and done countess online searches on how to make use of my totally empty 64gb card and have not found the answer.

I've tried every setting I can try and nothing works (for the record I have 32gb Note 4, a 32gb Tab Pro 8.4 but never needed to use an SD card with any of my other Andriod devices as I don't keep much of anything living on those devices) I am not Andriod stupid either,,, or mabey I am,,, I thought I knew the Samsung/Android OS pretty good,, apparently not.

Most of my apps,,,,, pictures and short videos taken with my Note 4 live on my iPad Air 2 128gb,,,,, I wanted to use my Tab S for the same thing or purpose.

So what is the big secret on how to get my 64gb card to work on my Tab S ????????

Thanks much in advance for any help or suggestions.

Cheers
Davyo

 

[leerandall]

Hi all,,,, recently got my Tab S 16gb 4G from T-Mobile, the minute I got my Tab S, I installed my brand new Samsung 64gb card,,, I guess I was not smart enough to realize it would not just be a plug and play thing.

I can't transfer/move Anything to my card and now my Tab S 10.5 is full,, I have very few apps or my Tab S and very little media pictures/videos.

I've gone on YouTube and done countess online searches on how to make use of my totally empty 64gb card and have not found the answer.

I've tried every setting I can try and nothing works (for the record I have 32gb Note 4, a 32gb Tab Pro 8.4 but never needed to use an SD card with any of my other Andriod devices as I don't keep much of anything living on those devices) I am not Andriod stupid either,,, or mabey I am,,, I thought I knew the Samsung/Android OS pretty good,, apparently not.

Most of my apps,,,,, pictures and short videos taken with my Note 4 live on my iPad Air 2 128gb,,,,, I wanted to use my Tab S for the same thing or purpose.

So what is the big secret on how to get my 64gb card to work on my Tab S ????????

Thanks much in advance for any help or suggestions.

Cheers
Davyo

After inserting the SD card in the Tab S, did you format the card in the Tab S before copying or saving anything to the card? If not, try that.

 

[D Android]

As far as I know if it's a Samsung card it has already been formatted in the right way ready to be inserted into the Tab (mine 64GB was). I just use the PC to transfer music, pics and videos to it initially, then when it's in the Tab I go to My Files app and move whatever I want from internal memory to the card. There is no secret, just make sure the card is recognised by the Tab and you are good to go, if it isn't then possibly there is something wrong with the card. Hope this helps.

 

[icwhatudidthere]

I can't transfer/move Anything to my card and now my Tab S 10.5 is full,, I have very few apps or my Tab S and very little media pictures/videos.

How are you trying to transfer things to the card? What errors are you getting? Can you see the SD card in the file manager?

 

[leerandall]

As far as I know if it's a Samsung card it has already been formatted in the right way ready to be inserted into the Tab (mine 64GB was). I just use the PC to transfer music, pics and videos to it initially, then when it's in the Tab I go to My Files app and move whatever I want from internal memory to the card. There is no secret, just make sure the card is recognised by the Tab and you are good to go, if it isn't then possibly there is something wrong with the card. Hope this helps.

It is always good policy to format SD cards on the device where it will be used and not rely on its pre-formatting.

 

[D Android]

It is always good policy to format SD cards on the device where it will be used and not rely on its pre-formatting.

Yes of course it is, I do not disagree with you. I just mentioned that mine was ready to used in the Tab out of the box. I also try not to format my SD cards any more than I have to as it shortens their lifespan.

 

[PlanetPluto7]

Same problem. The Tab "storage" item in settings should be seeing it as "sdcard". I got the 16Gb model too; my mistake. You can check the card in a PC. should be formatted in XFAT not the usual NTFS. The app "App 2 Sd" can move apps that allow moving to be moved to the card freeing up some of the 16Gb.

 

[mikelombino]

I'm having a similar issue.
I have an SD card (64GB) that was working just fine in my S 10.5 until two days ago. My tablet was frozen in startup mode and the only way I was able to get it to boot again was to remove the SD card. Now it is no longer recognized by the tablet. When I insert the card in the tablet it briefly recognizes a card is there (the SD CARD starts showing "total space") but then it flickers off.
Has anyone else seen this issue?

 

[D Android]

I'm having a similar issue.
I have an SD card (64GB) that was working just fine in my S 10.5 until two days ago. My tablet was frozen in startup mode and the only way I was able to get it to boot again was to remove the SD card. Now it is no longer recognized by the tablet. When I insert the card in the tablet it briefly recognizes a card is there (the SD CARD starts showing "total space") but then it flickers off.
Has anyone else seen this issue?

Sounds like SD card may be corrupt. It's not a Sandisk one by any chance? I had two that just gave up, started unmounting and remounting for no reason, replaced it with a Samsung one and haven't had a problem since.

 

[mikelombino]

Sounds like SD card may be corrupt. It's not a Sandisk one by any chance? I had two that just gave up, started unmounting and remounting for no reason, replaced it with a Samsung one and haven't had a problem since.

Yep, it's a Sandisk card.
I'm reformatting it now. We'll see how that goes.

 

[NeverBoring]

I doubt this line continues to be active. However, exterior SD cards seem to be difficult to completely insert. New and old readers of this line should be completely certain the SD card in inserted correctly.

 

[mnor]

Had the same issue when I first installed my 64g card. It was seated just enough to be used by the system. But would come loose and not be recognized. Finally took a pair of tweezers and pushed it in till it clicked in place. No issues since then. Using fingers alone I couldn't get the card to click in place.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[PussMonkey]

OK, I've had the same problem for over a week. Hunted high and low and no solution that worked for me.

Here was my problem:

Brand new Samsung galaxy tab s 10.5 tablet.
64Gb PNY SD Card fitted.
All working fine. Movies, music etc on SD Card (micro sd).
Then Tab says "preparing SD card" and nothing changed it from saying that.
All SD Card options on Tab greyed out. Card not showing as mounted.

Tried removing card and formating on laptop..... Nah.
SD Card not visible in Tab S settings so couldn't do anything with it.
Wiped card, no luck.
Reinstalled all data, no luck.

So, I sulked for a day or two.

Yesterday I decided to reset my Tab. Wipe all settings and data.
Started the process on the Tab.
In General/Backup and Reset I started to go through the motions expecting a reset.
Final thing Tab asked me is "are you sure you want to etc etc"
I says yes and out of nowhere message pops up saying "SD Card recognised and all the card options appear that were either missing or greyed out.!!!
So I format my SD Card on the tab and reinstall my data on the SD Card from my backup files on my laptop.

Bottom line, expected to do full Tab reset but card reappeared at last button press before reset.

I hope this works for you. It made me smile when it worked for me (by sheer luck might I add).
Good luck, let us know if it works.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[mitchellboy37]

Hi...When you get a new micro sd card, you usually get a sd adaptor with it. The adaptor has a flat side on one corner. After I place the micro sd card in the slot, I use the flat sided adaptor to push it all the way in until it clicks. I use it to displace the card as well. Works much better and more reliable than fingers.

 

[PussMonkey]

Just doing a reinstall of data onto my card as it's just done it again. Aaarrrrgggghhh!
Same procedure again for me:

Go for full reset of Tab S and it'll spot the SD Card at the last press before a full reset.

The cause for my Tab S to do this is unknown but just before it went wonky today, I was transferring some new apps from my Tab S internal memory onto my SD Card.

It's a pain in the arse but I can resolve it each time so that'll have to do.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[FF22]

Are you sure that the card is not counterfeit? Maybe the tablet does not like you moving APPS to the card and blows away the directory structure?

 

[waveride59]

The Android updates are to blame for no access to the SD Card or limited access. They want better security so Google set the restrictions. Samsung has allowed it and I am not happy. My once great Tab s is now next to worthless. I would not have bought it. Class action is what we need against samsung.

 

[Jane25]

I never inserted a card until the device was out of warranty. The card that I got was a Samsung. Two repairmen later, it still doesn't work and I was told that I needed a new MB which would cost $300. So I'm stuck with playing Solitaire and opening email. Such a disappointment for a good machine otherwise.

 

[dpomerance]

You can do a lot more than just email and Solitaire without using your SD card. You just have to be judicial in your use of storage. Keep things cleaned up.

 

[flojo73]

I had same issues with my Tablet. You need to Format the SD card on your computer into EXFAT. 32 format. It will erase everything on your SD card so back up your files before hand. My videos I was transferring over to my Tablet would not play correctly on from SD card but if they were installed in my Tablets internal memory they would have no issues. I had previously used my Tablet to format my 64G SD card thinking I was good to go. Just FORMAT your SD to EXFAT 32 . My MP4s transfer over in less than half the speed and No more issues with my Videos. Then to assure that your Pictures get stored on your SD card from now on. Open up your Camera APP. Go to >>Settings>> Storge Lacation>>Sekect Memory Card and your all set. Once you do this it may or may not transfer all previous pictures by it self. If it does not then go into your MY FILES and go into DEVICE Storage>>Select DCIM folder and drag it into Your SD Card storage.