Why can't I delete videos from my SD card? Samsung J7 Sky Pro, Android 6.0.1

[Android Central Question]

Hey all. Sorry, there's not a lot of detail to give, but I can't delete videos off my SD card. It gives me a little error at the bottom that says, "failed to delete files."

Anyone have any ideas how to fix this?

Thank you so much

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Are these videos that were recorded by the Camera app, or video files you downloaded from the web or using an app?

It's possible the files or the card are corrupt. Try Unmounting the card (in Settings>Storage), removing it, and inserting it into your computer's SD reader. Can you delete the video files there?

Also, which app are you using to try to delete the files? Is it the stock file manager app, or a 3rd party one?

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

 

[B. Diddy]

The OP sent me a PM saying this: "The files do NOT want to be deleted, even when I'm accessing them from a laptop. I tried moving them out of the SD card. I tried moving them onto the laptop, then into the recycling bin. It's like that song about how the cat came back. I get error 0x800701E3 telling me about some hardware error."

I'd wonder if the card is corrupt. While it's in the PC, run chkdsk to look for bad sectors or files: http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...guide-using-chkdsk-fix-corrupted-sd-card.html

This is the version I remember of "The Cat Came Back":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck0jwS0CvKk

 

[throwawayacct897]

Hey all I'm OP and I had a question. Will chkdsk hurt my SD card if it isn't corrupt, and if so, does it even matter? I mean, I might as well buy a new one anyway, right? I'll run chkdsk (not that I know anything about it besides that post) and let you know how it works.
Thanks again

 

[throwawayacct897]

Update: I don't think it worked. I'll show you what I got from CMD.

(I don't have an instagram account so I can't insert pictures sorry )

C:\WINDOWS\system32>chkdsk e: /f
The type of the file system is FAT32.
Volume Serial Number is 16D3-151B
Windows is verifying files and folders...
18 percent completed.
C:\WINDOWS\system32>chkdsk e: /f
The type of the file system is FAT32.
Volume Serial Number is 16D3-151B
Windows is verifying files and folders...
18 percent completed.
C:\WINDOWS\system32>

chkdsk e: /f is the command I entered, as the forum post linked suggested. The only thing that might've gone wrong that I can think of is that my card was protected. If so, how do I disable that protection?

From the guide on using chkdsk: "Now before you insert the SD card, make sure the card isn't write protected as this will prevent the program from having access to the card"

Other than that, I think I'll just see if I can somehow force a wipe and clean it all out.

Thanks for everything

 

[B. Diddy]

You could try it without the /f, since you don't necessarily have to ask it to fix errors immediately. If it's unable to finish even "checking the disk," then that would further support the possibility that the card is corrupt or failing.

 

[throwawayacct897]

Alright, I'll try running it without and let you know how it goes.

Just ran it, and here are the results
C:\Users\jonat>chkdsk e:
The type of the file system is FAT32.
Volume Serial Number is 16D3-151B
Windows is verifying files and folders...
File and folder verification is complete.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.
15,553,280 KB total disk space.
24,704 KB in 770 folders.
13,945,248 KB in 2,420 files.
1,583,296 KB are available.

32,768 bytes in each allocation unit.
486,040 total allocation units on disk.
49,478 allocation units available on disk.

C:\Users\jonat>
It couldn't find any issues. Any other ideas?

 

[B. Diddy]

I still suspect the card is bad somehow. Are you able to rename the files using Windows Explorer?

 

[throwawayacct897]

File Explorer? No, I can't.
Also, whenever I try to plug into the laptop, it gives me an error saying there's something wrong with the drive. Whenever I try to do the "automatically fix" or whatever, it just says it failed or something like that.
Sorry for all the questions.

 

[B. Diddy]

Whoops, sorry, forgot that Microsoft officially changed the name to File Explorer.:-\

That additional information increases my suspicion that something is wrong with the card.

 

[throwawayacct897]

Is something wrong with the card, or the stuff inside the card? Are there any other commands or anything I could try to run to fix it? I'm very ignorant on this subject.
Thanks again for the help

 

[B. Diddy]

Hard to say. Assuming the data on the card is expendable, I'd try reformatting the card and see if the problem persists.

 

[throwawayacct897]

Sorry for the late reply. I was trying to work up the courage to have to go through the process of reinstalling 20,000 apps haha.
I tried formatting it, and "Windows was unable to complete the format"
Sorry to bother you again, and thanks for the help

 

[B. Diddy]

I think that seals the deal -- get a new card!

 

[throwawayacct897]

Something that occured to me while looking at cards: will the new card be corrupted? Was it my phone that did the damage, and I should get a new phone? Or was it just a bad card?
Thanks again

 

[B. Diddy]

Difficult to say, but it was probably the card. Way back in the S4 days, I think something about a particular firmware release started corrupting cards, but I don't think that issue returned after they fixed it.

 

[throwawayacct897]

Ok, hopefully last question. If the files were corrupted (I kinda think they weren't because I could still view them), but if they are and I copy some of them onto my new card, will the new card corrupt? Sorry again for all the questions.

 

[B. Diddy]

I'm not sure about that. Do you need the videos saved locally, or do you just want to make sure they're saved for posterity? If the latter, I'd just copy them over to your PC's hard drive.

No need to apologize about asking questions -- that's what this forum is for!

 

[throwawayacct897]

Not quite that deep haha. I just want to keep them on my phone so I could watch them whenever. They're all just YouTube videos. I download 'em so I don't have to use data to watch 'em while I'm offline. I guess I'll try it, and if it corrupts the new card, hopefully the new one will let me format it. If all else fails, I guess they're only $20 for 128gb, right?

 

[B. Diddy]

What app are you using to download the YouTube videos? Since doing so violates YT's terms of service, there are no sanctioned apps that can do this on the Play Store -- and so any app or program you use from other sources has the potential for causing glitches or, worse yet, causing something malicious. I've never heard of a specific case of the latter, but I'd say it's a conceivable possibility.