Help me with this whole SD Card thing

[ctt1wbw]

So about a week and a half ago, I got my first Android device that used an SD Card. I got a Galaxy Tab A. I inserted the Samsung SD Card into the slot, turned the tablet on, synced everything and formatted the SD Card. I figured out how to transfer apps to it, like Flipboard and Pocket and a few others. I have PocketCasts and I had the SD Card selected as the storage space. I got Google Play Movies set the same way, to download to the SD Card. But for the life of me, I must be this damned freaking stupid because I can't figure out how to make it work without ******* up. After a few minutes, the apps I put on the SD Card stopped working so I would reformat it and put them on again. After a few podcasts downloaded to the SD Card, PocketCasts would NOT download anymore than that, the rest would fail. Google Play Movies would not download movies to the SD Card. I tried reformatting it, clearing app cache and data, all to the same result. I figured it was the SD Card, so I bought another one and the same thing happens. I restored the tablet the other day, reformatted the SD Card, again no luck.

So I returned the tablet and got a new one. Same thing. **** man, the camera won't even save pictures to the SD Card. PocketCasts errors out after a few downloads and then fails on the rest. I know my SD Card is good because it formats fine. And the apps that I put on there won't work after a few minutes. And this is with a brand new tablet. Can someone explain to me what the benefit of having an SD Card for expandable memory is when you can't ******* bloody well USE IT for anything???

 

[matthewkuhl]

Sounds like my experience with a Nokia E6. It had a faulty memory card slot and would corrupt/delete data, sometimes even managing to partition the card.
i eventually wrote the phone off. No memory card made the thing roughly useless.

 

[Gayle Lynn]

Also it helps to invest in the better SD cards - some phones now test SD first for performance. I went through and threw out a few SanDisk cards ended up with Samsung professional models.

 

[ctt1wbw]

Well, this is my second tablet in two weeks with the same thing. This is the SD Card I'm using. I guess it's a good quality card as I've never bought one before.

 

[ChromeJob]

Maybe it's the card....

Be careful moving apps to the card. Apps that need to start with system startup may not work right if the partition isn't mounted yet in the boot process.

 

[Gayle Lynn]

Same card I'm using and can't fault. Got others to experiment with?

 

[B. Diddy]

SD cards can be corrupt, defective, or counterfeit. Install SD Insight to see if the card is genuine or counterfeit. Counterfeit cards are programmed to report more storage than they actually have, and if you try saving more than the card can actually hold, then files can start getting corrupt.


If it's a valid card, then go to Settings>Storage, Unmount the card, remove it, and insert it into your computer. Can the computer read these files? Backup as much as you can right now, then run chkdsk to look for bad sectors: http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...guide-using-chkdsk-fix-corrupted-sd-card.html.

 

[ctt1wbw]

I think I'm just going to get another card. Which one is the best and fastest?

 

[Gayle Lynn]

Samsung 128GB 95MB/s PRO Select Micro SDXC Memory Card (MB-MF128DA/AM)
<https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DOB6YUQ/>

My favorite

 

[Matty]

I think I'm just going to get another card. Which one is the best and fastest?

I've been using a Sandisk card for many years and have never had any problems. The one I'm using now is the Sandisk 'Ultra' 32GB. If you intend on recording 4k UHD video, then the Sandisk 'Extreme' 32GB might be a better option. Just ensure you purchase the memory card from a reliable and reputable shop. Hope you have better luck this time.

Just test the memory card in another device before you go out and buy another one. It may be the tablets problem and not the memory card

 

[ctt1wbw]

I've been using a Sandisk card for many years and have never had any problems. The one I'm using now is the Sandisk 'Ultra' 32GB. If you intend on recording 4k UHD video, then the Sandisk 'Extreme' 32GB might be a better option. Just ensure you purchase the memory card from a reliable and reputable shop.

Hope you have better luck this time. Just test the memory card in another device before you go out and buy another one. It may be the tablets problem and not the memory card

I'm thinking it was the memory card. At first I thought it was the tablet, so I exchanged it and got another one. Same results. I ordered a Sandisk Ultra 128 gig card just now.

 

[Matty]

I'm thinking it was the memory card. At first I thought it was the tablet, so I exchanged it and got another one. Same results. I ordered a Sandisk Ultra 128 gig card just now.

Awesome! Hopefully it all goes well and you can now become a Sandisk customer instead of Samsung. ill be interested to know how it turns out. I have the highest regard for Sandisk. Especially their 'Ultra' range since it's the most popular. So hope it all works out well. The 128GB version is very spacious. If you want to load Apps on the card without fail, look for cards that have the 'A1' logo on them (Picture Below)
.

 

[ctt1wbw]

Awesome! Hopefully it all goes well and you can now become a Sandisk customer instead of Samsung. ill be interested to know how it turns out. I have the highest regard for Sandisk. Especially their 'Ultra' range since it's the most popular. So hope it all works out well. The 128GB version is very spacious. If you want to load Apps on the card without fail, look for cards that have the 'A1' logo on them (Picture Below)
.
View attachment 252049

That A1 means what exactly?

 

[Matty]

That A1 means what exactly?

This is basically means the Micro SD Card is a 'Class 10' card or higher and has specific performance requirements to ensure that if you are running an app off the MicroSD, the speed and performance will remain constant which is good for Apps.

The Sandisk Ultra range is Class 10 but just doesn't specifically say it's A1 yet. Only the newer cards have the branding.

With the introduction of the new SD card specification 5.1, the SD Association also announced new performance classes that are supposed to tell customers if a card is fast enough to run apps. So far only one level has been introduced, the A1 class. For a card to reach that level, it has to meet or exceed the following minimum requirements:

Random Read Input-Output access Per Second (IOPS) of 1500
Write IOPS of 500
Sustained Sequential performance of 10MB/s.