[ab304945]

If I remember reading correctly the newer phones such as the S3 won't read anything bigger than the memory built on the phone.

That's funny. I have internal 16gb. And a 32 GB SD card for 4 months and no problems

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums

[Tkbredx]

LOL

[Shanicenicolle]

I haven't had any problems with mine but a man came into my job with the same issue. Card was completely fried wouldn't work in my phone but my 16gb card worked in his.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Android Central Forums

[jamesino]

MicroSD cards are flash-based memory storage devices. No moving parts.

There should be no reason for it to be failing. I am also a photographer and have used dozens of different flash based memory cards and a variety of different devices and have never had problems with any of them. The fact that I had problems with two microSD cards means that there is some sort of problem here.

[gwappa]

There should be no reason for it to be failing.

Most likely reason they are failing is they are being fried electrically. The S3 doesn't seem to like high speed cards, I had a Sandisk Ultra 32Gb fail after a month of use. Now using a Sandisk 32Gb class 4 card for 2 months without issue (touch wood).

[KreepyKen]

If I remember reading correctly the newer phones such as the S3 won't read anything bigger than the memory built on the phone.

nonsense.

If it is nonsense then explain why phones that have a set memory won't allow anything bigger than there built in memory?

My GS3 has 16 GB of memory. I've had a 64 GB Sandisk card in there since I got the phone in early July. I have not had one single problem with it. The phone has not had a single issue recognizing the card or accessing the files stored on it (music and video).

When I got the card, I popped it in the phone, immediately formatted it using the phone, and moved files over to it via Wifi File Explorer Pro and via USB from the computer.

6 Months with an SD card 4x the size of my internal storage. No problems ever.

[winmod21]

My GS3 has 16 GB of memory. I've had a 64 GB Sandisk card in there since I got the phone in early July. I have not had one single problem with it. The phone has not had a single issue recognizing the card or accessing the files stored on it (music and video).
When I got the card, I popped it in the phone, immediately formatted it using the phone, and moved files over to it via Wifi File Explorer Pro and via USB from the computer.
6 Months with an SD card 4x the size of my internal storage. No problems ever.

Thanks for that tip on WiFi File Explorer Pro, Kreepy. It looks like a pretty good app.

[KreepyKen]

The biggest foe these cards have is static electricity. A quick shock could potentially fry it. It could be an issue with the GS3 due to its plastic cover, which could store a charge. That charge could develop by simply sliding the phone from the pocket of corduroy pants. If it transfers to the card, then ZAP!

It's possible that it's not the GS3 itself, but a combination of the phone's chassis material and the conditions of the environment.

Just a thought.

[KreepyKen]

Thanks for that tip on WiFi File Explorer Pro, Kreepy. It looks like a pretty good app.

No problem. I love the app. It's not as smooth as moving files directly via USB, but seeing how Android File Transfer doesn't work on my Mac with Mountain Lion, Wifi File Explorer has been a godsend.

[socratesman]

Are you sure they are getting fully seated?

Not to be daft, but you have to push the cards in until you hear a click. The cards fit a little snug into the slot, the way it rubs against the underlying plastic piece. It can feel like the card is seated even when it isn't.

-Suntan

Oh yes, I am very familiar with the seating. I guess its always possible that some of my cards are just old and have dirty contacts (they work fine in other devices though). If I keep inserting a card and removing it the phone will eventually recognize it. Sometimes a reboot helps too. Im chalking it up to some quirky hardware on a few devices.

[C0tangent]

Same problem...here is my log

Please wait for a Samsung Agent to respond.
You are now chatting with 'Simone'. There will be a brief survey at the end of our chat to share feedback on my performance today.
Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK56402467183X
Simone: Hi, thank you for contacting Samsung Technical Support. How may I help you today?
Visitor: My SD card is dead
Visitor: This is the second card my phone has fried
Simone: I am sorry to know that the SD card is not working,
Visitor: Both were SanDisk Ultra 32 G micro SD cards
Visitor: Hello?
Simone: Sorry for the delay.
Simone: May I know the model number of your phone ? You can find the model number beneath the phone's battery which generally starts with SGH, SCH or SPH .
Visitor: SPH-L710
Simone: Thank you for the model number.
Visitor: Sprint White 32G S3
Simone: When and how exactly did this happen to the Sd card ?
Visitor: Just five minutes ago my phone said that my card was removed
Visitor: This happen last month with another card
Simone: I am sorry to know that,
Visitor: Last time I was able to get a refund from Amazon because I was still in the 30 day window. I bought the same card from Best Buy and I am sure that I am pasted my 30 days by a few weeks.
Simone: I request you perform Soft reset on the device. Soft reset will refresh the phone and its internal circuitry.
Simone: Please follow the steps mentioned below to perform a soft reset on your Phone.
1. Turn off the handset.
2. Remove the battery and wait for 30 seconds.
3. Reinsert the battery and turn ON the device.

Simone: I understand your concern.
Simone: Please follow the above mentioned steps and let me know once it is done.
Visitor: I have already attempted that and the card was not detected
Simone: Did you remove the card too ?
Visitor: Yes
Visitor: I get a new message
Visitor: It says "SD card is blank or has unsupported files:
Visitor: which is not true
Simone: I understand your concern.
Simone: Do you have a card reader or a USB adapter ?
Visitor: Yes and the computer has failed to recognize the micro SD
Simone: I am sorry to know that.
Simone: Do you have warranty for the SD card ?
Visitor: I believe it has a 5 year warranty
Visitor: I don't think replacing the card fixes the problem at hand.
Visitor: Other people are having the same issue with the S3
Simone: Yes, I do understand your concern, Did you check with another SD card if it is read by the phone or not ?

Visitor: I have an old 128 MB
Visitor: and the phone can read it
Visitor: sandisk ultra 32g failed gs3 - Google Search
Simone: Okay.
Visitor: Im not sure if you can click on links but others have reported the same issue
Simone: I understand your concern.
Simone: May I place you on hold for 3 minutes, while I gather the information on your request?
Visitor: Sure
Simone: Thank you.
Simone: Thank you for being on hold.
Simone: I did a research on our data base, I am sorry there are no such reported issues. However, you may send the device to Samsung for the technicians to examine it and repair it if any fault found.
Visitor: How long would that process be?
Simone: The repair takes 2-days shipping + 5-7 for Service + 2-business days for shipping back.
Visitor: I dont think I can do that because I go back to college this week
Visitor: I found this on android central
Simone: I understand your concern.
Visitor: "The biggest foe these cards have is static electricity. A quick shock could potentially fry it. It could be an issue with the GS3 due to its plastic cover, which could store a charge. That charge could develop by simply sliding the phone from the pocket of corduroy pants. If it transfers to the card, then ZAP! It's possible that it's not the GS3 itself, but a combination of the phone's chassis material and the conditions of the environment. Just a thought."
Simone: Well, I appreciate that thought.
Visitor: "Sherard S: We haven't seen this kind of issue with any of our customers. Please do not trust the information which you find in a third party website or forum. The information which is posted in forums or third party website is fake. Those website's or forums or not controlled by Samsung. Due to this, anyone can post anything in those websites/forums"
Simone: I will forward this message to the concerned team so that they can do a practical research and resolve the issue
Visitor: Many have posted their chat logs on the forum
Simone: I understand your concern.
Simone: I have govern you all the information that I could from my end, for more information I request you to contact our Voice support team.
Simone: You can contact our voice support at 1-888-987-4357, Mon-Fri: 7 AM - 9 PM (CST), Sat: 9 AM - 6 PM (CST).
Visitor: OK thank you very much
Simone: You are welcome.
Simone: It was a pleasure assisting you. Thank you for contacting Samsung Technical Support. If you have a minute, please click on the blue X close button to receive a transcript of your chat and fill out a brief survey to help us serve you better. Have a wonderful day!
Chat session has been terminated by the Samsung Agent.

Edit: I'm running JB and it's rooted.

[GrooveRite]

Is this problem happening with stock or rooted devices? Thankfully, I haven't had this problem. I'm stock with 64gb class 10 Sandisk ultra .

[Kelly Kearns]

I thought I'd share an interesting exchange I just had with Samsung support via chat. Three days ago, my S3 started having issues reading my SD card. I discovered that there seem to be dozens of forums (including this one) that are demonstrating this to be a widespread issue. Here is what Samsung has to say about it:

Please wait for a Samsung Agent to respond.

You are now chatting with 'Sherard S'. There will be a brief survey at the end of our chat to share feedback on my performance today.

Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK56402402520X

Sherard S: Hi, thank you for contacting Samsung Technical Support. How may I help you today?
Visitor: Hi there. I own an S3 16gig.
Visitor: A few months ago I purchased a 32gb SanDisk micro-sd card.
Visitor: You probably already know where this is going.
Visitor: Yesterday it started saying the card was unexpectedly ejected.
Visitor: Today it won't even recognize the card.
Visitor: Further, the card is no longer recognized by my computer when I remove it.
Visitor: I searched online for this issue, and it turns out there are dozens of sites now active with this same issue.
Visitor: This was an expensive class 10 card, and I'm really frustrated that my S3 seems to have fried it.
Sherard S: I understand that your phone won't recognize your memory card. Also, the same memory card is not even recognized by a PC. am I correct?
Visitor: I love the phone, but it's becoming apparent that Samsung is having some serious hardware issues.
Visitor: Yes.
Visitor: You're correct.
Sherard S: I am sorry about that. Let me see what I can do.
Visitor: But as of a week ago, no problems.
Sherard S: May I know the model number of your phone? Generally it starts with SGH, SCH, SPH or GT. You can find it in About Phone/Device in Settings on the phone.
Visitor: SGH-i747
Visitor: AT&T.
Visitor: Running 4.1.1
Visitor: Stock. No mods.
Sherard S: Thank you for the information.
Sherard S: We haven't seen this kind of issue with any of our customers. Please do not trust the information which you find in a third party website or forum. The information which is posted in forums or third party website is fake. Those website's or forums or not controlled by Samsung. Due to this, anyone can post anything in those websites/forums.
Sherard S: Did you try using the same memory card in any other phone?
Visitor: You just lost me, man.
Visitor: That's the most ridiculous response I've ever seen.
Visitor: Thanks for your help.

I'm just starting to read through these post. Once thing I wanted to point out is live chat at Samsung is basically for two things.

1. A general technical issue that is very generic and then for getting information if you need to get to a specific department because your issue ends up being more than a "general" thing.

2. They can pull info on an ongoing issue you are having under a case or if your phone is there, to let you know the update.

They are basically like the first general support of you cell phone company when you call them. If a Samsung rep on live chat doesn't already know about some specific "odd" issue, they have a script they go by and that is it. You should call customer support or email them if there isn't a number where you are.

[Kelly Kearns]

The biggest foe these cards have is static electricity. A quick shock could potentially fry it. It could be an issue with the GS3 due to its plastic cover, which could store a charge. That charge could develop by simply sliding the phone from the pocket of corduroy pants. If it transfers to the card, then ZAP!

It's possible that it's not the GS3 itself, but a combination of the phone's chassis material and the conditions of the environment.

Just a thought.

BUT..the covers and phone are polycarbonate and polycarbonate has anti-static properties. I have an OLD SDcard that is an 8GB , just the basic SD card, not an Ultra and it has been through 3 or 4 phones now. To tell you how old this card is, it was the biggest and newest. It came with a T-Mobile phone. I've been gone from T-Mobile for only a couple of years, but it has been several years before that when T-Mobile stopped including SD cards in phones that came with SD cards. If I had to guess, this card is at least 6-8 years old.

One thing seems to be the "Ultra" that has having an issue, correct? Has anyone bothered to contact Scan Disk? Also, looking at their site, unless I'm missing something, I'm not finding the SIII listed, except as the International Version. That might be the only way they list it, their product search results are not the easiest to sort through. Maybe someone else can look and find a "compatible" card on their site. I even tried to look by carrier as the manufacturer, in case there was something different for international vs USA phones. It's not under AT&T for me.

Micro SD Cards from SanDisk for Business and Consumer

[reeneebob]

It does seem like the common denominator is SanDisk and not Samsung. I have a 32gb DaneElec card in it for 7 months now and it's fine.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2

[Kelly Kearns]

The biggest foe these cards have is static electricity. A quick shock could potentially fry it. It could be an issue with the GS3 due to its plastic cover, which could store a charge. That charge could develop by simply sliding the phone from the pocket of corduroy pants. If it transfers to the card, then ZAP!

It's possible that it's not the GS3 itself, but a combination of the phone's chassis material and the conditions of the environment.

Just a thought.

It does seem like the common denominator is SanDisk and not Samsung. I have a 32gb DaneElec card in it for 7 months now and it's fine.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2

My card is ScanDisk, but not an Ultra. So far, I have been seeing an awful lot, if not all the post of fried cards being ScanDisk ULTRA.

[Suntan]

MicroSD cards are flash-based memory storage devices. No moving parts.

There should be no reason for it to be failing.

Do you call GE and give them that line of reasoning when one of your light bulbs burns out?

The fact that I had problems with two microSD cards means that there is some sort of problem here.

Of course... What else could it mean?

-Suntan

[Todd Vance1]

I joined this site and forum JUST to respond to THIS thread. My wife and I both had DroidX's for about 2 years. I got the s3 a few months ago...shortly after, the microSD card (that I had been using the whole time in my Droid) failed and could not be reformatted even using my PC. So, I borrowed my wife's recently because I need to be able to take lots of pictures. Last night, after shooting a couple pics... I get the SAME dreaded message "SD card is blank or has unsupported files..." This SD card had also been in use for around 2 years.

The cards are ruined...they worked for a very long time BEFORE the S3 and both died shortly after being put into the S3.

I strongly vote for the fact that the S3 is doing this... and I think the user who suggested that maybe the plastic back cover might be causing it due to static sounds like they are on to something. In addition to the plastic back, I have a soft plastic cover that could be adding to the issue...? Who knows. But this is not just a coincidence. If it hasn't ruined your card yet, I would say that you have just been lucky.

[Kelly Kearns]

I joined this site and forum JUST to respond to THIS thread. My wife and I both had DroidX's for about 2 years. I got the s3 a few months ago...shortly after, the microSD card (that I had been using the whole time in my Droid) failed and could not be reformatted even using my PC. So, I borrowed my wife's recently because I need to be able to take lots of pictures. Last night, after shooting a couple pics... I get the SAME dreaded message "SD card is blank or has unsupported files..." This SD card had also been in use for around 2 years.

The cards are ruined...they worked for a very long time BEFORE the S3 and both died shortly after being put into the S3.

I strongly vote for the fact that the S3 is doing this... and I think the user who suggested that maybe the plastic back cover might be causing it due to static sounds like they are on to something. In addition to the plastic back, I have a soft plastic cover that could be adding to the issue...? Who knows. But this is not just a coincidence. If it hasn't ruined your card yet, I would say that you have just been lucky.

But again, the "plastic" is polycarbonate and polycarbonate has anti-static properties, it is used in electronics all the time.

[Todd Vance1]

Ok, I missed that. I wonder if the outer soft cover that I purchased could be causing it.

For me, both cards failed right after using the camera... I don't know if that could be it.

The reason I am even here on this website is because after my second card went bad last night, I thought to myself..."this is crazy, I have to google this and see if this S3 could actually be killing my sd cards"....and I found this thread (this was the first one I went too, there may be more).

Who knows... but again, never had a problem with the Droid X. ( I was using a hard otter box case with that phone - btw)

[Kelly Kearns]

Ok, I missed that. I wonder if the outer soft cover that I purchased could be causing it.

For me, both cards failed right after using the camera... I don't know if that could be it.

The reason I am even here on this website is because after my second card went bad last night, I thought to myself..."this is crazy, I have to google this and see if this S3 could actually be killing my sd cards"....and I found this thread (this was the first one I went too, there may be more).

Who knows... but again, never had a problem with the Droid X. ( I was using a hard otter box case with that phone - btw)

Here's a thread that just popped up where a couple of people have been able to restore their cards and could be the issue. I'm still thinking it is mainly a ScanDisk Ultra card issue...

http://forums.androidcentral.com/t-g...ecognized.html

[Todd Vance1]

Here's a thread that just popped up where a couple of people have been able to restore their cards and could be the issue. I'm still thinking it is mainly a ScanDisk Ultra card issue...

Thanks... but google "s3 sd cards failing" and see what you get. Ill take a look at your link, thanks again.

[Kelly Kearns]

Thanks... but google "s3 sd cards failing" and see what you get. Ill take a look at your link, thanks again.

Even there many, many of them are the ScanDisk cards and the ultra series...

[Kelly Kearns]

And some more reading at the ScanDisk forums..

Mobile memory, professional cards and all other standard cards - SanDisk Forums

[GreenBerry84]

Has anyone had problems with Samsung branded cards? I'll be looking to get an SD card and I think I'll avoid SanDisk from reading here and the links, I'm wondering if Samsung is the one to go with?