HTC Hero deletes my MP3's ?!?

[NytCrawlr]

Sorry if this is a repeat, but I haven't seen it anywhere, so I will ask. I've had my Hero for about 7 months now, and for the most part have been very pleased with it. Until a few days ago.

I decided to revamp my MP3 library, so I deleted all the MP3's off my phone and then copied a whole new set onto the card. All seemed to work fine, no errors on transfer, all the MP3's showed up in the appropriate folder on the card, and the few I tested (by playing them on my computer) worked just fine. I then disconnect from the computer, and let the phone "remount" the memory card. The phone gives a message saying "Preparing SD card". Unfortunately, it seems that when it says "preparing", what it really means is "DELETING random MP3's". For some reason, it will only let me keep SOME of the MP3's I copied onto the phone. I can actually WATCH it delete the files. I go to the music player, and watch as the song count spirals downward, my MP3's fading away into the ether.

I've tried copying via HTC Sync, and I've tried by copying straight onto the card via a card-reader slot. The results are the same:

I copy the files onto the card
I verify that they are present and working on the card
I insert the card in the phone (either physically, or by disconnecting Sync)
The phone mounts and "prepares" the card
The MP3s I've just added have simply vanished
I re-Sync, or check the card via card-reader
The MP3's are gone. Not in the file, nowhere on the card.

 

[darksabian]

I have the same problem dude, my mp3 fades away i dont know whats going on, i have villainrom12.0.0 on my hero and somehow it deletes my mp3 when "prepares" the sd card...

could be some kind of protection against illegal copies or something?.mmmm

dont really know, but it hurts, couse i have a 32 gb sd card, filled it up with mp3, then putted it into the phone, and it only showed 800mb of mp3... 6 hours transfering files, for nothing ,

i hope someone can help us!!!!

 

[NytCrawlr]

--- could be some kind of protection against illegal copies or something?.mmmm ---


Pretty sure it's not a protection issue, because I had most of these MP3's on my phone before I deleted them to start the new collection. And I originally had nearly double what it will now allow me to add.

 

[davedontmind]

When you remove the card/phone from your computer are you properly un-mounting it? (e.g. for Windows 7, goto Computer, right-click the drive that represents your card/phone, and choose "Eject").

If you don't choose the Eject option and simply unplug, then Windows may not have correctly written all the information to the card, causing files to be missing.

 

[robogo]

When you remove the card/phone from your computer are you properly un-mounting it? (e.g. for Windows 7, goto Computer, right-click the drive that represents your card/phone, and choose "Eject").

If you don't choose the Eject option and simply unplug, then Windows may not have correctly written all the information to the card, causing files to be missing.

This, my friends, is the best and most plausible explanation.

Do as Dave said, copy the files and then safely remove the drive and see what happens.

 

[darksabian]

yes, ive tried doing that, i even take off the card from the reader and then putted it into the reader again to see if the files were well transferred, it looks fine, then when mounting back the sd to my phone it just deletes random data from my sd card...

i dont know what can be the issue, but certainly is not a problem with the eject option.

thx!

 

[NytCrawlr]

When you remove the card/phone from your computer are you properly un-mounting it? (e.g. for Windows 7, goto Computer, right-click the drive that represents your card/phone, and choose "Eject").

If you don't choose the Eject option and simply unplug, then Windows may not have correctly written all the information to the card, causing files to be missing.

Yes, I properly mount/unmount each time, both from the computer, and from the phone. Or, as I said, I try adding the files via HTC Sync, in which case the card never leaves the phone. And, like darksabian, I have tried putting the card back into the card reader, and the files are all there, and functional. I even tried checking it it on my other computer, and all worked fine. It's not until I put it back into the phone, and the phone "prepares" the SD card that the files go AWOL.

To summarize, the files are all present, accounted for, properly written onto the card, and even successfully tested until the PHONE deletes them.

ARRGH!

 

[Haiz]

Right, first off you will see files delete as you have wiped the majority off your card. This doesnt seem to register on the phone until you unplug it. There is no reason for it to delete any mp3s at all either as there is no programme that is doing it in the background. When you say you can see it delete them where exactly are you seeing this?

 

[ToeCutter]

Are you certain they have actually been deleted? I have copied entire albums of mp3 files to my Hero only to find that some of them turn up in 'Unknown album'. I had to get Windows media player to search for the file information and update them before they stayed in the required albums.

 

[darksabian]

Are you certain they have actually been deleted? I have copied entire albums of mp3 files to my Hero only to find that some of them turn up in 'Unknown album'. I had to get Windows media player to search for the file information and update them before they stayed in the required albums.

well, im sure the files dont really "deleted" couse the card still has the same used space, but the files are missing, after i put my files into the sd card and try to find them later i cant, is impossible. may be it drops them into some kind of invisible trashcan but i cant recover them.

greetings

 

[darksabian]

look, i found an app that can mount the sd card on your computer but not unmounting it from your phone, but it still missing apps...


im going crazy... dont really know what to do....

 

[nomnompie]

You might try moving everything you have off of your SDcard and formatting it. Then try putting stuff back on. I had my card delete pictures by itself once. Haven't had an issue since formatting.

 

[daveybaby]

Where did you buy the SD card from? If it was a bargain from some ebay random then youve probably got a 16GB (or even smaller) card masquerading as a 32GB - this sort of thing is rife on ebay.

The errors you get in this sort of situation are often pretty weird - you wont get a 'device full' error when you fill the card past its actual size, instead other data on the card will be silently overwritten, causing unexpected data loss and corruption.

 

[NytCrawlr]

Right, first off you will see files delete as you have wiped the majority off your card. This doesnt seem to register on the phone until you unplug it. There is no reason for it to delete any mp3s at all either as there is no programme that is doing it in the background. When you say you can see it delete them where exactly are you seeing this?

Not sure what you mean when you say I have "wiped the majority off my card", as I am not removing files, I am adding. As to where I see them disappear, it is in the music player. I started with 600 mp3s. I then added 150 more. I put the card in the phone and go to music player. For a brief moment it recognizes 750 songs, then says 743 . . .729 . . .703 . . .687 . . . then back to the original 650. And no, there are no other programs running, I used app killer before starting. I agree that there is no reason for it to delete any mp3s, but it Is happening nonetheless. Thus my growing frustration.

 

[NytCrawlr]

Are you certain they have actually been deleted? I have copied entire albums of mp3 files to my Hero only to find that some of them turn up in 'Unknown album'. I had to get Windows media player to search for the file information and update them before they stayed in the required albums.

Yes, I am sure they are actually deleted, because once the phone has done it's Houdini act, I have put the card back in the card reader and my PC confirms that the files are gone, and that the memory usage is the same as before I began the process.

 

[NytCrawlr]

You might try moving everything you have off of your SDcard and formatting it. Then try putting stuff back on. I had my card delete pictures by itself once. Haven't had an issue since formatting.

Yes, I have tried this. Twice. No luck.

 

[NytCrawlr]

Where did you buy the SD card from? If it was a bargain from some ebay random then youve probably got a 16GB (or even smaller) card masquerading as a 32GB - this sort of thing is rife on ebay.

The errors you get in this sort of situation are often pretty weird - you wont get a 'device full' error when you fill the card past its actual size, instead other data on the card will be silently overwritten, causing unexpected data loss and corruption.

I have thought of this also, but am pretty sure that's not the problem, as I can copy 30+ gb of data onto the card, from my laptop, then it tests fine on my other PC

 

[darksabian]

May be thats my problem, couse i bought my 32gb micro sd card from ebay, but it says in properties that it has 30,2 gb free... if it were fake it wouldnt say that...

thx

 

[daveybaby]

but it says in properties that it has 30,2 gb free... if it were fake it wouldnt say that...

Yes, it would - the size reporting mechanisms are often messed with on fake cards. You can even reformat them (quick rather than full format) without problems.

The only guaranteed way (other than running a specialised test program) to be sure your card is the correct size is to fill it up (to at least past halfway) and check the data is still valid at the start and the end of the card.

@NytCrawlr: Yeah, sounds like your SD card is ok. Question: is it the same MP3s being deleted each time or is it a random selection? Also: what music apps do you have installed on your hero?

 

[NytCrawlr]

@NytCrawlr: Yeah, sounds like your SD card is ok. Question: is it the same MP3s being deleted each time or is it a random selection? Also: what music apps do you have installed on your hero?

As near as I can tell, it's whichever were copied onto the card last, which are deleted first. Not positive, but that's the way it seems.

I have Meridian player, and the stock player which comes on the phone.

 

[daveybaby]

Weird, very weird. The only thing i can suggest is a factory reset and see if the problem persists. Maybe it's a rogue app or something.

 

[aangel205]

I have been having the same type of issue, I did buy the card on ebay and it's a 32gb that I paid less than $20 for. Haven't testes filling the card up yet but after I load a couple video files and music it starts deleting photos and giving me errors on the music and video files. Please post if anybody finds a solution! it is driving me crazy

 

[daveybaby]

Solution: Test the card by filling it up. If it's defective (32GB for $20? it probably will be) throw it away and buy a proper one.

 

[chunkylover53]

Face it, if a deal is too good to be true it probably is. Even if it costs 4x as much you should buy memory cards straight from a retailer or sites such as amazon but only direct from amazon themselves. Then you know you are getting an original memory card that can hold all your files without silently overwriting them.

 

[aangel205]

So my microsd card was indeed fake, for what I can tell it was only a 1gb. I went to Best Buy and bought a 16gb (the biggest one they had) and sure enough my problem went away. No more files mysteriously disappearing.