SD Card memory doesn't add up

[HKJohn]

Hi everybody, any advice on this would be much appreciated.

Sony Xperia X10 Mini. I moved Evernote data to the SD Card and started getting this error notification whenever I tried to load a note containing a photo:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0ar5RVnUrNOc19yT1k3c2pFYjQ/edit?usp=sharing

So I checked the storage and saw this (sorry, couldn't fit it all on one screenshot):

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0ar5RVnUrNOSGZJNWtyb1Z6MDA/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0ar5RVnUrNOOHI0VFpTblBhczQ/edit?usp=sharing

If I add up Apps, Pics, Audio, D/Ls and Available, I get less than 400 MB whereas the Total says 1.84 GB!

Where has it all gone?

 

[Medion]

If that is an external SD card, then you likely have a fake. There are countless people selling fakes on Amazon, Ebay, and through other sources where they've flashed a 256MB card to report as a 2/4/8/32GB card. It will show as the latter fake amount, but will fill up fast.

 

[mikedt]

I concur, almost definitely a fake SD. There's a lot of them around.

 

[funkylogik]

Sorry man whatever youre using to share the pics isnt working properly on my phone, when i zoom in they go out of shot but isnt that the internal SD youre showing us?

 

[Medion]

Sorry man whatever youre using to share the pics isnt working properly on my phone, when i zoom in they go out of shot but isnt that the internal SD youre showing us?

That's the way this forum works, at least for me on mobile browsers (Samsung's Android browser and Chrome). Also, that's how Android used to show SD card data (on 4.2 and 4.3, it only shows total and available, reserving the graph for internal storage only).

 

[divinebovine]

You may want to try a different disk usage analyzer. ES File Explorer's SD Analyst works great. It's hard to tell what the deal is when things are generically lumped into categories like that, and who knows what was skipped, like hidden files, OS files, etc.

 

[HKJohn]

I don't even know what an external SD card is! The SD card is the one that came with the phone when I got it from 3 in Hong Kong. It seems unlikely that Sony would be shipping with dodgy SD cards but, of course, they can't check every one.

 

[HKJohn]

You may want to try a different disk usage analyzer. ES File Explorer's SD Analyst works great. It's hard to tell what the deal is when things are generically lumped into categories like that, and who knows what was skipped, like hidden files, OS files, etc.

I've got SanDisk Memory Zone and it says "0.1 of 1.8 GB Free".

 

[funkylogik]

Sorry man "external sd" is the physical removable card. internal sd is the built-in storage chip :thumbup:

 

[HKJohn]

"external sd" is the physical removable card. internal sd is the built-in storage chip

OK then my internal memory adds up: 308 MB Apps + 89 MB Available = 397 MB; Total is 420 MB so that's about right.

The external SD is the problem one. I hooked it up to a PC today and had a look at it: it said it IS a 1.8 GB card and it IS nearly full; but I couldn't find anywhere near that much (though I didn't have time to look too closely).

It almost seems as though the memory manager in the Android system is limiting card storage to the same amount as the internal memory. Surely impossible?

 

[divinebovine]

I don't even know what an external SD card is! The SD card is the one that came with the phone when I got it from 3 in Hong Kong. It seems unlikely that Sony would be shipping with dodgy SD cards but, of course, they can't check every one.

Sony might source a good quality supplier instead of the cheapest junk, but even the best can have defects and failures.

Sorry man "external sd" is the physical removable card. internal sd is the built-in storage chip :thumbup:

To be totally accurate, internal SD is a separate portion of internal memory that emulates an SD card, on some devices. Some devices do not have the internal faux-SD.

It almost seems as though the memory manager in the Android system is limiting card storage to the same amount as the internal memory. Surely impossible?

Seems unlikely but I can almost imagine some ways that something could be messed up to produce a result like that...almost.

When you connect it to your computer are you using the phone or a separate card reader? What OS is on the computer? Do you know how to view hidden files with your OS?

I recommend this software:
http://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free/

 

[chanchan05]

Hook the card onto the PC using a card reader and enable viewing of hidden files.