S3 does NOT kill SD cards...

[TheQuicken]

You READ that correctly. This is lengthy, but very informative...

I have had my S3 since April 2013, installed my SanDisk 32GB Class 10 on 4.1.2. I have NEVER had an issue with my SD card or any other issues other than trying to make my battery last longer by disabling certain apps from running. My Card worked seamlessly without one problem, and I do everything on my phone...constant data moves from card to PC (I edit videos all the time on my PC and this phone takes quality footage), mounting and unmounting, swapping other cards in and out, you name it. No issues ever, despite all the "problems" others have had.

Happily, I bought my wife an S3, 4.1.2, and installed the same exact card and disabled apps for battery life and within 4 hours, we had issues up the wazoo, blank SD Card, unsupported file system, etc. So, I read "Kills SD Cards" post and did everything others had done; I reformatted, I put new cards in, formatted FAT32/ExFAT, etc. You name it, I did it. SO, then I did a factory reset, didn't disable any apps except yahoo finance and flipboard and everything has been perfect since. PERFECT.

Fast forward to this past week when the "4.3 fixed patch" was released. Her phone updated OTA and I went crazy because I had read all the news of the headaches people were having with 4.3 and refused to update any of the phones to 4.3; but hers updated without us knowing. So, after I checked it all out, things were great, zero issues, perfect in fact. So naturally, I wanted mine to run that fast and have the latest update...it is faster by a mile over 4.1.2 btw. I tried to update my phone OTA, but it showed "no updates available". I connected Kies and the update came through (gotta update to Kies 3) YAY!!!

That was short lived, because right after I did the update and disabled battery eating apps, my SD card started showing all the horrible signs that we have all read before. I was pissed, I went through the same process I performed on my wife's phone, but still had issues. Thank God I made a backup of everything. I had issues ranging from my contacts list simply disappearing or my gallery was no longer allowing sharing, it would say gallery no longer functioning or something like that. I had a ton of issues, not to mention my S3 "killed my card"...BUT IT DIDN'T...because my PC and other devices could read the card...that was the moment I realized the card wasn't fried and most everyone had the same experience with other devices reading the card.

I got to thinking, why did my card no longer work on the 4.3 update when it worked all this time on 4.1.2, (and, no, it wasn't a ticking time bomb for those of you thinking that). Clearly, this was a software issue. So I did this. My gallery was not allowing a photo to be shared, why???? It used to...so I started enabling applications that I had turned off and tested the sharing mechanism each time until I came to Paper Artist and enabled it. When I tested the gallery sharing afterward, it worked!! I started enabling a lot of the other apps and it started showing signs of life and normalcy. No lag, no anything...I have all my apps enabled except Yahoo Finance and News and will continue to "experiment" to find the right configuration. Those of you on 4.1.2 or even 4.2, go ahead and update; 4.3 rocks...just watch what you disable.

Android is a true ecosystem and one thing/app impacts another usually all the time. Maybe we are disabling apps that actually impact the communications between the SD card and the phone...hmm.

All I know is this, I only have certain apps disabled and now my phone is perfect. NOT ONE ISSUE WITH SD OR ANYTHING!! IT WORKS PERFECTLY

Great job Samsung!!!! 4.3 is faster and better!!!

Check your disabled/turned off apps, chances are, they are affecting important communications between other applications, like the device and the SD Card communications...also, last word of advice....when you disable an app and a window pops ups saying, "Turning off built-in apps may cause errors in others apps", (notice built-in apps is highlighted, bold and larger), do some homework first, or you may become frustrated and do stupid things like blaming Samsung or SanDisk for pushing out crappy products. It has nothing to do with heat, bumping the phone, dropping it or using different cards or classes... Watch what you disable...this phone talks to itself on all levels. BTW, my battery life is amazing even with all the apps enabled.

95% of all computer related issues are because of user error, not the software nor the hardware.

 

[mgiazzi]

How do you disable and enable apps?

 

[javamann]

Hi there...thanks for your input; buuuut, while I have a number of apps disabled, I haven't done so lately and yet I got a msg stating the SD card was unexpectedly removed (or something like that). I wonder why the phone got along fine with the SD card for over a year and then KAPUT! Your explanation does not explain my experience. BTW, I'm still on 4.2.1.

JM

 

[funkylogik]

Youre right that some apps rely on others and share processes with each other because its more efficient that way so that was probably your issue but for others, the card was actually dead and the manufacturer would replace it and the new one would work. Sandisk even publicly accepted the blame (which doesnt make sense since other brands were affected)
seems like less people are having the issue now so maybe it was a firmware bug(?)

 

[mydian]

If you read through the dead sd card thread there are plenty of people having problems with completely stock phones. Not everyone is disabling apps.

You also shouldn't be posting links to this thread in multiple threads that have nothing to do with sd cards. That's kind of rude to be trying to take other threads off topic.

 

[funkylogik]

Totally. Like yeah theres some good information in the post and its nicely written but a lot of people post good info and dont feel the need to spam it everywhere like theyve proved string theory

 

[dmcjr22]

Funky one day they will prove string theory

 

[funkylogik]

Hard thing to prove but yeah i think they will bro

 

[gregg1100]

S3 Galaxy DEFINITELY killed my 32GB Sandisk card. Lots of heat near where it lives in phone--I put in a Samsung 8GB one, and so far no probs--4 months.
And yes, no need to call anyone a dumb ass.

 

[TheQuicken]

I do apologize if I ticked some folks off here with my post. That was not my intention. Especially with the "dumbass" remark at the end, I purposely put an emoticon on the end to show I was kidding. Pardon my banter and insensitivity. I highly respect everyone and their opinions in this forum.

Also, my post wasn't intended to prove "string theory". It was to merely point out that many users need to heed some warnings regarding disabling apps. Yes, I did read that stock phones have had issues, but the implication is "stock" phones over rooted phones, nothing about untouched phones. I can almost assuredly bet that those that have had their SD Cards fried, did something to their phone on the software side. These phones are actually made with outstanding hardware components and SanDisk is made with excellent materials. I seriously would like to know if someone actually lost their SD card without doing anything to the software on their phone and of the 100's people people that said they lost their SD cards, I would bet 99.9% of them tweaked the software somewhere. Most, if not all, of the built-in apps talk to each other in one form or another. These users had to have done something. Furthermore, I would venture to say that if those users that lost their SD cards performed a factory reset and not touch any of the apps and used the "dead" SD cards, chances are, those cards would work again. Try it and PROVE me wrong,

On a final note, yeah, I probably should not have posted the link on other peoples posts...I was pretty excited to find a solution for something so serious as SD cards being killed. I usually come here for solutions, and I was happy I came up with a legitimate one myself. I didn't mean to hijack anyone's post. I just thought I came up with a solution that would help a ton of people out there.

Believe it or not, there are a lot of people that seriously know little to nothing about their phone, much less I.T., and they complain about the manufacturer...so I will say it again...

95% of all issues related to technology is due to user error.

 

[TheQuicken]

I actually came out here to offer an update to my situation until I read some of the responses.

I am happy to report that after 2 full days of 4.3, My phone runs like a champ. I still have only Yahoo Finance and News turned off and believe it or not, I get better battery life leaving the other apps untouched compared to my configuration on 4.1.2. Don't know if that is because of the 4.3 update or if the ecosystem runs that efficiently without disabling anything. Hmmm. Try for yourself and check your own results.

 

[TheQuicken]

S3 Galaxy DEFINITELY killed my 32GB Sandisk card. Lots of heat near where it lives in phone--I put in a Samsung 8GB one, and so far no probs--4 months.
And yes, no need to call anyone a dumb ass.

And I'll bet a million bucks you had some built in apps disabled.

You're right, shouldn't have said dumbass, it really was a joke.

 

[mydian]

If you had read the s3 kills sd cards thread you would see that once they die they no longer work in a computer either. I don't think enabling or disabling an app has anything to do with a card not even working in a completely different type of equipment (laptop for example.)

From what I've learned after reading that thread is it seems to have to do with recording video. Others have noticed this happening shortly after dropping the phone.

I don't think anyone is going to argue that some apps shouldn't be disabled but the fact Sandisk owned up to there being a problem with their cards kind of ruins your theory. Thanks for contributing it though.

 

[gregg1100]

Just gone through all the apps-- only 1 disabled was Google + ( not interested ).
Have yet to get 4.3---o2 must be dragging their heels again.

 

[nytmare]

If you had read the s3 kills sd cards thread you would see that once they die they no longer work in a computer either. I don't think enabling or disabling an app has anything to do with a card not even working in a completely different type of equipment (laptop for example.)

I agree with mydian. I've had two cards fail (one was a SanDisk 32gb and I forget what brand the other was, although it wasn't SanDisk) in my non-rooted S3 (no disabled apps at the time). After failure, neither card could be read in either my laptop's built in card reader or in the USB card reader in my desktop. Totally dead.

I've now been using a SanDisk 16gb card for the probably the past year with no problems. I don't know what's different, other than the cards that failed did so prior to updating to 4.1.2. Although, about three weeks ago, I looked down at my phone to see that my card had become "removed". CRAP!! But... I removed the card, restarted the phone, reinserted the card (after it booted back), and all turned out fine. Don't know what all of that was about, but now that I'm talking about it... whadda bet it fails first thing tomorrow? Keeping fingers crossed.

 

[funkylogik]

Can i add that the s3 (and note 2 i think) had a definate issue with "fried" sd cards much more than any other phone of that time and im pretty sure people dont only disable apps on samsungs.

Also, your 99% is human error thing.. tell that to the people who's GT-I9300 (international s3) completely died of sudden death syndrome (SDS) caused by a faulty chip which samsung have now admitted to and will replace the motherboard of affected units even once the warranty expires

 

[TheQuicken]

In my experience, I perfromed a hard reset...factory reset and did not disable anything other than Yahoo finance and news. I have excellent battery life and not one issue on my phone. When my wife's phone was originally purchased, and I disabled a bunch of unused apps, her SD card "died", but didn't really. I enabled those apps I killed and that wss it. no factory reset and everything is as good as new. On a hunch, I had a feeling it was a software issue, so instead of trial and error, I just performed the reset and essentially started from scratch. I am humming. Idon't know if a reset will help or what, but theidea of having to reinstall all of my apps seemed to be such a waste of time, but it was worth it in the end to not have to purchase any new cards.

This has been my experienced thus far and I was able to help out a bunch of friends with the same or similar issues. I recommended them perform a factory reset and spend the time re-installing the apps. It is far more realizing starting over than spending hard earned money on new cards when it isn't necessary.

Hope that helps.

 

[TheQuicken]

Can i add that the s3 (and note 2 i think) had a definate issue with "fried" sd cards much more than any other phone of that time and im pretty sure people dont only disable apps on samsungs.

Also, your 99% is human error thing.. tell that to the people who's GT-I9300 (international s3) completely died of sudden death syndrome (SDS) caused by a faulty chip which samsung have now admitted to and will replace the motherboard of affected units even once the warranty expires

I read about that and Samsung identified an issue with the actual chip. An app was made to see if the phone you had employed that chip. there was a fix or a replacement...

FYI, I said 95%, not 99%. Occasionally architecture and hardware capabilities sometimes do not play well with each other...that's the 5%. I am not saying my solution is 100% effective for everyone, but it has been 100% effective for everyone else I have helped. There is always going to be someone out there to dispel anyone's "solution" and rather than try what worked for others, they will put down the idea/solution and scream sour grapes. If anyone gets a good experience from my explanation of what I did, then I am happy to have helped. These forums have helped me greatly and I hope I can offer the same help to others.

BTW, it is really hard to "kill" an SD card

 

[TheQuicken]

Just gone through all the apps-- only 1 disabled was Google + ( not interested ).
Have yet to get 4.3---o2 must be dragging their heels again.

Did you try Kies yet. That's how I got mine. My wife's came OTA...we're on the same network, Sprint, and our phones are mirror images of each other.

You will be pleased with the update, but see how your phone runs without any apps disabled...you'll be surprised. I was shocked by my battery life.

Side note, if you want your phone to charge quicker, put your phone in Airplane mode.

 

[TheQuicken]

I agree with mydian. I've had two cards fail (one was a SanDisk 32gb and I forget what brand the other was, although it wasn't SanDisk) in my non-rooted S3 (no disabled apps at the time). After failure, neither card could be read in either my laptop's built in card reader or in the USB card reader in my desktop. Totally dead.

I've now been using a SanDisk 16gb card for the probably the past year with no problems. I don't know what's different, other than the cards that failed did so prior to updating to 4.1.2. Although, about three weeks ago, I looked down at my phone to see that my card had become "removed". CRAP!! But... I removed the card, restarted the phone, reinserted the card (after it booted back), and all turned out fine. Don't know what all of that was about, but now that I'm talking about it... whadda bet it fails first thing tomorrow? Keeping fingers crossed.

I hear what you are saying about the SD cards being dead, but I recommend being a little more patient when you are trying to get your PC to recognize you card. Depending on where that "bad sector" is located on the card, it could take a bit of time resolve it. Trust Windows or Linux to find the bad sector and fix it. Try inserting and ejecting "good" cards to help the OS along. It will find it eventually. I find that Linux works faster and you can get an Ubuntu boot disk for free. Just Google it. This is the wrong thread to explain how to do that. That is also a way to recover "lost" files.

 

[TheQuicken]

they no longer work in a computer either.

Not True...they are totally seen if you get a linux boot disk. it will find it without issue and recover most if not all of your data.

From what I've learned after reading that thread is it seems to have to do with recording video. Others have noticed this happening shortly after dropping the phone.

Part of this is true. If your SD card cannot write the data of large files fast enough, then your file will become corrupt. That is why there are different classes of SD Cards. Class 10 is the fastest for the most economical price. Anything above that class is unnecessary and an absolute waste of money. So speed does matter in this situation...that is whay Class 10 is recommended.

 

[TheQuicken]

This will help you create a bootable disk..in layman's terms, you can run a full OS from either a USB or CD. Linux based OSes allow you to see everything. Including the questionable SD Card.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBV0werZlWg

After you recover your data, go back to Windows and format your SD to any format; Many recommend FAT32, but ExFat is optimal in moving large amounts of data at better more reliable speeds. But any format is fine.

Remember in my original post, I am still experimenting to find out which apps are okay to disable without jacking up your phone or even your SD card. Just disabling an app because you simply don't use it may have an impact on other apps...only testing with trial and error will allow us to know which apps are good ones to turn off.

 

[funkylogik]

Hey man i dont wana shoot down your solution, i just wana say it isnt the solution for everyone and i definately dont want people being scared to disable apps. If you do the research then you wont disable any essential system apps.

As for the airplane mode thing.... lol i honestly dont wana seem like im arguing but isnt that like saying the phone will charge faster with the screen off (because its using less juice)

 

[TheQuicken]

Hey man i dont wana shoot down your solution, i just wana say it isnt the solution for everyone and i definately dont want people being scared to disable apps. If you do the research then you wont disable any essential system apps.

As for the airplane mode thing.... lol i honestly dont wana seem like im arguing but isnt that like saying the phone will charge faster with the screen off (because its using less juice)

No worries whatsoever...It may not be the solution for everyone...trust me, I want to eek out every last bit of juice from my battery as I can and I hate the idea of people having to hard reset their device to make sure everything runs perfect. I hope no one is afraid of disabling apps, just so long as they know they may see weird unexpected things happening to their phone if they don't research what they are about to disable and how that app effects other apps.

All I know is this, when I was on 4.1.2 I had no issues and I had a ton of apps disabled from a list a ran across that showed what is safe to disable. After, I got my wife's phone, I did not use the list and started disabling apps that I thought were okay to kill and that is when I realized this ecosystem is very complex and certain apps affect others. Hence, I enabled all of her apps and her phone was rock solid. She has no issues with 4.3 and she has no apps disabled. I have Finance, News and Flip-board disabled and so far so good on my phone.

I say, disable away, but know what you're doing because you could be disabling an app that needs to communicate with the SD card and if their is no process "enabled" for that communication to occur, a corruption or bad sector is created, hence signalling the user that there is an issue with the SD card when, yes there is, but there really isn't. I hope that makes sense.

This has fixed everyone else's phone so far that I have helped and I have already recovered data from "dead" cards that really were not dead. I was just patient.

One bit of information to add here...I had no idea disabling Paper Artist would crash my gallery when I press the share button once I have a photo selected. But it did and apparently there is some communcation going on behind the scenes between that app and the sharing function of gallery...weird but very true.

 

[TheQuicken]

As for the airplane mode thing.... lol i honestly dont wana seem like im arguing but isnt that like saying the phone will charge faster with the screen off (because its using less juice)

I thought this was funny too when I learned it, but if I want a quick flash of juice and don't need to be on my phone, airplane mode pretty much turns everything off except for the phone itself...the radios on this phone use a ton of juice, so not having them running in the background sucking up juice you are adding to the phone simultaneously, your phone will charge faster.