SD Card Help

[kazzyd]

My phone broke and was sent off to Samsung for repair.
I removed the sd card and sim as I was told.
On getting the phone back, it's saying my card is encrypted and must be decrypted on the original device.
I don't know anything about encryption and never encrypted it. I now know from Google that I should have decrypted it.
I've had the same sd card for years and it has a lot of memories on it. I've used it in various different Samsung phones before I got the 7 Edge.
I've tried connecting it to my laptop and the file names are showing but it doesn't recognise the file format.
My question is, are my files saveable or are they gone for good.

 

[lunatic59]

Most likely what happened is when you inserted your card for the first time you were prompted to use it as internal (adoptable) or removable storage and you opted for the first choice. Unfortunately, that will encrypt the whole card and the decryption key is tied to the device and OS. Samsung will flash the current firmware as a matter of practice with repairs and that will generate a new encryption key. That means the key to decrypt your SD card no longer exists.

There really isn't a way to get those files back, I'm sorry to have to tel you.

 

[svim]

AFAIK Samsung has always blocked the adoptable feature for microSD cards (an ADB option to 'probably' enable it for hobbyist users on the XDA Developers site). Samsung users can encrypt their cards but this will just encrypt the card itself, it does not add the card's storage capacity to the phone's internal storage as done with adoptable formatting. On a Samsung device, any card, encrypted or not, will continue to just be its own storage media, or in other words, encrypting a card does not automatically make it adoptable.
The issue at hand being, the data on an encrypted card will only be directly accessible by the device with that specific encryption key. As it sounds like the phone was re-flashed and/or Factory Reset during servicing, that original encryption key no longer exists. A new or any encryption key won't be able to open any of those files, if that was even possible that would render the entire cryptography process useless as anyone could just apply any encryption key to unlock anything. (... each encryption key is always unique, it's not a matter where any device just uses its own common, duplicated encryption key for everything)

.....
My question is, are my files saveable or are they gone for good.

Odds are those files are gone. As it sounds like you don't have a backup solution set up, it's pretty important you do so. Install the Samsung Smart Switch utility on your computer and make a habit of regularly backing up your phone:
https://www.samsung.com/us/smart-switch/
Or install the Google Photos app, it includes an automatic backup & syncing feature so your entire photo library will be duplicated into your online Google account.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.photos&hl=en_US

 

[kazzyd]

Thanks for the replies.
The files are actually still there, hundreds of photos and videos from the past few year's, they're just not showing.
I've tried copying to the laptop but that didn't work.
This card has been in so many Samsung phones before the S7, I assume encryption wasn't on those?
Thanks again

 

[svim]

At some point do you ever recall reformatting that card using your S7 Edge? Just making a loose assumption, it sounds like you have not. If you've just been using this same card as you've moved from one phone to another (and never reformatting it, leaving it as is), going by that screen shot you posted there's something else going on.

Just to discount any one-off glitch that's the cause of that encryption message, try powering off your phone, remove that microSD card, then restart your phone (without the card). Then power it off again, put the card back in its tray, start up your phone and see if the card's content is accessible normally again. If you're positive you've never encrypted it there's something mysterious here, a card cannot encrypt itself.

Or with the card removed, if you have access to a different computer try mounting the card in it to see if there's any difference. If it's a Windows PC, take a peek into 'Disk Management', the card should show up there as a typical FAT-based volume:
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-open-disk-management-2626080
If you see anything in the Status column showing as out of sorts, you might want to try running the chkdsk utility on it. Chkdisk isn't very comprehensive as a full-blown file system repair utility, but it's OK as a minimally-destructive, basic maintenance utility.
https://neosmart.net/wiki/chkdsk/

A final thought is just hypothesizing about that microSD card itself. Just how old is it? A typical microSD card won't last forever and it's not surprising for them to fail after several years, especially if it's there's been a lot of data read/writes on it. Their high points are about size (a tiny wafer with GBs of storage) and compatibility (between different platforms), not necessarily longevity (there are no SD cards made for long term archiving). In this instance, you've referred to being able to see the files but not able to actually access them. If the card is corrupted somehow, this might be a matter where you're just viewing the file system directory but actual files themselves are in limbo.

 

[kazzyd]

At some point do you ever recall reformatting that card using your S7 Edge? Just making a loose assumption, it sounds like you have not. If you've just been using this same card as you've moved from one phone to another (and never reformatting it, leaving it as is), going by that screen shot you posted there's something else going on.

Just to discount any one-off glitch that's the cause of that encryption message, try powering off your phone, remove that microSD card, then restart your phone (without the card). Then power it off again, put the card back in its tray, start up your phone and see if the card's content is accessible normally again. If you're positive you've never encrypted it there's something mysterious here, a card cannot encrypt itself.

Or with the card removed, if you have access to a different computer try mounting the card in it to see if there's any difference. If it's a Windows PC, take a peek into 'Disk Management', the card should show up there as a typical FAT-based volume:
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-open-disk-management-2626080
If you see anything in the Status column showing as out of sorts, you might want to try running the chkdsk utility on it. Chkdisk isn't very comprehensive as a full-blown file system repair utility, but it's OK as a minimally-destructive, basic maintenance utility.
https://neosmart.net/wiki/chkdsk/

A final thought is just hypothesizing about that microSD card itself. Just how old is it? A typical microSD card won't last forever and it's not surprising for them to fail after several years, especially if it's there's been a lot of data read/writes on it. Their high points are about size (a tiny wafer with GBs of storage) and compatibility (between different platforms), not necessarily longevity (there are no SD cards made for long term archiving). In this instance, you've referred to being able to see the files but not able to actually access them. If the card is corrupted somehow, this might be a matter where you're just viewing the file system directory but actual files themselves are in limbo.

I've never actually encrypted the card, I wouldn't know how to and I don't recall anything about encryption on my other phones. What I did have before was a constant notification saying something about SD card encryption, I always just ignored it cos I didn't know what it meant.
I'll try what you suggested. I've managed to get some files replaced that were backed up on Google or my Ipad, not everything but a decent amount
Thanks again.