Help SD card problem

[RaySteve]

I have an eBay unbranded, budget smart phone, Model T3 with 8 gigs of internal memory, running Android 6 with a USB driver app installed connected to a Windows 7 Ultimate PC with a data cable (tried two different cables). USB debugging is connected. My phone will connect to the PC with the SD card as the default write disk.

On the phone I can configure the card to operate as USB storage or as Media device. When USB connection is "Media device" a window will appear on my PC desktop saying "Autoplay" and "Device Options". I can select "Open device to view files using "Windows Explorer". I can access the card and view its contents. However, and here is the problem, When the phone's SD card is connected as USB Storage, "Computer" window appears on PC desktop with "Hard Disk Drives" and "Devices With Removable Storage", "Removable Disk (Z", --my phone-- (it doesn't matter what drive letter I assign it). When I click on "Removable Disk (Z" a window appears on my PC which says, "Insert Disk", " Please insert a disk in Removable Disk (Z". I cannot access the SD card labeled Disk (Z so I can't transfer files between the PC and the phone.

I go into "Administrative Tools", "Computer Management", "Storage", "Disk Management" and the SD card is listed as "Disk 2", "Removable (Z, "No Media" but I can't do anything with it.

Does somebody have any idea how I can fix this so I can access the SD card from my PC as "USB storage"?

Sorry about all the emoticons. Unintentional. The end parenthesis created them.

 

[Hadron]

If you can access the card using Windows Explorer when in media device mode why not just do that?

Since about android 4 it's not been possible to mount the card as usb mass storage: android switched to using MTP for connection to computers 5 or 6 years ago. So I'm not sure why it's offering that option, if that is what it's really doing, but whatever the reason I don't expect you to be able to use it as a usb storage device on a computer unless you just remove it from the phone and put it in a card reader (and since in order to mount it as usb mass storage on the computer you'd have to dismount it from the phone, which is what automatically happened back in the early days of android, putting it in a card reader is not so different from this).

 

[RaySteve]

If you can access the card using Windows Explorer when in media device mode why not just do that?

Since about android 4 it's not been possible to mount the card as usb mass storage: android switched to using MTP for connection to computers 5 or 6 years ago. So I'm not sure why it's offering that option, if that is what it's really doing, but whatever the reason I don't expect you to be able to use it as a usb storage device on a computer unless you just remove it from the phone and put it in a card reader (and since in order to mount it as usb mass storage on the computer you'd have to dismount it from the phone, which is what automatically happened back in the early days of android, putting it in a card reader is not so different from this).

Thank you very much for your comprehensive answer. It explains a lot. And to answer your question, I do what I need to do using MTP and it works just fine. I was just curious why the USB storage wouldn't function and you answered that perfectly. Appreciate your help, for sure.

 

[steiny180]

Setting the SD card as storage, encrypts the data on the card, and can only be read by the phone...

 

[RaySteve]

Setting the SD card as storage, encrypts the data on the card, and can only be read by the phone...

That's interesting. Seems counter productive, at least to the user. I suppose there's no way to prevent the encryption process...no EASY way. I don't want to fool around with "Root" But thanks for the info.

 

[svim]

That's interesting. Seems counter productive, at least to the user. I suppose there's no way to prevent the encryption process...no EASY way. I don't want to fool around with "Root" But thanks for the info.

It's not a counter-productive issue at all, once you re-format a microSD card to be used as 'internal' (a.k.a. adoptable), the care is not meant to used a portable card for file transfers and such. An 'internal' card should be left in your phone as at that point it's essentially been altered to be an internal component. The operating system sees an 'internal' microSD card as just being a part of the your total internal storage. That's also why it gets reformatted and encrypted during the internal formatting process -- SD cards by default are using the antiquated FAT (FAT32 or exFAT) file system, mostly for compatibility issues with other operating systems/platforms but when 'internal' will be using the ext4 file system, the same file system as the internal storage in your phone; the encryption key ties the card to your phone and just your phone as again it's no longer meant to removed from your phone.
If you do change your mind later though, you need to back up any data you can -- use the Settings >> Storage menu in your phone, don't bother wasting any time using something like a Windows PC to view your phone's contents externally, Windows doesn't support non-native file systems very well -- and then reformat the card back to Portable again. Once it's been reformatted back to Portable it gets returned to using FAT, and no encryption, so you remove it to transfer files again.

 

[Hadron]

The only thing I can add is that not only is there no easy way to prevent the encryption but there's no way even with root (though in principle I suppose someone could go back to the AOSP source code and build a ROM from scratch that didn't do it - a lot of work make your data insecure though).

 

[RaySteve]

It's not a counter-productive issue at all, once you re-format a microSD card to be used as 'internal' (a.k.a. adoptable), the care is not meant to used a portable card for file transfers and such. An 'internal' card should be left in your phone as at that point it's essentially been altered to be an internal component. The operating system sees an 'internal' microSD card as just being a part of the your total internal storage. That's also why it gets reformatted and encrypted during the internal formatting process -- SD cards by default are using the antiquated FAT (FAT32 or exFAT) file system, mostly for compatibility issues with other operating systems/platforms but when 'internal' will be using the ext4 file system, the same file system as the internal storage in your phone; the encryption key ties the card to your phone and just your phone as again it's no longer meant to removed from your phone.
If you do change your mind later though, you need to back up any data you can -- use the Settings >> Storage menu in your phone, don't bother wasting any time using something like a Windows PC to view your phone's contents externally, Windows doesn't support non-native file systems very well -- and then reformat the card back to Portable again. Once it's been reformatted back to Portable it gets returned to using FAT, and no encryption, so you remove it to transfer files again.

Thank you for the explanation. Removing the SD card is not practical. To access it the back of the phone has to be removed and then you have to go under the SIM to pull out the SD card. No, I think that I'll just stick with MTP. That works fine.

 

[RaySteve]

The only thing I can add is that not only is there no easy way to prevent the encryption but there's no way even with root (though in principle I suppose someone could go back to the AOSP source code and build a ROM from scratch that didn't do it - a lot of work make your data insecure though).

Lol. I agree. At 70 I never intended to get a smartphone. Steep learning curve. I figured my old Samsung flip phone was all I needed. But having to be trapped in a doctor's waiting room with no tv, no WIFI, reading 5 year old, tattered magazines entitled "Good Housekeeping", or DMV, or anywhere that you have to wait for extended periods of time I soon discovered a purpose for a smartphone pertinent to my situation. I can now watch movies and tv series.