Is my SD Card broken? - 03/05/04 - Answer Found

[Guest]

Morning all

I recently bought an Orange SPV E200 from eBay which came with a 'Kingston 256Mb CD Card' but it's never work. I've tried:

* Deleting files from it

* Copying files to it

* Renaming a folder

* Creating a folder

* Formatting it (using 'Smart Task Manager')

But everything just gives an error consisting of a mixture of:

* Read Only

* Access Denied

* In Memory

When I try to save a photo on to it using the camera it either saves it into the SPV's storage space or gives a continues hour glass. I usually then need to turn it off and on again.

I've tried doing the above using 'Smart Explorer' and 'Windows Explorer' to no avail. I've also tried using a rubber/eraser as the guide on CoolSmartPhone says to clean the contact but it made no difference.

The standard Orange 8MB SD card works fine and it's clear at one point so did the 256MB SD card as it's got 170Mb worth of data on it that I can't do anything with (I did manage to copy it off the card though).

Any ideas at all would be very appreciate?

Thank you

[Guest Simon Desser]

Are you sure you havn't simply moved the little switch on the card which locks it, meaning it can only be read and not written to or formatted :?:

[Guest]

You know I'm not 100% sure but I've tried it both way and it made no difference. I've compared it to my 8Mb SD Card and it seems to be unlocked.

There is an arrow going down on the front with the word 'Locked' below it. I have the slider at the top, which is the same as the 8Mb SD card. Is that right?

[Guest bosshogg2003]

I had a Kingston card for my e200 and it would not work. I now use a Lexar card with no problems.

[Guest]

Thanks Bosshogg2003

As I said it seems that it used to work as it loads of SPV zips and cabs on it.

I don't like my chances of getting some money back from the guy I bought it from, on eBay. At least 256Mb cards can be bought for about £30-40 (it's still a fair amount to lose out on though).

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

It could be a dual layer SD card which the E200 does not support :?

[Guest bosshogg2003]

My Kingston card worked fine in a MPX200 but not in an E200 so maybe the previous owner loaded files before putting it on eBay. What I did was sell my card on eBay and stand the loss and brought a new card.

[Guest]

Thanks Awarner

I wasn't aware of dual layer cards, do hey hold more data?

Anyway I've received a reply from the person I bought it from and it says:

''The card was working cos I put some of the apps on it. There is an

option in one of the menus to store as read only or archive, just like

computer files.

Floppy disks on computers have the lock/unlock slider just like the sd

cards, but you can also save the complete disk as read only. Without the

user manual I can't remember where that option is, but its on there

somewhere. It seems like the 8mb card is set to archive and the 256mb is

set to read only. I hope that helps, let me know how you get on.''

I've had a good look through the manual (PDF version too) and also on the phone itself and I cannot find such an option. I've never also seen a device to have two different methods to make them read-only.

I have managed to find a read-only setting using 'Smart Explorer' when I view the cards properties but read-only isn't ticked anyway and nor can I tick it.

I've also noticed the folder FOUND.000 is present on the root of the card which leads me to believe it crashed at one point and is now damaged. A very similar folder (or file) can get created on a PC when it crashes.

I'm inclined to believe it's broken.

My Kingston card worked fine in a MPX200 but not in an E200 so maybe the previous owner loaded files before putting it on eBay. What I did was sell my card on eBay and stand the loss and brought a new card.

Thanks Boss

He could have done. There is various zip files on the card with information in them telling you how to unlock the SPV though. It was SIM unlocked when I bought it.

[Guest bosshogg2003]

I bought my Kingston card because they make very good quality products but the SD card would not work in my E200. There is another post “working SD cards” and some users had got working Kingston cards but from memory they were smaller than 256mb. My Lexar card was from ebuyer.co.uk part no 51048 price £44.64 and it works! My Kingston card sold for £36 on eBay so it cost me about a tenner.

[Guest]

Thanks again Boggs

The card is in warranty so fingers crossed I can get a replacement. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to sell it when I'm not 100% sure it's not broken.

[Guest bosshogg2003]

I know what you are saying and it’s worth a try but my card worked fine in cameras and my MPX200 it also would read without problem on my pc. But for some reason was a pain in the E200. The guy I sold it to on eBay has had no problems either.

[Guest]

I reckon I've found out what's causing the problems. I e-mailed Kingston Technical Support and they said this -

"However, this mobile phone needs SD flash memory with SLC

(Single Layer Cell) architecture, rather than MLC (Multi Layer Cell).

The SD/*** is MLC, whereas the SD/***-S is SLC technology.

Please be aware, that we didn't test the flash in this particular phone.

According the manual, any SLC flash memory should work."

Well my box says - SD/256 NOT SD/256-S which must mean the idiot I bought it from has bought the wrong card. This is pretty much confirmed as in an e-mail he said:

"I don't think it could get damaged because it's been in phone all the time.

It took me ages to find out how to work it and I'm not sure what I did to get it to work."

I could believe the MLC cards can be made to work in a SPV but the phone isn't designed to take them. I'm sure the FOUND.000 folder I mentioned earlier, means the phone has crashed or is having trouble reading the flash card also.

I wonder how he got it to work?, as there is SPV software on it as I've mentioned before. What an idiot though!

Thanks bosshogg2003 for your help and the E-Buyer part number, at least I should be able to sell it on eBay now.

It's a annoying I can't actually format the card first though. I may have access to a digital camera I can try it in.

EDIT: I've just received this from Kingston also:

* What do you mean by?: "The SD/*** is MLC, whereas the SD/***-S is SLC technology"

SD/128, etc is MLC

SD/128-S, etc is SLC

* The front of the box for the SD Card says - "SD/256" that means it's an MLC card, right?

Yes, SD/256 is MLC

* Does SD/*** mean SD/128, 256 or 512?

Yes. I simply didn't write every available capacity down - used wildcards instead.

* Are you saying the ''Kingston 256MB SD Card' uses a 'Multi Layer Cell'?

Yes