Hacking Can't reformat my micro SD card.

[Ten Pound Cow]

Hey there, guys. I bought a couple of 128gb PNY micro SD cards. I wanted to use them in my N3DS so I can install a bunch of CIA's. I tried to put in a bunch of stuff, but my cards would eventually get locked up and I can't put anything in there anymore.

Here's the terrible part: I've tried reformatting my micro SD cards through the window's formatter and even downloaded an SD formatter, but both of them weren't able to reformat my micro SD cards.

Is there any other option I can explore to reformat my cards? It's a shame to see these go to waste, so I'm hoping you guys can help me out. Thanks in advance!

 

[Tony_93]

You should buy quality cards... Not cheap 10 cents per GB fake cards...

 

[Xenon Hacks]

Sounds like a fake card format it in sd formatter 4 with format type full erase and format size adjustment on you should have 127 gb available. if its says 127-128 gb run it through h2testw and do a write+verify test to see if it fake or damaged.

 

[Ten Pound Cow]

Yeah, I remember the SD formatter said the size was around 100 something. I don't remember the exact number, but it wasn't anything suspiciously low. I got my SD card from NewEgg, so I figured that website couldn't do me wrong. I'll download h2testw and will report the results back whenever I can.

 

[Xenon Hacks]

Yeah, I remember the SD formatter said the size was around 100 something. I don't remember the exact number, but it wasn't anything suspiciously low. I got my SD card from NewEgg, so I figured that website couldn't do me wrong. I'll download h2testw and will report the results back whenever I can.

Unless the seller is newegg themselves the seller may be at fault get a refund you are protected by paypal and newegg.

 

[Ten Pound Cow]

Unless the seller is newegg themselves the seller may be at fault get a refund you are protected by paypal and newegg.

So SD formatter says the size of my card is 118 gb. I tried to reformat using SD Formatter 4, but it just hangs there. I also tried to use H2testw, but it won't even try to verify my card because it wants me to reformat it, so I'm stuck in limbo.

I also checked to see who the seller was on Newegg, and it was actually sold by Newegg themselves. I wish I could get a refund or exchange, but I'm already way past that point since I bought these a long time ago and decided to put off using them until now.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm hoping there's some other solution to this that we're not thinking of.

 

[MelonGx]

Is the problem your SD card corrupts after format, or the SD card can't be recognized by 3DS?

If it's former, please refund it.
If it's latter, please learn how to format 128GB SD card in FAT32.

 

[Ten Pound Cow]

Is the problem your SD card corrupts after format, or the SD card can't be recognized by 3DS?

If it's former, please refund it.
If it's latter, please learn how to format 128GB SD card in FAT32.

I can't refund it even if I wanted to since I've had my cards past the refund policy. I've tried using a GUI version of a FAT32 formatter and a partition tool to format my SD card to FAT32, but none of them worked. The SD cards were already corrupted before I can even format them anymore. I know I'm lacking knowledge, and this is why I'm here to ask for help. Do you have any suggestions on how I can try to reformat my SD cards to FAT32?

 

[MelonGx]

I can't refund it even if I wanted to since I've had my cards past the refund policy. I've tried using a GUI version of a FAT32 formatter and a partition tool to format my SD card to FAT32, but none of them worked. The SD cards were already corrupted before I can even format them anymore. I know I'm lacking knowledge, and this is why I'm here to ask for help. Do you have any suggestions on how I can try to reformat my SD cards to FAT32?

Tried guiformat?
If yes, then the card may be really corrupted.
If no, then try it.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I can't refund it even if I wanted to since I've had my cards past the refund policy. I've tried using a GUI version of a FAT32 formatter and a partition tool to format my SD card to FAT32, but none of them worked. The SD cards were already corrupted before I can even format them anymore. I know I'm lacking knowledge, and this is why I'm here to ask for help. Do you have any suggestions on how I can try to reformat my SD cards to FAT32?

I would suggest trying a different SD card reader (and if you're using a MicroSD to SD adapter, try a different adapter as well) as it may be the SD reader at fault here.

 

[Syphurith]

1.Fake card. (Mostly. Try SDFormatter from SDA and search for tutorials on google for how to deal with a fake card)
2.Bad cardreader or adapter. (I don't know but if your card is legit you can just get a better cardreader if you PC supports USB.. orz)
3.Wrongly implemented formatter program (almost never, since the code are implemented seriously i can not expect this to happen.)
4.It was used too much and it wore out. (I don't think this is gonna happen unless you keep using a same card for many years)
Yup you can just try to find the option.

 

[ric.]

Look into HDDGuru's HDD Low Level Format Tool. It'll completely erase everything on your mSD Card and re-make the partition tables and whatnot. I use it all the time to "fix" corrupted flashdrives and SD cards. This'll also show you the real size of the card - if the manufacturer messed with the partition table to make it look like the card had more capacity than it actually does, of course.
It's relatively normal for "128GB" cards to be actually 110~ish.

 

[OxyO12]

I got the same problem (it nearly bricked my 3ds).I wanted to update via sysupdater, but at half the process an error occured and I had to shut down my 3ds. After downloading other update files I wanted to put them on the sd cards and surprise, It never let me do it... I tried several tools on windows, macos, even linux to format it.. Now it lays in my trashcan, can't do more

 

[Ten Pound Cow]

Tried guiformat?
If yes, then the card may be really corrupted.
If no, then try it.

Yeah, I already tried GUI format. It doesn't freeze up like the Windows formatter does, but it doesn't bother formatting anything at all.

I would suggest trying a different SD card reader (and if you're using a MicroSD to SD adapter, try a different adapter as well) as it may be the SD reader at fault here.

I'll see if I can find another adapter around the house. I doubt it's the cause of the problem, but ANYTHING is worth a try.

1.Fake card. (Mostly. Try SDFormatter from SDA and search for tutorials on google for how to deal with a fake card)
2.Bad cardreader or adapter. (I don't know but if your card is legit you can just get a better cardreader if you PC supports USB.. orz)
3.Wrongly implemented formatter program (almost never, since the code are implemented seriously i can not expect this to happen.)
4.It was used too much and it wore out. (I don't think this is gonna happen unless you keep using a same card for many years)
Yup you can just try to find the option.

1. I dunno. I'm pretty doubtful it's fake. I've dealt with fake cards before, and at least they let me reformat the card. I'm pretty sure the SD formatter would've detected the size of the card by now, no?
2. Maybe. It can read my other SD cards just fine, though. It's just the 128gb cards that's the problem. I'll try to scavenge around and see if I can find another reader.
3. Dunno what that is.
4. These were new, so definitely no wear-and-tear.

Look into HDDGuru's HDD Low Level Format Tool. It'll completely erase everything on your mSD Card and re-make the partition tables and whatnot. I use it all the time to "fix" corrupted flashdrives and SD cards. This'll also show you the real size of the card - if the manufacturer messed with the partition table to make it look like the card had more capacity than it actually does, of course.
It's relatively normal for "128GB" cards to be actually 110~ish.

I just tried that program, but it also hangs like the other ones I've tried. It only went as far as 18% before deciding to take a crapper. *sigh*

I got the same problem (it nearly bricked my 3ds).I wanted to update via sysupdater, but at half the process an error occured and I had to shut down my 3ds. After downloading other update files I wanted to put them on the sd cards and surprise, It never let me do it... I tried several tools on windows, macos, even linux to format it.. Now it lays in my trashcan, can't do more

That's what I'm worried about, but thanks for sharing your experience. It's a little reassuring that I'm not the only one who went through this.


I just want to thank this community for trying to help me out. I'm sure your kindness goes unappreciated at times, but I'm grateful that you guys are patient with trying to help me.

 

[MelonGx]

For the SD card reader, I recommend Kingston Mobilelite G4.
It doesn't support hardware downgrading (Chinese downgraders reported that SysNAND chips nitpicked high quality USB SD readers seriously) but everything other is fine.

 

[Ruby Gloom]

Hey there, guys. I bought a couple of 128gb PNY micro SD cards. I wanted to use them in my N3DS so I can install a bunch of CIA's. I tried to put in a bunch of stuff, but my cards would eventually get locked up and I can't put anything in there anymore.

Here's the terrible part: I've tried reformatting my micro SD cards through the window's formatter and even downloaded an SD formatter, but both of them weren't able to reformat my micro SD cards.

Is there any other option I can explore to reformat my cards? It's a shame to see these go to waste, so I'm hoping you guys can help me out. Thanks in advance!

Insert it into the adapter with the adapter locked. Insert into PC. Remove it, unlock it, then put it back in. That worked for me when mine locked up.

 

[Februarysn0w]

how about diskpart.?
windows + R type "diskpart"
then type like this

list disk

you can find your SD card. if you cant find your disk that mean your disk is dead or somthing going wrong.

select disk (type disk number here)
eg. select disk 1

clean

create pertition primary

select pertition 1

active

format fs=fa32 unit=32k

assign

 

[Quantumcat]

Hi OP, might not help you, but I am currently facing a similar problem and I am pretty sure my SD reader is at fault. First my computer told me to check the location of the file I was trying to copy. Then it told me there were errors on the card. Then it told me to reformat, but fails to. ("Windows was unable to complete the format"). I also can't test with h2testw as it wants me to format. And now the latest is that it won't even stay connected. It goes "ding ding", "ding dong" as it continually connects and disconnects. I believe it is the SD reader at fault because a) the cards I've tried are from a batch of cards where all the previous ones were fine, b) it did the same thing with a 2GB card that my old reader can handle (which has problems on bigger cards) and a 32gb micro SD which I can insert into my computer works fine but not with an adapter in the reader.

So, borrow a different reader off a friend or buy a new one - you never know, might work. (I haven't actually tried a new reader yet...)

 

[Ten Pound Cow]

For the SD card reader, I recommend Kingston Mobilelite G4.
It doesn't support hardware downgrading (Chinese downgraders reported that SysNAND chips nitpicked high quality USB SD readers seriously) but everything other is fine.

I'll consider picking that up since I have some pretty shoddy readers. Thanks for the suggestion.

Insert it into the adapter with the adapter locked. Insert into PC. Remove it, unlock it, then put it back in. That worked for me when mine locked up.

I just tried this, but it would still lock up when I try to reformat my card.

snip

Hmm. I'm having trouble with this. I got to the part where I tried to clean it, but it just got stuck there. I tried to open DiskPart again, but now I can't type anything at all. Can you help me out, please?

snip

Hey there, Quantumcat. I'm sorry to see that you're going through the same thing. I've tried using another reader, but it didn't really help me out very much. I'm slowly starting to accept the reality that my cards are dead, but I'm extremely grateful for all the posts you guys have given me so far. I hope you have better luck than I am right now.


So I tried to reformat my micro SD card by putting it in an SD card and putting that into an adapter, then I used GUI format to format my card in FAT32, and this is what happened:

http://imgur.com/hCSTNOH (Sorry, I don't know how to probably upload the pic into this post)

 

[aj_hix36]

I'm very curious for the solution too, I have a legit 128GB Samsung EVO microSD that I managed to get stuck in permanent lock mode and can't format it to fix it.

Edit: Low Level Format tool succeeded, but didn't fix the problem. I can't create a partition, everything complains the disk is in write-protect mode.