Hardware SD Card removed error, what can i do to fix it?

[JashinsRegalia]

(Sorry if this is in the wrong section or i havent given enough information, im really not good at this stuff)

Anyways, i was trying to download games from the freeshop when i was hit with a black error screen saying the sd card had been removed, when it hadnt. After googling i thought the card may have been corrupted, but nope it hasnt, and after even more googling and comparing the files on my sd card to the ones my friend has on their working 3ds, a lot of files had been removed. I think its also worth noting that the 3ds still works, but all the apps like the fbi app, homebrew and any game that i downloaded from the free shop have disappeared.

My question is, is there anyway to fix it? My friend sent me a copy of all the files he had on his SD card but im assuming it isnt going to be as simple as simply replacing my old files...

 

[TurdPooCharger]

(Sorry if this is in the wrong section or i havent given enough information, im really not good at this stuff)

Anyways, i was trying to download games from the freeshop when i was hit with a black error screen saying the sd card had been removed, when it hadnt. After googling i thought the card may have been corrupted, but nope it hasnt, and after even more googling and comparing the files on my sd card to the ones my friend has on their working 3ds, a lot of files had been removed. I think its also worth noting that the 3ds still works, but all the apps like the fbi app, homebrew and any game that i downloaded from the free shop have disappeared.

My question is, is there anyway to fix it? My friend sent me a copy of all the files he had on his SD card but im assuming it isnt going to be as simple as simply replacing my old files...

Don't take this the wrong way, but your card sounds like it's fake. Files disappearing like that is an indicator of data getting accidentally overwritten. This is typical behavior of counterfeit flash memory.

To find out isn't the case and to check that nothing is physically wrong with it, copy anything you can off of the card, reformat in FAT32 + 32 KB cluster size, and with no files in place (empty card), do a full write+verify test using H2testw.

Because users on this forum often times get defensive in assuming their cards are real & perfectly fine either because they don't believe they've been ripped off and that their cards look legit, it needs to be said upfront you can't trust things by appearance and your gut instincts. Please check with H2testw or none of later advices and feedbacks in fixing your setup will matter.

 

[Hayato213]

(Sorry if this is in the wrong section or i havent given enough information, im really not good at this stuff)

Anyways, i was trying to download games from the freeshop when i was hit with a black error screen saying the sd card had been removed, when it hadnt. After googling i thought the card may have been corrupted, but nope it hasnt, and after even more googling and comparing the files on my sd card to the ones my friend has on their working 3ds, a lot of files had been removed. I think its also worth noting that the 3ds still works, but all the apps like the fbi app, homebrew and any game that i downloaded from the free shop have disappeared.

My question is, is there anyway to fix it? My friend sent me a copy of all the files he had on his SD card but im assuming it isnt going to be as simple as simply replacing my old files...

Well you can't really use all of your friend files, console specific files are locked to that console, using a file belong to someone else console will result in brick. Also you should tell us the brand and size of the card and where you got it from etc.

 

[JashinsRegalia]

Well you can't really use all of your friend files, console specific files are locked to that console, using a file belong to someone else console will result in brick. Also you should tell us the brand and size of the card and where you got it from etc.

My bad, the card is a SanDisk SDSDQ-016G-FFP 16GB MicroSDHC Memory Card, which i purchased from Amazon from SanDisk

 

[uyjulian]

My bad, the card is a SanDisk SDSDQ-016G-FFP 16GB MicroSDHC Memory Card, which i purchased from Amazon from SanDisk

Use h2testw anyway, there might be fake seller on Amazon

 

[TurdPooCharger]

My bad, the card is a SanDisk SDSDQ-016G-FFP 16GB MicroSDHC Memory Card, which i purchased from Amazon from SanDisk

Amazon does not have stringent quality control with keeping track of their inventories. Counterfeit products get mixed in with real goods all the time, and consumers receiving fakes assume those parent companies degraded their product standards knowing no better they got speckle-smorfed.

 

[JashinsRegalia]

Don't take this the wrong way, but your card sounds like it's fake. Files disappearing like that is an indicator of data getting accidentally overwritten. This is typical behavior of counterfeit flash memory.

To find out isn't the case and to check that nothing is physically wrong with it, copy anything you can off of the card, reformat in FAT32 + 32 KB cluster size, and with no files in place (empty card), do a full write+verify test using

Because users on this forum often times get defensive in assuming their cards are real & perfectly fine either because they don't believe they've been ripped off and that their cards look legit, it needs to be said upfront you can't trust things by appearance and your gut instincts. Please check with H2testw or none of later advices and feedbacks in fixing your setup will matter.

So i ran the test and the card is apparently corrupted, im not sure if this means that the card is fake or something but its definitely corrupted, which is strange because ive had the card for a good 3 years and never experienced any issues until i downloaded a game from the free shop, have you any advice on what i should do now?

 

[mikey420]

Format and try again. If the issue persists use a new card

 

[TurdPooCharger]

So i ran the test and the card is apparently corrupted, im not sure if this means that the card is fake or something but its definitely corrupted, which is strange because ive had the card for a good 3 years and never experienced any issues until i downloaded a game from the free shop, have you any advice on what i should do now?

I commend you for checking as learning the truth is not an easy thing. It's possible your card became faulty over the years from wear and tear, but most flash memories have built-in safety guards when their memory cells gradually die off. If it became damaged enough, your card would have locked itself from further read and write to prevent any present data from getting further corrupted. Since yours didn't regulate itself, evidence leads back to it was fake to begin with. Apologies that you had to find out you were sold a dud.

How big is your card? Most fakes are really 4 GB relabeled into something bigger. They're usually pulled from production either due to overstock or failed QC inspection. You might never run into issues using them until the day you try to fill up more than 3.72 GB. That's the tipping point when the card starts rewriting over itself. This is kinda like trying to add gallon of water into a cup you drunkenly think is a gallon in size; there's goes the other 15 cups worth.

Your next step is purchasing a replacement card. Unless you know how to spot real deals, avoid eBay as most cards there are fake. Watch out from online retails like Amazon as counterfeits get mixed in with legitimate stuff all the time in their inventory.

Whenever purchasing new cards, always check with H2testw before using it, even if you bought them from local big name brand stores.

 

[JashinsRegalia]

I commend you for checking as learning the truth is not an easy thing. It's possible your card became faulty over the years from wear and tear, but most flash memories have built-in safety guards when their memory cells gradually die off. If it became damaged enough, your card would have locked itself from further read and write to prevent any present data from getting further corrupted. Since yours didn't regulate itself, evidence leads back to it was fake to begin with. Apologies that you had to find out you were sold a dud.

How big is your card? Most fakes are really 4 GB relabeled into something bigger. They're usually pulled from production either due to overstock or failed QC inspection. You might never run into issues using them until the day you try to fill up more than 3.72 GB. That's the tipping point when the card starts rewriting over itself. This is kinda like trying to add gallon of water into a cup you drunkenly think is a gallon in size; there's goes the other 15 cups worth.

Your next step is purchasing a replacement card. Unless you know how to spot real deals, avoid eBay as most cards there are fake. Watch out from online retails like Amazon as counterfeits get mixed in with legitimate stuff all the time in their inventory.

Whenever purchasing new cards, always check with H2testw before using it, even if you bought them from local big name brand stores.

My card is 32GB in size but yeah i can see that being a possibility, looks like im buying a new card. For future reference, the next time i hack my DS, can i copy the contents of the entire SD card to use as a back up? (if this is a stupid question sorry)

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Format and try again. If the issue persists use a new card

I will definitely try, thank you for the help

 

[TurdPooCharger]

My card is 32GB in size but yeah i can see that being a possibility, looks like im buying a new card. For future reference, the next time i hack my DS, can i copy the contents of the entire SD card to use as a back up? (if this is a stupid question sorry)

You should never trust fake cards even if you plan to stay well below the 3.72 GB threshold. Cards do not write in linear fashion but something more like Tetris blocks where they fill in data where they see (or think) certain pieces of data fit in best. This means you can end up with corrupt files because some of their 1's and 0's were written at nonexistent cell blocks.

Rage at that card with a hammer as a hard lesson learned.

 

[starburst]

My card is 32GB in size but yeah i can see that being a possibility, looks like im buying a new card. For future reference, the next time i hack my DS, can i copy the contents of the entire SD card to use as a back up? (if this is a stupid question sorry)

You can create a backup of your entire SD card every now and then, and restore it whenever you want to any SD card. Just remember that all game data is encrypted and that the keys change every time you restore your console to its factory settings (making that data unreadable.)

To boot into custom firmware, one only needs a couple of files, say, the Luma and GodMode9 payloads, and an injectable FBI. The other 99 % of the files are your games and other applications data.
Since I chose not to copy Luma to the internal memory (and thus my console relies on a configured SD card to boot), I always have a copy of the latest versions of those core files on the SD card inside my r4 flashcard, for troubleshooting.


I agree with everything that TurdPooCharger said, but do not be scared of SD cards, just be more cautious the next time. The magic of flash memory is that it fails when it fails, there is no warning. Whether it happens after one year or ten, depends on multiple factors. It does not help that they almost always use ancient file systems (like FAT), and that we do not care about the device itself (pen drives are treated as coins.)
Choose a known brand and seller, and check the flash drives right after you get them to make sure that their capacity is real. Always skip the cheap, generic products, even if their capacity is the one advertised.

 

[JashinsRegalia]

You can create a backup of your entire SD card every now and then, and restore it whenever you want to any SD card. Just remember that all game data is encrypted and that the keys change every time you restore your console to its factory settings (making that data unreadable.)

To boot into custom firmware, one only needs a couple of files, say, the Luma and GodMode9 payloads, and an injectable FBI. The other 99 % of the files are your games and other applications data.
Since I chose not to copy Luma to the internal memory (and thus my console relies on a configured SD card to boot), I always have a copy of the latest versions of those core files on the SD card inside my r4 flashcard, for troubleshooting.


I agree with everything that TurdPooCharger said, but do not be scared of SD cards, just be more cautious the next time. The magic of flash memory is that it fails when it fails, there is no warning. Whether it happens after one year or ten, depends on multiple factors. It does not help that they almost always use ancient file systems (like FAT), and that we do not care about the device itself (pen drives are treated as coins.)
Choose a known brand and seller, and check the flash drives right after you get them to make sure that their capacity is real. Always skip the cheap, generic products, even if their capacity is the one advertised.

Got it, thank you both for your help!

 

[StaticTheJolteon]

I have had similar issues with the SD card.
I was playing Tomodachi Life and I put my 2DS down went to go have lunch came back and it said “The SD card was removed” this has happened several times since then
Any thoughts on what I should do?

 

[Kwyjor]

Any thoughts on what I should do?

Read the rest of the thread?

 

[uyjulian]

Your SD card is probably loose in the reader which may cause the SD card presence switch to be tripped if it is moved