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Recently three of my SD cards have failed in rapid succession so I suspected it has something to do with something else than the SD cards. Two of them failed in the same mannter, the other one died completely. By completely I mean it does not even get detected by any OS, neither Windows, Mac or Linux. I plug it in using multiple methods, simply nothing happens, no warning, error.

The other ones are more interesting: They appear to be in some kind of frozen state, in some kind of limbo. All devices I plug them into can READ from them, but not write to them. I've formatted them with GParted, Windows, SD Formatter official software and AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. And it says success at the end, but on replugging the SD card into the machine, the same files are still on it. It is music in one case and it plays back perfectly. But writing to the card is impossible and no device or software seems to be able to erase the data on it or reformat it.

I have used a 2 meter USB 3 extension cable to plug in a USB HUB. Into the hub I plugged in the Lexar LRW400CRBEU Professional Dual-Slot CF/SD USB 3.00 card reader

I have unplugged the Lexar reader from the HUB and plugged it directly into the computer. I did test some SD cards and it seems to be working fine. So could this extended cable have something to do with this odd behavior of the SD cards? And are they trapped in this limbo forever or is there some way for me to properly format them and keep using them?

From the Windows command prompt I get this error message:

format E: /fs:fat32
The type of the file system is FAT32
Verifying 29.7 GB
Invalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unuseable
Format failed.
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  • Where are you buying your SD cards? If not from a reputable supplier, they may all be fakes.
    – Mike Scott
    Commented Dec 23, 2020 at 18:48
  • Obviously this is not the issue if it were that simple I would have known how to verify that. They are all from reputable suppliers: They are SanDisk sd cards and I have written on them multiple times before this issue appeared.
    – Phil
    Commented Dec 23, 2020 at 18:50
  • Once the firmware lock has triggered, there's no further analysis you can perform. The cards are 'dead' to all intents & purposes. You'd need new cards to experiment further. See superuser.com/questions/1125282/… for background. Anecdotally, some of my more sensitive devices (cameras etc) will work from 30m on a good active extender cable, but only if they're plugged to their own separate USB socket on the compy mobo itself. Hubs add 'random chance of failure'.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Dec 23, 2020 at 18:59
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    "They are SanDisk sd cards and I have written on them multiple times before this issue appeared." -- I have a couple of fake 'SanDisk' cards that I used for a while and then they went bad just as you describe. Post a close-up photo, and I'll tell you if you have fakes.
    – sawdust
    Commented Dec 23, 2020 at 19:09
  • @sawdust i.imgur.com/5H2esXM.png front i.imgur.com/3irOPBL.png back
    – Phil
    Commented Dec 23, 2020 at 19:49

3 Answers 3

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When this question was raised, in the northern hemisphere it's winter, with low humidity and high chance of static electricity buildup. Though most devices, including SD cards, have some electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection, if you've noticed sparks when touching a grounded appliance, that could have destroyed the cards. When removing or inserting a card, touch a grounded part of the device where they sit with a finger before touching the card itself.

It is unlikely a long cable has any influence, and 2 m is not excessive.

Have you tried all the suggestions at MiniTool?

Finally, have you checked that the little write-protect switch on the side of the card is off?

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  • In fact, I have hot plugged some HDMI cables recently and noticed an aweful amount of sparks coming from them. It worried me so much that I switched everything off from mains and replugged all of my cables this way. I did know about MiniTool. These three card I lost are dead nail scratchers now, I'm pretty sure of it now that I read about the post that @Tetsujin suggested. Good to know that the cable has nothing to do with it though, it would force me to reorganize my setup quite a bit.
    – Phil
    Commented Dec 23, 2020 at 20:23
  • Device-to-device sparks are likely not static (as when dragging shoes on carpet). If both devices were plugged in, and you saw a spark when connecting a cable, that might be a serious safety issue in which one device is grounded and the other hot, electrically.
    – DrMoishe Pippik
    Commented Dec 24, 2020 at 1:09
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Could you post a photo of these as well just for the record I'd like to see these fakes

I have a couple of fake 'SanDisk' microSD cards that I was able to use for a while and but then they went bad just as you describe.

I have compared the appearance of the SanDisk microSD cards that have gone bad versus similar SanDisk cards that are still functional. The two bad cards have a segmented "D" in the "SD" logo, and the "C" in the "he HC" is more rounded. The backs of the failed microSD cards are smooth and have a satin finish rather than slightly textured, glossy and a resin-flow-like finish.

None of these characteristics appear in your photos, but they might not apply to full-size fake cards

The bottom cards are the problematic ones. Sorry but I haven't been able to get as clear/crisp photo as you have that would easily show the differences. enter image description here

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From my observations over many years and from some QA from SanDisk, this issue was presented as a "feature" of proprietary SanDisk media controllers. If you have too-long USB cables to your devices, the connection can be "unstable", "intermittent". 2-m USB3 cable (and especially extender) is awfully long for USB 3.0 links. So the application-level read-write protocol might experience some random and odd errors. What was said once on SanDisk website, when their controller detects some condition that might cause data corruption, they lock their controller into "read-only" mode, for user convenience, to prevent "data loss".

This answer might help as well. As SanDisk says, there is no fix for this "write-protect". Back-up your data while you can, and throw away the cards into trash (and avoid this product brand in the future).

Correction: From SanDisk site NOTE: If the above steps do NOT resolve the problem or if the lock switch is missing or broken, please back up your data and request a replacement using our online web form.

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