Need to wipe/corrupt damaged microSD card

doodah · 27 Nov 2014 at 09:27

Yet again my S4 has broken another SanDisk microSD card. As with the first time all of my files remain on the card but I can alter them in any way; so I can't delete (I can but the files simply reappear) nor can I add any new files to the card.

SanDisk are fine with replacing the card but want the damaged card returned. However, the card contains many files of a sensitive nature. Other than stamping on the card several times, how can I nuke those files from the card before sending it back to SanDisk? I have tried several formatting solutions with no luck. Any ideas?

snips86x · 27 Nov 2014 at 09:31

Magnet?

doodah · 27 Nov 2014 at 09:32

Forgot about that - there must be one lying around the lab.

On Holiday · 27 Nov 2014 at 09:36

Magnets don't affect flash memory..?

If the data on there is that sensitive then just smash it up and buy another one for £15

doodah · 27 Nov 2014 at 09:40

Fair enough, is there not some brutal software solution?

OhEsEcks · 27 Nov 2014 at 09:43

Boot into a live linux environment, mount the SD card and run sudo dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/devicename 4M

Edit: actually don't do the above if you don't know what you're doing as you might nuke the phone.

meandu229 · 27 Nov 2014 at 09:45

Car battery onto the contacts should do the job.

bledd · 27 Nov 2014 at 09:50

Where did you buy the card?

ebay/amazon reseller? If so, it's probably a fake, hence the problems.

doodah · 27 Nov 2014 at 10:23

This card is an RMA from SanDisk so I guess it's real. The first card was from a reputable online store.

There seems to be a correlation with Samsung Galaxy phones and SanDisk cards (fake ones could be part of the problem).

danbarney · 27 Nov 2014 at 11:03

Which formatting solutions have you tried?

bledd · 27 Nov 2014 at 11:11

xibinim said:
This card is an RMA from SanDisk so I guess it's real. The first card was from a reputable online store.

There seems to be a correlation with Samsung Galaxy phones and SanDisk cards (fake ones could be part of the problem).

Fair enough

HecFam · 27 Nov 2014 at 11:15

Do you get a drive letter when mounting it in windows? I thinking if a DISKPART Clean might do the job.

doodah · 27 Nov 2014 at 12:11

danbarney said:
Which formatting solutions have you tried?

Windows, HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, the phone's formatting tool and I think a SanDisk formatting tool.

HecFam said:
Do you get a drive letter when mounting it in windows? I thinking if a DISKPART Clean might do the job.

The card works fine in the phone and on the computer. It just won't allow you to write/delete.

danbarney · 27 Nov 2014 at 12:19

xibinim said:
Windows, HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, the phone's formatting tool and I think a SanDisk formatting tool.

Are you familiar with the DISKPART utility?

HecFam · 27 Nov 2014 at 14:03

Quick Diskpart guide, make sure you do not wipe your own drives, there is no confirmation screen with diskpart and can cause you many a problem if you're not careful.

Open the CMD as admin, type diskpart.exe. A new cmd window should open running diskpart.

Type "List Disk" all the disks in your computer should show up. Identify your SD from the size. When you know what disk no. your SD card is, type "Select disk x" x being the disk number.

Once the disk is selected, make sure its right, type Clean. This will remove all information from the Disk. You may then want to format the drive again. You can do this through diskpart, but you need to specify different things, its usually easier to do it through disk management.

millsy888 · 27 Nov 2014 at 14:13

Last time i needed a replacement card from sandisk, all they required was the serial number and photos of the cut up dead card emailed to them.