Memory sticks killed by tablet?

[JohnW2]

Hi there,

I recently transferred (or tried to transfer) some files from my laptop to my wife's (Lenovo) tablet using a previously unused 8 GB Kingston "DataTraveller" memory stick

Transferring the initial batch of files worked fine, but the memory stick then 'stopped working' to the extent that neither laptop nor tablet even acknowledge its existence when it is plugged in. I therefore tried to continue with a different (identical) memory stick. Again, the first batch of transfers worked fine but then, again, the memory stick 'died' in the same fashion as the first.

I have subsequently completed the exercise using a third memory stick, (again a Kingston DataTraveller, but much older, of a different style and previously used), which has survived the experience, and continues to work fine.

I've never experienced anything quite like this. Other than in the case of 'hardware failure', I've never known any sort of storage device to become invisible to a computer, such that it can't at least be re-formatted. I don't recall ever having used any USB device (other than the charger) with the tablet in the past, and if it were of a less reputable make, I might wonder whether a wildly incorrect voltage coming out of the USB socket might have done the harm.

I've perfectly happy to just throw the sticks into the bin, given that I have a 'drawer full' of such (cheap) things, but I'm rather intrigued to know what could have resulted in what I experienced (and, I suppose, whether it is a 'recoverable' situation).

Any thoughts/ideas?

Kind Regards, John

 

[RandomGrinch]

Sorry, although I've dealt with a few failed memory sticks, I haven't had their failure linked to a specific machine.

Was the drive properly ejected each time?

Does it show up as a volume in "Disk Management"?

Do you have access to a Linux machine (or a Live Linux USB)?
Occasionally, Linux will "See" a drive that windows wouldn't - if that is the case, then there is hope that a system repair may bring the drive back.

 

[JohnW2]

Sorry, although I've dealt with a few failed memory sticks, I haven't had their failure linked to a specific machine.

No need to apologise - as I said, it's a new one for me, too!

Was the drive properly ejected each time?

Unless I'm missing it, the tablet has no facility for doing that.

Does it show up as a volume in "Disk Management"?

Nope.

Do you have access to a Linux machine (or a Live Linux USB)?

Unfortunately not, but I know a man who probably does....

Occasionally, Linux will "See" a drive that windows wouldn't - if that is the case, then there is hope that a system repair may bring the drive back.

That's interesting. If I can get access to such a machine, I'll see. As I said, it's a trivial issue, given the cheapness of the devices, but a bit intellectually intriguing!

Kind Regards, John

 

[Koolpc]

Try them on a different PC or laptop. 3rd time lucky!

 

[JohnW2]

Try them on a different PC or laptop. 3rd time lucky!

Tried that - one other laptop and two PCs (one still running XP!) all fail to see either of the sticks.

Kind Regard, John

 

[RandomGrinch]

Unless I'm missing it, the tablet has no facility for doing that.

Ahh, had omitted to ask what OS the tablet was running.

If Win 10/11 in tablet mode...

Redirecting

If Android, slightly more involved (there may be easier ways!) - something like..
Settings>Battery and Device Care>Storage>Advanced and unmount the drive.

And ejecting/unmounting the device first, is still a good idea

 

[JohnW2]

Ahh, had omitted to ask what OS the tablet was running.

Android.

If Android, slightly more involved (there may be easier ways!) - something like..
Settings>Battery and Device Care>Storage>Advanced and unmount the drive.
And ejecting/unmounting the device first, is still a good idea

I agree but, as I said, was unaware that it could be done with Android. I'll do some playing (and will probably report back!).

Mind you, if the tablet is not recognising the existence of the drive, it's hard to see that what you suggest is likely to work - it' presumably can't unmount' a drive which it doesn't know is there?

Kind Regards, John

 

[RandomGrinch]

Mind you, if the tablet is not recognising the existence of the drive, it's hard to see that what you suggest is likely to work - it' presumably can't unmount' a drive which it doesn't know is there?

Yes, the unmounting should have been done before pulling the drive out of the tablet, when it was still working.
If it had, we may not be having this conversation!

Android

As it's Android, you have reminded me of an issue on my old phone - often when I would remove the SD card, Android wouldn't recognise it again.
It would be unreadable by Windows, but the volume would show up. That was enough to allow Chkdsk /r /f /x to run, and the card would be repaired.

...so yes, I have found that Android can sometimes cause a memory card to fail, albeit in a recoverable way.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Could they be faked capacity sticks? I use H2testw on every new stick and sdcard..

 

[JohnW2]

Yes, the unmounting should have been done before pulling the drive out of the tablet, when it was still working. ... If it had, we may not be having this conversation!

Sure - and had there been a more obvious way of doing it, I would probably have 'unmounted it' before disconnecting. However, I seriously doubt that many people are even aware of the desirability of doing that, let alone knowing how to do it - so if it were the cause of the issue we're discussing, I would have thought that we would be reading about the problem all over the place, wouldn't we?

As it's Android, you have reminded me of an issue on my old phone - often when I would remove the SD card, Android wouldn't recognise it again.
It would be unreadable by Windows, but the volume would show up. That was enough to allow Chkdsk /r /f /x to run, and the card would be repaired.

As I said, in my case with the stick, it doesn't 'show up' anywhere with Windows,

...so yes, I have found that Android can sometimes cause a memory card to fail, albeit in a recoverable way.

Interesting. That obviously might be relevant to what I've experienced.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

Could they be faked capacity sticks? I use H2testw on every new stick and sdcard..

There's always a 'conspiracy theory' offered

Well, they came out of what (to me) looked like genuine Kingston packaging.

If the capacity had been 'faked', it would have had to be very seriously 'faked' - although they were (claimed to be) 8 GB sticks, I was probably using only around 200 MB of it.

In any event, even if the capacity had been a lot less than claimed, that, in itself, should surely not have caused them to 'die' in the way that they did?

I've just examined a couple of identical ones which I bought at the same time, and both appear to have the claimed capacity - but I 'dare not' plug either of them into the tablet

Kind Regards, John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

There's always a 'conspiracy theory' offered

Well, they came out of what (to me) looked like genuine Kingston packaging.

There are a lot of fakes in circulation. This week I tested a 256Gb Kingston card, from a Kingston package, all looked very genuine, but it failed the H2 test and was only 7.5Gb - not even a standard 8Gb. It came from Amazon.

 

[Alec_t]

even if the capacity had been a lot less than claimed, that, in itself, should surely not have caused them to 'die' in the way that they did?

If a file was being written into space which didn't actually exist then perhaps that could cause the stick to become unreadable because the file wouldn't be terminated correctly, so its size would be unknown to the OS.
I had something similar happen when my camera's battery died while a file was being written.

 

[RepairingDave]

I've ran a version of linux of a CD or DVD in the past. Booting from a different drive is reasonably easy in windows XP, but I you'd have to check the system requirements of the latest version. try-ubuntu-before-you-install

I've only come across one memory stick not being recognized (one I offered to look at for someone) and I 'repaired' it by luck: the usb connector could move up and down slightly compared to the body which produced a quiet click - in one position it worked and in the other it didn't - I presume there was one or more broken solder joints.

 

[JohnW2]

There are a lot of fakes in circulation. This week I tested a 256Gb Kingston card, from a Kingston package, all looked very genuine, but it failed the H2 test and was only 7.5Gb - not even a standard 8Gb. It came from Amazon.

I don't doubt that fakes exist, and that pretty convincing fake packaging can be fairly easily produced. However, as I said, I've tested two sticks, identical to those which died, bought at the same time from the same source, and they had the claimed capacity.

In passing, beware of 'testers' which just check the apparent capacity as reported by the drive, since that can also be easily faked. If the tester gives an anwer in seconds, rather than many minutes or longer, it has not done much testing of 'usable capacity.

Kind Regards, John