MicroSD card keeps disappearing from storage

Which USB mode did you use before? “Mount SD card”? This mode hides the SD to the phone when connected to a PC (the SD is used as an external hard disk). So MTP could also be a good default setting. It allows you to access your SD via PC without hiding it to the phone.

I did use “Mount SD card”, however the phone was not connected to a PC between losing the SD card.
At work I “abuse” the USB-hub of my monitor which is not connected to my PC as charger for my phone. At first I thought that might trigger the issue, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. At least not immediately/always.
I will change to MTP mode and report back.

Hi guys

I found that when the phone is charging the phone behaves in strange ways and one of them is making the SD card disappear.
It’s sorted now as I just unplug the phone.
Thanks for your replies.

I guess that’s because it’s connected via the default USB option “Mount SD card” (see my post above). Try MTP…

So far I can confirm that the SDcard issue disappears when changing the USB setting to either charge only or MTP.
It seems like there is a bug related to the mount SD card option.

3 Likes

I did experience the “disappeared MicroSD card” problem this evening after upgrading to Fairphone 2 OS 1.2.8.

The following steps did not help:

  • Reboot
  • Restart (Shutdown + Power on)
  • Reinsert MicroSD card

The following steps, however, did help:

  1. Remove MicroSD card again
  2. Clean MicroSD card pins (actually, I used my hands)
  3. Change USB mode to MTP (was: “Charging only”)
  4. Reinsert MicroSD card (afterwards)

Therefore, I suppose the solution lays in steps 2 and/or 3.

Note: I am using a Samsung microSDXC PRO 64GB (5 years guarantee + much faster than the encrypted internal memory).

I still can’t use the SD card. I’ve been trying to find similar topics to this one but I still can’t find a solution.

I’m using a new Integral 32GB SD card, which is a trusted make but having the problem of being able to use the SD card for a while, listen to music, then it disappears and I’m unable to mount the SD card again. I have to Erase SD card to be able to use it again.

From left to right…

  • Screen 1: whilst in MTP, doesn’t recognise there is a SD card there.
  • Screen 2: whilst in charging mode, only option to Erase SD card. Mounting just flickers the SD card icon in the status bar.
  • Screen 3: after erasing all data from SD card, the card is successfully mounted again.

Does anyone have any new answers or recommendations. Would I be able to simply replace the SD reader module?

Hello I had the same problem with a Samsung evo 64gb card. Now I use a cheaper Transcend 64gb and everything is fine. There seems to be a Problem with the fp2 and Samsung evo cards.

Ever since I switched to MTP mode, my Samsung evo 32 GB never disappeared again.

2 Likes

I will give this a try, I currently keep it in charging mode so if it doesn’t disappear again it might help show if there is a problem with this mode.

Speak soon
Max

Hi all, I’ve kept the phone on MTP mode for the last few days, transferred some music to the SD card and was able to access the music on Google Play for the first day. However, the same issue has occurred.

I’m borrowing a SanDisk 8GB SD card from a friend, the card mounted immediately and I can see all the files on there. Now, the waiting game!

I’ll give an update soon :slight_smile:

I’ve been using the SanDisk SD card for over a week now, transferred music by inserting the card directly into my mac and via USB as well to see if it fails.

It’s worked fine both in MTP mode and Mount SD card mode (using DoubleTwist app) so maybe I just need to get a new SanDisk SD card but maybe at 32GB. Bit annoying I still might’ve wasted money on the Integral 32GB.

Updates from anyone else?

I switched to a transcend card and had no problems ever since.

I have the same problem with my Samsung Pro Plus microSDXC 128 GB,
as soon i plug in the USB cable, the micro sd card gets lost, and i can’t get it back
i have to delete the sd card, then it’s again mounted, but also my data is lost and i have to upload everything again.
This Thread is up since January, where is an official statement from FP 2 support
I buy the most expensive card in the shop and what do i get in return, the middle finger, the support team does not even care.

this is really frustrating, reaaallly frustrating

I also had problems wirth my samsung SD card.

I replaced it with a transcend sd card and had no problems after the change.

I’ve been struggling with this problem, too described here:

My SD card “disappears” and is forgotten and not recognised when (a) I reboot my phone OR (b) when I shut it down and turn it back on OR (3) when I plug my phone via USB into my computer for charging. In Storage settings, I can see the button to mount my SD card, but pressing it doesn’t do anything! I have to open the back case (while the phone is on), remove the SD card then put it back in a few times before it is recognised and mounted. I suspect this is a software issue, because when the SD card is physically removed, the mount SD card button in Storage settings is greyed out. However, if the SD card is physically plugged in, the mount SD card button is not greyed out, it just doesn’t do anything.

I have since tried switching to MTP mode, trying different SD cards, both to no avail. The problem remains. Anyone has suggestions?

Bummer you guys still have problems with this.
In my case the problem permanently disappeared when I switched to MTP mode.
If that doesn’t help, I’ve got no clue what else could…

I don’t seem to have the problem anymore either in most recent Fairphone OS versions. My Samsung Pro MicroSD card is correctly mounted and remains mounted, even after a hard reboot.

I had the same problem: SD card simply won’t mount, although it was firmly in the slot.
I removed it and re-inserted it, and suddenly I could mount. Seems the slot does not have very good contact - I had no issues whatsoever with the same card in my FP1.

Keeping my fingers crossed…

With me, it’s clearly a firmware / software / driver issue:

  1. I reboot, the SD card cannot be mounted (not even manually under settings - storage)
  2. While the phone is running, I remove and reinsert the card - it mounts.
  3. When I reboot after that, see step 1.

Therefore, it cannot be a hardware problem - the SD card is the same, and in exactly the same position as before the reboot.