Surface Pro3 - MicroSD is not working

Anonymous

Hi, My Surface Pro3 is i5, 4GB RAM and 128GB HDD. I have attached 128 GB Sandisk MicroSD and surface pro is not detecting it. I have restated the surface pro several times but it is not showing in Windows explorer. Not even in disk management.

I have opened the device manager and inserted the SD card and that time the device manager tree refreshes.

How can I solve this problem?

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Anonymous

I nad exactly same problems with my new / fully patched Surface Pro 3: miniSD Card not working / not recognized. Solution mentioned ealier worked.

So, the exact steps below:

Open "Device Manager" and find non recognized device in "Other devices"
Righht-Click and use option "Update Driver Software..."
"Browse my computer...."
"Let me pick from a list ...."
from the list fine and click on "SD host adapters"

6) Choose the last one: "USB Mass Storage Device" - do not choose any "Related USB Card Reader devices"

... and SD Card should work from now.

Why Microsoft didn't publish such list for the last several months I could not imagine. Surface 3 is wonderful device with only minor problems, that could be easily addressed.

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Anonymous

Dear Zack,

I am also having this issue with my i5, 128GB Surface Pro 3.

My microSD is 64GB Sandisk Ultra.

Formatted to exFAT.

There were no issues when I use a USB reader.

Please help. Thank you

Hi, I was having the same issue on my SP3 i5 256GB tring to install a Sandisk 64GB micro SD. I kept seeing it pop up as USB 3.0 with the question mark and figured it was a driver issue. I downloaded the latest surface drivers from Microsoft and it came with the Realtek drivers. I tried again and again to no avail so then I tried the option in device manager to 'let me choose which driver to install'. There was a long list of the Realtek drivers from all my attempts but at the bottom there was a generic USB 3.0 SD driver. I installed that and WALLA! no more issues it mounted right away. I hope this helps everyone else having problems, for me the Realtek driver was the issue.

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Anonymous

Reformatting card to NTFS fix it

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Anonymous

By chance, do you have a desktop or laptop that has a SD card reader? If you do, put the micro-SD card in its adapter, put it in the SD card reader and reformat it "exFAT" and try that. Or put the card in a digital camera and try reformatting it, with it.

Then try the micro-SD card in the tablet. Some people who managed to get a 128GB card had some luck with "exFAT" for the format.

If it still does not work but works fine with a camera or another computer, it will just plain not be compatible with the tablet. Also, double check to make sure the card is a Class 10 card as well. I do believe that all 128GB micro-SD cards are now, just to make sure.

Picked up a Surface 3 w/ 4mb RAM 128gb Memory. Bought a San Disk Ultra 64gb micro sdxc plugged it in nothing. Slapped into an adapter and tried with my laptop and it worked no problem. Tried reformatting to NTFS still did not work. Reformatted to "exFAT" after to reading this thread. Worked after I popped it in! On reboot it still worked! Thanks!

Reformatted after reading this thread to

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Anonymous

On Sat, 20 Dec 2014 15:55:29 +0000, MikeNaiss wrote:

>>Yes , i pushed them as far as they could go

Random thought - see the post from Tomek at

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surfpro3-surfdevice/surface-pro3-microsd-is-not-working/70d8d205-d1e8-4bb3-be44-d7d19151b358?page=2&msgId=0ae03918-f220-4ac6-aa52-3e3a6970c05a

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Barb

Windows Entertainment and Connected Home MVP

My Blog - http://digitalmediaphile.com/

Please mark as answered if this answers your question

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Anonymous

Hello Surface Pro3 - MicroSD is n...,

Thank you for reaching out to us with this issue. I understand that your MicroSD is not being detected as expected on your Surface Pro 3. I'll do what I can to help you with this issue.

Your issue is similar to but not quite the same as this thread. For now, your device manager method may be the best solution to this issue. However, we do have a couple questions for you regarding this. First, if possible, try using a USB reader instead of the Surface device. Do you still have the same issues with a USB reader? Also, what file system was the card formatted with?

Please let us know, and we'll continue looking into your issue.

Best Wishes,

Zack_T

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Anonymous

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. This morning I shutdown my Surface, restarted at work and behold, the SD card is now recognized. Thank you very much for the quick responses. Fingers crossed it continues to work just fine.

Also, FYI, once it mounted I did format at NTFS so I can move over any size file I wish.

John

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81 additional answers

Anonymous

2015-12-31T10:50:40+00:00

On Surface 3, 128G SanDisk SDXC works well except occasionally I need to pull it out and stick it back in to use it. File manager always shows it's present, just won't use it. Tried 2 - same thing. Normal?

I had a Surface Pro 3 (8 / 256) and it was working perfectly (with my SDHC cards).

Then i had an issue with my touch screen and had it replaced with a brand new within warranty...

On my new device i noticed that it is also intermittent like how other users have experienced it here... Pulling it out and reinserting it helps (but since the slot is behind the stand it is annoying - especially you use the docking!)

Tried SanDisk 8 & 32 GB cards... Similar results...

On Windows 10 - I noticed the device is showing as "SDHC Card" rather than SDXC under Device Manager.

And i can't find any options other than a "Disk Drive" under steps (5) & (6)...

--- 5) from the list fine and click on "SD host adapters"

--- 6) Choose the last one: "USB Mass Storage Device" - do not choose any "Related USB Card Reader devices"

This issue seems to be also reported on another thread.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surfpro3-surfusingpro/sd-card-not-recognized-after-waking-up-surface-pro/c0e5b916-deba-4e67-96c7-20226f28f13f?page=7

Instead of updating the driver on the SDHC...

In Device Manager... You can update the driver of the Realtek Card Reader (under "Universal Serial Bus controllers")

→ "Browse my computer for driver software"

→ "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"

→ Select "USB Mass storage Device"

→ Click "Next" to complete replace the driver software. And then close all windows and restart your surface. Now all cards should be identified as a USB storage device.

Note: i also notice on Windows 10 there are other options including newer Realtek drivers but I stuck with the steps the user suggested, seems to work so far...

Where Realtek gives up and you need to remove/re-insert the MicroSD card to see it again...

The USB Mass Storage Device seems to be just a more "forgiving" driver...

I started to notice that the drive will sometimes "disappear" and "reappear". At times, right clicking on a folder on the MicroSD card causes File Explorer to hang for a bit 10~30 seconds.

I only have this problem in my 2nd surface pro 3, my first was not having this issue but i had to replace it due to faulty touch screen (a 4" x 4" area near the top left corner stopped responding to touch one day and a factory reset didn't help).
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