Surface Pro microSD card unmounts after waking up from sleep

Anonymous
2013-03-01T00:26:48+00:00

Hi,

I've recently bought Surface Pro along with a 64 GB sd card. I've noticed that after a long sleep period, the SD card unmounts itself and I can no longer find it under explorer. I need to remove and reinsert it before Windows detects the card again. This doesn't happen if I wake up the device shortly after putting it to sleep, only after a few hours. I wouldn't mind it as much if I didn't have to set up Skydrive again after reinserting. I think it might have something to do with s3 sleep, and might be a driver/software error, but I'm not entirely sure. Any ideas?

Surface | Surface Pro | Install and update

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2014-07-22T16:48:29+00:00

I finally solved this problem by enabled write-caching for the SD card.  My card no longer unmounts unexpectedly when changing power modes.  I realize this comes with some risk of possible data loss if the card is not ejected properly.

  1. I right-clicked on the SD card device in device manager under Disk Drives.
  2. Then clicked properties
  3. Then went to the policies tab
  4. And then selected "best performance"

So far, no unexpected dismounts and no data corruption.  This has also improved the performance of the device as reads and writes of large files seem to be much smoother now.

My theory is that this setting is preventing the slot from powering down while in a hibernated or suspended state.

Was this answer helpful?

3 people found this answer helpful.
0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2014-02-06T04:56:51+00:00

Hello Ted

Check out my other post here

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surfpro2-surfdevice/micro-sd-slot-no-longer-recognized-in-the-surface/2705d99f-440a-41a4-9bdf-965f1b092efd

Eventually I changed the card same make/ model, formatted it as NTFS and so far have had no issues at all...........and its been almost 2 months now.

I think Scandisk have issues with quality control ?

Try a full format on NTFS , it does take sometime

If it still has issues after that I would use the card in your phone or something else and by another one brand new for the slate.

It worked for me.

I guess we will get the same issues when the 128GB MSD card comes out!

Good luck

Was this answer helpful?

1 person found this answer helpful.
0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2015-07-17T20:46:00+00:00

Simply change the driver to generic USB mass storage.

Was this answer helpful?

0 comments

78 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2016-07-21T17:04:45+00:00

    Hi,

    I have the very same (and other) issues with my Surface Pro 3 and I have contacted the MS Support. I opted for the advanced exchange and have received a replacement device, that did not unmount the cards, that previously did not work on my own device.

    I had a Sandisk 64GB Ultra, that frequently unmounted and a 64GB Samsung EVO, that worked. Strangely with the generic card reader drivers also the Sandisk seemed to work.

    As my device had other issues too - I received a replacement device from MS which was not in proper condition - so I had to return it and I will go for another replacement now.

    As the Sandisk worked on the replacement device - I got back to MS Support and tried to get confirmation, that the unmounting of the SD cards was indeed a fault, that MS was aware of and if the next replacement device would also be Ok.

    This was the statement, that I received:

    Thank you so much for your reply. I am really sorry for that. Regarding with the issue with the unmount SD card and display issues, we actually recommend a reset or restore the device back to the original factory settings.

    If it is already done, it means it is already a hardware issue with the device and needs for a replacement. Microsoft is already aware of this issue and the respond of the customers online with the same issue with you.

    According to this statement, MS are aware of the issue and they should respond to other affected customers the same way.

    Hope this helps.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2016-12-20T19:32:08+00:00

    I have the same issue, and seem to have come across the fix.

    When my micro SD card stopped working / randomly unmounted, I checked Device Manager. In Device Manager under Storage Controllers, the SD Storage Class Controller for the SD slot was disabled.

    What is happening, I think, is the system is putting the SD slot to sleep to save power (whenever it feels like it).

    To fix, in Device Manager (right click or long touch on Windows logo in bottom left of screen, choose "Device Manager"):

    • Scroll to bottom and expand "Universal Serial Bus Controllers" (USB)
    • Open property page for "USB Root Hub" (or similar). You can open by double clicking or long touch and choose 'properties'.
    • On the "Power Management" tab, uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power". Click ok.
    • Close Device Manager.
    • Hopefully this fixes it

    I am testing on my device now...so any confirmation that this works, please share.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments