MicroSD card randomly unmounts itself

Anonymous
2015-05-29T17:26:43+00:00

I inserted a Samsung EVo 128GB micros-SD card into my new Surface 3, intending to use it as photo storage for my photography workflow.

However, after a fee minutes - even without using it - the drive appears to unmounts itself. It's still visible in Explorer, but clicking it results in Explorer hanging and eventually giving the error "please insert a disk" after several minutes. In Disk Manager, the drive sometimes appears, with the correct amount of space, but indicates it's all unallocated.

This issue is fixed temporarily by removing and reinserting the disk, but a short time later it unmounts itself again. I tried the disk in my older Dell Venue 8 Pro, but the issue didn't occur there.

I've looked at previous threads about similar issues on older and Pro models, and tried setting the policy for the microSD drive to 'better performance' and even tried setting up a VHD, but none of these provided a solution.

Does anyone know what I can do?

Surface | Other

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-01-15T14:09:00+00:00

    I have the same problem with all the Surface tablets that I purchased and returned in the past two months (three Surface 3, two Surface Pro 4) for work.  I really need the SD drive to work reliably, and yet, not one of them will.  I am certain to conclude that there is something fundamentally wrong that Microsoft needs to fix.  Doing a Google search, I could see reports of this problem tracking back in 2014 on the Surface / Surface Pro line of tablets.  I am very dissatisfied with the lack of effort in addressing this long-known problem. 

    This is the exact kind of things that put a bad reputation to Windows.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-01-15T17:04:50+00:00

    Try these line of microSD http://www.amazon.com/Silicon-Power-MicroSDXC-Class10-SP064GBSTXBU1V20SP/dp/B00TB8XZOK/ref=sr\_1\_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1452877128&sr=8-4&keywords=silicon+power

    I have a 128 GB card that so far has not failed me, been maybe 2 months. Previously I had Samsung, Sandisk, Kingston, Transcend, all failed on the Surface although worked fine on other devices. Sure it's not a household brand but I'm starting to build a lot of trust. I have a 64 GB for my Dell Venue 8 Pro as well, been fine for 6+ months. I also have purchased USB drives by same maker and they've been great.

    Worth a shot if all the more well known brands have failed you, why this one works differently no idea, but it's cheaper and at this point performs better than the rest and as you can see I've tried quite a few of the brands that most in this forum have trusted. Occasionally these cards go on sale, 64 GB for maybe $15 and 128 GB for $35.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-01-16T10:43:31+00:00

    I have the same issue with unmounting, my own testing shows issues with 128GB cards only. Might try this brand. I'm not sure it is pure hardware though, as a system sound plays when removing the card after dismount. So it appears to still be recognized on some level.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-01-16T10:51:57+00:00

    I have the dismount issue as well. I only have trouble with 128GB SDXC cards. 64GB cards never dismount. For me, the issue was very frequent at first. After having removed unallocated space with DISKPART and reformatting to NTFS, and setting the card up as permanent storage, frequency is down to overnight now mostly.

    It is very very annoying to have unreliable storage. 

    I have tried several 128GB cards (Samsung EVO+, Samsung EVO etc.), other ways of formatting etc. It is not a pure hardware defect, as removing the card from my Surface 3 causes the removal sound in Windows (which you also get when inserting). For all intents and purposes, however, it is gone from my system.

    Curiously, sometimes (but not always) the Device Manager will show problems with the SD controller (an exclamation mark).

    I am running the latest build of Windows 10, if anyone should think to ask.

    Hopefully someone at Microsoft will pick this up, I can find threads about this type of issue going back to 2014 and the Surface Pro 2, sadly.

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  5. Barb Bowman 80,815 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2016-01-16T11:41:05+00:00

    I've had the same experiences. I sent this in to an internal contact at

    Microsoft some time ago, but I guess it is not as important as other issues they

    are investigating.

    __________________________________________________________________________________________________

    Barb

    Windows Experience MVP

    My Blog - http://digitalmediaphile.com/

    Please mark as answered if this answers your question

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