SD Card Erasures

[valheru]

Just checking to see which people have had sd card erasures with which ROM.

I have had sd card erasures with 4.00.05.

[GregP74]

I have had erasures on the 4.00.05 and 4.00.10 ROMs. So far (knock on wood) I haven't had any problems with the 4.00.16.

That being said, it seems like when it is about to erase your card, everthing gets really slow and it stops responding. I've had that start to happen once or twice under the new rom, but I've popped out the card and done a soft reset. Put the card back in after that and all is well.

I am not sure if it really was getting ready to self destruct, but it was slowing down.

[Goofy07]

Had no problems under 4.00.05 and 4.00.10 This morning my sd card was erased under 4.00.16 Have just restored my data and locked the damn sd card.

[andygee]

I have had mine erase under 4.00.5 but so far so good under 4.00.11.

[AE]

Just idea: Is anybody have "spontaneous SD erasure" problem wit NO SUNDISK SDs ?

:wink:

[van]

I had "spontaneous SD erasure" with Panasonic SD
ROM v. 4.00.05 :twisted:
And since moment upgraded ROM 4.00.16 not yet :roll:

[andygee]

It's gone again for me....under 4.0.11 this time....am going to try swapping from a 256 card to 128 today to see if it makes a difference....Any else had any revelations as to what's causing it?

[andygee]

Same problem today with Sandisk 128 meg SD Card.

[alqwerty]

Hmmm..its strange.
I never have a problem with any of the 1.2 4.05 and 4.11 roms.
Being a 32MB unit I have virtually no prog installed in main memory but the kitchen 4.11 is fully packed until 2k remaining.
Could it be one of the programs in your machine?
Try not installing any.
Anyone else with no problem? Please speak up.
.............................................
Rom:4.00.11
Radio:4.21.00
Protocol:32S54
Sd:PQI 256MB
Asian Unit connected to Digi Malaysia

[wuffi]

Erasures under 4.00.05, 4.00.11 :(
128MB MMC Card (MMC Association)

[GregP74]

FYI, I've been running rom version 4.00.16 (plain vanilla version, no rom kitchen additions), with a minimal number of programs installed for a couple weeks now. No SD losses yet. I am thinking there must still be some software that's not compatible with WM 2003 that's causing the problems for people.

[wuffi]

Another problem - can't format any card under WM2003... I thought that it was caused by FlashFormat (I thought it's not compatible with WM2003). But with the new version of FlashFormat for WM2003 the same problem... Has anyone this problem too?

[GregP74]

Hmmm can't say that I've actually tried to format a card under 2003. I always use my card reader for that.

[van]

Today I have "spontaneous SD erasure" with Panasonic SD 256MB
ROM version. 4.00.16 -Crazy
:twisted:
:twisted: :twisted:
Who can find this bug??? :cry: :cry: :cry:
Are you a hero :?:
Waiting for Developers :wink: or somebody :?:
Thank,

[wuffi]

Yesterday again... And today again! That's impossible! But I've found something that may be interresting. So I have a question - do you remember if you have performed a soft reset at the day the card was erasured?
Because - I have... And it looked like the system boot last longer before I found the card is erasured...
What about the others?

[wuffi]

QUESTION FOR VAN:
------------------------

Do you have a plain version like GregP74 or you have cooked your own in the kitchen?

[van]

from the J. kitchen
10 days no problem :shock:
Today try to upgrade clean ROM 4.00.16 but kitchen is not working now :?: :?: :?: :cry:

[wuffi]

Hm, I want to detect where the problem can be... Can all of us build a list of apps you have included to your ROMs?
Maybe some application is not really fully cpmpatible with WM2003, as someone said...

Thank you

[van]

@wuffi
Maybe you are right
I made last soft reset and It seems little bit longer than normal

[jjohn]

I had "spontaneous SD erasure" with Toshiba SD
ROM v. 4.00.11 (7-10 days after ROM upgrade).

[wuffi]

So to detect if these erasures are related to loading some apps after reset, please, try to remove your card before each reset and then post there if the problem resists...

Thank you

[Leo]

Running Radio 4.21/WM2003 4.00.05 and 256MB Lexar SD for 3 weeks now and no problems at all..... (lets keep it that way :lol: )

[digital_1]

I received the "Spontaneous SD Card Erasure" using a 64MB Sandisk MMC and 4.00.16 version of the ROM

The only Kitchen add-on I included was the 'multiple resets make device slow' bug fix.

I use my unit for GPS and discovered this bug after all the maps on my memory card disappeared! Luckily, it happened at a time when I really didn't need the GPS but this could be a prob when I really need to depend on it.

John

[Peter Poelman]

Luckily, it happened at a time when I really didn't need the GPS but this could be a prob when I really need to depend on it.
The write-protect tab is your friend.

[Enzo]

:!: FYI:

After 4 days working with the I haven't had any problems with the 4.00.16 ROM of T-Mobile USA with erasing the SD card

XDA - 64MB
SD 32MB for tests
4.00.16 ROM EN T-Mobile cooked via ROMKITCHEN
Phone ROM v4.21

The problem of erasing SD could lie in a 3rd party application? :roll:

[wuffi]

Yes, it is some application which we cook into our ROMs, I think. It seems the card is erasured after reset - maybe some application which starts after reset is not fully compatible with WM2003. Now I remove the card before each reset. If no problems come, I was probably right. If it will continue, the problem is something else. It seems it works, for this time. I want to collect information about apps cooked into ROM - especially from people without any problems. I think it should help to find the application which causes the card erasure problem...

[wuffi]

... so if you want to help, make a list of apps you cooked in to your ROM and send it to wuffi@centrum.cz

Thank you!

[andygee]

I have cooked a rom with no software in it....just the rom to see if the problem still exists....Been running for a day now that way with no problems....Will add a program or two after today to see if I can determine what's causing it....Have noticed though that the unit gets real slow and if you browse to your Memory Card there are multiple memory cards listed....then a reset fixes that and erases the card or at least has for me.....

[GregP74]

Haven't had any problems with the card erasing since a day or two after installing the 4.00.16 beta. And I installed that the day it became available.

FYI, I've got the following software on there, which seems to be stable:

Omega One Journal Bar
Hudsonmobile IP Dashboard
Astraware DiamondMine
Resco Picture Viewer
MacroMedia Flash Player ActiveX
Handmark Scrabble
Handmark Scrabble Players Dictionary
Omega One Battery Pack 2003
AOL 2.0

Sorry don't have version numbers, but all are the latest.

[MADmanFREE]

I swapped SD cards about.

I put the one with all of my programs back into the device. And it was empty.

Not a happy bunny!!

I use 2 x 64mb cards. I can't afford a 256meg card yet to replace these. purchased 1 year a go for GB£40 each, now worth a tenna if I'm luccky!!

[andygee]

I am running 4.00.11 and still trying to find the key to the sd erasures. I have no extra software installed other than the following programs, that I installed via kitchen rom.....

4.00.11
theft protection

total commander
tascal search
ftxpbrowser
pocket console
system snapshot
eval calculater
foldable keyboard
xda boot image
xda theme
tdlaunch

Just curious if anyone else has narrowed it down to a certain app or not.

[jerome]

I like to make announcement that I had my first MMC card :cry: ERASE :roll: on the ROM version 4.00.11 ENG . I done the upgrade 6th Saturday and Monday 8th night 21:30. I notice all my important data was gone i.e. images, pictures and programs. . My plan was to do a backup of my data that night but i arrived home late from my office. Therefore I have to reload every thing again tonight and backup. I have a back of my data but it's from 3.17.05 ENG which I think is not recommended to reload on my current ROM. Overall I’m happy with this ROM version but reading all post i never seen any post reporting MMC card erase before (Correct me if I'm wrong). A few questions

Why and how does the MMC card erase take place how can this bee avoided :?: :idea: What is the solution for this issue on most of the test ROM’s available :?: :idea:


I'm aware 4.00.11 ENG WM2003 Phone Edition is not the final edition but It good enough for me to keep as my prime ROM.

via kitchen rom..... I selected

4.00.11 ENG
Make battery warning adjustable
Fix 'multiple resets make device slow' bug (WM2003 only)
Remove 'stk.lnk' from Startup folder (WM2003 only)

---UPDATE---

I do not own an SD but a read the article see link http://www.flashcards.co.nz/knowlege-base/mmc-card-vs-sd-card.html

a quote
SD includes a small switch on the side of the card that has two settings: Locked and Unlocked. If you set the card to the locked position, devices will not be able to write to the card, erase data from the card, etc.

I thinking of purchasing a SD . This may be one solution until someone finds the Root problem to Card erase. Any one let me know if I'm wasting my time thinking purchasing a SD card

[jerome]

Just to let every one know that on 4.00.11 ENG i experince another MMC data erase . This time my XDA never had a soft reset. I load my software again 09/09/2003 18:30. This morning Date 10/09/2003 Time 10:25 MMC It's a good thing i made a backup but this is an issue:x :x :x :x :wink:

[GregP74]

Just a thought for those experiencing erasures with rom kitchen cooked roms. Check to see what versions of software you've got cooked into your rom. Maybe there are programs in there which are not the latest versions and have some incompatibilities still with WM 2003? Just a thought.

[alqwerty]

I have at one time or another used all the progs in
the kitchen (except the 2002 ones obviously) and never encounter this problem.
I use Fat for my 256MB sd by the way.

[Qman]

Well I just had my first card erased under T-Mobile ROM 4.00.16 after over more than a month of use.
:cry:
BTW this was a .bin install and not a kitchen cooked rom. Note for a few days now prior to this happening I noticed my unit was acting a little strange (slow to boot after a soft reset). I kept telling myself to lock the damn card. oh well! :cry:

Anyhow last know use prior to the erase was Add/Remove Programs, where Pocket TV Browser was removed.
The erase took place over night while the unit was charging in its cradle.

SD card: Kindston 128MB

Installed software:
Mapoplis
JGUI My INFO
Ink Spot CE
Agenda Fusion
Microsoft Remote Display Control
Resco Explore 2003
Laridain Pocket Bible
Laridain One Year Bible
Laridain Daily Reader
Inesoft Cash Organizer
ListPro 3.0
CodeWallet Pro
HanDBase 3.0
Pocket Toolman
WIS Bar
Spb GPRS Monitor
Today Phone Pro
HPC Spell
HPC Notes


HTH

[wuffi]

Can you tell me where you got the ROM from (you don't have to give us links or contacts, just asking if you can say that the rom is 100% not from kitchen)? It can help to investigate why the erasures happens...

[Qman]

Yea I got it from a link that was posted on this forum by Aurora13 if I'm
not mistaken, but the download location has since been shut down though! And yes I'm a 100% sure its not from kitchen.

Update!
Yeap it came from Aurora13 for more info on it read the below thread:

ROM version 4.00.16 is here!!!
http://xda-developers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2354


HTH

[van]

Today again S. erasure :cry:
Original ROM version 4.00.16 from kitchen
SD SanDisk 512 MB
Now have to be used "lock button" :twisted:
Waiting for Developers :roll:

[Qman]

Hi Gang,

A thought just hit me in regards to this issue. It took almost a month until
my card got erased, why so long I said!

Then it hit me, my device didn't start acting strange until I started using the the built-in Spiral Today themes.

Prior to switching to the Spiral theme I was using a third party theme called "Phone" its 18.0 KB in size (located in my main "MY Documents" folder).

Note the Spiral Today theme is 30.0 KB in size, could it be the size!
BTW I can confirm that a friend was using the exact same theme when
his card was erased as a matter of fact he was the one who turned me on
to the theme in the first place. :cry:

So my question is what theme were you using when your card was erased, Built-in or Third Party? Also check the size.


HTH

[Nossie]

I use my own theme ... 32kb in size and located in my documents..

I really doubt its the theme ... prolly more a program in the rom...

[Qman]

So confirming you had your SD card erased while using your own theme 32kb in size and it was located in your My Documents?

[Nossie]

yep, although it really could have been on the storage card itself one of the other times... I dont remember

Have you tried reseting it with another theme?

I'm really not wanting to format mine yet :P so I'm not planning on testing your theory

what is guaranteed though is that my card will format every time I reset without locking it first...

personally I think it has to be a program within the downloaded rom? i.e one that was selected before it was cooked...

I dont think anyone that has downloaded a default OEM rom or one cooked without the third party proggies has experienced these problems?

[Nossie]

I'm copying a backup of my storage card over....

then I'm planning on changing the theme back to the default xda developers one... reset... and see what happens :shock:

[Nossie]

well what do yah know ! ... the mans right :lol:

my monkey island 2 saves are still there ;) and the other 96mb I had on the card...

I'd eat my hat sir... if I had one.

thats a pure pita though...

note though that I used the 'default' theme... which apparently was the default colours with the XDA-Dev background

anything that can be done about this ? :cry: :cry: :cry:

thanks again Qman....

[Qman]

Glad to be of service! 8)
Now that we know whats causing it, all that is left now is for somebody to find out why its doing! :wink:

Oh yea before I forget, good work Nossie!

[wuffi]

Are you sure? I will try it...

[wuffi]

Hm - I changed the theme to "Windows Default" and performed a soft reset with my card inserted... But... How many times you've tried it? It needs further testing. Cause sometimes my card wasn't erased, even with the spiral theme. I will test it (no storage card removal before reset).

But - thanks for a new hope!
:D

[Nossie]

well wuffi,

thats me reset mine twice..

fate of atlantis is still there :)

and so is Day of the tentacle muwhahahahahahahaha

but I do miss my beloved theme :(

alas I am at a loss... I think I'll stick with my sd card locked hehe

atleast until it does it again and I learn my lesson *coff*

anyone noticed my new toy is scumm yet? LOL :lol:

[wuffi]

Six resets without card erasure!
If it would work this way, it will be great! But I'm scared that if I'll 100% believe that it works, on a nice day I'll found my card empty...
But for this time it seems working... *knocking on the wood* I just can't get any reasonible answer on how can one bad theme influent filesystem, so it thinks there is a new memory card and format it... :?: :!:

I miss the theme too :cry:

[rpc]

My Theme is in the SD Card, and I usually reset my XDA due to the problem of the SIM card, but I don't have this kind of problem regarding erasures, are you sure it is from the Theme? :cry:

[Qman]

99% sure but as you stated your theme is on your SD card so there is
no need to worry! :P

[GregP74]

Speaking of sd cards erasing and themes, it seems to back when mine was erasing all the time I was using a program called theme king, and i had my theme located on the sd card.

i never bothered reinstalling that after the last sd failure. And I don't think my card has been erased since then.

[andygee]

Well I am using only the default theme with no theme manager and can almost count on sd erasures as much as I do my alarm clock.

[reydiodj]

Has anyone tried using the WM2k3 themes to see if they worked well yet? 2k3 themes are slightly different in that the menu text can now match the color of the text on the today screen.

Here's the link (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/resources/downloads/pocketpc/themes.mspx)

- they won't work properly when accessed via Theme Switcher and the theme is stored on the SD card, but when you store it in the Windows folder they work fine. Funny, they work properly on my Toshiba e755 and my iPAQ 2210 when stored on the SD card.

Also, if you are a user of Theme Generator v2, you'll see that if you create a theme and have it upload to a 2k3 device, it will say it is not compatible...but you can still manually transfer it via Windows Explorer while the XDA is ActiveSync'd.

- could we really be onto something or are we really going off-topic here?

[Nossie]

no I think you could be onto something... although for me the themes seem to work without using an SD card...

do you know of anything yet that supports outputting to 2k3 theme files?

I'd be interested in that 8)

EDIT: what is the best tool for creating themes anyways?

[Leo]

Intensivly using WM2003 4.00.11 for 6 weeks now and not a single SD erasure. SD card is 256 MB Lexar.

[reydiodj]

...yeah - on my T-mobile MDA, 2k3 themes on the accesed on the SD card via Theme Switcher really screws up the Today display.

ThemeMaker Pro Plus (http://www.thememaker.biz/thememakerproplus.htm) is the best and the only one I know of that can produce the output of 2k3 themes.

[Andrew]

Hi
I've done some testing so far....
First of all, I don't think ROM version has anything to do woth SD card erasure problems... I have Pocket PC ver 4.20 (Build 13083)
Rom version 3.04.00 ENG
and have same problem, as you do on different and newer Rom versions...
First I thought that I have a SD card problem, so I exchanged it for a different one... Had no problems for few days. Than it started happening again. Almost every day I lost the data...
I noticed that before it happenes the device slows down badly, sometimes programs do not want to load and in memory info there is a little memory left. I think some process it eating up memory. Maybe incompatible application. Have a look at apps running on you Pocket pc at the time it starts slowing down... Esspecialy Today Plug-ins....
I removed on my Pocket pc SPB GPRS monitor 2.0 and since then the device runs ok... so far... I had problems every day, now it runs smoothly for 3 days...
have a look at apps you running, and try to remove them...
Hope it will help..
my conclusion
Probably badly written app causes memory leaks and fills up the memory of you pocket pc. When it fills teh memory, the device slows down and becomes unstable....
when you reset it at that time, data corruption occurs on the SD card...
Try locking the card or remove it before the reset....but test the plugins...

[Qman]

Time will tell, BTW the SD card erase issue has been around since the first WM2003 PPCPE beta Ozone if I remember correctly.

BTW what type of Today theme were you running third party or built-in
and what is its size?




HTH

[Andrew]

I'm running default windows blue theme... But it used to happen on every theme I had... downloaded and build-in ones....

[ntabikha]

i have a Sandisk 256 card, and today i lost all folders from B to I.
strange!
also, the card seem to be viewble on xda, tho most games wont load
but on the pc card reader, it ask me to be formated.

im using
3.14.40 ENG
6.24
64 ram

2003 was just too much problems, i'll settle for the 3rd party browser and midi players. heh

[dogsnob]

This is really pants

[savagemen]

Well, i had an card erasure but i didnt soft reset the device.
I had some apps opened and then i just used the pocketnav to close them all and the card... puff, all gone!!!!
So, i think that its something with the pocketnav.

I have the wm2003 4.00.16
radio 3.23.01
256mb card

[ronin]

I "suspect" the problem lies with the way WM2003 recognizes and labels the SD cards. I played with 4 different SD cards( multiple vendors and configurations) and ROM upgrades consisting of the plain OS all the way to the fully loaded kitchen ROMs and the erasure problem occurred many times.

The "default theme concept" is an interesting one, because theme are connected closely to the OS Registry allocation( this is why some themes developed in Theme Manager V2 are unusable in VW2003). So I suspect there is a registry or code conflict between the SD card and the Radio/Modem device in our XDAs/ ( Tmobiles. ATT and XDA versions)

I do not have SD card erasures on a WM2003 without the phone edition.

Will do some more R&D and see if I can come with a solution. It is a troublesome bug!

[dogsnob]

That sounds like the first plausable explanation!

Ive had erasures on vanilla and cooked, and without rebooting too, my xda trashed a card while i was playing mp3's off it!

[dogsnob]

The other day I demonstrated to a friend of mine how to get into the bootloader so he could unlock his own XDA, when I rebooted my XDA asked me to tap the screen to set it up, I almost smashed it off the floor... ARRRGHHHH

I dont see any progress any time soon so I'm off to PPC2002 street again...

Goodbye WM2003

:roll:

[GregP74]

The other day I demonstrated to a friend of mine how to get into the bootloader so he could unlock his own XDA, when I rebooted my XDA asked me to tap the screen to set it up, I almost smashed it off the floor... ARRRGHHHH

I dont see any progress any time soon so I'm off to PPC2002 street again...

Goodbye WM2003

:roll:

Actually I think that's gonna happen no matter what ROM you use. When you go into the boot loader, I'm pretty sure it automatically does a hard reset.

[fa14]

Look my case...., I just test my new-build ringtone. Called from other phone to my XDA. Got 1 missed call, nothing happened. Called the second time, i got 2 missed call of course......but SD card was erasured as well.

[GregP74]

Just a thought when you guys are getting SD erasures, have you been using an sd card writer to write stuff, or just copying using activesync?

I haven't had anything erased in a couple of months now, which is incidentally, the last time I tried copying a bunch of stuff to my card via the reader.

I wonder if maybe there's some kind of incompatibility in file systems or something

[cruisin-thru]

It seems the axim had a lot of problems with corruption of sd cards also, and some erasures, none of this happened until WM2003 was released, the explanation is supposed to be something to do with the sd format, if I read it correctly, it seems that the machine you plug the card into has to supply all sorts of logic/hardware as the sd is "dumb" memory.

[camarao]

My SD card was finally erased after 2 months of use. I don't know what happened, but it happened. Does locking the SD card help in any way? :(

[ronin]

The erasures happen whether you use activesynch or a card writer.
I spend a few hours analysing the DLL in WM2003 for Phone and the regular oneWM2003 on a non-phone IPAQ.

The one I can say they are definetely different and they use memory,DMA and allocations quite uniquely. On Pocket PC 2002 each SD card or device that gets attached to the system gets a unique ID that is stored in ROM for each time the OS needs to access the info or application in the card.

In WM2003 Phone edition, there OS forces a name onto the SD and" I suspect "causes the File Allocation Table om the SD Card to be erased each time it is accessed for either an application or check of memory cycle. The code is not documented, so I am going through line by line to understand the reasons for why our WM2003 functions (or more accurately) does not function properly. Because, In WM2003 IPAQ, the SDI.DLL functions like in Pocket PC 2002 and there are no erasures.

I am close to finding a real answer, but will not publish anything until I can give an answer and a solution to this irritating problem. I am not even sure if I am in the right track... But am trying!

Spoke to a Techie at Tmobile and he said they are having a lot of issues with their builds, radio stack and WM2003, thus the delay in releasing it to the US T-Mobile clients! The SD card is a big problem for them and one issue he mentioned is that some SIM cards get corrupted as well...I'd hate that!

[andygee]

Well after everyone saying theme's, theme's, theme's I have finally just flashed to an 4.0.11 build with the apps and haven't changed any of the theme stuff. I have been running a week now without the erasure and I was having that problem on a daily basis. Am almost convinced that it does have to do with a theme problem.

[wuffi]

I have no problem with card erasures since I changed my today Theme as someone described in this thread.

[ronin]

:D I spent about 3 hours with a Microsoft Windows Mobile developer( from Microsoft) and he explained that our suspicions on Themes and hardware and SD resets are correct.

The versions of our T-Mobile and X2 WM 2003 were provided to T-Mobile in the early part of February. The OEMs worked on their versions to incorporate their unique "features" and there is a conflict in the way WM2003 Phone edition addresses memory calls (to ROM or SD cards)and WM2003 function.

The memory calls are typically made once a Theme switch is made. Remeber themes not only change Today's screen, but all other colors in the apps. Somehow, our WM PE overrides the memory allocation on the SD cards, renaming them and causing our erasures. This will sometimes happen when we get an SMS or have a custom ring or sound profile installed or after a soft reset.

So no solution for the issue other than " the lock" button. The default theme is a good alternative, but I suspect we will still have some more erasures related to this memory addressing issue.

Furthermore, it is unlikely that T-Mobile or other OEMs will fix the issue on their own volition...They are having many challenges with stable stacks and custom builds!!! :x :x

[RobertoLV]

INCREDIBLE!!!, thanks for your Message.

Now We only need to WAIT for NO MORE TEST T-Mobile ROM.

¡¡SALUD!!-2

[van]

Thanks for PM
At least we have to know what is the main reason for E. card
Waiting for next ROM version :D :D :D

[jib]

Incredible ronin!!!

Thank you very much for your post. I never would have figured all that out. Apparently I was in a 'high risk' catagory...I have a cutome ring, recieve sms's, had a different theme and I am always soft reseting the device.

btw, version 4.20.1081 still erases it too.

props