SD and Micro SD Cards Going Offline (SP2)

[Richard Campbell]

Whenever I attempt to do a mass file copy to or from a Micro SD card or an SD card (in a USB card reader), the copy proceeds for a while then the card goes offline causing an error. If I resume (after the card mounts itself again) copying it proceeds for a while then fails again. Restarting the computer seems to improve the situation improves for a while but the problem still exists.

I can do the same file copy with the same SD card and card reader on my laptop with no problem.

Has anyone else had this sort of problem? I think almost certainly yes.

Is there a fix available?

Richard Campbell

 

[benjitek]

I haven't run into the issue at all, and I do a lot of copying of video files to a MicroSD card to play in my Samsung Smart TV. Mostly, I use the MicroSD card slot in my SP2, take it out and put it into a USB adapter which plugs into the TV. It's >much< faster to use the slot than leave the card in in the USB adapter and plug it into the SP2's USB port, however, sometimes I do. Regardless of how I copy the files, I've never had an issue (going on 6 months now).

Regardless of that card/adapter working in your laptop, the only way to know for sure if it is card-related is to try another one in your SP2. I've used 2, both SanDisk -- I only use 1 now because it's so blazingly fast (when plugged into the MicroSD Card slot).

​

 

[Richard Campbell]

I wonder if the "Class" of the card is a factor? You mention that yours is vey fast. Mine are both recognised brands, Kingston & SanDisk, both Class 10, which I think is quite fast.

 

[Richard Campbell]

More info, your card and mine (x2) are the same nominal speed and are XC1 but yours is UHS, which has a new type of bus "for high data volumes", and mine do not.
Put another way, yours is U1 and mine are C10, nominally the same speed but with different bus architectures.

I wonder if that is the crucial difference.

Even if it is, my cards work fine on a regular notebook and only cause problems on SP2.

 

[yeewiz]

I had the similar symptoms as you with my SanDisk Ultra 64GB microSD card. Went through several formats over time to be sure to eliminate format issues but invariably always ran into problems when copying one or multiple files 2GB size or larger. Finally replaced card with SanDisk Extreme Plus 64GB, as pictured in this thread, and no more issues. I know you said the card works in your laptop but it looks like you probably need to replace that card just as your next troubleshooting step to get to the next decision point. Good luck!

 

[Richard Campbell]

Thanks, that is definitely going to be my next step even though it doesn't seem to seem strictly logical.

I get the impression that it is a data transfer speed/volume related issue. Perhaps some sort buffer overflow or memory leak.

I have been using the SP2 to copy files off my camera SD card to the Micro SD card on the SP2 while travelling so I may eventually need to buy two of them.

 

[Richard Campbell]

OK, I bought a SanDisk 64 GB Extreme Micro SD Card. Not Extreme Plus but definitely UHS. I was able to perform a full NTFS format without the card going off-line. There was no way that I could do this with the old card so this looks promising.
I still don't understand why the SP2 is so precious that it needs a high performance SD cards when ordinary laptops aren't so picky.

 

[benjitek]

OK, I bought a SanDisk 64 GB Extreme Micro SD Card. Not Extreme Plus but definitely UHS. I was able to perform a full NTFS format without the card going off-line. There was no way that I could do this with the old card so this looks promising.
I still don't understand why the SP2 is so precious that it needs a high performance SD cards when ordinary laptops aren't so picky.

I don't think it is 'picky' -- I only use that particular card as it's so fast when copying larger video files, but I've used other slower SanDisk and Kingston cards without issue.

I do recall having issues when I formatted one of my cards with NTFS and researched using Google and discovered it's not a good option for SD/MicroSD cards -- don't recall the details though. After switching to exFAT things worked well.

Have you tried researching online? Or even searching the forums here?

 

[Richard Campbell]

This comment wasn't aimed at those who choose high performance cards, usually with good reason, I just think that the Surface Pro should be able to cope with lower spec cards as most computer can.

 

[benjitek]

...I just think that the Surface Pro should be able to cope with lower spec cards as most computer can.

It does

 

[Richard Campbell]

To put it another way, both the SanDisk SD card (from my camera) and the Kingston Micro SD card that I originally purchased for the SP2 apparently weren't good enough even though both worked fine on my notebook. My guess at the moment is that UHS cards are required for the SP2, if you plan to bulk copy files (e.g. from a camera). I am searching now for minimum specifications on SD cards for the SP2 but I haven't founds anything yet.

 

[jrapdx]

To put it another way, both the SanDisk SD card (from my camera) and the Kingston Micro SD card that I originally purchased for the SP2 apparently weren't good enough even though both worked fine on my notebook. My guess at the moment is that UHS cards are required for the SP2, if you plan to bulk copy files (e.g. from a camera). I am searching now for minimum specifications on SD cards for the SP2 but I haven't founds anything yet.

Interesting. I've used the mSD cards mainly for backup of image files. Currently have a 32GB C10 and 64GB U1 cards for the purpose. Haven't noticed problems transfering files from other storage media, but then I've copied 10 or 16 jpg/raw files at a time (say 150-200MB) which may not have been enough to trigger the kinds of problems you're having. BTW haven't seen any huge difference in performance between the cards, but I haven't really looked for it either.

One thing I have found bothersome, is trying to back up Hyper-V VM images, which are usually >= 10GB. Unlike unix boxes the SP2/Win8.1 won't copy the VM to a FAT partition. With some experimenting, I found it does work if the card is reformatted with exFAT and largest sector size (32KB, I think). Of course, formatting with NTFS would probably be even better.