[lieman]

I have an 8GB SD card in my Curve that was working fine until fairly recently when it just stopped being recognized. I've played around a bit and now it's recognized but says the card needs to be formatted, so I try to do it on-device and am met with an error message every time saying the process has failed. When I plug the phone into my computer the drive shows up, but it's empty and won't let me format it that way either - anyone know of a program I could run to format it some other way?

[iowabowtech]

Can you see any files on it? Best way to check IMO would be by way of a card reader instead. If there are files, try moving everything to your PC to leave it empty. Then install in BB and since batt was out will force a reboot. It should verify mem card upon startup and may again ask you to format, otherwise try formatting through the menu. Maybe there's just a file on there that's giving it fits.

[lieman]

Yeah that's what I figured. I tried using the card reader that came with it, and no files are showing up anywhere - even weirder for me is that when I put it back into my phone and it started up again, it didn't say anything about the media card being inserted nor did it give me the option to format the card by default, but still when I went into options it gave me the same error message.
Do you know of any programs for my computer I could download that might be able to format the drive so I could give it a whirl with something other than the default control panel options? I'm figuring something like JL_Cmder or BBSAK for SD cards must be available, but I can't find anything...

[schandlak]

Interesting problem... after a few days my new 8GB Sandisk micro-SD card in my Bold 8900 started getting error messages that said it needed to be checked with a disk utility on the PC; unfortunately, I can't remember exactly what it said, but that is the essence of it.

So, I put the SD card into the reader on my PC, and ran Symantec's Norton Disk Doctor; which found and corrected "cross-linked files". After another day or so, I started getting the error message again on the Bold, so, I copied all files/directories to a folder on the PC and repeated the procedure... same result! I wound up formatting the micro-SD card on the PC; unfortunately, it now shows up as a 4GB (not 8GB) card... Aaaargh!!! Well, at least I no longer get error messages, so I'm somewhat OK with it even though I don't know what happened to the missing 4GB.

[iowabowtech]

Not personally aware of anything but who knows. I do think it'd be interesting to connect to Destop Manager and use the media files option to see if there's anything showing up there. If the phone's not recognizing the card at all, it's kinda doubtfull but it'd be worth a look for curiosity sake.

[iowabowtech]

Don't cards have a root file to start with that comes in the card out of the package? If so, I wonder if that got compromised? Also, I was wondering about the thought of putting it into a camera and trying to format it there? I've never tried using a card in a BB that had been previously formatted elsewhere and don't even know if it'd work but maybe that'd allow it to be recognized, albeit not the proper format, and then allow the card to accept the format by the BB? Again, this theory isn't tested so procede at your own descretion.

[iowabowtech]

I'm sure you've already checked this but at Options > Media Card Support, it's set to 'on' right? I also have encryption mode set to "none". Guessing you have both of the same settings but figured I'd check anyway for grins.

[lieman]

I'm sure you've already checked this but at Options > Media Card Support, it's set to 'on' right? I also have encryption mode set to "none". Guessing you have both of the same settings but figured I'd check anyway for grins.

I tried that last suggestion and for a second I thought it worked, but it ended up failing again - I also hadn't tried doing the formatting through DM, so I'm on to that next. I'll let you know how it winds up.

[osxdude]

I don't know if the BlackBerry even supports microSDHC...You should format it on your computer then format it on the BlackBerry. Also, make sure the card isn't read only.

[lieman]

Don't cards have a root file to start with that comes in the card out of the package? If so, I wonder if that got compromised? Also, I was wondering about the thought of putting it into a camera and trying to format it there? I've never tried using a card in a BB that had been previously formatted elsewhere and don't even know if it'd work but maybe that'd allow it to be recognized, albeit not the proper format, and then allow the card to accept the format by the BB? Again, this theory isn't tested so procede at your own descretion.

I don't know if the BlackBerry even supports microSDHC...You should format it on your computer then format it on the BlackBerry. Also, make sure the card isn't read only.

Yeah it supports it. I've used this same 8GB card with both my 8130 and now my 8330 with great results up until a few days back when I started trying to archive apps from the updated App world.
I've tried every method of formatting that I have readily available, including checking out the media manager and I can't find any obvious way there to fix the problem, so I'm going to go back to google and see if there are any utilities for formatting otherwise frozen SD's.
I have a feeling iowabowtech is probably right about the root file too, because no matter what program or screen I try to view the contents of the card with, it says there isn't anything there, media-based or otherwise. I don't know if that revelation causes lightbulbs to go off for anyone else, but I'd welcome just about anything now as far as suggestions go; I'd rather not have to drop $50-$70 on another card.

[iowabowtech]

I've been looking around too and I can't find anything worth a crap but I know when I wipe my Sony sticks, there's still a folder on there that the card reader sees. Anyway, since answers aren't falling from the sky I have a last ditch idea to try. IF you can use a reader, maybe you can ADD a folder to the card and name it BlackBerry (both B's capital, not sure if it matters). Reason being is when I explore on my card, that's the main file created during the BB formatting process. Inside that, you end up with these subfolders:

documents
music
pictures
ringtones
videos
voicenotes

I was just thinking that PERHAPS if the BB saw a destination folder it recognizes, it might snap it out of it's bad mood and allow formatting. Admittedly a bit of a long shot but it's the best I have.

[osxdude]

Hmmm, I got my microSD new for my 8310 and I put it in and I actually didn't even do anything to it. The BB did it by itself. However, my microSD slot is under the battery...so maybe a battery pull would be a thing to try?

I was just thinking that PERHAPS if the BB saw a destination folder it recognizes, it might snap it out of it's bad mood and allow formatting. Admittedly a bit of a long shot but it's the best I have.

I actually agree, but, like I said, my card was new, never used, and it was all ready to go when the BB was done booting after putting the battery back in.

[lieman]

Yeah, it could be a long shot, but I'll definitely give it a whirl tonight and report back tomorrow with whatever results I have - big thanks to iowabowtech for sticking it out and throwing out just about every possible solution under the sun; I'll let you know if this last idea works.