I need a bigger sd card - I spent years for this moment by using Windows to make Android sdcard swaps smoother and drama reduced experiences for all.
Some questions...
Does a Windows "Quick Format" work as well as the slow format?
Does the format type matter when the sd card is to be used in a phone?
Do you change the volume label when you format on Windows for Android? <https://i.postimg.cc/dVtqQ9dX/sd01.jpg>
Some background...
In May of 2021 I received from T-Mobile a new free Samsung Galaxy A32-5G
with 64GB of internal storage, which I broke twice under warranty so
T-Mobile replaced it twice within the first two years where all I had to do was swap out the old 64GB sd card and put it into the new phone each time.
Everything came over seamlessly without the Internet involved, which, if
you know me, is something I strive to avoid when copying personal data.
But this is different than swapping out the phone. This is swapping out the sd card which has been in use since 2021 with all my data sitting on it. <https://i.postimg.cc/fWX7wzcg/filesys.jpg>
Of course, I did two things years ago to plan for this type of event:
1. I formatted all my sd cards on Windows to the same volume name, and, 2. I put all my data under a single folder on the external sd card.
Those two simple things, I hope, will make this sd swap, uneventful.
a. Format the sd card on Windows to "0000-0001"
b. on Windows, create a top-level directory of "0001"
Note: The names don't matter as long as they're consistent.
I just bought from Amazon a 128GB three-pack with reader at about $10 each. And, while a quick format on Windows takes a couple of seconds, a slow
format takes quite a bit longer - it's still running on my old desktop.
Did I need that slow format?
Is the default of XFat (128kbyte allocation unit) an OK setting for phones? Is the type of card I bought OK for phones?
The (slow) format is still running, but when it's done, I'm going to copy
my "0001" data over from the old sdcard in the phone, to the new sdcard.
And then I'm going to swap out the old sdcard for the new one for, what I hope to be a seamless experience using Windows to make Android smoother.
Wish me luck!
On Wed, 10/23/2024 5:54 PM, Andrews wrote:
I need a bigger sd card - I spent years for this moment by using Windows to >> make Android sdcard swaps smoother and drama reduced experiences for all.
Some questions...
Does a Windows "Quick Format" work as well as the slow format?
Does the format type matter when the sd card is to be used in a phone?
Do you change the volume label when you format on Windows for Android?
<https://i.postimg.cc/dVtqQ9dX/sd01.jpg>
Some background...
Did I need that slow format?
Is the default of XFat (128kbyte allocation unit) an OK setting for phones? >> Is the type of card I bought OK for phones?
The (slow) format is still running, but when it's done, I'm going to copy
my "0001" data over from the old sdcard in the phone, to the new sdcard.
And then I'm going to swap out the old sdcard for the new one for, what I
hope to be a seamless experience using Windows to make Android smoother.
Wish me luck!
You would buy an SD card with static and dynamic wear leveling.
A quick format is good enough. It writes and puts a FAT or $MFT on the partition.
The slow format does the same, except it includes a read-verify of the surface.
You would buy an SD card with static and dynamic wear leveling.
A quick format is good enough.
It writes and puts a FAT or $MFT on the partition.
The slow format does the same, except it includes a read-verify of the surface.
To "erase" a storage device, diskpart "clean all" will write the entire surface with zeros. Or dd.exe can write the surface with zeros.
It's hard to get good info about SD, like the wear leveling scheme.
If it has both static and dynamic wear leveling, it could last longer
because then you can't really burn a hole in it as easily.
The difference to a USB flash stick, could be the binning of the flash.
Maybe the flash is a bit better. USB sticks could be pretty low quality.
Like purchasing a 16GB USB key, could be a 32GB chip with half of it
pinned off because it didn't pass.
SD has limits on both write speed and read speed. The physical interface
is pretty "thin", and that's why it can't read faster than it does.
There is a promise that coming SD cards will have one lane PCI Express interfaces, which should make then read better. But when that is done,
the writing won't be faster. Just as the worse USB3 flash sticks might be 100MB/sec read and 10MB/sec write. My Rally2 can write at about 16MB/sec,
but it doesn't read in a big hurry. Whereas USB3 sticks can have larger differences between read and write. And some USB, have "uneven" behavior. I've got a stick here now, it stalls for a while, it does a tiny bit of writes, then stalls some more. My SD doesn't do that.
Applicable also to all later Windows o/s.You would buy an SD card with static and dynamic wear leveling.
A quick format is good enough. It writes and puts a FAT or $MFT on the
partition.
The slow format does the same, except it includes a read-verify of the
surface.
Doesn't it fill everything with zeroes as well? Or erase all sectors?
That reduces the life of the card or stick.
Writing zeros for full format option was introduced with Vista.
Full format
- files erased
- writes zeros to the whole disk
- drive scanned for bad sectors(does not fix bad sectors)
- new root directory and file system
I need a bigger sd card - I spent years for this moment by using Windows to >> make Android sdcard swaps smoother and drama reduced experiences for all.
Some questions...
Does a Windows "Quick Format" work as well as the slow format?
Does the format type matter when the sd card is to be used in a phone?
Quick format doesn't check for bad sectors, full format does(takes
longer, mostly due the scanning for bad sectors). Full format(iirc)
removes prior stored files.
-your choice. If you concerned about the card(probably sourced and
made west of the Pacific Ocean, usually China, South Korea, Phillipines
etc.) having bad sectors, choose full. If not, choose Quick.
I just bought from Amazon a 128GB three-pack with reader at about $10 each. >> And, while a quick format on Windows takes a couple of seconds, a slow
format takes quite a bit longer - it's still running on my old desktop >
Did I need that slow format?
Is the default of XFat (128kbyte allocation unit) an OK setting for phones?
Your phone supports both exFAT and FAT32.
exFAT is usually more efficient in storage and file transfer for large capacity cards
eXFAT is almost always recommended for cards greater than 32GB
For a 128GB SDXC card(phone or pc[laptop, tablet) I would never consider formatting as FAT32 if also used on a phone.
As a test on Win10 Pro(1 TB SSD main drive) - I took a spare 3 yr old
128 GB Samsung EVO Plus Class 10 U3 SDXC card and formatted full - took
39 minutes for a full format. I also full formatted a 5 yr old a 64 GB SanDisk Class 10 U1(previously only used a digital camera, no longer
used, pretty much a dust collector in spare part box) - took 32 minutes
for the full format.
- Not sure if it compares to whatever you bought(a quick look on
Amazon didn't show any Samsung[my preferred SDXC card] 3 packs) which
seems to mean the Samsung test may/may not not apply to full formatting
a different brand of an SDXC card, but the 64 GB at approx. a half hour
might indicate up to an hour for a full format on a 128 GB card(twice as
many sectors to scan)
Paul wrote on Thu, 24 Oct 2024 03:20:49 -0400 :
You would buy an SD card with static and dynamic wear leveling.
Hi Paul,
Thanks for that advice. I don't even know what that means. On Amazon, they don't tell you that in the product information.
My choices were Lexar or Sandisk. I chose the (cheaper) Lexar.
But should I of given that I need "wear leveling" for that card???
Putting my glasses on & my magnifying glass to the package, I still can barely read the print - and it's too wide for the macro lens to snap a
single photo of, so I'll create a mosaic with the macro so you can see all the fine print and funny-looking sdcard-specific-emoji (sdoji?).
Carlos E.R. wrote:
On 2024-10-24 09:20, Paul wrote:Applicable also to all later Windows o/s.
On Wed, 10/23/2024 5:54 PM, Andrews wrote:
I need a bigger sd card - I spent years for this moment by using Windows to
make Android sdcard swaps smoother and drama reduced experiences for all. >>>>
Some questions...
Does a Windows "Quick Format" work as well as the slow format?
Does the format type matter when the sd card is to be used in a phone? >>>> Do you change the volume label when you format on Windows for Android? >>>> <https://i.postimg.cc/dVtqQ9dX/sd01.jpg>
Some background...
...
Did I need that slow format?
Is the default of XFat (128kbyte allocation unit) an OK setting for phones?
Is the type of card I bought OK for phones?
The (slow) format is still running, but when it's done, I'm going to copy >>>> my "0001" data over from the old sdcard in the phone, to the new sdcard. >>>>
And then I'm going to swap out the old sdcard for the new one for, what I >>>> hope to be a seamless experience using Windows to make Android smoother. >>>>
Wish me luck!
You would buy an SD card with static and dynamic wear leveling.
A quick format is good enough. It writes and puts a FAT or $MFT on the partition.
The slow format does the same, except it includes a read-verify of the surface.
Doesn't it fill everything with zeroes as well? Or erase all sectors? That reduces the life of the card or stick.
Writing zeros for full format option was introduced with Vista.
Full format
- files erased
- writes zeros to the whole disk
- drive scanned for bad sectors(does not fix bad sectors)
- new root directory and file system
Paul wrote:
On Thu, 10/24/2024 1:20 PM, ...winston wrote:
Full format
- files erased
- writes zeros to the whole disk
- drive scanned for bad sectors(does not fix bad sectors)
- new root directory and file system
I recommend using Process Monitor, to track what a tool does to a device.
A full format was a concept of a long time ago. It might have been
called a Low Level Format.
Paul
Iirc, a true Low Level format required 3rdparty tools.
The last time I did a low level was years ago a Connor(Seagate manufactured drive(small drive ~500 MB) installed in a HP tower.
Don't even remember the tool, obtained it from an IT admin on a 3.5" floppy. - a few months later, the drive died. Track O, un-repairable.
<https://www.easeus.com/partition-master/high-level-format-vs-low-level-format.html?>
<https://www.easeus.com/computer-instruction/low-level-format-vs-standard-format.html?>
<https://www.minitool.com/partition-disk/high-level-format-vs-low-level.html>
Before hard drives came along, a "dream machine" was one with two
floppy drives.
While this isn't ours, it illustrates what people used to fight over.
Nobody wanted the machines that had only the one floppy (your *OS* was
on that floppy).
Any time the OS floppy comes out of the machine, your screen would say
"Hey, dumbass, put my floppy back in" :-) Being asked to copy a data
floppy, would always bring a scowl to the face of a single floppy
drive computer user. I had one of those for a while. There was so
little RAM in the computer, you couldn't buffer a full floppy in
there! Nightmare stuff. "Insert floppy 1" "Insert floppy 2" "Insert
floppy 1" ... "Hey dumbass..."
https://www.hpmuseum.net/images/9895A-35.jpg
Before hard drives came along, a "dream machine" was one with two floppy drives.
On 2024-10-25 07:35, Paul wrote:
Before hard drives came along, a "dream machine" was one with two floppy drives.
Yes. I could not afford a hard disk (didn't sufficiently know what it was, anyway), but I knew I needed two floppy drives on my first machine.
Another question I have is that I've chosen those 8 (actually 9) characters because every sd card seems to come with that kind of a volume label (e.g., BF3A-D4C2); but I wonder if I can format it to one character?
I guess I'll try that since I doubt anyone knows if a volume label of a single character will work on Android - so I'll run that test separately on the remaining sd cards as I've already copied over 0001 data to this one.
Would formatting a micro-sd volume label to just "SD" for example, work?
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