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Back Story: Recently i have got a new phone (Android Pie), and i still have my old one (Android Oreo). I have been using an external SD card (64GB) for the past 3 years with my old phone, and now i want to use that SD with my new one.

Problem Statement: The problem is, i can't erase nor format the SD card for some reason. I have tried to format it from the old phone, it showed progress and said that format was successful, but when i went to the SD, everything was still there, as if a format didn't happen at all. I have also tried to format it from my mac (macOS 10.14.14) using disk Utility, SDHC "SD card formatter" the official application from their website (Quick format and Overwrite format), from terminal (as i usually do when something similar happens) using

diskutil eraseVolume free EMPTY /dev/$VOLUME$

and i have also tried to delete the files inside the SD card manually using

rm -rf /Volumes/$VOLUME$

But nothing seems to work, even after all of the things i have done above the original information stay no matter what.

Note: After each attempt to format the SD card has to unmount in order to complete the format process. I have noticed that when the SD card gets unmounted and then mounted again, only then the original information come back somehow, like some kind of magic. When i have done the manual format, i saw that the SD card was empty before unmounting, but after mounting it again, everything came back again. It's not a problem with reading and writing, i have the writing and reading permissions for the SD card, and i have checked that multiple times. I have posted this before on, Android enthusiasts, but it got on hold, because it was android independent.

EDIT1: As i have explained in the note, it's not a problem with reading and writing, i have these permissions, and able to read and write into the SD card with no problem what so ever. If i do so after i have formatted before unmounting, the information stays there, and gets overwritten by the old information when i unmount and remount. if i do so after formatting and unmounting, then mounting again, and the old information come back, i can add files to the old information that has returned. It doesn't make any sense...

EDIT2: So far it looks like the SD has reached it's end. I will try once more and see if anything new happens.

YOUSEF ASHRAF ABDELHADY HAFEZ
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  • can you write to the card? – Robert Paulsen Apr 23 '19 at 13:17
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    Possible duplicate of [What can I do if my USB flash drive is write-protected or read-only?](https://superuser.com/questions/1125282/what-can-i-do-if-my-usb-flash-drive-is-write-protected-or-read-only) – Tetsujin Apr 23 '19 at 15:37
  • You may also wish to search in https://apple.stackexchange.com/ for a solution since this involves MacOS. – K7AAY Apr 23 '19 at 17:11
  • You say that after trying to format, when you remount the card, all of the old stuff is still there. Are you basing that on just a directory listing, or did you actually test opening a few of the files? You also report getting progress messages saying the format was successful. That's a strange twist. SD cards do have a limited life, and 3 years of use might have reached it. When it loses the ability to write to the card, it typically goes into read-only mode, which allows you to off-load your files to other media before it dies completely. And that may well be what's happening. (cont'd) – fixer1234 Apr 23 '19 at 19:19
  • However, you usually get messages that it's write-protected or read-only, or other error messages. Regardless of what's underlying the problem, there isn't a lot you can do when flash media starts acting flaky. In some cases, you can get it working again, but it won't be reliable media, and the next failure could leave you unable to extract your files. SD cards and other simple flash media (excluding SSDs), should be considered disposable, and at the first sign of problems, off-load your files and replace it (or at least don't rely on it for anything important). – fixer1234 Apr 23 '19 at 19:20
  • Sorry for late reply all. @RobertPaulsen Yes i can read and write just fine. – YOUSEF ASHRAF ABDELHADY HAFEZ May 01 '19 at 18:28
  • @Tetsujin I am pretty sure it isn't, i have solved the problem of read only many times before, and i had some weird cases in that too. – YOUSEF ASHRAF ABDELHADY HAFEZ May 01 '19 at 18:30
  • @K7AAY It does involve mac as an external attempt to solve the problem, but it isn't the main solution or a pivot to the solution. But thanks for the advise i will try there also – YOUSEF ASHRAF ABDELHADY HAFEZ May 01 '19 at 18:32
  • Possible duplicate of [Fix SD card that cannot be formatted](https://superuser.com/questions/854588/fix-sd-card-that-cannot-be-formatted) – CaldeiraG May 01 '19 at 18:33
  • @fixer1234 1- After successful formatting everything is gone, before unmounting to complete the formatting process. I can write into the card in this state just fine. But when i unmount the SD, and mount it again the old information come back, they don't stay there by any means, THEY LITERALLY COME BACK, i have checked each file, to see if these are just empty folders, BUT THEY ARE WORKING JUST FINE as if nothing had happened, i am even using the sd card now in the same phone that it was in (the old phone) and it works just fine. I have checked for hidden files (cont'd) – YOUSEF ASHRAF ABDELHADY HAFEZ May 01 '19 at 18:38
  • And used terminal to check if there is anything that i don't see, but there is nothing before i unmounted, after formatting successfully, i have checked permissions, state, folders, any processes that work in the background or anything, but i found nothing that can bring back these information. I really don't know what's going on. – YOUSEF ASHRAF ABDELHADY HAFEZ May 01 '19 at 18:42
  • But I think the possibility, of the SD card reaching it's end, is the most close. But i mean it's 64GB it would be a waste to throw it. Thanks @CaldeiraG for the suggetion, but i don't think it's related. When i format it says that formatting is sucessful. i will leave the post for 48 hours then mark it closed, if i didn't find a solution. Thanks all for your effort... – YOUSEF ASHRAF ABDELHADY HAFEZ May 01 '19 at 18:52
  • What you describe is an unusual twist. It sounds like it goes through the motions of formatting and shows you what the result would be if it actually happened, but it isn't actually doing it. Some operations have an option to simulate what would happen so you can see what the result would be before you commit to it. It sounds like something similar is happening. It does sound like the card is no longer functioning, though. – fixer1234 May 01 '19 at 19:47
  • @fixer1234 It is indeed. What you described might actually be the case. But i am going to try one more time and see if i can solve it. – YOUSEF ASHRAF ABDELHADY HAFEZ May 02 '19 at 07:29
  • Appearing to format until re-mount is a known symptom - I just can't find an authoritative ref to cite right now; but it is a known fail symptom. I used to get through literally thousands of SD cards for work & this was one of the 'bin it' criteria. They're not worth fighting once they start to fail. – Tetsujin May 02 '19 at 07:49
  • @Tetsujin I see. Then it was a failure in the sd card indeed. Alright i will post an answer and mark the question as solved. Thanks all for your efforts. – YOUSEF ASHRAF ABDELHADY HAFEZ May 03 '19 at 08:05
  • I added it to the canonical QA, as an edge case. The info is in one of the many many dupes of this question on here... somewhere. The idea of flagging them all to be dupes of one question is to try to tame the proliferation of almost identical questions & link them to one master QA. – Tetsujin May 03 '19 at 08:12

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Appearing to format until re-mount is a known symptom - I just can't find an authoritative ref to cite right now; but it is a known fail symptom. I used to get through literally thousands of SD cards for work & this was one of the 'bin it' criteria. They're not worth fighting once they start to fail. - Tetsujin

So, at the end it was just the SD card failing, which means it's life has ended. And as @Tetsujin said 'bin it' criteria is what has to be done.

YOUSEF ASHRAF ABDELHADY HAFEZ
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