Steam Deck has now killed 4 different micro SD cards

[ba0701]

**TLDR**
My Deck absolutely has issues regarding it's internal micro SD card slot. It has killed off 4 different cards, including some brand new ones, from different manufacturers, while cards connected to my Deck via external USB readers have not had any issues at all.

Yep, 4, and all four of them were plugged directly into the Deck's sd card slot at the time of their deaths. 3 of them were Sandisk Extreme 1TB cards, and one was was a Samsung Evo Select 512GB card. The first one that died, a Sandisk Extreme 1TB, died when attempting to format it for the first time with KDE in Desktop Mode, that card had been used for almost a year in a Switch, and never had an issue. The next two 1TB Extreme cards were brand new, specifically for the Deck directly from WD's website, one of those was an RMA replacement for the first card that was killed, the other was purchased when I saw how well they stood behind their products on the RMA for the first card. The RMA card died 32 days after I received it, with a 30 day warranty on RMA cards. I don't know, haven't tried, but I doubt Sandisk will send me another RMA card for the brand new card I purchased from them, when something clearly seems to not be functioning optimally. The second two 1TB cards both died while simply being plugged into the Deck's slot, and the same goes for the 512 card.

All 3 of those cards started exhibiting strange behavior, like games that were installed on them would simply disappear from being installed, though the folders still existed on the drives and contained all of the files. Then when I would try to "reinstall" them, the download phase would hang, and I would eventually get a disk write error. Once that happens, there is no saving the cards. I tried to recover the partitions and reformat them, both on the Deck and on my Windows PC, and they could not be formatted. Other odd behavior was when I would delete the folders of the games no longer being listed as installed, and when I would reboot the Deck, the folders I just deleted would return, with all files still within them, and a verification/download would begin.

So, I have figured out how to use an External USB hard drive, after following the steps outlined in a Youtube video (I can gladly link the video if anyone is interested, as the process works 100%, including getting the drives to auto-mount when plugged in, which means whenever you reboot your system you don't have to go to Desktop mode to mount your drives connected via USB). I have a Seagate 8TB external USB 3.0 drive, and decided to plug it into the Deck using this process. Thanks to another thread on these boards, regarding slow SD cards that are formatted via the Deck, I have developed a process for formatting any cards/drives that are going to be used on the Deck, formatting them on my Windows PC instead of the Deck. However, even though the app used for doing this formatting shows the process completing successfully, after running for more than 12 hours, that program nor the Deck are able to recognize the EXT4 partition. However, I am able to format the drive using the Deck, a process that takes less than 3 minutes, and the Deck is able to use this drive, but then the incredibly slow download issue that caused me to partition/format my drives in Windows to begin with returns. We're talking low single digit MB/s speeds on a 1Gb/s internet connection slow, where I have typically been able to maintain >60-74MB/s download speeds when the drive has been formatted in Windows.

I am at a total loss. I have one more option I can try, which is a portable (no external power needed, powered from the USB port) 4TB drive I have, that I can try to see if that program will partition/format it. I also have a couple more micro SD cards I can use through an external USB reader, but I am certainly hesitant to plug those into the Deck's slot. If I can find a Windows program, currently using the Mini-Tool Partition Wizard (Free version), that can properly format this 8TB drive, then I can simply buy a 1TB internal drive for the Deck, and keep any games I might wish to play on the go, on it, and everything else, like games I use K&M on, I can keep on the 8TB drive. I'd be more than happy to pay for the full version of such a program, but only after I verified that it could properly format my 8TB drives via a freeware/shareware version of the program first.

I know I have seen a lot of SD card issues, especially problems involving formatting them directly on the Deck, in these forums, so I know I am not the only one with some issues with the Deck and SD cards. How many, if any at all, have been completely killed by the Deck I have no idea, but there is no doubt that something is going on there. I don't know if there is an issue with the Deck's drive, perhaps misaligned heads, perhaps some sort of a grounding issue, I can't speak to any of that, but there is most certainly an issue of some sort. I have used micro-sd cards for years, and the only two I had problems with resulted from my phones being dropped, short of that I have not had a single problem. I also have two separate external card readers connected to my Deck, and none of the cards plugged into those has failed or given me any problems at all, only cards plugged directly into my Deck, and once those cards begin suffering from problems on the Deck they are entirely unable to recover from them, those cards are DOA.

[King of Yugoslavia]

by the chance, do you have any source of static electricity nearby? fluffy rug, or wool pants?

[ba0701]

Originally posted by diet soda:

by the chance, do you have any source of static electricity nearby? fluffy rug, or wool pants?

No, the Deck is resting in a plastic stand on a wooden TV stand, with nothing else coming in contact with it, besides the USB cable going to my Dock. I have two different Docks, and it has happened with both of them connected to the Deck.

[psymin]

I'm curious about the output of f3probe on those cards.

[darrenphillips666]

It's Probably time to stop buying fake SD cards :)

[ba0701]

Originally posted by psymin:

I'm curious about the output of f3probe on those cards.

What is the F3probe?

[ba0701]

Originally posted by Freqsync:

There is a support page for loading an OS to a usb and it states Rufus for windows balena etcher for mac and linux now if the dock existed would you be able to use a usb as a drive instead?
And is it possible to format the micro sd differently as in needing fat32 or something else?

These are questions planning to ask support one day when I reach that point yet do not have a dock and have not gone to playing anything from micro sd.

Just passing this along.

Any UHS-I (class 3 or better) microSD card is supported. Steam Deck does not support UHS-II. No specific recommendation for brand or size.

I have a dock, and using it to plug the cards in has not caused a single issue, neither has plugging into an external USB reader, only using the internal Deck slot has done this.

Once the problems start, it is impossible to format with anything, I cannot even delete the partitions, or create new ones.

[zenstrata]

What sort of demon has inhabited your Steam Deck? o_o

Contact Valve for an exorcism ! !

[Boblin the Goblin]

Originally posted by ba0701:

Originally posted by psymin:

I'm curious about the output of f3probe on those cards.

What is the F3probe?

It is a tool used to detect fake flash memory(like SD cards).

[ba0701]

Originally posted by KittenGrindr:

Originally posted by ba0701:

What is the F3probe?

It is a tool used to detect fake flash memory(like SD cards).

Ah, ok, I will do some research on this, and provide the output. I know with 100% certainty that the cards are legit, at least the three 1TB cards that have died are. The first one that died during the initial formatting was replaced by Sandisk via RMA. Their RMA process requires serial numbers and pictures of the front and back of the cards to be provided before the RMA can be approved. The second two 1TB cards, one was the RMA replacement received from Sandisk, and the second was a brand new purchased card I got direct from Sandisk's site, once I saw that they supported their warranty. So, I have no issues running this, once I figure out where to get it and how to run it.

[ba0701]

Originally posted by psymin:

I'm curious about the output of f3probe on those cards.

If someone would like to tell me how to install and run F3Probe, I'll be glad to run it. It is downloaded and unzipped in the Downloads dir, but I seem entirely unable to cd to that directory from Konsole to begin the make process.

[Taktloss]

You get a already compiled binary and just run it😉
https://fight-flash-fraud.readthedocs.io/en/latest/usage.html#how-to-use-f3probe
Doesn't even need to be on the Deck itself.
You could use h2testw too.

[ba0701]

Originally posted by Taktloss:

You get a already compiled binary and just run it😉
https://fight-flash-fraud.readthedocs.io/en/latest/usage.html#how-to-use-f3probe
Doesn't even need to be on the Deck itself.
You could use h2testw too.

If you notice, it says the disk is damaged, this was done by the Deck, and has happened to 4 cards that were plugged into the Deck SD slot. Two of which I paid $180 each for, and one 1TB card was an RMA replacement direct from Sandisk. The final card was a 512GB Samsung Evo Select, which had been used for a couple of years in a previous phone. None of my cards are fakes, as I only buy from reputable direct sources, or authorized resellers, in order to avoid that nonsense.

This particular card was purchased less than 2 months ago, direct from Western Digital's site.

F3 probe 8.0
Copyright (C) 2010 Digirati Internet LTDA.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.

WARNING: Probing normally takes from a few seconds to 15 minutes, but
it can take longer. Please be patient.

Probe finished, recovering blocks... Done

Bad news: The device `/dev/mmcblk0' is damaged

Device geometry:
*Usable* size: 0.00 Byte (0 blocks)
Announced size: 953.55 GB (1999749120 blocks)
Module: 1.00 TB (2^40 Bytes)
Approximate cache size: 0.00 Byte (0 blocks), need-reset=no
Physical block size: 512.00 Byte (2^9 Bytes)

Probe time: 55.2ms

[psymin]

Originally posted by ba0701:

Originally posted by psymin:

I'm curious about the output of f3probe on those cards.

If someone would like to tell me how to install and run F3Probe, I'll be glad to run it. It is downloaded and unzipped in the Downloads dir, but I seem entirely unable to cd to that directory from Konsole to begin the make process.

It is pre-installed.

With the SD card inserted:

In Desktop mode Start -> System -> Konsole

passwd

(type something easy to type on the keyboard and hit enter, you won't see output, type it twice)

sudo f3probe /dev/mmcblk0

[ba0701]

Originally posted by Freqsync:

Originally posted by ba0701:

If you notice, it says the disk is damaged, this was done by the Deck, and has happened to 4 cards that were plugged into the Deck SD slot. Two of which I paid $180 each for, and one 1TB card was an RMA replacement direct from Sandisk. The final card was a 512GB Samsung Evo Select, which had been used for a couple of years in a previous phone. None of my cards are fakes, as I only buy from reputable direct sources, or authorized resellers, in order to avoid that nonsense.

This particular card was purchased less than 2 months ago, direct from Western Digital's site.

F3 probe 8.0
Copyright (C) 2010 Digirati Internet LTDA.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.

WARNING: Probing normally takes from a few seconds to 15 minutes, but
it can take longer. Please be patient.

Probe finished, recovering blocks... Done

Bad news: The device `/dev/mmcblk0' is damaged

Device geometry:
*Usable* size: 0.00 Byte (0 blocks)
Announced size: 953.55 GB (1999749120 blocks)
Module: 1.00 TB (2^40 Bytes)
Approximate cache size: 0.00 Byte (0 blocks), need-reset=no
Physical block size: 512.00 Byte (2^9 Bytes)

Probe time: 55.2ms

neat.

Windows
Run diskmgmt.msc and have card into laptop/desktop you were using to check if it even popped up there I am assuming and if not correct proposing. depending on how many drives you have could be E: F: D: perhaps named

Linux
Someone give proper method?


Mac OS
Someone give proper method?



and still not sure needs to be Exfat NTFS since perhaps OS is NTFS style is necessary?

Yet thank you for informing the forums that a dock is 100% necessary at this time,

I can't speak to if this issue is just with my Deck, or all Decks, I just know that there has been several people who have had major issues with the Deck poorly formatting their cards. I do not know if anyone has had their cards wrecked like the four I have. This f3probe was run directly from the Deck, as the card is formatted with EXT4 and thus I could not run h2testw against it.

Windows, nor the Minitool Partition Wizard I have been using to format the cards that are intended to be used with the Deck, can partition or format any of these cards. Once this problem happens the cards are entirely irreparable. You cannot even uninstall or delete any of the contents that were contained on the disk at the time the trouble arises.

The first card it happened to was a Sandisk Extreme 1TB that has been working in my Switch for almost a year with no problems at all, and that card was killed the moment I tried to use KDE on the Deck to partition/format it. I was granted an RMA from Sandisk for that one, and they shipped me out a new one. When I realized they would support their products I decided to buy another one. The one sent as the RMA replacement died in 32 days (30 day warranty on RMA replacements), the other card purchased at that same time died in just about 2 months. I may try to get an RMA for it, but I doubt Sandisk is going to replace another one destroyed by the Deck.

[ba0701]

Originally posted by psymin:

Originally posted by ba0701:

If someone would like to tell me how to install and run F3Probe, I'll be glad to run it. It is downloaded and unzipped in the Downloads dir, but I seem entirely unable to cd to that directory from Konsole to begin the make process.

It is pre-installed.

With the SD card inserted:

In Desktop mode Start -> System -> Konsole

passwd

(type something easy to type on the keyboard and hit enter, you won't see output, type it twice)

sudo f3probe /dev/mmcblk0

If you scroll up a couple of posts, you'll see that I got it figured out and was able to run it. Thank you very much for the assist though!