Sandisk SD cards failing

[Miserablegit]

Hi all,
I’ve had my third sandisk SD fail on me when trying to set up a new raspberry pi.
This time it was a 64gb card - last two times it was a 128gb card.

The cards are barely used and sit in a drawer for months on end and are not used in dash cam etc so there is no reason for the failures.

Was there a bad batch or is this normal for SD cards?

Have bought Kingston and Integral as replacements and will see how they go.

Thanks

I use the SD formatter but get an error before it completes.

[egomeister]

Miserablegit said:

Hi all,
I’ve had my third sandisk SD fail on me when trying to set up a new raspberry pi.
This time it was a 64gb card - last two times it was a 128gb card.

The cards are barely used and sit in a drawer for months on end and are not used in dash cam etc so there is no reason for the failures.

Was there a bad batch or is this normal for SD cards?

Have bought Kingston and Integral as replacements and will see how they go.

Thanks

I use the SD formatter but get an error before it completes.

Obvious question... are they genuine? Sandisk SD cards must be the most faked item on the planet.

[quinny100]

Where are you sourcing them? There are a lot of fakes around, even Amazon got caught out with them.

[CanAm]

I’ve had genuine Sandisk cards of various sizes over the years and have never had any problems.

[Tony1963]

I’ve exclusively used Sandisk since 2004, and I’ve only had to replace one card, a 1Gb (!) CF I bought for a safari that caused problems after a few years of very hard use. SD cards? One started to feel a little delicate, so I replaced it, but it worked fine.

[Derek Smith]

I don't want to come all over rich and stuff, but I buy all my sd cards through a local camera shop, Park Cameras, and have done since 2010.

I decided on this course of action after two failures of sd cards bought through an online auction website. Both times I lost images. Neither card was new, but were under a year old.

The price is higher locally but the advantage of buying from round the corner is that you can go to the shop and wring the salesman's neck should one fail.

Not worth taking the risk in my opinion.

[Bacon Is Proof]

Last time I bought an SD card was in India, where they at least had the decency to offer me either the genuine or the fake.

[robsa]

Yep, even Amazon sells snide Sandisk memory cards, I got caught out once. As Derek Smith says, buy from somewhere reputable and pay full whack. If it’s showing as £29.99 on Park Cameras website (or wherever) and Amazon have it listed for £14.99 you’re getting a fake. It will look perfect, but it will have the cheapest nastiest lowest grade silicon in it.

[Mr Pointy]

robsa said:

It will look perfect, but it will have the cheapest nastiest lowest grade silicon in it.

Yeh, because you know those naughty counterfeiters have a billion pound silicon fab plant tucked away in the backstreets somewhere.

[Miserablegit]

They are all bought from Amazon - from memory Amazon supplied as well - not a third party seller.

[Oakey]

Mr Pointy said:

Yeh, because you know those naughty counterfeiters have a billion pound silicon fab plant tucked away in the backstreets somewhere.

Every fake card I've had from Amazon simply had nowhere near the stated capacity. So whilst they may have been labelled as 32Gb and show as 32Gb when in a device, once you tried filling it with more than 4Gb data they'd crap the bed

[Sy1441]

Miserablegit said:

They are all bought from Amazon - from memory Amazon supplied as well - not a third party seller.

I didn't realise this but most stuff sold on amazon doesn't come from amazon, they simply warehouse stock and fulfil the orders for the sellers. I only found this out through a mate who sells via this method.

[CorradoTDI]

Miserablegit said:

They are all bought from Amazon - from memory Amazon supplied as well - not a third party seller.

Contact them about it then... even if it was years ago they usually do something... I like Amazon for stuff like this as you can easily look up your order.

If not then Sandisk as the cards are usually 10 years or lifetime warranty.

[MagicBoyUK]

Sy1441 said:

I didn't realise this but most stuff sold on amazon doesn't come from amazon, they simply warehouse stock and fulfil the orders for the sellers. I only found this out through a mate who sells via this method.

Make sure the seller is amazon.co.uk, and it's proper Amazon. I usually won't touch the third-party marketplace sellers.

[lonny]

Sy1441 said:

Miserablegit said:

They are all bought from Amazon - from memory Amazon supplied as well - not a third party seller.

I didn't realise this but most stuff sold on amazon doesn't come from amazon, they simply warehouse stock and fulfil the orders for the sellers. I only found this out through a mate who sells via this method.

It’s written on every listing who the seller is. You don’t need a mate in the business to see who you are buying from!

Have been using Sandisk CF & SD cars for years. Never a problem but always check for known sellers.

[Zirconia]

lonny said:

Sy1441 said:

Miserablegit said:

They are all bought from Amazon - from memory Amazon supplied as well - not a third party seller.

I didn't realise this but most stuff sold on amazon doesn't come from amazon, they simply warehouse stock and fulfil the orders for the sellers. I only found this out through a mate who sells via this method.

It’s written on every listing who the seller is. You don’t need a mate in the business to see who you are buying from!

Have been using Sandisk CF & SD cars for years. Never a problem but always check for known sellers.

I have had sellers change part way through sorting something out or going back for a re order from what I thought was a good source, ie. the manufacturer shop front. Amazon is getting increasingly difficult to be sure that you are getting original kit for the casual buyer. Fake reviews and paid sponsored top listings are a pain.

I only get from Amazon now when I have to, and check the returns policy. Trying to avoid them recently.

Wex photo is a place I tend to get my memory from now.

[egomeister]

MagicBoyUK said:

Sy1441 said:

I didn't realise this but most stuff sold on amazon doesn't come from amazon, they simply warehouse stock and fulfil the orders for the sellers. I only found this out through a mate who sells via this method.

Make sure the seller is amazon.co.uk, and it's proper Amazon. I usually won't touch the third-party marketplace sellers.

It means nothing. Stock is not necessarily segregated on Amazon, so Amazon sourced genuine cards can easily be mixed with those souced by a third party selling fakes.

[Longtime Lurker]

egomeister said:

It means nothing. Stock is not necessarily segregated on Amazon, so Amazon sourced genuine cards can easily be mixed with those souced by a third party selling fakes.

This is how i understood it to work, if for example i was selling the same item as Amazon themselves they fulfil the order with the closest stock, so if "my" cards were in the Glasgow warehouse and "theirs" in London and they sold one of "theirs" to ship to Edinburgh then would send one of "mine" from Glasgow and allocate me one of theirs to replace it.

[Sheepshanks]

Mr Pointy said:

robsa said:

It will look perfect, but it will have the cheapest nastiest lowest grade silicon in it.

Yeh, because you know those naughty counterfeiters have a billion pound silicon fab plant tucked away in the backstreets somewhere.

It's not so much crap silicon - NAND flash memory silicon is all pretty crap, but the controller works around that.

Here's a example of one of the issues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSepkrHJv14