So, my sd card stopped working today. I've been using it for a few months, installed triple-A games, and I bought it from sandisk on amazon.com, so I know it's not fake.

Problem description: doesn't show up, needs to be formatted (I'm on the steam deck (https://www.steamdeck.com/it/ this, based on arch linux) so it tells me when an sd card needs to be formatted), but the format process fails "there has been an error during format".

I've been trying a few things on windows, which didn't work:
Chkdsk: chkdsk is not supported on raw partitions error.
Delete the partition on the disk manager: cyclic redundancy check error.
Format on windows as NTFS and exFAT: fails.

Then, I deleted the partition with Gparted. Can't format it.

If I try to format it to ext4 with sudo mke2fs -t ext4 + path I found with sudo fdisk -l, it gets stuck at creating journal, then it fails. If I use sudo mkcs -I vfat + path it says invalid inode size. With -t in place of I, "partitions or virtual mappings on device not making filesystem use I to override.

On windows I can now delete the partition. I tried a utility for 32 formatting. Failed to set volume label GetLastError()=1005 no recognized filesystem.

Trying to format to NTFS or Exfat. Can't complete format...

Tried to use the fsck command on linux, but it spits this https://ibb.co/qYysW8T and I swear it's becoming a rabbit hole... -_-

Is there a way to save my sd card? It costed me 30 bucks .

All of this happened after I used some tools to convert the home partition to btrfs and also format new sd cards to btrfs, but I don't know if it has any relevance. I first used this program here https://gitlab.com/popsulfr/steamos-btrfs and succesfully converted the main partition to btrfs. I forgot that it formats new sd cards to btrfs, and then followed this guide. https://github.com/Trevo525/btrfdeck

So you had a 100% working card, then used 'some tools' to convert things/change file systems, and are surprised that it's not working now? Aside from having a flaky card (possible), there are some options for dealing with the cyclic error you're getting:
https://4ddig.tenorshare.com/hard-dr...%20CRC%20error.

You have to fix the errors you introduced first, before you can reformat.

FYI: cards do fail. In fact, ALL cards fail, it is only a question of when, not if. It is possible that yours has failed.

It's not like those tools are random things found on github though... but in any case, that's the point, I haven't been able to fix the errors...
The error checking tool in properties says I have to format first (said can't access disk a few minutes ago...)
CHKDSK says raw partitions are not supported.
The sd card doesn't have a windows directory, so I don't see how sfc scannow would be any useful... but I did it anyway. Didn't change anything.

Yeah, but it would be kinda soon... only used it for a few months, even if I bought it a year ago. In any case, seems like amazon agreed to give me a refund, luckly. Whew...

...and the cyclic error is what you have to fix. There are many possible solutions which you can find. And as said, the card could be bad, or you did some unrecoverable damage to it by doing whatever it was you were trying to do. There were several things suggested, and we don't know what you did/tried. Cards go bad, and depending on the number of read/write cycles they can age VERY quickly.

More suggestions, and you can find many more yourself with a brief Internet search: https://appuals.com/fix-data-error-c...undancy-check/

do a sudo fdisk -l or sudo parted -l to see if the operating even sees them 1st.

Then reboot if the cards are seen and look in bios that things are kosher.

The reboot also helps the operating system resee the card and makes it possible to format it as fat32.

Edit: Usually I blow away everything by making a msdos drive out of it using the device tab in gparted.
Let it finish.

Then pick new when done. Format it as fat32 and work from there later on.

7 posts? There was only one needed.

If you have write errord on an sdcard, REPLACE IT. Things only get worse.

Yeah, about that... sorry for wasting you guys' time, but I found an sd card that costs less than what I paid for, and Amazon agreed to give me a refund if I send the item back. Maybe it's more wise of me to not fix the thing... assuming it's even possible and it's not just died. I heard sd cards die more quickly if you play AAA games on them...

SDcards can only perform a low number or write cycles. So before you reacxh for fsck, the cartd is knackered.

Mark this solved then.

If looking for better durability, I'd suggest an external SSD drive. Better fit I think.

1 members found this post helpful.

I second.
SSD external is getting cheap.
I went through several SD cards loading different distributions on a Pinebook Pro (Great fun!). I did have some good brands devices fail after a few uses. They are not really made to host and OS, although they ARE getting better. An SSD is actually MADE for this stuff!

Does anyone know

1. The best brand to buy these days?
2. The best filesystem to use when I have a choice?
3. Good mount options?

Just for clarity, the pc I'm referring to is a hybrid between a handheld gaming console and a pc, so there's an integrated sd card slot for extra space. The internal disk is an emmc the size of a 2230 nvme ssd, or a 2230 ssd depending on the version you're getting. I'm not using the sd card for the OS... At this point though, maybe I'd save money by buying one o' those 2230s and changing the internal drive for a bigger one, even if they're overpriced as heck...

It wouldn't be too bad for a write-once-read-many OS. It would be really awful for anything that saves regularly - cache, save games, ramdisk, etc. The nvme is a better bet.