Mini SD card not being recognised properly?

[Stu_R]

Hi All,

First time post here.

I've just bought a new Vodafone Smart V10 and am in the setting up stage. The main issue I have so far is that it's not properly recognising a new unused (Sandisk) mini SD card (64GB) I bought to use as extra internal storage. It only gives me the option to format as use for moving files between different units.

My previous phone (Vodafone Turbo) gave dual options of file transfer only or extra internal memory and gave me no problems.

Is this because it needs to be formatted to FAT32 (stipulated in the manual), or could there be another reason? 

I don't have the facility to reformat the card to FAT32 but if that is definitely the issue I'm happy to wait until branches reopen.

Thanks in anticipation - and stay safe!

[Stu_R]

Thanks for the reply. I did try the SD formatting as storage but it then didn't recognise music or video files. Neither would play.

I was told on my last 191 call that loading any 3rd party apps would probably invalidate the warranty if it had to be returned as faulty..

However, after some searching of camera settings I have found the one to send pics to the SD, so thanks for that.

Also, I've formatted the SD in my old Vodafone Turbo phone, and it appears to be recognising that card the more times I "reboot" the new phone. Or at least, music files are in a music folder and working, simiilarly with videos.

[hrym]

WHAT???   Loading 3rd party apps most certainly won't invalidate the warranty - it's what the phone's designed for.   Modifiying the operating system would, but you're not doing that.

Now that you've set the camera to save to the card, are the files there?   Look for a folder probably called DCIM (there may be subfolders).   Also check that your photos appear in the gallery app (there should be one built in).

If that's all OK, then there's not a problem with the card.   With regard to music files, the issue *might* be that they're not in the right format, or that the built-in player is looking for them in specific places.  I use Muzio, which willfind just about anything.

Try File Mangager+ as this has handy buttons for Recent Files, Images, Document & Audio (I think), which makes finding things very easy.   It'll also have a button for the SD card if the device is recognising it.

Edited to add: I'm specifically talking about apps available from Google Play.   Even side-loading, though inadvisable, probably wouldn't void the warranty (it's a switchable option in Settings).

[Stu_R]

Thanks, yes the camera does save to DCIM on the SD card. Over the past 8-10 years this is the fourth Vodafone branded phone that I've owned + one Alcatel. The majority of the music files are the same ones that have worked in all of them. They also work now that I'm using the old SD card previously formatted in my old Vodafone Turbo phone.

I've often found that Vodafone staff on 191 aren't very helpful, frequently giving conflicting advice;, and "Technical help" is a misnomer. I'm not going to give them an "out" if I can avoid it. However the staff in my local branch have always been brilliant, so I'm happy to wait to query it with them when the chance arises. It's been a faff, and I'd be stuck if I hadn't kept my old phone, but this new one is close to matching the content of my old one now.

As said earlier, the rebooting of the phone appears to be adding functionality that wasn't there before. Unless this SD card corrupts, which I've never had happen yet I think it's going to work as well as expected. It wouldn't be the first time that I've bought an updated item and found parts of it to be a backward step in part.

[hrym]

I agree that the frontline customer service people aren't always great at technical support though, to be fair, their main purpose is to operate Vodafone systems and they're often working from a script.   I agree that, if you get someone knowledgable in a shop, there's often little they can't fix.   It's also much easier to deal with something you can see, too.

It sounds as though you're mostly sorted and I'm confident that the card is being recognised correctly.   Restarting can solve quite a lot of issues as it flushes clogged memory and stuck processes.   I also find that a simple clear of recent apps can work wonders too.   I'm wondering whether this is a simple resource issue, though newer devices often come with at least as much, and sometimes more, that older ones.   Personally, I reckon that 32gb storage and 3gb of RAM is pretty much a minimum requirement as apps get bigger and more sophisticated.

If you ever get to the bottom of this, do please come back and let us know what happened.   Apart from general interest,we may be able to help someone else in the future.

[Stu_R]

It has been for a while that Vodafone phone staff appear to be working from home, or in isolation, so would have less chance to cross reference with an unusual problem. As you say, good shop staff are invaluable.

I've saved the link to this and will certainly update if possible.

Thanks again.