Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: SD card ate my computer!

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Maidenhead
    Posts
    289
    Thanks
    17
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    • DaKid's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus Z270E
      • CPU:
      • i7-7700K
      • Memory:
      • 16GB DDR4-3000
      • Storage:
      • 500GB WD SSD, 3TB Sata (internal), 3TB USB (external)
      • Graphics card(s):
      • AORUS 1080Ti
      • Case:
      • Define R5
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10
      • Monitor(s):
      • 2x Dell U2715H 27" 2560x1440
      • Internet:
      • VirginMedia 100GB

    Unhappy SD card ate my computer!

    Well, nothing wrong with a bit of hyperbole to attract attention

    I've got the strangest problem with my PC, which is even vaguely related to the topic! I'm hoping that someone might be able to suggest some possible causes of it.

    I put an SD card into the slot on my Dell monitor (connects via a USB output on the monitor to a USB port on the back of my tower), that had several large video files on it, four to be specific. I selected all four files, and tried to move them to my hard drive. The first two moved fine, but the operation aborted with a message saying that it could not copy because the "parameter is incorrect".

    It hung explorer, so I ended the process, waited a few moments for it to restart automatically, and when it didn't, I ran it again as a task. Although explorer was now showing in the processes list, the PC still gave me no start-bar, so I did a CTRL-ALT-DEL Shutdown.

    On reboot, I went back into Explorer without any problems, back to the SD card and then tried moving the third file on its own. Again the failure, but this time without any hanging, so I tried moving the fourth and final video file. This transferred successfully.

    Decided to try and be clever .... I tried copying the only remaining file to a copy of itself on the SD card, figuring that maybe this would work better and I could try downloading that copy instead. It was going slowly but fell over again, this time with a taskbar-bubble (one of them yellow thingummies) talking about delayed write errors, like you'd get if you had HDD problems.

    Well, I again had lots of explorer/hanging problems and I couldn't get very much to respond at all, so I went to hit the reset button on my case. As I had my finger touching it - but definitely no pressure applied - the machine rebooted.

    When it came back, it appeared to have hung on post. It displayed the BIOS information and the CPU information at the top, with the "Press <DEL> to blah blah" message at the bottom. I thought it was totally kaputt, but after 60 seconds it continued through the rest of the post operations (picking up ram/hdds/opticals/etc) before giving me a message about a CMOS reset. I went in, checked all the settings and did a save of them.

    Unfortunately, the same problem occurred as it reset ... it seemingly hung for 60 seconds (I've only ever seen it delay 2-3 seconds at that stage before) then went through as normal. When left to run into Windows it seemed fine but displayed a black screen between the "showing windows logo with green looping progress bar page" and properly displaying desktop and taskbar, the delay again lasting about 60 seconds.

    I'm utterly and totally at a loss now. I don't even slightly see how a dodgy SD-card read could cause these bizarre booting problems (and everything else seems to run fine), but yet there seems such a strong link that I also can't see how it could be anything else.

    I shall be removing and reseating every part in the PC tomorrow, but I was hoping that some of you might be able to suggest a few other potential causes of the most unusual problem. The PC is particularly new, by the way, just a couple of months old. I think this makes it beyond teething troubles but a long way before age-related failures.

    If anyone can help, then I can assure you I am very grateful for your reply!

  2. #2
    Jay
    Jay is offline
    Gentlemen.. we're history Jay's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Jita
    Posts
    8,365
    Thanks
    304
    Thanked
    568 times in 409 posts
    you have taken the SD card out before you reboot?

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Maidenhead
    Posts
    289
    Thanks
    17
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    • DaKid's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus Z270E
      • CPU:
      • i7-7700K
      • Memory:
      • 16GB DDR4-3000
      • Storage:
      • 500GB WD SSD, 3TB Sata (internal), 3TB USB (external)
      • Graphics card(s):
      • AORUS 1080Ti
      • Case:
      • Define R5
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10
      • Monitor(s):
      • 2x Dell U2715H 27" 2560x1440
      • Internet:
      • VirginMedia 100GB
    Yes.

  4. #4
    Jay
    Jay is offline
    Gentlemen.. we're history Jay's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Jita
    Posts
    8,365
    Thanks
    304
    Thanked
    568 times in 409 posts
    can you remove the card reader?

  5. #5
    DILLIGAF GoNz0's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Derby
    Posts
    10,872
    Thanks
    632
    Thanked
    1,192 times in 945 posts
    • GoNz0's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus Rampage V Extreme
      • CPU:
      • i7 something X99 based
      • Memory:
      • 16gb GSkill
      • Storage:
      • 4 SSD's + WD Red
      • Graphics card(s):
      • GTX980 Strix WC
      • PSU:
      • Enermax Galaxy 1250 (9 years and counting)
      • Case:
      • Corsair 900D
      • Operating System:
      • win10 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell 24"
      • Internet:
      • 220mb Cable
    run a check disk on it

  6. #6
    Mostly Me Lucio's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Tring
    Posts
    5,163
    Thanks
    443
    Thanked
    448 times in 351 posts
    • Lucio's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P
      • CPU:
      • AMD FX-6350 with Cooler Master Seldon 240
      • Memory:
      • 2x4GB Corsair DDR3 Vengeance
      • Storage:
      • 128GB Toshiba, 2.5" SSD, 1TB WD Blue WD10EZEX, 500GB Seagate Baracuda 7200.11
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Sapphire R9 270X 4GB
      • PSU:
      • 600W Silverstone Strider SST-ST60F
      • Case:
      • Cooler Master HAF XB
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 8.1 64Bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Samsung 2032BW, 1680 x 1050
      • Internet:
      • 16Mb Plusnet
    Have you tried disconnecting the USB hookup on the monitor from the tower?

    Do you know for certain that the files and card were virus free? Did you download those "large video files" from a legitimate site or via something like BitTorrent?

    At a guess the failed copy has caused corrupted sectors of your hard drive or has exposed that you had corrupted sectors on your hard drive by trying to write over them. Try to get back into Windows safe mode and run ChkDsk, then defrag your hard drive.

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Maidenhead
    Posts
    289
    Thanks
    17
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    • DaKid's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus Z270E
      • CPU:
      • i7-7700K
      • Memory:
      • 16GB DDR4-3000
      • Storage:
      • 500GB WD SSD, 3TB Sata (internal), 3TB USB (external)
      • Graphics card(s):
      • AORUS 1080Ti
      • Case:
      • Define R5
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10
      • Monitor(s):
      • 2x Dell U2715H 27" 2560x1440
      • Internet:
      • VirginMedia 100GB
    can you remove the card reader?
    No, it's integral to the monitor.

    run a check disk on it
    Will do. But not sure how that would pause its posting?

    Have you tried disconnecting the USB hookup on the monitor from the tower?
    No. Will do.

    Do you know for certain that the files and card were virus free? Did you download those "large video files" from a legitimate site or via something like BitTorrent?
    Yes ... they were videos I recorded with a helmet cam of my cycle commute from work last night.

    I defragged just a few days ago and will run chkdsk. Getting into Windows is not a problem; just delayed at the start.

  8. #8
    DILLIGAF GoNz0's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Derby
    Posts
    10,872
    Thanks
    632
    Thanked
    1,192 times in 945 posts
    • GoNz0's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus Rampage V Extreme
      • CPU:
      • i7 something X99 based
      • Memory:
      • 16gb GSkill
      • Storage:
      • 4 SSD's + WD Red
      • Graphics card(s):
      • GTX980 Strix WC
      • PSU:
      • Enermax Galaxy 1250 (9 years and counting)
      • Case:
      • Corsair 900D
      • Operating System:
      • win10 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell 24"
      • Internet:
      • 220mb Cable
    i know chkdsk is a long shot, but it may work so could be worth a try.

  9. #9
    Sukiyaki Western! notsobig's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    London
    Posts
    1,003
    Thanks
    32
    Thanked
    20 times in 20 posts
    If you can get inside windows then I think it's duff card reader. Can't you connect your monitor by normal D-sub instead of usb cable? Or don't you have other monitors you can try booting with?

    Quote Originally Posted by DaKid View Post

    they were videos I recorded with a helmet cam of my cycle commute from work last night.
    Nice idea. Maybe I'm gonna try that myself

  10. #10
    mutantbass head Lee H's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    M28, Manchester
    Posts
    14,204
    Thanks
    337
    Thanked
    671 times in 580 posts
    • Lee H's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI Z370 Carbon Gaming
      • CPU:
      • Intel i7 8700K Unlocked CPU
      • Memory:
      • 16 GB Corsair Vengeance 3200 LPX
      • Storage:
      • 250GB 960 EVO + a few more drives
      • Graphics card(s):
      • 6GB Palit GTX 1060 Dual
      • PSU:
      • Antec Truepower 750W Modular Blue
      • Case:
      • Corsair 600T White Edition
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 PRO
      • Monitor(s):
      • 27" Asus MX279H & 24" Acer 3D GD245HQ + the 3D glasses
      • Internet:
      • Virgin Media
    Can you transfer the files from the SD card using a device like a camera or something similar via a USB cable?

    If you can test it that way and it works, the finger of suspicion would be more aimed towards the card reader on the monitor.

  11. #11
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Maidenhead
    Posts
    289
    Thanks
    17
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    • DaKid's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus Z270E
      • CPU:
      • i7-7700K
      • Memory:
      • 16GB DDR4-3000
      • Storage:
      • 500GB WD SSD, 3TB Sata (internal), 3TB USB (external)
      • Graphics card(s):
      • AORUS 1080Ti
      • Case:
      • Define R5
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10
      • Monitor(s):
      • 2x Dell U2715H 27" 2560x1440
      • Internet:
      • VirginMedia 100GB
    I've run a checkdisk on my Windows drive (will run one on my Data drive as well, although doubt that'll have anything to do with it - you never know though), and it came up fine.

    The monitor is connected via a DVI cable to the GFX card. There is an additional, discrete USB cable that connects the monitor's removable drives to the computer.

    Don't have a suitable USB cable here, unfortunately. I do have another card-reader that I could potentially install and try though. Might do that once I have the PC fully working again.

  12. #12
    Sukiyaki Western! notsobig's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    London
    Posts
    1,003
    Thanks
    32
    Thanked
    20 times in 20 posts
    Have you tried booting without that monitor's usb cable plugged into your PC then?

  13. #13
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Maidenhead
    Posts
    289
    Thanks
    17
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    • DaKid's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus Z270E
      • CPU:
      • i7-7700K
      • Memory:
      • 16GB DDR4-3000
      • Storage:
      • 500GB WD SSD, 3TB Sata (internal), 3TB USB (external)
      • Graphics card(s):
      • AORUS 1080Ti
      • Case:
      • Define R5
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10
      • Monitor(s):
      • 2x Dell U2715H 27" 2560x1440
      • Internet:
      • VirginMedia 100GB
    Right, have run the chkdsks and they came up with nothing. I removed the USB cable and rebooted and it now seems fine. Hopefully then it was just a mountain I've made out of a molehill .... new-PC panic, I guess.

    Thanks for your thoughts guys .... fingers crossed, that was the problem. I shall have to go back to my old card-reader instead []

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Western Union - new credit card charges - beware!
    By Taz in forum General Discussion
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 26-06-2006, 01:26 PM
  2. Card reader
    By htid in forum Smartphones and Tablets
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 21-06-2006, 01:14 PM
  3. Manchester United Computer Viruses
    By GreenPiggy in forum General Discussion
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 06-08-2004, 02:28 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •