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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > macOS > Best recovery software for corrupt SD card

Best recovery software for corrupt SD card
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MacNNFamous
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Dec 2, 2021, 11:22 PM
 
Okay, so I have 2-3 weeks of footage on a 128 gig card on my go pro, was working great, pulled it out of the gopro, mac says it can't be read. Plug it back into go pro, says ERR and red. FUCKKKKK.

So I've been searching for decent software, but it's all just paid review/shill for ransomware after ransomware after ransomware. Do any of these actually work? I legit cannot find any reviews that don't turn on all my bullshit alarms.
     
reader50
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Dec 2, 2021, 11:33 PM
 
What file system does GoPro use? Most portable devices use ExFAT, with FAT32 on older devices. Any drive recovery software should work, as it's a mass storage device. The medium doesn't seem important. But we need the filesystem.

If the card controller is blown and won't allow block-level access, then you'd need a service that does hardware service. Expensive.

If it is a type of FAT, then you'll be looking at Windows utilities, or command-line tools. Disk Utility does basic FAT repairs, but it's mostly a front end for FSCK, while hiding all the fine controls. It wouldn't be my first choice for critical files.
     
MacNNFamous  (op)
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Dec 3, 2021, 01:54 AM
 
exfat.

Here's what happened. I had a card in my machine, and iMovie was locked up, but I didn't know it locked or even open (minimized).

I ejected the SD card that was mounted on the desktop, but it wouldn't eject, so I just said huh that's weird, and pulled it out. I put in the new card, and it wasn't showing up. I opened imovie, saw that there was a disk, and clicked import, except it was just showing the files from the LAST SD Card I already removed. Then iMovie locked up, so I force quit it.

On the desktop, I saw the icon for the card that was still mounted, and would not unmount because iMovie was accessing it and screwed up somehow. Right click, eject.

Plugged it back in, that's when the SD card got messed up. It's like the file structure on my card if from the PREVIOUS card. I used disk utility, and it 'fixed' the file structure, and made it identical to the previous SD card, except none of the clips work.

I'm running a deep scan using M3 data recovery, idfk. This sucks. Weeks worth of work.
     
reader50
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Dec 3, 2021, 02:59 AM
 
Originally Posted by MacNNFamous View Post
Here's what happened. I had a card in my machine, and iMovie was locked up, but I didn't know it locked or even open (minimized).
My guess: this first card is failing. In my recent experience, macOS gets tripped up on drive access only where there's a hardware issue. Network shares freeze up the I/O functions too, if the remote drive stops responding. Though in that case, it's a connection issue in between. Still technically a hardware issue.

So the first card that iMovie locked up on - wasn't responding properly. macOS may get past the issue and catch up on filesystem status if you give it time. Or reboot. Instead, you addressed the 2nd card while the I/O functions were still stuck on the first card. If correct, you're solving it right. Low-level recovery scan, to scavenge for lost files. As the catalog structure is worthless today. And I'd be reluctant to use the 1st card again.

I'm not familiar with Windows recovery software. Hopefully your M3 utility will recover to another drive, and not modify the original. So you can try other utilities if M3 misses anything important.
     
ghporter
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Dec 3, 2021, 10:44 AM
 
The first package listed in this set of reviews looks promising.

I’ve been paying attention to SD card issues lately because my Raspberry Pi either doesn’t seem to like the 128GB card I just bought, or (more likely) the software I wrote to it ain’t up to snuff…. Yes, an RPi can handle that size card. Maybe that’s too much for such a small machine.

I concur with reader50 on Macs only having issues with attached devices if there’s a problem. Usually my “issues” come from an app still using the device when I try to eject it. Force eject usually works fine, though. Why your iMovie was goobered up is a mystery to me, though.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
MacNNFamous  (op)
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Dec 3, 2021, 11:16 AM
 
This sucks. Hours of scanning later, it recovered a couple thumbnails of the footage on there.... and a bunch of gibberish .swf files. I have no idea why it's finding .swfs, all the footage was mp4, I think it's just finding gibberish and thinking it is an mp4.

I'm so depressed about this. I had a video I filmed specifically for a friend, I had a ton of footage of my last night with a car I just sold, so I can't even reshoot half this shit. FUCK.
     
MacNNFamous  (op)
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Dec 3, 2021, 11:43 AM
 
Originally Posted by ghporter View Post
The first package listed in this set of reviews looks promising.

I’ve been paying attention to SD card issues lately because my Raspberry Pi either doesn’t seem to like the 128GB card I just bought, or (more likely) the software I wrote to it ain’t up to snuff…. Yes, an RPi can handle that size card. Maybe that’s too much for such a small machine.

I concur with reader50 on Macs only having issues with attached devices if there’s a problem. Usually my “issues” come from an app still using the device when I try to eject it. Force eject usually works fine, though. Why your iMovie was goobered up is a mystery to me, though.
That page is run by the company that makes disk drill, so.... basically shit like this is all I can find. Marketing dressed up as app reviews.
     
ghporter
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Dec 3, 2021, 06:18 PM
 
Eww. Sorry about that. I hadn’t looked that deeply into it.

This TechRadar article reviews Disk Drill pretty well. They also list some well-rated free or “free to try” (no idea how limited they are) apps.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
CharlesS
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Dec 6, 2021, 09:35 PM
 
It looks like Data Rescue 6 is supposed to work with ExFAT volumes; you might want to give it a try. It worked pretty excellently on HFS+ disks when I've had to use it in the past, and they have a free demo you can run on the disk to see what it'll be able to find before buying it.

Ticking sound coming from a .pkg package? Don't let the .bom go off! Inspect it first with Pacifist. Macworld - five mice!
     
   
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