I have a problem... I bought a 1tb microSD memory card for my phone which wasn't particularly cheap and after loading about 200gb of my personal photos, videos, documents and such, it started slowing the phone down and eventually went into read only mode. Anyway long story short, it is dead and I tried data shredding / writing zeros multiple times on it so I could send it back for a refund but a huge chunk of my personal files are still left on there in-tact after trying various different softwares to erase it inc plain old windows command prompt. So with software methods out of the question I looked at magnets but apparently they don't affect flash memory like they once did with mechanical drives. Amazon said they won't let me cut across it with scissors and "not to worry, my data will be safe"
So I have decided to maybe fry it by using current. My question is, what is the best way to do this, how many volts should I short it with and which terminals should I aim for? Guessing GND + all of them individually? i want to fry the memory but not visibly damage it. Suggestions?

Thanks!

 

NAND cards like these are good for many things, but they are not the most reliable gadget out there. Use at your own risk if you really want to blank this card I would suggest a hammer to destroy it. They are very cheap and easy to replace.

 

NAND cards like these are good for many things, but they are not the most reliable gadget out there. Use at your own risk if you really want to blank this card I would suggest a hammer to destroy it. They are very cheap and easy to replace.

Yup but I need it to be visibly in tact so I can get my money back. That is the problem.
Cheers

 

Welcome to AAC!

i want to fry the memory but not visibly damage it.

Frying it would cause damage that can be seen by microscopic examination, maybe even by eye.

I've been able to format some MicroSD cards that were in a read-only state by using my camera. Everything else I tried failed.

I've had problems with MicroSD cards purchased on Amazon. The ones that are hacked to make capacity appear to be larger than it actually is. If you get one of those, it starts overwriting your data when you reach the actual capacity of the card. I found them by using h2testw, but it's very slow on large capacity cards.

 

Welcome to AAC!
Frying it would cause damage that can be seen by microscopic examination, maybe even by eye.

I've been able to format some MicroSD cards that were in a read-only state by using my camera. Everything else I tried failed.

I've had problems with MicroSD cards purchased on Amazon. The ones that are hacked to make capacity appear to be larger than it actually is. If you get one of those, it starts overwriting your data when you reach the actual capacity of the card. I found them by using h2testw, but it's very slow on large capacity cards.

I've heard of that too with the size hacked firmware. This was from amazon directly though on behalf of sandisk. But it's still possible I guess!
I suppose some minor bubbling would be acceptable as they would likely just assume it was part of the fault.
That's interesting that your camera formatted it.. might try it on my steam deck which is Linux. Cheers

 

This was from amazon directly though on behalf of sandisk. But it's still possible I guess!

The cards I had problems with from Amazon were from a seller purporting to be Samsung Store. They were only 128GB, but 3 out of 3 didn't pass the capacity test. I won't buy anything larger than 64GB because I've had so many fakes. Got a bad Sandisk 128GB from Best Buy (but 2 of 3 were good).

I've seen a lot of fake MicroSD cards (and batteries and just about whatever you can think of) on AliExpress. This one appears to be trying to pass it off as Samsung:

 

An EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) will destroy it without causing visible damage. Trouble is - where are you going to find a nuke to achieve that without blowing up the house?

On the other hand, tapping every set of pins with a high voltage such as 30 volts DC should easily fry MANY connections inside the chip. And since they're so darn cheap they will likely simply toss the defective chip into the land fill and replace it. I've even had experiences with some sellers who will say "Keep the defective part - we don't want it back" and send out a replacement item.

While this example is not an electronic component, I bought some tie-downs that get welded to a pipe. They have a ratchet assembly so you can tighten it and it remains tightened until you deliberately loosen it. They came in a pair. Only one was missing the ratchet pawl. I contacted the vendor and they sent me TWO NEW tie-downs and didn't want the others back. Four would be more useful than two, so I took some steel and welded it together to make a replacement pawl the same thickness. Then I cut and ground the new pawl to match the others, drilled a hole and mounted it. Now I had four for the price of two.

Not suggesting you resort to that sort of practice, I favor honesty over deception. But the bottom line is if your supplier does not want the chip back then you are at liberty to toss it in the microwave oven before you recycle it.

 

OH HOLD THE PHONE! SansuMg? That's a counterfeit chip. You've been robbed.

Live and learn. They're cheap enough. Buy a new one from a reputable source and simply destroy this old chip however you like. Hacksaw - torch - microwave oven - - - .

 

That's a counterfeit chip. You've been robbed.

I didn't buy it; I posted as an example of a blatant counterfeit. I learned my lesson long ago about buying MicroSD cards from AliExpress.

FWIW, they transposed the "N" and "M".

 

I have a problem... I bought a 1tb microSD memory card for my phone which wasn't particularly cheap and after loading about 200gb of my personal photos, videos, documents and such, it started slowing the phone down and eventually went into read only mode. Anyway long story short, it is dead and I tried data shredding / writing zeros multiple times on it so I could send it back for a refund but a huge chunk of my personal files are still left on there in-tact after trying various different softwares to erase it inc plain old windows command prompt. So with software methods out of the question I looked at magnets but apparently they don't affect flash memory like they once did with mechanical drives. Amazon said they won't let me cut across it with scissors and "not to worry, my data will be safe"
So I have decided to maybe fry it by using current. My question is, what is the best way to do this, how many volts should I short it with and which terminals should I aim for? Guessing GND + all of them individually? i want to fry the memory but not visibly damage it. Suggestions?

Thanks!

If the security of your data is important, take the loss, and don't buy from that vendor again.

Be sure to leave public comments regarding your experience.