Should i do the factory reset? If yes, what will i lose?

Question

My android ( htc desire s ) phone is working fine when i don't put my micro sd card in it ( this card was free with the phone ). But my phone keeps restarting every few minutes if i keep the memory card in it. By that i could say that the phone is fine but issue can be with either the memory card or my phone no more support any memory card.

The thing is if the same memory card is inserted in any other mobile, be it android or any other smartphone, that phone will not start and the data is completely readable too. So, memory card is fine. When I insert some other memory card in my phone then my phone too do not restart.

So that means the issue is with the phone + that particular mem card combo.

I am ready to uninstall each and every app from my phone, but will that solve my problem? Should I perform the factory reset? Will it solve my issue ? What will i lose if will do the factory reset? Like: contacts, sms, call logs, APN settings etc . Any free software to backup all these.

But may be i am going in the wrong direction. May be there is some easy way to get the phone and memory card working. Please help.

FYI The phone and memory card worked completely fine for 8 months

Answer 1

Doing a factory reset WILL NOT modify the sdcard in any way. Only the data on the phone will be deleted. Contacts that are set up to sync with your google account will restore, but everything else will be gone.

If you have applications installed on the sdcard, I would start there. Uninstall them, or move them back to the device storage. You say that it only crashes when it is in the desire, and not any other android phone. This would make me think there is probably an app installed on the sdcard for the desire. You also said that it doesn't reboot when a different card is in the desire, again leading me to believe that there could be an app that is installed to the sdcard that is causing problems.

If you think there is something in your data that is causing the issue, then backing up the data with Titanium will just restore any "issue" that there is.

If you think the problem is with the data on the sdcard, then you can format it under storage in settings.

I would also consider the sdcard itself could have issues. The sdcards that come with the devices are very cheap cards and usually one of the slower class type of sdcard. I have had a few of them last only a couple months before. I suggest getting a better sdcard, one that is at least a class 6. If you have a slower class card, this could also potentially cause issues with some applications.

Answer 2

First, to answer one question simply, yes you will lose all of your data doing a factory reset unless you back it up.

If you feel a factory reset is necessary, I would using a program like Titanium Backup to backup your data. This is if you are rooted.

As for the issue with your SD card, it could be a number of things. You said that it worked fine for 8 months-is there an app you installed recently that may be the cause of the problem? Something that didn't run properly when you first opened it? Or an app that has issues while running.

Answer 3

Do you know some android software-developper in you neighborhood? if so he can try to attach a debug-logger to the phone and watch in the debug log what happens before the restart.

i think there is one file on the sdcard (or an error in the filesystem of the card) that causes the reboot. maybe the media scanner crashes because of an invalid mp3 or vidoe file.

Answer 4

You could always format your SD card. (if your phone is rooted, it might have an attachment to your SD card thats causing it to do this)

Answer 5

According to your explanation +the mem Card works fine on other devices +your phone reads other mem cards just fine

• it's when they work together...

You installed an app on your phone, this app was moved to the memory card either by you or another 3rd party software and this app is having memory consumption issues

• 1) go into the card and check all those "weird" folders like com.android.mapguide and the like and make a list of them

• 2) remove the card and go to manage applications

  • 2.1) make a note of the application on the list

  • 2.2) uninstall the applications on the list

  • 2.3) move the folders and files on the list to another media
• 3) insert your card the device $should$ work :)
• 4)one-by-one reinstall the apps one at a time, writing down what you did and
  restarting the phone between installs

The data on one of the files/folders was creating the bug but because you removed the files and folders from your phone.

Hope this helps

Mickey