Acer Chromebook Spin 713 cp714-3w-5102 microSD reader not accepting 128 GB Micro SDXC card

I just bought a new acer chromebook spin 713 cp713-3w-5102 from Best Buy. When I put my 128 GB micro SDXC card into the built-in card reader, it shows me a message that the device is not recognized and suggests formatting. When I click the button to format it I am getting a message indicating it cannot format the card. I can take that same micro SDXC card and put it into a USB reader that plugs into the USB-c port and it can read that 128 GB card just fine. Also, I have taken that same 128 GB card and inserted it into a Lenovo Flex 5 chromebook and everything works fine. What is the solution to this problem?

Are Sandisk 128 GB micro SDXC cards not appropriate for use in these machines for the included micro SD reader?

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StevenGen

Soupman1100 said:

I just bought a new acer chromebook spin 713 cp713-3w-5102 from Best Buy. When I put my 128 GB micro SDXC card into the built-in card reader, it shows me a message that the device is not recognized and suggests formatting. When I click the button to format it I am getting a message indicating it cannot format the card. I can take that same micro SDXC card and put it into a USB reader that plugs into the USB-c port and it can read that 128 GB card just fine. Also, I have taken that same 128 GB card and inserted it into a Lenovo Flex 5 chromebook and everything works fine. What is the solution to this problem?

Are Sandisk 128 GB micro SDXC cards not appropriate for use in these machines for the included micro SD reader?

The problem that you are having is this, an SDXC card is a storage device that works and is formatted using the exFAT file system on Windows. Since some devices do not support exFAT, it is important to change the file system to FAT32 or NTFS. Because of the operation of Windows, it is hard to format SDXC to FAT32, whether it is a memory card or a USB flash drive. However, there are three methods you can try on Windows that people do not know, so look at this extensive guide of How to Format SDXC Cards and why SDXC cards are not recognised.

Soupman1100

Ok, from what I am reading here, you are suggesting I do this formatting to FAT32 on a Windows machine. And also from what I’m reading, FAT32 only supports up to 2 GB.

So… an Acer Spin 713 can only have a maximum of 2 GB read in the microSD card slot? That seems bad. And, not being able to format these cards on the Chrome machine and having to find a windows machine seems odd.

Do you know of a microSD card that I can purchase that can have more than 2 GB that is formatted correctly to work in these chrome books?

Peter_K

I have read than many Sandisk cards have a hidden partition and Chromebooks will not format them. The solution is to use the Chromebook Recovery app and the menu option to erase the recovery media. The Chromebook will then format the media. As an alternative with access to Windows you have options to use the windowed Disk Management or the more comprehensive command line diskpart

Soupman1100

Peter_K said:

I have read than many Sandisk cards have a hidden partition and Chromebooks will not format them. The solution is to use the Chromebook Recovery app and the menu option to erase the recovery media. The Chromebook will then format the media. As an alternative with access to Windows you have options to use the windowed Disk Management or the more comprehensive command line diskpart

Thank you! That makes sense to me. I’ll look into finding a windows machine I can format this on. Does anyone one have a preferred microSD card brand that they recommend?

billsey

Yes, Acer has tested SDXC cards with the CP713-3W models, but only up to the 64GB capacity. The 128GB cards shouldn't be an issue, unless they are as Peter suggests, set up with a hidden partition that has their software load for Windows machines (typically something like backup software). exFAT, FAT32 and NTFS are all supported, no need to change that (and the partition limit for FAT32 is 2TB, not 2GB). You can wipe the card using the Recovery app or on a different machine, then create a single partition for the whole card. I'd stick with exFAT myself, it's supported by pretty much everything that supports cards larger than 32GB.

randomx

I have a Sandisk Extreme Plus 256 MicroSD card and a ImageMate PRO 128 MicroSD card that are giving me the same behaviors. Using an external card reader on device, it works fine. Using in other computers works fine. Using internally to device, doesn't work. Have tried exFAT, NTFS, adn FAT32 formatting from both Windows 10 and Linux PCs. Doesn't work. How do we get this raised to support and addresses?

I don't have any smaller ones available but can go pick a 64 up. The ability to expand storage with 256gb card was major selling point.

billsey

@randomx do you also have one of the CP713-3W models (the title here has a typo, CP713 instead of CP714 is correct)? Specs are different with different models...

randomx

CP713-3W-5102

billsey

It looks like Acer tested with sizes up to 64GB and not larger:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/oh/37od0x8750pk.png

bugsyii

billsey said:

You can wipe the card using the Recovery app or on a different machine,

Tell me more. What is the recovery app? Available on my Chromebook? How to access?

bugsyii

Tell me more. What is the recovery app? Available on my Chromebook? How to access?

billsey

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chromebook-recovery-utili/pocpnlppkickgojjlmhdmidojbmbodfm?hl=en should get you the app.

bugsyii

Well, that didn't work.
Got the recovery media extension, ran it on the SDXC card through a USB reader.
The first time, it seemed to format successfully. Got to the point where it wanted to do recovery; cancelled, cause I really didn't want to recover for fear of what it might destroy some data.
Put the media in to wipe the recovery data. Error.
Tried reformatting, both using a USB card reader and the Apple version of the recovery extension and on the Chromebook. Errored out after unpacking. Tried several times.
Tried it with the card in the Chromebook slot: During the final write phase -"Unknown error: CHROMEOS_IMAGE_BURNER_ERROR. Please try again."
This is definitely a camera image-oriented SDXC: "Sandisk ImageMate Plus microSDXC UHS-1 Card" with a claimed Read rate of 130 MBs. Note "compatible with devices capable of reaching such speeds."
The frustrating part, as others have noted, is that it works just fine through the USB connection. It's only in the microSD slot that it errors out.
Thanks for your help. Other suggestions? Otherwise, I'm off to buy a new card.

billsey

I'm thinking it's the card. Maybe a forgery? Sandisk cards are usually reliable.

bugsyii

It came off the rack at a WalMart. Who knows? I'll go back and argue with them tomorrow. Thanks for your help.
bugsyii

randomx

SAMSUNG EVO Select 256 GB worked. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09B1GXM16/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

billsey

Guess Walmart got a real good deal...

bugsyii

OK, back again with the latest progress report.
I now have SanDisk 128 and 256 GB microSD cards, and neither of them work in the Micro slot on the CP713-3W.
Here's what I've found:
You cannot; repeat, cannot format an SDXC card to FAT32. Every reference I find online says this. You must use exFAT. When I tried formatting either of the cards as FAT32, apparently the format utility attempts to break the storage into 16GB partitions, and fails or quits after creating 2 16GB partitions. I then have a 128 or 256 GB card, either of which will store only 32 GB of data. Not a good deal, and it doesn't give me a great deal of confidence in the stability of that storage.
According to several sources, Chrome will work with exFAT.
So I created a recovery resource on the 128GB card, then reformatted it through the USB port on an Apple Macbook Air, (exFAT, Master Boot Record) and I have a 128 GB storage unit my Chromebook can reference, read and write - through the USB port; still unrecognized through the micro SD slot. I put it in, nothing shows up in Files.
I now have 3/4ths of a TB of data storage, none of which does what I want; work in the MicroSD slot, so I don't have storage dangling off the side of my portable computer-tablet.
Interestingly, when I put a 16GB SDHC non-SanDisk card from my camera into the slot, it took right off and the Chromebook can reference, read and write it.
So who has an SDXC card above 32 GB that really works in the micro slot on their CP713-3W , or can give me a link to information that corrects what I've summarized here?
Thanks,
bugsy

bugsyii

REF: https://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2520/~/sd/sdhc/sdxc-specifications-and-compatibility.

NISTEM

I purchased a SanDisk 1TB Extreme Pro MicroSD Memory Card - U3 V30 4K A2 Class 10 (SDSQXCZ-1T00-GN6MA) for the Chromebook only to run into the same frustrating issues. It doesn't matter how or where the mSD is externally unallocated and then formatted, it simply won't work in the internal slot, only in an external device or hub. Externally it works great. So the "dongle" is required 🙄. I had an old SanDisk 65GB mSD that works internally, so I keep it there, but the write speed is painfully slow. I really like the Chromebook otherwise, and the Thunderbolt 4 is great, but not being able to use a larger and fast internal mSD card is quite disappointing. Can we hope some future update might fix it?? I do hope so...

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