iPad File corruption on copy to external storage

[bladerunner88]

So i have a Sand Disk iXpand lighting thumb drive, but did not like the fact that I could not access anything using Files on the iPad only via the SanDisk software. So I reformatted on the Mac copied some files over and now the iPad does not see the flash drive in the lightning Connector. The drive mounts on the Mac Desktop just fine.
Is there anything i can do to get the iPad to recognize it?
or do I need some of the camera adapter things?

 

[doboy]

So i have a Sand Disk iXpand lighting thumb drive, but did not like the fact that I could not access anything using Files on the iPad only via the SanDisk software. So I reformatted on the Mac copied some files over and now the iPad does not see the flash drive in the lightning Connector. The drive mounts on the Mac Desktop just fine.
Is there anything i can do to get the iPad to recognize it?
or do I need some of the camera adapter things?

iXpand drive connected through lightning connector can’t be seen natively with iOS and requires the iXpand app or the FileBrowser Business edition. Only the Business version will recognize the drive through lightning. I have the regular version, but recently purchased a business edition just for the iXpand drive recognition on my iPhone 11.

 

[sparksd]

So i have a Sand Disk iXpand lighting thumb drive, but did not like the fact that I could not access anything using Files on the iPad only via the SanDisk software. So I reformatted on the Mac copied some files over and now the iPad does not see the flash drive in the lightning Connector. The drive mounts on the Mac Desktop just fine.
Is there anything i can do to get the iPad to recognize it?
or do I need some of the camera adapter things?

Check this out -

https://forums.sandisk.com/t/factory-restore-the-device/73249/4

 

[sparksd]

Someone on another forum asked about FAT32 so I ran the test again. For some reason, none of my Win10 machines would let me reformat my 500GB SSD, a 128GB flash drive, or a 64GB SDXC card as FAT32 - only options provided were NTFS & exFAT. I found an older 16GB SDHC card and was able to format it as FAT32.

I did the copy from the iPad to the card mounted to my 2018 12.9 Pro in a USB-C card reader. All 165 RAW images (1.9GB total) copied using the Files app without corruption. The downside - the copy took 62 minutes to complete and burned 17% of the battery.

 

[sparksd]

FOLLOWUP - I just retested with exFAT with 14.2 (I thought I had tried with 14.2 but it appears not) and was able to rerun my test with zero corruption. I ran it twice to doublecheck. Using the Files app, I copied 165 RAW images (1.9GB) to an exFAT USB-C SSD without a problem. Copy time was approx. 40 secs.

Anyone else try with 14.2?

 

[macdogpro]

FOLLOWUP - I just retested with exFAT with 14.2 (I thought I had tried with 14.2 but it appears not) and was able to rerun my test with zero corruption. I ran it twice to doublecheck. Using the Files app, I copied 165 RAW images (1.9GB) to an exFAT USB-C SSD without a problem. Copy time was approx. 40 secs.

Anyone else try with 14.2?

Interesting, will give a try and report back later on.

 

[hsiunghsiung]

Quick Test with transferring a 2gb video file h.264 from ipad pro 11 2018 to sandisk external ssd with OEM cable seems to be working well without artifacting/corruption.

Back story (With IpadOS 14.0):
A few weeks ago, I edited a 2gb video with lumafusion and was trying to transfer it to my imac using my sandisk external ssd. While rewatching it, I found out at random times, there were weird artifacting (random pixels with different colors or really hacky looking lines) going on. I thought it had to do with my ssd, so I tried 2 different external SSDs and 2 OEM sandisk cables + apple usb c cable, and all combinations of transferring my 2gb file resulted in random artifacting within the 2:23 min video which was frustrating. Eventually I used filebrowser to transfer it to the SSD and OEM cable, and it worked flawlessly, but required extra steps since filebrowser can't access "On My Ipad" files readily. I read up about the Files app not working well with exFAT (which my ssds were formatted into), and that the solution was filebrowser or formatting in APFS. I've just been banking on filebrowser since I prefer exfat to allow versatility in transferring files between different systems.

Today (with IpadOS 14.3):
I transferred the same 2gb file through the files app to my exFAT sandisk external SSD with OEM cable, and it was able to transfer it without any artifacting throughout the 2:23 min.

I'm not sure how stable Files app is since I haven't used it extensively to transfer videos yet, but at least I can confirm with previous posts that it at least CAN work now without corruption. Before, each combination would definitely show artifacting.

 

[sparksd]

Quick Test with transferring a 2gb video file h.264 from ipad pro 11 2018 to sandisk external ssd with OEM cable seems to be working well without artifacting/corruption.

Back story (With IpadOS 14.0):
A few weeks ago, I edited a 2gb video with lumafusion and was trying to transfer it to my imac using my sandisk external ssd. While rewatching it, I found out at random times, there were weird artifacting (random pixels with different colors or really hacky looking lines) going on. I thought it had to do with my ssd, so I tried 2 different external SSDs and 2 OEM sandisk cables + apple usb c cable, and all combinations of transferring my 2gb file resulted in random artifacting within the 2:23 min video which was frustrating. Eventually I used filebrowser to transfer it to the SSD and OEM cable, and it worked flawlessly, but required extra steps since filebrowser can't access "On My Ipad" files readily. I read up about the Files app not working well with exFAT (which my ssds were formatted into), and that the solution was filebrowser or formatting in APFS. I've just been banking on filebrowser since I prefer exfat to allow versatility in transferring files between different systems.

Today (with IpadOS 14.2):
I transferred the same 2gb file through the files app to my exFAT sandisk external SSD with OEM cable, and it was able to transfer it without any artifacting throughout the 2:23 min.

I'm not sure how stable Files app is since I haven't used it extensively to transfer videos yet, but at least I can confirm with previous posts that it at least CAN work now without corruption. Before, each combination would definitely show artifacting.

Good info - thanks for the post.

 

[doboy]

Quick Test with transferring a 2gb video file h.264 from ipad pro 11 2018 to sandisk external ssd with OEM cable seems to be working well without artifacting/corruption.

Back story (With IpadOS 14.0):
A few weeks ago, I edited a 2gb video with lumafusion and was trying to transfer it to my imac using my sandisk external ssd. While rewatching it, I found out at random times, there were weird artifacting (random pixels with different colors or really hacky looking lines) going on. I thought it had to do with my ssd, so I tried 2 different external SSDs and 2 OEM sandisk cables + apple usb c cable, and all combinations of transferring my 2gb file resulted in random artifacting within the 2:23 min video which was frustrating. Eventually I used filebrowser to transfer it to the SSD and OEM cable, and it worked flawlessly, but required extra steps since filebrowser can't access "On My Ipad" files readily. I read up about the Files app not working well with exFAT (which my ssds were formatted into), and that the solution was filebrowser or formatting in APFS. I've just been banking on filebrowser since I prefer exfat to allow versatility in transferring files between different systems.

Today (with IpadOS 14.3):
I transferred the same 2gb file through the files app to my exFAT sandisk external SSD with OEM cable, and it was able to transfer it without any artifacting throughout the 2:23 min.

I'm not sure how stable Files app is since I haven't used it extensively to transfer videos yet, but at least I can confirm with previous posts that it at least CAN work now without corruption. Before, each combination would definitely show artifacting.

Thanks for the info, but FB Business is just so much better Although for a price of course

 

[sparksd]

Thanks for the info, but FB Business is just so much better Although for a price of course

Same here - it's one of my favorite apps. And I trust it.

 

[Aldwych]

Here's the thing: I get the corruption issue even when using FileBrowser! Granted, not at the same rate as when using the iOS Files app, but still.

Does anybody have any solution for this? ?

Here are my devices:

iPad Pro 2020 12.9", iPadOS 13.5.1
Samsung T5 1 TB Portable SSD

 

[macdogpro]

Here's the thing: I get the corruption issue even when using FileBrowser! Granted, not at the same rate as when using the iOS Files app, but still.

Does anybody have any solution for this? ?

Here are my devices:

iPad Pro 2020 12.9", iPadOS 13.5.1
Samsung T5 1 TB Portable SSD

Never had corrupted files with FileBrowser.

By the way, any reasons you still on OS 13.5.1?
14.3 has been treating me fine, might help with lots of issues including FB performance.

Also maybe you can tell us more about how you transfer the files, the files size, corruption forms, etc?
So we might discover something together.

 

[hsiunghsiung]

I would also update to v14 too since for me, that solved some issues

 

[Aldwych]

Hi! Thanks for the swift reply!

By the way, any reasons you still on OS 13.5.1?
14.3 has been treating me fine, might help with lots of issues including FB performance.

Well, I mean, that's a fair question! No specific reason, really... I tend to wait with updating my iOS/iPadOS devices because of obviously not being able to go back to an earlier version. I've had performance issues after iOS updates in the past (for example going from iOS 7 to iOS 8 on my original iPad mini) which caused severe usability issues and annoyances. I'm not really in the picture about how the iPad Pro 2020 copes with iPadOS 14, so I haven't got around to making a decision yet about updating.

One complaint that I've heard about iPadOS 14 is that contrary to iPadOS 13's behaviour, when in a livestream or Zoom call etc., opening Control Centre or the App Switcher immediately stops the stream/video, which several people indicated being a major nuisance in everyday use (and, quite frankly, I would agree, if this behaviour is really the case).

However, I'd be generally open to updating to iPadOS 14, especially if you think it may help with the corruption issue. But I'd like to make an informed decision as opposed to hastily updating on a whim, since the iPad Pro is currently more or less my main device.

Also maybe you can tell us more about how you transfer the files, the files size, corruption forms, etc?
So we might discover something together.

Of course! So, the Samsung T5 is formatted with exFAT out of the box, I haven't reformatted it since. I also have an Anker 8-in-1 dongle which I would use to plug in SD cards (formatted with exFAT as well). The issue persists regardless of which of these external storage devices I use.

I would usually copy large amounts of RAW photos (about 25 MB each) or video files (ranging from a few MB to >4 GB) in either direction (iPad –> external storage and vice versa). File corruption irregularly happens in both directions. The source files are never corrupted (this only happened with the iOS Files app), corruption only occurs with the destination files.

After trying different strategies because of file corruption and file system errors shown by Windows when plugging in an external storage device that was used on the iPad before (the dreaded "scan and fix" window), my most recent copying strategy is as follows:

1. Turn off iPad.
2. Plug in external storage device.
3. Turn on iPad.
4. Open two instances of FileBrowser side-by-side.
5. Copy files with FileBrowser (copy direction is irrelevant).
6. Using the folder properties feature, compare source and destination file sizes (bytes amount has to match).
7. If not equal, delete destination files and go back to step 6 (happens every second/third time or so, seemingly also depending on the amount of files).
8. Turn off iPad.
9. Unplug external storage device.
10. Turn on iPad.

As you may imagine, this is quite a tedious process with having to restart the iPad twice, and even with these steps, I often get the "scan and fix" window on the PC when plugging in an external storage device after using it with the iPad.

Therefore, I have stopped using my external storage devices with the iPad altogether, because I quite simply have trust issues. I don't want to have to put up with possible data loss every time I use the SSD. After all, I bought a 1 TB version for a reason: I don't just use it as a temporary transfer buffer device, but I want to keep files on there as well. And yes, I do have backups, but it is a major annoyance nevertheless.

If you do have any insight, I'd really appreciate it if you could share!

 

[IowaLynn]

Jumping in as I haven’t read entire thread... change brand of storage, and I’d reformat - always - with the unit it’ll be used with, or with your PC.

 

[sparksd]

Jumping in as I haven’t read entire thread... change brand of storage, and I’d reformat - always - with the unit it’ll be used with, or with your PC.

I'm the OP on this thread. I've used the T5 & FileBrowser for many large transfers without a problem. I'd also recommend that he update to iOS 14.

 

[Aldwych]

Thank you all! Have you had any issues – performance or other – with iPadOS 14 compared to iPadOS 13?

I will probably indeed update shortly, but I'd still like to know what awaits me.

 

[macdogpro]

Hi! Thanks for the swift reply!


Well, I mean, that's a fair question! No specific reason, really... I tend to wait with updating my iOS/iPadOS devices because of obviously not being able to go back to an earlier version. I've had performance issues after iOS updates in the past (for example going from iOS 7 to iOS 8 on my original iPad mini) which caused severe usability issues and annoyances. I'm not really in the picture about how the iPad Pro 2020 copes with iPadOS 14, so I haven't got around to making a decision yet about updating.

One complaint that I've heard about iPadOS 14 is that contrary to iPadOS 13's behaviour, when in a livestream or Zoom call etc., opening Control Centre or the App Switcher immediately stops the stream/video, which several people indicated being a major nuisance in everyday use (and, quite frankly, I would agree, if this behaviour is really the case).

However, I'd be generally open to updating to iPadOS 14, especially if you think it may help with the corruption issue. But I'd like to make an informed decision as opposed to hastily updating on a whim, since the iPad Pro is currently more or less my main device.



Of course! So, the Samsung T5 is formatted with exFAT out of the box, I haven't reformatted it since. I also have an Anker 8-in-1 dongle which I would use to plug in SD cards (formatted with exFAT as well). The issue persists regardless of which of these external storage devices I use.

I would usually copy large amounts of RAW photos (about 25 MB each) or video files (ranging from a few MB to >4 GB) in either direction (iPad –> external storage and vice versa). File corruption irregularly happens in both directions. The source files are never corrupted (this only happened with the iOS Files app), corruption only occurs with the destination files.

After trying different strategies because of file corruption and file system errors shown by Windows when plugging in an external storage device that was used on the iPad before (the dreaded "scan and fix" window), my most recent copying strategy is as follows:

1. Turn off iPad.
2. Plug in external storage device.
3. Turn on iPad.
4. Open two instances of FileBrowser side-by-side.
5. Copy files with FileBrowser (copy direction is irrelevant).
6. Using the folder properties feature, compare source and destination file sizes (bytes amount has to match).
7. If not equal, delete destination files and go back to step 6 (happens every second/third time or so, seemingly also depending on the amount of files).
8. Turn off iPad.
9. Unplug external storage device.
10. Turn on iPad.

As you may imagine, this is quite a tedious process with having to restart the iPad twice, and even with these steps, I often get the "scan and fix" window on the PC when plugging in an external storage device after using it with the iPad.

Therefore, I have stopped using my external storage devices with the iPad altogether, because I quite simply have trust issues. I don't want to have to put up with possible data loss every time I use the SSD. After all, I bought a 1 TB version for a reason: I don't just use it as a temporary transfer buffer device, but I want to keep files on there as well. And yes, I do have backups, but it is a major annoyance nevertheless.

If you do have any insight, I'd really appreciate it if you could share!

I understand your frustration, I too having my iPad Pro as my main computer.

- I never compare between iPadOS 13 and 14 before, regarding the control center issues during sharing screen on Zoom call. But I do notice sharing screen on most video call apps can be a bit of an annoyance. Doing something else related to multi tasking often kills the screen sharing, such as opening split screen or switching to another app instantly using cmd+tab with physical keyboard or app switcher like you said. I’d still recommend you to update to the latest OS though. Nowadays Apple rarely messed up with newest update. The last major disaster was iOS 11 as I recall it really slows down my iPhone 6.

- About the T5 SSD, we may have initial culprit here. See, iOS generally doesn’t work well with all Windows formated file system, including exFAT. It certainly will bring you more corruption issues based on many people’s experience here in the forum. This of course also applies for your exFAT formatted SD cards as well. Hence I formatted my external harddrive using Apple file system such as APFS or Journaled Extended directly from a Mac computer, and installed a software to read and write Apple file system on the Windows machine such as the likes of Paragon.

If you for some reasons cannot reformat the SSD, I’d suggest to only use it with your PC. As for accessing the SSD attached to the PC, the iPad can use wireless SMB sharing function through router on your local network via FileBrowser or Files app. Or, my persoal preference is to use wired SMB sharing via LAN cable for maximum transfer rate speed. You’re going to need a USB-C to Gigabit LAN adapter for that.

Hope it helps ?

 

[sparksd]

Thank you all! Have you had any issues – performance or other – with iPadOS 14 compared to iPadOS 13?

I will probably indeed update shortly, but I'd still like to know what awaits me.

None - 2018 12.9 Pro, Air 2, 10.5 Pro, iPhones XS Max & 12 Pro Max.

I'd also mention that my T5 is formatted exFAT.

 

[Aldwych]

- About the T5 SSD, we may have initial culprit here. See, iOS generally doesn’t work well with all Windows formated file system, including exFAT. It certainly will bring you more corruption issues based on many people’s experience here in the forum. This of course also applies for your exFAT formatted SD cards as well.

Yes, I'm aware of that, but sharing external storage between the iPad and Windows PCs is essential for my workflows. Formatting the SSD to HFS or APFS is therefore not an option, unfortunately. Same thing with the SD card: I have to have it formatted with exFAT because that's the only thing that works with my cameras. And installing HFS/APFS drivers for my own PC would be a solution if I'd only use the SSD on my own PC, but it has to be universally compatible.

So I don't see any other way than to use exFAT.

 

[macdogpro]

Yes, I'm aware of that, but sharing external storage between the iPad and Windows PCs is essential for my workflows. Formatting the SSD to HFS or APFS is therefore not an option, unfortunately. Same thing with the SD card: I have to have it formatted with exFAT because that's the only thing that works with my cameras. And installing HFS/APFS drivers for my own PC would be a solution if I'd only use the SSD on my own PC, but it has to be universally compatible.

So I don't see any other way than to use exFAT.

I see, but @sparksd here also use exFAT formatted T5 apparently, and he has done so many routes and experiments compared to most of us that cursing the Files app performance here ?

So not sure how to solve your issue then ?

 

[sparksd]

I see, but @sparksd here also use exFAT formatted T5 apparently, and he has done so many routes and experiments compared to most of us that cursing the Files app performance here ?

So not sure how to solve your issue then ?

One difference is he is using 13.x, I'm on latest non-beta 14.

 

[sparksd]

Yes, I'm aware of that, but sharing external storage between the iPad and Windows PCs is essential for my workflows. Formatting the SSD to HFS or APFS is therefore not an option, unfortunately. Same thing with the SD card: I have to have it formatted with exFAT because that's the only thing that works with my cameras. And installing HFS/APFS drivers for my own PC would be a solution if I'd only use the SSD on my own PC, but it has to be universally compatible.

So I don't see any other way than to use exFAT.

One other solution is to use something like the RAVPower FileHub, a wireless device supporting external storage -

https://www.amazon.com/RAVPower-FileHub-Wireless-Portable-Transfer/dp/B07P5QDQ1B

I've used them since their first version and have worked with the vendor on debugging issues. I no longer use mine for external storage access but they work quite well, albeit slower than a direct connection. An older review I did -

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/new-ravpower-filehub-model-wd009.2166261/

I prefer this to a wireless HDD as I can use any storage with it - I usually used a 4TB HDD.

 

[Aldwych]

I've been following @sparksd's issues, threads and experiments from the start both here and on Reddit! Many thanks to you, @sparksd, in any case, because you already have helped very much by making me aware of FileBrowser.

@macdogpro Yes, I am aware that I seem to be having issues while others don't in the same circumstances, which is strange. But after many months of passively reading this thread I decided to take part myself, in the hopes that someone may be able to offer some insight nevertheless. Thanks for trying in any case!

 

[Aldwych]

One other solution is to use something like the RAVPower FileHub, a wireless device supporting external storage -

Well, yes, but these things are essentially all workarounds... I think it's more than strange on Apple's part that a device which is marketed as a laptop replacement is simply unusable for such an essential basic thing like copying files to/from storage devices with a widely used file system.

I would much prefer not having to purchase more and more special devices as a workaround, but being able to use normal cross-compatible devices like with any other laptop/tablet.