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[Q] Android SD Navigation - How does this thing work?

My SD (the one on the Android, not the SD Card, why the hell did they name it SD?!) is full of junk. In fact, it comes with a load of junk by default.
How do I:
1. Get Android to not pull videos, pictures, and music from games? My gallery, video player, doubletwist, etc is full of stuff like that.
2. Know what I can delete and what I can't? I'd like to clean this place up.
3. How do I find stuff? I mean, is it up to me to make "Music" "Pictures" "Videos" folders for my own sake, and Android just looks everywhere and grabs it?
4. How do I go to my SD Card? In fact, I am 100% sure my SD card has two auto-assigned folders on it and nothing else. I have no idea how to access it or put things on it, and I am also sure my phone does not care that it exists. Obviously my phone's SD has plenty of memory on it, but I don't know why there is even a SD card slot. I was thinking of copying some files onto my SD card to put onto my friend's Android phone, but I am also positive I'd have no idea how to perform what should be a basic task.
So, help me out. What am I doing? And, what apps would I need for question four, or just file browsing apps in general.

I'm confused about what this topic is about.
All the words that would describe what he is talking about are replaced with junk and stuff.
.___.
edit: The captivate assigns the internal sd card as SD:
Delete the "junk"

thehyecircus said:
My SD (the one on the Android, not the SD Card, why the hell did they name it SD?!) is full of junk. In fact, it comes with a load of junk by default.
How do I:
1. Get Android to not pull videos, pictures, and music from games? My gallery, video player, doubletwist, etc is full of stuff like that.
2. Know what I can delete and what I can't? I'd like to clean this place up.
3. How do I find stuff? I mean, is it up to me to make "Music" "Pictures" "Videos" folders for my own sake, and Android just looks everywhere and grabs it?
4. How do I go to my SD Card? In fact, I am 100% sure my SD card has two auto-assigned folders on it and nothing else. I have no idea how to access it or put things on it, and I am also sure my phone does not care that it exists. Obviously my phone's SD has plenty of memory on it, but I don't know why there is even a SD card slot. I was thinking of copying some files onto my SD card to put onto my friend's Android phone, but I am also positive I'd have no idea how to perform what should be a basic task.
So, help me out. What am I doing? And, what apps would I need for question four, or just file browsing apps in general.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A search would have answered your questions. your SD card memory is the phones main programs memory. IT is where alot of your apps store the data. You can use many apps to as a file explorer it even comes with one. Its called My Files. I use Root Explorer which allows to access Root files and make changes to them. The sd card slot is for....wait for it.......More memory. As for it not seeing the files. there are a few music apps that let you set the folders it scans. Power Amp is the best at the moment IMHO. You can also put a file in the folders that you dont want scanned named no media, (with root explorer you can copy one of these files from the root folders if you can make one.)

with pre existing folders (for apps and such)
create a "new file" in it named " .nomedia " with the . (preriod)
this can be done with root explorer or in windows. create blank text document rename to .nomedia with NO .txt then copy and move to folders.
nothing in that folder or sub folder will be included in media scans
or if it is a personal folder you are creating name it starting with a . (period)
and ya internal SD gets messy. Use external for your files to keep organized!

Wouldn't my SD card (even if it is SDHC) be slower? DoubleTwist is already inexcusably slow with my files on the SD itself, what would it be like on the external?
And yes, I know what the SD is, I was just asking why it was named that.

Bumping this because I am curious about any speed differences, and because I would like my SD Card to matter.

[Q] Files dissapearing from micro SD

i try to transfer all my music onto my micro sd to listen to it on my eee pad but once i transfer the files over and put the sd card back in my eee pad the files seem to have deleted themselves ??

Not sure if this also applies to the Transformer but with my G-Tablet you have to put a .nomedia file in the SDCARD root directory to keep the OS from deleting the media files.

how do I make such a file?

icow said:
how do I make such a file?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do it in notepad but I use notepad++ as notepad sometimes saves it as a .txt file without you knowing. Just open a new file and save it as ".nomedia" without the quotes obviously. Make sure it doesn't save as a .txt file and don't put anything in the file. Copy this file over to the root of your internal memory and SDCARD. I also put it in each of my "Movies" and "Music" folders just in case. Hope this helps!

I'm not sure the media scanner bug is to blame here (and therefore the .nomedia fix would be possibly useless). Though I have had the problem on my g-tablet, I have music files on my TF that I put there by putting my microSD into my computer, copying the files and then re-inserting it into my TF. I have rebooted my TF many times since then, and all of my music files are still there and still playable within the HC music app and others.
The issue with the g-tablet is/was a bug in the media scanner and is only present in some ROMs (not the stock one or most anything based heavily on stock), and no one seemed to know quite why it happens or how to fix it. The files would only disappear when the media scanner would run, and a lot of folks indicated that they could literally watch the files get deleted as it scanned. The solution was to place a file named ".nomedia" inside the folders where the media resides -- this causes the media scanner to skip those folders (also making the stock apps like your music app, not see those files automatically, forcing you to play them from within a file manager app of some sort).
OP, have you tried copying anything other than music files to your microSD? Do those also not show up?

Also make sure you properly eject the SD card before removing it from your PC.

Okay so I tried the .nomedia trick and iut didn't work but strangely only half of my music is getting deleted ,it is all on there when I check on computer but then i safely remove it and when I put it back in my transformer only half is left weird?
Its not full by the way 32gb card 11gb of music

I have a feeling that File Manager HD is screwing with files on my microSD. Are any of you running it?

Im running into the same issue on my g-tab, going to switch to stock see if i have the same issue. Been trying to get my music files on for the past 4 days with no success, they just keep getting deleted.

I had the same problem but it seems to be working well now. I wasn't ejecting the SD card before removing it from my PC. Make sure that you right click on the sd card from your computer, and go to eject. I haven't had any other problems after that.

coldheater said:
I had the same problem but it seems to be working well now. I wasn't ejecting the SD card before removing it from my PC. Make sure that you right click on the sd card from your computer, and go to eject. I haven't had any other problems after that.
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Click to collapse
wil try it tomorow but if its a no go then illjust send the sd card back

[Q] external SD card questions

i'm new to android so please bear with me.
i have a 32GB SD class 4 in my phone. it's been formatted so all it has is the lost.dir (i'm on a mac)
since there are no folders there - how do i gets apps to use it? where do i put music and other files? i have podcasts and other stuff i'd like to drag over but i'm not understanding how the different apps would see it.
i can move some apps to SD card but i think it just moves them to the internal SD card.
it seems that there are 2 SD cards in the phone but no way to differentiate between the 2.
also it sometimes takes forever for the gx2 to recognize the card, its kind of annoying. is having a class 10 better for this?

I use filemanager from the market and it recognizes my external as........"_externalSD" also allows me to transfer files between the two.

ecpht said:
i'm new to android so please bear with me.
i have a 32GB SD class 4 in my phone. it's been formatted so all it has is the lost.dir (i'm on a mac)
since there are no folders there - how do i gets apps to use it? where do i put music and other files? i have podcasts and other stuff i'd like to drag over but i'm not understanding how the different apps would see it.
i can move some apps to SD card but i think it just moves them to the internal SD card.
it seems that there are 2 SD cards in the phone but no way to differentiate between the 2.
also it sometimes takes forever for the gx2 to recognize the card, its kind of annoying. is having a class 10 better for this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you have your phone plugged in pull down the alert bar on the top of the screen and press the "USB Connection" option. It should ask you if you want to turn USB mode on and have a picture of an Android. This will allow you to mount your internal and external sd as if they were regular flash sticks. You can then copy whatever you want to them. I also like to use drop box in combination with Astro for moving things to and from the cloud.

ecpht said:
i'm new to android so please bear with me.
i have a 32GB SD class 4 in my phone. it's been formatted so all it has is the lost.dir (i'm on a mac)
since there are no folders there - how do i gets apps to use it? where do i put music and other files? i have podcasts and other stuff i'd like to drag over but i'm not understanding how the different apps would see it.
i can move some apps to SD card but i think it just moves them to the internal SD card.
it seems that there are 2 SD cards in the phone but no way to differentiate between the 2.
also it sometimes takes forever for the gx2 to recognize the card, its kind of annoying. is having a class 10 better for this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. G2x has the internal sd card partitioned into 2 parts (1 for OS & apps & other for storage & apps).
2. Sd card's class does help but it is not something important until you're running a high def video.
3. Use any file explorer app (File expert etc) for copying files from Internal SD Card to External SD Card.
4. Most of the app's setting menu gives you an option to physically select the storage destination folder i.e. external sd card.
Hope I helped.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

so say i have podcasts and other files on my computer i want to copy to the 32GB SD card - do i just make folders on the card and copy the files over from my computer?

ecpht said:
so say i have podcasts and other files on my computer i want to copy to the 32GB SD card - do i just make folders on the card and copy the files over from my computer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, just simply copy the entire FOLDER of the particular file to your External SD Card & if in future, if u download something directly from your phone then simply just copy/paste it from your using any file manager app.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

so i have the phone connected to the computer and I see 2 No Name disks. That's fine. I put a folder called music at the root level of the 32GB card. Now I find that folder in File Expert and I go to play something and it says that file isn't supported. I tried Google Music and Doubletwist. Just mp3's from a CD. are there certain settings for android i need to know about? and do i need to go to File Expert to play this music everytime? Or should I be going through doubletwist on my mac and using it like itunes?
thanks you any help, i'm pretty clueless with this aspect of android right now, trying to catch up.

also both SD cards randomly unmount themselves. is there a reason for this or a way to prevent this?

ecpht said:
so i have the phone connected to the computer and I see 2 No Name disks. That's fine. I put a folder called music at the root level of the 32GB card. Now I find that folder in File Expert and I go to play something and it says that file isn't supported. I tried Google Music and Doubletwist. Just mp3's from a CD. are there certain settings for android i need to know about? and do i need to go to File Expert to play this music everytime? Or should I be going through doubletwist on my mac and using it like itunes?
thanks you any help, i'm pretty clueless with this aspect of android right now, trying to catch up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. After reading your problems, here are my suggestions:
1) Copy your 32 GB SD Card files on your computer.
2) Format your 32 GB card. Replace all files back in it.
3) Stop worrying about putting certain files (pics, music) in a root folder. Simply just put any files OR folders inside the Sd card.
4) When it comes to File sharing, think of Android in the same category as Windows.
I hope I helped.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

integrating SD card good or bad?

does this feature work better than having the SD card as an external device?
my concern is if you change the card or have to change the card..
surely everything will go to crap if its integrated and you change or upgrade the card.

I won't integrate it, if something goes wrong you have to reformat entire SD card to make it work as normal.
I will just save everything on SD card while internal memory is used for apps/chat storage

The disadvantage is as you have stated. But the advantages are 1) it will become part of your phone storage. You can store app or any other type of date there. 2) It's encrypted and only work while it's in your phone. You won't be able to read it once it's removed but you don't have to worry about loosing sensitive data if someone got your phone. If you need to change the card (replace with a bigger card), just connect to your computer, copy the data to your computer, switch the card, copy date back to new card.

toiday said:
The disadvantage is as you have stated. But the advantages are 1) it will become part of your phone storage. You can store app or any other type of date there. 2) It's encrypted and only work while it's in your phone. You won't be able to read it once it's removed but you don't have to worry about loosing sensitive data if someone got your phone. If you need to change the card (replace with a bigger card), just connect to your computer, copy the data to your computer, switch the card, copy date back to new card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, total n00b here, but is this true? I thought the data stores were completely scattered once an SD card is integrated, so a simple copy of the data (after porting it onto a computer/other storage) to a new SD card would not guarantee reintegration, as you'd have to reintegrate/mount the new SD card.

frankfrank12 said:
Hi, total n00b here, but is this true? I thought the data stores were completely scattered once an SD card is integrated, so a simple copy of the data (after porting it onto a computer/other storage) to a new SD card would not guarantee reintegration, as you'd have to reintegrate/mount the new SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you setup initially, you have option for what folders, app you want to store in the SD card. I choose to keep all the app I use often in the phone (faster) and folders like media (video, pictures, music) in SD since they're the reason I need SD card. I currently have 64GB SD card. I plan to upgrade to 128GB when they have it available in UHS-3. At that time, I'll need to migrate from the 64GB to the 128GB. Here is my plan: Under Settings -> Storage & USB, it shows Phone Storage and SD Card. Under SD Card, it show the Apps folder with my few app in it, my music folder, my picture folder, and my video folder. There, I can move the pictures, Video, music folders to the computer. I then move the app back to phone storage (there is option for that). Then I can eject the SD card. Insert the new one and format as internal storage. Copy the folders back from the computer. In addition, I probably don't need to copy my picture files since they're backed up to Google Pictures.
It's not very convenience but the price I pay for encryption. Don't have to do that often anyway.

My Micro SD Card got corrupted. Instagram app was installed on SD card, now it can't be ran or reinstalled. (App is a ghost). How to fix this?

I have unrooted LG V20 H990DS.
Unfortunately my Micro SD Card got corrupted and I lost all the photos. As an extra insult to injury, Instagram app was installed on SD card and now I can't run it nor uninstall / reinstall it. The icon is simply grey. It also cannot be found under "apps" section of settings.
I can see the "com.instagram.android" folder under "root/config/sdcardfs" but I can't do anything with it since I don't have a root. If I go in Play Store the phone recognizes Instagram as not installed and when I try to install it I get the "Can't install Instagram - Try again, and if it still doesn't work, see common way to fix the problem"
Is there anything I can do or do I really have to factory reset my phone? -___-

Take out the trashware. Keep all social media apps off the phone! Malware.
SD cards normally don't corrupt themselves. A rootkit or malware is a possibility.
Bad card or hardware.
Do a low level format of card, then reformat in the phone. Do not remove the card from then on or "share" it with other devices. Do all data transfer to the card from within the phone only.
If this doesn't resolve the issue, replace the card with a good name brand V30 rated card like Sandisk Extreme.

blackhawk said:
Take out the trashware. Keep all social media apps off the phone! Malware.
SD cards normally don't corrupt themselves. A rootkit or malware is a possibility.
Bad card or hardware.
Do a low level format of card, then reformat in the phone. Do not remove the card from then on or "share" it with other devices. Do all data transfer to the card from within the phone only.
If this doesn't resolve the issue, replace the card with a good name brand V30 rated card like Sandisk Extreme.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may have been a bit unclear.
I myself moved Instagram to SD card some time ago so I could save some space on my phone and now that my Micro SD card got corrupted, Instagram doesn't work anymore. It was not result of a virus or anything. SD Card is also in bad shape, it's recognized as RAW.

cinemafou said:
I may have been a bit unclear.
I myself moved Instagram to SD card some time ago so I could save some space on my phone and now that my Micro SD card got corrupted, Instagram doesn't work anymore. It was not result of a virus or anything. SD Card is also in bad shape, it's recognized as RAW.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Malware is always a possibility when erratic behavior is observed. Androids should be rock solid stable, if not there's a real underlying issue. Unfortunately I have no easy solutions for this at this stage as far as data recovery.
Meh, keep apps off the SD card. It's a security and reliability risk.
Only one folder on the phone with the name "dcim" in it.
Do a low level format on the PC to try and reuse it. Of course this will completely erase all data.
Recovering data from a flash drive that has lost its folder structure is a frustrating mess at best.
In the future redundantly backup the SD card redundantly to at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC. Use the SD card as a data drive... apps and download folder go on internal memory. All files should be vetted before transferring to the data drive.
At the very least open files in the download folder, jpeps and png's especially to try detect malware -before- transferring to the data drive(s)!!! I've had scripted jpegs before but pick them off before they got into the database. They are real and will cause hell in any folder they are in. May not be detected by any antivirus. WYSIWYG, observe for changes in that folder after opening suspect file.

blackhawk said:
Malware is always a possibility when erratic behavior is observed. Androids should be rock solid stable, if not there's a real underlying issue. Unfortunately I have no easy solutions for this at this stage as far as data recovery.
Meh, keep apps off the SD card. It's a security and reliability risk.
Only one folder on the phone with the name "dcim" in it.
Do a low level format on the PC to try and reuse it. Of course this will completely erase all data.
Recovering data from a flash drive that has lost its folder structure is a frustrating mess at best.
In the future redundantly backup the SD card redundantly to at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC. Use the SD card as a data drive... apps and download folder go on internal memory. All files should be vetted before transferring to the data drive.
At the very least open files in the download folder, jpeps and png's especially to try detect malware -before- transferring to the data drive(s)!!! I've had scripted jpegs before but pick them off before they got into the database. They are real and will cause hell in any folder they are in. May not be detected by any antivirus. WYSIWYG, observe for changes in that folder after opening suspect file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply!
I have solved the app part of the problem so factory reset is not necessary.
What I did was that I took my brother's Micro SD card and placed it into my phone, then I tried reinstalling Instagram from Play Store and it worked! This time it installed it back onto SD card. What I did after was just move the Instagram app from SD Card to phone storage via apps settings.
After that I removed my brother's SD card and was able to run Instagram once again directly from the phone memory.
It seems that the phone just wanted to see some SD Card inserted and then it would allow reinstallation of the app.

SD cards corrupt themselves, especially when formatted as adoptable-storage with ext4 journaling file system and full-disk encryption used for write-intensive applications

aIecxs said:
SD cards corrupt themselves, especially when formatted as adoptable-storage with ext4 journaling file system and full-disk encryption used for write-intensive applications
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Click to collapse
I never have that issue and use SD cards in both my N10+'s but all data is manually transferred to them. One app has permission to auto backup to the SD card, ColorNote. However it's firewall blocked... just in case.
Never use encryption on data drives and especially backup drives... you are the most likely one to end up locked out.

Samsung devices don't allow moving apps to MicroSD Card (which was the case here) as adoptable-storage isn't supported by Samsung at all (probably for performance reasons)

aIecxs said:
Samsung devices don't allow moving apps to MicroSD Card as adoptable-storage isn't supported at all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As it should be... the card/interface are too slow to run apps effectively anyway.
Critical data goes on the SD card.
Only apps, the dcim and download folders should be on internal memory. The dcim files can be regularly transferred to the card to free up memory... just rename that card folder ie Pics, etc.