[Q] How do you make a RAW dump of a SD card? - General Questions and Answers

I was just wondering how one would make a RAW dump of a SD card and then later write back, Like a ISO from a disc for example.
The reason is because I want to backup my HD2 Android card but there is various files I can not seem to find/access via windows, Ive set all folder options to show hidden/system files etc but still cant, so wanted to dump the entire SD card so I can try another build of android out as one of my 8GB cards is for windows other currently has the EvoLeo rom on which is working well but the only other card I have over 1GB doesn't work when trying to boot android.

If you have linux, you can simply use the 'dd' command. It makes a perfect byte-for-byte copy that can later be restored.
If you've got root and bash installed, dd is available on your phone as well. So, if you've got it connected to a network share, you can do it all from the phone as well.
If none of the above works for you, I beleive that Windows allows creating backups of removable storage.

Im just a windows user bud.
Ive tried through windows but not sure how to make a backup of removable media, I guess im aksing what program can do this?

Hmm, try connecting the card to the PC and right click on it in my Computer. A backup option should be either there or somewhere under properties.
(It's been a while since I've used Windows)

Related

how to transfer data to new Micro SD card?

My Touch Pro came with a 1g MicroSD card. So...I started installing stuff on it already. Programs were installed in the card either by .cab file or through windows. Now I'm thinking of buying a larger MicroSD card....do i need to reinstall everything or can I just copy everything from the old card to the new one and it would be as if I didn't change anything?
Thanks
If you copy everything (including any normally hidden system files) then you should be fine and NOT have to reinstall any of your .cab files......
.
ahh, that's good to hear
I assume, using the PC to copy it will work since the PC sees all the files right?
ok, got my 4g micro sd and used activesync to transfer all files to a temp dir and move it all to the new card. I made sure that windows explorer could see hidden files and turned off that hidden operating system bit. works great
Yep I did the same from my tiny winy 4gbB to a barely adequate 16gb.
koppee1 said:
ok, got my 4g micro sd and used activesync to transfer all files to a temp dir and move it all to the new card. I made sure that windows explorer could see hidden files and turned off that hidden operating system bit. works great
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a bit of advice, next time, extract the micro-SD card, put it in a microsd 2 USB adaptor.
Copy/paste all files in a temp dir on your PC.
Remove the card from adaptor, place the new one. Copy all the files back on the new card.
Copy made through a USB card reader is definitly faster than a regular activesync copy !
Hope this helps !
Hi Guys,
I also found that if I have to transfer quite a lot of data to the PC it's much faster to switch the Touch Pro to 'Disk Drive' mode instead of 'ActiveSync' mode, then it's really quick!
Good for backing up the storage card etc.
Cheers,
D.
koppee1 said:
ahh, that's good to hear
I assume, using the PC to copy it will work since the PC sees all the files right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well... not by default...you have to make sure that all the hidden files are showed offcourse...but then, yes.. windows should see everything...
Sprite Backup
Is it not possible to use Sprite Backup to backup and restore only storage card?
taninu said:
Is it not possible to use Sprite Backup to backup and restore only storage card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you usually backup to the storage card, right?

Memory card backup, format, restore.

Ok so i installed Pocket mechanic 2.9x and tried a defrag which stated the FAT system was damaged, so i tried it's scan disk which was useless..
Anyways I've got a HTC TyTN with wm6 and i'm itching to try exFAT as the file system on the memory card which is essentialy my entire PDA HDD, like with my desktop computer I do not like storing anything on the internal windows drive.
So I was wondering: Can I with some utility make a backup of some sorts, maybe an ISO of the entire memory card, if say i inserted the card into my desktop computer, formatted with exfat and then restored the backup, would my PDA get the fritz or would everything work just a little bit better?
premier69 said:
Ok so i installed Pocket mechanic 2.9x and tried a defrag which stated the FAT system was damaged, so i tried it's scan disk which was useless..
Anyways I've got a HTC TyTN with wm6 and i'm itching to try exFAT as the file system on the memory card which is essentialy my entire PDA HDD, like with my desktop computer I do not like storing anything on the internal windows drive.
So I was wondering: Can I with some utility make a backup of some sorts, maybe an ISO of the entire memory card, if say i inserted the card into my desktop computer, formatted with exfat and then restored the backup, would my PDA get the fritz or would everything work just a little bit better?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can make backup in computer. It would be better to format in vista because it will give many options of formatting which depend on your choice. I don't think you will loose anything after restore.
in my signature, there is a link to the GUIDES thread.. you can see how to backup everything in one of the guides posted there..
Complete backup
Hello, I am also interested in backing up all the phone memory. Is there any software that can backup all data on the device? HTC TyTN II.
I have upgraded a tablet that I have (ainol Novo 7 Paladin) and I have made this backup and I found it very useful.
I want to flash this HTC and install another OS but before that I would like to back-up the WM6 in case something goes wrong.
Thank you,
Caius

Invisible Files on MicroSD Card?

All of the sudden, all the files on my SD card went missing! I was transferring music and video files to the device over USB (as a storage card, per the custom ROM USB/PC feature) and after it was done, it showed my card as blank.
I took the card out of the phone (XV6900) and put it into my SD adapter and into my computer. The 4GB card shows that 1.8GB are in use when I go to properties, however, there are no files at all in the root of the drive! Like they are invisible! (Yes, I have Windows set to show all hidden and system files, so that is not the problem)
How do I get my files to reappear? It looks like they are not actually deleted! i don't get why this happened all of the sudden
you can try an undelete program and check the sdcard while in the reader
undelete programs can handle sdreaders just like they can hd's
Rudegar said:
you can try an undelete program and check the sdcard while in the reader
undelete programs can handle sdreaders just like they can hd's
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did that already...it found a ton of stuff that used to be on there, but not the current files.
had the same thing happen to me once in awhile
where the sdcard just get corrupt which is why I keep
an raw copy of it on my computer in case I need to copy it back
Rudegar said:
had the same thing happen to me once in awhile
where the sdcard just get corrupt which is why I keep
an raw copy of it on my computer in case I need to copy it back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using the same 4GB card as my old phones. this never happened on my Titan or TouchPro, each of which I have for a year or so. I have had a Vogue for 1 week and it has happened twice! does the XV6900 wipe the card periodically or when performing certain actions? even on a ROM update/flash it should touch the SD card when running from the RUU package in windows

SD Card not writeable

Hi,
for a few days im not able to write anything to my sdcard (SanDisk 8GB). Im sure its not permission related (read only mode..). My computer (linux) can read flawlessly, just like my phone (Moto Milestone/TheFroyoMod 2.4c). But when i copy files to the sdcard and plug it back in, the new written data is lost. Same for my phone. I can take photos but the files cant be stored on the sdcard. I already tried to format the sdcard with GParted but it wont let me do ANY changes. Even if i format it to another FS, when i plug it back in, its still FAT 32 with all the data still on it. Windows wont let me format it at all.
Does anyone have a similar issue and manged to solve it?
ty!
Is it an old card, been used a lot? It may not be the case, but it sounds like nand that has run out of write cycles.
well ive been using it for 6 months now. Just regular usage.
It sounds like you've tried everything available to you. I'd recommend copying the contents of the SD card onto your PC for safe keeping and try to source another card.

How to set up SD Card as Internal Storage?

I've been all day trying to get a Micro SD installed on my T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Go5 so I can move apps onto it. After bricking an old SD 32 GB card and buying a new 64 GB card I started searching for help here. I found information that said the card has to be formatted as 'Internal Storage.' This post described the process (the process that worked toward the bottom).
I'd been trying to figure out how to install the Android SDK on my Windows PC without downloading Android Studio in order to get the adb shell mentioned in that post set up. I found this post and this post on the stackoverflow forum, but just wasn't able to figure it all out. But it looks like I need the Java SE Development Kit 10 installed.
I was able to set up USB debugging on the phone though.
Can anyone help me out here and describe just what must be done to achieve all this?
Thanks for any feedback on this
Not really able to help but i read many people advise against using SD card as internal storage. Most regular SD cards r not fast enough or durable enough to last more than a few months. Just sharing
sautom said:
Not really able to help but i read many people advise against using SD card as internal storage. Most regular SD cards r not fast enough or durable enough to last more than a few months. Just sharing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you're right about that. I've installed programs on USB sticks that can be quite sluggish. Then again I've had a number of system maintenance utilities on flash drives for years that aren't and still perform fine. Then they don't get used for hours on a day to day basis.
I moved a number of apps on my old Galaxy Ace to a micro sd card though, most used was the Poweramp music player that's always performed well.
And I've got the card now, so I may as well try to get it set as internal and just see how it performs over time. Thanks for you feedback sautom.
TakuSkan said:
I've been all day trying to get a Micro SD installed on my T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Go5 so I can move apps onto it. After bricking an old SD 32 GB card and buying a new 64 GB card I started searching for help here. I found information that said the card has to be formatted as 'Internal Storage.' This post described the process (the process that worked toward the bottom).
I'd been trying to figure out how to install the Android SDK on my Windows PC without downloading Android Studio in order to get the adb shell mentioned in that post set up. I found this post and this post on the stackoverflow forum, but just wasn't able to figure it all out. But it looks like I need the Java SE Development Kit 10 installed.
I was able to set up USB debugging on the phone though.
Can anyone help me out here and describe just what must be done to achieve all this?
Thanks for any feedback on this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have lollipop or newer Android version, you should be able to use the "Adoptable storage" option.
Also, if performance is important to you, then you won't like this option, using sdcard as internal is slower, the only "gain" in using this is the system has more storage to use. There is no gain on performance, you actually lose there.
I don't recommend using sdcard as internal storage though. There are way too many issues that come along with using this kind of modification. A lot of times, the sdcard gets corrupted, then the real issues start when you try to fix it, usually, the device won't function properly, the data on the sdcard gets lost/corrupted, just to name a couple of the many possible issues. It isn't exactly "easy" to fix this when it happens, depending on what goes wrong, sometimes it can't be fixed.
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Droidriven said:
If you have lollipop or newer Android version, you should be able to use the "Adoptable storage" option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've read quite a bit on this and "adoptable storage" now, and agree that trying to use an expansion SD card as internal memory to run apps is a bad idea Droidriven. I still have a little over 1 GB left on the tiny built in 8GB internal SD Card memory, and have most of what I want installed.
I'm pretty green when it comes to Android, coming from many years with Windows and a tad with Linux. I see that with v6.0.1 Marshmallow, the OS began setting up a system directory tree on the 64 GB SD card when I installed it, and I'm able to set data folders there for apps like the camera. That'll be good for storing large camera videos and other media files.
One thing I haven't figured out yet though is whether or not there's any setting on a non-rooted phone like this Go5 that will allow me to transfer files directly into the 'Android' folder on the internal 8 GB card from Windows. I'm able to connect the two via USB or FTP and write files from Windows to folders on the 8 GB card like 'Download'. But I can't copy any files from Windows over to any of the writable apps folders in the 'Android' folder. I've resorted to copying them 1st to 'Download' from Windows, and then using a file manager in Android to copy files over to the 'Android' folder. I'm not used to such rigid file/folder permissions.
Does this sound like an issue that will require rooting? It'd make life a lot easier if that weren't the case. I'd think if I can write files to that 'Android' folder from within Android, I ought to be able to do the same remotely somehow.
Thoughts?
TakuSkan said:
I've read quite a bit on this and "adoptable storage" now, and agree that trying to use an expansion SD card as internal memory to run apps is a bad idea Droidriven. I still have a little over 1 GB left on the tiny built in 8GB internal SD Card memory, and have most of what I want installed.
I'm pretty green when it comes to Android, coming from many years with Windows and a tad with Linux. I see that with v6.0.1 Marshmallow, the OS began setting up a system directory tree on the 64 GB SD card when I installed it, and I'm able to set data folders there for apps like the camera. That'll be good for storing large camera videos and other media files.
One thing I haven't figured out yet though is whether or not there's any setting on a non-rooted phone like this Go5 that will allow me to transfer files directly into the 'Android' folder on the internal 8 GB card from Windows. I'm able to connect the two via USB or FTP and write files from Windows to folders on the 8 GB card like 'Download'. But I can't copy any files from Windows over to any of the writable apps folders in the 'Android' folder. I've resorted to copying them 1st to 'Download' from Windows, and then using a file manager in Android to copy files over to the 'Android' folder. I'm not used to such rigid file/folder permissions.
Does this sound like an issue that will require rooting? It'd make life a lot easier if that weren't the case. I'd think if I can write files to that 'Android' folder from within Android, I ought to be able to do the same remotely somehow.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always just use the ES File Explorer app, it lets me move whatever I want to/from Android folder.
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Droidriven said:
I always just use the ES File Explorer app, it lets me move whatever I want to/from Android folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, from within Android. I'm using the free open source Amaze file manager that I can do that with. But I can't connect the Android phone to a Windows PC and be able to copy files from Windows to the Android folder on the phone. Just to Download, and maybe DCIM and the root of the internal 8 GB SD memory.
Can ES File Explorer access shared folders on a Windows PC? Amaze sets up an FTP server, but I don't see where it can access files on a Windows system.
EDIT: Seems it can: How to Access Shared Windows Folders on Android, iPad, and iPhone
TakuSkan said:
Yes, from within Android. I'm using the free open source Amaze file manager that I can do that with. But I can't connect the Android phone to a Windows PC and be able to copy files from Windows to the Android folder on the phone. Just to Download, and maybe DICM and the root of the internal 8 GB SD memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be able to do this with just Windows. Are you sure that you have your USB options set correctly? It should be set to MTP(file transfer).
When you connect the device to PC, you should see a USB icon in the status bar on the device, pull down notification panel, it should have a notification that takes you to your USB options.
Or, when you connect the device, you might get a pop-up menu on your device that has settings for USB options.
It varies from one device to another and one android version to another.
Do you have USB debugging enabled in developer options?
Also, if you do some reading about everything that the ES File Explorer app can do, you'll see that it can be used to transfer files to/from PC via more than a few options, including wirelessly/remotely.
It has several things it can do and different ways to connect when connecting/connected to other devices, including smart TV and others. It can also be used as a server or even be used to create a hotspot.
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Droidriven said:
You should be able to do this with just Windows. Are you sure that you have your USB options set correctly? It should be set to MTP(file transfer).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes Droidriven. I have set USB debugging and USB is set as MTP. I just discovered that Amaze does connect to Windows like ES File Explorer by running it's cloud search function. So far Amaze has done everything I've been told to use ESFE for. But Amaze is very light. I just used Amaze to copy a file over from a shared Windows folder to that Android folder on the phone.
I have Total Commander on the Windows system, but when I use it to navigate to an apps subfolder of Android on the phone, it can't see any of the files or folders that I can access with Amaze from within the phone.
So I'm half way there Just need to figure out how to get Windows to see and write files on this Go5 now.
TakuSkan said:
Yes Droidriven. I have set USB debugging and USB is set as MTP. I just discovered that Amaze does connect to Windows like ES File Explorer by running it's cloud search function. So far Amaze has done everything I've been told to use ESFE for. But Amaze is very light. I just used Amaze to copy a file over from a shared Windows folder to that Android folder on the phone.
I have Total Commander on the Windows system, but when I use it to navigate to an apps subfolder of Android on the phone, it can't see any of the files or folders that I can access with Amaze from within the phone.
So I'm half way there Just need to figure out how to get Windows to see and write files on this Go5 now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know where you're having issues, all I have ever done is just connect my device to Windows via USB then use the native Windows Explorer file manager to transfer to/from internal/external to PC/device. I've never had to do anything special or use any extra software on the device or PC to achieve this, plus, I've done this on different Windows systems.
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Droidriven said:
I don't know where you're having issues, all I have ever done is just connect my device to Windows via USB then use the native Windows Explorer file manager to transfer to/from internal/external to PC/device. I've never had to do anything special or use any extra software on the device or PC to achieve this, plus, I've done this on different Windows systems.
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it may be because this was a T-Mobile phone and that they may have disabled some functions like "adoptable storage" which doesn't seem to be present, as well as maybe setting permissions to prevent access to certain system folders.
I've even found that I have to change the extensions of some files like ini files to txt before I can drag and drop from Windows Explorer via a USB connection to just a few folders on Android.
It is a bit nutz. Rooting would probably solve the problem. But I'm not ready to go there yet. There may be an answer for getting the Windows > Android file viewing and writing yet. But at least for the moment I can copy both ways with the Amaze File Manager.
Okay, I'm back to considering formatting this 64 GB SD Card as internal storage. I would really like to record video to it, and with the internal memory limited to 1 GB that's left of the total of 8 GB from the factory, that's just not going to make it.
I got the Android SDK and 'adb shell' working on my PC, and started researching how to run commands that would target just the SD Card, and not the existing memory. The command 'sm list-disks' returns: disk:179,32
Is that the phone's internal memory, the SD Card's memory, or perhaps all memory on the phone? When I run the command 'sm list-volumes' I get:
private mounted null
public:179,33 mounted 38C4-18FE
emulated mounted null
I know 38C4-18FE is listed on the phone as being my added SD Card. So I'm hesitant to run the command I see people using to format their SD Cards: 'sm partition disk:179,33' I've wiped the wrong drives by mistake before using Windows diskpart when I didn't specify the right drive/volume. Can anyone clear that up for me?
I'm still hesitant to do this as it seems the phone will automatically begin to use the entire contents of the SD Card as space to run its OS. Might there be commands that would specifically alot the space on the card for writing data, and not for apps that would write and rewrite data there? Something I could create a folder in and point video recording apps to?
Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
TakuSkan said:
Okay, I'm back to considering formatting this 64 GB SD Card as internal storage. I would really like to record video to it, and with the internal memory limited to 1 GB that's left of the total of 8 GB from the factory, that's just not going to make it.
I got the Android SDK and 'adb shell' working on my PC, and started researching how to run commands that would target just the SD Card, and not the existing memory. The command 'sm list-disks' returns: disk:179,32
Is that the phone's internal memory, the SD Card's memory, or perhaps all memory on the phone? When I run the command 'sm list-volumes' I get:
private mounted null
public:179,33 mounted 38C4-18FE
emulated mounted null
I know 38C4-18FE is listed on the phone as being my added SD Card. So I'm hesitant to run the command I see people using to format their SD Cards: 'sm partition disk:179,33' I've wiped the wrong drives by mistake before using Windows diskpart when I didn't specify the right drive/volume. Can anyone clear that up for me?
I'm still hesitant to do this as it seems the phone will automatically begin to use the entire contents of the SD Card as space to run its OS. Might there be commands that would specifically alot the space on the card for writing data, and not for apps that would write and rewrite data there? Something I could create a folder in and point video recording apps to?
Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's possible to partition the external sdcard so that it has separate partitions with one of those partitions devoted to internal storage and the other for whatever you want. I'm not versed in specific tools and methods to do it, there are many.
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Droidriven said:
It's possible to partition the external sdcard so that it has separate partitions with one of those partitions devoted to internal storage and the other for whatever you want. I'm not versed in specific tools and methods to do it, there are many.
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Click to collapse
I'm happy with dedicating the entire memory in my sd card to adoptable storage space. I just want to know if adb is returning the right designation of my added sd card memory, and not the default internal memory.
Does the command 'sm list-disks' run from an adb shell that returns this for me: disk:179,32 mean that 179,32 is the designation that represents the sd memory card I added? Or if I try to use adb to partition 179,32 as adoptive memory, will I be formatting the default internal memory? What would be an adb command to return the designation of the small 8 GB default internal memory of my phone?
TakuSkan said:
I'm happy with dedicating the entire memory in my sd card to adoptable storage space. I just want to know if adb is returning the right designation of my added sd card memory, and not the default internal memory.
Does the command 'sm list-disks' run from an adb shell that returns this for me: disk:179,32 mean that 179,32 is the designation that represents the sd memory card I added? Or if I try to use adb to partition 179,32 as adoptive memory, will I be formatting the default internal memory? What would be an adb command to return the designation of the small 8 GB default internal memory of my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried running the command without the external sdcard inserted? That will tell you the designation of your internal because internal is all it will see, then insert the external sdcard, then you can run the command to see what the designation for the external is. Once you setup Adoptable Storage, there will be no difference in designation, the OS will see your internal and your external as one complete storage space, it sees external as if it were internal and identifies/labels it as such for all intents and purposes.
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Droidriven said:
Have you tried running the xommand without the external sdcard inserted? That will tell you the designation of your internal because internal is all it will see, then insert the external sdcard, then you can run the command to see what the designation for the external is. Once you setup Adoptable Storage, there will be no difference in designation, the OS will see your internal and your external as one complete storage space, it sees external as if it were internal and identifies/labels it as such for all intents and purposes.
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is exactly the information I've been after Droidriven. That sounds like the perfect way to differentiate default internal memory from an SD addon. I read where after formatting/partitioning the sd card, installed apps will stay on the internal memory unless you opt for an ill advised process of moving them to the new space where they probably won't perform well.
How will the OS see the added sd memory after formatted as adoptable storage? My concern is that since this a cheap flash memory sd card, I don't want the OS to start writing and rewriting to this sluggish, slow flash memory card and just wear the thing down. Is there any way to specify the added memory as being data storage only? I only want the extra memory for writing video from the phone to a space large enough to hold multiple files
TakuSkan said:
I read where after formatting/partitioning the sd cardm installed apps will stay on the internal memory unless you opt for an ill advised process of moving them to the new space where they probably won't perform well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's right.
TakuSkan said:
How will the OS see the added sd memory after formatted as adoptable storage?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, it will see all one space with no way to "store here instead of there" that I know of. The OS uses the entire space as it sees fit.
TakuSkan said:
My concern is that since this a cheap flash memory sd card, I don't want the OS to start writing and rewriting to this sluggish, slow flash memory card and just wear the thing down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is exactly what it will do, this is the common cause of sdcard formatted as internal getting burned out, they aren't meant to do all that writing/rewriting/overwriting/deleting constantly. Frequent activity kills it in the end, hence, my original post warning against the downsides to using external as internal. Once external is incorporated into internal, if the external gets corrupted, the OS won't boot or operate, potentially making a terrible mess to get the device recovered but not the external sdcard, it's toast at that point, along with everything that was stored on it, in some cases, the device can't be recovered either, due to lack of software support or publicly available downloadable firmware.
TakuSkan said:
Is there any way to specify the added memory as being data storage only? I only want the extra memory for writing video from the phone to a space large enough to hold multiple files
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It might be possible somehow, but it probably requires root and some other apps that use root to make the needed modifications to direct data where you want it stored. I'm not sure it's possible though because, as I said previously, the OS sees internal and external as one complete partition, with no way to "see" a difference between them because they no longer have differing disk designations.
In my honest opinion(based on my exposure and experience with various devices that have used this as an option and the issues they have had along the way), using external as internal is too risky and shouldn't be used. Oddly, Adoptable Storage works better on devices that have better hardware and plenty of internal storage than it does on lower end devices with limited hardware and limited storage, the lower, limited devices are typically the ones that end up having issues. I know, this seems counter-intuitive since the better devices don't need the extra internal storage and the lower devices do need the extra internal storage, but we both know that flash memory is very unreliable for continuous write/delete/rewrite and is doomed to fail.
Could you possibly consider some kind of OTG storage, wireless USB drive or some kind of "cloud" storage or FTP setup?
You should be able to direct your downloads, your pics and your recordings to the folder of your choice when downloaded/created instead of having to move them after. I'm not certain you need to do this just to be able to use your external to store data.
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