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Interesting problem after updating to an ICS build but I need to format my Xoom completely and start again from scratch.
Only problem is, unlike other android versions, there doesn't seem to be an option under storage to format either of the on-board SD locations. I've tried the factory reset option but storage is still showing all my files there.
The removable card isn't a problem, I just take it out, format it and re-insert but the internal isn't giving me an option to format at all as far as I can see.
Is there a hidden method of doing this or am I being a bit thick and missing the obvious?
Thanks in advance...........
mcnob said:
Interesting problem after updating to an ICS build but I need to format my Xoom completely and start again from scratch.
Only problem is, unlike other android versions, there doesn't seem to be an option under storage to format either of the on-board SD locations. I've tried the factory reset option but storage is still showing all my files there.
The removable card isn't a problem, I just take it out, format it and re-insert but the internal isn't giving me an option to format at all as far as I can see.
Is there a hidden method of doing this or am I being a bit thick and missing the obvious?
Thanks in advance...........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think they will let you format the internal SD, but I've found it strange that they don't let you format the external one...
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
megabiteg said:
I don't think they will let you format the internal SD, but I've found it strange that they don't let you format the external one...
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't do it. If you form Sdcard from Xoom, you will destroy your Xoom...total brick. Sdcard is internal (hard drive, if you will) and if you format that you will delete all you system settings, bootloader, os, everything.
Just wipe your data and then flash a new rom, which will overwrite whatever you want to get rid of.
Indeed it's weird - any ideas about how to format the external SD card ?
I can't seem to find an option to format the external card from within the system.
format the external SD card
imachine said:
Indeed it's weird - any ideas about how to format the external SD card ?
I can't seem to find an option to format the external card from within the system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you are running HC 3.2 or higher. Anything prior to 3.2 does not allow SDcard usage.
Format your external SDcard, in your phone first. Then with the Xoom OFF, place the formatted SDcard in the Xoom and power it up. (give it a few seconds to show up in storage on your setting menu.)
(I found that formatting it in the phone ensures proper function and a lot easier.)
As always; If this was helpful, give thanks!
Mjamocha said:
Make sure you are running HC 3.2 or higher. Anything prior to 3.2 does not allow SDcard usage.
Format your external SDcard, in your phone first. Then with the Xoom OFF, place the formatted SDcard in the Xoom and power it up. (give it a few seconds to show up in storage on your setting menu.)
(I found that formatting it in the phone ensures proper function and a lot easier.)
As always; If this was helpful, give thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mjamocha, Hows that 64 GB sdxc micro SD card working out for you.
I ordered one last week on Amazon. Should arrive tomorrow.
Anybody? I really would love the option to start clean again, a wipe of the internal SD.
Would re locking and then unlocking the boot loader accomplish this?
You could do that, but only relock if you are completely stock, with the right files for your device. Or you can do a complete wipe in fastboot mode, but you'll have to search for the exact command.
I'm wanting to format my internal SD card and completely erase every single thing thats on it to start from scratch. I see in TWRP there is a section for partitioning SD. If I use this feature it should wipe my sd card and I can install a fresh rom right? What should I set the partion to? 2048? And use ext4?
I have a lot of junk on my sd that I no longer want and have been getting extremely annoying insufficient space errors when trying to install apps. I have a ton of space and am still getting errors. Just want to wipe it all, format the card correctly, and start over.
Please help I have tried seaching but nothing mentions TWRP or ext4.
Anyone? I don't have a personal PC right now as I'm building a new one, so I have to use my work comp. I have all of my info backed up at work and woud like to start restoring asap.
I am only here for another hour
Hey mate, there's no need to partition the SD card and format it for ext3 or ext4.
Just go into wipe and choose external sd card and that will wipe it for you.
Edit: You can also do it from within Android just go into settings > storage > erase phone storage
Sent from my HTC One XL
thejosh86 said:
Hey mate, there's no need to partition the SD card and format it for ext3 or ext4.
Just go into wipe and choose external sd card and that will wipe it for you.
Edit: You can also do it from within Android just go into settings > storage > erase phone storage
Sent from my HTC One XL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do that... even twrp.has a function to wipe.sd
also....mount in windows or linux
select all and delete
dont forget the hidden files...
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
Just got my new Tablet ME rainbow 7 quadcore. I rooted the device and it went fine. The tablet has 1gb phone/system storage and about 4gb of Internal storage. I partitioned the internal storage using mini tool partition wizard, followed the instructions carefully and its done.
But after I rebooted my device, somehow it got messed up. The Internal storage shows 0.00b and Misc of 20kb. I tried to access it again via my pc but when i turned on the usb storage on, I cannot access it. Need help to solve this issue
Is there a way to somehow recover my internal storage or repartition it again?
Thanks alot, hopefully anyone out there can help me.
krokoks said:
Just got my new Tablet ME rainbow 7 quadcore. I rooted the device and it went fine. The tablet has 1gb phone/system storage and about 4gb of Internal storage. I partitioned the internal storage using mini tool partition wizard, followed the instructions carefully and its done.
But after I rebooted my device, somehow it got messed up. The Internal storage shows 0.00b and Misc of 20kb. I tried to access it again via my pc but when i turned on the usb storage on, I cannot access it. Need help to solve this issue
Is there a way to somehow recover my internal storage or repartition it again?
Thanks alot, hopefully anyone out there can help me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Either you use the "format sd card/storage" function from android itself or u can use a custom recovery like ClockWorkMod to revive your storage.
LS.xD said:
Either you use the "format sd card/storage" function from android itself or u can use a custom recovery like ClockWorkMod to revive your storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, i tried your suggetions but im having a trouble on installing custom recovery because my android tablet is not on their device lists.
Do you know any method of installing custom recovery on any android tablet? tnx alot
krokoks said:
ok, i tried your suggetions but im having a trouble on installing custom recovery because my android tablet is not on their device lists.
Do you know any method of installing custom recovery on any android tablet? tnx alot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems as there is not a custom recovery for your tablet released yet. Have you tried "Settings->Storage->Format SD" ?
LS.xD said:
Seems as there is not a custom recovery for your tablet released yet. Have you tried "Settings->Storage->Format SD" ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tried it but no format option. I ask a friend and he said that maybe I partition and format my intrenal storage to a file system that my tablet does not recognized. As a result, my tablet does not read my internal storage. Tried to connect it also to my pc but when I choose option to turn on my usb storage, it just keep reading (circling icon).
Is there a way to repartition/format my internal storage using adb commands?
or other way to access my storage using my pc?
Thnx alot
krokoks said:
tried it but no format option. I ask a friend and he said that maybe I partition and format my intrenal storage to a file system that my tablet does not recognized. As a result, my tablet does not read my internal storage. Tried to connect it also to my pc but when I choose option to turn on my usb storage, it just keep reading (circling icon).
Is there a way to repartition/format my internal storage using adb commands?
or other way to access my storage using my pc?
Thnx alot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does mini tool partition wizard show up the partition?
EDIT: Most stock recoveries / bootloader have a option so format sd card / storage. Should be worth a try.
LS.xD said:
Does mini tool partition wizard show up the partition?
EDIT: Most stock recoveries / bootloader have a option so format sd card / storage. Should be worth a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when I connect my usb cable to my computer, and when my tablet prompt me to turn on the usb storage, its just keep running in circles. and mini partition wizard cannot detect my internal storage.
still learning on bootloader maybe ill try it.
So I got the Moto G 1gb, 8 gigs of internal storage version.
I love this phone so far and I've pretty much set it up how I'd like it, but the 8gb internal storage has turned into an issue.
I got Appmanager III, moved pretty much everything to my 32 gig external, but I still have only like 600 mb to spare on the internal, with well over half of the external left over.
Is there another app that will allow me to move all the app data left over in the internal over to the external?
If that's not enough, I'd also be interested in knowing if there's any way I can force the system to use the external as the main storage for all the OS functions. I already used adb to set all the default downloads to the external.
Finally, I'd like to know if custom ROMs like cyanogenmod would use up less storage than the stock OS, or at least let me use more of my internal by reducing the amount of bloatware (why can i NOT get rid of google movies or google+??? come ON)
I'm rooted and have installed twrp so both root and custom recovery solutions are welcome. Thanks for your time and help!
If it were me, I'd make a Nandroid with TWRP on the external as well as a backup with Titanium and then use Titanium to delete unwanted bloatware. Wouldn't that help?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
bruce7373 said:
If it were me, I'd make a Nandroid with TWRP on the external as well as a backup with Titanium and then use Titanium to delete unwanted bloatware. Wouldn't that help?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
System apps, ie those that come with the phone such as google movies, live in the system partition. If they are updated then the update lives in the internal storage. Uninstalling via titanium will of course free up both system and internal storage space.
However just disabling them will be sufficient, this will remove all updates from internal storage and just leave the apk in the system partition. Its the internal storage that you want to be less full as this is where user apps, pictures etc all reside (assuming you haven't yet moved them to an SD card).
Disabling is less drastic than uninstalling and is maybe the preferred option in case you otherwise uninstall something that breaks your phone.
I've tried that, but for whatever reason if I disable, say, google play movie or whatever, my phone eventually ends up redownloading them? It's really odd and honestly pretty annoying.
I'd still like to know if there's any way to keep all the main app data on the external or something though. Are Cyanogenmod ROMs installers smaller? I don't need THAT much more space to feel comfortable, having 1 gigabyte would be ok with me. I just don't like having like 600 MB free at most...
EDIT: If I can just move the app data for a few games and Google Chrome, that should fix it, too. Those seem to be the real space hogs, so if I can move those I should be able to handle everything else
EDIT EDIT: Would an app like Link2SD work for this phone or has no one tested that yet?
Hi Tazzypilar, Yes Link2Sd wil work wery well. All wat you have to do is to install MiniTool Partition Wizzard Professional on your PC, then put your micro SD card in the cardreader on your desktop or laptop to make two partitions on your SdMicro card (card must be class 10). Start program MiniTool Partition Wizzard Professional and look for your microSD card on the list with disks. Right click on your removable disk (micro sd card) and you can resize your first Fat32 partition and make it smaller for at least 2 GB. After that you will have 2 GB unused space behind this Fat32 partition. Now click with right mouse on this unused space and choose „Create“ new partition and make it ext4 file system partition. You will be prompt „Are you sure that you want to make ext4 partiton because Windows can't see it ?“ and answare „Yes“ . So, one partition will be Fat32 and you can make it as big as you like depending on the size of your MicroSd card and second should be at least 2GB (or greater - also may be smaller, it's up to you) ext4 partition and there you will move your apps from the internal phone memory.
That's all, after that you have to install Link2Sd from playstore and link apps you like to move to your SdCard. Succes ! If you have more questions jut ask !
Greetz !
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Where did my storage go?
Just asked my self a very similar questions
I attachment a screen shot
From the 8gb 3,5 go to Android system
So 4,5gb for internal I thought., but no.
I installed about 2gb of apps and 200mb cache.
Ah I forgot to mention that this is a fresh install after factory reset and still I am missing alot of storage see screen shot
Is this normal? I am on stock not rooted with some apps already moved to SD Any ideas?
Upgrade to android M, use external SD as internal card
Why not upgrade to android M and use phone's feature to use external card as internal card.
sandipkc7 said:
Why not upgrade to android M and use phone's feature to use external card as internal card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am glad you brought this up, guess what I am already on M and using the SD card feature, unfortunately I can only a small portion of the apps move to the SD card the rest stays internal
Look for posts on link2sd, it needs to be a fast card and then formatted using both std FAT and ext (linux) partitions. Then you can move almost everything.
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
Though Im using LG H502F. Correct me if Im wrong but I think thats because the internal storage is emulated. Ive been using Link2SD and it works well. I can link app data and external data to the mounted partition. The only difference I noticed was... When opening the app it takes a couple of second or more compared to the unlinked apps... Anyways. Try to check if your storage is emulated. If it is, then that 3GB available space for a stock rom is as good as it gets. Mine have 8GB rom but the end user is only 3GB something.
Sent from my LG-H502 using XDA-Developers mobile app
merlin2380 said:
I am glad you brought this up, guess what I am already on M and using the SD card feature, unfortunately I can only a small portion of the apps move to the SD card the rest stays internal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In android M you can "transform" your sd card in internal memory (in Settings>Storage>SdCard>Definitions). If you have a fast 32 Gb card, you can format it to internal and it is as you have 32 Gb internal memory, but your sdcard must "live" with your phone (can't be used as sdcard in other device).
I think that is what @sandipkc7 means.
I did that not very usefull
merlin2380 said:
I did that not very usefull
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried internal storage option in marshmallow and at first i taught it was rubbish, but i kinda left sdcard alone and install another ROM.
So stuff on my internal storage was nowhere to be found. I installed latest recovery (TWRP) Flashed another rom and this is where things started to get interesting.
When i first converted sdcard to use as internal storage my phone was still eating up the internal memory 8GB on the phone.
Now however android system decided to do away with internal 8GB memory and use sdcard as a main storage. my photos are stored there and all data i noticed that almost everything is installed on sdcard now. so my storage is not vanishing away. I have about 1.7GB used on there.
There are some apps that can be moved manually to sdcard storage (converted to internal) - for example some of the system apps and most of google apps stay in phones memory not on sdcard and they can't be moved manually.
So my advise is covert your card to internal memory and then do factory reset or install another ROM.
Option 2 as mentioned above in posts is to use app called Link2SD - it is worth to opt for paid version which gives you more options of what to copy to 2nd partiton of your sdcard.
i have amazon fire 7 (£50 tablet) setup with option 2 - same storage 8GB. It works well. due to lack of marshmallow for this device i cannot use internal sd as an option. I have 2GB used there and rest sits on sdcard. i have installed few resource (storage) hugging apps - 1.2 GB, 2 GB each (gameloft games) - all moved to sd with link2sd app.
on my moto g 2015 i use android build in solution and it works well. You have to keep in mind that with this solution you can't simply copy files to your computer. Sdcard is encrypted at device level and it can only be access via your phone. However you can use any wifi file transfer app to copy some files over or via phones hotspot (i use droid over wifi or web pc suite to name few).
hope this helped a little
sandipkc7 said:
Why not upgrade to android M and use phone's feature to use external card as internal card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
honestly, its not worth it to use sdcard as internal, despite the micro sd card being fast, it made my phone ridiculously slow..............
marsrolled said:
honestly, its not worth it to use sdcard as internal, despite the micro sd card being fast, it made my phone ridiculously slow..............
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because of this slow down i did a reset to default settings. This did help and now the phone works much better, just make sure you always have 500MB empty on the internal storage, anything less and tbe phone performance goes down imediatly.
All the talking about this no so vreat sdcardinteral storage feature was too much for my 32 GB samsung evo micro sd card, it died less than 6 months of service. This was already the 2nd from the evo series that hung up on me and let me to dataloss thanks to google drive all was backedup
I will now root the phone and get a custom rom, probaply cm offical
Did you ever find out how to recover that lost 2GB? I have the exact same problem and managed to maybe find the 2GB in the /data folder; however it is sys locked and I'm not ready to root a brand new phone yet.
I have 8 apps installed (not counting google/motorola pre-installed) on my Moto G3 and showing 3.72GB used of 4.53GB available internal. It then shows 1.36 GB used by apps, 1.71 MB by cache. Other 2GB is a mystery?Device storage shows only 16GB used of 37GB availabe due to SD card.
Hello Everyone. I have a MOTO G 3rd Gen with a 32 GB Class 10 Sandisk sdcard. I originally posted this issue on the Lenovo Forum MOTO G 3rd Gen - Photo Recovery (can't post a direct link just yet), where they suggested that I look here for advice.
I originally used my sdcard for portable storage, although I had to periodically move my photos from internal storage to the sdcard, I was satisfied with the operation of my phone. However, as I added a few apps, I started to have some issues with running out of space in internal storage IIRC.
Earlier this year, it appears that I picked up a virus, which caused Chrome to always want to open to what seemed to be a malicious page (don't recall exactly what now). I decided to do a factory reset using the Settings option to return to a clean installation of Android. I decided at that time to configure the sdcard as extended internal storage, and the process appeared to work properly.
A few months later, I started getting messages informing me that an app update failed because I had run out out storage. After some investigation, it looked like most (all?) of my apps were continuing to use the built-in internal storage rather than the sdcard's extended storage. I tried uninstalling my apps an then reinstalling them - hoping that reinstalled apps would take up residence on my sdcard but they did not. However, it looked like I had uninstalled a few too many programs and my phone lost a lot of its functionality.
One of the functions that it lost was the ability to connect to my PC with the USB cord. Another was the ability for my google contacts to sync with the phone. Yesterday, I tried everything I could thing of to back up my data but I could not figure out how to get the USB to work properly. I decided that I would do another factory reset and removed the sdcard as I knew a reset would wipe all of my data. I removed my sdcard but the factory reset through Settings did not work this time and I instead had to do a hard factory reset. My phone is now working properly with a minimal number of installed apps.
When I reinstalled my sdcard, my phone does not recognize it and wants to format both as portable and internal storage. I was hoping that it would pick up where it left off.
As a last resort, I thought I might have to format my sd card and then try to recover deleted image files. Do you have any advice about recovering the photos on my sdcard?
The last reply on the Lenovo forum was:
When you formatted the card as internal/adopted the card was encrypted amd the key was stored on the phone in a secure location. A reset has deleted the key.
Your data on the sd card is not recoverable as the card is encrypted and the key is lost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Essentially, when I configured my phone to use my sdcard as extended internal storage, all I ended up with was encrypted portable storage. I would rather that there was a 3rd option for having unencrypted extended internal storage.
How would I get this into the Android developers suggestion box?
TP380Z said:
The last reply on the Lenovo forum was:
Essentially, when I configured my phone to use my sdcard as extended internal storage, all I ended up with was encrypted portable storage. I would rather that there was a 3rd option for having unencrypted extended internal storage.
How would I get this into the Android developers suggestion box?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you ended up with encrypted internal storage... The fact that you didn't understand it is the real issue.
Adopted storage is tied to not only the device, but the current installation... When an sd card is adopted as internal storage, a encryption key is generated semi-randomly and the file system is of the card becomes ext4 and encrypted, the system is decrypted automatically on boot because the key is stored in the phone. If you factory reset, it wipes your internal storage, which in this case is your sd card, and you would be fine. If you remove the card and factory reset, the key is gone forever and you have to reformat the card for it to be usable. So everything you were told in the Lenovo forums was correct, and the files are no longer recoverable by any known means.
your SD card would be nolonger useful , sorry to break this to you bro..
if your card is now encrypted state, i heavily doubt it would work again..talking of recovering photos,when encrypted.. HELL NO! it cant..
what i do is :
i always keep my memorycard as Portable, but not as internal to avoid such problems..
incase if i have formatted as internal, then while formatting or resetting.. i would take full bakup, and then Format as portable, then carryon resets..
i know these encryptions would give such a pain..
next time takecare of these issues..
suggestion: what i do is i install Googlephotos, it takes a backup of every photo & video which i have in either SDcard/internal .. so i would take necessary files while taking backup, to save time..
next time you try using GooglePhotos, it takes backup when i keep my phone in charge, (note: my internet is unlimited- so its ok for me)
acejavelin said:
No, you ended up with encrypted internal storage... The fact that you didn't understand it is the real issue..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the very thoughtful reply. I thought that I understood my two sdcard formatting options but I obviously did not. When I first installed my sdcard, I selected portable storage as I did not want my sdcard to be encrypted. Only after discovering that the internal storage of my phone was inadequate for my very limited number of installed apps did I switch to encrypted adopted storage.
If I understand you correctly, the reason that the adopted storage storage is encrypted is because the internal storage is encrypted.
My expectation was that the phone would seamlessly treat the adopted storage as internal storage so I am still at a loss to understand why my phone would not automatically install apps into the available in the adopted storage.
TP380Z said:
Thank you for the very thoughtful reply. I thought that I understood my two sdcard formatting options but I obviously did not. When I first installed my sdcard, I selected portable storage as I did not want my sdcard to be encrypted. Only after discovering that the internal storage of my phone was inadequate for my very limited number of installed apps did I switch to encrypted adopted storage.
If I understand you correctly, the reason that the adopted storage storage is encrypted is because the internal storage is encrypted.
My expectation was that the phone would seamlessly treat the adopted storage as internal storage so I am still at a loss to understand why my phone would not automatically install apps into the available in the adopted storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, anytime the SD card is adopted as internal storage it is encrypted... This is a privacy/security measure by Google and is not optional and it doesn't matter if your original internal storage was encrypted or not. Adopted storage basically brings the SD card into the "internal family" and it cannot be used elsewhere. Period (OK, yes, I know there is a way to get the encryption key and mount the volume in Linux, but it is still not perfect).
The reason it still wasn't treated as you expect is probably 2-fold... First, the Moto G3 has a tendency to miss the last step of adoption, called data migration, which is the act of moving existing data to the card and it needs to be initiated manually in many cases. Until this is done, the card is not used by Android except when you specify it because it doesn't think the card is ready yet. This can be done in Settings - Storage then selecting the 3 dot menu and Migrate Data. If this option doesn't appear or is grayed out, then the migration completed successfully (or you are using the card as portable storage, obviously).
The second reason is apps themselves... some of them have not been fully updated to the API standard used by Marshmallow and just don't honor the request to use the card as internal, and Android has a facility to allow this to happen for compatibility. It just uses the internal storage of the device so the app works. Some apps specifically request to be only on real device internal storage for whatever reason as well.
nandakis4 said:
your SD card would be nolonger useful , sorry to break this to you bro..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Your sympathy is appreciated.
nandakis4 said:
if your card is now encrypted state, i heavily doubt it would work again..talking of recovering photos,when encrypted.. HELL NO! it cant..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I put my sdcard back in my phone just now and it did not recognize it. However, when I went to Settings > Storage and USB, I had no problem formatting it as portable storage.
nandakis4 said:
what i do is :
i always keep my memorycard as Portable, but not as internal to avoid such problems..
incase if i have formatted as internal, then while formatting or resetting.. i would take full bakup, and then Format as portable, then carryon resets..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I expect that this will once again cause me to have app storage space issues. I only ran into problems with data backups once I started uninstalling apps. I had hoped that uninstalling and then reinstalling apps would then cause the phone to correctly place them into adopted storage. I cannot believe that I was so careless as to not have downloaded my photos earlier but here we are.
After apparently successfully formatting my sdcard as portable storage, I went back and converted to adopted internal storage (also apparently successfully) just now. I've re-installed MS OneNote and my phone is reporting that is taking up 85.70 MB in Internal Storage. When I go to Storage and USB, I see that 44.46 MB is used of 28.32 GB of SanDisk SD Card and 3.00 GB of 4.53 GB is being used of Internal Storage. When I reinstall 63.40 MB MS Word, I see that I'm now using 2.97 GB of Internal Storage and 173 MB of SanDisk SD Card.
[As of 1:50 pm, my phone is now reporting using 3.00 GB of Internal Storage and 137 MB of SanDisk SD Card.]
It looks like adopted internal storage is working properly. I never previously suspected that there was a problem with adopted storage and installed several large apps. The storage space problem surfaced only when there was a MS OneNote update that would not install because of insufficient internal storage space.
nandakis4 said:
suggestion: what i do is i install Googlephotos, it takes a backup of every photo & video which i have in either SDcard/internal .. so i would take necessary files while taking backup, to save time..
next time you try using GooglePhotos, it takes backup when i keep my phone in charge, (note: my internet is unlimited- so its ok for me)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I will try GooglePhotos. I hope I can set it up to only do backups when I'm connected to WIFI.