Please forgive me should a similar thread exist somewhere on these forums; if one does, I have yet to find it after several weeks of poring through the various threads.
What I am looking for is some insight and/or suggestions regarding the proper uses of the external microSD card that can be inserted into the Viewsonic G-tablet. When I look at "Settings"-->"SD card & device settings" there appears to be two distinct memory options; 1) An SD card with ~13 GB of available space and 2) Internal storage with ~1.5GB of available space. What I do not see, is my 8GB microSD card that I've inserted into the tablet.
I have ES File Explorer installed and it recognizes SDCARD and SDCARD2 when I explore and navigate to find them. Again, I do not seem to be able to see the 8GB microSD card I've inserted into the tablet.
I know the 8GB microSD card works as I've tested it using my computer.
Once I solve this problem, I'm looking for best practices for how to use the external microSD card to store music and video files in order to keep internal space available as necessary.
Any assistance or insight would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
SDCARD2 is your external micro sdcard
thebadfrog said:
SDCARD2 is your external micro sdcard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if that is the case, why is my 8GB microSD card showing us as having ~13 GB of available space?
You have 16gb internal on the tablet. 2gb is reserved for system/apps and 13gb is for additional file storage. Settings does not display your microsd card storage at all.
Here's how I understand Gtab storage
adamczykon said:
Well, if that is the case, why is my 8GB microSD card showing us as having ~13 GB of available space?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The G-tablet is unlike other Android devices in the way it uses and reports internal storage. It allows users access to ~13GB of internal storage and refers to that location as /sdcard. I think that the remaining storage space is partitioned for system files and applications, and is not available through the /sdcard location.
The external microSD card slot is available in a folder named /sdcard2. The card MUST be formatted in FAT32, or it won't read. If you use the ES file manager, you should be able to see it.
Now here's the rub... you can't access /sdcard2 through most apps. Android apps are generally designed to only access /sdcard, (which, on most devices, is the external microSD card).
Now here's the OTHER RUB:
When you plug your g-tab into a PC via usb, it automatically mounts the /sdcard folder. You need special software and tricks to access the /sdcard2 location through USB. I've never done this.
And here's my advice for using the external microSD card:
1. Format it using FAT32
2. Use ES File manager to access it
3. To transfer files to it you can connect to a shared folder over a wireless LAN using ES, or you can use a card reader and transfer directly from your PC
4. MortPlayer is a music player that can access /sdcard2
5. To play video from /sdcard2, browse to your movie file with ES and then select your media player (I use Rockplayer)
6. NEVER feed your /sdcard2 after midnight
Have fun!
I Like how cyanogen rom had Evreything displayed right. Too bad it has too many bugs for my tastes :s
Hello to all,
With my desire HD my sd is used for storage all my app and games data. The internal memory is for app and I have a lot of apps and I have a 32gb sd
With my Transformer 16gb with another 32gb sd I can't have the same storage capacity of my dhd since after the instalation of some games and the download of relative resources I have my internal sd full!!
So I have discovered gltosd but it works good for gameloft and data directories but for other games such as roc or dead space which download data on different directory I can't use my external sd as storage!
Also titanium backup can't backup on my external storage but only in internal and so... Is not a safe backup!
So my question is.... Is possible to make the internal sd as system memory and external sd as normal sd??
Of course I have root and custom ROM.
Thanks
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mattiadj said:
Hello to all,
With my desire HD my sd is used for storage all my app and games data. The internal memory is for app and I have a lot of apps and I have a 32gb sd
With my Transformer 16gb with another 32gb sd I can't have the same storage capacity of my dhd since after the instalation of some games and the download of relative resources I have my internal sd full!!
So I have discovered gltosd but it works good for gameloft and data directories but for other games such as roc or dead space which download data on different directory I can't use my external sd as storage!
Also titanium backup can't backup on my external storage but only in internal and so... Is not a safe backup!
So my question is.... Is possible to make the internal sd as system memory and external sd as normal sd??
Of course I have root and custom ROM.
Thanks
Inviato dal mio Desire HD usando Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You CAN set Titanium Backup to use the external MicroSD card, which is at "/Removable/MicroSD/TitaniumBackup/". I have 382 apps and games installed on my 32GB internal storage and still have 26.31GB available. I have no apps installed on the MicroSD card, only *.zip files for ROMS and kernels and such.
sidneyk said:
You CAN set Titanium Backup to use the external MicroSD card, which is at "/Removable/MicroSD/TitaniumBackup/". I have 382 apps and games installed on my 32GB internal storage and still have 26.31GB available. I have no apps installed on the MicroSD card, only *.zip files for ROMS and kernels and such.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks but where you have the app resources? On internal or external sd?
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The answer to your basic question (can I make the external micro-SD card the main SD card is): yes, if and only if you are rooted.
Before I explain how, let me explain how the "internal SD card" works on the Transformer. (If you just want to know what to do, you can skip this section).
How the "internal SD card" works on the EEE Pad Transformer
Normally on Android, /data and /sdcard point to two separate file systems, one internal, and the other external. However on devices with an internal "SD card" this changes.
The simplest way to have an internal "SD card" is to simply partition the storage into two file systems, one for /data, and the other for /sdcard. Several devices do just that. The downside is that if you put too much space in /data it is effectively wasted, while too little space in /data limits the number of apps that can be installed or how much data they can store "locally".
To solve that it is possible to store the "internal SD card" data in the same filesystem as /data. A new directory was created called /data/media, all the files in the "internal SD card" are actually just files in that folder. They both therefore have the same amount of free space and total space. [1] But Android insists that /sdcard must be a FAT32-compatible file system, while /data must not be. The solution is simple. Create a fake file system driver that pretends to be fat32, but simply reads from and writes to /data/media. That is what the transformer does.
The fake FAT32-compatible filesystem is actually mounted at /mnt/sdcard. Finally there is a symbolic link called /sdcard, which points to /mnt/sdcard. There is one logical reason for doing that, which is is to make it easy change /sdcard to point to an external card. Thanks ASUS for making our job simple.
How to use an external SD card as the primary SD card
Use [highlight]adb shell[/highlight] or the Terminal Emulator app from the market to open a shell.
If the prompt ends with a "#", skip to the next step. Otherwise type [highlight]su[/highlight] (followed by enter) to get a root shell.
Type [highlight]mount -o remount,rw /[/highlight] to ensure the root file system is mounted read/write.
Type [highlight]rm /sdcard[/highlight]
Type [highlight]ln -s /Removable/MicroSD /sdcard[/highlight]
reboot
That should do it. One last thing you may want to do is to to move the files from the "internal SD card" to the external one, or delete the files stored there to free up space. To do this you can use the built-in File Explorer. From the menu in the top right, uncheck the "hide system files" option. Now you can find the "internal SD card" at /mnt/sdcard. Delete the files or copy them to /sdcard as you see fit.
Footnote:
[1] Oddly this means that unless you do what I've outlined in this post, using the built-in apps2sd functionality simply wastes space.
Not OP, but appreciate the great explanation.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium
jsmith45 said:
The answer to your basic question (can I make the external micro-SD card the main SD card is): yes, if and only if you are rooted.
Before I explain how, let me explain how the "internal SD card" works on the Transformer. (If you just want to know what to do, you can skip this section).
How the "internal SD card" works on the EEE Pad Transformer
Normally on Android, /data and /sdcard point to two separate file systems, one internal, and the other external. However on devices with an internal "SD card" this changes.
The simplest way to have an internal "SD card" is to simply partition the storage into two file systems, one for /data, and the other for /sdcard. Several devices do just that. The downside is that if you put too much space in /data it is effectively wasted, while too little space in /data limits the number of apps that can be installed or how much data they can store "locally".
To solve that it is possible to store the "internal SD card" data in the same filesystem as /data. A new directory was created called /data/media, all the files in the "internal SD card" are actually just files in that folder. They both therefore have the same amount of free space and total space. [1] But Android insists that /sdcard must be a FAT32-compatible file system, while /data must not be. The solution is simple. Create a fake file system driver that pretends to be fat32, but simply reads from and writes to /data/media. That is what the transformer does.
The fake FAT32-compatible filesystem is actually mounted at /mnt/sdcard. Finally there is a symbolic link called /sdcard, which points to /mnt/sdcard. There is one logical reason for doing that, which is is to make it easy change /sdcard to point to an external card. Thanks ASUS for making our job simple.
How to use an external SD card as the primary SD card
Use [highlight]adb shell[/highlight] or the Terminal Emulator app from the market to open a shell.
If the prompt ends with a "#", skip to the next step. Otherwise type [highlight]su[/highlight] (followed by enter) to get a root shell.
Type [highlight]mount -o remount,rw /[/highlight] to ensure the root file system is mounted read/write.
Type [highlight]rm /sdcard[/highlight]
Type [highlight]ln -s /Removable/MicroSD /sdcard[/highlight]
reboot
That should do it. One last thing you may want to do is to to move the files from the "internal SD card" to the external one, or delete the files stored there to free up space. To do this you can use the built-in File Explorer. From the menu in the top right, uncheck the "hide system files" option. Now you can find the "internal SD card" at /mnt/sdcard. Delete the files or copy them to /sdcard as you see fit.
Footnote:
[1] Oddly this means that unless you do what I've outlined in this post, using the built-in apps2sd functionality simply wastes space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Woow!!!!
So if I wipe all and start from the beginning and before install any app I'll made this operation I will have ~16gb internal memory???
It's possible to make a zip to flash after the rom??
Inviato dal mio Desire HD usando Tapatalk
jsmith45 said:
The answer to your basic question (can I make the external micro-SD card the main SD card is): yes, if and only if you are rooted.
Before I explain how, let me explain how the "internal SD card" works on the Transformer. (If you just want to know what to do, you can skip this section).
How the "internal SD card" works on the EEE Pad Transformer
Normally on Android, /data and /sdcard point to two separate file systems, one internal, and the other external. However on devices with an internal "SD card" this changes.
The simplest way to have an internal "SD card" is to simply partition the storage into two file systems, one for /data, and the other for /sdcard. Several devices do just that. The downside is that if you put too much space in /data it is effectively wasted, while too little space in /data limits the number of apps that can be installed or how much data they can store "locally".
To solve that it is possible to store the "internal SD card" data in the same filesystem as /data. A new directory was created called /data/media, all the files in the "internal SD card" are actually just files in that folder. They both therefore have the same amount of free space and total space. [1] But Android insists that /sdcard must be a FAT32-compatible file system, while /data must not be. The solution is simple. Create a fake file system driver that pretends to be fat32, but simply reads from and writes to /data/media. That is what the transformer does.
The fake FAT32-compatible filesystem is actually mounted at /mnt/sdcard. Finally there is a symbolic link called /sdcard, which points to /mnt/sdcard. There is one logical reason for doing that, which is is to make it easy change /sdcard to point to an external card. Thanks ASUS for making our job simple.
How to use an external SD card as the primary SD card
Use [highlight]adb shell[/highlight] or the Terminal Emulator app from the market to open a shell.
If the prompt ends with a "#", skip to the next step. Otherwise type [highlight]su[/highlight] (followed by enter) to get a root shell.
Type [highlight]mount -o remount,rw /[/highlight] to ensure the root file system is mounted read/write.
Type [highlight]rm /sdcard[/highlight]
Type [highlight]ln -s /Removable/MicroSD /sdcard[/highlight]
reboot
That should do it. One last thing you may want to do is to to move the files from the "internal SD card" to the external one, or delete the files stored there to free up space. To do this you can use the built-in File Explorer. From the menu in the top right, uncheck the "hide system files" option. Now you can find the "internal SD card" at /mnt/sdcard. Delete the files or copy them to /sdcard as you see fit.
Footnote:
[1] Oddly this means that unless you do what I've outlined in this post, using the built-in apps2sd functionality simply wastes space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for details, very nice and easy to understand. I do have a couple follow-up questions though.
- First to set the stage: I have the 16GB version of the TF, and right now have a 16GB external microsd installed. Rooted with stock ROM at present.
- Are there any issues or reasons why someone should not do this? Would the only reason for doing this be low internal memory?
- Your final footnote about apps2sd. Wasn't completely clear on this. Are you saying, that if I want to use apps2sd, I should do what you outlined?
- Essentially just want to determine if it is best to do this or not. I have a NookColor that is rooted and have used it fine for a year now, and have placed most apps/data on the external microsd, so am familiar with having that way, but am unsure about the TF.
Thanks again (gave you a thanks!)
surfmly said:
- Are there any issues or reasons why someone should not do this? Would the only reason for doing this be low internal memory?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another reason of doing it is avoid mixing sd content in the internal memory and making clearer that /sdcard is the external memory. But yes, the main reason would be wasting 16Gb for Android system... There shouldn't been any problems with this change if you follow the instructions. The TF and Android can handle it.
surfmly said:
- Your final footnote about apps2sd. Wasn't completely clear on this. Are you saying, that if I want to use apps2sd, I should do what you outlined?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use apps2sd, you link /data/app to /sdcard, but since /sdcard is part of the internal memory and its also linked to /data, you will be wasting more internal memory. If you do the changes sugested by jsmith45 and use apps2sd, since /sdcard will now be pointing to the real external sd card, you will be using the external card to store all your apps.
surfmly said:
- Essentially just want to determine if it is best to do this or not. I have a NookColor that is rooted and have used it fine for a year now, and have placed most apps/data on the external microsd, so am familiar with having that way, but am unsure about the TF.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use the TF with a little head and move the heavy games/apps to the sdcard, you shouldn't get out of space soon and won't need this kind of change.
AzureusPT said:
If you use the TF with a little head and move the heavy games/apps to the sdcard, you shouldn't get out of space soon and won't need this kind of change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
however, as was previously said, as the transformer has its "internal SD card" data in the same filesystem as /data, moving apps to sd is just shuffling them about in the same file tree, it doesnt actually move them to the real external sd card.
using this mod would achieve that- my only concern being that if that card fails then a lot of important data is lost.
i also wonder how well this mod would work using CWM??
bob dylan said:
however, as was previously said, as the transformer has its "internal SD card" data in the same filesystem as /data, moving apps to sd is just shuffling them about in the same file tree, it doesnt actually move them to the real external sd card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, thats true. I typed without thought...
Still, you have around 10Gb of usable space in /data. The point on doing the trick of restoring /sdcard to external should be if you have enough apps to get to that size. Note that many apps that download aditional data, many times they save it on the real sd card.
What I ment to say about using it with head was that its wise to use the external card to save the big files (that could be movies, music, etc), and handle the internal with apps.
BTW... just came to me now... with simple apps it is possible to get to 10Gb? I'm not talking about Let's Golf instalation (+1Gb), just the weight of the apk itself...
thanks guys
I have followed the tutorial but my sdcard folder links to internal memory and not to removable/microsd.
Infact all resource of apps are stored in Internal SD and not in External SD as i want.
I have tried with adb and terminal emulator...is the same. My rom is Revolver 3.11...help
Edit: the problem is after the reboot! if i don't reboot the symbolic link is present....I think i have to create and automatic script for every reboot
Now i have fixed the problem but i think the solution is not very perfect.
Ok sdcard folder links to removable/microsd but...mnt/sdcard is linked to internal sdcard!!! So apps installs it self on mnt/sdcard/data and games such as Race of champions download the resources on mnt/sdcard too.
I think the best way is to change the link to mnt/sdcard also to removable/microsd...
Any advice?
mattiadj said:
I have followed the tutorial but my sdcard folder links to internal memory and not to removable/microsd.
Infact all resource of apps are stored in Internal SD and not in External SD as i want.
I have tried with adb and terminal emulator...is the same. My rom is Revolver 3.11...help
Edit: the problem is after the reboot! if i don't reboot the symbolic link is present....I think i have to create and automatic script for every reboot
Now i have fixed the problem but i think the solution is not very perfect.
Ok sdcard folder links to removable/microsd but...mnt/sdcard is linked to internal sdcard!!! So apps installs it self on mnt/sdcard/data and games such as Race of champions download the resources on mnt/sdcard too.
I think the best way is to change the link to mnt/sdcard also to removable/microsd...
Any advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that I got around to trying this I am seeing the same problem. I have tried twice and it doesn't appear the link works. My External MicroSD is not being linked to when opening /sdcard in file explorer. Testing by taking a picture to see where new photo resides... it ends up in both /sdcard and /mnt/sdcard and not in /Removable/MicroSD....
So you need to do anything else like have a freshly formated MicroSD with proper folder structure (i.e. same folders currently in the /mnt/sdcard folder)?
Thanks.
---------- Post added at 03:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:23 PM ----------
jsmith45 said:
How to use an external SD card as the primary SD card
Use [highlight]adb shell[/highlight] or the Terminal Emulator app from the market to open a shell.
If the prompt ends with a "#", skip to the next step. Otherwise type [highlight]su[/highlight] (followed by enter) to get a root shell.
Type [highlight]mount -o remount,rw /[/highlight] to ensure the root file system is mounted read/write.
Type [highlight]rm /sdcard[/highlight]
Type [highlight]ln -s /Removable/MicroSD /sdcard[/highlight]
reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jsmith - this doesn't appear to be working for me. The link doesn't point to /Remvoable/MicroSD per the terminal client commands I run per above, it is still /mnt/sdcard.
Anyone getting this to work properly on TF101 (I am running rooted .21 via Nachoroot/Vipermod). Thanks.
---------- Post added at 03:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:27 PM ----------
By the way, I confirm that the symbolic link is working without reboot.
Also, for something like storing photos from the camera (and video recorder) I don't see option in camera or gallery to change save path. It shows the path for saved photos as /mnt/sdcard/......
So even without rebooting, with symbolic link working (i.e. opening /sdcard does open my external SD card), the camera is saving photos on the internal SD (at /mnt/sdcard).
I was thinking that we would be able to make the external SD card used for these types of things. Many apps should be installed on internal (runs better many times, etc) but extra stuff like music, photos, videos, etc should use the external card. Looks like this mod wouldn't necessarily change that.
Also, I noticed that on my HTC Inc2, the external card is at /mnt/sdcard (or /sdcard). So if any app is setup to use /mnt/sdcard, it will use the external SD card. However on the TF, even with the mod in this thread, the app would use /mnt/sdcard which is the internal SD. Only if an app uses /sdcard as the path would it use the external SD and I am not sure if most apps use /mnt/sdcard or just /sdcard.
Thoughts on best next steps to get the external card to be used more/better are welcome
People let see my thread on dev section.... Probably I have found the solution!
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I would like to play with something like this too..
As i have wiped TB backup a few times by mistake when loading on new Rom..
As it backups to the internal not external.. thus I have to manually copy it back and forwards on each backup..
sent from yet another MikG HTC Evo
It would appear that the Jelly Bean update to the RMHD has removed the option to mount the SD Card (or internal storage) as a Mass Storage device on a windows computer. Only options seem to be a Media Device (MTP) or Camera (PTP).
Problem is that file manipulation with MTP seems to be lacking ... in that I can't copy all 1044 files from a folder on my RMHD to a folder on my computer; the copying fails at 533; never had any failures with ICS in this regard when mounted as a mass storage device (though I did have similar failures with MTP on ICS). USB debugging is active.
Is there a Jelly Bean work-around that'll allow me to mount my Internal and/or external storage as a mass storage device on my windows based computer???
Thanks, in advance, for your assistance!
Not that I know of yet. :/ Isn't it a pain in the ass??
Mount SD Card
Is it possible to mount SD card in JB to move there apps?
It is strange because App2SD show there is no SD Card,
but Total Commander can work on SD Card.
Any advices?
Regards
RJ
I can't even get DirectoryBind working, the Virtual SD card seems to operate at a lower level than DirectoryBind
Hi,
since the internal storage of my 8GB Moto G3 is pretty small, I wanted to move apps to my external SD, but there is only a hand full of apps I can move.
So now I wanted to partition the external SD I have, but when I want to start the partitioning, it says "E: Unable to locate device to partition".
When I google for exactly this error message, I can't find any solution. I formatted the SD via the phone, I also formatted it via PC to FAT32 and exFAT and I formatted it via TWRP to exFAT and also to EXT3 and EXT4, none of these methods worked.
I also tried it with the MicroSD mounted and unmounted, made no difference.
Also can I make the external SD to the main storage for the phone, so all apps put their files on the SD card like Whatsapp, without symlinking every folder manually?
All apps won't move to the SD. I'm guessing that if the developer specifies internal, that's all you get. On the first soak you could force apps to external which I tried with mixed results. A few would work, some wouldn't. Even on the latest, some app's widgets won't work if the app is on external.
Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk
Having the same issue here, I have a brand new Santin 128gb and I want to partition it to my HTC One M9, I formatted it and then wanted to immediately partition it and then I am receiving the same error and cannot find anything else online.
Same problem here I've got a Lexar 32 GB Micro SD.
Same problem here, with twrp 2.8.2.0
I'd like to use TestDisk PhotoRec to try to recover some photos, as I forgot to backup my DCIM folder before wiping data from recovery.
Unfortunately, that software needs the phone to be mounted as a regular mass storage device.
Any ideas?
SD card internal or external....???
If external sd card: remove it from storage and use desktop and card reader or adapter.
If there is internal storage, you can mount your phone and choose from USB options data transfer.
To use TestDisk and PhotoRec you need a desktop and know somewhat of the command line, depending on the OS you are using. It is recommended to use a live CD or live USB stick. It has a fairly high learning curve, but is effective.
For me, it's internal storage. But Photorec/testdisk don't see any mtp partition sa my file manager see.