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I know that LG chose to have this stupid method of utilizing there internal memory and naming it (sdcard) and then making our ACTUAL sdcards (_ExternalSD), but I'm getting super annoyed at the issues that are occurring due to this ridiculous method of partitioning.
Main Issues:
> Apps not looking at the correct place
> ROM manager only able to access ACTUAL sdcard but things are put in "sdcard" not _EXTERNALSD
> Files don't transfer between the two places (sdcard v _EXTERNALSD)
This is just a big cluster F#$*.
Does anyone know if there is a way to partition the "sdcard" internal phone memory and make the ACTUAL sdcard used the way it is on other phones?
I found a temporary solution. If you go into X app, X being whichever app uses storage or the ACTUAL sdcard, you can switch the storage to sdcard instead of phone.
Apps that have option:
> Browser (stock)
> Titanium Backup
> Camera App (stock)
I thought it was just me.. but i hate this implementation. This is my first phone having built in storage and I actually thought that was the way it was supposed to work.. and thought it was pretty lame. So when I switched to a CM7 rom.. i was totally thrown. LOL. but I agree. the whole "_External..." thing is lame..
DOPE phone otherwise tho.
Not a big deal for me
Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk
It really is highly annoying. Especially since I am coming from an HTC Inc.
I don't know what genius thought this was a good idea.
I agree and also think its cause some of the issues when loading rom's back and forth with CWM
As you can see from my sig, I've been almost exclusively HTC and this was a super weird thing for me to get used to. I'll flash CM7 once it's RC or stable, just because of this.
hekticpr21 said:
As you can see from my sig, I've been almost exclusively HTC and this was a super weird thing for me to get used to. I'll flash CM7 once it's RC or stable, just because of this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ditto.. i've always love htc hardware man. quality stuff. I came off of a G2 and bought this thinking it would be a big step up (you know.. dual cores n all).. it's an incremental update with some drawbacks. don't get me wrong.. i like the g2x.. but it has some flaws. meh. I'm here now... nothing I can do about it.. cuz i'm certainly NOT going to sell it to go back to the g2 just for netflix when the future of smartphones is clearly headed the g2x direction.
I also agree...it isn't a deal breaker, but it certainly is a strange approach.
I can only assume they wanted the internal storage to be the "main" and any external just to be extra space that the phone wasn't dependent on.
the GOOD thing about it is that is doesn't wipe when you format the phone.. the bad thing is... you can't get to it in CWM
I haven't fought with CWM, but how is this different than other Android phones?
My G1 had nothing, so no issue. But, the Vibrant did essentially the same thing - it had a different naming structure, but the effect was the same.
-bZj
down8 said:
I haven't fought with CWM, but how is this different than other Android phones?
My G1 had nothing, so no issue. But, the Vibrant did essentially the same thing - it had a different naming structure, but the effect was the same.
-bZj
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On my HTC Inc., they were completely separate. The external SD card's path was not through the internal. When you downloaded an app., all files for that app. went on the external SD card and not on the internal. It left the internal clean for music, photos and videos.
has anyone figured out an appropriate method of sorting this out,
i have a few apps which rely on content that is stored on my actual sd card about 10gb of content, but the internal memory takes the /sdcard ,, while the sd card is /sdcard/ext this is so aggravating, are there any customs build which target this?
I am having issues with this as well. When I boot into CWM to flash a kernel for example CWM only sees what is on the External SD not the internal so I have to transfer kernels that I have downloaded on the phone to my extern SD. The only problem is every time I try and copy and paste something from sdcard to External SD Astro tells me there was a ' move error' and I am unable to move anything....
anyone have this problem?
Make sure you are copying and not cutting (moving). Android doesn't like to move things between file systems.
The internal memory in the G2x is treated as an SD card in many apps (because it's mounted on stock at /mnt/sdcard). This can pose a problem with applications that store lots of data. Users have large external micro SD cards for this purpose, but many applications just blindly choose to install to /mnt/sdcard. The user has no option of saving to the external card.
Has anyone figured out a way to 'fool' applications into thinking the "External SD" card is actually at /mnt/sdcard?
As an example, if each file system supported symlinks, the amazon mp3 player app could be fooled by:
ln -s /mnt/sdcard/_ExternalSD/amazonmp3 /mnt/sdcard/amazonmp3
Of course, this won't work when working with SD cards, as they use FAT partitioning which does not support symlinks.
Anyone mess with this and have a 'suggested' way to 'fool' apps into using the external SD card for more storage?
Edit: I have tried swapping mount locations of the two cards in /etc/vold.fstab. This worked, kinda. USB storage mode just hangs when enabled and the computer sees a drive it can't read (and asks you to format it).
Ive been trying to figure out a solution for this since I got my G2x, cause I just have too many gameloft games LOL
Came up w/ the same syslink idea but FAT doesnt support such a simple idea. We can link between an EXT and FAT, but not FAT to FAT, it seems.
This probably requires edits to the kernel init files for a true solution
The vold method would work if there were edits to the kernel, so you had half the solution. Ran into the same mounting bug. Wonder if one if those dual mount apps would work. hmmm
Cm7 fixes this.
Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk
r4d14n7 said:
Cm7 fixes this.
Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed this when I ran CM7 for a while. If I remember correctly, it mounts the internal to /mnt/emmc and external to /mnt/sdcard.
Unfortunately, there are a few issues that CM7 has that prevent me from keeping it as my daily driver OS (bluetooth issues, worse camera app, slow to no GPS locking, G2/3/4 data does not enable after wifi disconnect, and a few more). As it matures it could become the solution for me.
Thanks
zimphishmonger said:
Ive been trying to figure out a solution for this since I got my G2x, cause I just have too many gameloft games LOL
Came up w/ the same syslink idea but FAT doesnt support such a simple idea. We can link between an EXT and FAT, but not FAT to FAT, it seems.
This probably requires edits to the kernel init files for a true solution
The vold method would work if there were edits to the kernel, so you had half the solution. Ran into the same mounting bug. Wonder if one if those dual mount apps would work. hmmm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. At least I now know there is not a simple solution that was escaping me
Why not, then, just reformat the microSD card to a file system that supports symlinks? Backup your data off it first, of course lol.
Can you do that? Will it still be treated as an internal SD card then (for example, able to be accessed via USB on my computer)?
I did some reading about partitioning both the external and internal SD cards to ext3/4, but people didn't seem to have a "flawless" experience. This wasn't specific to the G2x however.
AustinPowersISU said:
I noticed this when I ran CM7 for a while. If I remember correctly, it mounts the internal to /mnt/emmc and external to /mnt/sdcard.
Unfortunately, there are a few issues that CM7 has that prevent me from keeping it as my daily driver OS (bluetooth issues, worse camera app, slow to no GPS locking, G2/3/4 data does not enable after wifi disconnect, and a few more). As it matures it could become the solution for me.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll be more specific. There was a fix for CM7 users to reverse the roles of internal and external storage somewhere in the monster CM7 threads. You could try this fix in reverse to the ROM of your choice. Just search the CM7 thread for information on how to swap internal for external. May or may not work.
r4d14n7 said:
I'll be more specific. There was a fix for CM7 users to reverse the roles of internal and external storage somewhere in the monster CM7 threads. You could try this fix in reverse to the ROM of your choice. Just search the CM7 thread for information on how to swap internal for external. May or may not work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks,
I decided that the lack of being able to do this on stock was enough to go to CM7 again. The issues I described before are less annoying (to me) than not being able to save stuff to my external SD. Plus CM7 will always be getting updated as well.
Thanks for the help everyone.
Thread moved to proper forum.
phburks said:
Why not, then, just reformat the microSD card to a file system that supports symlinks? Backup your data off it first, of course lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cause I still mount to a Win7 machine sometimes
zimphishmonger said:
Cause I still mount to a Win7 machine sometimes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to use this with XP.
http://www.fs-driver.org/index.html
Haven't tried it with Windows 7. Maybe I'll do that tonight lol. There are some other standalone utilities for windows 7 that let you access ext2/3 file systems but I like this one because it lets windows access them as native file systems so you can access them through windows explorer, etc.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
AustinPowersISU said:
Can you do that? Will it still be treated as an internal SD card then (for example, able to be accessed via USB on my computer)?
I did some reading about partitioning both the external and internal SD cards to ext3/4, but people didn't seem to have a "flawless" experience. This wasn't specific to the G2x however.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll do some experimenting around. Not really sure.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
Well, today I got my new Atrix 2. Great cell phone so far. It's my first Android, yay!
But here is my problem:
1. It came with a 2gb SD Card, working and everything, but when I take pictures they go directly to the SD... Does anybody know how do I change it so they go to the internal memory?
2. Some applications seem to install on both, the internal memory and the SD (like Skype or Whatsapp). Somebody knows why?
3. Does anybody know how to access the internal memory at all when connecting the phone to the PC?
Thanks a lot for your help!
P.S: Please, forgive my noob-ines and Language.
nahuelarg86 said:
1. It came with a 2gb SD Card, working and everything, but when I take pictures they go directly to the SD... Does anybody know how do I change it so they go to the internal memory?
2. Some applications seem to install on both, the internal memory and the SD (like Skype or Whatsapp). Somebody knows why?
3. Does anybody know how to access the internal memory at all when connecting the phone to the PC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Can't...internal storage is for apps only
2. Not too sure that's the case....the way you can tell is go to settings/applications/manage applications and click on the "on sdcard" tab, apps will show up here regardless if they are on the sdcard or not so the way to tell if said app is truly installed on the card is to check for a green checkbox on the right hand side next to said app. The box will be there on all of them, but only the one's that have a green check mark are actually installed on the sdcard.
3. Internal storage is for apps only and is not accessible
916x10 said:
1. Can't...internal storage is for apps only
2. Not too sure that's the case....the way you can tell is go to settings/applications/manage applications and click on the "on sdcard" tab, apps will show up here regardless if they are on the sdcard or not so the way to tell if said app is truly installed on the card is to check for a green checkbox on the right hand side next to said app. The box will be there on all of them, but only the one's that have a green check mark are actually installed on the sdcard.
3. Internal storage is for apps only and is not accessible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, thank you so much for your help. I didn't know that about the internal memory, it surprises me.
nahuelarg86 said:
Well, thank you so much for your help. I didn't know that about the internal memory, it surprises me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i don't think motorola meant it to be that way honestly, since all the specs released specifically say 8gb internal storage, which in the smartphone world means you can use it for storage. however, this isn't the case.
i think that they have their mtd/partition tables setup wrong and it could be fixed with an update. however, no one knows when an update will be coming and what changes it will bring. i think motorola has placed all their focus on the razr. so we get the shaft.
svtfmook said:
i don't think motorola meant it to be that way honestly, since all the specs released specifically say 8gb internal storage, which in the smartphone world means you can use it for storage. however, this isn't the case.
i think that they have their mtd/partition tables setup wrong and it could be fixed with an update. however, no one knows when an update will be coming and what changes it will bring. i think motorola has placed all their focus on the razr. so we get the shaft.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's really bad. It's a very capable cell phone, it shouldn't have as many problems as it has (I read a lot about SD card problems, etc) but you are right, they are focusing more on the Razr (as I read in other websites) which is a bummer...
nahuelarg86 said:
Yeah, that's really bad. It's a very capable cell phone, it shouldn't have as many problems as it has (I read a lot about SD card problems, etc) but you are right, they are focusing more on the Razr (as I read in other websites) which is a bummer...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
honestly, it doesn't have that many issues. and i think 1 problem is causing multiple issues.
for example, i think that the partitions are not setup correctly, which is causing:
sd rear/write issues
apps 2 sd issues
sdcard pc mounting issues
internal storage being inaccessible issues
app storage memory low notifications
camera write image to sd issue
these are the major issues, but i think they are all tied to 1 single problem. other issues like the can't stop email sync, i can hear myself in my own earpiece and other non-critical problems are just small bugs that can easily be fixed and lived with until said fix.
most other issues i've read seem to either be account related or just user error
svtfmook said:
i don't think motorola meant it to be that way honestly, since all the specs released specifically say 8gb internal storage, which in the smartphone world means you can use it for storage. however, this isn't the case.
i think that they have their mtd/partition tables setup wrong and it could be fixed with an update. however, no one knows when an update will be coming and what changes it will bring. i think motorola has placed all their focus on the razr. so we get the shaft.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you read the specs it specifically says
Memory (9)
8gb
The footnote for (9) says
Available user memory varies due to the configuration of the phone, which varies by service provider.
Furthermore
Motorola goes on to say that the device does infact have 8gb internal storage, 4 of it is for downloaded apps, the other 4 is for the OS, Webtop application and the other preloaded apps.
https://motorola-global-portal.cust...71812/~/internal-and-external-memory-(atrix-2)
So if Moto is saying the above, it seems to me they did infact mean for it to be like that. Just trying to clear up the misinfo so you guys aren't raising hell about nothing. But I do understand where you guys are coming from, I completely expected to have 8gb of internal storage as well and I think it's bs for Moto to advertise internal storage space by including the portion of it that's not accessible or useable to us. Agreed 100%.
Ok first off hope everyone had a great holiday (or Christmas, as the case may be )
I have come to realize that alot of my issues may/may not have been caused by factors outside my phone or the rom I was attempting to install and use. I will give myself credit tho in that in all but one case I have managed to follow instructions to a "T" and have not experienced many/any of the issues that others have. Anyways, I got a new wireless router, and also a class 10 SD card. Some of my earlier connectivity issues are very rare now, and camera issues seem to be minimal also (assuming that the issue there was write speed to the card).
So I've really come to like a few of the roms, in particular one I'm liking right now VERY MUCH is MIUI 1.11.9. What a nicely put together package that is. I would really really like to stay with it.
However, it's huge. With that and two apps (Gmail and Facebook), I'm lucky if I have 14 mb left over. Obviously, this causes crashes and reboots left right and center. Camera usage is almost impossible. But, I'm willing to admit, the problem is likely my fault, because I have not done anything to manipulate swap/ext/etc on my sd card. I have the phone, and I have a formatted 16 gb class 10 sd card.
I've looked through 10 pages of threads and to be honest I'm finding it hard to know where to begin. I'm convinced, however, that if I can learn what swap ext/ext2/ext3 do, and how to create/use them..and whatever else, that MIUI and probably a few of the other roms will be amazing for me.
So is someone bored over the holidays here and can help either point me in the right direction of a Guide to do this, or maybe even write a bit about it for me? Assume I know nothing about how to create a swap, an ext, link2sd, any of it. I don't know how to use terminal emulator, modify or execute scripts...but I can learn!!
I realize that I'm asking for info that is probably obtainable by reading numerous other threads..but I can't find anything truly comphrensive..it's too bad threads couldn't be "stickied"...this subject seems crucial to me in order to get some of these roms to run ok. Many of them operate the same way: they take up 100 mb or so, and they don't allow for easy moving of apps to the SD card.
Anyways many thanks in advance if you can help. I'm sure there's a few others who could probably use a refresher in this also.
I'm learning alot about this and hope to update this thread with my own tips for how to do this in the coming days.
That is, if anyone is interested. If so, hit me with a msg.
Sent from my Milestone XT720 using XDA App
internal upgrade?
can someone tell me how to upgrade the internal memory because im getting very low in phone memory.. are there any solutions like using the 1GB for the internal memory of my 8GB card?
Well, you cant physically expand the memory but you can virtually via an extended primary partition and an app like link2sd.
Sent from my Milestone XT720 using XDA App
Hey acrobat69
I am pretty much the same boat as you. I have tried a bunch of ROMs, and I am still on 6.3 rc3 now.. went back and tweeked after learning some things and this is the least buggy for me at the moment.
I also do not use swap at the moment.. but this is also something that those in the know here on the Xt720 forums have debated.. how useful is it???
I would love to try swap.. or any other tips you might have.. so I at least will be listening.
I would like to get FM radio working on 6.3 rc3 too.. no luck so far.
I have found that when you overclock.. some speeds and Vsel work better in some roms.. or applications.
I saw one fellow who was running 800/48vsel - overall nice and great for battery usage.. but camera would not work at 48vsel.. would crash it .. running several highpower apps like wifi tether and gps at the same time would crash a low vsel set phone..
SO I know there are many factors that you can tune to make a rom work best for you.
James
When I get back to my PC, ill type something up on this for you as well as archer's other thread similar to this Q.
FYI, FM radio works since 6.3.0 RC4. Well at least as much as FM radio "works" on any of the non-stock-based ROMs at the moment-- volume control is difficult/problematic.
I think 6.3.6 is a good choice if you don't mind disabling the hardware button lights. And if it does bother you, I can make a patch that puts the lights back as the were in RC3 (but would disable notification leds).
Sent from my Milestone XT720 using xda premium
Ok so to answer a few of the above questions, I'll try to break it up into sections. Ext2/3/4, Swap and basic memory management.
Ext partitions: since our XT's are so low on memory, a fair while back some scripts were created to make it so that when you downloaded an app, it went into your ext partition and not to the internal. Remember that this was when we had 2.1 and Froyo was only a dream. As you know Froyo has the native App2sd function where you can move most of the app's data/function to your SD card via the .androidsecure folder on your card. Since this was not a function on 2.1 we needed a bypass. This was done by creating a EXT partition on your SDCard to bypass/hijack the installation process and "force" the apps to install to the SDCard rather than the meager internal memory. Since the grand old days, we have evolved that function from app2sd to app2ext where now the /cache can be moved over to the partition as well, in addition to apps like Link2sd with one-click UI to do it for you.
This is how to do it.
1 Make sure your ROM supports app2ext-it should be in that ROMs OP.
2 You need to use GParted or Minitool Partition Wizard to create your Ext2/3 partitions (do not create an Ext4 with either of these b/c they won't work correctly, most ROMs don't support it and you can convert it from 2/3 to 4 in MZ's open recovery).
3 You have a 16gb card and are asking what size should I make my partitions. They need to be in this order-FAT/EXT/SWAP from L->R. FAT is what it sounds like. It is your biggest sized one (and make it Primary/Bootable in your partition wizard). Your Ext is going to be up to you on the size. I usually recommend 350-450mb. Anything bigger is really wasted space. In fact, I chorgle to myself when I see people with 1gb Ext partitions b/c your average size app is usually about 7-12mb (with something like Angry Birds at a meaty 18mb). Remember that 1gb=1024mb. 12mb vs 1024mb-see what I am saying here?
4 So now you have your partitions set up. How do you activate it. You flash your ROM and let it settle down. Get ROOT and open a file manager and go to the ROOT. You will see a folder labeled SD-ext. Open this folder and make another folder called App (not Apps-no S) or if you are using Link2sd, you would put a folder called Link2sd (not LinkS2sd-again no S). Reboot and BAM!!!once it boots up, all your apps that you had will be in there and any new ones will be installed there saving you tons of internal space.
I'll cover Swap tomorrow b/c I am tired of typing for now but here is a thread on some unknown types of memory management that you can do on your own.
Sorry for the long post but I wanted to make it as general as possible so that it wasn't too technical.
Woodrube thank you very much for that, indeed very helpful and to the point. Ill hit you with a thanks when back on my laptop.
James: debates nothwithstanding, I can't see how its possible to install one of these Roms and actually use it...and any decent number of apps with stability, without using the extended partition. I have not had any success until I learned how to do this. Therefore, were absolutely not going to debate it, just do it!
To Woodrubes excellent instructions I will add these tips, learned from Mio7's advice and trial and error:
- do any partitioning before you install your new rom, and do it via a card reader inserted into your computer, not by plugging the phone into the computer via usb.
- do not make the second partition fat. In some threads people said it worked however it never works for me. Create the second partition as ext2 , then go to open recovery and convert it to ext3
- use root explorer to create the folder in sd-ext as Woodrube advised. Make sure root explorer is in R/W mode not R/O or you wont be allowed to
- install Link2sd first of any program. It's when you're running link2sd it seems that you can't create the link for certain applications check the market to see if to the downloadable version then uninstall the app from the phone and reinstall it yourself then when you go back into linksd youll be able to create a link. I'm still experimenting with just how much I can rip out of the system and then reinstall myself so as to be able to move over to the sd card. Btw if the rom app manager wont let you uninstall, use the uninstall function in link2sd. It works, even tho it says "Failed" when done.
See the signature at the bottom of my thread that should be all you need to know about whether not the advice in this thread is good because I'm posting from my phone and I'm using voice to text
Next up I'm going to try installing other roms like MIUI or 7.1 to see you what ones this can be used on. I will post my successes and failures in this thread
Sent from my Milestone XT720 using XDA App
With regard to milestone overclock settings I'm currently running 900 and 60 and have achieved general stability with no crashes during picture taking or video recording
Sent from my Milestone XT720 using XDA App
Mio: Nooo don't disable LED its great the way it is. Who needs those backlights anyways the keys are far enough away to not need a light to tell my thumbs where to go by now
Sent from my Milestone XT720 using XDA App
I wanted to dig this issue back up. So let me explain why...
I have searched and searched and tried everything! I'm going blind reading all the threads
I'm using a GT-P3113 (really love this tab). Runnin Stock 4.2.2 and rooted with 32GB SD.
Here's the issue...
DBlind is no longer working and no longer supported. (UGH!!)
Apps2SD does nothing...zero!
SetInstallLocation is great but for games made by Gameloft (as an example), when starting the game it rebuilds the 1.5GB+ file to the device storage. So the 42MB file is pointless to move to Ext SD.
Link2SD...same as above ^
FolderMount completely ruined my OS three times and had to wipe and reinstall the OS. So this is a 100% no-go.
This seems like a GREAT option ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1672507&page=33 ) but I can't stop the Tab from going into storage mode when connected to the PC. There's no "Charge Only" option, so this method, I just can't get to work. It looks like it IS working...but after setting it....na da.
I can go on and on thread after thread, but for 4.2.2 it seems there is no way to move these large apps (and data - games or not) to Ext SD.
Now I like my stock roms, and I know CM10 (and others) will fix this, but is there nothing for Stock Rooted ROMS? The whole 8GB is just so dumb when you can only use 4GB of it. I know why the OEM's do this...I get it. Doesn't make it any less dumb. I'm ready to just sell it and go to a Tab 3.
Has anyone yet found a way to successfully move whole apps and data to Ext SD? Paid apps are not a problem if any dev was to revisit this. But so far, nothing is working.