Strange SD problem. - Eee Pad Transformer Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I'm having the same problem with 2 SD cards. It recognizes the card and all that but when I go into file manager and click storage I see at the bottom right /mnt/sdcard and there are a bunch of folder "downloads,dcim,movies etc". They all have files in them but the sd card still shows no space used.
When I pop out the sd card and go to file manager I still see the /mnt/sdcard and all the files and folders are there so obviously it's not storing stuff on the sd card even though file manager says it is.
Any idea as to what's going on?

cali310 said:
I'm having the same problem with 2 SD cards. It recognizes the card and all that but when I go into file manager and click storage I see at the bottom right /mnt/sdcard and there are a bunch of folder "downloads,dcim,movies etc". They all have files in them but the sd card still shows no space used.
When I pop out the sd card and go to file manager I still see the /mnt/sdcard and all the files and folders are there so obviously it's not storing stuff on the sd card even though file manager says it is.
Any idea as to what's going on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
one way 2 see the cards content is clicking on the notification icon bottom right of notification bar then the folder icon, this opens up the card and its content
correct path being /removable/microsd

cali310 said:
I'm having the same problem with 2 SD cards. It recognizes the card and all that but when I go into file manager and click storage I see at the bottom right /mnt/sdcard and there are a bunch of folder "downloads,dcim,movies etc". They all have files in them but the sd card still shows no space used.
When I pop out the sd card and go to file manager I still see the /mnt/sdcard and all the files and folders are there so obviously it's not storing stuff on the sd card even though file manager says it is.
Any idea as to what's going on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the sd card is in "removable"....in the root directory

cali310 said:
I'm having the same problem with 2 SD cards. It recognizes the card and all that but when I go into file manager and click storage I see at the bottom right /mnt/sdcard and there are a bunch of folder "downloads,dcim,movies etc". They all have files in them but the sd card still shows no space used.
When I pop out the sd card and go to file manager I still see the /mnt/sdcard and all the files and folders are there so obviously it's not storing stuff on the sd card even though file manager says it is.
Any idea as to what's going on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a folder on the tablet called sdcard that is not actually an sd card. The physical sd cards can be seen under removable>MicroSD

So can I assume that the downlods/dcim etc folders don't save to the sd card automatically like on my evo? And if so is there any way to force it to?

cali310 said:
So can I assume that the downlods/dcim etc folders don't save to the sd card automatically like on my evo? And if so is there any way to force it to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It definitely seems that the apps think that the sdcard folder is truly the sdcard. I am really curious if you did apps to sd if it would just save the app in the sdcard folder, or look for a physical sdcard. I am wondering if my 16gb is partitioned somehow for system, data, and sdcard space. I am going to play around with this more when I have time.
With certain apps, you should be able to adjust the save location in the settings.

which sd card do you have?

Its treating the internal storage as if its the SD card you would put in a phone mounting it to /mnt/SDcard.
The actual SD card gets mounted to /Removable/SDCard.
It definitely seems that the apps think that the sdcard folder is truly the sdcard. I am really curious if you did apps to sd if it would just save the app in the sdcard folder, or look for a physical sdcard. I am wondering if my 16gb is partitioned somehow for system, data, and sdcard space. I am going to play around with this more when I have time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no move to SD option in manage application settings as far as I can see theres no way to move apps to SD card, with the storage you get theres probably no need anyway.

/mnt/sdcard is indeed the onboard storage's sd card partition it seems. I think this is done similar to how the DInc handles its internal storage. The problem with things saving automatically to /mnt/sdcard and not the removable storage by default is because until honeycomb and tablets there haven't been any phones that have both internal storage and external sd card storage. The devs therefore only programmed apps that look for /mnt/sdcard because no matter what phone you used, thats either where the external card is or where the internal memory is partitioned as.
Until the app devs themselves update their software to allow for custom default save locations this will keep happening.
For instance, if you put an office document on one a microsd and try to open it inside quickoffice or polaris, you won't find it as those apps don't let you go any higher than /mnt/sdcard, which on the transformer is the internal memory.

cali310 said:
So can I assume that the downlods/dcim etc folders don't save to the sd card automatically like on my evo? And if so is there any way to force it to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would seem they do download to the appropriate directories under /sdcard/, however /sdcard/ is the internal storage, not the MicroSD card. Looks to be a symlink to /mnt/sdcard.
Given this I expect applications that try to save to the SD card will save in /sdcard/, which of course ends up being the internal storage.

Related

[Q]mnt and removeable folders

When I inserted a 4gb microsd card, it shows up as /removeable and I see under /mnt there is another sdcard folder. is it how its supposed to be? I am planning to root and I want to make sure I have the files in the right place.
I was wondering the same thing
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
Yeah "removeable" is the actual micro sd card slot and "SD card" refers to the built in memory. Very weird.
tornadog said:
When I inserted a 4gb microsd card, it shows up as /removeable and I see under /mnt there is another sdcard folder. is it how its supposed to be? I am planning to root and I want to make sure I have the files in the right place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android 3.0 does internal memory differently.
User accessible internal storage is /mnt/sdcard
The external microSD is correct, /removable/

Saving apps to SD card?

Ok. I'm a bit confused. I'm on stock 3.2 Rooted. I just got a 16GB SD card and threw it in the Xoom. I was expecting to be able to go to SETTINGS>STORAGE and format the SD CARD. The system recognizes there is a SD CARD but it won't let me format it and won't let me save any apps to the SD CARD...even apps that are intended to be saved to the SD card. I also noticed that the SD CARD is saved to a pretty strange directory...something like mnt/extn and the actual directory /sdcard is internal? WTF?
Ok, someone please advise me what is going on...am I basically only able to view pictures and play movies off of the SD card and nothing else? I was hoping I could save apps to the SD.
The problem is, that the external SD-card is mounted read-only thanks to moto... No clue, why. I have to use ES explorer, activate root-explorer functions and grant su-rights to be able to write to the external SD-card. There are tools around which claim to unmount and remount it as r/w but those didn't work for me...
jakeomat said:
The problem is, that the external SD-card is mounted read-only thanks to moto... No clue, why. I have to use ES explorer, activate root-explorer functions and grant su-rights to be able to write to the external SD-card. There are tools around which claim to unmount and remount it as r/w but those didn't work for me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can write to external sdcard--my Titanium Backup is written to the ext. Sdcard--but in Honeycomb, apps can't run from ext. sdcard. There's no need with 32gb of internal storage.
Just keep all media files on ext.sdcard--they take up way more space than apps do.
okantomi said:
You can write to external sdcard--my Titanium Backup is written to the ext. Sdcard--but in Honeycomb, apps can't run from ext. sdcard. There's no need with 32gb of internal storage.
Just keep all media files on ext.sdcard--they take up way more space than apps do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yepp, as I say: You can write to the external SD-card, but only if the app that wants to write has su-permisson. Titanium most definitely has, otherwise it wouldn't be able to backup the system files...

Removing internal SD partition altogether

Hello, I have previously owned a Galaxy Ace which never had an internal SD storage and things were so much more simpler. Apps could be installed on removable SD. Apps were not confused when installing. I have realised that with this phone, when installing big games for example FIFA 12 or Need for Speed Most Wanted, it thinks that the internal SD storage is the removable SD card and won't download game data due to not having enough space. This 1.10GB worth of storage is totally useless and I would rather not have it for reasons of simplicity and just have a large removable SD card media instead. This 1.10GB internal storage space is insignificant when compared to 32GB removable SD Card and really is not worth the grief.
I have tried Link2SD to overcome this issue without any success as it moves the data files from the /data/data partition to the removable SD but not the Data which has been downloaded to Android/Data directory on the internal SD storage. Now I know that there are utilities (such as directory bind) which can swap the internal SD with the external SD. I also know that you can modify vold.fstab to do exactly the same. But I would rather not have this internal storage or if possible, have it extended to the internal data storage.instead.
Can someone please guide me on how to extend this irrelevant partion to data partition or have it removed entirely and just have a simple storage configuration like I did with the Galaxy Ace or older phones before all these large storages were introduced. Thanks in advance.
you need modified "vold.fstab"
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2044439
No that just swaps the partitions. If you go to settings>storage the Removable SD card shows as USB storage and the internal SD is showing as SD Card. This is not what I want. Furthermore the fact that external SD is mounted in sdcard path is even more annoying and confusing at times.
What I am looking for is removeable SD card to be mounted as mnt/sdcard. And the internal SD card to be extended with some other internal partition such as data partition or just removed altogether. In simple terms I want the same file structure as my Galaxy Ace S5830.
Gizmotech said:
No that just swaps the partitions. If you go to settings>storage the Removable SD card shows as USB storage and the internal SD is showing as SD Card. This is not what I want. Furthermore the fact that external SD is mounted in sdcard path is even more annoying and confusing at times.
What I am looking for is removeable SD card to be mounted as mnt/sdcard. And the internal SD card to be extended with some other internal partition such as data partition or just removed altogether. In simple terms I want the same file structure as my Galaxy Ace S5830.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If want the removable SD card to be mounted as mnt/sdcard then the vold.fstab could do the trick. You said you wanted to play games right? That's what I use to play Need for Speed Most Wanted on my phone. As for the "Internal Storage" or the 1.20 GB Partition, modifying it and adding or removing other partitions would require a .pit file which as far as i know is responsible for partitioning the phone and unfortunately we do not have. Does this answer your question?
It does answer my question although not the answer I wanted to hear. I used to think highly of Android when I used the Galaxy Ace as it did not have this issue due to not having a internal usable storage. But how on hell did Samsung decide to put a puny amount of storage space and mount it as sdcard. I feel sorry for the normal users who have never come across rooting and mods. I am sorry as much as I have love for Android phones, I think my next phone will be an Apple. Never thought I would be saying this but I am honestly tired of this stupid internal sd / external sd configuration. This has even put me off purchasing phones like the Galaxy S3 as you will still have this stupid configuration to get your head over. End of rant.
Is is possible to mount the removable SD card as /mnt/sdcard and the internal puny storage as /mnt/USB or any other name so as not to confuse it with SD Card. At the same time not having the storages swapped and in their right places when checked in settings>storage?
whats the problem with swapping them? I'm hardly annoyed by this kind if situation. if you are almost filling up the 1.20GB storage then you can move some of the apps to the 1.10GB "external_sd". Then to make sure you use the REAL sd card set the default installation path to be internal memory.
Sent from my GT-I8160 running Holo Bean Beta
Gizmotech said:
What I am looking for is removeable SD card to be mounted as mnt/sdcard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and I say again... if you change "vold.fstab" then you will have that you say above. I have /mnt/sdcard = 32gb and /mnt/sdcard/external_sd = 1.1gb
monstro78 said:
and I say again... if you change "vold.fstab" then you will have that you say above. I have /mnt/sdcard = 32gb and /mnt/sdcard/external_sd = 1.1gb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is more of a workaround than a fix as swapping it loses the Unmount SD Card options for the removable media in settings>storage. The same with Directory Bind. They both do the trick but not quite the way I would have wanted it to do so.
Gizmotech said:
That is more of a workaround than a fix as swapping it loses the Unmount SD Card options for the removable media in settings>storage. The same with Directory Bind. They both do the trick but not quite the way I would have wanted it to do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then we cant do anything for that matter for now since there are no pit files available to repartition the phone.
Sent from my GT-I8160 running Holo Bean
I was just thinking if there was a way of making a new directory on the /mnt path called 'storage' or something, we could have possibly modified vold.stab. So change where it says /sdcard to /storage and /sdcard/external_sd to /sdcard. I'm not sure if that would work but again, I don't think that another new directory can be created in /mnt without a .pit file.
Gizmotech said:
I was just thinking if there was a way of making a new directory on the /mnt path called 'storage' or something, we could have possibly modified vold.stab. So change where it says /sdcard to /storage and /sdcard/external_sd to /sdcard. I'm not sure if that would work but again, I don't think that another new directory can be created in /mnt without a .pit file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually there are 3 mount points inside the vold.fstab file. 1) /mnt/sdcard 2)/mnt/external_sd 3)/mnt/usbstorage (i think, i forgot..)
the third is supposed to be used for USB OTG function but for now it remains undefined. I do not know anything about modifying this file so I guess I'll leave it to the experts, ask around and see what turns up.
I just checked the vold.fstab and I think the mount point is mnt/sdcard/external_sd and not mnt/external_sd if I am interpreting the data correctly.
Gizmotech said:
I just checked the vold.fstab and I think the mount point is mnt/sdcard/external_sd and not mnt/external_sd if I am interpreting the data correctly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah youre right.. I guess working on my jelly bean theme made my brain forgetful.
Sent from my GT-I8160 using xda app-developers app

[Q] app get copied to external SD Card rather than internal SD Card

hi, im Geoff.
recently after flashing the stock 4.0.3 ICS firmware, flashing a old bootloader and using my own USB Jig and resetting
the flash counter for kernels, i finally flashed JellyBean 4.1.2 Original Firmware from Samsung. my mobile is Galaxy S2 i9100.
my problem is i recently bought a 16GB micro sd card and inserted it into my phone before i could install any app onto my phone.
then i installed few apps and games from the Google Play Store. then i noticed the external sd card have about 120 mb of used
memory. but i only had about 20 mb of data that i copied onto it that were certain zip files and nothing else. i noticed that when i install
any app, then go to applications and move to SD Card option [which previously copied apps to the internal SD Card/USB storage],
is now actually moving the apps to the External SD Card. So if I unmount the external SD Card or remove it, none of my installed apps appear.
My external SD Card is meant for songs and movies. I want my internal SD Card to store all my apps so that i can remove my External
SD Card when ever i want to and swap it or not use it at all.
I also removed the external SD Card and then installed a new app, then use the move app to SD Card option. I got a error message,
saying something like insufficient memory/space.
my doubt is, apps are trying to be moved to the internal sd card but because they cannot be moved, they are being copied to the
external sd card.
any help is appretiated. btw i have rooted my phone by doing the temporary update of CWM from the stock recovery using the update from
external card method. then i also installed SuperSU. so its rooted and i didn't have to flash a kernel to root.
[update] im gonna provide some new info here:
I have a Android folder in my Internal SD Card [sdcard0]
and ".android_secure" in my External SD Card [extSdCard]
/mnt contains
asec [software files stored on the internal memory/ not internal SD Card or sdcard0]
obb [empty]
secure/asec [software moved using move to sdcard option. these files get copied to the extSdCard and not the sdcard0]
.lfs
and the sdcard and extSdCard links.
If I remove my External SD Card and try to move apps to the Internal SD Card using the move to sdcard button in application settings,
I get the insufficient memory error.
Also when I use the move to SD Card button in Application Settings, it shows the file being moved to the USB Storage [which is supposed to be
the internal sd card or sdcard0], yet it actually is being copied into my external SD Card or extSdCard.
What apps/games?
A lot of app data is stored on SD card, whether the core files and executable are on the internal or not, so that may just be cache stuff etc... One way to check is to remove the SD card then try to run whichever apps, I am willing to bet they still run.
orangekid said:
What apps/games?
A lot of app data is stored on SD card, whether the core files and executable are on the internal or not, so that may just be cache stuff etc... One way to check is to remove the SD card then try to run whichever apps, I am willing to bet they still run.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i use the move to sd card for most apps/games. apart from 1-2 apps that dont have that option, about 10 apps+games have the option to be moved to the SD Card. And i used that option. But I am positive they got copied to the External SD Card because after I remove the
External SD Card, all the apps disappear.
Also when i then try installing new apps to the phone and then try to move them again [without the external sd card in its slot],
i get the error message of insufficient space/memory.[i have 8GB+ empty space in the internal SD Card]
its really annoying me
TitanHack said:
i use the move to sd card for most apps/games. apart from 1-2 apps that dont have that option, about 10 apps+games have the option to be moved to the SD Card. And i used that option. But I am positive they got copied to the External SD Card because after I remove the
External SD Card, all the apps disappear.
Also when i then try installing new apps to the phone and then try to move them again [without the external sd card in its slot],
i get the error message of insufficient space/memory.[i have 8GB+ empty space in the internal SD Card]
its really annoying me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like you have an option enabled in app settings to install all to SD, check your app settings in system settings.
orangekid said:
Sounds like you have an option enabled in app settings to install all to SD, check your app settings in system settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have gone through everything in settings. I cant find any option where I can actually select weather to install all to SD.
I appretiate you trying to help me out. I hope i find a solution to this problem.
Initailly I felt that it cound be some code causing the apps to move to the external sd card instead of the internal one. But after I got
the error message that I have insufficient space [with the external sd card removed ], even tho I have plenty of space, about 8GB+,
on the internal sd card...so I dont think this is due to any code somewhere pointing to install into the external SD card.
I read somewhere that when the internal sd card is full and no more apps can be installed, the new apps go to the external sd card by default.
Something like that is happening to me, except my internal sd card is fine.
I updated my first post with more info to help diagnose and solve the problem. ty to all trying to help me.
bump
[reserved]
I would back up the stuff you want from SD and from your ROM (to your computer), then go to recovery, full wipe + cache + dalvik, then format external SD, then reboot into system, then restore what you want.
orangekid said:
I would back up the stuff you want from SD and from your ROM (to your computer), then go to recovery, full wipe + cache + dalvik, then format external SD, then reboot into system, then restore what you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey man ty for not giving up on me ive not been well and then got so busy recently....
i did what you asked. i even accidently wiped the system folder from cwm recovery. it went into a boot loop or whatever it is called.
i re-flashed the official samsung jellybean firmware 4.1.2 on my i9100. then again cleant delvic + cache +used data. yet the problem
persists.
i noticed that the android folder is being created in the internal sd card. but that android folder has very small amount of the app
files stored on it. the major chunk is in android_secure which is only being stord on the external sdcard.
when i go to mnt folder in root i see two folders named asec and secure.
1."asec" contains apps stored on internal memory [not internal sd card]
and 2. "secure" contains a "asec" folder which stores app stored on the external sdcard.
i believe somewhere the code which should point the android_secure folder to the internal sdcard is pointing to store apps on the
external sd card. perhaps you guys can show me how i can change the folder path of android secure. then it will behave like
default, the way is was meant to behave.
You might need to repartition your system.
I'll see else we can come up with later today, in the mean time, try to maybe use TWRP instead and a different ROM
little more info
orangekid said:
You might need to repartition your system.
I'll see else we can come up with later today, in the mean time, try to maybe use TWRP instead and a different ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when i click move to sdcard in the application settings/menu, it shows USB data filling up.
that USB data is supposed to be my USB drive or my Internal SD Card. And the external sdcard shows up
as 0 KB of data. But actually the files are being copied to the external sdcard and not internal.
now if we think the android system cannot access the internal sdcard, then thats not the matter because
it creates a folder named Android in the internal sdcard and stores the app cache there.
So to me it seems that the android system is confused and actually thinks that the android_secure folder is
mounted on the internal sdcard while it actually is mounted on the external sdcard.
perhaps anyone can link me a guide to move my android_secure folder...
TitanHack said:
perhaps anyone can link me a guide to move my android_secure folder...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Facing this problem now.
TitanHack, did you found an answer?

[Q] SD card storage issue (default storage)

So I've been running stock 2.2.2 till yesterday. This phone has 8gb of total storage, with 2 partitions, one of 1.48gb, where it installs all apps etc (usually) and another of about 5.22gb which used to be treated as an 'sd card', even though it was internal storage. It would install all data to the second partition, and I could use that for files and apps etc freely.
I just flashed a JB rom last night, and so far as I can tell everything is working fine, the only issue I have is that its not recognizing my 2nd partition as an SD card, its regarding it as internal storage, and it wont allow apps and stuff to install there. The phone keep prompting me to 'insert an sd card'. I would like to be able to use my phone to install my apps (swiftkey etc), and use my apps (gallery etc). I cant save any files, screenshots or anything, and any app that utilizies data saved on memory keeps saying 'there is no sd card'.
It might be worth noting that I flashed the rom and gapps from the sd card, and then left it in while installing all my apps again and everything else I needed on my phone before removing it..
If anyone could help me get the second partition recognized as the sd card, that would be great. If any other info is needed I would be happy to oblige. Thank you.
IMO, you really should invest in an sd card, even a 2gb one. But I believe theres a file you can edit that will change the mount point. I'm not 100% sure if its the same for JB as GB.
Here's a quick link http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12271082/android-how-to-change-mount-points
or google up vold.fstab
Thanks!
Freakthis08 said:
IMO, you really should invest in an sd card, even a 2gb one. But I believe theres a file you can edit that will change the mount point. I'm not 100% sure if its the same for JB as GB.
Here's a quick link http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12271082/android-how-to-change-mount-points
or google up vold.fstab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply! I figured it out eventually through experimenting.. I found this thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1593615) and used that info to find the file, the file itself contains info on all the parameters so it wasnt too hard to manipulate the text accordingly.. The file system on JB seems a bit strange though.
Theres a storage folder, which contains the two storage devices labelled sdcard0 and sdcard1. The mount points are done through storage.
But there is also a mnt folder, with both emmc and sdcard in it. In addition the root also has an emmc and sdcard folder in it. I think the folder names (in both the root and the mnt subfolder) are shortcuts, and are directed through the <label> you apply to the string in the vold.fstab file (following these parameters: Format: dev_mount <label> <mount_point> <part> <sysfs_path1...>). I think I swapped the label for the two partitions, switched the number after sdcard (though I think this is inconsequential). I left the partition numbers as is (so the external sd card was still auto, and the internal 'sd card' was partition 8), and I turned the internal storage into 'sd card'.
When I mount an external sd card though it shows up as internal storage. Is there a parameter to make that show up as 'external sd card'?
Good find and I'm glad you got things working for yourself!

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