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??
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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
Related
I searched about this but I don't really fully understand it yet:
I got an Samsung Galaxy S (rooted) and just bought an 16GB microSD for it and now want to move my apps from the internal phone space to the external SD card.
As far as I understand many of the "bigger" apps like games have two parts.. one executable part and then the data part.
On my /sdcard subfolder (thats the internal sd) for example I have many folders made by apps which include various data (sounds for games etc..).
I would like to move it ALL (the apps executables and the additional data) onto my external SD card (/sdcard/external_sd) - how do I do this and what do I need?
----
My firmware is 2.2 JPO rooted. I understood so far that I need a program like app2sd to move (most) apps and with the ModInstallLocation App I could even get the rest to move over to the external SD right?
But what wonders me: I tried App2SD out for AngryBirds.. or rather used the built-in button in the application details - but still the external_sd folder was empty when I browsed it afterwards. Shouldn't there be something in there now that I moved the angrybirds?
And secondly - what happens with the data thats located in the /sdcard folder? Will those be moved to the /sdcard/external_sd folder automatically when I move an app to the SD or do I have to manually do it. If manually.. does simply moving it from /sdcard to /sdcard/external_sd work and the data is still found or does it get more complicated?
I'm sorry if this is a simple thing, I just want to make sure I fully understand how to move both the app itself and the data onto the external sd.
---
And while I'm at it: Is it also possible to make backups with clockworkmod onto/from the external sd or only the internal? when I made my backups they all got stored in /sdcard/clockworkmod/backup folder.
Thanks for reading, hope someone can explain it to me quick or lead me to a place where its fully explained.
ok so I just noticed that the apps you move seem not to be "visible" on the sd-card but I noticed a change in the free space when I moved some around.
But will this "move" also include those files from the /sdcard (internal SD) directory to the external sd?
zroice said:
ok so I just noticed that the apps you move seem not to be "visible" on the sd-card but I noticed a change in the free space when I moved some around.
But will this "move" also include those files from the /sdcard (internal SD) directory to the external sd?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am wondering the same thing, but about the LG Optimus 2X Speed.
It has an internal SD card. If you mount your own SD it is mounted under //mnt/sdcard/_ExternalSD. How can I install apps to the external SD?
When programs are talking about moving apps to SD, they mean /mnt/sdcard (this is the /sdcard yo are talking about, /mnt/sdcard is its real path).
This means they move the apps from internal system access only memory (i.e. /data or /system) to the user accessable /mnt/sdcard/.
Only apps that are programmed to support this can be moved to /sdcard.
Sadly moving apps to /mnt/sdcard/external_sd (this is the actual SD card that you can remove) is not supported in android 2.2.
Dark3n said:
When programs are talking about moving apps to SD, they mean /mnt/sdcard (this is the /sdcard yo are talking about, /mnt/sdcard is its real path).
This means they move the apps from internal system access only memory (i.e. /data or /system) to the user accessable /mnt/sdcard/.
Only apps that are programmed to support this can be moved to /sdcard.
Sadly moving apps to /mnt/sdcard/external_sd (this is the actual SD card that you can remove) is not supported in android 2.2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I know it's an old topic, but what's about android 2.3 or higher? Is it still impossible to move apps to the external SD?
Thanks,
Philippe
I think only custom ROMs like TYPHOON can do this even w/o support build in application. The best is using APP2SD and dont care where the applications are. I have more than 100APPs on my phone now :]
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.
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.
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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...
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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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
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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!