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Hello all
still learning this android devlepment platform, so forgive me if this already has been covered. I've been trying to follow all the instructions as closely as I can but I've had no luck. I'm left with a few issues on my hands:
(first off, my full spec: I am running the nookhoney04.img file on an 8GB SD card - not sure what class # it is - on my nook color. no rooting done, I have only been working on this SD card. my computer is AMD64-based Windows 7 x64 with 8GB of RAM. though I may try tooling with it on my ubuntu virtual machine at some point...)
- I cannot seem to find the /system/build.prop file anywhere. I've done this in the past by inserting my nook-honeycomb-imaged SD card into my computer and simply browsing to it. what am I doing wrong here? the reason I can't do it via adb pull is part of another problem I've got below.
- when running the ADB on my emulator (which for some reason performs very poorly) to try to make the changes (install the apk's, do the chmods or even run the script) I can't seem to get this right either. I've loaded the apk's into the adb directory just as instructed but when I run the command adb -e install gmail.apk, it comes back to say "gmail.apk cannot be found." strange since it is sitting in the directory.
- when I run the script (install google apps and do chmods, etc) with the emulator running, it says "not enough space available." could this be due to the fact that I'm running a 3.5 GB image on a 8GB SD card without having expanded the image's app directory capacity to take advantage of the space on the card?
- is there any current way to improve the performance of running honeycomb from an SD card? i.e expanding the image to take advantage of more than its natural 3.5GB of space and make better use of the space on the SD card being used?
I'm just a tad confused. I've really been trying to follow instructions, read, educate myself, and learn, but it seems something is amiss here, so I turn to you all.
any advice is greatly appreciated.
thanks!
Yes, I am a noob. New to Android but not PCs. I have searched all morning for an answer to this question and I am not eligible to post in "developers" yet so I am at your mercy.
Phone in question is box stock SCH-i535 @ 32gb. Will be using 64gb SD card class 6. I want to run BEANS ver 10 TW rom.
Here is the question: Is 'LinktoSD' compatible with or even needed in BEANS 10? If it would be useful in this ROM (to move as many applications as possible to External SD) should the required 2nd partition on the SD card for 'LinktoSD' be formatted as ext2 / ext4 or FAT32? I will probably size it at 2gb.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm just not sure about the best approach with BEANS 10, or if 'LinktoSD' functions are replicated in that ROM. (?) Or if BEANS 10 would have problems with the ext4 partition?
Thanks to this site and all the developers & contributers for making all this great information available to a noob like me! :good:
[email protected] said:
Yes, I am a noob. New to Android but not PCs. I have searched all morning for an answer to this question and I am not eligible to post in "developers" yet so I am at your mercy.
Phone in question is box stock SCH-i535 @ 32gb. Will be using 64gb SD card class 6. I want to run BEANS ver 10 TW rom.
Here is the question: Is 'LinktoSD' compatible with or even needed in BEANS 10? If it would be useful in this ROM (to move as many applications as possible to External SD) should the required 2nd partition on the SD card for 'LinktoSD' be formatted as ext2 / ext4 or FAT32? I will probably size it at 2gb.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm just not sure about the best approach with BEANS 10, or if 'LinktoSD' functions are replicated in that ROM. (?) Or if BEANS 10 would have problems with the ext4 partition?
Thanks to this site and all the developers & contributers for making all this great information available to a noob like me! :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
** To avoid confusion, I understand that a box stock phone can't run BEANS 10. It WILL be rooted and un-locked.
[email protected] said:
Yes, I am a noob. New to Android but not PCs. I have searched all morning for an answer to this question and I am not eligible to post in "developers" yet so I am at your mercy.
Phone in question is box stock SCH-i535 @ 32gb. Will be using 64gb SD card class 6. I want to run BEANS ver 10 TW rom.
Here is the question: Is 'LinktoSD' compatible with or even needed in BEANS 10? If it would be useful in this ROM (to move as many applications as possible to External SD) should the required 2nd partition on the SD card for 'LinktoSD' be formatted as ext2 / ext4 or FAT32? I will probably size it at 2gb.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm just not sure about the best approach with BEANS 10, or if 'LinktoSD' functions are replicated in that ROM. (?) Or if BEANS 10 would have problems with the ext4 partition?
Thanks to this site and all the developers & contributers for making all this great information available to a noob like me! :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1849860
It doesn't seem to work on Beans 10, nor did it work on CleanRom 2.0. In fact, I'm not sure what ROM's it works on.
snippits of info..
android94301 said:
See this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1849860
It doesn't seem to work on Beans 10, nor did it work on CleanRom 2.0. In fact, I'm not sure what ROM's it works on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks android 94301, according to the OP he thinks it should work on any custom TW ROM. In theory, that would include Beans.
I hope someone who has tried 'LinktoSD' on a Beans ROM will chime in. I'm still waiting on my SD card to arrive in the mail so I haven't started yet.
I suppose I could play it safe and install both SD partitions as FAT32 for 'LinktoSD', load Beans10 to see what provisions it contains for moving apps to SD, and if I feel I still need 'LinktoSD' the SD card will be ready. Then I could try installing 'LinktoSD' over Beans10 to see if they play well together. If I understand it correctly, 'LinktoSD' redirects to the SD partition on boot. Beans10 will have to allow it. (?)
Someone with more experience than I have may be able to comment on the compatibility of the two. I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking about this. The feature set on 'LinktoSD' looks good to me.
[email protected] said:
Thanks android 94301, according to the OP he thinks it should work on any custom TW ROM. In theory, that would include Beans.
I hope someone who has tried 'LinktoSD' on a Beans ROM will chime in. I'm still waiting on my SD card to arrive in the mail so I haven't started yet.
I suppose I could play it safe and install both SD partitions as FAT32 for 'LinktoSD', load Beans10 to see what provisions it contains for moving apps to SD, and if I feel I still need 'LinktoSD' the SD card will be ready. Then I could try installing 'LinktoSD' over Beans10 to see if they play well together. If I understand it correctly, 'LinktoSD' redirects to the SD partition on boot. Beans10 will have to allow it. (?)
Someone with more experience than I have may be able to comment on the compatibility of the two. I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking about this. The feature set on 'LinktoSD' looks good to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah the the OP is wrong. In fact, I'm not sure it works on any ROM, at least haven't seen evidence of that on this forum.
Still looking..
android94301 said:
yeah the the OP is wrong. In fact, I'm not sure it works on any ROM, at least haven't seen evidence of that on this forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That could be true on the developer's thread you quoted above. Zedomax describes that process as a 'hack' based off another program. What he's doing sounds similar but I don't believe he is basing his effort off of the 'LinktoSD' program itself. In that effort several people did report problems. 007willieruiz reported that CM10 needed a custom script, droidstyle reported that the kernel would need int.d support to work. Sshams95 actually did run that hack on the Beans ROM and ended up with duplicate file entries. That's all a bit too far out there for me.
What I was asking about was far more basic. Just running the 'LinktoSD' program itself, on the Beans ROM. The goal being to move 'active programs' (where memory speed is not an issue) from internal memory to the SD card, freeing up as much internal memory as possible for other things like (in my case) off road navigation programs and topo maps that will be resident on the device. 'LinktoSD' is showing downloads in the millions so it shouldn't be much of a stretch to think it's been loaded on a custom ROM somewhere. I should probably reserve judgment untilll I have the Beans ROM loaded, as it's memory management capabilities may be enough.
Input from Galaxy S3 / Beans user?
Well, after more web searches it appears LinktoSD has been and is being used on custom ROMS as expected.
(Since I haven't done 10 post I couldn't submit the link.)
The biggest problem for that user group seems to be broken links to the second SD partition after flashing another custom ROM. I still have not been able to find an example of it being used on a Galaxy S3 running Beans ROM. Anyone?
[email protected] said:
Yes, I am a noob. New to Android but not PCs. I have searched all morning for an answer to this question and I am not eligible to post in "developers" yet so I am at your mercy.
Phone in question is box stock SCH-i535 @ 32gb. Will be using 64gb SD card class 6. I want to run BEANS ver 10 TW rom.
Here is the question: Is 'LinktoSD' compatible with or even needed in BEANS 10? If it would be useful in this ROM (to move as many applications as possible to External SD) should the required 2nd partition on the SD card for 'LinktoSD' be formatted as ext2 / ext4 or FAT32? I will probably size it at 2gb.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm just not sure about the best approach with BEANS 10, or if 'LinktoSD' functions are replicated in that ROM. (?) Or if BEANS 10 would have problems with the ext4 partition?
Thanks to this site and all the developers & contributers for making all this great information available to a noob like me! :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have this problem too:cyclops:
Found the dude himself..
Well, I finally found some answers from the man himself (the developer of the program). See the following thread if your wondering about this program as I was. Curious note, the developer said he didn't think the Galaxy Si9000 needed the program as it has ample memory available. Still, a very impressive program. :good:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=919326
Pull the trigger..
After reviewing approximately 250 pages of threads and post using over a dozen search phrases related to better utilization of the external SD card on the GS3, I found a few bits of information. I'm posting again because I think this will be a relevant issue for most GS3 users sooner or later. While there were several post speculating that the GS3's internal memory is enough, several users reported running low on memory after installing 15 to 20 applications. If you look at the GS3's processing power compared to it's total available memory, it's memory that comes up short. As a disclaimer though, I'm new to Android and to the GS3. Since I had to invest 3 days in the search, I thought a brief summary of the search highlights might be helpful to other noobs like me. I'm also hoping that those in the know will chime in here and share their insights. I've tried to give credit to the original posters in the info bites below.
As someone who is setting up a new SCH-i535 with the intent of running a custom ROM and being able to fully utilize the external SD card, I need the SD card installed and formatted first! The type of SD card / memory management you choose can determine how the SD card should be formatted, so this decision needs to come first.
Problem #1: The S3's internal storage is named SDCARD, the actual external SD card = SDEXT. This creates problems for programs wanting to write to the external SD card. This means that currently Link2SD, App2SD, Data2SD, etc. all have problems working on the GS3. On the GS3 the SD card is secondary not a primary external. It is seen as emulated. There appears to be no solution without Rooting.
Zedomax has this self described "hack" that swaps internal storage with your external SD card so you can increase your app data storage. This appears to shift everything to the SD card with no UI or controls. The good news is he developed it specifically for the GS3.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1849860
Another approach that seems to be similar "ExternalSD2InternalSD" from Mattiadj.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1772234
Kierrok reports this insight for Data2SD:
20. What are the requirements for using the “Move app data to SD card” (Data2SD) feature?
Our Apps2SD scheme creates symbolic links (one per app) at /data/data/com.x.y that will point to somewhere within an ext2/3/4 partition on the SD card.
The supported mount points for the ext2/3/4 partition are:
/system/sd/ (“classic” sd-ext)
/sd-ext/ (“Cyanogen” sd-ext)
/data/sd/ (“MIUI” sd-ext)
So for Data2SD to work, you’ll need to ensure that your ext2/3/4 partition is mounted at one of these locations. Then create an “app” directory at that location in case it doesn’t exist. Once it’s done, you’ll see a free space gauge for it in the Titanium Backup welcome screen, and you can then long-click on an app in the list and hit the “Move app data to SD” button. Once you do that:
First, Titanium Backup will look for existing symbolic links in /data/data/ and attempt to re-use the same target location, if it lies within the ext2/3/4 partition.
If it finds no existing (or no suitable) destination, it will propose to create a “data2″ folder within the ext2/3/4 partition, and will then move the app’s data inside it.
So by default, you’ll get: /data/data/com.x.y => /system/sd/data2/com.x.y (in the “classic” sd-ext case).
Then there is a complete program that offers the ability to move programs back and forth between device and external SD storage. However, the problems cited above create problems for Link2SD.
The actual Developer's thread for the program:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=919326
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1737213
Dimerk reports that he has Link2SD working on the GS3.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1694063&page=3
I am most interested in the Link2SD approach. I have posted or PM'd the users who claim to have this program working on the GS3 but as of this moment, I have not heard back from any of them. So, while still looking foreword to input from more experienced users, I am going to proceed down the path of running this program on a custom ICS - TW based ROM (Beans is looking good). If my device flames out and burns a hole through my desk I'll post a photo so you can all have a good laugh.
[email protected] said:
After reviewing approximately 250 pages of threads and post using over a dozen search phrases related to better utilization of the external SD card on the GS3, I found a few bits of information. I'm posting again because I think this will be a relevant issue for most GS3 users sooner or later. While there were several post speculating that the GS3's internal memory is enough, several users reported running low on memory after installing 15 to 20 applications. If you look at the GS3's processing power compared to it's total available memory, it's memory that comes up short. As a disclaimer though, I'm new to Android and to the GS3. Since I had to invest 3 days in the search, I thought a brief summary of the search highlights might be helpful to other noobs like me. I'm also hoping that those in the know will chime in here and share their insights. I've tried to give credit to the original posters in the info bites below.
As someone who is setting up a new SCH-i535 with the intent of running a custom ROM and being able to fully utilize the external SD card, I need the SD card installed and formatted first! The type of SD card / memory management you choose can determine how the SD card should be formatted, so this decision needs to come first.
Problem #1: The S3's internal storage is named SDCARD, the actual external SD card = SDEXT. This creates problems for programs wanting to write to the external SD card. This means that currently Link2SD, App2SD, Data2SD, etc. all have problems working on the GS3. On the GS3 the SD card is secondary not a primary external. It is seen as emulated. There appears to be no solution without Rooting.
Zedomax has this self described "hack" that swaps internal storage with your external SD card so you can increase your app data storage. This appears to shift everything to the SD card with no UI or controls. The good news is he developed it specifically for the GS3.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1849860
Another approach that seems to be similar "ExternalSD2InternalSD" from Mattiadj.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1772234
Kierrok reports this insight for Data2SD:
20. What are the requirements for using the “Move app data to SD card” (Data2SD) feature?
Our Apps2SD scheme creates symbolic links (one per app) at /data/data/com.x.y that will point to somewhere within an ext2/3/4 partition on the SD card.
The supported mount points for the ext2/3/4 partition are:
/system/sd/ (“classic” sd-ext)
/sd-ext/ (“Cyanogen” sd-ext)
/data/sd/ (“MIUI” sd-ext)
So for Data2SD to work, you’ll need to ensure that your ext2/3/4 partition is mounted at one of these locations. Then create an “app” directory at that location in case it doesn’t exist. Once it’s done, you’ll see a free space gauge for it in the Titanium Backup welcome screen, and you can then long-click on an app in the list and hit the “Move app data to SD” button. Once you do that:
First, Titanium Backup will look for existing symbolic links in /data/data/ and attempt to re-use the same target location, if it lies within the ext2/3/4 partition.
If it finds no existing (or no suitable) destination, it will propose to create a “data2″ folder within the ext2/3/4 partition, and will then move the app’s data inside it.
So by default, you’ll get: /data/data/com.x.y => /system/sd/data2/com.x.y (in the “classic” sd-ext case).
Then there is a complete program that offers the ability to move programs back and forth between device and external SD storage. However, the problems cited above create problems for Link2SD.
The actual Developer's thread for the program:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=919326
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1737213
Dimerk reports that he has Link2SD working on the GS3.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1694063&page=3
I am most interested in the Link2SD approach. I have posted or PM'd the users who claim to have this program working on the GS3 but as of this moment, I have not heard back from any of them. So, while still looking foreword to input from more experienced users, I am going to proceed down the path of running this program on a custom ICS - TW based ROM (Beans is looking good). If my device flames out and burns a hole through my desk I'll post a photo so you can all have a good laugh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great info. I am still trying to find the magic program that will move apps to the Real SD card. I wonder if making one of the App2sD programs a system application would help things?
Got through the ROM.
As I configure a device I keep running notes. I'll share these as they may help other's who are completly new to Android. They are cryptic but should still be of value.
I'll format the SD card to work with Link2SD > Used Mini Tool Partition Wizard, 2 Primary Partitions.
1st / 57.5gb / FAT32 2nd / 2gb / EXT2
Rooted with: "GS3DebugFSRoot R2" / Unlocked boot loader with EZ-Unlock / Copied internal file structures to External SD Card. / Loaded EZ-Recovery as per guide.
Note: The following caused problems - Must load the apps to be run at the root of internal storage. / Launch Superuser app before running EZ-Unlock, etc. Superuser may not run properly as those apps are launched if you don't run it first. / EZ-Recovery navigates via swipe screen. / Boot into recovery navigates via volume & home buttons. / The stock ROM links in the guide are bad, see P-19. / You only need to load a ROM via desktop ODIN, not a kernel, P-22. / "Wipe Data - Factory Reset" is necessary to prevent bugs & errors on status bar.
Finally got Beans 11 up & running, but I may not keep it. I'll load Link2SD when I've found a ROM I'll stick with. Still deciding that issue.
Changes..
Well fellow noobs, it may be time to close this little thread. As far as I have been able to discern, none of the conventional programs for moving applications to external SD cards mentioned above are compatible with the GS3. (The one script is.) I'm hopeful the developers will eventually port these programs to the GS3. I've contacted one of them. As far as need goes, my device only has 2 market apps loaded and is running with 30% of system RAM used. I know that is a bit deceiving as Android is going to use the RAM if its there. Still, I have about 15 more applications to go and will be paying attention to conventional memory management practices to keep as much RAM available as possible. As to the other half of the thread title, I have switched to a more conservative ROM that I am much happier with. I am learning as I go with the help of this forum and so far, I really like the device and the new to me Android experience. I do find The Play Store's instance on WiFi / Cell downloads directly to the device and strictly from them to be a bit odd for an 'Open Source' community though.
Is it possible on the surface pro? Im a developer/student. Windows 8 is great for in class stuff but when it comes to developing, linux takes the win. I'd love to be able to install linux on a microSD card and boot to that (yeah, I know it will be slow but it can be left in the surface without protruding too much). Anyway is this possible? I can't find anything on this beyond removing win 8 and loading linux on it.
Meh, kids these days... when I was in college, I tri-booted on a 60GB hard disk.
But, if the internal storage isn't good enough for you, yes of course you can install Linux to the microSD card. You'll need to disable Secure Boot as usual for installing Linux at all. Beyond that, it's the same as any other Linux install except instead of reformatting the system partition, you reformat the microSD card and install there. People have been installing Linux to removable storage for years; it's no different on the Surface Pro and a microSD card than on a desktop with an external HDD or a laptop with a flashdrive or ... you get the idea.
Great, Thanks. I was just unsure since no one has seemed to do it (or at least posted it on the internet).
And don't get me wrong, I remember installing linux/windows on my first laptop with 20GB. These days, however, files are larger than CD's and the remaing space on the pro just does not cut it anymore, unless I want to delete all my downloads after using them.
Thanks again!
YOu need to go into charms > settings > Change PC Settings > General > Advanced startup to be able to boot from a usb or sd
can I install MAC OS? if I can I will order right away
seesunmoon said:
can I install MAC OS? if I can I will order right away
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you asked the wrong question here.
Honestly, it does not matter if you can install MAC OS on the Pro.
The question you need answered is: Are there MAC OS Drivers for the Pro's Hardware? If not, then there is no point in seeing if the OS installs.
right, right, i guess apple will make something like surface pro, tablet with full max os
If history is any indication, they will do so 5-10 years after somebody else (typically Microsoft) has a similar OS/device, call it "revolutionary" and "innovative", and people will think they invented it...
Seriously though, I'm sure you could Hackintosh the Surface Pro, but hardware support may be lacking. The basic stuff (video, storage, sound, probably USB) and possibly some other things like WiFi and webcam will probably work. Touch and stylus are highly questionable. Normally I'd say that there's no chance of the covers working, but apparently they're fine under Linux so maybe they use an electrically standard interface through that funny docking connector.
There's something very weird about buying a (primarily) software company's hardware to put a (primarily) hardware company's software on it, though...
I have no doubt the Hackintosh guys will be all over this once a few of them get an S-Pro, I had an XE700 and there were people running it on them so I cant see the Pro taking much time for them to jump on to it.
Cool Dude
GoodDayToDie said:
Meh, kids these days... when I was in college, I tri-booted on a 60GB hard disk.
But, if the internal storage isn't good enough for you, yes of course you can install Linux to the microSD card. You'll need to disable Secure Boot as usual for installing Linux at all. Beyond that, it's the same as any other Linux install except instead of reformatting the system partition, you reformat the microSD card and install there. People have been installing Linux to removable storage for years; it's no different on the Surface Pro and a microSD card than on a desktop with an external HDD or a laptop with a flashdrive or ... you get the idea.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This does really answer the question at hand,
I haven't yet been able to boot from an MicroSD card I have used a USB drive to boot into Ubuntu 14 Trusty Thar, using instructions that are all over the web, however I haven't found any documentation of successfully boot from a MicroSD card. I will be trying this afternoon and will post what I find. Installing linux to the microSD card I'm sure will be straight forward, its the booting that will be an issue I'm sure.
Follow up coming soon
n4m4st3 said:
This does really answer the question at hand,
I haven't yet been able to boot from an MicroSD card I have used a USB drive to boot into Ubuntu 14 Trusty Thar, using instructions that are all over the web, however I haven't found any documentation of successfully boot from a MicroSD card. I will be trying this afternoon and will post what I find. Installing linux to the microSD card I'm sure will be straight forward, its the booting that will be an issue I'm sure.
Follow up coming soon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got this to work. You need to use:
rufus.akeo.ie
And then just choose USB boot from the menu advanced start up options menu. Which is funny because it doesn't actually show the micro sd as an option to boot, but it automatically finds it somehow.
Pretty sure the uSD slot is attached via USB, so it's basically just "boot from USB external storage".
Another way you could have done it is to install the Linux bootloader (GRUB stage 1) to the internal storage, and then have that chainload to the uSD card. That should work even if for some reason the firmware doesn't want to boot off uSD normally.
I just got a Surface Pro 2 and started playing with the idea of booting Linux off the SD card. I haven't done an actual installation yet, but I was just playing with the idea of making a bootable USB device preferably without having to change the internal SSD. (Especially since I have the 64GB base model and that's really barely enough for a comfortable use of Windows. I also wanted to leave the recovery partition intact as a good just-in-case.)
So first I made a bootable generic USB flash drive using UNetbootin and a stock Ubuntu 14.04 desktop installation image. Works as expected, can go into the "Advanced Startup" screen and boot from USB device. Nothing special, was able to launch the live session.
Then I used UNetbootin again, this time on an 8GB microSD I had laying around. The Surface would NOT boot off the microSD card through "Advanced Startup."
Then I tried it using the Rufus tool linked above -- this worked. You can go through "Advanced Startup" or hold volume down when powering on the Surface. Either way will launch the Live session. Very cool.
So then I went back and tried to figure out what was different. Same card, same base ISO... what I noticed was that Rufus was setting the "lba" flag on the SD card's FAT32 partition. So I formatted and recreated the card with UNetbootin again, verified it was unbootable, then used gparted to set the "lba" flag. After that, it booted. So this is something to note.
I'll have to actually try installing to the card and seeing if the Surface will boot from it or not. But this is something at least.
EDIT:
It seems like Surface will never boot the SD card if it isn't exactly a single FAT32 partition consuming the entire microSD card.
I'll just wrap up my last bit of contribution to this for now. I used a virtual machine with an EFI install of Windows 8 to stage this at first...
So the short end is, it seems the Surface Pro's firmware is strict about what it will boot from USB, and it seems to be a device that must be a single FAT32 partition with the "boot" and "lba" flags set, or else it won't work. If anyone knows of another combination, great, but this is what I determined through my limited experimentation.
Basically the most minimally invasive Ubuntu (or other Linux) install I could think to do that generally leaves the Surface a Surface and a Linux device second was this procedure (using Ubuntu 14.04):
Create an Ubuntu USB install device (use the aforementioned Rufus tool for best results or else be aware of the partitioning specifics.)
Use "Advanced Startup" or "Vol -" at power on to boot the USB key
When installing and prompted about disk installation, do "Something Else" (Careful! Very easy to obliterate the internal Windows or reduce space on less-equipped Surfaces to useless levels!)
Use "/dev/sda" as the place to install the boot loader (GRUB)
Resize the Surface's main Windows partition back by a small amount (e.g. 512MB)
Create an ext4 partition in this space and set this as the "/boot" mount point (exercise to the reader to look up making a /boot partition for GRUB and deciding on the amount they want to allocate)
Partition your SD Card in the Surface however you like, but you'll need some kind of ext4 partition for the Ubuntu installation, of course! (e.g. I split mine into NTFS, ext4, and swap space, but you can do whatever suits you)
Set your root mount point on the SD Card's ext4 partition.
And that's pretty much it -- the Ubuntu installer is smart enough to take care of the rest.
Major point here, regarding step 4 -- you CAN have the "/boot" on your SD card if you like, but what will happen is that you will be unable to properly boot from GRUB if you don't have that specific SD card inserted. If you never plan to remove your SD card, you can avoid changing the internal memory partitions at all.
Installing GRUB to the SD card through the Ubuntu installer will do no good since, again, the Surface seems adamant about only booting a device with a single FAT32 partition occupying the full space. Obviously the installer USB device you make IS a bootable Linux image on a FAT32 partition, so you CAN pull it off if you have all the know-how -- i.e. setting up GRUB and booting an ".img" file from the FAT32 partition -- pretty sure the Ubuntu installer doesn't support this in a straightforward manner.
In any case, I'm happy with GRUB and "/boot" being on /dev/sda. I can remove the card and simply be unable to boot Ubuntu, but still use Windows. If you follow this installation, I highly recommend setting GRUB to boot Windows by default just in case you do remove the SD card and don't have your touch cover connected. Further, I recommend setting up GRUB so that it always times out (on the default Windows selection) even if the previous boot failed (which, by Ubuntu default, GRUB will not timeout on a failed boot.) But of course this is all user preference and what kind of situations you expect yourself to be in.
Hopefully this is at least one adequate answer to the OP, even though it is over a year old.
Footnote: Haven't gotten the built-in WiFi / Bluetooth working, even with putting the firmware in place. (The mwiflex driver is complaining about a command timeout as soon as it loads and does not progress.) Tried a newer kernel, still doesn't work. I'm mostly interested in the WiFi, but as yet, still no good. But that's beyond what the OP was strictly asking.
UPDATE: Firmware update fixed WiFi. (Info from https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=64111) -- Basically clone git git://git.marvell.com/mwifiex-firmware.git and copy /mwifiex-firmware/mrvl/usb8797_uapsta.bin to /lib/firmware/mrvl and reboot. Not sure if newer kernel needed. Was running kernel 3.15.0-999-generic from Ubuntu's mainline.
why install grub? the only reason is if you want to default boot into windows
since you're installing a second os on the microsd, you can access it directly with power+vol down
anyways, i was brought here because i was thinking of getting an sd card with a fully independent os for my surface pro
if i burn a ubuntu iso onto the microsd, you wouldnt actually be installing the os onto the sd card right? every time you boot, it would be the live-cd ubuntu
is there a way to install the full os onto the microsd?
anonxlg said:
why install grub? the only reason is if you want to default boot into windows
since you're installing a second os on the microsd, you can access it directly with power+vol down
anyways, i was brought here because i was thinking of getting an sd card with a fully independent os for my surface pro
if i burn a ubuntu iso onto the microsd, you wouldnt actually be installing the os onto the sd card right? every time you boot, it would be the live-cd ubuntu
is there a way to install the full os onto the microsd?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just install ubuntu onto the microsd...
anonxlg said:
why install grub? the only reason is if you want to default boot into windows
since you're installing a second os on the microsd, you can access it directly with power+vol down
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With power+vol down, I was only able to boot a USB device or microSD that was partitioned exactly as a single FAT32 partition occupying the entire device, which is also what you get from making a bootable Ubuntu key using tools usually. Even if all I did was shortchange the FAT32 partition, the Surface would no longer try to boot from it. It would not boot an SD card I installed Ubuntu to, and I tried it as a non-EFI and EFI install. If you have different results, go ahead and post about it. It seems to me that the firmware was being extremely particular about what kind of drive it was booting from. I'm not sure why Microsoft would make it so particular except to perhaps limit was sort of "recovery" devices you might be trying to load. Logically speaking, it only needs to boot a FAT32 partitioned device since that's the only thing generated by the recovery software in Windows 8, so they have no reason to support anything else.
Thank you southbird! Works great on my Surface Pro 2, BUT ....
Partitioned my micro SD (using gparted) as your instructions: two partitions - first partition ext4 and the other NTFS. Added small partition on internal HDD for /boot. I installed kubuntu 14.01. Made Windows the default boot, and everything works except Windows 8.1 will not recognize the partition for data (the partition that is formatted NTFS). It "sees" it as a broken drive and wants to format the whole micro SD card and I know it will delete the ext4 part (where / resides) because it doesn't "see" the card as being partitioned. Your instructions sound like you got the data partition to work (it is "seen" and usable in kubuntu). Did you do something else to get Windows to "see" it as a separate data partition? :fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed:
southbird said:
I'll just wrap up my last bit of contribution to this for now. I used a virtual machine with an EFI install of Windows 8 to stage this at first...
So the short end is, it seems the Surface Pro's firmware is strict about what it will boot from USB, and it seems to be a device that must be a single FAT32 partition with the "boot" and "lba" flags set, or else it won't work. If anyone knows of another combination, great, but this is what I determined through my limited experimentation.
Basically the most minimally invasive Ubuntu (or other Linux) install I could think to do that generally leaves the Surface a Surface and a Linux device second was this procedure (using Ubuntu 14.04):
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello Guys!
I have another question to add here!
Next week i'll get my Surface Pro 2 with 256GB
The last days my mind played with some ideas to have a dualboot option in the surface.
Is it possible to install Android Lollipop (or Kitkat) x86 on the micro sd (64GB) and boot from it?
I have read the whole thread but its a lil bit complicated.
Would be nice if anyons can show this in a step by step process, or guide me to a tutorial.
thanks!!
Methisfaction said:
Hello Guys!
I have another question to add here!
Next week i'll get my Surface Pro 2 with 256GB
The last days my mind played with some ideas to have a dualboot option in the surface.
Is it possible to install Android Lollipop (or Kitkat) x86 on the micro sd (64GB) and boot from it?
I have read the whole thread but its a lil bit complicated.
Would be nice if anyons can show this in a step by step process, or guide me to a tutorial.
thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed you can, however:
1. The microSD will need to be formatted with GPT partition scheme, and the boot partition must be FAT32;
2. The January 2015 UEFI update removes ability to boot from microSD. Skip that and you're golden!
Hey,
I just sold a HTC Desire phones and had previously partitioned the Micro SD cards from within the recovery tool on the phone to allow for 1GB of the 4GB sd card to be used as part of the system. Now when I want to reuse the card as a regular card, I can only see 2.67GB available. I've tried Easus and MIniTool partition software as well as SDformatter, none of them see the full 4gb. I can't remember now correctly whether I was seeing 2.66gb primary and 1gb unallocated in the windows device manager after having messed around trying to merge them, but now I can only see 2.66 in every program I tried.
Would appreciate any help on how I can see and use the rest of the card
cormie said:
Hey,
I just sold a HTC Desire phones and had previously partitioned the Micro SD cards from within the recovery tool on the phone to allow for 1GB of the 4GB sd card to be used as part of the system. Now when I want to reuse the card as a regular card, I can only see 2.67GB available. I've tried Easus and MIniTool partition software as well as SDformatter, none of them see the full 4gb. I can't remember now correctly whether I was seeing 2.66gb primary and 1gb unallocated in the windows device manager after having messed around trying to merge them, but now I can only see 2.66 in every program I tried.
Would appreciate any help on how I can see and use the rest of the card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can get your hands on a Linux Machine, a card reader and most importantly gParted. You might be abled to fix it. I have seen mem cards, usb drives etc which cant be recovered on Windows getting rescued by gParted. If you can get gparted, these steps usually work.
1) Select partition [Careful]
2) Goto Device then create partition table.
3) Then format.
Hopefully it should work. Otherwise you might have to use dd.
gr1m.r34p3r said:
If you can get your hands on a Linux Machine, a card reader and most importantly gParted. You might be abled to fix it. I have seen mem cards, usb drives etc which cant be recovered on Windows getting rescued by gParted. If you can get gparted, these steps usually work.
1) Select partition [Careful]
2) Goto Device then create partition table.
3) Then format.
Hopefully it should work. Otherwise you might have to use dd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, what's DD?
Would I not be able to do this on a windows machine and it would have to be linux?
cormie said:
Thanks for the reply, what's DD?
Would I not be able to do this on a windows machine and it would have to be linux?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bump
cormie said:
Thanks for the reply, what's DD?
Would I not be able to do this on a windows machine and it would have to be linux?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dd is a tool (again) on Linux which can clone disks etc. And gParted is a tool which I've heard works on Linux, Windows and Mac. But I've personally never tried it. But getting a copy of linux is pretty easy. Just download the iso (I recommemd Ubuntu, burn it onto a USB or CD and boot it. You can do a live session (Dosen't need to be installed, runs of RAM) then use gparted directly or install it ( 'sudo apt-get install gparted' in a Ubuntu Terminal).
gr1m.r34p3r said:
dd is a tool (again) on Linux which can clone disks etc. And gParted is a tool which I've heard works on Linux, Windows and Mac. But I've personally never tried it. But getting a copy of linux is pretty easy. Just download the iso (I recommemd Ubuntu, burn it onto a USB or CD and boot it. You can do a live session (Dosen't need to be installed, runs of RAM) then use gparted directly or install it ( 'sudo apt-get install gparted' in a Ubuntu Terminal).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks a lot for such a helpful post, if that's what I have to do, I think it will be a bit too much effort just for the sake of 1gb extra on cards that are only a few euro anyway in the first place. Thanks again anyway but I might just have to leave it
I've been all day trying to get a Micro SD installed on my T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Go5 so I can move apps onto it. After bricking an old SD 32 GB card and buying a new 64 GB card I started searching for help here. I found information that said the card has to be formatted as 'Internal Storage.' This post described the process (the process that worked toward the bottom).
I'd been trying to figure out how to install the Android SDK on my Windows PC without downloading Android Studio in order to get the adb shell mentioned in that post set up. I found this post and this post on the stackoverflow forum, but just wasn't able to figure it all out. But it looks like I need the Java SE Development Kit 10 installed.
I was able to set up USB debugging on the phone though.
Can anyone help me out here and describe just what must be done to achieve all this?
Thanks for any feedback on this
Not really able to help but i read many people advise against using SD card as internal storage. Most regular SD cards r not fast enough or durable enough to last more than a few months. Just sharing
sautom said:
Not really able to help but i read many people advise against using SD card as internal storage. Most regular SD cards r not fast enough or durable enough to last more than a few months. Just sharing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you're right about that. I've installed programs on USB sticks that can be quite sluggish. Then again I've had a number of system maintenance utilities on flash drives for years that aren't and still perform fine. Then they don't get used for hours on a day to day basis.
I moved a number of apps on my old Galaxy Ace to a micro sd card though, most used was the Poweramp music player that's always performed well.
And I've got the card now, so I may as well try to get it set as internal and just see how it performs over time. Thanks for you feedback sautom.
TakuSkan said:
I've been all day trying to get a Micro SD installed on my T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Go5 so I can move apps onto it. After bricking an old SD 32 GB card and buying a new 64 GB card I started searching for help here. I found information that said the card has to be formatted as 'Internal Storage.' This post described the process (the process that worked toward the bottom).
I'd been trying to figure out how to install the Android SDK on my Windows PC without downloading Android Studio in order to get the adb shell mentioned in that post set up. I found this post and this post on the stackoverflow forum, but just wasn't able to figure it all out. But it looks like I need the Java SE Development Kit 10 installed.
I was able to set up USB debugging on the phone though.
Can anyone help me out here and describe just what must be done to achieve all this?
Thanks for any feedback on this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have lollipop or newer Android version, you should be able to use the "Adoptable storage" option.
Also, if performance is important to you, then you won't like this option, using sdcard as internal is slower, the only "gain" in using this is the system has more storage to use. There is no gain on performance, you actually lose there.
I don't recommend using sdcard as internal storage though. There are way too many issues that come along with using this kind of modification. A lot of times, the sdcard gets corrupted, then the real issues start when you try to fix it, usually, the device won't function properly, the data on the sdcard gets lost/corrupted, just to name a couple of the many possible issues. It isn't exactly "easy" to fix this when it happens, depending on what goes wrong, sometimes it can't be fixed.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
Droidriven said:
If you have lollipop or newer Android version, you should be able to use the "Adoptable storage" option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've read quite a bit on this and "adoptable storage" now, and agree that trying to use an expansion SD card as internal memory to run apps is a bad idea Droidriven. I still have a little over 1 GB left on the tiny built in 8GB internal SD Card memory, and have most of what I want installed.
I'm pretty green when it comes to Android, coming from many years with Windows and a tad with Linux. I see that with v6.0.1 Marshmallow, the OS began setting up a system directory tree on the 64 GB SD card when I installed it, and I'm able to set data folders there for apps like the camera. That'll be good for storing large camera videos and other media files.
One thing I haven't figured out yet though is whether or not there's any setting on a non-rooted phone like this Go5 that will allow me to transfer files directly into the 'Android' folder on the internal 8 GB card from Windows. I'm able to connect the two via USB or FTP and write files from Windows to folders on the 8 GB card like 'Download'. But I can't copy any files from Windows over to any of the writable apps folders in the 'Android' folder. I've resorted to copying them 1st to 'Download' from Windows, and then using a file manager in Android to copy files over to the 'Android' folder. I'm not used to such rigid file/folder permissions.
Does this sound like an issue that will require rooting? It'd make life a lot easier if that weren't the case. I'd think if I can write files to that 'Android' folder from within Android, I ought to be able to do the same remotely somehow.
Thoughts?
TakuSkan said:
I've read quite a bit on this and "adoptable storage" now, and agree that trying to use an expansion SD card as internal memory to run apps is a bad idea Droidriven. I still have a little over 1 GB left on the tiny built in 8GB internal SD Card memory, and have most of what I want installed.
I'm pretty green when it comes to Android, coming from many years with Windows and a tad with Linux. I see that with v6.0.1 Marshmallow, the OS began setting up a system directory tree on the 64 GB SD card when I installed it, and I'm able to set data folders there for apps like the camera. That'll be good for storing large camera videos and other media files.
One thing I haven't figured out yet though is whether or not there's any setting on a non-rooted phone like this Go5 that will allow me to transfer files directly into the 'Android' folder on the internal 8 GB card from Windows. I'm able to connect the two via USB or FTP and write files from Windows to folders on the 8 GB card like 'Download'. But I can't copy any files from Windows over to any of the writable apps folders in the 'Android' folder. I've resorted to copying them 1st to 'Download' from Windows, and then using a file manager in Android to copy files over to the 'Android' folder. I'm not used to such rigid file/folder permissions.
Does this sound like an issue that will require rooting? It'd make life a lot easier if that weren't the case. I'd think if I can write files to that 'Android' folder from within Android, I ought to be able to do the same remotely somehow.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always just use the ES File Explorer app, it lets me move whatever I want to/from Android folder.
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Droidriven said:
I always just use the ES File Explorer app, it lets me move whatever I want to/from Android folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, from within Android. I'm using the free open source Amaze file manager that I can do that with. But I can't connect the Android phone to a Windows PC and be able to copy files from Windows to the Android folder on the phone. Just to Download, and maybe DCIM and the root of the internal 8 GB SD memory.
Can ES File Explorer access shared folders on a Windows PC? Amaze sets up an FTP server, but I don't see where it can access files on a Windows system.
EDIT: Seems it can: How to Access Shared Windows Folders on Android, iPad, and iPhone
TakuSkan said:
Yes, from within Android. I'm using the free open source Amaze file manager that I can do that with. But I can't connect the Android phone to a Windows PC and be able to copy files from Windows to the Android folder on the phone. Just to Download, and maybe DICM and the root of the internal 8 GB SD memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be able to do this with just Windows. Are you sure that you have your USB options set correctly? It should be set to MTP(file transfer).
When you connect the device to PC, you should see a USB icon in the status bar on the device, pull down notification panel, it should have a notification that takes you to your USB options.
Or, when you connect the device, you might get a pop-up menu on your device that has settings for USB options.
It varies from one device to another and one android version to another.
Do you have USB debugging enabled in developer options?
Also, if you do some reading about everything that the ES File Explorer app can do, you'll see that it can be used to transfer files to/from PC via more than a few options, including wirelessly/remotely.
It has several things it can do and different ways to connect when connecting/connected to other devices, including smart TV and others. It can also be used as a server or even be used to create a hotspot.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
Droidriven said:
You should be able to do this with just Windows. Are you sure that you have your USB options set correctly? It should be set to MTP(file transfer).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes Droidriven. I have set USB debugging and USB is set as MTP. I just discovered that Amaze does connect to Windows like ES File Explorer by running it's cloud search function. So far Amaze has done everything I've been told to use ESFE for. But Amaze is very light. I just used Amaze to copy a file over from a shared Windows folder to that Android folder on the phone.
I have Total Commander on the Windows system, but when I use it to navigate to an apps subfolder of Android on the phone, it can't see any of the files or folders that I can access with Amaze from within the phone.
So I'm half way there Just need to figure out how to get Windows to see and write files on this Go5 now.
TakuSkan said:
Yes Droidriven. I have set USB debugging and USB is set as MTP. I just discovered that Amaze does connect to Windows like ES File Explorer by running it's cloud search function. So far Amaze has done everything I've been told to use ESFE for. But Amaze is very light. I just used Amaze to copy a file over from a shared Windows folder to that Android folder on the phone.
I have Total Commander on the Windows system, but when I use it to navigate to an apps subfolder of Android on the phone, it can't see any of the files or folders that I can access with Amaze from within the phone.
So I'm half way there Just need to figure out how to get Windows to see and write files on this Go5 now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know where you're having issues, all I have ever done is just connect my device to Windows via USB then use the native Windows Explorer file manager to transfer to/from internal/external to PC/device. I've never had to do anything special or use any extra software on the device or PC to achieve this, plus, I've done this on different Windows systems.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
Droidriven said:
I don't know where you're having issues, all I have ever done is just connect my device to Windows via USB then use the native Windows Explorer file manager to transfer to/from internal/external to PC/device. I've never had to do anything special or use any extra software on the device or PC to achieve this, plus, I've done this on different Windows systems.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it may be because this was a T-Mobile phone and that they may have disabled some functions like "adoptable storage" which doesn't seem to be present, as well as maybe setting permissions to prevent access to certain system folders.
I've even found that I have to change the extensions of some files like ini files to txt before I can drag and drop from Windows Explorer via a USB connection to just a few folders on Android.
It is a bit nutz. Rooting would probably solve the problem. But I'm not ready to go there yet. There may be an answer for getting the Windows > Android file viewing and writing yet. But at least for the moment I can copy both ways with the Amaze File Manager.
Okay, I'm back to considering formatting this 64 GB SD Card as internal storage. I would really like to record video to it, and with the internal memory limited to 1 GB that's left of the total of 8 GB from the factory, that's just not going to make it.
I got the Android SDK and 'adb shell' working on my PC, and started researching how to run commands that would target just the SD Card, and not the existing memory. The command 'sm list-disks' returns: disk:179,32
Is that the phone's internal memory, the SD Card's memory, or perhaps all memory on the phone? When I run the command 'sm list-volumes' I get:
private mounted null
public:179,33 mounted 38C4-18FE
emulated mounted null
I know 38C4-18FE is listed on the phone as being my added SD Card. So I'm hesitant to run the command I see people using to format their SD Cards: 'sm partition disk:179,33' I've wiped the wrong drives by mistake before using Windows diskpart when I didn't specify the right drive/volume. Can anyone clear that up for me?
I'm still hesitant to do this as it seems the phone will automatically begin to use the entire contents of the SD Card as space to run its OS. Might there be commands that would specifically alot the space on the card for writing data, and not for apps that would write and rewrite data there? Something I could create a folder in and point video recording apps to?
Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
TakuSkan said:
Okay, I'm back to considering formatting this 64 GB SD Card as internal storage. I would really like to record video to it, and with the internal memory limited to 1 GB that's left of the total of 8 GB from the factory, that's just not going to make it.
I got the Android SDK and 'adb shell' working on my PC, and started researching how to run commands that would target just the SD Card, and not the existing memory. The command 'sm list-disks' returns: disk:179,32
Is that the phone's internal memory, the SD Card's memory, or perhaps all memory on the phone? When I run the command 'sm list-volumes' I get:
private mounted null
public:179,33 mounted 38C4-18FE
emulated mounted null
I know 38C4-18FE is listed on the phone as being my added SD Card. So I'm hesitant to run the command I see people using to format their SD Cards: 'sm partition disk:179,33' I've wiped the wrong drives by mistake before using Windows diskpart when I didn't specify the right drive/volume. Can anyone clear that up for me?
I'm still hesitant to do this as it seems the phone will automatically begin to use the entire contents of the SD Card as space to run its OS. Might there be commands that would specifically alot the space on the card for writing data, and not for apps that would write and rewrite data there? Something I could create a folder in and point video recording apps to?
Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's possible to partition the external sdcard so that it has separate partitions with one of those partitions devoted to internal storage and the other for whatever you want. I'm not versed in specific tools and methods to do it, there are many.
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Droidriven said:
It's possible to partition the external sdcard so that it has separate partitions with one of those partitions devoted to internal storage and the other for whatever you want. I'm not versed in specific tools and methods to do it, there are many.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm happy with dedicating the entire memory in my sd card to adoptable storage space. I just want to know if adb is returning the right designation of my added sd card memory, and not the default internal memory.
Does the command 'sm list-disks' run from an adb shell that returns this for me: disk:179,32 mean that 179,32 is the designation that represents the sd memory card I added? Or if I try to use adb to partition 179,32 as adoptive memory, will I be formatting the default internal memory? What would be an adb command to return the designation of the small 8 GB default internal memory of my phone?
TakuSkan said:
I'm happy with dedicating the entire memory in my sd card to adoptable storage space. I just want to know if adb is returning the right designation of my added sd card memory, and not the default internal memory.
Does the command 'sm list-disks' run from an adb shell that returns this for me: disk:179,32 mean that 179,32 is the designation that represents the sd memory card I added? Or if I try to use adb to partition 179,32 as adoptive memory, will I be formatting the default internal memory? What would be an adb command to return the designation of the small 8 GB default internal memory of my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried running the command without the external sdcard inserted? That will tell you the designation of your internal because internal is all it will see, then insert the external sdcard, then you can run the command to see what the designation for the external is. Once you setup Adoptable Storage, there will be no difference in designation, the OS will see your internal and your external as one complete storage space, it sees external as if it were internal and identifies/labels it as such for all intents and purposes.
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Droidriven said:
Have you tried running the xommand without the external sdcard inserted? That will tell you the designation of your internal because internal is all it will see, then insert the external sdcard, then you can run the command to see what the designation for the external is. Once you setup Adoptable Storage, there will be no difference in designation, the OS will see your internal and your external as one complete storage space, it sees external as if it were internal and identifies/labels it as such for all intents and purposes.
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is exactly the information I've been after Droidriven. That sounds like the perfect way to differentiate default internal memory from an SD addon. I read where after formatting/partitioning the sd card, installed apps will stay on the internal memory unless you opt for an ill advised process of moving them to the new space where they probably won't perform well.
How will the OS see the added sd memory after formatted as adoptable storage? My concern is that since this a cheap flash memory sd card, I don't want the OS to start writing and rewriting to this sluggish, slow flash memory card and just wear the thing down. Is there any way to specify the added memory as being data storage only? I only want the extra memory for writing video from the phone to a space large enough to hold multiple files
TakuSkan said:
I read where after formatting/partitioning the sd cardm installed apps will stay on the internal memory unless you opt for an ill advised process of moving them to the new space where they probably won't perform well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's right.
TakuSkan said:
How will the OS see the added sd memory after formatted as adoptable storage?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, it will see all one space with no way to "store here instead of there" that I know of. The OS uses the entire space as it sees fit.
TakuSkan said:
My concern is that since this a cheap flash memory sd card, I don't want the OS to start writing and rewriting to this sluggish, slow flash memory card and just wear the thing down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is exactly what it will do, this is the common cause of sdcard formatted as internal getting burned out, they aren't meant to do all that writing/rewriting/overwriting/deleting constantly. Frequent activity kills it in the end, hence, my original post warning against the downsides to using external as internal. Once external is incorporated into internal, if the external gets corrupted, the OS won't boot or operate, potentially making a terrible mess to get the device recovered but not the external sdcard, it's toast at that point, along with everything that was stored on it, in some cases, the device can't be recovered either, due to lack of software support or publicly available downloadable firmware.
TakuSkan said:
Is there any way to specify the added memory as being data storage only? I only want the extra memory for writing video from the phone to a space large enough to hold multiple files
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It might be possible somehow, but it probably requires root and some other apps that use root to make the needed modifications to direct data where you want it stored. I'm not sure it's possible though because, as I said previously, the OS sees internal and external as one complete partition, with no way to "see" a difference between them because they no longer have differing disk designations.
In my honest opinion(based on my exposure and experience with various devices that have used this as an option and the issues they have had along the way), using external as internal is too risky and shouldn't be used. Oddly, Adoptable Storage works better on devices that have better hardware and plenty of internal storage than it does on lower end devices with limited hardware and limited storage, the lower, limited devices are typically the ones that end up having issues. I know, this seems counter-intuitive since the better devices don't need the extra internal storage and the lower devices do need the extra internal storage, but we both know that flash memory is very unreliable for continuous write/delete/rewrite and is doomed to fail.
Could you possibly consider some kind of OTG storage, wireless USB drive or some kind of "cloud" storage or FTP setup?
You should be able to direct your downloads, your pics and your recordings to the folder of your choice when downloaded/created instead of having to move them after. I'm not certain you need to do this just to be able to use your external to store data.
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