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 :]
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
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?
Inviato dal mio Desire HD usando Tapatalk
The answer to your basic question (can I make the external micro-SD card the main SD card is): yes, if and only if you are rooted.
Before I explain how, let me explain how the "internal SD card" works on the Transformer. (If you just want to know what to do, you can skip this section).
How the "internal SD card" works on the EEE Pad Transformer
Normally on Android, /data and /sdcard point to two separate file systems, one internal, and the other external. However on devices with an internal "SD card" this changes.
The simplest way to have an internal "SD card" is to simply partition the storage into two file systems, one for /data, and the other for /sdcard. Several devices do just that. The downside is that if you put too much space in /data it is effectively wasted, while too little space in /data limits the number of apps that can be installed or how much data they can store "locally".
To solve that it is possible to store the "internal SD card" data in the same filesystem as /data. A new directory was created called /data/media, all the files in the "internal SD card" are actually just files in that folder. They both therefore have the same amount of free space and total space. [1] But Android insists that /sdcard must be a FAT32-compatible file system, while /data must not be. The solution is simple. Create a fake file system driver that pretends to be fat32, but simply reads from and writes to /data/media. That is what the transformer does.
The fake FAT32-compatible filesystem is actually mounted at /mnt/sdcard. Finally there is a symbolic link called /sdcard, which points to /mnt/sdcard. There is one logical reason for doing that, which is is to make it easy change /sdcard to point to an external card. Thanks ASUS for making our job simple.
How to use an external SD card as the primary SD card
Use [highlight]adb shell[/highlight] or the Terminal Emulator app from the market to open a shell.
If the prompt ends with a "#", skip to the next step. Otherwise type [highlight]su[/highlight] (followed by enter) to get a root shell.
Type [highlight]mount -o remount,rw /[/highlight] to ensure the root file system is mounted read/write.
Type [highlight]rm /sdcard[/highlight]
Type [highlight]ln -s /Removable/MicroSD /sdcard[/highlight]
reboot
That should do it. One last thing you may want to do is to to move the files from the "internal SD card" to the external one, or delete the files stored there to free up space. To do this you can use the built-in File Explorer. From the menu in the top right, uncheck the "hide system files" option. Now you can find the "internal SD card" at /mnt/sdcard. Delete the files or copy them to /sdcard as you see fit.
Footnote:
[1] Oddly this means that unless you do what I've outlined in this post, using the built-in apps2sd functionality simply wastes space.
Not OP, but appreciate the great explanation.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium
jsmith45 said:
The answer to your basic question (can I make the external micro-SD card the main SD card is): yes, if and only if you are rooted.
Before I explain how, let me explain how the "internal SD card" works on the Transformer. (If you just want to know what to do, you can skip this section).
How the "internal SD card" works on the EEE Pad Transformer
Normally on Android, /data and /sdcard point to two separate file systems, one internal, and the other external. However on devices with an internal "SD card" this changes.
The simplest way to have an internal "SD card" is to simply partition the storage into two file systems, one for /data, and the other for /sdcard. Several devices do just that. The downside is that if you put too much space in /data it is effectively wasted, while too little space in /data limits the number of apps that can be installed or how much data they can store "locally".
To solve that it is possible to store the "internal SD card" data in the same filesystem as /data. A new directory was created called /data/media, all the files in the "internal SD card" are actually just files in that folder. They both therefore have the same amount of free space and total space. [1] But Android insists that /sdcard must be a FAT32-compatible file system, while /data must not be. The solution is simple. Create a fake file system driver that pretends to be fat32, but simply reads from and writes to /data/media. That is what the transformer does.
The fake FAT32-compatible filesystem is actually mounted at /mnt/sdcard. Finally there is a symbolic link called /sdcard, which points to /mnt/sdcard. There is one logical reason for doing that, which is is to make it easy change /sdcard to point to an external card. Thanks ASUS for making our job simple.
How to use an external SD card as the primary SD card
Use [highlight]adb shell[/highlight] or the Terminal Emulator app from the market to open a shell.
If the prompt ends with a "#", skip to the next step. Otherwise type [highlight]su[/highlight] (followed by enter) to get a root shell.
Type [highlight]mount -o remount,rw /[/highlight] to ensure the root file system is mounted read/write.
Type [highlight]rm /sdcard[/highlight]
Type [highlight]ln -s /Removable/MicroSD /sdcard[/highlight]
reboot
That should do it. One last thing you may want to do is to to move the files from the "internal SD card" to the external one, or delete the files stored there to free up space. To do this you can use the built-in File Explorer. From the menu in the top right, uncheck the "hide system files" option. Now you can find the "internal SD card" at /mnt/sdcard. Delete the files or copy them to /sdcard as you see fit.
Footnote:
[1] Oddly this means that unless you do what I've outlined in this post, using the built-in apps2sd functionality simply wastes space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Woow!!!!
So if I wipe all and start from the beginning and before install any app I'll made this operation I will have ~16gb internal memory???
It's possible to make a zip to flash after the rom??
Inviato dal mio Desire HD usando Tapatalk
jsmith45 said:
The answer to your basic question (can I make the external micro-SD card the main SD card is): yes, if and only if you are rooted.
Before I explain how, let me explain how the "internal SD card" works on the Transformer. (If you just want to know what to do, you can skip this section).
How the "internal SD card" works on the EEE Pad Transformer
Normally on Android, /data and /sdcard point to two separate file systems, one internal, and the other external. However on devices with an internal "SD card" this changes.
The simplest way to have an internal "SD card" is to simply partition the storage into two file systems, one for /data, and the other for /sdcard. Several devices do just that. The downside is that if you put too much space in /data it is effectively wasted, while too little space in /data limits the number of apps that can be installed or how much data they can store "locally".
To solve that it is possible to store the "internal SD card" data in the same filesystem as /data. A new directory was created called /data/media, all the files in the "internal SD card" are actually just files in that folder. They both therefore have the same amount of free space and total space. [1] But Android insists that /sdcard must be a FAT32-compatible file system, while /data must not be. The solution is simple. Create a fake file system driver that pretends to be fat32, but simply reads from and writes to /data/media. That is what the transformer does.
The fake FAT32-compatible filesystem is actually mounted at /mnt/sdcard. Finally there is a symbolic link called /sdcard, which points to /mnt/sdcard. There is one logical reason for doing that, which is is to make it easy change /sdcard to point to an external card. Thanks ASUS for making our job simple.
How to use an external SD card as the primary SD card
Use [highlight]adb shell[/highlight] or the Terminal Emulator app from the market to open a shell.
If the prompt ends with a "#", skip to the next step. Otherwise type [highlight]su[/highlight] (followed by enter) to get a root shell.
Type [highlight]mount -o remount,rw /[/highlight] to ensure the root file system is mounted read/write.
Type [highlight]rm /sdcard[/highlight]
Type [highlight]ln -s /Removable/MicroSD /sdcard[/highlight]
reboot
That should do it. One last thing you may want to do is to to move the files from the "internal SD card" to the external one, or delete the files stored there to free up space. To do this you can use the built-in File Explorer. From the menu in the top right, uncheck the "hide system files" option. Now you can find the "internal SD card" at /mnt/sdcard. Delete the files or copy them to /sdcard as you see fit.
Footnote:
[1] Oddly this means that unless you do what I've outlined in this post, using the built-in apps2sd functionality simply wastes space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for details, very nice and easy to understand. I do have a couple follow-up questions though.
- First to set the stage: I have the 16GB version of the TF, and right now have a 16GB external microsd installed. Rooted with stock ROM at present.
- Are there any issues or reasons why someone should not do this? Would the only reason for doing this be low internal memory?
- Your final footnote about apps2sd. Wasn't completely clear on this. Are you saying, that if I want to use apps2sd, I should do what you outlined?
- Essentially just want to determine if it is best to do this or not. I have a NookColor that is rooted and have used it fine for a year now, and have placed most apps/data on the external microsd, so am familiar with having that way, but am unsure about the TF.
Thanks again (gave you a thanks!)
surfmly said:
- Are there any issues or reasons why someone should not do this? Would the only reason for doing this be low internal memory?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another reason of doing it is avoid mixing sd content in the internal memory and making clearer that /sdcard is the external memory. But yes, the main reason would be wasting 16Gb for Android system... There shouldn't been any problems with this change if you follow the instructions. The TF and Android can handle it.
surfmly said:
- Your final footnote about apps2sd. Wasn't completely clear on this. Are you saying, that if I want to use apps2sd, I should do what you outlined?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use apps2sd, you link /data/app to /sdcard, but since /sdcard is part of the internal memory and its also linked to /data, you will be wasting more internal memory. If you do the changes sugested by jsmith45 and use apps2sd, since /sdcard will now be pointing to the real external sd card, you will be using the external card to store all your apps.
surfmly said:
- Essentially just want to determine if it is best to do this or not. I have a NookColor that is rooted and have used it fine for a year now, and have placed most apps/data on the external microsd, so am familiar with having that way, but am unsure about the TF.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use the TF with a little head and move the heavy games/apps to the sdcard, you shouldn't get out of space soon and won't need this kind of change.
AzureusPT said:
If you use the TF with a little head and move the heavy games/apps to the sdcard, you shouldn't get out of space soon and won't need this kind of change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
however, as was previously said, as the transformer has its "internal SD card" data in the same filesystem as /data, moving apps to sd is just shuffling them about in the same file tree, it doesnt actually move them to the real external sd card.
using this mod would achieve that- my only concern being that if that card fails then a lot of important data is lost.
i also wonder how well this mod would work using CWM??
bob dylan said:
however, as was previously said, as the transformer has its "internal SD card" data in the same filesystem as /data, moving apps to sd is just shuffling them about in the same file tree, it doesnt actually move them to the real external sd card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, thats true. I typed without thought...
Still, you have around 10Gb of usable space in /data. The point on doing the trick of restoring /sdcard to external should be if you have enough apps to get to that size. Note that many apps that download aditional data, many times they save it on the real sd card.
What I ment to say about using it with head was that its wise to use the external card to save the big files (that could be movies, music, etc), and handle the internal with apps.
BTW... just came to me now... with simple apps it is possible to get to 10Gb? I'm not talking about Let's Golf instalation (+1Gb), just the weight of the apk itself...
thanks guys
I have followed the tutorial but my sdcard folder links to internal memory and not to removable/microsd.
Infact all resource of apps are stored in Internal SD and not in External SD as i want.
I have tried with adb and terminal emulator...is the same. My rom is Revolver 3.11...help
Edit: the problem is after the reboot! if i don't reboot the symbolic link is present....I think i have to create and automatic script for every reboot
Now i have fixed the problem but i think the solution is not very perfect.
Ok sdcard folder links to removable/microsd but...mnt/sdcard is linked to internal sdcard!!! So apps installs it self on mnt/sdcard/data and games such as Race of champions download the resources on mnt/sdcard too.
I think the best way is to change the link to mnt/sdcard also to removable/microsd...
Any advice?
mattiadj said:
I have followed the tutorial but my sdcard folder links to internal memory and not to removable/microsd.
Infact all resource of apps are stored in Internal SD and not in External SD as i want.
I have tried with adb and terminal emulator...is the same. My rom is Revolver 3.11...help
Edit: the problem is after the reboot! if i don't reboot the symbolic link is present....I think i have to create and automatic script for every reboot
Now i have fixed the problem but i think the solution is not very perfect.
Ok sdcard folder links to removable/microsd but...mnt/sdcard is linked to internal sdcard!!! So apps installs it self on mnt/sdcard/data and games such as Race of champions download the resources on mnt/sdcard too.
I think the best way is to change the link to mnt/sdcard also to removable/microsd...
Any advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that I got around to trying this I am seeing the same problem. I have tried twice and it doesn't appear the link works. My External MicroSD is not being linked to when opening /sdcard in file explorer. Testing by taking a picture to see where new photo resides... it ends up in both /sdcard and /mnt/sdcard and not in /Removable/MicroSD....
So you need to do anything else like have a freshly formated MicroSD with proper folder structure (i.e. same folders currently in the /mnt/sdcard folder)?
Thanks.
---------- Post added at 03:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:23 PM ----------
jsmith45 said:
How to use an external SD card as the primary SD card
Use [highlight]adb shell[/highlight] or the Terminal Emulator app from the market to open a shell.
If the prompt ends with a "#", skip to the next step. Otherwise type [highlight]su[/highlight] (followed by enter) to get a root shell.
Type [highlight]mount -o remount,rw /[/highlight] to ensure the root file system is mounted read/write.
Type [highlight]rm /sdcard[/highlight]
Type [highlight]ln -s /Removable/MicroSD /sdcard[/highlight]
reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jsmith - this doesn't appear to be working for me. The link doesn't point to /Remvoable/MicroSD per the terminal client commands I run per above, it is still /mnt/sdcard.
Anyone getting this to work properly on TF101 (I am running rooted .21 via Nachoroot/Vipermod). Thanks.
---------- Post added at 03:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:27 PM ----------
By the way, I confirm that the symbolic link is working without reboot.
Also, for something like storing photos from the camera (and video recorder) I don't see option in camera or gallery to change save path. It shows the path for saved photos as /mnt/sdcard/......
So even without rebooting, with symbolic link working (i.e. opening /sdcard does open my external SD card), the camera is saving photos on the internal SD (at /mnt/sdcard).
I was thinking that we would be able to make the external SD card used for these types of things. Many apps should be installed on internal (runs better many times, etc) but extra stuff like music, photos, videos, etc should use the external card. Looks like this mod wouldn't necessarily change that.
Also, I noticed that on my HTC Inc2, the external card is at /mnt/sdcard (or /sdcard). So if any app is setup to use /mnt/sdcard, it will use the external SD card. However on the TF, even with the mod in this thread, the app would use /mnt/sdcard which is the internal SD. Only if an app uses /sdcard as the path would it use the external SD and I am not sure if most apps use /mnt/sdcard or just /sdcard.
Thoughts on best next steps to get the external card to be used more/better are welcome
People let see my thread on dev section.... Probably I have found the solution!
Inviato dal mio Desire HD usando Tapatalk
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
So, I installed CM13 Alpha4 and Enabled Adoptable storage for my card. I downloaded Minion Rush to understand what data it stores on the actual sdcard (sdcard1) vs on the internal storage (sdcard0). The app instead of being on /data is on the external sdcard. All the data the game downloads goes to /sdcard/Android/data which is still about 200MB(Internal Storage). So, apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, etc will create their usual folders on the tiny 4GB Internal storage (sdcard0). On lollipop, I used Foldermount to keep all these folders on the actual sdcard and mount them to internal.
So, I tried the same with Adoptable Storage in the picture. (First I tried foldermount and set up the external card as portable but it failed).
Symlinking wouldn't work as they're different devices. (Or can it?)
The adoptable storage is mounted to /mnt/expand/blablabla/
Using this command to symlink
Code:
ln -s /mnt/expand/99d984f9-04df-445f-992d-abda2b2bcc6a/Mounted /sdcard/Mount
It returns "Function not Implemented".
Then I tried
Code:
mount -o bind /mnt/expand/99d984f9-04df-445f-992d-abda2b2bcc6a/Mounted /sdcard/Mount
and it sorta worked. When in adb shell, cd-ind to /sdcard/Mount, using ls displays all the contents of the folder "Mounted" in the adopted sdcard. However, using a file explorer on the device says the folder is empty. Tried Solid Explorer and ES. Moreover, the folder "Mounted" in adoptable has just one mp3 file and it isn't displayed in the Music app either, after mounting. Creating a file or folder in /sdcard/Mount using ES or Solid, fails. Can anyone help me figure this out, and is this even possible? (Tried foldermount here too. Toggle doesn't go green)
Another thought was to have a sdcard with two partitions. Tried that but when converting to adoptable, It formats to one partition. Is it possible to repartition without losing data after it's formatted as adoptable? It is somewhat possible to read write the card in Linux - Decrypting Android M adopted storage
This is just an idea to make better use of Adoptable storage.
Cheers!
AgentFabulous
Use following to have mixed storage from your external sd card both as adopted and portable storage. This can be done via android terminal app or through adb from your pc.
$ sm list-disks adoptable
disk:179_64
$ sm partition disk:179_64 mixed 75
$
gives me 75% as portable storage.
However I advise a reboot after setting