How To Use your SD Card as main storage. - Transformer TF300T Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

The following explains one way to configure your ASUS TF300T to use your
SD Card as the main storage instead of trying to save everything to the local storage.
If you use this method you will be able to move your installed apps over from Local Storage to your External Storage (your SD Card), you can run the majority of your apps from the SD Card, and also set SD Card as the default location for downloads.
Prerequisites:
You have to have Root access on your device before you can do any of this. You have to make sure you go into settings/Developer Options on your device and Enable USB Debugging before you start any of this.
What you need for this.
1. You need to partition your Micro SD Card. I used a Micro SD to USB Adapter, and Partitioned my 32GB SD Card on a Windows 7 system as follows.
Set the 1st partition to 1GB. Set the second partition to use the remainder of the card. Download "EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition" it's free, you pull it down from www.download.com The Link 2 SD Guide I mention below shows what you need to do with this even though it references different devices, and the main partition app has a different name, the process is still the same.
2. You need a boot loader this is what that 1st/ 1GB partition is for. I used
bootice you can download it from here it's also free http://code.google.com/p/grub4dos-ireneuszp/downloads/detail?name=bootice_0.9.2011.0512.rar
This is all you need to do with this app. With your Micro SD Card Plugged into a USB port on your Windows system/Run Bootice on your Windows System, go "Parts Manage" > "ReFormat USB disk" (don't worry, it won't "format" the USB) > choose the dropdown option for your new first partition > click "Set Accessible" and it's done already! After that you can just click cancel/close/etc.
3. Download and run Link2SD from the Android Market, you can actually do this step first if you want. Also this app is free.
Here is a Guide I found online for Link2SD. http://www.xperiablog.net/2011/12/12/link2sd-guide-never-worry-about-internal-memory-limits-again/
This guide shows you how to move apps, No proprietary system apps, but those are not the ones you really have to worry about taking up space anyway. It also shows you how to go into the Link2SD settings and make your Micro SD Card your default download location from places that auto install applications like the Android Market. Very nice, this was exactly what I needed, I'm very pleased with this so far.
I have to give another thank you to jgaf for this, he pointed me in the direction of the Link 2 SD software in the first place, very much appreciated!
Good luck.
nordis
P.S.
If you need a Micro SD to USB adapter they are very cheap, and very readily available. The going rate for these things is usually from $3 dollars to $6 dollars. You can just do a general search in Google for "usb to micro sd adapter"

Related

[Q] Cannot transfer apps to microsd card option to move not showing

Hi, can anyone please help?
I have just purchased the Asus eee pad Transformer and it automatically updated to 3.1. I have put some apps on it through the android market.
I went to put some apps/photos etc onto the removable card to save some internal space but when I went into settings then to applications then to manage applications the option to 'move to sd' was not showing on any of the apps. can anyone tell me why and if possible how to rectify this.... what is the point in having a removable card and cant use it. Any replies would be much appreciated..... thanks Jayne
16GB is not enough space for your apps?
You dont need to move apps to SD card as all internal memory (about 16 or 32GB depending on which version you have) is used for applications.
removable sd can be used for for music, movies and any other 3rd party files..
16gb is more than enough for installing apps... (I think...)
there's no app2sd in honeycomb, this is different from what android 2.x does.
thanks for the replies,
I am not able to put pictures/music etc. on to sd card. how do you do it in case I am missing something
thanks
There are several ways to add to The removable SD card. You can get ES file explorer and transfer from SD Card ( internal mem) to Removable card or if you set up your system right use ES file explorer to transfer from your desktop/laptop to the Removable Memory. If you don't want to do that, just put the removable card in your computer , transfer music and photos to it and return it to the TF. I use a Tonido Plug ( small inexpensive ubuntu server) on my network to store everything, then just download or stream to TF via ES File Explorer.
Thanks for this answer, I was actually also asking myself this question.
I saw that app2sd exists on the android market so I guess it doesn't work on our transformer, right ?
there is also an issue I am facing : I downloaded a free application to measure the speed reading and writting of the new SD card I have installed. Whatever I try, the software always check the SDcard directory (so internal) but never the microsd I have installed.
I tried with another one and there is still the same problem. Is it a honeycomb restriction ?
Working with the microsd card seems very difficult (I am still a newbie that may explains why).
Indeed, most of apps only see your internal SD Card.
I've found something to work around the problem - you just have to edit/modify the vold.fstab file.
You can find it in /system/etc/.
Then replace this line:
dev_mount microsd /Removable/MicroSD auto /devices/platform/sdhci-tegra.2/mmc_host/mmc1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
by this one:
dev_mount microsd /sdcard/_MicroSD auto /devices/platform/sdhci-tegra.2/mmc_host/mmc1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reboot your TF01!
Now, your TF101 will mount the MicroSD in a directory from the internal SD Card '/system/sdcard/_MicroSD'. All your apps will see it...
PS: you can edit/modify this file with some apps like Root Explorer.
Need Permission
I tried to edit this file but came back with read only tag. I tried to change permissions but again came back read only system file. How do I change the read-only tag?
Found how to do it
I found how I could use adb to pull the file, edit in Notepad and then push it back. It worked.

[Q] Sd card problems on Nook tablet Root

I just rooted my Nook Tablet and everything seemed to install okay. The problem is that when I download a app like MX video player or andftp, they give me an error message saying that permissions are denied to this location. The MX video player will not even open because it says that "SD card is not present". Has anyone else had this problem? And how can I fix this? I followed this instructions. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1354487
Thanks
is the sdcard storage usable?
use a filemanager of your choice and browse to /mnt/sdcard
Thats the thing. There is no extra sd card. I am just trying to use the internal l memory.
The internal memory is called sdcard usually.
Check "/mnt/sdcard" that should be the internal memory.
I used a filer manager to view that folder and the manager says that the sd card is not mounted. Also the permissions on the folder are d --. How do I allow programs to use /mnt/sdcard?
Has anyone else had this problem with their nook? I can barely use any appear after rooting.
I have the same problem =(. I want to use the internal memory but whenever i download it says "An SD card is required to download *******.apk."
Exact same issue I am having. I will probably just return it and try something else.
I think this post is the answer to our problems.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=19856691&postcount=50
I have the Nook Table. It is rooted, with superuser and root explorer on it. I put a 32GB SD Card into it. The B&N Storage avail is 11.87GB. The B&N settings shows the "Other Storage Avail" is 1GB. The B&N Storage sees the SD Card with 116MB avail.
When I check with the root explorer, it also shows the SD card size as 116MB. When I try to install a file from the market larger than 116MB, it says not enough room. Why can't I see and use the full 32GB?
Any suggestions as to how I fix this would be appreciated.
Cool. So do you know how to get access to the 11 GB that is on there?
As far as I can see, the Nook automatically puts user input data, such as My Files into that area. When I got into My Files, it shows 120MB used, 1004MB remaining.
wrayrb said:
As far as I can see, the Nook automatically puts user input data, such as My Files into that area. When I got into My Files, it shows 120MB used, 1004MB remaining.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that the 1 GB area gets used, but how do we gain access to the nooks 11GB memory location?
If you open the settings, device info, you will see "B&N Content Storage Available (for items purchased from B&N.)" So B&N downloads only go there.
I used the nook in native mode to upload a book to B&N Books, but I don't remember how I did it. Trying too many things. These downloads are apparently the only ones that the nook's reader will remember you are reading to resume.
I am now using Root Explorer to look over the folder structure.
In folder \data\books, there is 11GB avail. I am not sure how to find any files moved there for reading however.
In folder \data\media\B&N downloads, there is 11GB avail. I am not sure how to find any files moved there for reading however.
In folder \media\... there is 1GB available. You can move files to \media\My Files and store them here. You can see these from the B&N Library if the My Files folder is used. This works from the reader.
But I have not found how to repeatedly use the 11GB space, yet. Will keep you posted. If anyone else figures it out, please post here.
Okay thanks. I am going to look into to it right now.
i had that same problem try this, Un-root, factory reset after first boot do not setup, do the factory reset again. then re-root. shut all the way off wait a few then reboot, should work
If your Micro SD card is showing less than the actual amount of memory e.g., my 32GB showed 116MB, hook the BN to your PC. When it shows in the explorer and SD Formatter on the PC, then use SD Formatter to check the size and verify the drive letter. If there is a large unallocated space on the SD Card, it needs to be re-formatted so the boot area is the whole disk.
After formatting, SD Formatter should show the whole size. Unplug it, and the nook should say it has detected a SD Card which needs formatting. Let the nook format the SD Card. The nook will see the SD card but any apps will say the card is not mounted.
So power down the nook and power backup. Then it will mount the card and it is fully useable. (At least this worked for me.)
It should not be necessary to factory reset the nook. However, this will loose any data, documents, music etc on the SD Card. So make sure you move them to the PC before reformatting the SD Card.
wrayrb said:
If your Micro SD card is showing less than the actual amount of memory e.g., my 32GB showed 116MB, hook the BN to your PC. When it shows in the explorer and SD Formatter on the PC, then use SD Formatter to check the size and verify the drive letter. If there is a large unallocated space on the SD Card, it needs to be re-formatted so the boot area is the whole disk.
After formatting, SD Formatter should show the whole size. Unplug it, and the nook should say it has detected a SD Card which needs formatting. Let the nook format the SD Card. The nook will see the SD card but any apps will say the card is not mounted.
So power down the nook and power backup. Then it will mount the card and it is fully useable. (At least this worked for me.)
It should not be necessary to factory reset the nook. However, this will loose any data, documents, music etc on the SD Card. So make sure you move them to the PC before reformatting the SD Card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But does this work for the internal 11 GB? That is the part that we cant we use?
dcharp said:
But does this work for the internal 11 GB? That is the part that we cant we use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far I can tell from googling, there is no way to access the 12GB B&N partition. I have see suggestions that a android partition manager can convert the 16GB from its present 1GB and 12GB to something like 5GB and 8GB so that you can put your stuff in the 5GB partition.
Notice that 1+12=13GB. So there is 3GB not showing, and does not show in Root Explorer either. It is probably a closed OS partition which would explain why it does not show up.
I just got my nook & had several issues getting it rooted finally 2nite I got it to load all the way & Now it is telling me I have no SD card to finish off loading Titanium Any ideas would be great! Happy new year to all
Also forgot 2 say I had tried 4 different sd cards. From 2GB - 32GB. All were empty, 2 were formatted. All 4 show up as being there even I can open them on the book. I am confused

new SD card: now error: Application not installed on your phone"

Just moved from a 8 GB to a 32GB card. And cannot use it...
First I unmounted the old SD card on the phone, and put in the new, unformatted 32GB. I then choose to format it in the phone. Its a Galaxy S GT-9003i with firmware I9003XXKPN v2.3.5
It formated fine. Then I unmounted the new card, plonked in the old card and connected the phone in USB mode to the Macbook. I also connected the newly formatted SD card via a card reader, and it promptly showed up, with the correct free space (although there was a directory on it already called LOST.DIR)
I then copied all apps from the phones 8GB SD to the 32GB card, using the laptop (drag and drop). This also went fine and without a glitch. I then shut down the phone, swapped out the SD cards and booted the phone on again. As expected, it went to do the usual Scanning USB memory. It completed. The space appears to be taken up, but all apps that are on that USB are inaccesible. Their icons grey Androids with a small SD logo in the bottom right corner.
All other apps (the ones on the phone) work fine. The SD card can be used to copy files to on the computer and to take pictures...
Phone is not rooted.
PLease help, if you have a solution to this...
Many tHanks
oranabana said:
Just moved from a 8 GB to a 32GB card. And cannot use it...
First I unmounted the old SD card on the phone, and put in the new, unformatted 32GB. I then choose to format it in the phone. Its a Galaxy S GT-9003i with firmware I9003XXKPN v2.3.5
It formated fine. Then I unmounted the new card, plonked in the old card and connected the phone in USB mode to the Macbook. I also connected the newly formatted SD card via a card reader, and it promptly showed up, with the correct free space (although there was a directory on it already called LOST.DIR)
I then copied all apps from the phones 8GB SD to the 32GB card, using the laptop (drag and drop). This also went fine and without a glitch. I then shut down the phone, swapped out the SD cards and booted the phone on again. As expected, it went to do the usual Scanning USB memory. It completed. The space appears to be taken up, but all apps that are on that USB are inaccesible. Their icons grey Androids with a small SD logo in the bottom right corner.
All other apps (the ones on the phone) work fine. The SD card can be used to copy files to on the computer and to take pictures...
Phone is not rooted.
PLease help, if you have a solution to this...
Many tHanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried rebooting your phone? If it still does not work, try to unmount your SD Card via settings and then wait for it to successfully unmount and then mount again
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Application not installed on your phone
saywhatt said:
Have you tried rebooting your phone? If it still does not work, try to unmount your SD Card via settings and then wait for it to successfully unmount and then mount again
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, yes tried this one. No luck.... Its a Samsung mirco SD card (Model: MB-MSBGA) class 10
Anyone else..!?
Did u done app2sd in ur phone with the 8 gig 1
Sent from my GT-I9003 using xda premium
No not much.
DONT FORGET TO PRESS THE THANKS BUTTON IF HELPED YOU IN ANY WAY
ah ha
So, I cannot even find the app2sd app under My Apps on the Google Play store... weird. Its also not listing under Manage Applications. Would this really be the cause of the problem!?
Anyone else have any ideas, why the phone cannot load the apps copied from the other SD card...!?!
First of all u have to move all apps from the old sd card to the phone. Or while inserting ur new sd, the apps you moved to your old sd will not work
DONT FORGET TO PRESS THE THANKS BUTTON IF HELPED YOU IN ANY WAY
Mebin Robin said:
First of all u have to move all apps from the old sd card to the phone. Or while inserting ur new sd, the apps you moved to your old sd will not work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but I canot make sense of this. Firstly all apps on the old SD card will never fit onto the phone (8GB, vs 2GB space), and secondly elsewhere online they always talk about copying files to the new card and then inserting that instead of the old one....
mmmh...!? Whilst I apprecite your post - its not working for me
When apps are moved to the SD card, it isn't entirely moved to the SD card. Only part of it is, that's why when installing apps the space for apps still decreases. Therefore you should use titanium backup or similar backup programs to move the applications.
bscraze said:
Therefore you should use titanium backup or similar backup programs to move the applications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks,I had a look at titanium backup, but it requires root access (my phone has not been rooted). I really dont think one should need to root their phone to move from a small to a larger SD card without having to re-install all apps from scratch...!?
oranabana said:
Thanks,I had a look at titanium backup, but it requires root access (my phone has not been rooted). I really dont think one should need to root their phone to move from a small to a larger SD card without having to re-install all apps from scratch...!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Without root you will not be able to backup data(AFAIK)
bscraze said:
...Therefore you should use titanium backup or similar backup programs to move the applications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, so I rooted the phone and used Titanium Backup. It created a backup file on the phone memory. I thought, voila, I am good then, popped in the new SD card, formatted it, and did the restore from Titanium Backup... but:
still getting a lot of greyed out files in the application folder and on the home screens... I really cannot believe all this work is needed to swap out SD cards from a smaller to larger capacity! what a pain in the •••
I have the same problem on my new samsung 32gb 10 class micro sd card and still searching for the solution. If anyone have a solution, please, share it for us. Thanks!
martynas393 said:
I have the same problem on my new samsung 32gb 10 class micro sd card and still searching for the solution. If anyone have a solution, please, share it for us. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem to, just backed up my old 16gb card to my pc, installed and formatted a new 32gb card in my S4 and copied the data back over and all the apps that are on the sd card are showing up grey.
Ok, after a quick google, i've found that making a clone of the card and then copying the clone to the new card works
you can use HDD-Raw-Copy-Tool to do this (you'll have to google it as I don't have enough posts to post external links)
heathen666 said:
Ok, after a quick google, i've found that making a clone of the card and then copying the clone to the new card works
you can use HDD-Raw-Copy-Tool to do this (you'll have to google it as I don't have enough posts to post external links)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Yeah that works perfectly! (Apparently there are some "secure" folders in the SD card that start with a period, and the contents do not get copied at all. Those hold the apps and data.) However after using HDD-Raw-Copy it will create an exact replica of the smaller SD card on the larger one and the larger one will appear to be small too, so you must resize your partition or you won't gain anything, your new card will be exactly the same as the old one! You can use MiniTool Partition Wizard home edition which is free to do this: partitionwizard.com :good:
I had the same problem but I was able to fix without extra software. Took old card out of my phone and installed both externally via flash readers to my pc and copied files from one to the other. View hidden files is turned on just in case any hidden items is also copied. This work great for me all apps are accessible now. Hope this helpped
Here is the step-by-step solution: http://www.tomsguide.com/forum/id-2545604/move-data-card-samsung-galaxy.html
There are two ways described to do it successfully:
METHOD 1 uses the xcopy (or xcopy32) command in a Cmd Prompt windown on Windows. The /h switch used on the command allows the hidden and system files to be copied!
METHOD 2 uses a straight copy from old SD card to the new SD card (or from old SD card to folder on computer, then from folder on computer to new SD card) using the simple drag and drop on Windows. BUT YOU MUST HAVE WINDOWS EXPLORER CONFIGURED TO SHOW SYSTEM AND HIDDEN FILES!
Just to be clear, the solution to the problem is trivial. You are simply copying ALL the files from one SD card to another. There is absolutely no reason that copying ALL files from one SD card, including the complete file structure, to another SD card should not work. Your phone can't tell that you switched SD cards. It only knows the files and file structure it can see on the SD card and if they are EXACTLY the same as they were before the switch, your phone should work exactly like it did before the switch except now it will see more free storage space on your larger SD card (which was probably your goal in the first place) AND your phone may possibly even run faster by accessing the data much faster if your new SD card is a faster class of storage media.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO ROOT YOUR PHONE OR INSTALL ALL KINDS OF CRAZY APPS ON YOUR PHONE OR SOFTWARE ON YOUR COMPUTER TO DO THIS!!!
BUT, the key is that YOU MUST ALSO COPY ALL THE HIDDEN FILES and there are lots of them on Android! Everytime I hear of someone having a problem with switchinging to a new SD card, it is because they did NOT copy the hidden files OR their SD card was not properly formatted (FAT32) for the phone.
Please click the Thanks button if this has helped you!

[TUT] [NOOB FRIENDLY] The Ultimate Guide to Link2SD

Android being an open source OS, offers limitless possibilities of optimization and customization as per your requirements. But, half the charm of an Android phone lies in the root-based apps, beautiful mods and patches, and custom ROMs. If you have not rooted your phone yet, believe me you are not getting the most out of it. Rooting offers many advantages indeed but, at the same time it is also a little risky as it breaks into the wall of security build by the operating system.
According to a survey, 80% of Android phone users live happy with an unrooted device and the reasons for this are various- some people think of it as a sort of criminal activity, some are afraid of losing warranty, some are afraid of bricking their phone, while most people do not even know about the existence of a term like “rooting”.
Most people root their phones to get rid of pre installed bloats and gapps which they don't need at all ! ! But why??
They just wanna have more free internal storage. Many of the android users haven't heard of Link2SD ! So, I am here to tell you everything about this awesome app.
Android is one of the most used and popular operating system for the mobile.Day by day several new apps are getting available for the android devices, but your limited internal memory restricts it to the certain limit.Old Android phones have internal memory around 200 to 300 MB (Mega Bytes) unlike the latest one which have in few GB (Giga Bytes). Due to this limited memory, you cannot install more apps. This problem can be overcome by increasing internal memory of your mobile. This is absolutely true that no way to increase internal storage size of your phones, but you can allocate some part of your memory card for your phone to install applications.
This app will help you to link some part of your external SD card storage(whatever amount you want, no restrictions) to the internal storage of your phone. Apps and Games will be linked to that external SD card storage helping you to protect your internal storage from being used.
Believe me, I use Moto E which comes with 2.2 GB user available internal storage. I have 32 GB external SD card and I have linked 20 GB of it to my internal storage.
Now, I have 242 apps n games installed and still have 1.8 GB internal storage free. Apps like app2SD, appmgr have certain limitations as they move only some part of application files only whereas Link2SD links everything (app, cache, data) allowing you to install a large number of apps and games even if your phone have lesser internal storage. Isn't it cool ? ?
It is cool but to be able to use Link2SD you will have to do some steps. Many people don't know what to do after installing this app and that's why they complain it as an useless app. But believe me, it is a great app
Enough talking, let get to work ! !
Pre-Requisites:
1. Phone should be rooted. There are many methods available to root your phone.
2. You need a windows Pc and a card reader.
3. You must take a backup of your memory card on your computer as all the data will be deleted during this process.
4. Download and install Partition Tool to your computer. The link is
http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html
5. Downloaded Link2SD app from Google play store. You will get it easily.
Steps:
1. Take backup of your memory card on your computer.
2. Remove your SD card from your Mobile and insert it in your computer using card reader for making partition. Never use USB cable for this.
3. Download and install Partition Tool from the above link. Run this partition tool and select MiniTool Partition Wizard.
4. You will see the different drives and disks of your pc. Identify your memory card, right click on it and select delete. It will delete the entire contents of your memory card.
5. Now, you will see your memory card showing unallocated space. Now, right click on your memory card and select create.
6. Select primary in it. If your card storage is more than 2 GB, then select FAT32 file system otherwise select FAT file system.
7. Enter the amount of space which you don't want to link with internal storage. You can use this space for storing music, videos and other files. Your pc and mobile will recognise this space only as your external storage. So, choose wisely. I had 32 GB memory card(29.4 user available). I wanted to link 20 GB to my internal storage. So, I entered the remaining 9.4 GB in partition size.
8. After entering the partition size, click OK. Now, you will see the remaining space as unallocated. Right click on it and select Create. Create as primary and ext2 file system, select the remaining size. This size will be linked to the internal storage. Click OK.
You must select primary in both the partitions.
9. Now, click on the apply button on left corner menu. It will take sometimes to create partition. You will get a message showing that the partition is successful.
10. Now, copy your backup data to your memory card and take out your memory card from card reader and insert it in your phone.
11. Start your phone. Download link2sd app from Play Store. Install it and open. It will ask you to grant root permission, grant it. On opening, you will see a tab asking you to select the file system of your second partition, choose ext2. If you do not get the tab, then in Link2SD app, go to menu and click on RECREATE MOUNT SCRIPTS and select the file system of your second partition, choose ext2.
12. Now, it will ask you to reboot, select OK. If you have done 2 partition of your card and both as primary. Then, it will link the ext2 partition to your internal storage.
13. After reboot, open Link2SD app. You will see a funnel type icon, click on it and choose internal. It will show the apps which are stored in internal memory of your phone. Click on the option key and select "multi-select", press select all option. All the apps will be selected.
14. Then click on option key, choose option and select "create link" and select all options.
15. If you will pay 2$ for Link2SD plus app, then you will have the option of linking app data. Otherwise, choose the first three options.
16. Link2SD will link all these apps to the secondary partition of your SD card and your internal storage will be increased. That is it.
Note: You can use Link2SD app to uninstall pre-installed apps, move apps to SD card. You should select AUTO LINK option in settings, it will automatically link new apps to SD card. You can select INSTALL LOCATION. I must say, you should pay 2$ for Link2SD plus. It will link all app data to ext2.
Don’t be shy and leave any questions.
Thank You. Have a smiling Day
Hit thanks, if helped :good:

How to set up SD Card as Internal Storage?

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
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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.
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Droidriven said:
If you have lollipop or newer Android version, you should be able to use the "Adoptable storage" option.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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?
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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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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.
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Click to collapse
That's right.
TakuSkan said:
How will the OS see the added sd memory after formatted as adoptable storage?
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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.
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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
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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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