[Q] Is there a way to "remove" the internal SD card? - Sprint Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I've tried searching for info about this and can't seem to find anything specific. My question is can the S5 be altered so that the internal memory is just memory and not recognized as an SD card? Can it be forced to use the external SD card instead? Will this affect the pre-installed programs? I've had another phone that used the internal memory like this and had custom ROMs that "removed" the internal SD card. I'm not willing to install a custom ROM or recovery right now, but I do have root access.
I've used the edits from this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s5/general/mod-how-to-add-init-d-write-to-external-t2814733
Even with these edits, certain apps(TubeMate for example) still recognize that you're running KitKat and won't allow writing to the external SD card.
I've tried using the app Mounts2SD to move app data to the external SD, but it doesn't recognize the second partition of the SD card(I've tried Ext4 and Fat32), so either there's a problem with the SD card partitioning or the init.d section of the program isn't working correctly. I've used this app with my previous phone and it seemed to work fine. I appreciate any help or suggestions on this.

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

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

[Q] How to use link2sd?

Hi All,
I have a galaxy s2 plus (gt-i9105p) with android version 4.1.2.
Because of the limited space on the internal sd card I thought it would be nice to have apps on an extra external sd card. But I haven't managed to do this so far, is it possible?
To use link2sd the app info says:
-The phone needs to be rooted.
-A second partition on your SD card is required
My phone is rooted, but I'm having problems creating a second partition on the ext. sd card. I tried the "MiniTool Partition Wizard". Because it didn't recognize the sd card (there is no letter assigned), I activated the usb mass storage option on the phone (via: app terminal emulator:su -> setprop persist.sys.usb.config mass_storage,adb -> reboot). This worked, so I created two partitions, one with fat32 (primary) and the other with ext2 (primary). Then windows explorer started to freeze up and the ext sd card was no longer accessible. On the phone it said "damaged sd card." I reformated it and so I'm back to where I was.
Also partitioning via de CWM is not working. It doesn't seem to do a thing.
Any help to get link2sd working is appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul
well i guess time for an upgrade... 4.2.2 has built in functionality of moving apps to sdcard
Post Reader said:
well i guess time for an upgrade... 4.2.2 has built in functionality of moving apps to sdcard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't really move the apps to ext-sd(SD CARD)
I'm not sure but it moves the apps from the emulated storage to the system storage,correct me if i'm wrong
DenisRonaldo798 said:
It doesn't really move the apps to ext-sd(SD CARD)
I'm not sure but it moves the apps from the emulated storage to the system storage,correct me if i'm wrong
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It moves only apk file with libs (or without) to mnt/asec and takes memory from extsdcard, but doesn't create any folders/files in it.
paul_newbie said:
Hi All,
I have a galaxy s2 plus (gt-i9105p) with android version 4.1.2.
Because of the limited space on the internal sd card I thought it would be nice to have apps on an extra external sd card. But I haven't managed to do this so far, is it possible?
To use link2sd the app info says:
-The phone needs to be rooted.
-A second partition on your SD card is required
My phone is rooted, but I'm having problems creating a second partition on the ext. sd card. I tried the "MiniTool Partition Wizard". Because it didn't recognize the sd card (there is no letter assigned), I activated the usb mass storage option on the phone (via: app terminal emulator:su -> setprop persist.sys.usb.config mass_storage,adb -> reboot). This worked, so I created two partitions, one with fat32 (primary) and the other with ext2 (primary). Then windows explorer started to freeze up and the ext sd card was no longer accessible. On the phone it said "damaged sd card." I reformated it and so I'm back to where I was.
Also partitioning via de CWM is not working. It doesn't seem to do a thing.
Any help to get link2sd working is appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try using the app called "Aparted" by Sylskat. I made an ext 4 with but I dont know what happened and it turned to ext 2, maybe my card doesnt support that kind of storage. But the partition I created with it works. Also it has swap support, if you want

Android 6.0 sd card internal external storage

Ive read a few forum thread but im still not sure so i need a conformation from anyone who really know about this stuff.
1. I set my sd card as internal storage . Unfortunately i cant use it as external storage. Maybe we can set two partition, one for internal ext4, and another fat32 as i use before for link2sd. But i think this wont work too. Is this correct?
2. Assuming setting it as two partition wont happen, i want to make use the foldermount apps to store data and obb in sd card. I tried, but it wont work. Write permission or something else. Do i have to patch it like kitkat before to enable it foldermount still not supported.
Im now back on lollipop rom until those issues solve.
Device - redmi 2, 8gb 1gb ram.
Sd card for external storage reasons, titanium backup, nandroid backup, media stuff.
Reason not using otg- more hassle, need to carry the cable. I reflash rom every day, sometime twice a day.

Can't move apps to SD card (Links2SD not supported on this phone?)

I've been trying to move apps to my SD card using Links2SD, but apparently this phone doesn't support moving apps to the SD card. Is there a way to do this?
I also tried "linking" apps to the SD card (even though I'm not quite sure I understand what that means), but I'm getting an error saying I don't have a second SD partition. If this is my last hope, how do I create a new SD partition?
Running Resurrection Remix on 6.0.1.
Thanks!
Edit: found this thread on creating a second partition, but I'm wondering if it's possible to do it on the phone since I don't have a card reader.
I think you can use TWRP to partition the SD card... A ext2/3/4 partition is required to use Link2SD on any device
Note that you cannot use the card as adopted storage. Always set the first partition as FAT32 and the second as ext4, or the card cannot be read in some Windows PC's, I would recommend a minimum 32GB card and at least U1/UHS-1 speed rating for acceptable performance.

Format as internal storage in Nougat?

I have searched for this but not really found any good answers. Most answers relate to marshmallow...
I bought a used phone and installed a memory card that came with it. Seems like it was formatted as internal. Shared internal storage shows up in settings but I'm not sure if that is the sd card or the actual internal storage.
Also in many apps and file managers either the internal storage doesn't show up or I'm not even sure which is which. In SD bench the SD card gets much faster result than internal memory which indicates that is the internal memory.
All of this doesn't really matter perhaps but it's still annoying since I used to be able to know what was stored where. If someone could tell me more about this I would be grateful. Here are some questions...
It says in some guide about formatting as internal storage that the sd card then replaces the actual internal storage. Is that the same in nougat and what happens to the internal storage and is it even used? Apps can't be moved but they still seem to take up space in both storages.
It said in guides relating to marshmallow that the SD card becomes encrypted when formatted as internal storage. Does that happen after migrate data is chosen or before? I have not done that yet.
When flashing ROMs can files be read on the encrypted SD card from recovery? What happens after flashing and restoring to factory settings? If the SD card is encrypted and can't be read from recovery that would be a serious problem. So where should backup be stored and what SD card used when flashing?
I'm sorry if these are stupid questions but I'm new to formatting as internal storage. The card also was formatted that way when I got it and since then I've installed apps.
I found this info on a page.
If you try to remove it, things go haywire. Your phone will throw errors until you are forced to factory reset it and you can't read the data on the SD card with any other device or the original phone once it's been factory reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://www.google.com/search?q=and...le+manager&client=ms-opera-mobile&channel=new
What happens if the phone is flashed with a new ROM if the SD card is acting as internal storage? Then if the phone is factory reset the sd card wouldn't be able to be accessed?
How can I convert the card back to normal storage and is that possible without losing apps or factory reset?
Many questions and again I'm sorry if they're stupid. Is this posted in the wrong section I also kindly ask any moderator to move the thread to an appropriate section.
I would still like to have answers to these questions.
I tried to format sd card as portable storage instead. After that I noticed it wasn't possible at all to use the sd card to install apps.
Moving apps to SD card isn't possible. So now there are only two options. Either format as internal storage or not being able to use the sd card to install apps.
But there are apparently downsides to using the sd card as internal storage. The phone uses the SD card more which puts more strain on it.
I'd also really like to know what happens after a new rom is flashed or after a reset from recovery? What apps are restored? Only what was in the internal storage? But what if the apps were on the shared internal memory?
I made a backup in TWRP. Then I formatted as internal storage again. Everything was working like it should...
Then I migrated data to SD card under storage in settings. Then I got problems. Apparently some files related to TWRP was moved from the internal storage to the sd card. At least the backup I made in recovery was.
When I entered recovery the language had first been changed to Chinese. Also the backup couldn't be found. When I tried to backup to the SD card it said "memory full" or something and couldn't be completed. It seems the sd card can't be accessed from recovery at all any longer.
Also when reboot the phone it first says shortly "sd card not found". So something has indeed changed. Seems like the SD card is only fully adopted after data is migrated. But how can I move it back to internal storage if I have to reformat the sd card again? Seems like the only accessible storage now is the card.
So what should I do? Couldn't anyone please help me to answer at least some of my latest questions?
How are flashing of roms and backups handled if adoptive storage is used? I guessed there could be problems and apparently there was. A thread offers solutions but that should only be necessary in marshmallow from what I've read.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-e/general/trick-switching-roms-loosing-adopted-sd-t3314647
Come on! Doesn't anyone know anything about this? I would be highly grateful for any clarification regarding these matters.
Lots of people probably have questions about this but I've found few answers on the internet.
Having been through the same BS, all I can say is I have wasted time like yourself trying to understand why google have botched the handling of storage so bad in nougat.
From what I can make out all apps need to use a new api for permission to access external SD when used as portable storage, even though mines formatted as ext4, the native android FS.
Best work around I've found so far is the xposed module xinternalsd.
I still can't get it to properly use both as sperate drives.
There is a thread on here from the dev of the module
I'm going to wade through it to see if it's possible to not just redirect all data to the external SD but select different locations for different apps reliably.( when I've had both usable to apps, MTP can't access the files on external sd)
Update: this now works reliably with latest 4.8.
The packages.XML edits didn't seem to work either.
First non removable battery's, now they want to get rid of SD cards and headphone jacks so you buy the more expensive phone with less features.
Yeah, we need to slow down your phone because of the battery and stuff.
A post I found while searching about this issue on reddit is worth a laugh.(I'm glad it's not just me)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/496sn3/lets_clear_up_the_confusion_regarding_storage_in/
External SD permissions lineage 14
From searching around this is a common problem that was driving me nuts.
Even with xinternalsd it was still crap.
Mtp couldn't do anything with them unless used from recovery.
What was odd is it would work for days then all of a sudden, you need to delete or copy something, access denied.

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