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How do you format Int and Ext SD from Xoom itself?

Interesting problem after updating to an ICS build but I need to format my Xoom completely and start again from scratch.
Only problem is, unlike other android versions, there doesn't seem to be an option under storage to format either of the on-board SD locations. I've tried the factory reset option but storage is still showing all my files there.
The removable card isn't a problem, I just take it out, format it and re-insert but the internal isn't giving me an option to format at all as far as I can see.
Is there a hidden method of doing this or am I being a bit thick and missing the obvious?
Thanks in advance...........

mcnob said:
Interesting problem after updating to an ICS build but I need to format my Xoom completely and start again from scratch.
Only problem is, unlike other android versions, there doesn't seem to be an option under storage to format either of the on-board SD locations. I've tried the factory reset option but storage is still showing all my files there.
The removable card isn't a problem, I just take it out, format it and re-insert but the internal isn't giving me an option to format at all as far as I can see.
Is there a hidden method of doing this or am I being a bit thick and missing the obvious?
Thanks in advance...........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think they will let you format the internal SD, but I've found it strange that they don't let you format the external one...
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

megabiteg said:
I don't think they will let you format the internal SD, but I've found it strange that they don't let you format the external one...
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't do it. If you form Sdcard from Xoom, you will destroy your Xoom...total brick. Sdcard is internal (hard drive, if you will) and if you format that you will delete all you system settings, bootloader, os, everything.
Just wipe your data and then flash a new rom, which will overwrite whatever you want to get rid of.

Indeed it's weird - any ideas about how to format the external SD card ?
I can't seem to find an option to format the external card from within the system.

format the external SD card
imachine said:
Indeed it's weird - any ideas about how to format the external SD card ?
I can't seem to find an option to format the external card from within the system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you are running HC 3.2 or higher. Anything prior to 3.2 does not allow SDcard usage.
Format your external SDcard, in your phone first. Then with the Xoom OFF, place the formatted SDcard in the Xoom and power it up. (give it a few seconds to show up in storage on your setting menu.)
(I found that formatting it in the phone ensures proper function and a lot easier.)
As always; If this was helpful, give thanks!

Mjamocha said:
Make sure you are running HC 3.2 or higher. Anything prior to 3.2 does not allow SDcard usage.
Format your external SDcard, in your phone first. Then with the Xoom OFF, place the formatted SDcard in the Xoom and power it up. (give it a few seconds to show up in storage on your setting menu.)
(I found that formatting it in the phone ensures proper function and a lot easier.)
As always; If this was helpful, give thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mjamocha, Hows that 64 GB sdxc micro SD card working out for you.
I ordered one last week on Amazon. Should arrive tomorrow.

Anybody? I really would love the option to start clean again, a wipe of the internal SD.
Would re locking and then unlocking the boot loader accomplish this?

You could do that, but only relock if you are completely stock, with the right files for your device. Or you can do a complete wipe in fastboot mode, but you'll have to search for the exact command.

[How To] Enable Write to External SD Card

This app was written by Jrummy and states that it's for Kit Kat (he should probably update it as it still works). I've used it on every device I've owned since Kit Kat without a single issue. Just run the app and uninstall it when you're done (or don't but it's pointless after you've ran it). It's making a very simple (and reversible) change.
Root is required!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jrummy.sdfix
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

I use this app to enable apps to write on micro SD card
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nextapp.sdfix
It worked fine on all my phones including moto X PE. It works on KitKat and Lollipop

Does anyone know how to use your SD card as Mass Storage when you connect it to your computer?
Currently, to write to the phone from the computer, you have to use MTP. It's too slow though. I want to be able to access my external SD like a flash drive.
I have to eject my SD card from my phone and use a SD card adapter to connect it to my computer anytime I want to make any changes.
If I could mount SD card as Mass Storage while phone is connected to computer via USB, that would make things a lot easier.

Spike96 said:
Does anyone know how to use your SD card as Mass Storage when you connect it to your computer?
Currently, to write to the phone from the computer, you have to use MTP. It's too slow though. I want to be able to access my external SD like a flash drive.
I have to eject my SD card from my phone and use a SD card adapter to connect it to my computer anytime I want to make any changes.
If I could mount SD card as Mass Storage while phone is connected to computer via USB, that would make things a lot easier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I connect my Mate 7 to the computer, it gives me the option to mount it as a regular flash drive or as MTP.
So, I think it's possible through a software mod.

All,
I just picked up a new Pure, and already have it rooted, and while I have read/write, I can't get the dates to change to the creations date, instead, it has the copy date. Will I need a custom ROM to fix this bug???
(I use a backup program to put "MY" file on the SD, and it tries to use the date to see if there's a change, but can't because it can't change the date. I use to be able to do this with rooted devices.)

Def not working on mm

Any trick for Android 6.0.1? Can't find any working method..

nop dont work on mm, tried many apps and google, no fix

Anyone with a custom ROM know if Writes and datestamp work correctly. (Not per Google)

Aftab_khatri said:
nop dont work on mm, tried many apps and google, no fix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no fix for Marshmallow other than using SD card as external storage?

I have my SD Card set up as portable on my 6.0 Pure, and BitTorrent Sync has issues writing to it. It works perfectly fine on my internal device storage, but starts encountering complete screwups on the SD Card. It did work when I had the SD Card formatted as adoptable, internal storage though.

chibichuba said:
I have my SD Card set up as portable on my 6.0 Pure, and BitTorrent Sync has issues writing to it....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What ROM are you using?

matthelm said:
What ROM are you using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on TruPureX 2.5

chibichuba said:
I'm on TruPureX 2.5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Does Xposed Framework runs on this custom rom?
- How many SOT are you getting?

Luckzzz said:
- Does Xposed Framework runs on this custom rom?
- How many SOT are you getting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep Xposed runs on this ROM, it's a great one. For those here for the original thread, I contacted support and sent them my logs and they were able to solve the problem in the next app update.
I'm getting about 5h SOT with moderate-heavy usage after 24h off the charger and a lot of music (Viper too) playing with the screen off. I have a solid amount of wakelocks disabled too, so that adds to it. Still think I should be able to push out some more.

T-Mobile LG G5 SD Card (adoptive storage or regular SD) how to make it default

In the past on my Android phones, primarily LG, I have had SD cards installed and they became the default storage location for download, DCIM, images saved from any program, etc. Now I have the G5 and it seems to be quite different. I have an SD card installed and it seems there is no way to make it the default location as it has been in the past. I understand that adoptive storage can be made to work to use the SD card for more 'internal' RAM but I have had two issues with this, 1. I can't see the phone with ADB when connected to my PC and 2. I can't seem to find adoptive storage instructions that work. I am not new to LG or Android phone but this one has me a bit confused. Can adoptive storage be used on the T-Mobile G5 and/or can the SD card be made the default location for the G5 to store things, like DCIM, downloads, etc like all the LG phones in the past?
Thanks,
T.E

I was able to get adoptable storage going, discovered there's a typo in Paul O'Brien's article, once I fixed that I was set to jet. This is an edit from Paul's article here:
http://www.modaco.com/news/android/...e-adoptable-storage-on-your-s7-s7-edge-r1632/
1. BACK UP THE DATA YOU HAVE ON YOUR MICROSD CARD. Your card will be formatted by this process, so make sure you have saved any pictures, videos etc. from your card to your PC before you start.
2. Decide how you want to split your card. You can either commit 100% of the card to internal storage, or split between internal storage and conventional SD. This option is useful if you like to unplug your card and put it in your PC. I would probably recommend committing the whole card.
3. Umount the sdcard before connecting it in debug mode to your pc.
4. Open your command window / terminal on your computer and type the 'adb shell' command (with your phone connected of course). You will need to enable USB debugging in developer settings (which in turn is displayed by tapping the build number of the device 5 times) in order to see the option.
5. Type 'sm list-disks' to list the disks available for adoption. It'll look something like below - take note of the disk ID (disk:179:160 in this example).
6. Partition the disk. For this we use the 'sm partition DISK TYPE RATIO' command. For example, to partition the disk above as fully adopted storage (aka private) I'd use the command 'sm partition disk:179,160 private'. If I wanted a 50/50 split between adopted and regular, I'd use the command 'sm partition disk:179,160 mixed 50'. Easy right?
7. This took almost no time at all for me.
8. Go to the sdcard in storage and move data to it. This will then merge the space on the card and the internal storage.
HTH.

Ok, first problem first. I have the SDK installed, debug mode on and phone connected. I can see the file system on the phone but ADB DEVICES returns nothing. Until I can get that resolve I can't even do the rest.

Can anyone tell me how to get the T-Mobile LG G5 to be recognized by ADB?

Resolved and I believe I have the adoptable storage working now.

If this is done with a somewhat slow SD card will it have a negative impact on the entire system?

btothec said:
If this is done with a somewhat slow SD card will it have a negative impact on the entire system?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe. Please correct me if I'm wrong but adoptable storage tries to only put stuff on the sdcard that will live comfortably there. Nothing system related will go there, so worse case an app takes longer to launch.

scottricketts said:
Maybe. Please correct me if I'm wrong but adoptable storage tries to only put stuff on the sdcard that will live comfortably there. Nothing system related will go there, so worse case an app takes longer to launch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using a 64gb Class 10 and have not noticed any significant change in performance.

scottricketts said:
I was able to get adoptable storage going, discovered there's a typo in Paul O'Brien's article, once I fixed that I was set to jet. This is an edit from Paul's article here:
http://www.modaco.com/news/android/...e-adoptable-storage-on-your-s7-s7-edge-r1632/
1. BACK UP THE DATA YOU HAVE ON YOUR MICROSD CARD. Your card will be formatted by this process, so make sure you have saved any pictures, videos etc. from your card to your PC before you start.
2. Decide how you want to split your card. You can either commit 100% of the card to internal storage, or split between internal storage and conventional SD. This option is useful if you like to unplug your card and put it in your PC. I would probably recommend committing the whole card.
3. Umount the sdcard before connecting it in debug mode to your pc.
4. Open your command window / terminal on your computer and type the 'adb shell' command (with your phone connected of course). You will need to enable USB debugging in developer settings (which in turn is displayed by tapping the build number of the device 5 times) in order to see the option.
5. Type 'sm list-disks' to list the disks available for adoption. It'll look something like below - take note of the disk ID (disk:179:160 in this example).
6. Partition the disk. For this we use the 'sm partition DISK TYPE RATIO' command. For example, to partition the disk above as fully adopted storage (aka private) I'd use the command 'sm partition disk:179,160 private'. If I wanted a 50/50 split between adopted and regular, I'd use the command 'sm partition disk:179,160 mixed 50'. Easy right?
7. This took almost no time at all for me.
8. Go to the sdcard in storage and move data to it. This will then merge the space on the card and the internal storage.
HTH.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can this be undone? What happens if you remove the sdcard? Is it still readable in a PC, so the files could be recovered if the phone died?

Click on the sdcard then select make portable storage. No clue what happens if you take it out other than some programs won't work.

kchannel9 said:
Can this be undone? What happens if you remove the sdcard? Is it still readable in a PC, so the files could be recovered if the phone died?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it gets encrypted you won't be able to read it in a PC.
Sent from my LG-H830 using XDA-Developers mobile app

Can someone that had done it please post pics of how is it supposed to look like once you do the process, the reason I asked is bc under storage I can see the storage as one but in many google apps I only the the the 32gb of storage and no 211gb like on the storage settings. Thanks in advance

TheEditor said:
Ok, first problem first. I have the SDK installed, debug mode on and phone connected. I can see the file system on the phone but ADB DEVICES returns nothing. Until I can get that resolve I can't even do the rest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you do it im having the same issue?!?!?!?!

TheEditor said:
Resolved and I believe I have the adoptable storage working now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how did you fix the adb shell problem?!?!?!
---------- Post added at 12:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:14 AM ----------
i get this when i type in adb shell
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.3.9600]
(c) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\Dawid>adb shell
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
error: device '(null)' not found
C:\Users\Dawid>
what do i do? how do I fix this?

you guys have adoptable storage working? do you guys like it? Yay Or Nay? i have it working fully no problems just i havent formatted my sd card yet. wondering if its worth doing.

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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have lollipop or newer Android version, you should be able to use the "Adoptable storage" option.
Also, if performance is important to you, then you won't like this option, using sdcard as internal is slower, the only "gain" in using this is the system has more storage to use. There is no gain on performance, you actually lose there.
I don't recommend using sdcard as internal storage though. There are way too many issues that come along with using this kind of modification. A lot of times, the sdcard gets corrupted, then the real issues start when you try to fix it, usually, the device won't function properly, the data on the sdcard gets lost/corrupted, just to name a couple of the many possible issues. It isn't exactly "easy" to fix this when it happens, depending on what goes wrong, sometimes it can't be fixed.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

Droidriven said:
If you have lollipop or newer Android version, you should be able to use the "Adoptable storage" option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've read quite a bit on this and "adoptable storage" now, and agree that trying to use an expansion SD card as internal memory to run apps is a bad idea Droidriven. I still have a little over 1 GB left on the tiny built in 8GB internal SD Card memory, and have most of what I want installed.
I'm pretty green when it comes to Android, coming from many years with Windows and a tad with Linux. I see that with v6.0.1 Marshmallow, the OS began setting up a system directory tree on the 64 GB SD card when I installed it, and I'm able to set data folders there for apps like the camera. That'll be good for storing large camera videos and other media files.
One thing I haven't figured out yet though is whether or not there's any setting on a non-rooted phone like this Go5 that will allow me to transfer files directly into the 'Android' folder on the internal 8 GB card from Windows. I'm able to connect the two via USB or FTP and write files from Windows to folders on the 8 GB card like 'Download'. But I can't copy any files from Windows over to any of the writable apps folders in the 'Android' folder. I've resorted to copying them 1st to 'Download' from Windows, and then using a file manager in Android to copy files over to the 'Android' folder. I'm not used to such rigid file/folder permissions.
Does this sound like an issue that will require rooting? It'd make life a lot easier if that weren't the case. I'd think if I can write files to that 'Android' folder from within Android, I ought to be able to do the same remotely somehow.
Thoughts?

TakuSkan said:
I've read quite a bit on this and "adoptable storage" now, and agree that trying to use an expansion SD card as internal memory to run apps is a bad idea Droidriven. I still have a little over 1 GB left on the tiny built in 8GB internal SD Card memory, and have most of what I want installed.
I'm pretty green when it comes to Android, coming from many years with Windows and a tad with Linux. I see that with v6.0.1 Marshmallow, the OS began setting up a system directory tree on the 64 GB SD card when I installed it, and I'm able to set data folders there for apps like the camera. That'll be good for storing large camera videos and other media files.
One thing I haven't figured out yet though is whether or not there's any setting on a non-rooted phone like this Go5 that will allow me to transfer files directly into the 'Android' folder on the internal 8 GB card from Windows. I'm able to connect the two via USB or FTP and write files from Windows to folders on the 8 GB card like 'Download'. But I can't copy any files from Windows over to any of the writable apps folders in the 'Android' folder. I've resorted to copying them 1st to 'Download' from Windows, and then using a file manager in Android to copy files over to the 'Android' folder. I'm not used to such rigid file/folder permissions.
Does this sound like an issue that will require rooting? It'd make life a lot easier if that weren't the case. I'd think if I can write files to that 'Android' folder from within Android, I ought to be able to do the same remotely somehow.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always just use the ES File Explorer app, it lets me move whatever I want to/from Android folder.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

Droidriven said:
I always just use the ES File Explorer app, it lets me move whatever I want to/from Android folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, from within Android. I'm using the free open source Amaze file manager that I can do that with. But I can't connect the Android phone to a Windows PC and be able to copy files from Windows to the Android folder on the phone. Just to Download, and maybe DCIM and the root of the internal 8 GB SD memory.
Can ES File Explorer access shared folders on a Windows PC? Amaze sets up an FTP server, but I don't see where it can access files on a Windows system.
EDIT: Seems it can: How to Access Shared Windows Folders on Android, iPad, and iPhone

TakuSkan said:
Yes, from within Android. I'm using the free open source Amaze file manager that I can do that with. But I can't connect the Android phone to a Windows PC and be able to copy files from Windows to the Android folder on the phone. Just to Download, and maybe DICM and the root of the internal 8 GB SD memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be able to do this with just Windows. Are you sure that you have your USB options set correctly? It should be set to MTP(file transfer).
When you connect the device to PC, you should see a USB icon in the status bar on the device, pull down notification panel, it should have a notification that takes you to your USB options.
Or, when you connect the device, you might get a pop-up menu on your device that has settings for USB options.
It varies from one device to another and one android version to another.
Do you have USB debugging enabled in developer options?
Also, if you do some reading about everything that the ES File Explorer app can do, you'll see that it can be used to transfer files to/from PC via more than a few options, including wirelessly/remotely.
It has several things it can do and different ways to connect when connecting/connected to other devices, including smart TV and others. It can also be used as a server or even be used to create a hotspot.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

Droidriven said:
You should be able to do this with just Windows. Are you sure that you have your USB options set correctly? It should be set to MTP(file transfer).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes Droidriven. I have set USB debugging and USB is set as MTP. I just discovered that Amaze does connect to Windows like ES File Explorer by running it's cloud search function. So far Amaze has done everything I've been told to use ESFE for. But Amaze is very light. I just used Amaze to copy a file over from a shared Windows folder to that Android folder on the phone.
I have Total Commander on the Windows system, but when I use it to navigate to an apps subfolder of Android on the phone, it can't see any of the files or folders that I can access with Amaze from within the phone.
So I'm half way there Just need to figure out how to get Windows to see and write files on this Go5 now.

TakuSkan said:
Yes Droidriven. I have set USB debugging and USB is set as MTP. I just discovered that Amaze does connect to Windows like ES File Explorer by running it's cloud search function. So far Amaze has done everything I've been told to use ESFE for. But Amaze is very light. I just used Amaze to copy a file over from a shared Windows folder to that Android folder on the phone.
I have Total Commander on the Windows system, but when I use it to navigate to an apps subfolder of Android on the phone, it can't see any of the files or folders that I can access with Amaze from within the phone.
So I'm half way there Just need to figure out how to get Windows to see and write files on this Go5 now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know where you're having issues, all I have ever done is just connect my device to Windows via USB then use the native Windows Explorer file manager to transfer to/from internal/external to PC/device. I've never had to do anything special or use any extra software on the device or PC to achieve this, plus, I've done this on different Windows systems.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

Droidriven said:
I don't know where you're having issues, all I have ever done is just connect my device to Windows via USB then use the native Windows Explorer file manager to transfer to/from internal/external to PC/device. I've never had to do anything special or use any extra software on the device or PC to achieve this, plus, I've done this on different Windows systems.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it may be because this was a T-Mobile phone and that they may have disabled some functions like "adoptable storage" which doesn't seem to be present, as well as maybe setting permissions to prevent access to certain system folders.
I've even found that I have to change the extensions of some files like ini files to txt before I can drag and drop from Windows Explorer via a USB connection to just a few folders on Android.
It is a bit nutz. Rooting would probably solve the problem. But I'm not ready to go there yet. There may be an answer for getting the Windows > Android file viewing and writing yet. But at least for the moment I can copy both ways with the Amaze File Manager.

Okay, I'm back to considering formatting this 64 GB SD Card as internal storage. I would really like to record video to it, and with the internal memory limited to 1 GB that's left of the total of 8 GB from the factory, that's just not going to make it.
I got the Android SDK and 'adb shell' working on my PC, and started researching how to run commands that would target just the SD Card, and not the existing memory. The command 'sm list-disks' returns: disk:179,32
Is that the phone's internal memory, the SD Card's memory, or perhaps all memory on the phone? When I run the command 'sm list-volumes' I get:
private mounted null
public:179,33 mounted 38C4-18FE
emulated mounted null
I know 38C4-18FE is listed on the phone as being my added SD Card. So I'm hesitant to run the command I see people using to format their SD Cards: 'sm partition disk:179,33' I've wiped the wrong drives by mistake before using Windows diskpart when I didn't specify the right drive/volume. Can anyone clear that up for me?
I'm still hesitant to do this as it seems the phone will automatically begin to use the entire contents of the SD Card as space to run its OS. Might there be commands that would specifically alot the space on the card for writing data, and not for apps that would write and rewrite data there? Something I could create a folder in and point video recording apps to?
Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow

TakuSkan said:
Okay, I'm back to considering formatting this 64 GB SD Card as internal storage. I would really like to record video to it, and with the internal memory limited to 1 GB that's left of the total of 8 GB from the factory, that's just not going to make it.
I got the Android SDK and 'adb shell' working on my PC, and started researching how to run commands that would target just the SD Card, and not the existing memory. The command 'sm list-disks' returns: disk:179,32
Is that the phone's internal memory, the SD Card's memory, or perhaps all memory on the phone? When I run the command 'sm list-volumes' I get:
private mounted null
public:179,33 mounted 38C4-18FE
emulated mounted null
I know 38C4-18FE is listed on the phone as being my added SD Card. So I'm hesitant to run the command I see people using to format their SD Cards: 'sm partition disk:179,33' I've wiped the wrong drives by mistake before using Windows diskpart when I didn't specify the right drive/volume. Can anyone clear that up for me?
I'm still hesitant to do this as it seems the phone will automatically begin to use the entire contents of the SD Card as space to run its OS. Might there be commands that would specifically alot the space on the card for writing data, and not for apps that would write and rewrite data there? Something I could create a folder in and point video recording apps to?
Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's possible to partition the external sdcard so that it has separate partitions with one of those partitions devoted to internal storage and the other for whatever you want. I'm not versed in specific tools and methods to do it, there are many.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

Droidriven said:
It's possible to partition the external sdcard so that it has separate partitions with one of those partitions devoted to internal storage and the other for whatever you want. I'm not versed in specific tools and methods to do it, there are many.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm happy with dedicating the entire memory in my sd card to adoptable storage space. I just want to know if adb is returning the right designation of my added sd card memory, and not the default internal memory.
Does the command 'sm list-disks' run from an adb shell that returns this for me: disk:179,32 mean that 179,32 is the designation that represents the sd memory card I added? Or if I try to use adb to partition 179,32 as adoptive memory, will I be formatting the default internal memory? What would be an adb command to return the designation of the small 8 GB default internal memory of my phone?

TakuSkan said:
I'm happy with dedicating the entire memory in my sd card to adoptable storage space. I just want to know if adb is returning the right designation of my added sd card memory, and not the default internal memory.
Does the command 'sm list-disks' run from an adb shell that returns this for me: disk:179,32 mean that 179,32 is the designation that represents the sd memory card I added? Or if I try to use adb to partition 179,32 as adoptive memory, will I be formatting the default internal memory? What would be an adb command to return the designation of the small 8 GB default internal memory of my phone?
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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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SD card will not (actually) format

Hello,
so I have this SanDisk Ultra 32 GB MicroSD card that I wanted to move to another Android phone but no matter what I do I cannot properly erase the files that are written on it. Every time I format the card the process seemingly completes without errors and you get the "card ready for use blah blah blah" message but the files are still there like nothing happened.
I tried to format it on the new phone -> files still there, 13GB out of 30ish space free
I tried to format it on the old phone -> files still there., 13GB out of 30ish space free
I connected the old phone as mass storage to PC:
- a dialog appears if I want to check sdcard for errors -> no errors found
- tried to format by right clicking in My Computer > H: drive > fast format -> files still there, 13GB out of 30ish space free
- tried to format by right clicking in My Computer > H: drive > full format -> files still there, 13GB out of 30ish space free
- ran chkdsk -> no errors
After searching for some answers I tried:
1) diskpart > attributes disk clear readonly
2) diskpart > clean
3) computer management tool > new simple volume
4) sdcard shows as empty on PC with full 30ish space free
5) disconnected from PC -> in Android the files are still there, 13GB out of 30ish space free (same after phone reboot)
6) reconnected to PC as mass storage -> files still there, 13GB out of 30ish space free
So I repeated the whole process with diskpart and computer management tool but this time before disconnecting from PC I created a test txt file on the empty SD card. After disconnecting from PC the test txt file was gone while old files were back yet again.
I also checked if there's a physical readonly switch on the card itself but couldn't find any, so I guess there isn't.
I'm thinking that maybe the card is busted, but if it is, why isn't it showing any errors?

CuriousJack said:
Hello,
so I have this SanDisk Ultra 32 GB MicroSD card that I wanted to move to another Android phone but no matter what I do I cannot properly erase the files that are written on it. Every time I format the card the process seemingly completes without errors and you get the "card ready for use blah blah blah" message but the files are still there like nothing happened.
I tried to format it on the new phone -> files still there, 13GB out of 30ish space free
I tried to format it on the old phone -> files still there., 13GB out of 30ish space free
I connected the old phone as mass storage to PC:
- a dialog appears if I want to check sdcard for errors -> no errors found
- tried to format by right clicking in My Computer > H: drive > fast format -> files still there, 13GB out of 30ish space free
- tried to format by right clicking in My Computer > H: drive > full format -> files still there, 13GB out of 30ish space free
- ran chkdsk -> no errors
After searching for some answers I tried:
1) diskpart > attributes disk clear readonly
2) diskpart > clean
3) computer management tool > new simple volume
4) sdcard shows as empty on PC with full 30ish space free
5) disconnected from PC -> in Android the files are still there, 13GB out of 30ish space free (same after phone reboot)
6) reconnected to PC as mass storage -> files still there, 13GB out of 30ish space free
So I repeated the whole process with diskpart and computer management tool but this time before disconnecting from PC I created a test txt file on the empty SD card. After disconnecting from PC the test txt file was gone while old files were back yet again.
I also checked if there's a physical readonly switch on the card itself but couldn't find any, so I guess there isn't.
I'm thinking that maybe the card is busted, but if it is, why isn't it showing any errors?
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Click to collapse
Use the PC to directly format the sdcard instead of trying to do it through the device or trying to do it with PC connected to the device. Use a card reader. Also, make sure the sdcard isn't encrypted or right protected.
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Droidriven said:
Use the PC to directly format the sdcard instead of trying to do it through the device or trying to do it with PC connected to the device. Use a card reader. Also, make sure the sdcard isn't encrypted or right protected.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I don't have a card reader, that's why I'm connecting it through a phone. Wouldn't the mass storage option be essentially the same as putting the card in a card reader (the phone has Android 5, which still has the mass storage capability)?
I also noticed that I cannot even create a new folder on the card from within Android. Built in file explorer says "some file operation failed", Astro says "could not write file".

CuriousJack said:
I don't have a card reader, that's why I'm connecting it through a phone. Wouldn't the mass storage option be essentially the same as putting the card in a card reader (the phone has Android 5, which still has the mass storage capability)?
I also noticed that I cannot even create a new folder on the card from within Android. Built in file explorer says "some file operation failed", Astro says "could not write file".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sounds to me like the sdcard has been "write protected", in other words, it is set to read-only and needs to be set to read/write, look for methods to remove the write protection to return it to read/write status.
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Droidriven said:
It sounds to me like the sdcard has been "write protected", in other words, it is set to read-only and needs to be set to read/write, look for methods to remove the write protection to return it to read/write status.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Could the write protection be caused by the fact that I used to move apps to SD onto this sdcard (the old "move to sd" option, not adoptable storage)? I moved all apps to internal storage and set internal storage as the default install location prior to the first format attempt but dunno if it was enough.

CuriousJack said:
Could the write protection be caused by the fact that I used to move apps to SD onto this sdcard (the old "move to sd" option, not adoptable storage)? I moved all apps to internal storage and set internal storage as the default install location prior to the first format attempt but dunno if it was enough.
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Click to collapse
If you mean the standard "move to sd" option in the app info page in system settings>apps settings, I doubt that is the issue.
If you used some kind of mod like Link2SD, that might be part of the issue.
If you moved system apps to SD, that also might be part of the issue.
Try factory resetting the device then see if it will format the card.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk

Droidriven said:
If you mean the standard "move to sd" option in the app info page in system settings>apps settings, I doubt that is the issue.
If you used some kind of mod like Link2SD, that might be part of the issue.
If you moved system apps to SD, that also might be part of the issue.
Try factory resetting the device then see if it will format the card.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Just the standard "move to SD" option and I didn't touch any system apps. Also the phone wasn't rooted.
Now I'm trying to format the card using SD Formatter but it seems to be stuck at 0%.
Is there a piece of software that could tell me if the card is out of write cycles or generally check its health?

CuriousJack said:
Just the standard "move to SD" option and I didn't touch any system apps. Also the phone wasn't rooted.
Now I'm trying to format the card using SD Formatter but it seems to be stuck at 0%.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the sdcard inserted in your phone, boot to stock recovery and select the factory reset option, after you reset the device, then choose the option to wipe cache partition. After resetting and wiping, reboot into system and try formatting the sdcard.
The reason I say to do this is because it will remove any settings or cached files that might be causing the issue.
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