Since Motorola updated their devices to Marshmallow 6.0, many have had issues formatting their SD cards as Internal Adopted Storage. I don't know why the issue exists, but trying to format as Internal only results in the process freezing at 30% and eventually timing out. However, thanks to members of the XDA community I have successfully formatted my Kingston 128GB Class 10 SD as Internal. Here's how.
Step One: Format SD to exfat.
Step Two: Set SD as Portable in Android
Step Three: Format SD as Internal in Android.
Step Four: THIS IS IMPORTANT. The process will eventually freeze and timeout. Do not cancel it. Let it timeout. When it does do not fret. Shutdown the phone by holding power and tapping Power Off. It will take a while to fully shut down. The time it takes for the process to freeze and the time it takes the phone to shut down seems to depend on the size of the SD Card. My 128GB card took about 6 minutes to timeout and about 12 minutes to shut down. DO NOT FORCE SHUTDOWN*. Let the phone shut down on its own. When it does, boot the phone back up and the SD will be set to Adopted Internal Storage.
*FORCE SHUTDOWN is accomplished by holding the power button until the phone hard restarts.
Now that is out of the way, let me tell you about my experience using Adopted Storage mode. I'm not very happy and I do not recommend doing this. It's a great feature to have for phones with limited Internal eMMC Storage like 8GB or 16GB however there are drawbacks. Not the least of which being that apps take much longer to launch and run tasks as SD cards are much slower than eMMC flash Storage. I've also noticed an increase in battery drain as the phone is now reading and writing to SD when it would normally access onboard eMMC in portable mode. Long story short, it definitely expands the amount of storage you have for apps and app/game data, however that benefit comes at the cost of slower performance and less battery life. With a phone like the X Play battery life may be something you would be willing to sacrifice however I'm sure, like me, you'd want to make sure you are squeezing out every bit of performance out of that SnapDragon 615 so performance may not be something you'd be willing to give up for more app data storage. I know I'm not
I'll be going back to Portable Storage as soon as I can.
I am having a weird issue with my 64gb SD card. I format as portable storage and does it just fine. But any time I reboot I have to format again? So, needless to say, I'm afraid to put anything on there because I'll have to format it again. I am on the newest version of blisspop on a moto g2014. Any help would be great.
Has anyone bench marked SD performance?
I can't believe this worked!?! Been trying to get internal formatting working on my Moto G 4G for so long, thank you so much!
works
this worked on my S4 running 6.0.1
Excellent post and I came across that sequence myself by trying all sorts. One question though... Having configured it as adopted internal storage, while I have successfully transferred one App's data to the additional memory (as a test) the Storage Analyser app does not recognise it by default (though you can find the path to it and manually configure it) and ES File Explorer just doesn't at all.
Did you see similar problems? So far, because of the partial nature of the fix, I haven't dared run with it properly using the SD card.
[Edit: Running a Moto G 2nd Gen 8Gb with a 64Gb Sandisk Ultra.]
[Second Edit: Answered my own question with further research... Following a suggestion elsewhere I bit the bullet and went to Settings > Storage & USB > [Tap card] > [Tap Menu] > Move Data now it's all set 100% including ES File Explorer etc. Phew! ]
After formatting to exfat my phone read it as corrupted, is that normal?
[NEED HELP]
Hi Everyone,
I have adopted storage related problem. I mounted a Strontium 64 GB Class 10 on my unrooted Moto X Style/Pure and formatted it as internal storage. Aside from the warning, that the card might be slower, everything worked out fine, and it was reflecting and working as internal storage for 10 days (8.6GB of the card was being utilized for storage).
But one fine day, the card stopped working - all the previous data had disappeared. The card worked fine, and showed 8.6 GB as utilitzed, but to files to show for it. As we know the card is formatted as ext4 and content is encrypted using a AES 128-bit key.
According to this guide, the key is located in the data partition of the device. Now unless there is a way to even just read the key without rooting the device, I'm stuck in a vicious cycle - I can't access they key without rooting, and if I root, it'll wipe the phone (along with the key).
Please help! Really appreciate any tips, thanks in advance!
My Moto Z is dead and wont detect as QUSB, can you help me repair it ?
I got the same thing. I continued formatting in the phone and worked fine after you follow the above procedure
So I just upgraded two moto g 2015 GSM 1GB models to android marshmallow. One that is completely stock using the update directly from motorolla, the other unnoficial ROM from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/2015-moto-g/orig-development/rom-cyanogenmod-13-t3254236. Everything seems to be working fine besides the Micro SD cards (which are Sandisk Pixtor class 10 / UHS-1 cards) (this one http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk...mory-card-gray-red/1300086.p?id=1219047586662 ). At first, they worked perfectly, and I formatted them both for internal storage. Then, the next day, when I woke up, the CM13 ROM phone said that the SD card is "unsupported" and tells me to reformat it. then, once I do that, the phone gives me an message saying "Attempt to invoke virtual method 'java.lang.String android.os.storage.VolumeInfo.getld()' on a null object reference" I have tried everything I can think of! Rebooting the phones, safe mode, resetting the stock phone, re-installing the CM13 ROM, and trying to re-format the drives on the computer! Please Help!
epicnun said:
So I just upgraded two moto g 2015 GSM 1GB models to android marshmallow. One that is completely stock using the update directly from motorolla, the other unnoficial ROM from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/2015-moto-g/orig-development/rom-cyanogenmod-13-t3254236. Everything seems to be working fine besides the Micro SD cards (which are Sandisk Pixtor class 10 / UHS-1 cards) (this one http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk...mory-card-gray-red/1300086.p?id=1219047586662 ). At first, they worked perfectly, and I formatted them both for internal storage. Then, the next day, when I woke up, the CM13 ROM phone said that the SD card is "unsupported" and tells me to reformat it. then, once I do that, the phone gives me an message saying "Attempt to invoke virtual method 'java.lang.String android.os.storage.VolumeInfo.getld()' on a null object reference" I have tried everything I can think of! Rebooting the phones, safe mode, resetting the stock phone, re-installing the CM13 ROM, and trying to re-format the drives on the computer! Please Help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you really want to use the SD Card as internal. If so, the card will be encrypted and locked to the one device. If not, you have the option to use as a portable card. I actually made no selection, after a few reboots, the nagging notice about the SD Card went away. Card works perfectly as portable storage.
I had the same problem with my moto g 2015 8gb on marshmallow a view weeks ago. I used a transcend 32gb sd card and formatted it as internal storage. One day i recogniced that all my apps on the sd card were gone. The sd card didn´t work anymore, and the phone wanted to format it again, but it didn´t work. I tried to format it on my computer and also with cameras, because I heard this could work, but i always got the error "sd-card locked".
After hours of trying to fix it i got a new card, and all my photos were gone.
I´m not sure if it is the phones fault.
balsamic said:
I had the same problem with my moto g 2015 8gb on marshmallow a view weeks ago. I used a transcend 32gb sd card and formatted it as internal storage. One day i recogniced that all my apps on the sd card were gone. The sd card didn´t work anymore, and the phone wanted to format it again, but it didn´t work. I tried to format it on my computer and also with cameras, because I heard this could work, but i always got the error "sd-card locked".
After hours of trying to fix it i got a new card, and all my photos were gone.
I´m not sure if it is the phones fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awe bummer. Are you using the new card as internal storage aswell? Which card are you using? How long have you been using it for? Any problems yet?
The same problem.
I also had the same problem. I failed to find a solution, I had to MiniTool Partition Wizard to format the SD but when trying to format from windows does not work. After that I tried to set it again as internal, but, just as I shot this error.
Same thing happened to me last night when I decided to make my Transcend micro sd to be internal storage. I thought it was just a bad sdcard, turns out Marshmallow bricked it. Any solution yet?
EDIT (02-16-2016): Switched from Internal Storage to Portable Storage today. All headaches are gone.
Not looking forward to this happening to my SD card. The really bad part is that I have a TWRP backup on the SD card; it was set up as internal storage, but my desktop can't see it so I can't copy it over for safe keeping. Therefore the backup will be destroyed along with the rest of the SD card if the SD card is scrogged. This whole internal storage thing just sucks. Can't store Google Music to the SD card as well.
I have a problem with the SD card too, i set it to internal storsge and my computer doesn't see it, my phone says it see it but when i go to the total commander on my phone it doesn't see it. I dont't know what to do. I thought I willnhave more space for my apps and data but the SD card works only for apps
Wysłane z mojego MotoG3 przy użyciu Tapatalka
cricetus said:
I have a problem with the SD card too, i set it to internal storsge and my computer doesn't see it, my phone says it see it but when i go to the total commander on my phone it doesn't see it. I dont't know what to do. I thought I willnhave more space for my apps and data but the SD card works only for apps
Wysłane z mojego MotoG3 przy użyciu Tapatalka
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As Internal Storage it will not show up as a separate entity, you access it via Internal Storage. The SD card is now mated to to the phone, it is not independent and cannot be read in any device except in the phone that formatted it.
I just bought a Moto G 2015 8GB ROM phone, it's my 1st smartphone and I also bought a Lexar 32GB microSDHC UHS-1 class 10 sd card.
What I want to do is install my iTunes music folders that are on my Windows 7 PC onto the sd card and install JetAudio app from Google Play Store that is on the phone and play my iTunes music on my new phone.
The sd card is still in the package and have not touched it yet, so my question is, do I install the card on my PC with a microSD card reader and copy paste my iTunes Artist folders from PC onto the card and then insert the card into my phone, -or- do I install the new sd card into the phone first, then select the option for the card as portable storage device( I assume I do get an option for the card on the phone), then plug the phone into my PC using phone to USB cable and then copy paste the iTunes music folders from PC to card on the phone that way. I am not sure which method to do. I believe the phone app Jet Audio can play music files in .m4a file format. But I am not sure about this sd card in the phone selected as internal or portable storage, what happens when I first install the fresh blank card in the phone, will I get an option to select it as internal or portable.
tom_eastcoast said:
I just bought a Moto G 2015 8GB ROM phone, it's my 1st smartphone and I also bought a Lexar 32GB microSDHC UHS-1 class 10 sd card.
What I want to do is install my iTunes music folders that are on my Windows 7 PC onto the sd card and install JetAudio app from Google Play Store that is on the phone and play my iTunes music on my new phone.
The sd card is still in the package and have not touched it yet, so my question is, do I install the card on my PC with a microSD card reader and copy paste my iTunes Artist folders from PC onto the card and then insert the card into my phone, -or- do I install the new sd card into the phone first, then select the option for the card as portable storage device( I assume I do get an option for the card on the phone), then plug the phone into my PC using phone to USB cable and then copy paste the iTunes music folders from PC to card on the phone that way. I am not sure which method to do. I believe the phone app Jet Audio can play music files in .m4a file format. But I am not sure about this sd card in the phone selected as internal or portable storage, what happens when I first install the fresh blank card in the phone, will I get an option to select it as internal or portable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just don't pick Internal Storage like I did. Neither Google Play nor any of the top music apps I contacted have the capability to store or read from internal storage, and you can't manually put or get files from there either. A ton of other people have run into the same problem. The other problem is that it appears that not many apps have the capability to use internal storage, so if your intent is to make more room on your 8 GB device you will be most likely be very disappointed. If you have a lot a songs like me, I would definitely choose portable storage to save space. on your 8GB. As I recall I had the choice which way to set up the storage when I inserted the card into the phone.
As long as your M4A files are not encrypted somehow your method should be not relevant. I don't know if iTunes does this or not (pretty sure it used to), but if you can play your audio files on your PC with a generic player it should work fine in the phone.
As far as what @pjc123 was talking about, several developers have not yet updated their apps to support Marshmallow's adopted storage of the SD card... I would have highly recommended the 2GB RAM version, but you got what you got. I would first put the card in the phone and allow it to format it if needed but set it up as Portable Storage, then how you move the files is up to you (if you set it up as adopted or internal storage, you can only see the card well it is installed in the phone). If you have a USB 3.0 card reader, it MIGHT be faster to remove the card and put it in a PC and copy the files, or you can just connect via USB and copy and paste the files. If you have a very large amount, I would recommend doing it in smaller blocks rather than all at once. Also remember that if you have a large number of files, they might not all show up in your media player right away, sometimes Android's media databases can take some time to update, give it a while and if they don't show up reboot the phone and give it some time. On the 1GB model people have sometimes noted laggy response well the media databases are updating.
I did not try the internal storage option yet. But if you have issues with your sd card bricked try low level format tool on windows, at least to make it work again. Aldo idk how the encryption actually works but if you want your data back, use the option "quick format, just delete mbr" and use some tool like recuva to fetch the data (if its not encrypted it should work)
Cheers.
I think I jumped ahead too fast, I mean I bought this new 32GB Lexar microSDHC UHS-1 class 10 card and it's still in the package and I had thought that I had a good plan on how to use it (internal or portable) in my Moto G 2015 1GB 8GB Marshmallow phone, I was going to format the card in the phone as 'Portable' but now not so sure, and now need to go back and start over again in the learning curve.
The first thing I would like to know about is the terminology, I know what selecting and formatting the SD card as 'Portable' in the phone means, to me it means you can remove the card and insert it via card reader to my Windows 7 PC and create a new Folders and copy paste music and picture files to the card, but one thing I know about 'Portable' storage is that when the card is in the phone, you cannot move 'apps' to it, I don't think apps will run from Portable storage sd cards.
What has me confused is the term 'adopted storage'. Is adopted storage the same as selecting 'Portable' storage option when the phone formats the sd card?
Or is adopted storage refer to selecting the card as 'Internal' option?
So I am trying to understand, if I select the option for the card in the phone as 'Internal', and the card is 32GB and my phone has 1GB memory and 8GB storage, what does Internal option do?
I mean does Internal add the 32GB to the 1GB memory making phone memory be 33GB? Or does an Internal card add the 32GB to the 8GB phone storage making my phone have 40GB of storage.
So if I format the card as 'Internal', I know that card is mated to the phone and cannot be removed, that's ok but if my phone can have 40GB of storage, I think it's possible to move phone apps to the card when it's formatted as Internal, but how do I get my Windows 7 PC music files to the phone? I am thinking of installing jetAudio music player app onto the phone via Google Play. I am still researching all of this first before I try anything.
No... Adopted storage and internal storage are the same thing (the card is "adopted" by the phone as internal storage). Portable storage is the same as external. As far as the technical difference, you are mostly correct about the portability and use in other devices.
As far as actual storage goes when adopted, it's not as clear cut... In theory is should replace your internal storage (your ~4-5GB of usable space) and give you 32GB of storage, but in actual use in the Moto G it doesn't quite work like that... There are several threads discussing it you can read on.
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
Ok, thanks for that, you explained that well for me, so if I format the sd card as Internal or Adopted, I can have more usable internal storage space, which is good, because my phone now without a card is showing 2.13GB used internal storage of 4.53GB. So not much storage space left. So now I need to find out how you can copy Windows 7 PC music files to the phone. I assume I can't just USB cable the phone to the PC and copy paste music files to the phone, I am assuming that will not work.
tom_eastcoast said:
Ok, thanks for that, you explained that well for me, so if I format the sd card as Internal or Adopted, I can have more usable internal storage space, which is good, because my phone now without a card is showing 2.13GB used internal storage of 4.53GB. So not much storage space left. So now I need to find out how you can copy Windows 7 PC music files to the phone. I assume I can't just USB cable the phone to the PC and copy paste music files to the phone, I am assuming that will not work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should work fine, in either internal or portable mode. MPT transfer mode built into Android is intended for this purpose.
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
Ok I have run into a problem. What I did was go buy a micro to PC USB cable, and with no card yet installed on my MotoG3 Marshmallow phone, I plugged the phone into the USB on the PC and powered up the phone, and on the PC window it shows MotoG3 under Computer, but nothing in the blank pane screen, I cannot create a new folder on the phone or copy paste anything to it, when I do try it says device is either not connected or turned off. Help.
---------- Post added at 04:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:00 PM ----------
oK, what I found out by calling the store here was I need to have Developer options to have phone connect to PC via USB and show, you go to phone Settings, scroll down and click on About phone, scroll down and press Build number 7 (seven) times, then the OS will add the Developer options in Settings under System. I am about to dig into Develop options to get the phone to connect to PC so will update what happens.
---------- Post added at 04:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:24 PM ----------
ok once you have Developer options showing in Settings, System, click on Developer options and scroll down the screen to under Debugging and turn ON USB debugging. then continue to scroll down in Developer options to Select USB Configuration (MTP Media Transfer Protocol), click it and then in Select USB Configuration screen, click on MTP radio button to turn it ON if it's not already ON. Then with 2 fingers at top of phone screen swipe down to show USB used for charging only touch for more options, press it and change the radio button under Use USB for, press Transfer files (MTP). That should fix the problem and now you can see the internals of your Android Marshmallow phone on your PC screen. Next I am going to attempt to create a new Folder on the phone called Music but I will try that tomorrow. Bye for now.
tom_eastcoast said:
Ok, thanks for that, you explained that well for me, so if I format the sd card as Internal or Adopted, I can have more usable internal storage space, which is good, because my phone now without a card is showing 2.13GB used internal storage of 4.53GB. So not much storage space left. So now I need to find out how you can copy Windows 7 PC music files to the phone. I assume I can't just USB cable the phone to the PC and copy paste music files to the phone, I am assuming that will not work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just realize that if you pick internal storage, there is no way to copy the music files to the SD card, only to the main storage (Music directory for example), thus eating into your 4.53GB of space. You do not have access to the SD card encrypted ext3 filesystem from your pc. Furthermore the music apps do not have the capability to do this, at least not yet. As portable storage you would have that capability, in fact I just converted internal storage to portable storage for that exact reason. I feel sorry for those that bought 8GB phones thinking that adaptive storage was going to be the cure-all to space issues. I am glad I opted for the 16 GB version.
Just realize that if you pick internal storage, there is no way to copy the music files to the SD card
Update: what I did today was insert the new 32GB SD card into the phone and Formatted it as Internal Storage, then connected the phone to my PC to view phone info and the PC says my Android Marshmallow phone has
5.65GB used of 36.56GB, Android OS 3.47GB , Internal Storage 2.12GB used of 4.53GB, SD Card 55.38MB used of 28.56GB
Then with phone connected to PC I created a new folder on the phone called My Music then in My Music created MP3, then I went into my PC's music folder copied a folder called The Police and pasted that folder in the phone under MotoG3 > SD Card > Music > My Music > MP3
Then disconnected phone from PC and using Google Play on phone searched for a music player app called Power Amp free, (14 day free trial) selected Install and it is now on my phone playing music from the The Police mp3 files. So next I will try copy pasting iTunes folders with m4a music files to phone. All appears to be working ok so far and I do believe formatting the SD card as Internal Storage works and is the way to go. I went into the phone Settings and Apps and tapped on Power Amp to see if it had downloaded to the phone into Internal Storage or SD Card, and it's on the card so I didn't have to move it to the card from Internal. So yes when selecting Internal format for the SD card the new installs will go to the card.
---------- Post added at 01:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:16 PM ----------
OH, by the way, where you say a sd card formatted as Adopted Storage I said Internal Storage in my previous post, which means the same. Internal Storage = Adopted Storage although on the phone the Format Option just says either Portable or Internal