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Issues with sdcard vs _EXTERNALSD

I know that LG chose to have this stupid method of utilizing there internal memory and naming it (sdcard) and then making our ACTUAL sdcards (_ExternalSD), but I'm getting super annoyed at the issues that are occurring due to this ridiculous method of partitioning.
Main Issues:
> Apps not looking at the correct place
> ROM manager only able to access ACTUAL sdcard but things are put in "sdcard" not _EXTERNALSD
> Files don't transfer between the two places (sdcard v _EXTERNALSD)
This is just a big cluster F#$*.
Does anyone know if there is a way to partition the "sdcard" internal phone memory and make the ACTUAL sdcard used the way it is on other phones?

I found a temporary solution. If you go into X app, X being whichever app uses storage or the ACTUAL sdcard, you can switch the storage to sdcard instead of phone.
Apps that have option:
> Browser (stock)
> Titanium Backup
> Camera App (stock)

I thought it was just me.. but i hate this implementation. This is my first phone having built in storage and I actually thought that was the way it was supposed to work.. and thought it was pretty lame. So when I switched to a CM7 rom.. i was totally thrown. LOL. but I agree. the whole "_External..." thing is lame..
DOPE phone otherwise tho.

Not a big deal for me
Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk

It really is highly annoying. Especially since I am coming from an HTC Inc.
I don't know what genius thought this was a good idea.

I agree and also think its cause some of the issues when loading rom's back and forth with CWM

As you can see from my sig, I've been almost exclusively HTC and this was a super weird thing for me to get used to. I'll flash CM7 once it's RC or stable, just because of this.

hekticpr21 said:
As you can see from my sig, I've been almost exclusively HTC and this was a super weird thing for me to get used to. I'll flash CM7 once it's RC or stable, just because of this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ditto.. i've always love htc hardware man. quality stuff. I came off of a G2 and bought this thinking it would be a big step up (you know.. dual cores n all).. it's an incremental update with some drawbacks. don't get me wrong.. i like the g2x.. but it has some flaws. meh. I'm here now... nothing I can do about it.. cuz i'm certainly NOT going to sell it to go back to the g2 just for netflix when the future of smartphones is clearly headed the g2x direction.

I also agree...it isn't a deal breaker, but it certainly is a strange approach.

I can only assume they wanted the internal storage to be the "main" and any external just to be extra space that the phone wasn't dependent on.

the GOOD thing about it is that is doesn't wipe when you format the phone.. the bad thing is... you can't get to it in CWM

I haven't fought with CWM, but how is this different than other Android phones?
My G1 had nothing, so no issue. But, the Vibrant did essentially the same thing - it had a different naming structure, but the effect was the same.
-bZj

down8 said:
I haven't fought with CWM, but how is this different than other Android phones?
My G1 had nothing, so no issue. But, the Vibrant did essentially the same thing - it had a different naming structure, but the effect was the same.
-bZj
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On my HTC Inc., they were completely separate. The external SD card's path was not through the internal. When you downloaded an app., all files for that app. went on the external SD card and not on the internal. It left the internal clean for music, photos and videos.

has anyone figured out an appropriate method of sorting this out,
i have a few apps which rely on content that is stored on my actual sd card about 10gb of content, but the internal memory takes the /sdcard ,, while the sd card is /sdcard/ext this is so aggravating, are there any customs build which target this?

I am having issues with this as well. When I boot into CWM to flash a kernel for example CWM only sees what is on the External SD not the internal so I have to transfer kernels that I have downloaded on the phone to my extern SD. The only problem is every time I try and copy and paste something from sdcard to External SD Astro tells me there was a ' move error' and I am unable to move anything....
anyone have this problem?

Make sure you are copying and not cutting (moving). Android doesn't like to move things between file systems.

Memory issues?

Is anyone having trouble with pictures deleting or becoming unreadable?
I also had a app uninstall its self....

I have had 1 pic problem and a few SD card errors when I know I have 13gigs free. A retry on the download has helped with the app install though.

I downloaded camera zoom ex and when I take pics, usually the first file is unreadable. One recorded video did that as well. No issues with apps yet, lets hope it doesn't get worse.

mic_crispy said:
Is anyone having trouble with pictures deleting or becoming unreadable?
I also had a app uninstall its self....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had anything with pictures, but I have had the erroneous "not enough room" error and apps have become broken (cannot launch..) and require an uninstall/reinstall. When this happens, in the list of applications, they don't have the "nice" application name, they have the real? name such as net.hexage.radiant.hd

I had installed a circle battery mod widget from the market and when i went to take a screenshot i got a r/o error. But ever since uinstalling said app its been fine.
sent from my Motorola Atrix 2 via Tapatalk

The attic is kind of weird when it comes to memory. Im thinking it mounts your external like internal and users the actual internal as internal. You have to get a third party file explorer to even see the internal memory. Kind of blows... But once you get used to it you work around it.
Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk

So one of my apps that mysteriously uninstalled itself (but the icon remained) decided to start working again (i never bothered to reinstall it and just left the icon, but then it started working again). Weird.
And yeah, even pictures i took that "stayed" are now corrupt. We have memory issues.

mic_crispy said:
So one of my apps that mysteriously uninstalled itself (but the icon remained) decided to start working again (i never bothered to reinstall it and just left the icon, but then it started working again). Weird.
And yeah, even pictures i took that "stayed" are now corrupt. We have memory issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've noticed that the first picture I take is corrupted, I just have to take multiple pictures and everything turns out fine. I downloaded camera zoom fx and its 10x better than the stock camera app.

Do you find less issues using that app? Can it use the stock camera button?

mic_crispy said:
Do you find less issues using that app? Can it use the stock camera button?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Loving this app, it has torch mode while taking pics... Helps the night shots a lot. Camera button works and it does a ton more than stock Moto cam app can do

Still having memory issues. Wouldnt save a single picture from my email or internet all day. "download unsuccessful" for web pics or "download failed" for email pics.
Pretty lame.

for those of you with issues, are you installing apps to sd card?
i'm thinking what it's doing is when you use apps2sd, it's mounts sdcard-ext as dynamic on the internal memory, but then redirects all sdcard items to sdcard-ext instead of /sdcard. ie apps2sd moves apps to /sdcard-ext and sizes that partition as needed (say 400mb apps, it sizes at 500mb). you take a pic, it goes to save it, but the system is now directing it to /sdcard-ext instead of /sdcard. it sees that there is only 500mb left and kicks it out or activates the low memory message.
if you're installing apps to the sdcard, turn off the phone, pull the microsd card out and pop it into your computer and see what's on it.
i also think that if you use a microsd card, you forfeit the entire 8gb internal storage.
then again, i could be wrong...

Ive been installing on the internal memory.
Thing is, some stuff saved on the memory card (ie from inet etc) will sometimes just become unreadable. This phone has some caching issues or something.
And judging by all the complaints etc, i doubt its a memory card issue.

ok, i removed my sdcard
storage still reads at 4.77GB internal
when i try to take a pic, it tells me to insert an sdcard.
8gb is a lot of space for apps lol 10k justin beiber fart soundboards

Jusy found this. I thik its basically saying the 8 gigs that are supposed to come built into the phone are already being used. Kinda dumb.... https://motorola-global-portal.cust...71812/~/internal-and-external-memory-(atrix-2)
Sent from my MB865 using XDA Premium App

4gigs for apps is awesome! doesn't everyone need a couple thousand apps on their phone?and why in the world does a Linux based phone os need 4gigs of space?
Sent from my MB865

mtnlion said:
4gigs for apps is awesome! doesn't everyone need a couple thousand apps on their phone?and why in the world does a Linux based phone os need 4gigs of space?
Sent from my MB865
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you realize how many "talking [insert something stupid here]" apps and "[insert infamous person here] fart sound board" apps there are available?

This damn memory bug is really bothering me... i couldnt save a picture from gmail today to save my life. Failed. Failed. Failed. Cannot load.
I guess i can try a class 4 memory card? I have a 6 now... and with class 10 being out there, seems stupid that this would have issues with anything at all, much less a 6.

Have you tried pulling out your card and reformatting it?

No... i guess i could. Would just be a bit of a pain transferring my 16gb to the PC and back again, but ill give it a shot.
But at the end of the day, the phone does have memory issues, that more than likely be solved with an update, so thats good.

So, new Atrix 2 today... And some problems as well...

Well, today I got my new Atrix 2. Great cell phone so far. It's my first Android, yay!
But here is my problem:
1. It came with a 2gb SD Card, working and everything, but when I take pictures they go directly to the SD... Does anybody know how do I change it so they go to the internal memory?
2. Some applications seem to install on both, the internal memory and the SD (like Skype or Whatsapp). Somebody knows why?
3. Does anybody know how to access the internal memory at all when connecting the phone to the PC?
Thanks a lot for your help!
P.S: Please, forgive my noob-ines and Language.

nahuelarg86 said:
1. It came with a 2gb SD Card, working and everything, but when I take pictures they go directly to the SD... Does anybody know how do I change it so they go to the internal memory?
2. Some applications seem to install on both, the internal memory and the SD (like Skype or Whatsapp). Somebody knows why?
3. Does anybody know how to access the internal memory at all when connecting the phone to the PC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Can't...internal storage is for apps only
2. Not too sure that's the case....the way you can tell is go to settings/applications/manage applications and click on the "on sdcard" tab, apps will show up here regardless if they are on the sdcard or not so the way to tell if said app is truly installed on the card is to check for a green checkbox on the right hand side next to said app. The box will be there on all of them, but only the one's that have a green check mark are actually installed on the sdcard.
3. Internal storage is for apps only and is not accessible

916x10 said:
1. Can't...internal storage is for apps only
2. Not too sure that's the case....the way you can tell is go to settings/applications/manage applications and click on the "on sdcard" tab, apps will show up here regardless if they are on the sdcard or not so the way to tell if said app is truly installed on the card is to check for a green checkbox on the right hand side next to said app. The box will be there on all of them, but only the one's that have a green check mark are actually installed on the sdcard.
3. Internal storage is for apps only and is not accessible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, thank you so much for your help. I didn't know that about the internal memory, it surprises me.

nahuelarg86 said:
Well, thank you so much for your help. I didn't know that about the internal memory, it surprises me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i don't think motorola meant it to be that way honestly, since all the specs released specifically say 8gb internal storage, which in the smartphone world means you can use it for storage. however, this isn't the case.
i think that they have their mtd/partition tables setup wrong and it could be fixed with an update. however, no one knows when an update will be coming and what changes it will bring. i think motorola has placed all their focus on the razr. so we get the shaft.

svtfmook said:
i don't think motorola meant it to be that way honestly, since all the specs released specifically say 8gb internal storage, which in the smartphone world means you can use it for storage. however, this isn't the case.
i think that they have their mtd/partition tables setup wrong and it could be fixed with an update. however, no one knows when an update will be coming and what changes it will bring. i think motorola has placed all their focus on the razr. so we get the shaft.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's really bad. It's a very capable cell phone, it shouldn't have as many problems as it has (I read a lot about SD card problems, etc) but you are right, they are focusing more on the Razr (as I read in other websites) which is a bummer...

nahuelarg86 said:
Yeah, that's really bad. It's a very capable cell phone, it shouldn't have as many problems as it has (I read a lot about SD card problems, etc) but you are right, they are focusing more on the Razr (as I read in other websites) which is a bummer...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
honestly, it doesn't have that many issues. and i think 1 problem is causing multiple issues.
for example, i think that the partitions are not setup correctly, which is causing:
sd rear/write issues
apps 2 sd issues
sdcard pc mounting issues
internal storage being inaccessible issues
app storage memory low notifications
camera write image to sd issue
these are the major issues, but i think they are all tied to 1 single problem. other issues like the can't stop email sync, i can hear myself in my own earpiece and other non-critical problems are just small bugs that can easily be fixed and lived with until said fix.
most other issues i've read seem to either be account related or just user error

svtfmook said:
i don't think motorola meant it to be that way honestly, since all the specs released specifically say 8gb internal storage, which in the smartphone world means you can use it for storage. however, this isn't the case.
i think that they have their mtd/partition tables setup wrong and it could be fixed with an update. however, no one knows when an update will be coming and what changes it will bring. i think motorola has placed all their focus on the razr. so we get the shaft.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you read the specs it specifically says
Memory (9)
8gb
The footnote for (9) says
Available user memory varies due to the configuration of the phone, which varies by service provider.
Furthermore
Motorola goes on to say that the device does infact have 8gb internal storage, 4 of it is for downloaded apps, the other 4 is for the OS, Webtop application and the other preloaded apps.
https://motorola-global-portal.cust...71812/~/internal-and-external-memory-(atrix-2)
So if Moto is saying the above, it seems to me they did infact mean for it to be like that. Just trying to clear up the misinfo so you guys aren't raising hell about nothing. But I do understand where you guys are coming from, I completely expected to have 8gb of internal storage as well and I think it's bs for Moto to advertise internal storage space by including the portion of it that's not accessible or useable to us. Agreed 100%.

[Q] Moving apps to the external SD card

Hi all. Let me first say that I love my Blaze. My last phone was the Galaxy S Vibrant I. This phone is quite a bit faster, and I like that it has a flash and front facing camera. The first thing I did was root it, install Titanium Backup and used it to delete the bloatware apps that came pre-installed. One thing I was a bit disappointed in however is the lack of memory.
I know someone else asked this earlier, but I never saw an answer. The phone has its own built-in memory, and an internal usb memory, along with the external sd card. When you want to move an app to the sd card, it puts it on the internal usb card. I haven't found a way (or an app) that will let you move them to the external card. This is an issue since the Blaze comes with a lot less memory than my old Vibrant. For anyone who likes to install games, 1 or 2 games will max out the memory. I chatted with a Samsung rep online and they were clueless. It upsets me a bit that this phone is 2 yrs older than my Vibrant and has so much less internal memory.

Forgive me if I'm wrong but couldn't you just use Root Browser to move the apps? The path to it, I believe is sdcard/external_sd
Sent from my SGH-T769 using XDA

And all the apps are in system/app folder.
Sent from my SGH-T769 using XDA

So you can just move the apk file manually to the external sd card and it will still work? Its not like a computer where the shortcut will be looking for it in a particular place?

I asked earlier about sending apps to the external sd card.
I am not sure if you can do it with Es or another took, but I dragged and dropped when mounted to a PC. I am now seeing widgets and shortcuts disappear, for apps I didn't even move.
Sent from my SGH-T769 using xda premium

Widgets installed on SD cards don't work properly, or at all in my experience. It's an android limitation of sorts. I think it's intentional, some sort of side effect with the idiosyncracies (however that is spelled) with what happens to an app if it's running on the sd card and you eject it from the phone or mount it to the computer.
One example of this that I'm familiar with is poweramp. It can be installed to the sd card, but the guy made a widget addon that stays on the phone specifically because if it's loaded on the sd card the widget doesn't work.
And yes, I'm aware that you said it was even for apps that you didn't move.......I'm taking a guess that whatever widget your'e talking about is not actually an app you moved on the sd card, but is RELATED to it, in some way.
Or maybe it's just a case of craziness happening, and it's an achilles heel the phone has.
If that's the case......sigh, I swear my next phone better be straight out of a science fiction movie or I will just be an angry person.

I don't understand why Samsung would make this phone with two internal memory storage devices instead of just one. Whats the use of being able to use a large external card if you can't move apps over to it. The two internal ones are small. They could have just been combined into a bigger one.

Is it normal for some apps on the sd to sometimes not load when disconnecting from the computer or rebooting the phone?

This might help. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1410262
Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2

ID/name of external SDcard

With every reboot the SDcard in my U11 life gets another ID/Name like
33304636-2d36-3746-4200-00db95825059
or
41363737-2d45-4144-3200-84bb899f1ab0.
When setting storage settings to the external SDcard in apps an the app uses this ID/name as identifier, after a reboot the app sets the storage settings back to internal storage.
I checked this with 4 different cards. With a 128GB SanDisk extreme, a 64GB Samsung evo+ and a 32GB SanDisk ultra I have this problem.
I also used an older 32GB card from Trancent. This card got a shorter name (only about 10 signs) which didn't change after reboot and all worked fine. But this card is to small and slow.
Where's the difference between these cards in naming scheme?
Does anyone know this problem and has a solution?

aliosha10 said:
With every reboot the SDcard in my U11 life gets another ID/Name like
33304636-2d36-3746-4200-00db95825059
or
41363737-2d45-4144-3200-84bb899f1ab0.
When setting storage settings to the external SDcard in apps an the app uses this ID/name as identifier, after a reboot the app sets the storage settings back to internal storage.
I checked this with 4 different cards. With a 128GB SanDisk extreme, a 64GB Samsung evo+ and a 32GB SanDisk ultra I have this problem.
I also used an older 32GB card from Trancent. This card got a shorter name (only about 10 signs) which didn't change after reboot and all worked fine. But this card is to small and slow.
Where's the difference between these cards in naming scheme?
Does anyone know this problem and has a solution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do you see these SD Card names? When you access through "Settings" then "Memory"?
I have only "SD Card from SanDisk"
Or when you access via a Computer/Notebook?
Sent from my HTC U11 life using Alien Technology

I see this name in storage settings of some apps. For example in Here WeGo or in Beyond Pod.

aliosha10 said:
I see this name in storage settings of some apps. For example in Here WeGo or in Beyond Pod.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, just installed Here we go and have this cryptic name of the external Card as well. First time I'm seeing that.
In Total Commander I see the same cryptic name after the storage Folder like
storage/42463043-2d39-3745-4400-8d8e8d9117a7
In Total. Commander it would offer the option to rename this folder, which I tried, but nothing happened. Didn't even get an Error message but it still won't rename the folder.
Another thing I see, is the Timestamp from the storage card. It shows 1.1.1970 which is always used, if no exact date is found.
Trying to set a different Date caused an error message, saying it is not allowed.
I will try to reformat my SD Card with Windows and check back, if that did any good [emoji4]
Sent from my HTC U11 life using Alien Technology
---------- Post added at 12:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 AM ----------
Back again. Formatted exFat using Mini Tool Partition Wizard on Win10.
Back into phone. Card is recognized but has a different name as before.
The same behavior, as you mentioned initially.
As I have problems with saving apps on my sd card in general which I posted as a reply in https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3720823
SD card write permissions
I will wait until the Folks from HTC write back if this is a common bug, or something specific.
Somehow I think there are general issues with the U11 Life and SD Cards.
If I find any other solution for the naming issues, I will post it here!
Sent from my HTC U11 life using Alien Technology

ucomix said:
Ok, just installed Here we go and have this cryptic name of the external Card as well. First time I'm seeing that.
In Total Commander I see the same cryptic name after the storage Folder like
storage/42463043-2d39-3745-4400-8d8e8d9117a7
In Total. Commander it would offer the option to rename this folder, which I tried, but nothing happened. Didn't even get an Error message but it still won't rename the folder.
Another thing I see, is the Timestamp from the storage card. It shows 1.1.1970 which is always used, if no exact date is found.
Trying to set a different Date caused an error message, saying it is not allowed.
I will try to reformat my SD Card with Windows and check back, if that did any good [emoji4]
Sent from my HTC U11 life using Alien Technology
---------- Post added at 12:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 AM ----------
Back again. Formatted exFat using Mini Tool Partition Wizard on Win10.
Back into phone. Card is recognized but has a different name as before.
The same behavior, as you mentioned initially.
As I have problems with saving apps on my sd card in general which I posted as a reply in https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3720823
SD card write permissions
I will wait until the Folks from HTC write back if this is a common bug, or something specific.
Somehow I think there are general issues with the U11 Life and SD Cards.
If I find any other solution for the naming issues, I will post it here!
Sent from my HTC U11 life using Alien Technology
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are u guys on Oreo

twinnfamous said:
Are u guys on Oreo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aye! Austria and having 8.0 Patchlevel Nov. 1st.
Why? Please don't tell me, this ain't possible anymore with Oreo? [emoji15]
I mean, I can tell Spotify and Apps like the Camera, to use the SD-Card as Memory, but Apps can't be transferred.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

ucomix said:
Aye! Austria and having 8.0 Patchlevel Nov. 1st.
Why? Please don't tell me, this ain't possible anymore with Oreo? [emoji15]
I mean, I can tell Spotify and Apps like the Camera, to use the SD-Card as Memory, but Apps can't be transferred.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's how Android 8.0 is made its not a bug it changes the name on purpose. U can look it up in the storage changes

twinnfamous said:
That's how Android 8.0 is made its not a bug it changes the name on purpose. U can look it up in the storage changes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, the naming convention might then be so, as long as it doesn't affect the capabilities of an external Card to work as a real extension of the internal memory!
Sent from my HTC U11 life using Alien Technology

If I need to re-set storage changes in some apps after a reboot, this "feature" in Android O is a fail!
But: I also tested an older Card from Trancent which is too slow and small for my needs. But this Card got a completely different, shorter name, which doesn't change it's name after multiple reboots.
I think the name change does effect only with some card types.

aliosha10 said:
If I need to re-set storage changes in some apps after a reboot, this "feature" in Android O is a fail!
But: I also tested an older Card from Trancent which is too slow and small for my needs. But this Card got a completely different, shorter name, which doesn't change it's name after multiple reboots.
I think the name change does effect only with some card types.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is actually the real problem behind this issue?
As I have found out, Oreo has a different naming convention for external Cards, but that shouldn't decrease functionality.
I know, it looks weird, but as long as you are able to write onto the card, it is simply an "optical" problem.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/09/android-8-0-oreo-thoroughly-reviewed/8/
If you scroll down a bit, you'll find The new "SDCardFS"*file system wrapper
There it is being mentioned, that the Naming convention has been changed with Oreo.
Hope that helps.
Sent from my HTC U11 life using Alien Technology

In about 5 apps I set the storage to external SDcard. When, after a reboot, the card has a different name, the app changes the storage back to internal storage. And then I need to set back the storage settings for all these apps.
OK, there are not really many reboots. And it's not much to do with setting up the storage settings. But when I forget to do that and use for example the camera, I have images in 2 different places.
And in Resilio Sync (maybe you know it) I am not able to change the settings back. In this app I need to completely re-config folder sync settings after a reboot. And then I completely need to re-sync these folders.
In summery this "feature" sucks!
Gesendet von meinem HTC U11 life mit Tapatalk

aliosha10 said:
In about 5 apps I set the storage to external SDcard. When, after a reboot, the card has a different name, the app changes the storage back to internal storage. And then I need to set back the storage settings for all these apps.
OK, there are not really many reboots. And it's not much to do with setting up the storage settings. But when I forget to do that and use for example the camera, I have images in 2 different places.
And in Resilio Sync (maybe you know it) I am not able to change the settings back. In this app I need to completely re-config folder sync settings after a reboot. And then I completely need to re-sync these folders.
In summery this "feature" sucks!
Gesendet von meinem HTC U11 life mit Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really wondering, as in my case at least Spotify and the camera don't care about the Card Name, but my problem is, I can't format my card as internal Memory and hence can't move apps there, only tell some Apps they should use the Card as Space for saving.
Bugs me, as I have some bigger Games, which could normally be transferred and some Apps keep getting bigger and bigger with the time.
The system uses 11GB as well, then 32 internal won't be sufficient in the long run
Sent from my HTC U11 life using Alien Technology

I think this feature bug is fixed with latest update (December security fixes). The card gets a much more shorter name and it doesn't change after reboot.
Gesendet von meinem HTC U11 life mit Tapatalk