Howdy all,
Just picked up a Gtab today from Office Depot (they match Sears pricing of $349 with no restocking fee).
I also purchased a couple of 4gb MicroSDHC cards to play around with the different ROMs Reobeet and others are developing. Great job guys..keep up the great work.
Here's my question.. Can I access the SDcard2 on my Gtab from my Windows 7 file explorer? When I connect the Gtab to the PC via USB, I see the Gtab as my E:\ drive. Opening up the E:\ drive shows the following folders:
.android_secure
Android
backups
DCIM
download
LOST.DIR
But not the SDCARD2 or any of the other directories or files is see from the Gtab ES File Explorer.
What do I need on the Windows 7 PC to view and manage files on the Gtab, internal storage and the SDcard2?
Thanks for your help.. I think I'm going to like learning how to Mod my Gtab.
Great work guys and a great forum to share information.
Sincerely,
Gramps..
Gramps said:
Howdy all,
Here's my question.. Can I access the SDcard2 on my Gtab from my Windows 7 file explorer? When I connect the Gtab to the PC via USB, I see the Gtab as my E:\ drive. Opening up the E:\ drive shows the following folders:
.android_secure
Android
backups
DCIM
download
LOST.DIR
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Drive E as you see is GTab internal 16GB SDcard.
I don't think you can access SDcard2 via windows ( I know I can't).
Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
I did some google searching and found this andriod APK which allowed me to access both the internal memory of the Gtab and the MicroSDHC (SDCard2) memory.
SwiFTP FTP Server
http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/map-android-phone-in-windows-7-to-access-root-files-over-wifi/
This Android application converts your phone/*Gtab* into an FTP server which is accessible by a unique FTP IP generated by the app. You then map the FTP IP to your Windows PC and tada.. you can access your Gtab data (all of it).
See the link above for download and instructions.
Gramps...
Gramps,
If you indeed are going to "play" with mods, then go ahead and side-load a copy of "r4root" and root your tablet.
When you root your tablet, you will be able to see the "/" root directory which has sdcard (your main memory), sdcard2 (your SD cards external), and USBdisk (the directory for your USB port).
I think you should have ES File Manager (right name?) on your stock machine and it may let you see the root directories -- but I'm not sure about accessing them.
Rev
Thanks for asking this Gramps, I was wondering it myself. I did the ftp solution and it works great.
I used to have an HTC desire and whenever I plugged it into my PC it would give me the option to mount as an external drive. I have had an HTC one x plus I no longer have this option I have root etc. and was wondering is there was perhaps an app or ROM which would allow me to do this?
What exactly are you trying to mount? The internal storage of the device or the SD card? If you want access to the internal storage of the device (accessing the YAFFS file system), to my knowledge there is no way to directly access that from the interface of your computer, as it uses a different file system. You can however, use a file viewer app on your phone to view those files, but you would be viewing them from the phone's screen. If you just want to access the SD card, it should automatically appear on your removable devices as soon as you plug in your device.
syung said:
What exactly are you trying to mount? The internal storage of the device or the SD card? If you want access to the internal storage of the device (accessing the YAFFS file system), to my knowledge there is no way to directly access that from the interface of your computer, as it uses a different file system. You can however, use a file viewer app on your phone to view those files, but you would be viewing them from the phone's screen. If you just want to access the SD card, it should automatically appear on your removable devices as soon as you plug in your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the reply, I'm trying to mount the virtual SD do as to make transferring movies, music, files and so on easier and faster than having to sync
No problem, this option should be available even if you root your devices, just select mount as disk drive or whichever option is most similar to that and you should be able to view the contents of the SD card.
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.
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Droidriven said:
It's possible to partition the external sdcard so that it has separate partitions with one of those partitions devoted to internal storage and the other for whatever you want. I'm not versed in specific tools and methods to do it, there are many.
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's right.
TakuSkan said:
How will the OS see the added sd memory after formatted as adoptable storage?
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
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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Many people install apps on the internal storage where those apps have large amounts of data that most people wish to store on the external sdcard, but on Android 11, Google changed the associated external sdcard storage access APIs available to app developers.
This change has caused problems for users of a variety of tools such as OsmAnd~, Total Commander, MapFactor Navigator, HereWeGo Maps, etc., where I just went through the process and want to document it so that others can follow the steps more easily than it took me to figure it out just now.
What I'll do below is document with detailed screenshots the steps I used to migrate the OsmAnd~ map data from non-rooted Android 12 internal storage (where map data is stored by default) to the external sdcard storage.
These are the basic steps as documented in the OsmAnd FAQ.
Go to Settings (on the start screen) --> OsmAnd Settings --> Data storage folder
Change the value to a path pointing to the external SD card, on many Android systems it may contain /storage/extSdCard or similar.
Please note that some versions of Android strictly limit your choice of which path will be write-accessible for apps.
You are then asked if the contents of the OsmAnd data folder should be moved from internal memory to the external SD card.
You may also perform this manually using a built-in file manager app on the device, or via connecting the device to a computer as external storage and performing the move from there.
Following _those_ directions, it seemed to work fine to move my OsmAnd~ 313.26MB of data storage from my internal sdcard to my external sdcard.
OLD: External storage 1
/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/net.osmand.plus/files
NEW: External storage 2
/storage/0000-0001/Android/data/net.osmand.plus/files
Here are the screenshots of that migration process:
First I updated OsmAnd~ to 4.1.11
Then I checked the OsmAnd~ Data storage folder settings
I then migrated the data using the OsmAnd~ Move to ext sdcard command
This moved the internal map data to the external sdcard
I doublechecked using the X-plore file manager
Which showed a path of /storage/0000-0001/Android/data/net.osmand.plus/files
Which were also mounted over Wi-Fi onto the Windows 10 PC as a drive letter
Showing that the files were successfully migrated to the external sdcard
And which Windows adb clearly shows over Wi-Fi using "shell" commands
The Windows drive letter which is the entire Android 12 sdcard, was mounted
over Wi-Fi using the native Windows 10 "NET USE" command, as follows:
C:\> net use Z: \\[email protected]\DavWWWRoot /USER:foobar snafu
Where "foobar" is an arbitrary username set up for read/write in the WebDav server running on Android, and "snafu" is the arbitrary password for it.
Note: The Android 12 phone doesn't have any login account whatsoever & the Windows 10 PC has a username that is different, & which has no password.
The Windows adb commands I just now used for that screenshot were these:
1. This shows the Android phone is connected over Wi-Fi via tcp.
C:\> adb devices
adb-serialnumber._adb-tls-connect._tcp. device
2. This shows Windows adb can read the internal Android storage over Wi-Fi.
C:\> adb shell ls /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/net.osmand.plus
cache
files
C:\> adb shell ls /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/net.osmand.plus/files
tiles
tracks
3. This shows Windows adb can read the external Android storage over Wi-Fi.
C:\> adb shell ls /storage/0000-0001/Android/data/net.osmand.plus/files
Us_california_san-francisco_northamerica.obf
World_basemap_mini.obf
backup
favourites.gpx
fonts
ind.cache
itinerary.gpx
regions.ocbf
rendering
roads
routing
sounds
tiles
tracks
travel
voice
In summary, the screenshots I created show the process graphically that I followed just now with the FOSS OsmAnd~ app to recover from the changes Google made in Android 11 and up to the storage model for apps saving data onto the external sdcard. As far as I know, the recovery process for similar apps should use similar steps.
Please let me know if you need more information about how this was done as I'm trying to help others by documenting these steps.
Note:
The phone is an unrooted Android 12 Samsung Galaxy A32-5G with both an internal storage card /storage/emulated/0 and an external storage card /storage/0000-0001 (where the external sdcard was formatted with that easy-to-remember 0000-0001 identifier years ago using a Windows PC).
Can we ditch the HDD/SSD of PC and use smartphone storage instead?
Is it possible to create an NTFS partition in the smartphone storage that will be used as a bootable external HDD/SSD drive that can boot a PC?
Try this:
How to Recover Your PC Using an Android Device
PC won't boot? No other computer available to make a recovery USB? Here's how to create a bootable USB in Android without a PC.
www.makeuseof.com
I'm talking about using the phone's storage as the main storage also of a PC for daily use, not just for a one-time boot.
You would first have to find an old phone that has the ability to run mass storage. Then you can experiment.
You can install a Windows Emulator on your Phone.Look inside here:
2 Best Windows Emulator for Android Phones (Working) 2023
Looking for Best Windows emulator for Android phones? Check out these 2 best Windows PC emulators for Android. (100% Working)
techonation.com
Why not on Windows PC install the Windows Subsystem for Android ( WSA ) and run Android OS natively directly on PC?
The point is to combine the phone storage and the PC storage to one storage, to be able to manage your data in one place.
Dividing the storage to (at least) 3 partitions:
1. Android OS
2. Data (Documents, Music, Video...)
3. Windows OS
You don't need to manage your Data twice.
All your Data and changes is available to you at home and on the road.
You don't need Cloud or Sync solutions.
Offline.
What you want to get achieved simply is impossible IMO: in any case a server as MITM-machine is needed.
Only to have mentioned it: both the Windows OS and the Android OS store files in incompatible filesystems.
Didn't know Windows can installed on portable drives... I feel this is mainly a Windows question. I remember there was such funny thing BartPE.
Stamimail said:
Can we ditch the HDD/SSD of PC and use smartphone storage instead?
Is it possible to create an NTFS partition in the smartphone storage that will be used as a bootable external HDD/SSD drive that can boot a PC?
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If I understand your question, try the Drivedroid app, it can be used to make an Android device function as a bootable drive to boot PC from the Android device.
Also, there are some methods to dual boot on Android.
I'm talking about a situation where everything happens simultaneously:
1. First partition serves the phone to run Android OS. (The phone works normally. You can have a call on the phone)
2. The second partition serves both the phone and the computer, for User Data.
3. The third partition serves the computer to run Windows OS.
@Stamimail please answer yourself first
3. have you ever installed any Windows on external usb hard disk/ssd drive? Is that even possible? Idk
Yes, a long time ago.
Also a short internet search shows that it is possible.
I see there such thing Windows to go.
https://www.easyuefi.com/wintousb/index.html
probably easiest workaround is rooted android device with MicroSD card provided as UMS.
[APP][ROOT] USB MASS STORAGE Enabler v1.6
This app is to enable Mass Storage Mode for mounting your Memory Card as a USB Drive in Computer from your rooted device [Android 4.0+].. It does not mount internal storage, and it will not work if your device doesn't have External Memory Card...
forum.xda-developers.com
or try Drivedroid.
[APP][2.2+] DriveDroid - host ISO/IMG files to boot your PC from
DriveDroid allows you to boot your PC from ISO/IMG files stored on your phone. This is ideal for trying Linux distributions or always having a rescue-system on the go... without the need to burn different CDs or USB pendrives. The paid version of...
forum.xda-developers.com
In further reading, I get the impression that the big problem is that internal storage always has better performance than external storage.
I don't know why external storage can't be made to be as good as internal.
So the question now is:
If people decide it's a good idea, is it technically possible to implement this idea (that phone storage will replace computer storage)?
you can repartition userdata partition with gdisk and create another partition. this partition can be provided as UMS.
However, windows is known for dancing rumba on disk, you probably won't have much fun till emmc is weared-out.