[MOD] Swap your usb storage with external SD! - Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0, 5.0

Tired of that small 5gb usb storage? Here is my hack to swap your external SD card with the USB storage!
This is usefull especially if you use GPS apps that download maps or games that download big data files! I got the idea and studied several hacks for the galaxy 1900 so partial credit goes to whoever made those hacks.
DISCLAIMER : I have only tested this on the 4.0 U.S version running 2.3.5 and am not responsible for a brick (although it seems impossible to brick your phone while messing with this file).
So basically start by going to /system/etc using root explorer or similar (yes, you need root). Once there backup the vold.fstab file to somewhere ON ROOT (I put it in /data/app/)! This is important so you can access it if you need to restore it (also make sure root explorer is installed on device memory, not SD card). Now take my modified vold.fstab and replace the original in /system/etc, then change the permissions to rw-r--r-- (long click the file, then select permissions) . If all goes right after you reboot your device, USB storage should now be your SD card and vise versa! Be aware any apps on your USB storage will now have to be transfered using a PC, move the .android_secure folder to your SD card. Hope it works!
EDIT: here is a modified version for the yp-g70, all credit goes to rjsmith2007 for making and testing this!

Won't Maps pull data from the Ext SD anyway? All my music is on ext SD and players have no problem finding it; I would think maps would be the same. It's really like a 5gb and 16 gb (in my case) partition (isn't it?).
I'm looking for a reason to root, SD card/space is not one of them. My battery only charging to 90% is though, need to recalibrate (since it's never hit 100%)

tcat007 said:
Won't Maps pull data from the Ext SD anyway? All my music is on ext SD and players have no problem finding it; I would think maps would be the same. It's really like a 5gb and 16 gb (in my case) partition (isn't it?).
I'm looking for a reason to root, SD card/space is not one of them. My battery only charging to 90% is though, need to recalibrate (since it's never hit 100%)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am referring to when you download maps with an app like sygic;
it saves it to the /sdcard/ directory instead of the /sdcard/external_ed/. Also gameloft games do the same and can use up your room pretty fast. I find this pretty useful myself, since I have a 32gb sd card, but just wanted to post it so if anyone does ever need it, it's here for them.

iJimaniac said:
DISCLAIMER : I have only tested this on the 4.0 U.S version running 2.3.5 and am not responsible for a brick (although it seems impossible to brick your phone while messing with this file).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tried it with my Galaxy S Wifi 5.0. The mapping of the internal sd to the external_sd folder fails, but it works for mapping my external sd to the sdcard folder.
Edit: I took a look at the original and made a modification to yours to work with the YP-G70 model (the 5 inch one). Just copy the file from within the zip folder to your /system/etc folder.

rjsmith2007 said:
I just tried it with my Galaxy S Wifi 5.0. The mapping of the internal sd to the external_sd folder fails, but it works for mapping my external sd to the sdcard folder.
Edit: I took a look at the original and made a modification to yours to work with the YP-G70 model (the 5 inch one). Just copy the file from within the zip folder to your /system/etc folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! I appreciate it! I post it on the original post and give you the credit.

Thanks man. I appreciate it. I was trying to do this myself before, but ended up having to format my SDcard and gave up. Thanks for the help!

rjsmith2007 said:
Thanks man. I appreciate it. I was trying to do this myself before, but ended up having to format my SDcard and gave up. Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
glad I could help!

Can't I just copy all of the data from my internal sd card onto my computer, remove the internal sd card, copy those files onto a larger sd card and put the larger sd card back into the galaxy player? Im sorry if this Queston has been asked before, or if it sounds stupid, but I can't find the answer to this Queston anywhere! Thanks in advance!
(P.S) This post was made with a Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0! No joke!

freshpintreez said:
Can't I just copy all of the data from my internal sd card onto my computer, remove the internal sd card, copy those files onto a larger sd card and put the larger sd card back into the galaxy player? Im sorry if this Queston has been asked before, or if it sounds stupid, but I can't find the answer to this Queston anywhere! Thanks in advance!
(P.S) This post was made with a Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0! No joke!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
There's still a bit of confusion with respect to terminology, I think (including myself).
I *think* that when the SGP5 displays "internal sd card", it's only part of the "internal 8GB memory". That "internal 8GB memory" is probably, I guess, something like an SDCARD or flash memory module that's soldered to the mainboard, and with Android, I think that it's split into a couple of areas.
Here's my "guess" of how things are arranged, using the terminology from Settings==>SD card and device storage:
"System storage": Part of the 8gb internal memory, e.g., includes /system, etc.
[1.65GB, in my SGP5]
"USB Storage" = "internal sd card" = /sdcard: The rest of the 8gb internal memory.
[5.01GB, in my SGP5]
"SD Card": The external microSD card, if you have one plugged in. Appears at /sdcard/external_sd.
[29.81GB, in my SGP5, where I have a 32GB microSD card plugged in.]
That System storage + USB Storage totals 1.65+5.01 GB, or 6.66GB. I guess the remainder of the 8GB is for bootloader, etc.?
Jim

Looks about right. Task Manger has them labeled like you list them, except there is a "Personal data" partition. It's 133mb on my 5.0. Maybe email and contacts?
I'm guess apps get installed on "System Storage", plenty of room there without having to move stuff to USB or Ext. I pretty much just use my ext card for media and pictures.

For some reason this caused issues with my Market connecting to the internet, any idea why? Anyone else experience issues with this modification?

Hmm, no no one has mentioned that problem, and I have been using this for months - no problem. Sorry if it did that, have you tried restoring the original? Also, an update to the instructions is to change the permissions to rw-r-r. I didn't notice anything wrong without changing the permissions, but you never know.

jimcpl said:
Hi,
There's still a bit of confusion with respect to terminology, I think (including myself).
I *think* that when the SGP5 displays "internal sd card", it's only part of the "internal 8GB memory". That "internal 8GB memory" is probably, I guess, something like an SDCARD or flash memory module that's soldered to the mainboard, and with Android, I think that it's split into a couple of areas.
Here's my "guess" of how things are arranged, using the terminology from Settings==>SD card and device storage:
"System storage": Part of the 8gb internal memory, e.g., includes /system, etc.
[1.65GB, in my SGP5]
"USB Storage" = "internal sd card" = /sdcard: The rest of the 8gb internal memory.
[5.01GB, in my SGP5]
"SD Card": The external microSD card, if you have one plugged in. Appears at /sdcard/external_sd.
[29.81GB, in my SGP5, where I have a 32GB microSD card plugged in.]
That System storage + USB Storage totals 1.65+5.01 GB, or 6.66GB. I guess the remainder of the 8GB is for bootloader, etc.?
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty close.
https://github.com/Entropy512/initramfs_yp-g70/blob/master/misc/recovery.fstab is the Player 5.0 partition table.
As you can see, nearly everything is on partitions of mmcblk0 - on the Player 5.0, this is eMMC (embedded MMC) storage. The total size of mmcblk0 is 8GB
The partitions here include (but are not limited to):
p10 - EFS - this contains device-specific config data, on phones that includes IMEI, on our device it's probably Bluetooth and WiFi MAC addresses
p11 - Kernel
p12 - Recovery (on some devices, recovery is a separate kernel partition - Samsungs have this partition set aside even though most of their devices don't actually use it. You can put anything you want on p12 and it won't do anything usually. For us, recovery is part of the kernel initramfs on p11)
p13 - /system - This is where the system firmware, often called the "ROM" sits. A number of people are trying to fight the "ROM" terminology, since it's not really true - flash isn't read-only, thus it isn't the "ROM" any more
p14 - In the linked file it's /datadata, but the device actually mounts it as /dbdata - various SQL databases for apps live here
p15 - /cache - a cache partition separate from data. Files stored here are intended to be safely wipable/deletable
p16 - /data - Various user data. Your apps live here unless you've moved them to SD. Most system settings are here too. ICS merges this partition with the internal SD so they are one and the same
p17 - /emmc in recovery and, if someone ever has the time to port it, CM7, /sdcard in Samsung factory firmwares. This is the "internal SD card".
There are a few other partitions that are not touched by recovery that exist, such as the LFS partition and the bootloader partitions. These are all small.
mmcblk1 is the external SD. Usually only one partition, which is /sdcard in recovery/CM7 and /sdcard/external_sd in Samsung factory firmwares
On the 4.0, I believe it uses Samsung's older NAND flash technology and not eMMC, so the partitions on internal storage appear as stlN/bmlN

i think i did something disaster...
i am using Samsung Galaxy W. I did follow your above instruction. The problem is after restarting my phone, I go to setting>storage and it shows total space and available space for SD card and USB storage is UNAVAILABLE. What is available is only Device Memorry which is 1.03GB.
Thinking that your vold.fstab is not compatible with my Samsung Galaxy W, I replace it with the original vold.fstab that I backed up earlier. However this does not solve the problem.
Then what I did is I tried to reset the phone to its original factory setting (Setting>Privacy>Factory Data Reset..),. Unfortunately the same problem still persist. And i think this is silly and catastrophic step since i loss my original vold.fstab which is stored in the internal memory.
Any of you can help me?
Many thanks to all of you

Well, did you change the permissions on your backup back to rw-r--r--? And yes, this mod should only be used for the device intended for. Are you sure that you replaced the modified vold.fstab with the original one? Did it give you an warning about overriding (it should have)? Are you sure you used your backup and not accidentally mine? What program did you use to copy?

Hmm stupid question, but how do you replace the existing file? I am using root explorer an it says it is read-only when I try to paste it in there.
Edit... Never mind... I didn't have it mounted correctly.

I have tried this multiple times, but every time I reboot it says "USB storage damaged, may need reformatting." So I press reformat, and it's done in like 1 sec and the problem still persists.
Any ideas?

Hmm, odd. I know you have the same version player as me, are you running 2.3.5 or 2.3.6, maybe that could affect it? Did you try before you did a lot of modifications to your device? What type of SD card you got, I use a 32gb class sandisk. I don't think that would matter, but you never know. I recall getting that error when I was working on the mod, but I got it fixed before I released it. Weird.

Oh yeah, what do you have your sd card formatted as? I use FAT32, not sure if that could affect it. May want to try reformatting the card on a PC, then try.

I have a 8gb kingston micro sd card, and I'm running 2.3.5. I had this problem a long time ago too when I was still on stock. Maybe it's my sd card. I will reformat it and try again, and if it doesn't work I will try a different sd card.

Related

[ZIP][CM7] Nook Color SDcard and emmc swap!

Ok after many hours tonight I have managed to put together a couple .zip files that will install a modified vold.fstab on your Nook Color. (I am a total n00b at this)
The EMMC of the Nook Color has a partition for the ROM and a 5 GB partition that's mostly if not completely unused. Presently, there aren't any 3rd-party managers to move apps to that unused partition, so I modified the vold.fstab and am now able to use that partition for apps, files, etc.
NC.SWAP.VOLD.ZIP swaps the way the SD and EMMC directories are mounted. By swapping the mount points, and renaming EMMC to SDCARD, your apps, etc., will install to the internal storage, vs. installing to your SDCARD. Your physical SDcard is automatically mounted as "EMMC."
This also means that the music player still finds files, you can move files to "EMMC," and you can still eject the SDcard ("EMMC"), put it back in and it still shows up automatically. Now your NC won't freak out if you pull the card out without unmounting it - all of the apps are on the actual EMMC. You'd just find the SDcard under /mnt/emmc instead of /mnt/sdcard.
Because this ZIP file maps the change at an OS level, when you boot to recovery, your NC sees SD as the SDcard, so no issues occur. When you boot into your ROM, the mount points are swapped and you'll have access to the renamed "SDCARD" (5 GB) on your NC.
Use CWR 3.0.1.0 to install the .zip and check out the results with File Manager.
Thanks go out to Clark008, luciferii and Cali^Gal from #nookcolor, Loonacy and Raymondull from #Cyanogenmod, and EpicFail1236 from XDA.
Sorry if this is a bit crude, it's my first script ever. I would be happy to get any advice on how to make this better!
EDIT: I have been looking into renaming the emmc mount to say SD-External or better yet making it mount as /mnt/sdcard/sd-ext. it might be possible, ill be looking into it as soon as I can got laid up for a bit.
"Because this ZIP file maps the change at an OS level, when you boot to recovery, your NC sees SD as the SDcard, so no issues occur. When you boot into your ROM, the mount points are swapped and you'll have access to the renamed "SDCARD" (5 GB) on your NC."
/\/\ That clarifies a lot compared to the brief orig post. Will likely be flashing it this weekend.
BTW, if this expands and you need this 2nd post just have a mod give it to you. Thanks again!
BRILLIANT. Will be definitely testing this later today. Can't wait to run SD Tools on this
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk
it works! interesting how it'll work out as to unmounting, flashing roms. but with emmc being useless this is fantastic.
Thank you for the effort and time place in this mod
Yeah. The whole point of this was to utilize the 5GB internal emmc and not waste it. The next step is to mod the CWM to mount emmc as /sdcard so you can flash your zips from where you download them to (usually /mnt/sdcard/download), which in this case, goes to your emmc. But CWM will mount your external sdcard instead. For the time being, we can just put the zips we need to flash to the external sdcard, ie. /mnt/emmc.
I don't know if anyone noticed it yet, but if you usb mount after the swap, the transfer speed is kind of slow (~1.5mbps). I don't know if this is due to the emmc or that the read ahead cache needs to be tweaked.
We're open to make this even better. Feel free to comment and provide feedback.
This sounds like a step in the right direction, however, what I would like to see would be merging the emmc with the internal storage. What I mean is this; right now, when I go into "Storage", I see an "SD card" (8gb), "Internal Storage" (0.92gb), and "/mnt/emmc" (5gb). Why can't we combine the .93 Internal and the 5gb emmc together to make a 5.92gb Internal storage and eliminate the emmc from teh storage area? I'm sure there is a reason that I'm not aware of, but it seems that this would be the same as just about every other device. I am pretty sure the ROM is running from the emmc partition, so that has to have something to do with it, but I don't see a purpose for 3 storage places. I keep getting errors when I try to download apps and I don't even have very many installed. I have had to move most of them to the SD card to make room and some apps don't like to be installed on the SD card.
Another option would be to swap the emmc with the Internal storage. Then we'd be using the 5gb and the .92 gb would be sitting there doing nothing instead. Again, I'm sure there are reasons for this, I'm just asking to learn.
I agree.. ideally having the emmc mount be part of the system would be ideal.
Calla969 said:
This sounds like a step in the right direction, however, what I would like to see would be merging the emmc with the internal storage. What I mean is this; right now, when I go into "Storage", I see an "SD card" (8gb), "Internal Storage" (0.92gb), and "/mnt/emmc" (5gb). Why can't we combine the .93 Internal and the 5gb emmc together to make a 5.92gb Internal storage and eliminate the emmc from teh storage area? I'm sure there is a reason that I'm not aware of, but it seems that this would be the same as just about every other device. I am pretty sure the ROM is running from the emmc partition, so that has to have something to do with it, but I don't see a purpose for 3 storage places. I keep getting errors when I try to download apps and I don't even have very many installed. I have had to move most of them to the SD card to make room and some apps don't like to be installed on the SD card.
Another option would be to swap the emmc with the Internal storage. Then we'd be using the 5gb and the .92 gb would be sitting there doing nothing instead. Again, I'm sure there are reasons for this, I'm just asking to learn.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have no idea TBH but thats far beyond my ability. really it would be nice to symlink emmc to the SD card or the other way around. the issue is that you cant symlink with fat partitions :-/
This is neet. I don't know enough to comment, but it looks valuble for some people.
I just use my stock emmc for music storage and let apps sit on SD w/ videos.
WobbleTheHutt said:
i have no idea TBH but thats far beyond my ability. really it would be nice to symlink emmc to the SD card or the other way around. the issue is that you cant symlink with fat partitions :-/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, but you can symlink to them. Why not set vold.fstab to mount the partitions onto other names and make symlinks named /sdcard -> /othername? That way, the symlinks can do their jobs or rearranging the namespace to suit our needs.
The ramfs isn't FAT32, is it?
I'm an old cmdline type, tricks like this are used all the time to fool software with stubborn opinions about filenames.
Dennis
Jiggity Janx said:
If this works as effectively as it sounds like it will it's gonna rock! With the multiple wifi/bluetooth file transfer options I can say bye bye to the need for an sd card!
EDIT: I think this thread is eerily quiet because of the popular advice written up HERE. Specifically #5...
IMO, with a great write up on the best ways to work with this, all of the things it will affect (positive and negative), and the proper words of warning then the individuals that take it upon themselves to modify their devices are the only ones that can be held responsible if it doesn't work out as they had hoped. They also have to understand that when they work outside the boundaries of an accepted "standard" that they are somewhat desolate and will need to come back into the fold before they can/will be helped...
Just my .02...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This may be slightly off topic, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what that post is complaining/ talking about, I have had no trouble bouncing between HC, CM7 and stock.
All you have to do is flash to stock and then worst case you force the boot failure and the nook resets its self automatically
The last few posts on that message are myself and another person who have had not trouble with that now the OP hasn't responded so i'm not sure what to make up that post.
Is it real and an actual issue?
Or did the poster overreact to something?
Can some one please explain it to me if I am wrong about something in using a EMMC version of HC?
chisleu said:
This is neet. I don't know enough to comment, but it looks valuble for some people.
I just use my stock emmc for music storage and let apps sit on SD w/ videos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems neet to me also. Always interested in using both emmc and sd space.
@ chisleau - I like the concept of putting all my music on emmc. Do you use an option in CM7 to install or move all your apps to your SD card?
thinking out loud (and not actually doing it) -- but we know that /data is /dev/block/mmcblk0p6 and and the "media" or "emmc" is located at /dev/block/mmcblk0p8 -- can't we just repartition and merge the two?
minotauri said:
thinking out loud (and not actually doing it) -- but we know that /data is /dev/block/mmcblk0p6 and and the "media" or "emmc" is located at /dev/block/mmcblk0p8 -- can't we just repartition and merge the two?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We can repartition but don't do it for this Reason -#5 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=12494638&postcount=1
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=12494666&postcount=2
ROMs that follow proper packaging - This emmc swap mod is one of them. So we're fine for those who are still hesitating.
Clark008 said:
ROMs that follow proper packaging - This emmc swap mod is one of them. So we're fine for those who are still hesitating.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I was hesitating, but between your post above and the "Thanks" from fattire to the OP, that is all the encouragement I need to take the plunge.
A few questions, tho, if someone can help me to understand this better....
I guess until I saw the OP, I did not realize that all apps in CM7 are installed to the SD card, as when I look at my installed apps in App Mgr, they don't show as being on the SD card. Is this some sort of CM7 voodoo or are my apps really on the internal memory?
Right now, with CM7, I am using the EMMC partition to store my music, under "My Files/Music". Power Amp can see this folder and it will play all my music just fine from within that directory on the internal partition, so if I install this update, what will that do to the 5Gb of internal storage I have now and the music on it?
Also, if I do install this update, what will happen to the apps and their associated data that I already have installed? Is this best done on a fresh build or will everything (apps/data and music) be A-OK after the Swap update is applied?
Just want to know what I am getting into by applying this update, as I have things pretty stable right now. If I could roll with apps on internal and music on SD, I would be more than fine with that, as long as I don't lose any of my apps/data/music in the process. If this is just mere partition re-naming/re-pointing, then I suspect my assets will remain intact?
Thanks to all who collaborated on this project!
why can't the entire internal partitions be imaged?
i use dd all the time to backup my sd card installs in case a test kernel or nightly goes poorly- or to burn a fresh install for multiple people. I just pop in the sd card into my laptop and burn the image back to the sd card.
if this was possible i'd have no issues with running off internal entirely if i could just burn the img. and get everything back as stock, including important device identifiers incase those were erased.
Need undo
This did what it's supposed to do but it seems to be causing a problem with the way I'm booting from sd. Is there a way to undo this?
Bump since I found this useful. +1 for CWM sdcard/emmc swap to enable SDcard-less flashing goodness from ROM Manager.

Use an external sd card as internal storage

Today I got a 32 GB, SanDisk Micro SDCard, mainly for the use with Google Music (I have a 7,200+ library). However, I didn't find a source which had a solid solution, to at least have Google Music use the external sd card. So, I just messed around with it, and I found out how to Swap (reverse) the sd card 'locations', properly.
In vold.fstab, in the directory /system/etc/, you have two lines. Edit them with Root explorer's included "text editor", or any other good text editor. Make sure you have r/w on. Find the below two lines:
Code:
# external sd card
dev_mount sdcard_ext /mnt/sdcard-ext:none:lun1 auto /devices/platform/tegra-sdhci.2/mmc_host/mmc3 /devices/platform/tegra-sdhci.2/mmc_host/mmc1
and
Code:
# internal eMMC
dev_mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard 18 /devices/platform/tegra-sdhci.3/mmc_host/mmc0
What I did, and what proved successful (to use both internal, and external storage, which are reversed), is this:
Code:
# external sd card
dev_mount sdcard_ext [COLOR="Red"]/mnt/sdcard[/COLOR]:none:lun1 auto /devices/platform/tegra-sdhci.2/mmc_host/mmc3 /devices/platform/tegra-sdhci.2/mmc_host/mmc1
and
Code:
# internal eMMC
dev_mount sdcard [COLOR="Red"]/mnt/sdcard-ext[/COLOR] 18 /devices/platform/tegra-sdhci.3/mmc_host/mmc0
Replace the regular lines, with the red lines, save, restart your phone, and BAM, your internal is now marked as external, and your external, is now your internal
I use Stock 154_5, Unlocked, rooted.
Enjoy, and press the thanks button
Also, you can revert them back, if you changed them. Just put the stock code back into the file.
Also, I just discovered:
You can only use the internal storage, when connecting to a computer. The 'internal' (which, we switched around), will not be detected. If you do connect your device to a computer, after you disconnect it, the 'internal', storage, which is really the external, because we switched it, will not be detected, and you must restart your phone.
I'll test this on MIUI. I have the 64GB version. Same problem.
ZeroManArmy said:
I'll test this on MIUI. I have the 64GB version. Same problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool. Let me know if it works. Yeah, 64 GB only for movies and pictures.... Isn't worth it for me. Lol
What do you have for CM9 or MIUI?
ZeroManArmy said:
What do you have for CM9 or MIUI?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Stock 154_5, Unlocked, rooted.
URGENT,
i am using samsung galaxy note device , i have follow your instruction to change the vold.hstab file.
Now my device has recognize my ext sd card as sdcard. But my device cant recognise my internal sdcard, so i have lose my root explorer. and I couldn't reedit the vold.hstab file back.
I have try to hardreset, and try to reinstall root explorer, but it always give an restart and error : "process.media force close "
From my understanding the failure of installing the root explorer because my device can't recognise sdcard anymore
I go to setting--> storage , I found the sdcard is not detected, only usb storage detected
how to solve this problem?
n1cky6969 said:
URGENT,
i am using samsung galaxy note device , i have follow your instruction to change the vold.hstab file.
Now my device has recognize my ext sd card as sdcard. But my device cant recognise my internal sdcard, so i have lose my root explorer. and I couldn't reedit the vold.hstab file back.
I have try to hardreset, and try to reinstall root explorer, but it always give an restart and error : "process.media force close "
From my understanding the failure of installing the root explorer because my device can't recognise sdcard anymore
I go to setting--> storage , I found the sdcard is not detected, only usb storage detected
how to solve this problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well your problem is because, this is for the Photon 4G. Not the Note. Have you tried other File managers, such as Antek?
D2dyno said:
Well your problem is because, this is for the Photon 4G. Not the Note. Have you tried other File managers, such as Antek?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyhow, It is impossible to install any applications, if try to install,device will restart
But, it's okay now, I have reflash my rom, all the problem solved
Thanks for your responds
n1cky6969 said:
Anyhow, It is impossible to install any applications, if try to install,device will restart
But, it's okay now, I have reflash my rom, all the problem solved
Thanks for your responds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, and I'm glad to help.
Man am I happy I came across this thread!!!
I've been reading forever in some of the rom threads for an answer to this question! A few of the roms I've tried out had the internal and external storage swapped with no option to switch and that kept me from using them because I use internal storage for apps data and such and then my external memory card for backups and personal files!
The only 2 roms that this can be fixed in is jokers CM9-unofficial-ICS rom (there is actually an Advanced Option in Settings) and the MIUI.us port (there is a storage mod flashable swap, which didn't work for me, and there is an option in the Aroma installer to choose what you want for Internal Storage).
Now that I've come across this, imma try it out and see if I can't get it to work on some other roms I have used!
Thanks for the discovery! I'll let ya know how it works out for me!
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
Jleeblanch said:
Man am I happy I came across this thread!!!
I've been reading forever in some of the rom threads for an answer to this question! A few of the roms I've tried out had the internal and external storage swapped with no option to switch and that kept me from using them because I use internal storage for apps data and such and then my external memory card for backups and personal files!
The only 2 roms that this can be fixed in is jokers CM9-unofficial-ICS rom (there is actually an Advanced Option in Settings) and the MIUI.us port (there is a storage mod flashable swap, which didn't work for me, and there is an option in the Aroma installer to choose what you want for Internal Storage).
Now that I've come across this, imma try it out and see if I can't get it to work on some other roms I have used!
Thanks for the discovery! I'll let ya know how it works out for me!
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear! ICS ROMs handle external SD cards way better, so I prefer them now.
D2dyno said:
Glad to hear! ICS ROMs handle external SD cards way better, so I prefer them now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear you there! The ICS roms rock! Jokers ICS rom has been my favorite due to the option to switch to use Internal memory for apps/app data. The other CM9 variants (AOKP/AOKPCB) had it default to use external memory as storage for apps/app data with NO option to swap. Now that I came across this, when my battery is a little better than 37% lol, imma do your mentioned edits!
Only difference from what I see from stock is that instead of "sdcard-ext" its "emmc". My current setup has "emmc" set as sdcard-ext (external storage) and sdcard as, well sdcard (internal storage) lol.
My issue has been that those have been swapped where "emmc" = internal storage and "sdcard" = external storage. With it being that way, it makes it a PIA to restore from Titanium Backup.
But this is all a thing of the past haha
I'm glad I'm not scared to read (like I feel like a lot of users are). I've seen a lot of posts where ppl were asking about how to swap the storage locations with no solid answers. Granted I didn't come across this solution immediately either...BUT I did and I plan to link to this thread and give you props in hopes that others find this useful as I know others are definitely having the same issue!
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
I just successfully tested this on the AOKPCB from and it worked perfectly! Not gonna lie, that makes me VERY happy!!
Maybe everyone typing thanks could actually "THANK" this person?
Works on tablet
Ok tried this on a cheap tablet that I bought for playing around like this. An Arnova AN 7G3 7" with 4gb memory, 2 gb internal and 2gb internal sdcard. It was close to your file, all I had to change was sdcard and extsd. Before I did the switch and after seeing someone had trouble with apks after the switch, I made sure to move all apks to tablet, then copied all folders from sd to extsd. I also made a copy of the orignial vold file, just incase. Changed vold file rebooted and everything was great. Made a copy of altered vold file, then replaced with orignial and rebooted.....all still ok, replaced file with altered file and rebooted ,again all ok. Moved all apks that I could move to sdcard from tablet, free up 650mg on tablet. All moved apks worked fine.
AN 7 G3 is rooted out box runing stock ICS 4.0.1
Thanks for the info
ALD3 said:
F theOk tried this on a cheap tablet that I bought for playing around like this. An Arnova AN 7G3 7" with 4gb memory, 2 gb internal and 2gb internal sdcard. It was close to your file, all I had to change was sdcard and extsd. Before I did the switch and after seeing someone had trouble with apks after the switch, I made sure to move all apks to tablet, then copied all folders from sd to extsd. I also made a copy of the orignial vold file, just incase. Changed vold file rebooted and everything was great. Made a copy of altered vold file, then replaced with orignial and rebooted.....all still ok, replaced file with altered file and rebooted ,again all ok. Moved all apks that I could move to sdcard from tablet, free up 650mg on tablet. All moved apks worked fine.
AN 7 G3 is rooted out box runing stock ICS 4.0.1
Thanks for the info
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear it works on more than just GB
Thanks
D2dyno said:
Glad to hear it works on more than just GB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks as I have been trying to find info for months. I posted in Arnova section of Arctablet news on how to do this tablet and a heads up and Thanks to YOU as well as a link to your work here. Hope you don't mind and did give credit to YOU. Check it out when you have time
http://www.arctablet.com/blog/forum...n-7-g3-recognize-you-micro-sd-as-internal-sd/
Just saw this topic and I have a (noob) question.
Does this work on any android phone or it's specific for this Moto one?

Internal SD card partition lost, help!

SOLVED - did a factory reset from inside CM9 and checked the box to format the sd card (god knows why this worked but the one in recovery didn't..also, why the hell didn't i think of this sooner? could have saved myself a week of searching)
while i was tinkering around trying to fix "mediaserver" (was killing my battery) i started to format my internal sd card memory (after backing it up)...for whatever reason i choose to do this via windows with the quick format off (wanted to scan for bad sectors and crap) then i forgot it was still running and unplugged my phone :facepalm:
novice mistake, i know.
anyhow, i've got adb up and running again, but i haven't been able to find a guide to fix it, or the info to bring up the partition tables, most sites give me specific commands to deal with the external card, but not ones to figure out how CM9\sgs2 is partitioned
ideally i'd like to just restore the partition, I do have backups if that's not possible though.
Phone is up and running fine minus that partition (which of course many apps rely on to store data, most don't have options to redirect it to my sd card.
any info on how CM9\sgs2 is partitioned or how to use ADB to find out would be greatly appreciated
Boot into your recovery and format your SD from within the recovery. That should fix it.
Lennyz1988 said:
Boot into your recovery and format your SD from within the recovery. That should fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
already tried that, the partition fails to mount, when i put my external sd card in the "sd card" partition mounts, but emmc doesn't (the sd card partition now being my external instead of my internal memory)
anyone even have a idea where i can find info on partitioning the internal memory? i've been searching as much as i can but i mostly only get link2sd pages, nothing on how to actually partition the internal memory
::edit:: i've made some progress, i've managed to install and operate parted via adb, but the version i have doesn't seem to support fat 32, i deleted then remade the partition but the phone still won't recognize it. cwm recovery is telling me "failed to mount /dev/block/mmcblk11 (invalid argument)" other pages seemed to imply that if i can get the partition to fat32 with a block size of 4096 it might work.
a factory reset from inside CM9 with the sd card format box checked did the trick, not sure why it took me a week of googling to figure that out :/ (wtb a facepalm emoticon)
"CM" you mean ?
CM = CyanogenMode?
CyanogenMod Kernel for Galaxy ?
"CyanogenMode" by installin from default ClockWorkMode? section of "Install ZIp from SD" ?
I need to re-partition Internal Memory too.
searched & found this your Topic.
would you please tell me what exactly has been done to fix re-partitioning internal memory?
maybe it can be so Important and Sticky.
Reza_Sadeghi said:
"CM" you mean ?
CM = CyanogenMode?
CyanogenMod Kernel for Galaxy ?
"CyanogenMode" by installin from default ClockWorkMode? section of "Install ZIp from SD" ?
I need to re-partition Internal Memory too.
searched & found this your Topic.
would you please tell me what exactly has been done to fix re-partitioning internal memory?
maybe it can be so Important and Sticky.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I have had the same problem, and if your device is not recognizing/mounting your internal SDcard, Bad news! You`ve lost it...
See this post for more details: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1665123
Next time think on a HTC or (even) Nokia, when you are about to purchase a new gadget (samsung, never ever more...:crying.
SociedadePsicopata said:
Actually, I have had the same problem, and if your device is not recognizing/mounting your internal SDcard, Bad news! You`ve lost it...
See this post for more details: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1665123
Next time think on a HTC or (even) Nokia, when you are about to purchase a new gadget (samsung, never ever more...:crying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's been a while, but it wasn't lost, i just had to repartition it, i described how i did this a few posts up.
i'm quite happy with my samsung sgsII, i'm not familiar with some of the other devices but i haven't run into any issues i can blame samsung for.
CM9 is exactly what i said it was, cyanogenmod 9. it's a whole rom package, not just a kernal

[Q] Moving data to SDcard with Lollipop

Hi,
I've just updated to Lollipop and had been under the impression that I would now be able to move some game files to my 64gb micro sd card.
However, while the app manager seems to have a 'Move to SD' button, all that seems to do is move files within the internal storage of the device, rather than moving them to the actual SD card. When using ES Explorer, rather than the file manager that comes with the tablet, it has two 'SD cards' one of which is actually part of the 12gb of internal storage.
Is there a way now, without rooting, of moving files to the 'real' sd card rather than this fake virtual one? What is it with the whole fake SD card anyway? What a crap and deliberately misleading way to do it.
Cheers.
woffle99 said:
Hi,
I've just updated to Lollipop and had been under the impression that I would now be able to move some game files to my 64gb micro sd card.
However, while the app manager seems to have a 'Move to SD' button, all that seems to do is move files within the internal storage of the device, rather than moving them to the actual SD card. When using ES Explorer, rather than the file manager that comes with the tablet, it has two 'SD cards' one of which is actually part of the 12gb of internal storage.
Is there a way now, without rooting, of moving files to the 'real' sd card rather than this fake virtual one? What is it with the whole fake SD card anyway? What a crap and deliberately misleading way to do it.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I updated my stock z2 tablet to lollipop yesterday, happy as hell for the return of app2sd, and sadly a few moments after installing the first few apps I noticed precisely this. All of the apps I moved to the sd card do not transfer to the external sd, but to the internal "fake" sd partition (not visible on the file explorer that comes in the device, but es explorer shows it). I mean, this totally defeats the purpose, I still can't use my 32gb card to store app data after all, and everything is where it was on kit kat: inside the limited internal storage (16gb wifi version here). Why on earth do I get the option to transfer to sd if stuff isnt rly being transfered to sd?
I've spent the entire afternoon looking for ppl with similar issues, and even though I found a few, I haven't found a solution or an answer anywhere. Does this happen to only a few ppl? Or is it that most ppl just root/unlock/flash roms and nvr notice this?
Is there anyone around here that can shed some light over this? Goin crazy here :/
There is a new update from Sony which fixes that.
A. 1.28 for 521 or A. 1.30 for 511.
mru55 said:
There is a new update from Sony which fixes that.
A. 1.28 for 521 or A. 1.30 for 511.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now, that I didnt know, and it is awesome news. Thx for the info!
mru55 said:
There is a new update from Sony which fixes that.
A. 1.28 for 521 or A. 1.30 for 511.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only just seen this, but it does indeed seem to work properly having tested just now after the update. Thanks for the info
mru55 said:
There is a new update from Sony which fixes that.
A. 1.28 for 521 or A. 1.30 for 511.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you find this A.1.30 build ?
I'm under A.1.28 rooted and still can't move entire app to SD
Slight bump - but I'm also still afflicted by this, despite my 521 being on 1.28. Can anyone confirm if it should be necessary to factory reset before being able to correctly push apps to the SD card? I use my tablet mainly for games and streaming, so I have a pretty much useless 64GB SD card which is 99.9% empty even after "moving" all my apps and games to the "SD card".
I certainly didn't have to factory reset mine before I could move to SD - it just worked after doing the latest update.
OK, thanks! Looks like something's gone wrong for me then as I still can't do this.
According to Solid Explorer, I've got the following symlinks in my device root:
/sdcard (-> /storage/emulated/legacy)
/sdcard1 (-> /storage/sdcard1)
In /storage, I have a symlink called sdcard0 which also links to /storage/emulated/legacy.
/storage/emulated/legacy, of course, just takes me to my "internal memory". So when an app gets "moved to SD" it ends up staying exactly where it was.
Is there any way to fix this? Can I remove the symlinks safely, or recreate them pointing to the correct place?

Storage issue Asus Padfone S SKU WW_12.2.2.41

Hello fellow Asus Padfone S users, my name is Andy.
I have a question regarding Internal Storage. Using Asus File Manager, I open the Storage Analyzer at bottom.
There I noticed something fishy,there are 9 Gb of memory in Others Tab. When I click the detail, it is said that I'm using only 3 Gb of space. So,where is the other 6 Gb...?
OK,so then I check in Asus File Manager Internal Storage. Then I click the root (my phone isn't rooted) directory withou hiding the system files. There, I see 2 folder, sdcard and storage, which has the same amount as my internal storage.
The sdcard folder contains my internal storage data. But in the storage folder, it contains emulated and sdcard0 folder which the sdcard0 folder has the same data as the sdcard folder in root.
Then I open the emulated folder. In there, I found 2 folders, 0 and legacy folder. And it has the same amount of data as my sdcard folder in root.
So what is this folders means...? They duplicate my internal storage data and making my phone internal storage full. Can I delete the other folders...? Will it corrupt my phone...?
Any opinion on this is much appreciated.
Thank you before.
winged_potato said:
Hello fellow Asus Padfone S users, my name is Andy.
I have a question regarding Internal Storage. Using Asus File Manager, I open the Storage Analyzer at bottom.
There I noticed something fishy,there are 9 Gb of memory in Others Tab. When I click the detail, it is said that I'm using only 3 Gb of space. So,where is the other 6 Gb...?
OK,so then I check in Asus File Manager Internal Storage. Then I click the root (my phone isn't rooted) directory withou hiding the system files. There, I see 2 folder, sdcard and storage, which has the same amount as my internal storage.
The sdcard folder contains my internal storage data. But in the storage folder, it contains emulated and sdcard0 folder which the sdcard0 folder has the same data as the sdcard folder in root.
Then I open the emulated folder. In there, I found 2 folders, 0 and legacy folder. And it has the same amount of data as my sdcard folder in root.
So what is this folders means...? They duplicate my internal storage data and making my phone internal storage full. Can I delete the other folders...? Will it corrupt my phone...?
Any opinion on this is much appreciated.
Thank you before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Asus roms structure these folders differently than other phones. It differs from other devices.
They are basically the same, basically serves as symlinks to internal storage. (It does the same with my phone)
Your actual SD card should be under removeable/MicroSD if its inserted. No other paths unlike internal storage.
With the exception of the padfone s plus...
They do that so apps can save their data directly into internal storage, and the reason why there are many paths to the same is to maximize app saving compatibility.
Regarding to your issue with you running out of memory around 6gbs is taken out right away because the system uses it. You can use 10.77GB out of the 16GB available. After you first set up your device (Im sure its different with custom roms) Different reasons for that.
Its different with different devices and maybe different roms.
Anything other than that just for say around the system takes more, means there is something is wrong and a factory reset usually fixes that. Pretty confusing stuff I know but other manufacturers do the same thing, samsung got backlash when GS4 got released after users complained that the OS used up almost half of their internal storage.
Justatechie said:
Asus roms structure these folders differently than other phones. It differs from other devices.
They are basically the same, basically serves as symlinks to internal storage. (It does the same with my phone)
Your actual SD card should be under removeable/MicroSD if its inserted. No other paths unlike internal storage.
With the exception of the padfone s plus...
They do that so apps can save their data directly into internal storage, and the reason why there are many paths to the same is to maximize app saving compatibility.
Regarding to your issue with you running out of memory around 6gbs is taken out right away because the system uses it. You can use 10.77GB out of the 16GB available. After you first set up your device (Im sure its different with custom roms) Different reasons for that.
Its different with different devices and maybe different roms.
Anything other than that just for say around the system takes more, means there is something is wrong and a factory reset usually fixes that. Pretty confusing stuff I know but other manufacturers do the same thing, samsung got backlash when GS4 got released after users complained that the OS used up almost half of their internal storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for your respon.
Yes,I do know that my SD Card is under Removable.
And yes,I know that 6Gb are taken out for the system. I can looked it in Setting/Storage section.
But what I meant is that the reduction is from the 10 Gb that I have.
What if i delete those copied folders...? Is that OK...?
I'll try to factory reset it and see if the issue occurs. It may take somewhile cause it's frustrating if you Factory Reset your daily devices.
Thank you for your respons...

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