[Q] How to use /mnt/emmc/ (external sd card) for applications? - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

As you know in Sgs 2 there are internal storage, sd card (also built in phone) and additionaly external sd card slot. I would like to use this external one as location to move installed apps. There is option in application manager to move some apps to sd card but to the one built in, not the external. I have 32GB external card while built sd card has now only 100 MB free space and I can't download data for installed apps.
How to use external card for apps installation or moving some already installed apps on it?

Your internalSD is part of your phone where as the externalSD is not .You can backup apps to the externalSD but thats all.If you pass working apps to the externalSD you take them out of the system and so out of the phone and they will stop working.That is why there is only the option to move apps to SD (internal).

there is an additional option in the android system, to set a partition for your apps on external SD, you cant do this with Stock Rom anyway, but no idea on SGS2, any custom rom has offered this option so far.... this partition called "sd-ext" see the definition below:
"This is not a standard Android partition, but has become popular in the custom ROM scene. It is basically an additional partition on your SD card that acts as the /data partition when used with certain ROMs that have special features called APP2SD+ or data2ext enabled. It is especially useful on devices with little internal memory allotted to the /data partition. Thus, users who want to install more programs than the internal memory allows can make this partition and use it with a custom ROM that supports this feature, to get additional storage for installing their apps. Wiping this partition is essentially the same as wiping the /data partition – you lose your contacts, SMS, market apps and settings."

Ok, so any idea about such like ROMs or any manual/instruction thread?

Related

Everything about partitions...!!!

Clear your doubts guys!!!
Ok, so here's the deal, in a very longwinded way that should hopefully explain everything and answer ALL questions.
You have an SD card in your phone and, a bit like normal PC Hard Drives, you can "partition" them (split them into two or more sections of different filesystems). Normally, your SD card is just one big FAT32 partition, which is fine for storing your pics, messages, emails, etc.
Now, other then your Phone's SD card, your phone will have its own internal flash memory (or "NAND") storage. Tradditionally with Android, you could only install applications to this NAND storage, you cannot install them onto your SD card. So if you have an empty 32GB SD card, but only 5Mb of internal phone storage, you still wont be able to install many apps, if any at all.
This was done to protect the apps from things like piracy - it's not easy to access the location where apps are installed on your phone's internal storage (normally impossible without root), so you can't for example buy an app, copy it, refund it, then install it again.
Still, this is no good for those of us who like to install lots and lots of apps, legitimately, as we run out of internal storage very quickly.
So Google came up with a way to install apps to the SD card. A folder is created called something like .android_secure and this stores (I believe) encrypted versions of applications, but there's a few catches:
1) Apps aren't automatically stored here, you have to manually "move" them
2) Not all apps are capable of being moved, in fact most apps aren't, the developer needs to update their app and allow it. Some apps aren't and wont be updated and some developers may not want to allow it for whatever reason.
3) Not all app data is moved, most of it is but some data is left on your phone so many people still run out of internal storage quickly.
4) You can force ALL apps to be moved to this area by default, but it breaks incompatible ones - such as Widgets, which are unable to load due to the SD card not being "prepared".
So that's Froyo's version. Before Froyo existed, some very clever people came up with a thing called "Apps2SD". Remember I said that your SD card normally is one big FAT32 partition? Well, Apps2SD works by having your SD card patitioned into TWO filesystems. A normal FAT32 partition for your usual stuff and a secondary "EXT" partition. EXT is just a filesystem, like FAT32 or NTFS, but it's the filesystem used by Android internally. The SD card is normally FAT32 because it's a "universal" filesystem, that just about any machine will be able to read, whereas EXT filesystems are generally Linux only, but I digress.
EXT has several different versions. The most common one you'll see is ext3. The main difference between ext2 and ext3 is "journaling", which is just a fancy way of saying that should an operation (such as copying, writing or reading) be interrupted unexpectedly (say, by you turning your phone off), then no data should be lost or corrupted. You know how when you turn your phone on, it says "preparing SD card"? It takes a few minutes, but what it's actually doing is checking that the FAT32 partition hasn't been damaged, because FAT does NOT have journaling. If you used a computer back in the Windows 98 days, you may remember that lovely blue "Scandisk" screen that had to run every time you didn't shut your computer down correctly - that's the same thing. But then Windows 2000/XP came along with NTFS, which also has journaling, meaning you had less chance of loosing data. But I digress once more.
So you have your SD card partitioned into EXT and FAT32. Generally it doesn't matter if it's ext3 or ext4, but you don't get any real advantage with ext4 over ext3 in this instance. Apps2SD then runs a special script on your phone which "symbolically links" the folder from your phone's internal storage where your apps are normally stored, to the ext partition on your SD card. A symbolic link is a bit like a shortcut for folders, except it's transparent to the OS: In other words, Android doesn't know that when it's installing it's apps to the internal phone storage, it's actually being stored on the SD card. This effectively boosts your internal phone memory from the previous 5mb that you had in my example above, up to whatever size you made the ext partition on your SD card (often 512Mb or 1Gb, but it depends on how many apps you install).
Plus, because it's "journaled", it doesn't need to be "prepared", meaning it's ready to go as soon as the phone starts - so your widgets and apps work immediately (unlike "forced" Froyo Apps2SD, where widgets disappear).
The catch with Apps2SD is that whatever space the ext partition takes up is taken away from the SD card. So if you have a 4Gb card (with something like 3.5Gb of actual storage) and you make a 512Mb ext partition, your SD card will "shrink" to 3Gb. The space isn't actually lost, it's just being used by the ext partition. If you reformat your card, you'll get it back.
Finally, there's a difference between "Apps2SD" and "Apps2SD+". Remember I said that your apps are stored on a special folder inside your Phone's NAND storage? Well, that was a bit of a lie. It's actually stored in TWO places. There's a second area which is called the Davlik Cache. You don't really need to worry about what this is for (Hint: IT's to do with the Java runetime your phone uses to run apps), all you need to know is that apps use it to store data, which also eats up internal phone memory. Apps2SD+ moves davlik cache to the ext partition on your SD card as well, freeing up even more space. Some people believe that this may come at the cost of performance, as the internal NAND memory should be faster than your SD card (Which is why you also get people arguing over which "class" SD card is better for Apps2SD - the logic being that a faster SD card means less impact from this move), but the truth of the matter is that your applications will be running from your Phone's RAM anyway, so performance isn't really impacted at all. Since most apps are only a few hundred Kb's in size, or a couple of MB at the most, it's a non-issue.
Finally, any recent version of Apps2SD/Apps2SD+ should work with an SD card that is or isn't formatted with an ext partition. It'll check for this partition when your phone first boots and if it's not there, just use internal phone storage.
Having an ext partition WITHOUT Apps2SD+ shouldn't cause any issues, either, so you can format your SD card whenever you're ready.
So in summary:
Apps2SD "fakes" your phone's internal memory and puts it all on a hidden section of your SD card.
Apps2SD+ pushes even more content to the SD card, freeing up even more space on the phone itself.
"Froyo" Apps2SD has various limitations that "old" apps2SD does not, but is much easier to handle as it doesn't involve any kind of "partitioning".
IF U LIKE HIT THANKS​
Good idea, mate

[Q] Problem With Transfering Apps To External

I use DT App2sd, I can't remember the partition sizes of my SD but at Titanium Backup's initial page it says like this
SD Card: 6,64 GB (688 mb free)
SD Card (a2sd): 1,02GB (891mb free)
According to this figures, I should have a lot of space to use, but I can't move an app from internal to External. When I try it says "Failed to move app. There's not enough storage left" What can be the problem? And by the way, which partition on the card do they go into when I install applications? İnto SD-Ext or Swap or other normal using space left?
1.) Has the app been written to allow it to function from /sdcard?
2.) How big is the app?
3.)When you install by default, apps should go into the internal memory BUT this depends on the settings you made in CM7.1 There is a setting that allow you to specify where you want the app to be installed to cos CM7.1 has an inbuilt app2sd function (not darktremor's)
4.) Once you have a2sd enabled with an ext4 partition and you install an app into internal memory, the app will either go into your real internal memory or sd-ext (a2sd)
happily1986 said:
1.) Has the app been written to allow it to function from /sdcard?
2.) How big is the app?
3.)When you install by default, apps should go into the internal memory BUT this depends on the settings you made in CM7.1 There is a setting that allow you to specify where you want the app to be installed to cos CM7.1 has an inbuilt app2sd function (not darktremor's)
4.) Once you have a2sd enabled with an ext4 partition and you install an app into internal memory, the app will either go into your real internal memory or sd-ext (a2sd)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) It's not about only for a specific app, I can't move other apps as well. But other small sized apps can be move. And yes, all of them suitable to work from SD.
2) It's a game and about 10mb.
3) I had that settings (for install location) to Automatic and application moving is allowed too. So theres nothing wrong here.
4) I guessed so, then though I have plenty of spaces why I cant move them? Whats the problem? God, I hate such things.
Ok i take it that your sd-ext partition is working fine since Titanium Backup can see it. I would like you to set the install location to Internal. My idea is to force the apps to be installed in the sd-ext partition.
Next, i would like you to go to Titanium Backup>Batch>Move user apps to internal memory.
They should all be shunted to the sd-ext partition. the sd-ext partition is regarded as a virtual internal memory space now hence, the shift to internal.

[Q] external_sd folder And external SD card

Hi all!
I have recently brought an 16GB External SD card for my SGSII, to store my Titanium Backups. I found the external_sd folder in the internal sd card, and thought that it was the External SD card, so i placed all my backups there. But just recently it seems like i have run out of space on the phone, so i can't update some of my apps. I started deleting a lot of photos and videos from my phone and cleared 2.5GB, but i still can't update some of my apps. I began looking through my folders, and noticed that i also have an External SD card partition on my phone. The same one i see when the phone is connected to the pc. In it i can see a Clockwork Recovery folder containing my ROM backups. So i began wondering if the external_sd folder is actually located on the phone and not in the External SD card. Can anyone confirm this?
Also, when i open the Storage (i think that's what it's called) section in the settings on CM10, and noticed that i have 2 Internal Storage sections, one of them has only App data, and the other has photos, apps, music etc. and a SD Card section, with 6.64GB storage left. Does anyone know why is there is 2 Internal Storage sections?
Thank you in advance!
/gammarik
As far as I know the "external_sd" is your removable external SD card. For some inexplicable reason it mounts as a sub-directory from the internal SD card, but it is definitely your removable external SD card.
I have a feeling that Jellybean brings a change and the external SD card mounts in a different way to ICS. I had only a brief experience of this when I played with the leaked ROM but I have reverted to ICS because of battery drain problems.
Your internal memory is partitioned with about 500MB for the system ROM, and 2GB reserved for app installations. Once this fills to around 85-90% you'll begin hitting problems with insufficient storage space errors. If you move apps to SD then this will make use of the data partition of your internal memory (about 12GB available to user on a 16GB device).
I'm running JB (Rootbox 3.2). I set the target path as /extSdCard/Titanium Backup in Preferences for it to work.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
Mr Anderson said:
As far as I know the "external_sd" is your removable external SD card. For some inexplicable reason it mounts as a sub-directory from the internal SD card, but it is definitely your removable external SD card.
I have a feeling that Jellybean brings a change and the external SD card mounts in a different way to ICS. I had only a brief experience of this when I played with the leaked ROM but I have reverted to ICS because of battery drain problems.
Your internal memory is partitioned with about 500MB for the system ROM, and 2GB reserved for app installations. Once this fills to around 85-90% you'll begin hitting problems with insufficient storage space errors. If you move apps to SD then this will make use of the data partition of your internal memory (about 12GB available to user on a 16GB device).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So i should move my apps from the App reserved partition to the main storage partition? Or the external SD card? And how do i do that? Sorry for noob questions, i am not too much into how Android works
I don't think you can move apps to external SD card.
Go to settings -> applications and you'll see your apps listed with information about their size. Select one, and you should see a button "Move to SD card". If this is greyed out then the app doesn't support operation from the SD card, but for many you can press the button and it will move the app for you.
The interface in settings isn't the best - I use ZDBox which is a free utility tool available from the Play Store with several useful functions, including an improved "App to SD" UI which makes it easier to see what is going on.
Be careful with widget apps and others that interact with OS functionality as these often don't play happy if moved to SD card.
in your internal memory there is a folder call externel_sd ok leave it coz you still in your internal memory and go search your external sd card memory it named extSdCard or emmc
Also, when i open the Storage (i think that's what it's called) section in the settings on CM10, and noticed that i have 2 Internal Storage sections, one of them has only App data, and the other has photos, apps, music etc. and a SD Card section, with 6.64GB storage left. Does anyone know why is there is 2 Internal Storage sections?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1st internal is /data, 2nd internal is /storage/sdcard0 (your internal 11GB memory).

Installing Andriod App on external SD Card 100%

I need to install my app on sd card with data and launcher, so that it can be used on any another android phone/Tab.
How do I achieve this?
I willing pay for an app/ script that will allow me do this or information on how to do it.
You will need to partition external sdcard creating additional ext partition for apps and regular fat partition for media.
Then use link2sd to move apps from internal memory to ext partition.
play.google[dot]com/store/apps/details?id=com.buak.Link2SD&hl=en
what you are asking I dont think, in fact I'm sure cannot be done as the actual phone/tab needs to be the 'thing' that installs the app, ie knows it has the app installed. THEN the actual app and data can be moved to sd card. Kind of like a marker, you could install an app on phone/tab A and move to sd card, then put the card into tab/phone B and install it there and move to sd then, I think, the same card can be exchanged between the 2 devices.

Best way to mount external SD card to internal folders?

So I have an HTC M8 which accepts an external SD card. I have it mounted as external/portable storage not internal/adoptable storage. (Technically I also have a portion of this card mounted as f2fs to be used with apps2sd).
There are many apps which backup restore preferences from /sdcard (the internal memory) such as Titanium Backup.
This only works if I don't wipe my internal storage when flashing a new ROM.
Since these apps don't have a configuration to allow them to point to another location, I need to find a way to map my /external_sd/TitaniumBackup to /sdcard/TitaniumBackup.
I would like this to be as low-level as possible to the directory is available as early in the build/boot process.
I am also using Magisk if this helps.
Is anyone else doing something similar? What's the best way?
thanks

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