No write access on sd-cards - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hey there!
I have a I9300 and a I9305 and I don't have write access on my sd-cards. I tried both phones, different cards...so I guess it is s software problem. The only place where I can create or delete files and folders on them is in TWRP. No app, with or without root, can write on it under a running Android. But I can connect it to the pc and copy files on it which I can read then. But no writing. I did an update as always with a clean flash. Flashed only system gapps and root (tried magisk and SuperSU). On the 9300 it's exactly the same thing! Old ROM was RR, January also. Everything worked fine. No write access on new ROMs. I tried several ROMs (RR, LOS, AICP) on both phones but it's always the same.
Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Check the apps permissions within apps manager and make sure they have the permission set to allow access to storage.
You could try the sd fix.
Check to see if you can read/write/delete a file from /data/media/0/. It is just another way of accessing the internal sd without the excessive permissions.
Beamed in by telepathy.

shivadow said:
Check the apps permissions within apps manager and make sure they have the permission set to allow access to storage.
Beamed in by telepathy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, forgot to mention: Of course I did that.
Sadly to no effect. :|

I edited with other ideas too..
Have you tried browsing the developer settings?.
Have you ever reset the permissions from recovery? (don't actually do it, just answer the question!).
Have you tried the internal file browser?. If that doesn't work you have permissions problems. You'll need to flash a stock firmware and start over.
Beamed in by telepathy.

Thank you! I searched for it and found this thread. Version 1.9 worked perfectly except for one reboot when I first tried to create a folder on the sd card. But after the restart it worked for apps, too.
Only new thing is, I can see the sd card twice. One is named "Media Card" and the other one is an XXXX-XXXX-like name. Numbers and letters mixed. But who cares.

You are very welcome!. Enjoy!.
Beamed in by telepathy.

Hey..I'm back. :|
The problem has expanded somehow. I had access to the sd card but many apps couldn't access the internal storage. for example whatsapp and threema were not able to access any media file or even restore backups. and another app couldn't record an audio file. So I made a backup from everything and installed the stock rom again. After rooting and flashing a custom rom I thought the problem was gone since I could create folders with the built in file manager. But now it's the same problem again and FX File Explorer can't get any access to internal or external SD, same with all the apps. Only thing with access is the internal file browser. But to restore backups in some apps I need access and I can't even play media files or anything on the internal or external card...something is wrong here. The fix I tried before only helped with the external card but not the internal storage. Any idea what could be the problem?
Just tested: If I send a Video to that phone over WhatsApp for example it show the preview picture but when I try to open it WA says "cannot play media". Pictures seem to work in WA and Threema (it's kind of like WhatsApp), Audio Message works n WA not in Threema and videos don't work anywhere.

Do you have busybox installed?. Can you create a new file in /data/media/0?
Beamed in by telepathy.

Hey
Yes, busybox was installed at all tries. Always installing it first before anything else (TB etc.)
I could create any folder with TWRP and the internal file browser. FX always had a "No access" warning and couldn't even list the items. Except I applied the above mentioned sd-fix. But the other apps still had problems I mentioned. No access to media in WA and so forth.
I just tested and everything works when I'm using stock rom. Does that help?
With the internal file manager it is no problem at all to create folders.
I have to enable the "KitKat SD Workaround" in FX to be able to write folders instead of the sd-fix, but then it works too.

The problem is definitely permissions related.
You didn't answer whether you can create a new "file" in /data/media/0 when using the custom rom. A text file will do. Use fx to create the file.
Beamed in by telepathy.

Related

Application Installation Unsuccessful Problem - Solution Found !!!

The reason why this happens is because you most likely went and removed one of the system apps on your phone.
NOTE: DON'T STUFF ABOUT WITH YOUR SYSTEM APPS, THERE IS A REASON WHY THEY ARE SYSTEM APPS, SO THAT YOU CANNOT TOUCH THEM, LEAVE THEM ALONE...!!!
You now sit with a phone with an un-installed app that you are trying to put back, but every time you try to install it, you get the error Application Installation Unsuccessful.
There are solutions mentioned like deleting the .Android_Secure director on your SD-card or clearing your Market Cache or taking your SD Card out. These options will NOT work because the removed application has most likely no entries in the .Android_Secure directory and the problem has nothing to do with the market place. It looks more like a permissions problem, maybe one of the DEVS can shed more ;light on this.
Here is what I did to get the app back on to my phone.
I used an App Manager from the Market place that gives you the ability to REMOVE SYSTEM APPS, it also has the ability to back up apps before you un-install them, although I have not figured out yet how to do that.
Normal backup programs usually create a folder on your SD Card as a destination. From previous experience with Application backups, they usually put the original APK file in the folder and when you want to restore it, it just re-installs the APK from that folder.
The App Manager in question also created a folder on the SD Card but obviously as I haven't done any backups yet, it was empty. With the above mentioned idea in mind, I put the original APK file that I got from the original ROM that I previously flashed to my phone, into the folder. I then ran the Application Manager and tried a restore. It picked up the APK file in the directory and it successfully restore/re-installed the app back onto the phone.
One thing that I did notice is that this specific Application Manager has an option to switch on Busy-Box, I do not know if this is a requirement but I had it switched on, you may have to install Busy-Box if your phone does not have it on already.
Hope this helped all you noobs in your conquest to re-install your apps and learn from your mistake.
Enjoy…!!!

/SdCard/Android/Data not showing files via PC

I never noticed until now, but when connecting my S3 to my PC via MTP, it does not display all the files in the /SdCard/Android/Data folder. All other folders seem fine. I'm going to completely wipe / format the phone and there are a few things I want to backup (some games data etc.).
I use Titanium Backup with the option to always backup external data, but I've found that it doesn't backup everything and then I have to re-download the data for some games.
I've tried SDRescan from the Play Store, I've enabled hidden files etc, nothing works yet. Interesting that any files I manually copy there are always displayed.
Btw, running UltimaRom 7.2 (I doubt this is ROM related).
What I do now to circumvent the issue is using X-plore to copy the files to the ext-sd then copy them off using the PC.
Any advise please?
You're not supposed to be able to access those files (Android security policy) and thus the phone blocks it. It would be able to hack the Mtp app to circumvent that limitation but it's probably easier to use the Smb app or others.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
use Android Commander .
jje
JJEgan said:
use Android Commander .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, works great!

Clean install

Hi, i bought my galaxy November 2012 and since then I've made about 30-35 installations of roms..I searched around the forum and it seems that there are leftovers from previous installations, also, in some posts there are scripts that can clean your device, but the download links are broken...Can I delete leftovers manually with a root explorer?
Also, I've noticed that odin has became extremely slow, yesterday i waited for it for 40 minutes, several times I decided that it was stuck....but it wasn't; can this slowness be related to files, left from previous installations?
I saw this app - "Root Cleaner", should I try it out?
How can I make completely clean installation so that nothing old survives? If I use pit. file and odin stucks, will I be able go in "download mode" and reinstall...?
Hope that you can direct me! Thanks.
P.S. I'm trying to be understandable, but my English is not exactly perfect,so don't get mad
Downloading of script can be done, the links are perfectly fine!
I recommend Hawkerpaul's Nuke script (warning: this will delete every thing on yor device!!!)
Do not under any circumstances use .pit files!! Only if you're absolutely 101% sure what you're doing - then you can use .pit files. And there's a splendid Odin guide made by XDA's Hopper8. here you can read about it.
TheMasterOfToast said:
Downloading of script can be done, the links are perfectly fine!
I recommend Hawkerpaul's Nuke script (warning: this will delete every thing on yor device!!!)
Do not under any circumstances use .pit files!! Only if you're absolutely 101% sure what you're doing - then you can use .pit files. And there's a splendid Odin guide made by XDA's Hopper8. here you can read about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm definitely not sure what I'm doing, so I won't use .pit files. So i got this one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2100558
I'm a complete noobie, i've read about it, there are 4 scripts, i'm not sure which one to use...
GS2ROMWipe - This wipes pre-defined areas of your device without performing any backups beforehand.
GS2ROMNuke - This does everything a Wipe does, and also deletes the following Android/Application-related folders on the internal and external SD Cards.
GS2ROMReset - This performs a additional tasks on top of a standard factory reset for your current ROM. This is designed to return you current ROM to its factory defaults. You will not have to re-install your ROM after running this. Just reboot and you will enter the Android installation wizard as normal on the first run.
GS2ROMClean - This will remove the following known temporary and corrupt files and folders.
It will attempt to remove them from your internal/external SD card.
I will use Nuke.It says to run it only before rom installations,but how does it work? I go into recovery, install it and how do I run it?
umex said:
I'm definitely not sure what I'm doing, so I won't use .pit files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good choice, same as i would!
umex said:
GS2ROMNuke - This does everything a Wipe does, and also deletes the following Android/Application-related folders on the internal and external
...
I will use Nuke.It says to run it only before rom installations,but how does it work? I go into recovery, install it and how do I run it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, but keep in mind that this will delete everything even from your internal and external sd cards. So if you have anything of value, anything at all - back it up.
I suggest you download HC-kTool from play store. Back up /efs. Then the files that appear after the /efs folder backup - back them up to your PC or a cloud storage (eg. dropbox) If you want to know which files had been created, sort the files after date. (keep in mind that there will be folder created too and if you've chosen a 'folder come first' policy in your file explorer, those folders will appear after all the lonesome files)
Just to check. In my phone (i just ran it again) there will be two files and three folders containing the necessary files to perform a /efs backup.
Now that /efs is backed up - you are good to go. Just 'flash' the nuke zip file as you would flash any ROM/kernel
Good luck.
TheMasterOfToast said:
Good choice, same as i would!
Okay, but keep in mind that this will delete everything even from your internal and external sd cards. So if you have anything of value, anything at all - back it up.
I suggest you download HC-kTool from play store. Back up /efs. Then the files that appear after the /efs folder backup - back them up to your PC or a cloud storage (eg. dropbox) If you want to know which files had been created, sort the files after date. (keep in mind that there will be folder created too and if you've chosen a 'folder come first' policy in your file explorer, those folders will appear after all the lonesome files)
Just to check. In my phone (i just ran it again) there will be two files and three folders containing the necessary files to perform a /efs backup.
Now that /efs is backed up - you are good to go. Just 'flash' the nuke zip file as you would flash any ROM/kernel
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the assistance! I ran the script through recovery and it "wiped" everything then it warned me to flash new rom.I did so, everything went OK , but it hasn't wiped the internal sd card, all my files are still there, i hope it has erased the leftovers from previous installations....Thanks again!
umex said:
Thanks for the assistance! I ran the script through recovery and it "wiped" everything then it warned me to flash new rom.I did so, everything went OK , but it hasn't wiped the internal sd card, all my files are still there, i hope it has erased the leftovers from previous installations....Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wont delete everything in sdcard. The system files will be there, but application data wont.
Glad it worked out!
PS. Don't say thanks - press it!

[Q] Very Weird "Symptoms" Internal+External Storage deleted files instantly reappear

[Q] Very Weird "Symptoms" Internal+External Storage deleted files instantly reappear
orbital_71 said:
It call magic
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For real though what's going on. Whether I use ES file explorer or root explorer, Even TWRP's built in file manager. The first two mentioned will delete the file and say "File Successfully Deleted" and the Storage for Internal/External (which ever it's located in) Reflects the correct change as if it was actually deleted. Yet once you back out of the folder the storage changes right back and I go back in the folder and the file is back...
Another example is moving files,
Just a few minutes ago I downloaded the Latest BeanStalk. I proceeded to move it to my External SD Card. And I deleted several files as well(Several Movies and a Nandroid), I then reboot to TWRP. I get ready to do a backup and notice that the damn storage sizes are back to the same sizes they were before I downloaded the ROM and deleted files. And the ROM is gone, not on Internal where it was downloaded to and moved from. Nor in the External Storage in the folder I moved it to.
Doesn't matter if I delete 17kb or 25GB the storage goes right back to what it was. And what ever files are there no matter if I delete/move/alter. It all goes back to identically the same...
Another odd thing, I made a Nandroid to my internal SD and once I booted back into the system it was gone. Even though it said backup successful. And before rebooting I checked the restore tab and the backup was there
What in the hell could cause that?
Tw1sted247 said:
For real though what's going on. Whether I use ES file explorer or root explorer, Even TWRP's built in file manager. The first two mentioned will delete the file and say "File Successfully Deleted" and the Storage for Internal/External (which ever it's located in) Reflects the correct change as if it was actually deleted. Yet once you back out of the folder the storage changes right back and I go back in the folder and the file is back...
Another example is moving files,
Just a few minutes ago I downloaded the Latest BeanStalk. I proceeded to move it to my External SD Card. And I deleted several files as well(Several Movies and a Nandroid), I then reboot to TWRP. I get ready to do a backup and notice that the damn storage sizes are back to the same sizes they were before I downloaded the ROM and deleted files. And the ROM is gone, not on Internal where it was downloaded to and moved from. Nor in the External Storage in the folder I moved it to.
Doesn't matter if I delete 17kb or 25GB the storage goes right back to what it was. And what ever files are there no matter if I delete/move/alter. It all goes back to identically the same...
Another odd thing, I made a Nandroid to my internal SD and once I booted back into the system it was gone. Even though it said backup successful. And before rebooting I checked the restore tab and the backup was there
What in the hell could cause that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure u are on freezas latest kernel. And twrp linked in my op. Issues with sd otherwise...
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 using JellyBombed Tapatalk.
JoshBeach said:
Make sure u are on freezas latest kernel. And twrp linked in my op. Issues with sd otherwise...
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 using JellyBombed Tapatalk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's internal and external though.. And on multiple ROM's
Tw1sted247 said:
It's internal and external though.. And on multiple ROM's
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you update ES File Manager? One of the updates turned on the recycle bin by default, so a bunch of stuff, and space, started appearing (stuff I'd deleted) and depleting (space) until I deselected that option from settings.
Worth a shot.
Sent from my SM-N900P using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2
Unfortunately I checked and that option is not enabled on ES file explorer.
Tw1sted247 said:
Unfortunately I checked and that option is not enabled on ES file explorer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that sucks.
Might be time for a full wipe and restoration of your rom of choice.
I'm unclear if killing the internal USB storage is a good idea, but at least the default wipe in recovery (system, data, dalvik) makes sense, though you may end up having to do everything.
Sent from my SM-N900P using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2
micmars said:
Well that sucks.
Might be time for a full wipe and restoration of your rom of choice.
I'm unclear if killing the internal USB storage is a good idea, but at least the default wipe in recovery (system, data, dalvik) makes sense, though you may end up having to do everything.
Sent from my SM-N900P using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everytime that I switch ROM's( with the exception to when I am upgrading a build number from the same ROM) I always go to Advanced and check Cache, System, Dalvik Cache .... I then proceed to back up one menu and swipe the "Factory Reset" Wipe option built into TWRP.
I can't even make Nandroids at this point, they just Disappear after I Reboot. So I went side door on this pesky little bastard. And brought in my OTG and 64GB Thumb Drive. And these Nandroids are sticking. Although the current ROM I am running atm (BeanStalk) isn't recognizing OTG inputs. As it's built off of CyanogenMod, and this is one of the known bugs ATM.
Anywasy One of the Kind fellows on the International N3 forum notified me of a certain Build.prop edit that may tackle this issue. So off I go
**Fingers CRossed:good:
Tw1sted247 said:
Everytime that I switch ROM's( with the exception to when I am upgrading a build number from the same ROM) I always go to Advanced and check Cache, System, Dalvik Cache .... I then proceed to back up one menu and swipe the "Factory Reset" Wipe option built into TWRP.
I can't even make Nandroids at this point, they just Disappear after I Reboot. So I went side door on this pesky little bastard. And brought in my OTG and 64GB Thumb Drive. And these Nandroids are sticking. Although the current ROM I am running atm (BeanStalk) isn't recognizing OTG inputs. As it's built off of CyanogenMod, and this is one of the known bugs ATM.
Anywasy One of the Kind fellows on the International N3 forum notified me of a certain Build.prop edit that may tackle this issue. So off I go
**Fingers CRossed:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, this sounds bloody awful.
I am way unfamiliar with AOSP roms (I have clean rom on my Nexus 7 2013, however, so I get the simplicity of it), just isn't my cup of tea for this phone.
I am wondering if you switching between the 2 platforms hasn't caused some issues. I've wondered this before with other major issues, different from this but similar movement (AOSP to TouchWiz KitKat and back).
I'd like to see some definitive input on properly moving from one to the other.
Sent from my SM-N900P using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2
I've found the culprit and its Permissions. Going to the AOSP ROM which was a KitKat ROM set the Permissions on my SD Card to read only. And I don't have the "authority" to change the permissions back.
I've tried editing the platform.xml to no avail. It's starting to get pretty damn frustrating. Even now when I go back to 4.3 ROM's following a clean wipe(dalvik, system, cache... Then factory reset) my permissions remain the same.
I have been having the same problem. I decided to order a new sd card and change my buildprop using ROM Toolbox Pro. I modiified "ro.securestorage.support" from "true" to "false". I will be receiving my new card either today or tommorow. I have had some bad luck with SanDisk and I am going to try lexar. I'm really considering reformatting back to the tried and true FAT32.
Tw1sted247 said:
Everytime that I switch ROM's( with the exception to when I am upgrading a build number from the same ROM) I always go to Advanced and check Cache, System, Dalvik Cache .... I then proceed to back up one menu and swipe the "Factory Reset" Wipe option built into TWRP.
I can't even make Nandroids at this point, they just Disappear after I Reboot. So I went side door on this pesky little bastard. And brought in my OTG and 64GB Thumb Drive. And these Nandroids are sticking. Although the current ROM I am running atm (BeanStalk) isn't recognizing OTG inputs. As it's built off of CyanogenMod, and this is one of the known bugs ATM.
Anywasy One of the Kind fellows on the International N3 forum notified me of a certain Build.prop edit that may tackle this issue. So off I go
**Fingers CRossed:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was having similar issues for awhile, not sure if this is what fixed it or if it was something I did unintentionally but here's what I think may have worked: flashed my modem with MI3 once without auto reset on odin and then again with it then I changed my permissions on my external storage with root file explorer, i went into system/etc/permissions/platform.xml and added <group gid="media_rw" /> under the write_external_storage. I wasn't sure if that was the issue so for good measure I used triangle away and reset the flash counter, id been flashing a lot so I thought maybe that had something to do with it. idk. anyways, I haven't had the problem since. aside from APNs, still cant get custom apns to stick for some reason.
---------- Post added at 06:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:54 AM ----------
Tw1sted247 said:
I've tried editing the platform.xml to no avail. It's starting to get pretty damn frustrating. Even now when I go back to 4.3 ROM's following a clean wipe(dalvik, system, cache... Then factory reset) my permissions remain the same.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what twrp are you running?

[Q] Corrupt gibberish files refuse to be deleted

Hi, I'm in desperate need of help, please.
I'm using SGS2. Several months ago my device suddenly started acting weird, thumbnails in gallery didn't load, apps didn't refresh (instagram, facebook etc.)... Rebooting would help but only for a certain amount of time, until it suddenly started to happen again. I realised the internal SD card simply becomes read-only randomly, but I didn't know why. I made peace with it since I'm not a big smartphone user.
Anyhow, today I went through my phone files and saw that several cache folders were oddly big, so I deleted a ****load of files, and then(!!) that one folder would not delete... So I clicked it and saw a bunch of gibberish files that do not want to get deleted.
I tried SD Maid app, but the thing is, once I browse to that specific corrupt folder the SD card goes crazy and becomes read-only, so basically at that moment I realised that folder is what's making the phone act like this.
Connecting it to PC and deleting doesn't work either. Renaming the files doesn't work. Copy/paste does work but is useless. Factory reset/installing new ROM/kernel/whatever doesn't work either. The files will still be there, I've tried.
Anything, please?
yellowjellow said:
Hi, I'm in desperate need of help, please.
I'm using SGS2. Several months ago my device suddenly started acting weird, thumbnails in gallery didn't load, apps didn't refresh (instagram, facebook etc.)... Rebooting would help but only for a certain amount of time, until it suddenly started to happen again. I realised the internal SD card simply becomes read-only randomly, but I didn't know why. I made peace with it since I'm not a big smartphone user.
Anyhow, today I went through my phone files and saw that several cache folders were oddly big, so I deleted a ****load of files, and then(!!) that one folder would not delete... So I clicked it and saw a bunch of gibberish files that do not want to get deleted.
I tried SD Maid app, but the thing is, once I browse to that specific corrupt folder the SD card goes crazy and becomes read-only, so basically at that moment I realised that folder is what's making the phone act like this.
Connecting it to PC and deleting doesn't work either. Renaming the files doesn't work. Copy/paste does work but is useless. Factory reset/installing new ROM/kernel/whatever doesn't work either. The files will still be there, I've tried.
Anything, please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What rom were you using when the errors started happening?
What have you tried as far as flashing roms/kernels/custom recoveries?
I'm using Omega v24 XWLSW (4.1.2). What I did was factory reset and every single format option in that CWM recovery screen. I then flashed that same ROM again but fresh.
I don't think this has anything to do with ROM/kernels etc. This is simply a bunch of corrupt files in Device\sdcard\Android. I've tried googling with no success. I need a way to forcibly delete that folder with all those files inside. Any directions on how format?
yellowjellow said:
I'm using Omega v24 XWLSW (4.1.2). What I did was factory reset and every single format option in that CWM recovery screen. I then flashed that same ROM again but fresh.
I don't think this has anything to do with ROM/kernels etc. This is simply a bunch of corrupt files in Device\sdcard\Android. I've tried googling with no success. I need a way to forcibly delete that folder with all those files inside. Any directions on how format?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first thing I would try is to reinstall a stock samsung rom. This sometimes is the only way to fully reset your phone back to original condition. Sammobile.com is the website I have used. You would have to root again but....
Also check out this thread -
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/help/qa-friendly-qa-thread-t1648351
There are some similarities with possible corrupt partitions another guy has(the last few pages of thread), that they are trouble-shooting. You might find some answers there.
yellowjellow said:
I'm using Omega v24 XWLSW (4.1.2). What I did was factory reset and every single format option in that CWM recovery screen. I then flashed that same ROM again but fresh.
I don't think this has anything to do with ROM/kernels etc. This is simply a bunch of corrupt files in Device\sdcard\Android. I've tried googling with no success. I need a way to forcibly delete that folder with all those files inside. Any directions on how format?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey mate.
If you haven't fixed the problem i recommend performing a checkdisk.
To perform a checkdisk you need to:
1. Connect your phone through USB via mass storage mode.
2. The computer should prompt you to perform a checkdisk automatically, in that case just accept and let the computer perform it. If it doesn't prompt automatically you need to do it manully by right-clicking the correct partition on the computer, click properties and then on the 'Tools' bar. Now mine is in Swedish, i don't know how it is in english but press the button on the first alternative. (i.e the button with 'Control' and the administrator logo).
After pressing, just let it be (it will take quite a while) and when finished.. tell me if it worked or not.
Good luck!
Hey, I tried chkdsk and defrag just in case, the files are still there, although some of them are now gone. My phone doesn't go crazy anymore though, which is nice. Maybe I'll just let the corrupt files be there in peace, they won the war XD And as long as my phone works properly I don't really care about them.
Thanks everyone!

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