[Q] Deleted sd folder! - Captivate Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I have a Samsung Captivate and I accidentally deleted the sd (at least that is what i think it was called) folder. How do I get it back? If I just create a new folder that says 'sd' will it still save things onto my internal sd card?

my /sd/ folder is empty at least looking at it from the OI file manager on the phone

I think mine was as well but I want to put music on my phone and i want it to go on the internal sd. I tried seeing if the files would go directly on the sd so i put a few music files in a folder i created but when i checked my task manager the internal memory storage changed, not the internal sd storage.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

It depends what OS you are running.
2.1 used /sdcard for internal and /sdcard/sd for external
2.2 moved these directories under /mnt but left the old directories empty

beaufosheau said:
I have a Samsung Captivate and I accidentally deleted the sd (at least that is what i think it was called) folder. How do I get it back? If I just create a new folder that says 'sd' will it still save things onto my internal sd card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does anybody know what to do if the sd folder is deleted?
I noticed I had an 'sd' folder and an 'external_sd' folder. The sd folder was blank, so I deleted it after I viewed it on my pc - there was nothing in it. It didn't seem to be needed. But now I can't view certain files on my phone only. I can view them on my laptop via USB connection using Windows Explorer.
To attempt to find this folder on my phone, that I CAN see on my laptop using Windows Explorer, I created a txt file in that folder (that I can't find on my phone), naming it 'sdmissing.txt'. I searched everywhere on my phone, even from root directory, trying to find this file and couldn't. Yet after connecting to my laptop via USB, I can see it. What can I do??
Thanks in advance for any help!

bshend said:
Does anybody know what to do if the sd folder is deleted?
I noticed I had an 'sd' folder and an 'external_sd' folder. The sd folder was blank, so I deleted it after I viewed it on my pc - there was nothing in it. It didn't seem to be needed. But now I can't view certain files on my phone only. I can view them on my laptop via USB connection using Windows Explorer.
To attempt to find this folder on my phone, that I CAN see on my laptop using Windows Explorer, I created a txt file in that folder (that I can't find on my phone), naming it 'sdmissing.txt'. I searched everywhere on my phone, even from root directory, trying to find this file and couldn't. Yet after connecting to my laptop via USB, I can see it. What can I do??
Thanks in advance for any help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
backup important data and apps with tibu or any other apps in the market and perform factory reset with your phone it should bring you back to where you are.

bshend said:
Does anybody know what to do if the sd folder is deleted?...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turn off and on ur phone to see if it works for you or not. I found that sd is a hidden folder and its blank. When I flash custom roms, I do it without going to stock. But, I do delete Android, data, sd and some other folders, that I know will be automatically created after the reboot/flash. When I go to cwm recovery to install rom from zip, I do see the Android folder and sd folder showing up there. Don't panic. Just do normal shutdown and restart. If that doesn't fix, reflash the custom rom if you are using one.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Related

[Q] how can i move files from sd card to emmc(no pc)

Can someone tell me how to move files to the internal memory without connecting to pc.
when i try doing it wth file manager it says file could not be moved
i cant pay for any app right now, need something free
notenoughspace is one app that can do it but i again i cant pay for it right now. If anyone has it plz post the apk.
What ROM do you use? Astro File Manager works fine with Nokie Froyo and rooted stock.
P.S. Are you aware that if you want to store files in eMMC, you should place them in /media folder, not in /,/system etc.?
I am using cm7 right now, i try to place files in my files and it fails
Edit: it working now, but only copy and paste, when i use move, it fails but thats not a problem anyway.
i think the place you are trying to put the files is mounted as read only. Try putting files in the /media/ folder using astro or esf
Root Explorer is best file/rights manager...
Good question. Once you have Root Explorer working, try emailing the files to your self then install to SD Card or eMMC.
Good luck m8.
I use Dropbox to port files to my Nook, Gtab, and Evo phone. Just open Dropbox and download the file on your device. Dropbox puts it on your SD card in the "Dropbox" directory. Then you just use Root Explorer to move and paste from there to your emmc memory folders.

Can't locate CWM backups!

So I've been able to backup and restore nandroids using CWM but when i'm looking for the actual backups using a file explorer (es file explorer) as well as mounting usb storage on Windows, i can't seem to find the backups to delete them. These backups are taking up memory! to my understanding, they should be under clockworkmod/backups but the folder is empty. Any ideas?
Look for clockwork mod folder sometimes these bootleg roms run in a file called 0 (virtual sd card)on your internal sd card, try looking there as well.
QUOTE=AtomicFli;42605822]So I've been able to backup and restore nandroids using CWM but when i'm looking for the actual backups using a file explorer (es file explorer) as well as mounting usb storage on Windows, i can't seem to find the backups to delete them. These backups are taking up memory! to my understanding, they should be under clockworkmod/backups but the folder is empty. Any ideas?[/QUOTE]
noobsaibot34 said:
Look for clockwork mod folder sometimes these bootleg roms run in a file called 0 (virtual sd card)on your internal sd card, try looking there as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You wouldn't mind putting what you have to say under the quoted text? Just makes it difficult to read posts where you quote people cause the flow reverses for a second... also reminds me of Jeopardy -- Answer followed by the Question .
AtomicFli said:
So I've been able to backup and restore nandroids using CWM but when i'm looking for the actual backups using a file explorer (es file explorer) as well as mounting usb storage on Windows, i can't seem to find the backups to delete them. These backups are taking up memory! to my understanding, they should be under clockworkmod/backups but the folder is empty. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What noobsaibot34 said
You can always backup what's important on your internal sd and format it...that'll do the trick.
CWM Hides the Backups... Try Rom Manager
Rom Manager Premium is a big help for this issue. I had the same problem, not being able to find the backup. According to Rom Manager Premium (same developer as CWM backup):
"In Android 4.2 backups are placed in secure directory, inaccessible to other apps. Backups can be pulled with adb or by using the Rom Manager Backup Download Server."
The download server is a feature you can only get through Rom Manager. I haven't figured out how to make it work yet, so the plan is to simply reboot into CWM recovery and choose to backup directly to the external SD card. After that, I'm going to upload to Dropbox and erase the local file on the SD card.
Rom Manager is also good for deleting backups that you've made, and which take up space, but which you can't find on your internal SD card.

Phone Storage Stored Wierdly

Before I upgraded from a 4.1 to a 4.2 based rom, I copied all my files from my sd card and then flashed the Rom. Then I formatted my phone's storage so I wouldn't have that weird 2 sd card file system going and so that I could see all my old files which I pasted back onto my phone. When I boot into cwm, and want to install a .zip, I see a couple folders such as the cwm folder and venom folder and legacy folder, and I find that my sd cards files are not under root and I have to go to /0. If I go into a file explorer such as we file explorer, I can't see any files under the the place where those several folders are. Any ideas?
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
Noticing same thing...
I've just been searching these threads for the exact same issue. Wondering if it would be possible to take a nandroid, erase system and everything and either restore or reload my room from scratch to fix this? My phone says it's running low on memory while it still shows almost 10gb free when attached to my computer. I assume this is the problem...
BJodrey said:
I've just been searching these threads for the exact same issue. Wondering if it would be possible to take a nandroid, erase system and everything and either restore or reload my room from scratch to fix this? My phone says it's running low on memory while it still shows almost 10gb free when attached to my computer. I assume this is the problem...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, ive tried to format my phones internal storage but the problem is still there. Though it does free up a lot of space when I do it. I think it says it is low memory because there are duplicate files of everything on your sd card

sdcard "01" folder in internal storage

Today, I have experienced a very "odd" problem. I have just found out that there is a folder called "storage" visible in my Internal Storage.
When I thought that, since it was visible, it did not contain much useful files (Only 2 xml files I found which would be in both internal and external storage) so I deleted that folder and everything in my SD Card and Internal Storage vanished.
I found out that the "storage" folder had a link to both storage devices but the weird thing is, why was that there and why is it visible? I could of sworn that I have never seen that before on my Xperia Z...
Can anyone else see their "storage" folder in the internal storage or is it just me?
ZeroInfinity said:
Today, I have experienced a very "odd" problem. I have just found out that there is a folder called "storage" visible in my Internal Storage.
When I thought that, since it was visible, it did not contain much useful files (Only 2 xml files I found which would be in both internal and external storage) so I deleted that folder and everything in my SD Card and Internal Storage vanished.
I found out that the "storage" folder had a link to both storage devices but the weird thing is, why was that there and why is it visible? I could of sworn that I have never seen that before on my Xperia Z...
Can anyone else see their "storage" folder in the internal storage or is it just me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi.
At root, i have sdcard and sdcard1 and storage. Inside storage folder i have sdcard0 and sdcard1. I have seen this before for long time ago.
CiscoX said:
Hi.
At root, i have sdcard and sdcard1 and storage. Inside storage folder i have sdcard0 and sdcard1. I have seen this before for long time ago.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but this is totally different from what I have experienced.
From Windows, Internal Storage would have a folder called "storage" with another folder called "01" inside the storage folder. So "Internal Storage/storage/01/" if it was read on a Windows PC. inside the storage folder, there is just 1 folder called "01", nothing else. inside "01" folder, there are ONLY 2 .xml files which are the same as the 2 .xml files you would have by default in the root of your Internal and External Storage.
In short- Internel Storage has a folder called storage, inside storage has a folder called 01, inside 01 there are only 2 .xml files. The strange thing is, if it were linked to Internal/External Storage, why only 2 .xml files are visible in the 01 folder?
EDIT: When I tried to delete the storage folder (At the time I did not know that it was linked) Windows loading bar for deleting files did not move so I had to cancel it. Once cancelled, everything in my external/internal storage was wiped off. Thankfully, I recovered most of my lost pictures with Recuva
Not sure but I think this folder came somehow from the recovery maybe a bug.
I hope you didn't lost important things.
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda premium
ZeroInfinity said:
but this is totally different from what I have experienced.
From Windows, Internal Storage would have a folder called "storage" with another folder called "01" inside the storage folder. So "Internal Storage/storage/01/" if it was read on a Windows PC. inside the storage folder, there is just 1 folder called "01", nothing else. inside "01" folder, there are ONLY 2 .xml files which are the same as the 2 .xml files you would have by default in the root of your Internal and External Storage.
In short- Internel Storage has a folder called storage, inside storage has a folder called 01, inside 01 there are only 2 .xml files. The strange thing is, if it were linked to Internal/External Storage, why only 2 .xml files are visible in the 01 folder?
EDIT: When I tried to delete the storage folder (At the time I did not know that it was linked) Windows loading bar for deleting files did not move so I had to cancel it. Once cancelled, everything in my external/internal storage was wiped off. Thankfully, I recovered most of my lost pictures with Recuva
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, this is very strange. I remember when i did see this after i bought my phone i was thinking this must be an bug. Another thing, in root i also have a folder named: ext_card and it is the same as sdcard1 here. Sdcard1 is my microSD card i have, but why so many folder linked to the same folders.
At root i go to storage, inside i have folders: emulated, removable, sdcard0, sdcard1 usbdisk.
Inside emulated i have 0 and legacy. etc etc
All of them are linked and goes to the same internal card and external card,
gm007 said:
Not sure but I think this folder came somehow from the recovery maybe a bug.
I hope you didn't lost important things.
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it really is a bug, we need to know what did actually cause this to happen.
And yeah, Recuva was really useful for me
CiscoX said:
Yes, this is very strange. I remember when i did see this after i bought my phone i was thinking this must be an bug. Another thing, in root i also have a folder named: ext_card and it is the same as sdcard1 here. Sdcard1 is my microSD card i have, but why so many folder linked to the same folders.
At root i go to storage, inside i have folders: emulated, removable, sdcard0, sdcard1 usbdisk.
Inside emulated i have 0 and legacy. etc etc
All of them are linked and goes to the same internal card and external card,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Too many linked folders make it confusing, why would there be a linked folder visible in the Internal Storage though? this is what is really confusing me right now.
Need more reports if any one else has found this mysterious "storage" folder in their Internal Storage...
im not sure but if everyone with this folder are running 4.2.2 it is for the multiuser or multitasking feature of jellybean 4.2.2
skinsfanbdh said:
im not sure but if everyone with this folder are running 4.2.2 it is for the multiuser or multitasking feature of jellybean 4.2.2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange, this is the first time I have ever seen this. I only saw this folder today and I have been on custom roms based on stock xperia firmware android 4.2.2 for ages now... Why would it appear just today? I don't think multitasking will cause this to happen since it doesn't create any folders/files related to it (afaik).
I've had something like this happen where in emulated/0 (my main internal SD storage) there was another 0 folder that freaked out recoveries and such. I had the similar "can't delete from windows" thing, but using a in-recovery file manager I just deleted it, problem solved. tl;dr if you want to delete it and its causing problems delete it from recovery.
Sent from rooted carbon note 2, with the xda app.
shbaldw said:
I've had something like this happen where in emulated/0 (my main internal SD storage) there was another 0 folder that freaked out recoveries and such. I had the similar "can't delete from windows" thing, but using a in-recovery file manager I just deleted it, problem solved. tl;dr if you want to delete it and its causing problems delete it from recovery.
Sent from rooted carbon note 2, with the xda app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exactly what im talking about. lots of threads in the htc one forum about it and being this device was released with 4.1.2(like the htc one) and has recently been updated to 4.2.2(like the htc one) maybe its the same thing, not saying it is because i dont know. just sounds like the same thing
shbaldw said:
I've had something like this happen where in emulated/0 (my main internal SD storage) there was another 0 folder that freaked out recoveries and such. I had the similar "can't delete from windows" thing, but using a in-recovery file manager I just deleted it, problem solved. tl;dr if you want to delete it and its causing problems delete it from recovery.
Sent from rooted carbon note 2, with the xda app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows did not make any progress in deleting it, it was stuck on the Preparing to delete... window. Once I cancelled it because it took too long, everything from sd card/ internal storage was gone. All because of that storage folder inside my Internal Storage...
I know about the emulated/0 issue (From previous HTC One X Android 4.2.2 AOSP roms) but this seems to be completely different from it.
skinsfanbdh;44594029...and being this device was released with 4.1.2(like the htc one) and has recently been updated to 4.2.2(like the htc one)...[/QUOTE said:
hmm, I updated my phone from 4.1.2 to 4.2.2 prior to seeing this. This might be the cause. Anyone else have this happen?
Sent from rooted carbon note 2, with the xda app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
shbaldw said:
hmm, I updated my phone from 4.1.2 to 4.2.2 prior to seeing this. This might be the cause. Anyone else have this happen?
Sent from rooted carbon note 2, with the xda app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it has anything to do with an upgraded android version. Like I said before, I have been on Android 4.2.2 a long time now (Upgraded when the firmware first came out) and I have never seen this folder before. I have just seen it yesterday. Another strange thing is that after I attempted to delete the storage folder, Everything was gone INCLUDING that storage folder. I haven't seen the storage folder after that happened. I'm going to go flash another rom and full wipe to see if the storage folder pops up again.
EDIT: Right, no there is no more storage folder in Internal Storage after a full wipe and formatted everything! Very strange indeed...
Wierd storage folder symlink inside internal storage!
ZeroInfinity said:
I don't think it has anything to do with an upgraded android version. Like I said before, I have been on Android 4.2.2 a long time now (Upgraded when the firmware first came out) and I have never seen this folder before. I have just seen it yesterday. Another strange thing is that after I attempted to delete the storage folder, Everything was gone INCLUDING that storage folder. I haven't seen the storage folder after that happened. I'm going to go flash another rom and full wipe to see if the storage folder pops up again.
EDIT: Right, no there is no more storage folder in Internal Storage after a full wipe and formatted everything! Very strange indeed...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this is a very old thread but I face the same issue in Android 5.1.1 now and I too deleted the folder named storage only to see that all the data from the sd card has vanished because of that. Any idea what caused this buggy symlink to be created?
All my data is now gone because I just deleted one folder inside my sdcard, and I didn't even think to backup anything since I didn't even dream that deleting a single folder will delete the parent folder! Again recuva was my friend but still I am not able to recover everything in internal storage, any suggestions on what to use to scan the internal storage?
anantharam said:
I know this is a very old thread but I face the same issue in Android 5.1.1 now and I too deleted the folder named storage only to see that all the data from the sd card has vanished because of that. Any idea what caused this buggy symlink to be created?
All my data is now gone because I just deleted one folder inside my sdcard, and I didn't even think to backup anything since I didn't even dream that deleting a single folder will delete the parent folder! Again recuva was my friend but still I am not able to recover everything in internal storage, any suggestions on what to use to scan the internal storage?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you upgrade to newer firmware using a zip? That's a common bug when upgrading via zip.
The only proper way is to backup ur entire internal storage and flash a full ftf. Then you will not have the annoying symlink.
langeveld024 said:
Did you upgrade to newer firmware using a zip? That's a common bug when upgrading via zip.
The only proper way is to backup ur entire internal storage and flash a full ftf. Then you will not have the annoying symlink.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did do a factory reset before flashing a new firmware. Not sure what else I should do..
And as for the internal storage recovery, I followed these different guides but raw file using vhdtool and recuva did not give me any single file that was last present in my internal memory and even extundelete didn't return any single file that was in the internal storage, some of these tools return hundreds of text files and images that I had no idea was in my internal storage but none of them return me any of the hundreds of images and videos that I was sure were in my internal storage.
anantharam said:
I did do a factory reset before flashing a new firmware. Not sure what else I should do..
And as for the internal storage recovery, I followed these different guides but raw file using vhdtool and recuva did not give me any single file that was last present in my internal memory and even extundelete didn't return any single file that was in the internal storage, some of these tools return hundreds of text files and images that I had no idea was in my internal storage but none of them return me any of the hundreds of images and videos that I was sure were in my internal storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but if you factory reset on 4.4.2 (for example) and then flash 5.0.2 fw via zip in recovery, you will get the annoying folder symlink.
The only way to upgrade to lollipop is by flashing a full ftf (which will wipe internal sd) after that you won't have the annoying symlink.
But you flashed zip instead of ftf and discovered the folder symlink which seemed not harmful to delete so you deleted it. Right?
Then there's no chance in getting the data (photos etc) back.
I was the same situation as you, twice, I tried every possibility to recover my photos but it ended up with nothing. Everything was gone.
On a mechanical harddrive, when you wiped data, the data will only be gone when the wiped sectors are overwritten (e.g. format harddrive, which overwrite with empty buffer).
As long as the wiped data in those sectors are not overwritten, you'll be able to recover almost all - if not all - data you deleted.
On flash memory instead, (such as ssd drives and internal storage of our phone) deleted data is immediately deleted.
(that's also one of the reasons on Android, you never have to defragment the internal sd, same story for an ssd)
I'm sorry for u to say but I'm afraid you're unfortunately lost the photos and there's no way to get it back.
But my advice to you is:
Never upgrade between android versions (e.g. 4.4 > 5.0) using a zip installable.
Only use full factory images (ftf), they will wipe internal sd in order to get correct mappings so backup everything before flashing.
Once u on a firmware, an update to the same firmware is allowed (e.g. from one 5.0.2 rom to another 5.0.2 rom).
I hope it helps u in the future.
Regards
langeveld024 said:
Yes but if you factory reset on 4.4.2 (for example) and then flash 5.0.2 fw via zip in recovery, you will get the annoying folder symlink.
The only way to upgrade to lollipop is by flashing a full ftf (which will wipe internal sd) after that you won't have the annoying symlink.
But you flashed zip instead of ftf and discovered the folder symlink which seemed not harmful to delete so you deleted it. Right?
Then there's no chance in getting the data (photos etc) back.
I was the same situation as you, twice, I tried every possibility to recover my photos but it ended up with nothing. Everything was gone.
On a mechanical harddrive, when you wiped data, the data will only be gone when the wiped sectors are overwritten (e.g. format harddrive, which overwrite with empty buffer).
As long as the wiped data in those sectors are not overwritten, you'll be able to recover almost all - if not all - data you deleted.
On flash memory instead, (such as ssd drives and internal storage of our phone) deleted data is immediately deleted.
(that's also one of the reasons on Android, you never have to defragment the internal sd, same story for an ssd)
I'm sorry for u to say but I'm afraid you're unfortunately lost the photos and there's no way to get it back.
But my advice to you is:
Never upgrade between android versions (e.g. 4.4 > 5.0) using a zip installable.
Only use full factory images (ftf), they will wipe internal sd in order to get correct mappings so backup everything before flashing.
Once u on a firmware, an update to the same firmware is allowed (e.g. from one 5.0.2 rom to another 5.0.2 rom).
I hope it helps u in the future.
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for the detailed explanation, after wasting two whole days trying everything described anywhere in the internet for recovering data from internal storage, I have also learnt it the hard way that it won't be possible to recover my data. Anyways the good news is google photos had backed up most of my photos, so it would actually be the call recordings, whatsapp history and other documents that I would have to loose permanently.
langeveld024 said:
Never upgrade between android versions (e.g. 4.4 > 5.0) using a zip installable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As for the upgrade issue, is this only for lollipop or any android version? I have never seen anything similar when I upgraded from 4.0 to 4.1 or 4.2 to 4.4 e.t.c. If I shouldn't use zip installable to upgrade android versions how else do I upgrade to kitkat or lollipop? I don't think there are any factory images published for lollipop for my phone since support for it ended long time ago.
ZeroInfinity said:
Today, I have experienced a very "odd" problem. I have just found out that there is a folder called "storage" visible in my Internal Storage.
When I thought that, since it was visible, it did not contain much useful files (Only 2 xml files I found which would be in both internal and external storage) so I deleted that folder and everything in my SD Card and Internal Storage vanished.
I found out that the "storage" folder had a link to both storage devices but the weird thing is, why was that there and why is it visible? I could of sworn that I have never seen that before on my Xperia Z...
Can anyone else see their "storage" folder in the internal storage or is it just me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Am again reviving this old thread as today I deleted a folder named sdcard inside my oneplus 3's internal storage and lost everyrhing. Though I had never upgraded my phone using any zip file and always went with the OTA update
I also made a thread https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-3/help/strange-t3537998

[Q] Lost most of my internal storage?

Today when trying to free up some space on my HTC One (S-OFF, rooted, latest FW, etc), with the phone connected to the computer I cut and pasted the 'storage' folder into a folder on my computer. After this, most of my internal storage folders were gone, most notably all my Camera pictures. I looked in the folder that was copied to the computer and these folders aren't present. I also tried to do an adb pull from the root directory and the missing files weren't there either.
Looking at my phone storage, it says i have 20GB used by 'Other', which gives me hope that these files are still somewhere on the device. I did a search in a few applications looking for jpg files or any lost files but didn't come up with anything.
Has anyone else encountered this or have any idea if these files are still somewhere on the device? I know it was a stupid thing to do and didn't have a cloud backup set
Could you see the photos before you cut and pasted? What you've described doesn't sound like it should have caused your photos to disappear, but an upgrade would.
On a 4.1 ROM, the sdcard points to /data/media. On a 4.2 and beyond ROM, the sdcard points to /data/media/0. I would have a look in /data/media.

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