[Q] How to format my SDcard without rebuilding? - Hero CDMA Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I have a few odd files on my SDcard that have ASCII symbols as part of the name. I can't rename them or deleted them so I am was thinking about formatting my SDcard. I guess my questions are:
Can I format my SDcard without having to totally set CM7 back up again from scratch?
What's the best way to format it and what file system should I be using? I have a 16GB card I added a while back, I'm not even sure what file system it is on currently, can I look somewhere?
I am guessing I can just USB mount my SDcard, copy all the contents from it, format it (through Clockworkmod?), and then copy everything back to it?
I already copied everything from the card to my PC and I just skipped the files that had weird names and were stated as being invalid and would not copy.
You can see what I am running in my signature below.

Pyr0TeK said:
I have a few odd files on my SDcard that have ASCII symbols as part of the name. I can't rename them or deleted them so I am was thinking about formatting my SDcard. I guess my questions are:
Can I format my SDcard without having to totally set CM7 back up again from scratch?
What's the best way to format it and what file system should I be using? I have a 16GB card I added a while back, I'm not even sure what file system it is on currently, can I look somewhere?
I am guessing I can just USB mount my SDcard, copy all the contents from it, format it (through Clockworkmod?), and then copy everything back to it?
I already copied everything from the card to my PC and I just skipped the files that had weird names and were stated as being invalid and would not copy.
You can see what I am running in my signature below.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you format an SD Card it doesn't do anything to what's already flashed to your phone. Just backup the files you need to a computer then format the SD Card. Once its formatted, put your files back on. Simple as that.

Pyr0TeK said:
I have a few odd files on my SDcard that have ASCII symbols as part of the name. I can't rename them or deleted them so I am was thinking about formatting my SDcard. I guess my questions are:
Can I format my SDcard without having to totally set CM7 back up again from scratch?
What's the best way to format it and what file system should I be using? I have a 16GB card I added a while back, I'm not even sure what file system it is on currently, can I look somewhere?
I am guessing I can just USB mount my SDcard, copy all the contents from it, format it (through Clockworkmod?), and then copy everything back to it?
I already copied everything from the card to my PC and I just skipped the files that had weird names and were stated as being invalid and would not copy.
You can see what I am running in my signature below.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can Copy Everything, and then Delete the Sdcard!!
I've actually done it more than 2 times Recently! But make sure Everythings Copied Correctly!
Good Luck!

Thanks guys... thought that was the case... just making sure. Will do this today.

Pyr0TeK said:
Thanks guys... thought that was the case... just making sure. Will do this today.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are invisible files and folders which in linux are preceded with a period like .android-secure etc. I know on mac they are invisible too, don't know about windows though. You may want to make sure you copy those too.

aiwetir said:
There are invisible files and folders which in linux are preceded with a period like .android-secure etc. I know on mac they are invisible too, don't know about windows though. You may want to make sure you copy those too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I'm on Win7 and I have no files hidden, thanks though. I successfully used Clockworkmod this morning to partition my sd card, format it, and then copied all the files back. Seems to be OK thus far.

Related

how to do back up SD card?

So i want to follow this tutorial:
[
in order so that my phone will work a bit faster, but
when I copy all the files from my sd card to my desktop on my computer
the folder res, cant be copy cause it has long name of files inside. This res folder in located under a Android folder on the root of my sd card.
is the android folder is important?
thank you for your help
Use something like estrongs file manager to compress/zip the folder, and then copy the zip to your PC...
is the Android folder important on the root directory ?
I tried and it didnt work
I don't have a res folder--so may not be that important--depends what files are in there
They may be replaced when you do a nandroid restore or flash a new rom
Your tutorial you are using never got posted
i did notice that i did not add the link to the tutorial which I am following. But the tutorial can be found, on this web site:
Nexus one Q&A>Newbie Friendly How To's w/ Instructional Videos>How To Switch to a Different SD Card (for use with Swap, Hero ROMs, etc.)
I am not yet allow to post links. I am consider a newbie, regarding theses topics
http://theunlockr.com/2009/10/15/ho...-android-when-using-swap-hero-and-or-apps2sd/
this is the tutorial
Well,
If you are familiar with your phone and getting into and out of recovery--here is what I do--using Amon_Ra recovery--I don't like Rom Mgr/Clockwork Mod.
Copy contents of SD Card to PC.
Power off phone and pull sd card out and using a card reader, reformat it on pc with sdformatter from web. Format Type-Full Erase On and Format Size Adjustment-On.
Put it back in phone and boot into recovery--hold down vol-/pwr/trackball at same time until phone boots and select recovery.
Then go to Partition SD Card/Partition SD. Select 1gb ext size (if you have an 8gb card or bigger) and 0 swap. Once done go back to Partition SD screen and select xext2 to ext3. When done go back to first recovery screen. Here you can USB Toggle and copy contents from pc back to SD Card.
At this depends what you want to do. Restore a nandroid or flash a new rom. Either way I usually wipe ALL data and caches at least 3X and restore or flash new rom.
Hope this helps,
Ken
it helps some what,
Do i need to format my sd card in fat32 or NTFS format?
another question is that when I try to do a simple select all copy and paste unto a different folder in my computer, it gets to a point where it does not want to copy (res folder) which is located under the android folder. Is this folder (res) to any importance??/?
thank you
Fat32, but I think sdformatter accounts for that--I don't remember a selection
sdformatter puts card back to original/new condition--I highly recommend it
As I mentioned, I have no res folder, DR's suggestion is a good option
Look and see what files are in it, may just be apps/images that will get put back eventually
Here is Google Search link--search is your friend http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt...s+folder&fr=att-portal&toggle=1&cop=&ei=UTF-8 It may give you some answers
You could also try adding a .bak to name of folder thru Root Explorer and maybe copy/paste it to phone somewhere from sd card folder shown in Root Explorer, then as soon as you reload sd card, go back to Root Explorer and copy/paste it back to Android and change name back.
I am not sure about that, maybe someone can confirm that would work and not mess up anything. If you nandroid, it shouldn't matter--??
If you are new to all this it just takes time and a lot of searches and thread reading--as long as do nandroids and use Titanium Backup for your app management, you can recover from anything.
Ken
http://efreedom.com/Question/1-2965149/Res-Src-Folder-Relation-Eclipse-Android
I think that folder is put there when doing development projects, if you or someone used SDK and/or Eclipse that's how it got there--so doubt if you need it
Just an opinion, I am not a dev or very tech savvy with Android OS

Basic Android folder,file structure and names

Okay I'm a newbie wanting to root and uinstall CWR but have been confused after reading several How to's. My S7 came with v2.2 and I received and installed v3.2 on the first day.
I read a post mentioning this link: http://www.androidcentral.com/dell-streak-7-getting-bugfix-update. I "thought" that I followed the simple instructions but maybe not! I downloaded the file, renamed it "update.pkg" and while connected to my PC copied it to the root of my S7.
I put the S7 into recovery mode, selected install update.pkg from sdcard. Now this is where some of the confusion starts. While connected to my PC, nothing is refered to as a sdcard and I don't have one installed.
Okay back to the install. The S7 errors with four lines of text. It's looking for either "update.pkg" or "update.zip" with a file path: /mnt/sdcard/sdcard2/. I forget the exact wording but it's something like Failed or Can't Mount followed by the file path.
This left my S7 only booting to the Dell Logo and unable to connect to my PC beacause it wouldn't boot up. I had to do a factory reset which surprised me going back to v3.2 and not v2.2.
The file path mentioned above appears to show that it was looking for either file in the sdcard2 folder which is inside the sdcard folder. I had and since reinstalled the File Expert app which shows /mnt/sdcard/ and /mnt/sdacrd2/ or sdcard2 as a seperate folder not nested within the sdcard folder. Here again, the term/name "sdcard" is used and I don't have one. Is "sdcard" used to refer to the 16GB of internal memory? I assume so.
I'm not sure now if I would have used File Expert to copy "update.pkg" to the sdcard2 folder that I may have worked or not? On the linked page above, you see that I posted a comment about the problem and there is also another person has a screwed up S7 now too!
EDIT:
Nope, sdcard2 is indeed the optional sdcard slot which is empty and File Expert just errors.
When you boot into recovery and you are at the main menu with all the different options, choose the option to update from "internal" sdcard. The key is "internal" sdcard.
Sorry to not be more specific but I don't have my DS7 handy.
Good luck.
nagahtom said:
When you boot into recovery and you are at the main menu with all the different options, choose the option to update from "internal" sdcard. The key is "internal" sdcard.
Sorry to not be more specific but I don't have my DS7 handy.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe that there was only one option to install the update.pkg from but the point or question is, where is it looking for the file at? It appears that it's looking on the sdcard2 which isn't there!
This makes me wonder now, when a procedure states to put a file on your sdcard, just actually what are they refering to? The internal memory sdcard or an optional plugged in sdcard?
They are referring to the removable sdcard. If you don't have one, I'd suggest picking one up. It doesn't have to be a 32GB or even a 16GB. Then, put the update.pkg file on the root of that SDcard.
The filesystems can be very confusing on the DS7. Try it with a removable SD card and you should have better luck.
nagahtom said:
They are referring to the removable sdcard. If you don't have one, I'd suggest picking one up. It doesn't have to be a 32GB or even a 16GB. Then, put the update.pkg file on the root of that SDcard.
The filesystems can be very confusing on the DS7. Try it with a removable SD card and you should have better luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, why refer to the internal memory as sdcard?? The procedure for installing this update doesn't mention that an optional sdcard must be used either.
There's another thread where they appeared to have done that and it still failed! I may just wait till Dell puts it out OTA.

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

Sony Xperia ZR – Mount ExternalSD2InternalSD

Hi,
This is my first android device, so am pretty much a newbie for android.
Have created this mod to mount external SD card partition as internal partition.
I took pointers from a lot of threads on xda forums to get this working, so I feel bound to share it.
Note: Have only tested it with Android 4.1.
(I'm not responsible for any Damage to your phone. Use at your own risk.)
Note: This will likely result in data loss. Backup!
Required :
1. Root Access
2. init.d support click here
3. Root Browser click here
4. SManager click here
5. An sd card (duh!) (with class 10 SD cards preferable)
6. Some way to partition your SD Card (like MiniTool Partition Manager)
Install instructions:
1. Create two ‘fat32’ partitions on SD card(EDIT: PS: both partitions should be Primary). Your first partition will be mounted as normal extSd card, and your second partition will be mounted as internal SD Card for your apps. (I partitioned my 64GB(10^9 bytes) sd card with ~16 GB 1st partition and ~42 GB 2nd partition)
2. Copy and paste “mountSd” to etc/init.d folder. (If you don’t have such a folder, means you lack init.d support. click here and follow instructions to enable it) This script creates another mount point called ‘sdcard2’ and mounts current internal sd card there. It also tries to mount second partition to ‘sdcard0’ location, but seems to fail some times (as fat32 is not natively supported linux partition it seems, but could be wrong), so step 3 is required.
3. Copy ‘mountSdFailSafe.txt’ to your phone’s ‘/data’ folder. Now with ‘SManager’, register this file as script with ‘su’ and ‘boot’ selected. (click and hold script -> in context menu click ‘Open As..’ -> ‘Script/Executable’ -> Is Script = true, select ‘su’ and ‘boot’ buttons)
4. Restart.
This should do it. Once restarted, second partition will be shown as internal memory.
Note:
You will lose all app data and other app related customizations. You may be able to restore it by simply copy pasting ‘Android’ folder from ‘/storage/sdcard2’ to ‘/storage/sdcard0’. This has not been tested by me but should work theoretically (as I started with a blank phone, and so did not need to back up my app data). Or you could use Titanium Backup.
Some Issues that occur due to this mod:
I have been using this mod since the past 2 weeks, and the phone is quite stable with this mod.
The only issue I have faced is that when connected to PC (Windows 8) through USB, ‘My Computer’ keeps crashing unless and until you disconnect the phone. Otherwise it seems to be working fine. To circumvent this issue I have been using Samba to share files between PC and my phone.
Please share how it works out for you guys.
Other Notes:
I tried to get this working with ext4 partition, which has a +ves that it will not require step ‘3’ of install instructions and supports file sizes >4GB, but there are loads of permission issues happening, which I could not solve.
(Thought of setting “set GID” bit and then finding and adding all users to root group but failed. Also tried to set owner group ‘sdcard_rw’ without much success. May be someone who knows linux better may know how to solve this, Could not find much help on the forums as it seems others are facing a similar problem see more)
Thanks to:
For basic idea (PS: do not use the given method exactly as you will end up in a boot loop. For some reason, ‘sdcard1’ mount point has to be mounted by system only and can’t be mounted any other way, it seems.)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2180733
Edit:
Simplified installation if you do not care for easy accessibility to your orig internal memory:
Use this video tutorial by ashwin123:
The only exceptions are that, you need to partition your card,
and you have to use the file 'mountSdFailSafe.txt' instead of the file in the package mentioned by him.
Nice
Waiting for someone to test it n confirm it successfully works
Still here
N!geR -> E!ch0
NisJ said:
Hi,
This is my first android device, so am pretty much a newbie for android.
Have created this mod to mount external SD card partition as internal partition.
I took pointers from a lot of threads on xda forums to get this working, so I feel bound to share it.
Note: Have only tested it with Android 4.1.
(I'm not responsible for any Damage to your phone. Use at your own risk.)
Note: This will likely result in data loss. Backup!
Required :
1. Root Access
2. init.d support click here
3. Root Browser click here
4. SManager click here
5. An sd card (duh!) (with class 10 SD cards preferable)
6. Some way to partition your SD Card (like MiniTool Partition Manager)
Install instructions:
1. Create two ‘fat32’ partitions on SD card. Your first partition will be mounted as normal extSd card, and your second partition will be mounted as internal SD Card for your apps. (I partitioned my 64GB(10^9 bytes) sd card with ~16 GB 1st partition and ~42 GB 2nd partition)
2. Copy and paste “mountSd” to etc/init.d folder. (If you don’t have such a folder, means you lack init.d support. click here and follow instructions to enable it) This script creates another mount point called ‘sdcard2’ and mounts current internal sd card there. It also tries to mount second partition to ‘sdcard0’ location, but seems to fail some times (as fat32 is not natively supported linux partition it seems, but could be wrong), so step 3 is required.
3. Copy ‘mountSdFailSafe.txt’ to your phone’s ‘/data’ folder. Now with ‘SManager’, register this file as script with ‘su’ and ‘boot’ selected. (click and hold script -> in context menu click ‘Open As..’ -> ‘Script/Executable’ -> Is Script = true, select ‘su’ and ‘boot’ buttons)
4. Restart.
This should do it. Once restarted, second partition will be shown as internal memory.
Note:
You will lose all app data and other app related customizations. You may be able to restore it by simply copy pasting ‘Android’ folder from ‘/storage/sdcard2’ to ‘/storage/sdcard0’. This has not been tested by me but should work theoretically (as I started with a blank phone, and so did not need to back up my app data). Or you could use Titanium Backup.
Some Issues that occur due to this mod:
I have been using this mod since the past 2 weeks, and the phone is quite stable with this mod.
The only issue I have faced is that when connected to PC (Windows 8) through USB, ‘My Computer’ keeps crashing unless and until you disconnect the phone. Otherwise it seems to be working fine. To circumvent this issue I have been using Samba to share files between PC and my phone.
Please share how it works out for you guys.
Other Notes:
I tried to get this working with ext4 partition, which has a +ves that it will not require step ‘3’ of install instructions and supports file sizes >4GB, but there are loads of permission issues happening, which I could not solve.
(Thought of setting “set GID” bit and then finding and adding all users to root group but failed. Also tried to set owner group ‘sdcard_rw’ without much success. May be someone who knows linux better may know how to solve this, Could not find much help on the forums as it seems others are facing a similar problem see more)
Thanks to:
For basic idea (PS: do not use the given method exactly as you will end up in a boot loop. For some reason, ‘sdcard1’ mount point has to be mounted by system only and can’t be mounted any other way, it seems.)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2180733
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Am interested to try this but before I do, just wanted to check when you say data is lost, is it due to the lost of the original /data partition? Or just due to the sd card's partition?
What's the outcome when this is done, I mean do we have two data partitions one from the original phone's memory and another with the sdcard? And in the settings menu, will we get to choose to send apps over to sd? Thanks
grim_ripper said:
Am interested to try this but before I do, just wanted to check when you say data is lost, is it due to the lost of the original /data partition? Or just due to the sd card's partition?
What's the outcome when this is done, I mean do we have two data partitions one from the original phone's memory and another with the sdcard? And in the settings menu, will we get to choose to send apps over to sd? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your application data will be lost in a way, as orig internal sd card will be mounted to 'sdcard2' mount point(newly created). All your app data will be installed to your memory card's second partition, which is now the new internal sdcard. To access your orig data, you will have to go to it through a file manager, and apps or media scanner will not be able to access this memory any more.
The scripts provided will not format your internal memory.
Still apk files, dalvik cache etc, will still take up your original internal memory's space.
Partitioning your sd card will probably format it as well unless you take special precaution (ie. through shrink volume).
Hope it makes sense...?
NisJ said:
Your application data will be lost in a way, as orig internal sd card will be mounted to 'sdcard2' mount point(newly created). All your app data will be installed to your memory card's second partition, which is now the new internal sdcard. To access your orig data, you will have to go to it through a file manager, and apps or media scanner will not be able to access this memory any more.
The scripts provided will not format your internal memory.
Still apk files, dalvik cache etc, will still take up your original internal memory's space.
Partitioning your sd card will probably format it as well unless you take special precaution (ie. through shrink volume).
Hope it makes sense...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It makes sense, just am confused on how the system will still recognize the original storage when the sd card's storage is supposingly replacing it. Could you post a screen shot of your storage from settings?
grim_ripper said:
It makes sense, just am confused on how the system will still recognize the original storage when the sd card's storage is supposingly replacing it. Could you post a screen shot of your storage from settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you go....
PS: third image shows that internal storage is still accessible, just not to apps. Only apk files, and other android files go there go there. sdcard2 in 4th image is newly created mount point for your orig internal storage, but is ignored by most of the apps...
NisJ said:
Here you go....
PS: third image shows that internal storage is still accessible, just not to apps. Only apk files, and other android files go there go there. sdcard2 in 4th image is newly created mount point for your orig internal storage, but is ignored by most of the apps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can u do a tutorial video how to install this script bro?
Cuz the installation steps r bit complicated
Still here
N!geR -> E!ch0
NisJ said:
Here you go....
PS: third image shows that internal storage is still accessible, just not to apps. Only apk files, and other android files go there go there. sdcard2 in 4th image is newly created mount point for your orig internal storage, but is ignored by most of the apps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Phone keeps rebooting now, couldn't copy it to /etc/init.d
I think it has something to do with having data running in the background, now I don't know what to do with my phone
EDIT: Ok, manage to recover from the reboot state, had to deny root access to my file explorer. I think the reboot was caused when I set permission to write for /system. Anyway, everytime I keep trying to copy to /etc/init.d, I get a permission denied so am not sure what I should do now.
grim_ripper said:
Phone keeps rebooting now, couldn't copy it to /etc/init.d
I think it has something to do with having data running in the background, now I don't know what to do with my phone
EDIT: Ok, manage to recover from the reboot state, had to deny root access to my file explorer. I think the reboot was caused when I set permission to write for /system. Anyway, everytime I keep trying to copy to /etc/init.d, I get a permission denied so am not sure what I should do now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When ever you copy something to init.d it will reboot, or does it go into boot loop?
To check if it worked correctly, see if new mount point storage/sdcard2 was created..
EDIT: If it worked correctly, then you could move to next step.
else you could also skip it, and goto the next step of SManager, but in that case you will lose access to your original internal storage as it wont be mounted to sdcard2.
E!ch0 said:
Can u do a tutorial video how to install this script bro?
Cuz the installation steps r bit complicated
Still here
N!geR -> E!ch0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Creating a video will take time at least til sat... prob more.
Will see if I can create a simplified install instructions once i reach home.
NisJ said:
When ever you copy something to init.d it will reboot, or does it go into boot loop?
To check if it worked correctly, see if new mount point storage/sdcard2 was created..
EDIT: If it worked correctly, then you could move to next step.
else you could also skip it, and goto the next step of SManager, but in that case you will lose access to your original internal storage as it wont be mounted to sdcard2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What happens is that everytime I try to mount /system as writable, it reboots and hence I can't copy either files to their designated location
EDIT: Also, now everytime I reboot, there's a popup that says USB connectivity has stopped, and if I go under settings->storage, settings fc. I'm thinking this has something to do with two partitions on the sd card so I hope it all goes away when this works or I revert back to as it was.
EDIT 2: So I managed to get all the files to the appropriate place using terminal and managed to get the script to run at boot. Alas, the phone doesn't detect my sdcard at all now and still throws the USB connectivity error at boot. Once I removed the sdcard, everything works alright. Also, I figured the solution to the reboot (haven't tested it yet as I wanted to resolve my sdcard first):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2317432
EDIT 3: Got the reboot solve, but the sdcard can't be read and I tried plugging it into my other phone, the first partition is only read. I can't get minitool to even find the 2nd partition. I am thinking I need to get a card reader to plug it into my laptop. Anyway, I went through your script and open the log file it used, says that there's an invalid argument for mount. Any idea?
Final Edit: Got it working! I had to re-partition my sdcard and made both partitions primary so maybe you might want to add that in OP as MiniTool by default selected the 2nd partition as logical
grim_ripper said:
What happens is that everytime I try to mount /system as writable, it reboots and hence I can't copy either files to their designated location
EDIT: Also, now everytime I reboot, there's a popup that says USB connectivity has stopped, and if I go under settings->storage, settings fc. I'm thinking this has something to do with two partitions on the sd card so I hope it all goes away when this works or I revert back to as it was.
EDIT 2: So I managed to get all the files to the appropriate place using terminal and managed to get the script to run at boot. Alas, the phone doesn't detect my sdcard at all now and still throws the USB connectivity error at boot. Once I removed the sdcard, everything works alright. Also, I figured the solution to the reboot (haven't tested it yet as I wanted to resolve my sdcard first):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2317432
EDIT 3: Got the reboot solve, but the sdcard can't be read and I tried plugging it into my other phone, the first partition is only read. I can't get minitool to even find the 2nd partition. I am thinking I need to get a card reader to plug it into my laptop. Anyway, I went through your script and open the log file it used, says that there's an invalid argument for mount. Any idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why are you trying to mount /system as rw?
for getting init.d support you just have to download the apk from mentioned thread and install it, and then fallow instruction in app.
you can mount root as rw with the foll command if you want, and that is exactly what is done in he scripts as well if you will check:
Code:
mount -o remount,rw /
also to check if partition is created on sd card, type the command:
Code:
blkid
and see if
Code:
/dev/block/vold/179:34
is listed
if not post the output and i'll see what i can do.
grim_ripper said:
Final Edit: Got it working! I had to re-partition my sdcard and made both partitions primary so maybe you might want to add that in OP as MiniTool by default selected the 2nd partition as logical
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EDIT: Correct, you need both the partitions to be primary. got out of my mind when posting the tutorial.
NisJ said:
Why are you trying to mount /system as rw?
for getting init.d support you just have to download the apk from mentioned thread and install it, and then fallow instruction in app.
you can mount root as rw with the foll command if you want, and that is exactly what is done in he scripts as well if you will check:
Code:
mount -o remount,rw /
also to check if partition is created on sd card, type the command:
Code:
blkid
and see if
Code:
/dev/block/vold/179:34
is listed
if not post the output and i'll see what i can do.
EDIT: Correct, you need both the partitions to be primary. got out of my mind when posting the tutorial.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For whatever reason, my /etc folder is actually a link from /system/etc
Could you post a way to revert back? I think my apps are acting all funny now and just want to revert back to before. Thanks!
grim_ripper said:
Could you post a way to revert back? I think my apps are acting all funny now and just want to revert back to before. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The apps are behaving funny because you have lost their data as I had warned in the original post.
To fix do either of the foll:
1. reinstall app, and start fresh.
or
2. restore from Titanium backup if you had created...
or
3. copy paste 'Android' folder from sdcard2 if it is created to 'sdcard0'
To remove and revert, just delete the files from int.d, and stop scheduling it in SManger.
Note: to un schedule it from smanager, you first have to remove memory card, un schedule and then put in your memory card (this is coz when phone boots up, it is in standard way, with 8gb internal but, after script is executed SManager looses its data too.
How complicated will it be to make this compatible with 4.2.2?
grim_ripper said:
How complicated will it be to make this compatible with 4.2.2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ideally should be possible, unless something has changed majorly, but I haven't tried it, as am waiting for OTA update. If it is not forth coming in 2-3 weeks, may be tempted to flash nordic rom and try.
NisJ said:
Ideally should be possible, unless something has changed majorly, but I haven't tried it, as am waiting for OTA update. If it is not forth coming in 2-3 weeks, may be tempted to flash nordic rom and try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did try but nothing happened, am guessing it has permission issues or something on those lines
grim_ripper said:
I did try but nothing happened, am guessing it has permission issues or something on those lines
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you be more specific? Like system restarts etc...
Else in terminal try out what I Gave in post no 12 and give me what the output is for both the commands in the terminal.
Note: execute them with super user credentials.
Thanks
NisJ said:
Could you be more specific? Like system restarts etc...
Else in terminal try out what I Gave in post no 12 and give me what the output is for both the commands in the terminal.
Note: execute them with super user credentials.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
on the 4.2.2 update, it doesnt recognize the second partition even if it is formatted to primary and set to active. there r definitely some updates done in that field and plus i cant get the init.d rights on the phone as the test.log file is absent in the data folder..no matter what i do i just cant get it straight with the present procedure. please try it on 4.2 and there r more frequent updates on the nordiac then the local version. so i decided to flash it rather than waiting for ota update

SD card erasing

Hi guys
I'd like to erase my sd card. In the last time i've flashed several roms. Now, i have in system storage two part, one is emulated where is a 0 map with all file i have, end the other one is sdcard0, and there are also all files. Because i have only 5G free space, i want to erase one of them. I want to copy the necessary files to my pc, and the whole sd erase, after then copy back the folder i need. Can i do so? Don't will i erase my rom too?
thanks
mohab216 said:
I'd like to erase my sd card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, do you have a real SD card? If so, you don't have the same phone as 99% of people in the HTC One subforum, because the HTC One has no SD card. But in short, nothing you can delete as non-root will hurt your ROM. If you're using a file manager and deleting stuff, you're pretty safe. You can get into more trouble with factory resets or "wipes".
fenstre said:
First of all, do you have a real SD card? If so, you don't have the same phone as 99% of people in the HTC One subforum, because the HTC One has no SD card. But in short, nothing you can delete as non-root will hurt your ROM. If you're using a file manager and deleting stuff, you're pretty safe. You can get into more trouble with factory resets or "wipes".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tnaks. It is of course a virtual sd card
You can format it via CWM/TWRP recovery. Back up first, format and put back what you need.
No it won't erase your Rom or wipe. If u use twrp, be sure you uncheck all marks except SDcard (think it's the bottom one)
Note that if you "format internal storage" in CWM, it *will* wipe all your app data. I don't think you want that.
There are "fake" folders on Android 4. The real folders you should have are:
/data/media/0
/data/media/obb (optional)
/data/media/legacy (this is empty on my phone)
You should have no other folders in /data/media. If you see other folders and delete them, it will probably solve your problem. If you don't, your problem may have a more complicated solution.

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