Database Develop

Switching SD Cards

Hello,
I am buying a 16 GB Class 6 Micro SD soon, and i was wondering if there is anything I should do to it before putting it into my phone. Should I be worried, since the new SD card isn't partitioned, about accidentally bricking my phone? If so, what should I do to it before putting it inside of my phone?
Thanks.

1. you will loose all applications, they are stored on the sd card, so duh!. (lots of force closes)
2. you can't brick your phone by replacing an sd card.

If you want to use or already using apps2sd, you will need to partition the new card to have an EXT partition. This is where the apps will be loaded on the sd card. You can use the latest from Amon Ra (located here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=5666691) to partition the new sd card.
After rebooting from the partitioning, you will need to download all of the apps from the market again. Or you can backup using a rooted back up.
If you are not using any apps2sd currently, then you only need to ensure that the new card is formatted to fat32.

Thanks, so when I get the sd card I should just put it in, boot into recovery, partition it and then re-download all the apps and I'm done?

make a backup using what you like best (nandroid, switchrom, etc.) and copy all you fat32 to your computer.
put in new sd card, create desired partitions and mount to your pc so you can copy all your old files over (this will include your backup) then unmount and unplug from pc
restore backup and you will be right back to business as usual for the most part (may lose some passwords and other small things)

What happens to internal SD ?

What happens to internal SD when you insert an external SD card?
Why does it disappear?
When I go into 'My Files' after I've inserted an external SD card, I can now see the files on my SD card, but my internal SD is now missing!
Mysteriously though, when I remove my external SD card, my internal SD files become visible again in 'My Files' !!!
Yes, both internal and external SD are mounted in Settings.
TIA

in File Manager app
/sdcard/ = internal SD
/sdcard/sd/ = external SD

AllGamer said:
in File Manager app
/sdcard/ = internal SD
/sdcard/sd/ = external SD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe our phones are a little different?
When I don't have my external SD in the phone and I go into 'My Files'
I see at the top /sdcard/
and below that I see:
albumbthumbs
bluetooth
DCIM
Android
SD (internal)
When I have my external SD in the phone and I go into 'My Files'
I see at the top /sdcard/
and below that I see:
albumbthumbs
bluetooth
DCIM
Android
SD folder with a white symbol (indicating external SD card)

what if you navigate to /sdcard/sd/
what does it shows?

AllGamer said:
what if you navigate to /sdcard/sd/
what does it shows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It shows all of the folders on my SD external card (nothing at all about internal SD card).

not sure what's the cause of the problem, but that is one weird bug indeed.

So when you go to /sdcard/ without an external SD card you find all the files on your internal SD card (albumbthumbs, bluetooth, DCIM, etc.)
And when you go to /sdcard/sd/ with an external SD card you find all the files on your external SD card? I don't see a problem.
You said without the external card you see "SD (internal)" in My Files, does it actually say internal or are you assuming? That should actually be external.

ShezUK said:
So when you go to /sdcard/ without an external SD card you find all the files on your internal SD card (albumbthumbs, bluetooth, DCIM, etc.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well let's first make an important distinction here.
There appears to be an internal SD card section that is *separate* from another part of the phone's memory.
So *without* the external card in the phone I have the following at /sdcard/
-bluetooth
-albumthumbs
-sd (internal) (with a bunch of test files that I placed here)
-DCIM
-Android
You seem to be lumping all of the files that are not on the external SD card as 'sd internal'. This is not the case!
Now, when I place the external SD card back in the phone and go back to /sdcard/, this is what I see:
-bluetooth
-albumthumbs
-DCIM
-Android
-sd (white marker external, with all of its subfolders and files)
And when you go to /sdcard/sd/ with an external SD card you find all the files on your external SD card? I don't see a problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. See above, there is a problem. My SD internal is now gone (with the test files that I placed there).
You said without the external card you see "SD (internal)" in My Files, does it actually say internal or are you assuming? That should actually be external.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It simply says 'sd'. I know for a fact that it is 'sd internal' because of the test files that I placed there, and because there is no little white icon next to the sd folder.
When I tap on this sd icon I see the test files and I don't see any of my 'SD external' folders/files.

i was always under the impression that the the place where the
-bluetooth
-albumthumbs
-DCIM
-Android
folders IS the internal SD card and the SD card folder shown in there is the external?
I'm assuming i've been incorrect all this time then?

makamiso said:
i was always under the impression that the the place where the
-bluetooth
-albumthumbs
-DCIM
-Android
folders IS the internal SD card and the SD card folder shown in there is the external?
I'm assuming i've been incorrect all this time then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes by all indications you have been incorrect.
Let's put it this way. If someone paid an Android OS programmer to develop the most confusing way to set up the SD/file system on this phone, they couldn't have come up with something more complicated than what we have.
I just tried out some new experiments, but before I get into them, I notice in your example above you have left out the 'sd folder' under /sdcard/. Is this because you can't see it listed with the other folders listed above?
How big is your internal memory and is your internal SD card mounted?
Here's my latest experiments:
I went into settings/sd card and phone storage/ and Unmounted my External sd card.
Then I went into 'My Files' and this was the list under /sdcard/
-00001.vcf (a backup of my phone contacts)
/bluetooth
/albumthumbs
/sd (in here are some of my test files)
/DCIM
/Android
I couldn't see my external SD card because I unmounted it, but I COULD see my internal /sd folder now (mentioned above).
Next I went back to settings/sd card and phone storage/ and Unmounted my Internal SD card. It's Interesting to note that the message on the front notification panel said "Internal SD card safe to remove; The internal SD card can now be safely removed" !!!! Yeah right!
Next we go into My Files and it says "Your phone does not have a SD card inserted. So even though I believe the internal SD section is separate from the other phone storage memory (DCIM, Android etc.) they are still tied together so that when you Unmount the 'internal SD card' you are unmounting both of them at the same time.
Next I went back to settings/sd card and phone storage/ and Mounted my External sd card and left my Internal SD unmounted.
But before I could do that I had to physically remove the SD card from the phone and re-insert it! The phone will not allow you to Mount the external SD card unless you pull it from the machine (unlike the internal SD card).
Or should I say I tried to Mount my external SD card. Get this!!!
After I removed and then re-inserted the card and went back to the home screen there was a message on the front notification panel that said "Can not mount External SD card; Mount point absent or incorrect. Please unplug USB".
!!! Holy cow. USB! I haven't been able to get my USB to connect to my computer. What's the deal now??? There is nothing plugged into the USB!!!
Back to "My Files'. "Your phone does not have a SD card inserted" Yeah right.
Back to settings, sd card and phone storage/ and Mounted my internal SD card.
Guess what happened on this same screen when I mounted my internal SD?
Yes the Internal SD card said mounted, but what about the External SD card?
It was now mounted too!!!
OK back to 'My Files'. What do you predict will show? I know what I'm betting on.
You guessed it. Back to square one. Only the External SD card and its files are showing:
/albumthumbs
-00001.vcf (another backup of my phone contacts)
/bluetooth
/DCIM
/Android
/sd (with WHITE icon, and all of my subfolders and files inside)
Now you go figure this one out!

The folders layout on sgs makes PERFECT sense. Before the sgs there was no other phone that had built in storage of 8-16gigs so a external card would be named /sd card/ and apps where written to expect that folder if they ever needed to access external cards. Now along comes sgs with its built in mem, rather screw up all the apps out already they was smart enough just to do a soft folder link from /dev/whateverhardware/ to /sd card/sd/ and save everyone trouble. So if you dont have a card inside probe you are actualy viewing a folder called sd but when system sees the external card the folder turns into the ext card and links it while the original sd folder goes hiding. Your basic linux file handling knowledge would have told you. Simple
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

ickyboo said:
... Now along comes sgs with its built in mem, rather screw up all the apps out already they was smart enough just to do a soft folder link from /dev/whateverhardware/ to /sd card/sd/ and save everyone trouble. So if you dont have a card inside probe you are actualy viewing a folder called sd but when system sees the external card the folder turns into the ext card and links it while the original sd folder goes hiding. Your basic linux file handling knowledge would have told you. Simple
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You obviously have a lot more experience with this OS than I do and I think you are pretty close to on the money. There's just one or two things I still don't understand though.
For fun and to see if I could get to the heart of this, I re-named the sd folder (when I didn't have my external Sd card inserted) to 'sd-internal'.
And soon after that (not immediately), and new folder popped up on its own, called 'sd'. Interesting.
Then later when I re-inserted my external sd card, I could now (for the first time) see the sd-internal folder (with my test files inside) BUT.... the new 'sd' folder was again hidden!
So I still don't quite understand what's happening.
Also, when you go into Phone/SD card storage you see the sizes of internal SD, external SD and phone memory. For me it's approx. internal-6G, external-8G, phone-2G.
So please, besides explaining why the SD internal comes and goes, can you explain what is considered 'internal SD' (the 6G of space) and where this storage space is? Is it ANDROID + DCIM + other + SD, or is it just 'SD' or ???
TIA

well when you're doing an update.zip, people say put it on the root of your internal sd card. Which is the screen you go into when going into astro or my files. I mean that whole directory is called /sdcard, that IS your internal SD card.
I have no damn idea what the SD folder is before you put an actual external sd card in as that folder then has that little white sd card icon on it indicating that its the external card. I believe the folder beforehand is just a placeholder or something similar. Basically when you want to put stuff on your internal, you put it in your main folder where stuff like the "Download" folder and alike is. At least thats what i do.

makamiso said:
well when you're doing an update.zip, people say put it on the root of your internal sd card. Which is the screen you go into when going into astro or my files. I mean that whole directory is called /sdcard, that IS your internal SD card.
I have no damn idea what the SD folder is before you put an actual external sd card in as that folder then has that little white sd card icon on it indicating that its the external card. I believe the folder beforehand is just a placeholder or something similar. Basically when you want to put stuff on your internal, you put it in your main folder where stuff like the "Download" folder and alike is. At least thats what i do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Makamiso I believe you've got it!
After much deliberation I believe we have solved the Internal SD card puzzle/mystery.
Here's how I see it.
As you said, that SD folder that you see inside the /sdcard/ is simply a placeholder, nothing more (actually it is a little more).
That was my mistake!
When I first saw it, I thought IT was the entire Internal SD card.
So when I had some files that I wanted to transfer to the phone that's the place I logically thought I should place them in!
It ALLOWED me to place files inside it! Therefore it's not simply a placeholder.
And when I inserted my external SD card into the phone, the 'SD' placeholder folder turned into the external SD folder (the only difference was the white icon next to it).
BUT, the files that I had placed into the 'placeholder' SD folder were gone!
Couldn't access them.
Later I renamed the 'sd' folder to sd-internal (I know it's a bad choice of name now) and when I did this a new sd folder was created automatically (the new placeholder).
NOW when I had my external SD card inserted, I could access the files in the 'sd-internal' folder.
So to summarize;
-the /sdcard/ IS the Internal SD card.
-the sd folder is a dummy/placeholder folder used simply to confuse users like us.
-when you insert an external sd card, the sd folder becomes a real folder (and has a white icon next to it).
-DON'T be tricked like me and place any files inside the SD folder (when you don't have an external card in the phone!!!)
*This last paragraph should become a sticky for new users!

I really have no idea how to fix this.
I have the EXACT problem.

Downloads not saving to SD card..

everytime i download a file or anything from the web, instead of creating a download folder in the root of the SD card, it created one under the Internal Storage....how can i make the SD card to be my Default storage?

SDcard is internal, SDcard-ext is the external card. Haven't seen anyway to default downloads to the external card.

there has to be a way to make the Micro SD card to be the default for downloads and what not. All my other phones have created subfolders under the MicroSD card.
I do not want to use my internal 8gb to save PDF files when i download them from the internet. I want to use my 32GB MicroSD card like it does on other phones...

This has been a NIGHTMARE. I just realized sdcard is internal and sdcard-ext is my actual SD Card. I just assumed sdcard was my flash memory card as this was the case with my Droid X. I changed ES File to the ext location as my default, and my browser's DL section to the ext location as well as Titanium backup. I can't figure out how to save my E-Mail attachments to the ext directory though and I have to continually move them manually, not to mention every app is using the sdcard directory (internal memory) and thinking it is my actual Micro SDHC card. This is a NIGHTMARE and I have read it is not a Motorola problem as new Samsung and HTC phones have the same problem, it is an Android problem. Why the heck would Google change the naming scheme of the SD Card when it worked fine before? Anyway if ANYONE has any solutions suggestions, I would really appreciate it. Thanks

I totally agree. There had to be a way to make all downloads, etc save to sd c
ard-ext.

It's probably going to take a custom Rom to fix.

32GB to 64GB card... just copy everything?

I have a 32GB card in my note 2
I am getting a 64GB card. So All I need to do is
1. Format new card(FAT32?)
2.copy all files from old card to new card
3. Insert new card
Anything else I need to do?
Lot of my apps are installed on SD card (no special application, but using android built in move to SD card)

Yes
That all you need to do. Or at least that is all I have done for every SD upgrade that I have done, and I've had no problems.
steve:good:

I did the same, no issue. enjoy your bigger sd

Fat32 or extfat

fat32 is fine , always what i have done , also it 'd be best if you use this tool , google for it "sd formatter"

You cannot copy big files more than 4GB on Fat32 file system. You should use ExFat if you have such files.

[email protected] said:
You cannot copy big files more than 4GB on Fat32 file system. You should use ExFat if you have such files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no problem with native exFAT(I assume this is how the card will come formatted),
However, since I have certain APPS which are on SD card, will a standard copy all files and folders to new card approach work, or I am in for some headache?

Okay, I kept is exFAT, and then copied all files from 32GB card to 64GB card. Works like a dream!
Thanks for your help!
Apps on SD card also work fine

Apps on SD card - what happens when card is replaced?

I have moved some of my apps to an external SD card. I want to replace my SD card with a larger one, but don't want to break the apps that I've migrated to the SD card. If I copy all of the files from the old SD card to the new one, is there any way that I can retain access to the apps on the SD card without having to re-install them?
The reason I don't want to re-install the apps is that one of them (an e-reader app) has a large number of readable documents. These take a long time to download, and need to be done one at a time. Hence it would literally take hours to restore it.

All apps data should be in the Android folder of the SD card. So, just copy the whole Android folder to the new SD card. But make sure all apps that have been moved to SD card proir are not running while you swap SD cards.

Thanks. My concern is the name assigned to external SD cards seems to be different for each card. For example, my current card is listed as "4575-5888". If I replace it with a different card I assume that name/number will be different for the new card. If the apps installed on the old SD card refer to "4575-5888" then would they be broken when I put the new SD card in, even if I have copied over the /Android folder?

The name of the SD card makes no matter for sdcard1 is always sdcard1 = SD card slot.