Database Users

[HOWTO] Partition SD card

Introduction
Transcend and several other manufacturers make 4GB SD cards these days. They're great if you use your HTC device as MP3 player or Camera, as they offer enough space for thousands of songs and pictures.
My device, the HTC Universal, handles them just fine. However some applications, most notably the Camera application, don't like it.
Why some apps don't like it
The main problem here is the way in which they calculate the free space.
the processor is 32-bit, which means it can handle numbers ranging from 0 to 2^32. 4GB is exactly 2^32 bytes, so that shouldn't be the problem.
The problem is that applications sometimes handle the number as signed, which means that it differentiates between negative and positive numbers.
With signed numbers, the last bit is actually used as the sign (positive or negative), and the new range stretches from -2^31 (-2GB) to 2^31 (2GB).
Up to 2^31, the unsigned numbers and signed numbers are the same, but after that the last bit is set in unsigned numbers, which means that if treated as signed it will be seen as a negative number.
So if you have more than 2GB free, and the application mistreats the number of bytes free as being signed, the application actually thinks you have less than 0 bytes free
How to fix this?
There are several ways to fix this. The most simple one would be to have a simple dummy file so you always have less than 2GB free. This works for the camera application, but any miscoded application taking a look at the actual size of the disk will still screw up
The other solution is partitioning your SD-card. This means that you actually split the SD-card up into several virtual SD-cards of smaller sizes. So one SD-card of 4GB could be seen as four of 1GB (my set up).
This way you still have 4GB of storage, but applications will not get confused as it's split up into several chunks.
WARNING
Before you start remember to back up the current data on your SD-Card. the procedure will completely erase your SD-card. You might be able to retain the data by using partitionmagic's resize partition features, but you'd have to test yourself.
Also I'd like to mention that although I tested this procedure myself, I can't garantuee it will work for you. If it renders your SD-card useless, I can not be held responsible.
My set-up
This tutorial was written using:
- T-Mobile MDA Pro (HTC Universal)
- Windows XP SP2 MCE (equivilant to Pro)
- Transcend 150x 4GB SD-Card
It might work with a different set-up, but I can't garantuee anything
Requirements
- Windows Mobile 5
- WM5Storage (do not use CardExport2, you need the ability to turn off "Removable Class"!)
- Big SD-Card
Let's get started
Just follow the following steps
First, make a backup of your SD-card! the following procedure will erase it!
Next, install WM5Storage. I will attach a copy of version 1.53 with this post, but you can get the latest version here.
Just copy the .cab file to your device, and execute it from the file explorer. Just make sure you install on the main memory, as the SD-card becomes inaccessible during the procedure
Start WM5Storage. On my device, WM5Storage did not put anything in the start menu or the today screen, so I had to launch it through the file-explorer. You can find it at My Device\Program Files\WM5Storage\.
Be sure to untick both "Read-Only" and "Removable Class". Optionally you can set it to light a LED on read/write, but that's not neccesarry for this procedure.
Disconnect your device from your computer.
Insert the SD-Card if you haven't done so already
Hit "Activate" (bottom, right)
Re-connect your device to your computer.
From now on all steps are done from the PC
Wait until windows has recognized all "new hardware", and you have new a new hard-drive listed in "My Computer".
Open the control panel (Start -> Control Panel)
Go to either Performance and Maintenance -> Administrative Tools (category view) or directly to Administrative Tools (Classic View)
Double-Click Computer Management
Go to Computer Management (Local) -> Storage -> Disk Management (might take a little while to find all drives)
In the bottom view, find the disk that has your SD-card in it (You can find out by looking at the contents through "My Computer", or by seeing which disk is added once you plug in your WM device)
Right click the partition (white block ), and choose for Delete Partition
In the just created "Unallocated" space, right click, and choose for New Partition
In the wizard:
choose for a Primary Partition
For size, enter 1024MB (or if there is no more remaining, just the remainder). Ofcourse you can also choose your own size
Assign any drive-letter you want (or none if you only want it to be accessible on the WM Device).
Format the partition as Filesystem FAT32, Allocation unit size Default, and pick any volume label you want (You will only see the volume label on the PC, on the WM Device it will just be "Storage Card X". Also tick "Perform a quick format"
Wait until the bottom line in the new partition reads "Healthy" (wait for it to format basically )
Create as much partitions as you'd like (just resume from right-clicking and picking New partition)
You're done partitioning! If you want, you can fill the contents of the SD-Card now before you deactivate WM5Storage
Disconnect the device from the computer
Next few steps on the Device
Click "Deactivate" (same place as "Activate" was before )
Close WM5Storage
You're all done! have fun with the multiple storage cards you have now
Afterword
I've put quite a bit of time in this tutorial, I'd appreciate if you at least told me if it worked
If you can spare a few coins, I'd also appreciate a donation. You can donate with PayPal to "[email protected]".

nice post, i'm bloging it right away 8)

I have a 2GB SD card. My o2 mini prompt me to format it when inserted. After formatted. o2 mini shows 0.01 MB only.
"My computer using card reader shows 14KB and from Disk Management, it shows 1.86 GB Free. I believe this "1.86GB Free" means unallocated space.
I right click on the unallocated space, but there is no option for me to choose a Primary Partition. It only has 3 options.
"New Logical Drive...",
"Delete Partition...", which is grayed out and
"Help".
Help! How to allocate this 1.86GB and format it to fat32?
Any kind soul please help me get this 2GB SD card to work with my o2 mini. 1.86GB and not 0.01MB.
Thanks

is there anyway to rename the partition with a different name? i've tried a lot of ways but in vain... the 2nd partition always follow the name of the 1st partition... any help please?
thanks in advance...
non

After having lots of problems with my SD card, I already thought that partitioning possibly could solve the problem and, using your howto, I can use my 2 GB SD-card without any problems.
Thanks!

ive done this on a 512 sd and using wm03, used a card reader to do the partition.
actualy worked well for a while if you have alot of files to store in one of the partitions, but ended up being a real pain when you wanted to re-do it

Really nice post and easy too.

thanks
hi i tried it.....realyy wonderful....thanks a lot for posting this one...keep posting things lik tis.....
cheers,
Siva....

thx for this tips!
I used it for my 2GB MiniSD card, but now I would like to keep my TomTom maps on the second partition, but TomTom can't recognize the map. (Storage Card2\)
I tried by editing the 'CurrentMap.dat' file and set the path to the Storage Card2 but still TomTom doesn't want to read this second partition. Anyone a solution for that?
thx!!

Nice tutorial. I have problem with reading of my 4GB SD card. Now I'm using two partitions (1GB for cameras and 3GB for my PocketPC). Thank you

I have been trying this but all I seem to be able to do is partition the card but only able to format the first partition s the rest of the card is rendered useless
Any help appreciated

Great tutorial, will link it up from my related articles!

partitioning 4GB help
Hi,
I've followed you instructions (great job, btw) HOWTO partition SD card....using the file download WM5torage.cab For some reason, I cannot get past the part after clicking on ACTIVATE immediately after inserting the SD Card. My MDA (TMobile Wiz) keeps locking up and I have to do a soft reset. I've tried reformatting the 4GB Mini SD card a few times and I've actually gotten different results. My last format (FAT32) shows (on PC) 1930MB free and 1931MB used which befuddles me. I formatted it again and it showed 3.78 GB free. Perhaps you or someone could assist me if possible. I bought the Mini SD card off eBay from a reputable seller. It was suppossed to be a Samsung 4GB Mini SD card and I was a bit surprised when it arrived as a SanDisk. Any idea as to why the phone keeps locking up? I also wonder if there might be an issue with the card...I examined the back of the card where the contacts are with magnification and the sides of the black composite show traces of perhaps an epoxy or bonding agent...I think SanDisks QC is better than that. To make things easier, you can also email me at [email protected]

I have cingular 8125 and vista. I tried to use the program wm5storage but when I go to computer management there is not recognition of the 4 gig sd, nor is there any recognition of an sd when using my pda. Anyone know how to get the phone to recognize it (I tried reformatting) so that I can partition. Thanks

I have had some success with 4 GB cards from IntegrityElectronics and TopRam on my T-Mobile MDA running latest TMO ROM.
The problem I am running into a when using apps that are installed on the card and write dat to the card, other files get corrupted and render those applications unsuable. If I limit use to playing MP3 and videos, thing tend to stay stable.
Has anyone else observed this behavior?

Ok, I used the storage program to access the card. Then with the disk
management on XP I formatted the card as FAT for the entire 4gb card.
It looks like it worked. I copied all my files to it. Everything is running.
I have done several restarts with no problems...
Hope it stays so.
Good luck folks. I will report back if anything weird happens.

Ok. So it all got completely screwed.
I guess it got corrupted. My guess is when
I started using the camera. All of a sudden
there are only blank folders on the storage
card with a period as the names. Tons of them.
Nothing else. Any ideas?
And now I cannot get wm5storage to work.
It keeps telling me that something is accessing
the card. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

It seems the problem was that there was a hidden Recycler folder on the storage card that would not let me use wm5storage. Probably from
Resco File Explorer... Deleted that with my PC...
Somehow magically my pc read the card. I don't know how to explain
that seeing as it was formatted in FAT not FAT32...
Then wm5storage worked and I paritioned it into 2 halves.
Lets see how that goes.
I hope, well.

This may be a silly question but...
Can't you plug the micro SD into a card reader and use Windows XP Disk Management tool (or any other partintioning tool) to create the partition on the storage card? What's WM5Storage actually doing?
SG

Anyone? Can't one just soley use the Disk Management tool in Windows to partition a SD card?

[Q] In simple terms, how to access/use storage on CM7 SD

I have spent the last week reading and searching the forums in an attempt to find out how to be able to access and use the empty space left on a CM7 boot sd. Some of the posts were confusing and others seemed to be targeted to those who are already very familiar with the file structures of these systems. The only paritioning experience I have is dividing a boot drive before putting on XP. I am using a Sandisk 8gb and it looks like there is about 5 gig free. Win XP is the os I am running.
So the questions I have are:
1) In simple terms, exactly what has to be done to a boot CM7 SD card to be able to use the empty space for books, mp3, etc? On the recommendations I read in different threads, I downloaded easus partition master, gnome partition editor, and minitool partition wizard. They all pretty much do the same of being able to display the 4 partitions, but what do with the programs then?
In the near future I would like to get a 16g or 32g and wouldn't want all of that space going to waste.
2) Is it possible to have it so that the NC stock boot can read the books downloaded in CM7? I have not been able to find where CM7 stores books.
Thanks to all whose work helped me get to this point. The NC is a fascinating piece of hardware.

Hey! Using the remaining storage on your SD card is quite easy. Just download and install this program on your NC. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=952456 open the program and select the 4th partition to be mounted. Now when you plug your nook into the PC, the partition which holds media etc. Will be mounted you can now transfer mp3's, roms for Emulators etc.
As for #2, Your cm7 books should be on the previously mentioned partition, which is the 4th.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA Premium App

Imbroglio said:
I have spent the last week reading and searching the forums in an attempt to find out how to be able to access and use the empty space left on a CM7 boot sd. Some of the posts were confusing and others seemed to be targeted to those who are already very familiar with the file structures of these systems. The only paritioning experience I have is dividing a boot drive before putting on XP. I am using a Sandisk 8gb and it looks like there is about 5 gig free. Win XP is the os I am running.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
5G sounds about right for the /sdcard partition. The rest of the partitions on an 8G card are /boot, /system, and /data. Use Root Explorer to poke around; you can tell when you jump partitions because the used/free numbers at the top will change.
/boot is not normally mounted.
The root filesystem is in-memory and is initialized from /boot/uRamdisk by default.
So the questions I have are:
1) In simple terms, exactly what has to be done to a boot CM7 SD card to be able to use the empty space for books, mp3, etc? On the recommendations I read in different threads, I downloaded easus partition master, gnome partition editor, and minitool partition wizard. They all pretty much do the same of being able to display the 4 partitions, but what do with the programs then?
In the near future I would like to get a 16g or 32g and wouldn't want all of that space going to waste.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The original instructions in the size-agnostic install thread detail what happens to various sizes of card; for anything above 2G /sdcard gets all the extra.
Any apps that use /sdcard for storage will use this space. App-specific config data and small databases are generally in /data unless instructed otherwise (I'm using less than 300M of my /data partition as yet). The app info or permissions will often give clues; if the permission for "read and write SD card" is requested or required, the app can or must use this space. Some apps (like BeyondPod) will always use /sdcard.
So, your space isn't wasted, it's just unused until you fill it.
2) Is it possible to have it so that the NC stock boot can read the books downloaded in CM7? I have not been able to find where CM7 stores books.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The CM7 SD boot cleverly uses the built-in memory for both /cache and (at least some) media storage; the "media" stock partition pre-1.2 is mounted as /emmc; I don't know how the SD boot uses the newer partitions. The NC app stores books in "/emmc/B&N Downloads/Books" and magazines in ".../Magazines". You can move your music files to "/emmc/My Files/Music" and the stock music player will automagically find them there, freeing up even more space in your SD. This partition is mounted the same for emmc-booted NCs, making an easier transition if you get to that point (it took me months to decide to go ahead and do it, and I'm happy with the choice). Other apps may look there, or can be told to look there, but since it's a new-ish Android "feature" (convention, really), it's not universal.
When you use USB mounting by plugging your charger cable into your PC's USB socket, by default the two "drives" mounted are /sdcard (named "CM7 SDCARD") and /emmc ("MyNookColor"), so you can use your PC to explore, backup, and move files back & forth to experiment. Both partitions are FAT32, so all PCs should be able to handle them. Remember to tell the PC to unmount them in software before unplugging the cable, like any thumb drive.
Thanks to all whose work helped me get to this point. The NC is a fascinating piece of hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is, isn't it? I haven't regretted buying one for a minute.

Thank you for posting the reply on the APP nook/cm7 file system.
Unfortunately, it still doesn't address HOW to sideload (DRAG AND DROP) books on the utilizing the empty portion of a CM7 SD card.
1. I put the SD card into an reader.
2. Windows xp detects the card.
3. I pull up windows explorer.
4. It only displays the "root" directory. Yes, I can drag and drop into the "my documents" folder but this partition only contains about 300 meg total storage.
5. It does not display the other partitions, thus I cannot drag and drop anything into the 5g partition.
Yes, I can drag and drop on the NC onboard storage, but not the CM7 SD card. Is the remaining 5 gigs only allocated for APP storage?
Now after 2 weeks searching this site and seeing numerous recommendations for software but not what to do with it or cryptic posts assuming that one already is very familiar with the android os, I am pulling my hair out over this. The only post I found that directly and simply addressed the issue requires that I reformat the SD with SDformatter to allow for full storage access but then I have install CM7 all over again.
I downloaded NookColorUMS-0.3b.apk using Opera, but that is all it did. I had to search again and it mentioned something about ADB (no idea what that is) which had to be installed. Aparently that doesn't work alone and it lead to another link to more required software - the Android SDK and then came a long list of more steps just to install that.
Hopefully, if I ever figure this out, I will write a simple to understand post that new NC CM7 people like me can understand.

Try this: unplug the charger cable from the "n"-shaped brick. Plug the cable into a USB port on your computer. Plug the other end into the NC as usual.
Tap the button(s) that pop up on the NC to allow USB mounting.
Two new drives show up on the PC. These are /emmc and /sdcard, but they'll have different names on the PC. Use Windoze Explorer to drag and drop. I might suggest /sdcard/download as a first try, but feel free to drop copies in multiple directories in order to experiment. Adobe Reader looks all over for its docs.
When you're done, click on the PC tray thing to release BOTH drives from the PC.
Poke around with your reader to find these files. Some readers might be better at looking around than others.
Let us know how you get along!
Sent from my NookColor using XDA Premium App

So once you download the NookColorUMS.apk, use the file explorer on your nook, go to the 'download' folder and click on this file. It will open up and ask you if you can install the program. Click yes and let it install.
When you are done with that, open the program and mount the partition of interest(i think its 4 as a previous poster stated). Now when you plug your nook into your computer that partition will mount. There should be 4 partitions if you are using the CM7 on SD card.
You should be able to now drag and drop files on that partition. Just make sure you unmount properly as I have run into problems if you just unplug it.
extremepizza
Imbroglio said:
Thank you for posting the reply on the APP nook/cm7 file system.
Unfortunately, it still doesn't address HOW to sideload (DRAG AND DROP) books on the utilizing the empty portion of a CM7 SD card.
1. I put the SD card into an reader.
2. Windows xp detects the card.
3. I pull up windows explorer.
4. It only displays the "root" directory. Yes, I can drag and drop into the "my documents" folder but this partition only contains about 300 meg total storage.
5. It does not display the other partitions, thus I cannot drag and drop anything into the 5g partition.
Yes, I can drag and drop on the NC onboard storage, but not the CM7 SD card. Is the remaining 5 gigs only allocated for APP storage?
Now after 2 weeks searching this site and seeing numerous recommendations for software but not what to do with it or cryptic posts assuming that one already is very familiar with the android os, I am pulling my hair out over this. The only post I found that directly and simply addressed the issue requires that I reformat the SD with SDformatter to allow for full storage access but then I have install CM7 all over again.
I downloaded NookColorUMS-0.3b.apk using Opera, but that is all it did. I had to search again and it mentioned something about ADB (no idea what that is) which had to be installed. Aparently that doesn't work alone and it lead to another link to more required software - the Android SDK and then came a long list of more steps just to install that.
Hopefully, if I ever figure this out, I will write a simple to understand post that new NC CM7 people like me can understand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I am using Racks Phiremod/Honeycomb dual boot image but I don't see why this method would not work for your install. Rather than messing with mounting partitions and all that whenever I want to put something on the SD Card partition I will just plug my nook into the computer, copy and paste whatever file I need onto the nook's internal memory, and then use root explorer to cut and paste the file from the internal memory to the SD Card partition.

my emmc and sd card both show up and writable drives. I use stuff that I need faster access to in there, since the mount time is faster than the SD card.

Fryo I800 installation help!

Ok So I am here because I've posted in other places in these forums with no replies yet, So it would be better to create a thread specific to my problem.
I have an Omnia 2, thinking of acquiring the Fryo 2.2 OS, not specific about wether I want what version but here are the problems I come across before being able to install it.
1- plugging in my phone under Settings -> My storage will not show my storage on my computer, having the external SD option will show my 16GB SD card.
2- Backing up. How do I back up my storage if I can't see it on my computer? When I turn on active sync a blank storage appears other than my SD card (assuming its the internal storage) but the size seems rather small (167MB). I've been reading peoples' posts and I'm supposed to have around 2GB I believe, and either way the files I'm trying to put inside for the android OS don't seem to fit there.
3- Partitions? How can I set those up for both the internal and external storage? Is there a program or feature to do so? My SD card under properties says FAT-32 so I'm not sure on how to do it IF I need to.
4- Using a W7 computer, so that knocks off any ubuntu installations, and also link is broken for Almars Beta 1 file that I was thinking of using for an SD installation.
Any help would be appreciated, I've had this phone since 2009 and I'm really hoping I can come across some help to make it work since I do want to keep this phone for a bit longer before I spend more money on a different cellphone!
Thank you!

Try out the new CyanogenMod from the link below.
http://windows.modaco.com/topic/346446-cyanogenmod-beta1-omnia-2-updated-02122011/
It has the SD Card auto installer, try it..
Back up data on your SD card first and then format your SD card within the phone and then use auto installer to install it.
As you said your computer wont detect the My Storage, try the steps below..
Transfer your data from My Storage to external SD Card, then connect your phone to computer using My Storage mode in settings.
Download Mini Tool partition wizard and format your My Storage (Mini tool partition will be able to see your My Storage even though your computer doesn't).
After format, your computer should be able to detect My Storage.
Now copy the downloaded android files to My Storage and run the auto installer as instructed in the ReadMe file inside the download package.
PS: Don't forget to backup the data on SD Card to your computer
Hope this helps

Ok so what you meant by taking things from my storage is going to file explorer and basically copying everything from the "my device" to the SD card?
Just want to make sure because if it doesent work then I haven't gotten anything backed up right.
Went to file explorer -> copied everything in the top folder which is application date, connMgr, doc and setttings, program files etc. is this all thats needed basically?
Thanks
P.S some of the things I tried taking like global.txt or exe couldn't be copied because of violations or some weird error, is it alright not to have those?
Update: My storage is still not revealed by the mini tool partition program, went under usb settings -> my storage and refreshed disk information, nothing shows up ugh it might be impossible for me to do this after all....

nobody can help me in regards to this? well then I guess a new cellphone is in order
grrrrr I should've gone with a iphone 3G or BB 9700 at the time instead...

ClaudioPerez said:
Ok so what you meant by taking things from my storage is going to file explorer and basically copying everything from the "my device" to the SD card?
Just want to make sure because if it doesent work then I haven't gotten anything backed up right.
Went to file explorer -> copied everything in the top folder which is application date, connMgr, doc and setttings, program files etc. is this all thats needed basically?
Thanks
P.S some of the things I tried taking like global.txt or exe couldn't be copied because of violations or some weird error, is it alright not to have those?
Update: My storage is still not revealed by the mini tool partition program, went under usb settings -> my storage and refreshed disk information, nothing shows up ugh it might be impossible for me to do this after all....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess you will have to reflash the ROM again since your problem seems to be unsolvable. My suggestions is to flash a stock 6.5.3 ROM before you transfer the auto SD installer.

Enabling storage adoption in Marshmallow on the Honor 7

Note: This guide is only tested on the Honor 7 B320 Marshmallow release
The Marshmallow Beta for the Honor 7 is great, making a very nice device feel even better. But one thing missing is the option to 'adopt' microSD cards as Internal Storage, something that is particularly useful on the Honor 7 given its limited 16GB capacity.
Fear not, you can do it manually!
In order to set adopted storage up, you will need a computer with working 'adb' and, of course, a microSD card in your phone, the faster the better. Here's the process!
1. BACK UP THE DATA YOU HAVE ON YOUR MICROSD CARD. Your card will be formatted by this process, so make sure you have saved any pictures, videos etc. from your card to your PC before you start.
2. Decide how you want to split your card. You can either commit 100% of the card to internal storage, or split between internal storage and conventional SD. This option is useful if you like to unplug your card and put it in your PC. I would probably recommend committing the whole card.
3. Open your command window / terminal on your computer and type the 'adb shell' command (with your phone connected of course). You will need to enable USB debugging in developer settings (which in turn is displayed by tapping the build number of the device 5 times) in order to see the option.
4. Type 'sm list-disks' to list the disks available for adoption. It'll look something like below - take note of the disk ID (disk:179:160 in this example).
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
5. Partition the disk. For this we use the 'sm partition DISK TYPE RATIO' command. For example, to partition the disk above as fully adopted storage (aka private) I'd use the command 'sm partition disk:179:160 private'. If I wanted a 50/50 split between adopted and regular, I'd use the command 'sm partition disk:179:160 mixed 50'. Easy right?
6. This process will take a while, but when it's done, the Settings -> Additional Settings -> Storage view on your device should show the new Internal Storage. Note that, for some reason, the free space isn't reported correctly, however everything seems to work OK. When you install apps, they will generally install automatically to the adopted SD, although you can manually move things around if you want to, perhaps for performance reasons (the real Internal storage will likely always be a bit faster).
7. If you want to see how you are doing for space, you can use a third party tool such as FreeSpace or FreeSpace Plus.
And that's it! Let us know how you get on, and enjoy your new, expanded Honor 7!
P

interesting but what do i win with it

Hey mate, do you mind if i ask a few questions regarding the use of this?
The only thing i had to do, to get apps and download etc to save on the SD card was to change default storage to SD, in storage menu instead of internal.
Now everything i download or install is stored on my SD card. Huawei solved this by emulating your SD card to look like the internal storage.
This feature is in both 5.0.2 & 6.0.
I attached some photos. (Note: I already have some downloads and photos on my internal storage, took me a while to buy a sd card and i have been lazy so i haven't moved any files yet.)

FakkaHe said:
Hey mate, do you mind if i ask a few questions regarding the use of this?
The only thing i had to do, to get apps and download etc to save on the SD card was to change default storage to SD, in storage menu instead of internal.
Now everything i download or install is stored on my SD card. Huawei solved this by emulating your SD card to look like the internal storage.
This feature is in both 5.0.2 & 6.0.
I attached some photos. (Note: I already have some downloads and photos on my internal storage, took me a while to buy a sd card and i have been lazy so i haven't moved any files yet.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In a nutshell, regular SD storage only allows you to put limited types of data on the card, with adopted storage everything can go on the card. It's a lot more 'set up and forget' than the old way.
P

paulobrien said:
In a nutshell, regular SD storage only allows you to put limited types of data on the card, with adopted storage everything can go on the card. It's a lot more 'set up and forget' than the old way.
P
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh.. So even if i change the default storage, like i said, it will still save some data in the internal storage?
Edit: My bad i didn't read the post properly...
If i adopt, can i still use it as usual? I mean remove the sd card without anything happening to my files?

FakkaHe said:
Oh.. So even if i change the default storage, like i said, it will still save some data in the internal storage?
Edit: My bad i didn't read the post properly...
If i adopt, can i still use it as usual? I mean remove the sd card without anything happening to my files?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends how you partition. With full adoption, you can't read files from the card as they are all encrypted.
P

Tried it in B313 and is not working. The SDCard appears as damaged, and prompts me to format it. I noticed that the process "sm partition disk:170:169 private" just lasted about 5 seconds...which is weird if you say it takes a while...
PS: Got OTA update to B320.Gonna update and then try again.
---------- Post added at 09:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:16 PM ----------
Nice! After updating to B320 it works flawlessly. I have been waiting for this for a long time...Thank you!!!

hi, i try to execute commands to obtain the storage setting as in the guide, but i am stuck in adb shell, with error.. can you help me?
i've installed adb setup 1.4.3 and hionor suite to have all drivers and software on set in windows 10, and when i go to adb shell, all goes well, but if i try sm list-disk, there is an error :
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException
what can i do?

ryouza said:
hi, i try to execute commands to obtain the storage setting as in the guide, but i am stuck in adb shell, with error.. can you help me?
i've installed adb setup 1.4.3 and hionor suite to have all drivers and software on set in windows 10, and when i go to adb shell, all goes well, but if i try sm list-disk, there is an error :
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException
what can i do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On B320?
P

Yes firmware b320
Inviato dal mio PLK-L01 utilizzando Tapatalk

Hi, seems like I dont see the newly added internal storage anywhere. How can I add or remove files to it? Please help. I am totally confused.

In Settings -> Advanced Settings -> Storage you should see it, as per the screenshot.
Things will automatically install to it or you can move them around.
P

How badly would things explode if I started the phone without the SD card?

It's surprisingly tolerant. You'd just be missing the apps from the SD.
P

I've got this error on B320, Samsung Evo 64GB
Code:
Error: java.lang.IllegalStateException: java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException: Thread Binder_6 gave up waiting for partitionPrivate after 180000ms
Any ideas?

Too51oll said:
I've got this error on B320, Samsung Evo 64GB
Code:
Error: java.lang.IllegalStateException: java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException: Thread Binder_6 gave up waiting for partitionPrivate after 180000ms
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had that with one card, I figured it was too slow and used a different one!
P

paulobrien said:
In a nutshell, regular SD storage only allows you to put limited types of data on the card, with adopted storage everything can go on the card. It's a lot more 'set up and forget' than the old way.
P
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea! It really sounds. Going to adopt. Thanks Sir!

I used this on B330 and i´m a little bit confused.
System shows internal and sdcard 8gb free space
FreeSpace shows sdcard 29gb free but not an adopted sdcard
ES explorer doesn´t show any sdcard also other apps like airdroid show any sdcard just internal with 10gb ?
update:
after working with the phone (install apps, copy pictures) it seems that the adopted sdcard works properly
update 2:
there are now some apps that did not start. reinstalling doesn´t help. very strange

Bender007 said:
I used this on B330 and i´m a little bit confused.
System shows internal and sdcard 8gb free space
FreeSpace shows sdcard 29gb free but not an adopted sdcard
ES explorer doesn´t show any sdcard also other apps like airdroid show any sdcard just internal with 10gb ?
update:
after working with the phone (install apps, copy pictures) it seems that the adopted sdcard works properly
update 2:
there are now some apps that did not start. reinstalling doesn´t help. very strange
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you post pics from your storage settings page?
P
Sent from my HUAWEI NXT-L29 using Tapatalk

I just made a factory-reset and try again to adopt the sdcard
I will report what happen then
update
after factory reset my phone can´t read the sdcard so i put the sdcard into my pc but windows says ´no disk´.
with partition wizard i saw 2 partitions, 16mb primary fat32 and 2nd with the rest of space
I tried to delete both partitions and format the sdcard but nothing happens.
maybe the card is dead...

How to extend storage using SD card space

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAKE NOTE I don't have this phone anymore, I can't help you as you deserve, I'm sorry.
Don't use this tutorial with last firmware, as Huawei changed some things and it's not working.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi folks, this is a small tutorial to extend storage using SD space for P8 lite 2017.
It's more or less the same tutorial you can read for any Nougat phone.
As you know, P8 lite 2017 has only 7 GB free space at 1st, and after install all your favourite programs and restore your photos, music, etc you find 1-2GB free only.
To avoid this we will configure Android to use ALL SD to install programs and data.
This will ERASE ALL SD content, so backup any data there..
What we are doing?
We will configure Android to use SD as adoptable storage.
Making this, SD will be encrypted and will be part of phone storage.
That means you CAN'T remove. If you remove SD, your phone will not work (well, only programs installed there). Also that means SD will not work as external storage = portable SD, so you can't connect phone to any PC and transfer music, photos, etc. In this case you need a program to do it (I suggest AIRDROID from PlayStore).
Internal phone storage will be use for system apps.
SD storage will be use for install user programs and data. Whatsapp will be here
Others like Motorola or Samsung enable this option in stock rom, Huawei not.
What I need?
First of all, fast SD. At least UHS-I class.
Second you need to know how to use ADB console (not in this tutorial).
Third enable developer options (not in this tutorial). Read here.
Let's rock
* Connect your phone to PC
* Be sure to enable developer options, enable debug mode and accept message from phone:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
* Format SD using phone menu.
* Start ADB console. Write:
>> sm list-disks
We will read something like: disk:179,64
>> sm set-force-adoptable true
>> sm partition disk:179,64 private
Remember disk:179,64 it's just an example, we have to write down what our phone shows.
Can be 179,64 also can be 179:192 also can be 179_32
All are correct. Exit adb now.
Last pass, migrate data
You must also migrate apps and data. This can be done through the storage section of your Android settings menu. Tap the MicroSD card, then move to the top right of the menu and click on Move data. You could not select this menu item before partitioning.
Check everything works
At this moment storage section in your android menu will show non-sense data (i.e. shows me -1.66GB free space, yes, minus 1.66GB).
Also your SD total storage can be wrong, mine shows 64GB but it's a 32GB SD card.
Install a 3rd party file app, like this one,and check storage:
Now all it's ok!!!
NOW DON'T FORGET THIS
* You can't simply remove your SD.
* If you want to replace SD for another one, maybe a bigger one, you CAN'T. You have to backup your data, un-make this tutorial (just down), make all steps with new SD.
* If HUAWEI updates ROM, I don't know what will happen, hope nothing breaks.
HOW TO "UNDO" THIS TUTORIAL
First of all backup all your info using google account, AIR DROID, etc.
* Start ADB console. Write:
>> sm list-disks
We will read something like: disk:179,64
>> sm partition disk:179,64 public
Now SD it's available for portable use, I think it has been formatted (don't know, never made this).

thx work perfectly for me

after
Code:
>> sm list-disks
it says:
Code:
/system/bin/sh: can't create sm: Read-only file system
Tried with
Code:
mount -o rw,remount,rw /system
It says:
Code:
mount: '/dev/block/dm-0' not user mountable in fstab
Any idea?
Thank You

AlexL84 said:
after
Code:
>> sm list-disks
it says:
Code:
/system/bin/sh: can't create sm: Read-only file system
Tried with
Code:
mount -o rw,remount,rw /system
It says:
Code:
mount: '/dev/block/dm-0' not user mountable in fstab
Any idea?
Thank You
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
??
Pls explain how you make adb shell
Are you using windows?

danibus said:
??
Pls explain how you make adb shell
Are you using windows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
windows 10. cmd as admin
than I opened adb shell from the sdk\platform-tools directory

AlexL84 said:
windows 10. cmd as admin
than I opened adb shell from the sdk\platform-tools directory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pls try this mini-adb this instead using sdk
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-kjfIFQdc9tUnl4c3NwejBXNTQ/view
If you have same error, no idea

AlexL84 said:
after
Code:
>> sm list-disks
it says:
Code:
/system/bin/sh: can't create sm: Read-only file system
Tried with
Code:
mount -o rw,remount,rw /system
It says:
Code:
mount: '/dev/block/dm-0' not user mountable in fstab
Any idea?
Thank You
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like the way your phone's filesystem is configured you are unable to remount a certain part of your partitions.
Is your phone rooted? If so you could try through the phone itself with an console/terminal emulator.
Honestly, I think su is a necessity to begin with either way even with adb.
danibus said:
Hi folks, this is a small tutorial to extend storage using SD space for P8 lite 2017.
-snip-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heya danibus, I was wondering.
You say in your tutorial that doing this would cease the usage of the SD card as external storage.
Makes me wonder, have you tried doing this through the use of partitions, dividing the sd card for example in two halves, 32gb each, then adopting one of the partitions with the internal, leave the other one mounted to the external mount point?
I would try myself right now but my phone doesn't arrive for another week.
Cheers:good:

Dragoboss said:
Heya danibus, I was wondering.
You say in your tutorial that doing this would cease the usage of the SD card as external storage.
Makes me wonder, have you tried doing this through the use of partitions, dividing the sd card for example in two halves, 32gb each, then adopting one of the partitions with the internal, leave the other one mounted to the external mount point?
I would try myself right now but my phone doesn't arrive for another week.
Cheers:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, as my SD is only 32GB, if I make i.e. 50% for internal storage and 50% for external, I will have only 16GB for install programs+data (internal storage), I prefer 32GB for them
But you can try and post here result!

I did this manipulation and it worked fine (once I found the correct and last version of adb...).
It took maybe 5 or 6 minutes max.
BUT, if I tried this it is because the phone showed en out of space message and I couldn't download an update. Then after the extension of the storage, I still was unable to down load and apply this update.
The phone showed 80 Go of memory (64+16) with the third party app, and the setting menu still considered the internal memory as full. So, it worked but it was not a solution to my issue.
Do you have any tip to tell in order to solve this problem ?
thank you very much !

nonosann said:
I did this manipulation and it worked fine (once I found the correct and last version of adb...).
It took maybe 5 or 6 minutes max.
BUT, if I tried this it is because the phone showed en out of space message and I couldn't download an update. Then after the extension of the storage, I still was unable to down load and apply this update.
The phone showed 80 Go of memory (64+16) with the third party app, and the setting menu still considered the internal memory as full. So, it worked but it was not a solution to my issue.
Do you have any tip to tell in order to solve this problem ?
thank you very much !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello
What ADB version did you get?
Did you restart your phone and tried to download/install update?
---------- Post added at 11:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:33 PM ----------
I really like this post.
I am only relutant because there is still no feedback.
I have the Huawei P8 lite 2017 for only a week, it is still in its warranty and I don't want to void that.
I have a 32gb sd card, I have it as the predefined storage, still I have installed some apps and the internal storage has been decreasing, I have read that, once an app is updated it goes to internal storage.
I really like to keep the original Huawei software/firmware updated and looks like that this is no great solution...
Another thing that I have read is that is possible to format sd card as internal, but not under EMUI 5.0...
Thanks guys

Is this work on Nova lite?

Its dosent works! all looks OK but I dont have the space of my sdcard. its Total: 128Go dispo : -4,33.
I dont hunderstand why i have no room....

hellda said:
Its dosent works! all looks OK but I dont have the space of my sdcard. its Total: 128Go dispo : -4,33.
I dont hunderstand why i have no room....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the OP it says to install a third party app to see the actual free space like a file manager, try that.
Enviado desde mi PRA-LX1 mediante Tapatalk

Thanks works magic, got some trouble to get it works on first time, problem seemed to be in external sd setting. Once set to use as external memory and formating all went just as explained. Thanks again Jan

Hi everyone, i've got issues with my P8 lite 2017 since I've done this trick.
Everything works great but when I wanna download something, my phone tell me it can't download because of there's no SD card.

So I got myself an SD card and i did the tutorial with adb and made the sd card as internal memory. But now when I try to update my apps from the Google Play store I get the Insufficient storage... :thinking:

had to redo this after receiving an OTA update. After the update it appeared that the adoptable storage was still there, but apps were writing to the internal storage only and the phone quickly ran out of space.
Even after redoing the ADB changes I had some trouble with Spotify which claimed there was no storage available and refused to launch. So I ejected the SD card, reinstall Spotify and then remounted the card - this seems to have fixed the issue.

Help @ mixed 60
After doing this command "adb....... mixed 60" it worked fine, but now my huaweii p8 lite 2017 only recognizes the 40% and can't read the 60% part of the disk. looks like it´s not mounted.
How can I mount this 60% of the disk? thanks
danibus said:
No, as my SD is only 32GB, if I make i.e. 50% for internal storage and 50% for external, I will have only 16GB for install programs+data (internal storage), I prefer 32GB for them
But you can try and post here result!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Hello,
What happens if I remove the SD when the phone is turned off?
Or if i want to completely restore my phone?
Thanks for your help

Hi all,
First of all thank danibus very much for your tutorial, your help is really precious. I have applied your method at my P8 lite 2017 and I am currently using a third party app to check my storage. It seems to me that the only internal storage considered by the system is the sd card, and is not really considering the initial internal storage as a place to store data.
Is still possible to access the original internal storage to save/move/change files?
If yes how?
If not, since my internal storage has still 7 GB of free space, should I undo the procedure, wait until the internal storage is almost filled and then redo the procedure again?
Thanks a lot!