Database Users

get access to internal storage for user data

Hi at all,
I was wondering if there's a way to get access to internal storage memory of my rooted Milestone 2 and put user data into it.
I have 6gb free with a tons of apps intalled and I believe it's a waste of memory
I'm not an android geek, I'm looking to a /etc/fstab to create a new mount point, but android is quite different from a standard linux system...

You can use a Root Explorer app (http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-speedsoftware-rootexplorer-Fiq.aspx)

patton82 said:
Hi at all,
I was wondering if there's a way to get access to internal storage memory of my rooted Milestone 2 and put user data into it.
I have 6gb free with a tons of apps intalled and I believe it's a waste of memory
I'm not an android geek, I'm looking to a /etc/fstab to create a new mount point, but android is quite different from a standard linux system...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't actually use the internal memory for storage. Its read only. You can access it with root explorer but you can't store pictures or music there. 8 gigs for apps, kind of a waste
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App

mikeyinid said:
You can't actually use the internal memory for storage. Its read only. You can access it with root explorer but you can't store pictures or music there. 8 gigs for apps, kind of a waste
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can pretty much store whatever you want there. The gallery app may not recognize it being there, but with root explorer you can put whatever you want on the phone. I suppose you could also use ADB and push things to the phone but, that's you're prerogative.

kwheel596 said:
You can pretty much store whatever you want there. The gallery app may not recognize it being there, but with root explorer you can put whatever you want on the phone. I suppose you could also use ADB and push things to the phone but, that's you're prerogative.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not the same thing I meant
You can put files in root filesystem with rootexplorer, adb or terminal emulator but apps as album, music or video player can't access it.
On win mobile devices with internal storage (es: i900 omnia) system recognizes 2 storage card with rw access, I wondered if we could use in some way the 8gb of internal storage of our D2/M2

kwheel596 said:
You can pretty much store whatever you want there. The gallery app may not recognize it being there, but with root explorer you can put whatever you want on the phone. I suppose you could also use ADB and push things to the phone but, that's you're prerogative.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i tried to move my picture folder on the internal memory so i could format my sd. my phone froze up and i had to pull the battery after about 10 minutes. when it rebooted the folder i created to hold my pics was gone.

The same here, files and folders placed in internal memory disappear.
I read somewhere that you can put files only on /data folder

Can't view SD contents on phone. Please advise!

When I try to look at my photos and various items on my SD card from the phone, I can't. If I plug it up and view via my computer, everything is still there. It shows me my available and used space. I already tried moving and reformatting.
What can it be and how do I correct it. Thanks in advance.

Csierra72 said:
When I try to look at my photos and various items on my SD card from the phone, I can't. If I plug it up and view via my computer, everything is still there. It shows me my available and used space. I already tried moving and reformatting.
What can it be and how do I correct it. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm. Thats kind of odd. So you can see all of your photos fine from your computer? Maybe copy everything back to your computer, and instead of copying everything back, put the sd card back in the phone (as a test) and take some pics with the camera, and see if you are able to view them. If so, copy just your photos back to the card. Test again, and see if you are able to see them. If not, then I honestly don't know. If that does work, I'd say that some other file on the sd card is corrupt or something. You said you did format the card, right? Did you use the computer to format it as FAT32, or did you use the phone to format it? Whichever you already tried, maybe try the other way too, just to be safe. Hopefully some of that helps you, but if not, then I apologize, as I've never had anything similar like that happen to myself.

are you using es file explorer with the root option enabled? sometimes on sense roms if you have the root option enabled you can't view the sd card contents. Also try making sure other root apps don't have the /system or /data mounted rw

I had access issues with my SD card and I deducted that it was bad. I used the stock card that came with the Evo and the problem went away. Maybe use a different one and see how it works
Good Luck

I've tried anything and everything. even bought a new card. All was good for a day and then it started happening again. Sprint is sending me a new phone. they couldn't figure it out either. Thanks for the suggestions though.

Csierra72 said:
I've tried anything and everything. even bought a new card. All was good for a day and then it started happening again. Sprint is sending me a new phone. they couldn't figure it out either. Thanks for the suggestions though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you do not have a .nomedia file in your SD Card root folder. Wherever a file named .nomedia is, the phone will not scan that directory. I had the same issue with my phone not detecting my pictures and videos and it turned out that file was in my root directory. Deleted it and voila! All back up now. I think PowerAMP put it there for some reason.

THANK YOU!!! That was it, fixed it.

akarol said:
Make sure you do not have a .nomedia file in your SD Card root folder. Wherever a file named .nomedia is, the phone will not scan that directory. I had the same issue with my phone not detecting my pictures and videos and it turned out that file was in my root directory. Deleted it and voila! All back up now. I think PowerAMP put it there for some reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Csierra72 said:
THANK YOU!!! That was it, fixed it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that tip. I've never had that problem, but I love seeing threads like this, where it's something unusual and out of the ordinary. I will retain that info in my arsenal of Android / Evo knowledge for future use or helping other people with it. That is so strange, that something as simple as a .nomedia file could cause a problem like that, and it's also even more odd that an app like poweramp would create that file. Is there any known reason as to why the heck poweramp would create this file that makes it so the contents of your sd card are not readable? I'm glad you got it fixed up OP! I love xda, so much info here.

I have this same issue,I just bought an EVO because my Epic screen smashed and I'm using the sd card out of the epic(which was rooted) and I'm trying to view the contents,it used to be MyFiles on the epic but I can't find out where to see it on the EVO...I want to get all the stuff I had backed up onto my Evo...any help appreciated...and I don't see a .nomedia file

mithritades said:
I have this same issue,I just bought an EVO because my Epic screen smashed and I'm using the sd card out of the epic(which was rooted) and I'm trying to view the contents,it used to be MyFiles on the epic but I can't find out where to see it on the EVO...I want to get all the stuff I had backed up onto my Evo...any help appreciated...and I don't see a .nomedia file
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't say I blame you for coming to the Evo forums to ask this question about your Epic. I would download root explorer and see if you can find the file.

heathmcabee said:
Can't say I blame you for coming to the Evo forums to ask this question about your Epic. I would download root explorer and see if you can find the file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No,you misunderstand,I HAD AN EPIC but I broke the screen so I GOT AN EVO...

mithritades said:
No,you misunderstand,I HAD AN EPIC but I broke the screen so I GOT AN EVO...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What file manager are you trying to use to see the SD card contents. Astro is a good file manager. Root explorer is also great, but isn't free.

k2buckley said:
What file manager are you trying to use to see the SD card contents. Astro is a good file manager. Root explorer is also great, but isn't free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok so i bought a new sd card and I bought rootexplorer(I rooted it lastnight with unrevoked3),why isn't there an app for seeing the sd card in the applications menu?,now that i can see the SD...how do I restore my contacts from my backup on my old sd card?

mithritades said:
Ok so i bought a new sd card and I bought rootexplorer(I rooted it lastnight with unrevoked3),why isn't there an app for seeing the sd card in the applications menu?,now that i can see the SD...how do I restore my contacts from my backup on my old sd card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, there isn't a native/built in file manager. You need to use a third party app to see the sd card. Did you have your contacts backed up on google? If so, they should restore when you log in to google. If you didn't, and you had them backed up on your sd card, then I'd copy the contents of your old sd card onto the new one, from within the contacts app, press menu, and select import/export. choose to import from sd card, and see if that works. If that's how you had saved them before, by 'exporting to sd card', then that should work. Good luck.

k2buckley said:
Yea, there isn't a native/built in file manager. You need to use a third party app to see the sd card. Did you have your contacts backed up on google? If so, they should restore when you log in to google. If you didn't, and you had them backed up on your sd card, then I'd copy the contents of your old sd card onto the new one, from within the contacts app, press menu, and select import/export. choose to import from sd card, and see if that works. If that's how you had saved them before, by 'exporting to sd card', then that should work. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never tried exporting them before I always used TB ,Unfortunately I have to manually copy them,Titanium backup wasn't no help,I bought Mybackup Pro so I should be good from here on out...thnx for the help anyway

Location of music folder???

Using Root Eplorer to find my music folder to no avail, trying to make a backup copy of my music to store in the external sd card. Any help is appreciated.

Seriously???
Is there that many folders in your memory??
/mnt/sdcard/mobile/music

What music folder? The music is wherever you put it.

thatoneguy247 said:
What music folder? The music is wherever you put it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. Put it in internal or external storage.

katinatez said:
using root eplorer to find my music folder to no avail, trying to make a backup copy of my music to store in the external sd card. Any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CAUTION
________________________________________________
there is a noob on the loose. Stay inside and keep all doors locked.
Noob level is 10/10
(If noob wanted noob could check each folder, or search the memory card with a computer, but noob is to much of a noob to do that)

DiskUsage visualizes your folder tree by how much data is in each folder. A music folder should be a sizable chunk of data and would point itself out quickly with this app.

katinatez said:
Using Root Eplorer to find my music folder to no avail, trying to make a backup copy of my music to store in the external sd card. Any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it doesnt come with a music folder by default, you create it yourself. so if there isnt one, that means you never made one. then it comes down to if you did not make a music folder, then where did you put all your music to begin with?

[Q] Deleting SD card files from App

Is is possible to delete files stored in SD card from apps other than stock myfiles app?. I tried HD manager and other file explorer app but no app can delete any file stored in SD card. Am i missing something? (my tab is not rooted and running stock honeycomb).

Do you have a cardreader? If so take out the sd card and try to delete the files you want to delete using your desktop/laptop.
Btw usually you should not need root for deleting files on your sd...

Sympathise with you...
I must admit that it's only in the last few days that I discovered this problem with external SD card file deletion/amendment.
I have looked into this and am quite frankly amazed that such a 'glitch/bug/oversight' could be allowed to find its way into a modern day operating system like Android, or the Samsung Tab OS (not exactly sure which is causing the issue).
Like the first poster in this thread, my Tab is not rooted and I don't really want to root it either. It would appear that there are 'fixes' available - but only for rooted Tabs.
Basically, it seems that the external SD card is READ ONLY when in the Samsung Tab. How ridiculous is that? The stock file manager that comes with the Tab will allow you to delete, rename of amend files on the SD card - but that seems to be the only app that will perform this.
I can kinda live with it - or, more to the point I have got to live with it. The big problem is that any file such as a Word doc, spreadsheet, txt note or even image can only be allowed to reside on the SD card as long as you don't ever want to edit it!! What a crazy situation that is.
For a sophisticated operating system like Android and a sophisticated device like the Tab I feel that this kind of issue should never have been allowed to happen. It's clear that the manufacturers know about the problem which is why they have made a half-way solution with the built-in File Manager. However that doesn't address the problem and places unnecessary restrictions on how you can use the device.
Shame...

OrangeSpiv said:
I can kinda live with it - or, more to the point I have got to live with it. The big problem is that any file such as a Word doc, spreadsheet, txt note or even image can only be allowed to reside on the SD card as long as you don't ever want to edit it!! What a crazy situation that is.
For a sophisticated operating system like Android and a sophisticated device like the Tab I feel that this kind of issue should never have been allowed to happen. It's clear that the manufacturers know about the problem which is why they have made a half-way solution with the built-in File Manager. However that doesn't address the problem and places unnecessary restrictions on how you can use the device.
Shame...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I made new word document in Polaris app and save it to SD card. Then, i edited it and save it to SD card again...it worked perfect. Also, i successfully used gallery app to deleted some pictures stored in SD card , same thing as well with stock music player. So, it seems only stock app (like Gallery, music player) have full access to SD card files (write, edit, delete).

alibukhamsin said:
Is is possible to delete files stored in SD card from apps other than stock myfiles app?. I tried HD manager and other file explorer app but no app can delete any file stored in SD card. Am i missing something? (my tab is not rooted and running stock honeycomb).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is listed a few items down in the common/known issues thread, here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1487991
Sent from my GT-P6800 using XDA Premium HD app

This is listed a few items down in the common/known issues thread, here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1487991
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your help .

Yikes! I removed the "storage" folder in storage/emulated/0/. Help!

Great. Now my entire virtual SD Card has been wiped! Don't delete the storage directory in the root of your virtual SD Card (/storage/emulated/0/) or (/storage/emulated/legacy/). Watch out!
Now, I'm wondering if I can somehow gain access to the files if I recreate this folder. From what I remember, there were a number of nested folders within this "storage" directory.
Can someone give me the dir structure of your "storage" folder? Thanks!!
EDIT: This is how I did it. See post 6. Stay away from your "storage" folder while browsing your phones sd card over MTP at the computer!!!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=44519212&postcount=6

I'm not sure if this is what you are asking for. If it is, then yay! If it isn't, please ignore.
/storage/emulated/0/
/storage/emulated/legacy/
/storage/sdcard0/

OneChaos said:
I'm not sure if this is what you are asking for. If it is, then yay! If it isn't, please ignore.
/storage/emulated/0/
/storage/emulated/legacy/
/storage/sdcard0/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks for that, but I'm pretty sure there was a folder called "storage" in /storage/emulated/0/ (or the same location /storage/emulated/legacy/).
So, what I'm looking for is what the folders are in *that* folder. And it should look something like the following:
/storage/emulated/0/storage/...... <---------- these are the folders I'm missing, and there most likely is a symlink in there. I think if I can just recreate that folder structure and recreate the right symlink there, then I might be able to get my photos back.
Thanks.

You're saying there is a "storage" folder in /storage/emulated/0 or /storage/emulated/legacy? Mine only comes with these 2 directory, and /storage/sdcard0 is a link to legacy.
Now you still have that 2 directory but can't find any of your files inside?

You deleted the storage when hooked up on your PC yes ?.
The storage folder your referring to only shows when browsing your folders via your PC so you could try recreating it via your PC again but I seriously think its gone mate. I accidentally deleted this folder too once but I always have regular backups on my pc.
NeXuS⁴

slymobi said:
You deleted the storage when hooked up on your PC yes ?.
The storage folder your referring to only shows when browsing your folders via your PC so you could try recreating it via your PC again but I seriously think its gone mate. I accidentally deleted this folder too once but I always have regular backups on my pc.
NeXuS⁴
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes!!! Thanks for this post! I was indeed cleaning up my "sd card" from the PC (over MTP). And, I noticed a storage folder at the root of the SD card. In fact, it's there right now! If I browse the contents of the SD card on the PC, there is a storage folder there with only an empty "emulated" folder in it. I've never noticed it there before, so I just deleted it. Suddenly, I couldn't access anything else on the sd card from the PC. I thought, that's weird. Sure enough, everything just vanished!!
WORD TO THE WISE: Stay away from that "storage" folder at the root of your SD Card when browsing its contents over MTP!!!!!!!!

why not just do a factory image flash? userdata.img should contain all the folders and locations you need to restore it properly.

hp420 said:
why not just do a factory image flash? userdata.img should contain all the folders and locations you need to restore it properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, there ins't a problem anymore. I just thought that the "missing" symlinks had something to do with my wiped sd card. But, it turns out that the missing symlinks aren't shown in the default CM file browser, only in other file browsers. They were there all along.
The kernel of the story has been solved as I now know how I wiped my sd card.

floepie said:
Great. Now my entire virtual SD Card has been wiped! Don't delete the storage directory in the root of your virtual SD Card (/storage/emulated/0/) or (/storage/emulated/legacy/). Watch out!
Now, I'm wondering if I can somehow gain access to the files if I recreate this folder. From what I remember, there were a number of nested folders within this "storage" directory.
Can someone give me the dir structure of your "storage" folder? Thanks!!
EDIT: This is how I did it. See post 6. Stay away from your "storage" folder while browsing your phones sd card over MTP at the computer!!!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=44519212&postcount=6
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no way to get the files back, I deleted it once when connected to PC because I didn't recognized the folder and it was empty, so I deleted it. Then I tried for a week in every forum to found an answer, but there is none.

reflashing your current rom or any other rom would have brought everything back to how it should be. a deleted my whole system once, then just relashed my current rom at the time, and all came back.

Galaxo60 said:
There is no way to get the files back, I deleted it once when connected to PC because I didn't recognized the folder and it was empty, so I deleted it. Then I tried for a week in every forum to found an answer, but there is none.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, I got most, if not all my photos back. There is a great link which shows you how to transfer your entire userdata partition to your hard drive and search for recoverable files. Alternatively, you can also use the app diskdigger and send your pics to your PC using coreFTP or other FTP server. Both methods recovered about the same number of photos. So, yeah, a reasonably good ending.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1994705

simms22 said:
reflashing your current rom or any other rom would have brought everything back to how it should be. a deleted my whole system once, then just relashed my current rom at the time, and all came back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not in my case. That's the first thing I did. I thought, it's just a symlink, right? Well, not really. It's not really a symlink on a different partition. Again, it is only created during an active MTP session and ONLY visible on the PC. And, as soon as you wipe these seemingly empty folders, all references to the files are lost, as the system begins to slowly re-populate the space, which is really at /data/media/0.

Galaxo60 said:
There is no way to get the files back, I deleted it once when connected to PC because I didn't recognized the folder and it was empty, so I deleted it. Then I tried for a week in every forum to found an answer, but there is none.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know it wouldn't bring your files back, but it would restructure your storage partition properly so you could start from scratch, rather than recreating all the folders manually.

hp420 said:
I know it wouldn't bring your files back, but it would restructure your storage partition properly so you could start from scratch, rather than recreating all the folders manually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
? No one is doing anything manually. Did you intend to reply to me? The missing symlinks referred to earlier have nothing to do with it, as I discovered and reported a few posts ago. Again, there is a "storage" folder at the root of the SD card only visible at the PC when connected over the MTP protocol. When this folder is deleted, all is lost immediately, even by re-flashing a ROM. Hope that helps someone to avoid deleting it and consequently all their virtual sd card files.

floepie said:
Oh, there ins't a problem anymore. I just thought that the "missing" symlinks had something to do with my wiped sd card. But, it turns out that the missing symlinks aren't shown in the default CM file browser, only in other file browsers. They were there all along.
The kernel of the story has been solved as I now know how I wiped my sd card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey how did you do it? Which third party file browser did you use? I have done the same thing..

Check /data/media/ those folders are just linked to /data/media/ anyways. All your stuff should be there unless if you deleted the entire data partition
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

ninad911 said:
Hey how did you do it? Which third party file browser did you use? I have done the same thing..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that if you are browsing the SD card contents from your computer (while the phone is connected), a folder appears there that otherwise is NOT present while browsing the card's contents from the phone, while the phone is NOT connected. I forgot which folder it is, but I believe it is called sdcard0 or some such at the root of the SD card. I have no idea why it appears, but if you delete it, you have deleted the entire contents of your SD card. And, yes, you have lost everything unless you are able to acquire a special tool to recover the contents, but if you have done so, don't do anything with your phone, as those contents will be overwritten by new files.
In so doing, I had originally thought that there were symlinks that were also deleted, but that wasn't the case. The symlinks were still present as viewable by ES File Explorer, but not with CM's file explorer. In any case, all my files were still lost, but I was indeed able to recover the majority.
Edit. I used Diskdigger in the Play store. And it worked pretty well. The other option is linked in this thread above.

floepie said:
Great. Now my entire virtual SD Card has been wiped! Don't delete the storage directory in the root of your virtual SD Card (/storage/emulated/0/) or (/storage/emulated/legacy/). Watch out!
Now, I'm wondering if I can somehow gain access to the files if I recreate this folder. From what I remember, there were a number of nested folders within this "storage" directory.
Can someone give me the dir structure of your "storage" folder? Thanks!!
EDIT: This is how I did it. See post 6. Stay away from your "storage" folder while browsing your phones sd card over MTP at the computer!!!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=44519212&postcount=6
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, were you able to recover the data on your phone after deleting that folder? Please let me know and also check your inbox please! Need your help

Aditya Srinidhi said:
Hey, were you able to recover the data on your phone after deleting that folder? Please let me know and also check your inbox please! Need your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. First, either turn your phone off or do VERY little with it, as those files could be overwritten.
I had surprisingly good success with Diskdigger. It was able to recover most of my photos, although some were a bit "damaged", as in only half of the photo showing, and some other oddities. But, at least it was better than nothing. You will need root access for this sort of thing.

floepie said:
Yes. First, either turn your phone off or do VERY little with it, as those files could be overwritten.
I had surprisingly good success with Diskdigger. It was able to recover most of my photos, although some were a bit "damaged", as in only half of the photo showing, and some other oddities. But, at least it was better than nothing. You will need root access for this sort of thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot!!! Im using disk digger and I already see a lot of my images turning up
Just one other doubt, if I were to use the link to guide which you posted which allows to mount the VHD as a USB storage, does that allow me to recover other files too?