Database Users

[Guide]Internal SD as external_sd and vice versa

One issue I've had is larger games that place files on the SD card would fill the internal sd card's space up fairly quickly, and they would never have an option to place these files in another location, so I edited the ect/vold.fstab to switch the mount points for sdcard and external_sd so that my larger microsd card could be my primary storage and i could use the internal for other odd things that i change less often, I've yet to run across any issues, although I haven't tried to use the built in format options since doing this. If anyone else wants to try this, here is what I changed to get this to work
via root explorer or another method, find the "vold.fstab" file under the "ect" and make a backup of it, then pick open in text editor in root explorer and change the following sections that are in bold to what i have them shown as
for GB
# internal sdcard
{
ums_path = /sys/devices/platform/usb_mass_storage/lun0/file
asec = enable
discard = enable
format_option = -r 2236
}
dev_mount sdcard1 /mnt/sdcard/external_sd 11 /devices/platform/s3c-mshci.0/mmc_host/mmc0/mmc0
# external sdcard
{
ums_path = /sys/devices/platform/usb_mass_storage/lun1/file
asec = disable
}
dev_mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard auto /devices/platform/s3c-sdhci.2/mmc_host/mmc1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
save and reboot
for ICS (samsung based)
# internal sdcard
{
storage_struct = cover, "/mnt/sdcard/external_sd","/mnt/sdcard/usbStorage"
ums_sys_path = /sys/class/android_usb/f_mass_storage/lun0/file
discard = enable
}
dev_mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard auto /devices/platform/s3c-sdhci.2/mmc_host/mmc1
# external sdcard
{
ums_sys_path = /sys/class/android_usb/f_mass_storage/lun1/file
android_secure_containers = enable
}
dev_mount sdcard1 /mnt/sdcard/external_sd 11 /devices/platform/dw_mmc/mmc_host/mmc0/mmc0 encryptable_nonremovable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've attached to this post a copy of my vold.fstab for ICS, i've tested it and it does allow applications to be moved to sd and my 64gig card works just fine as /mnt/sdcard. Best to still backup your original file before trying it and make sure you match the permissions of the original. It did require a few changes to make it function under ICS compared to how it was done in GB. Do not use the ICS copy for GB.

Thanks ciphray.
I have been looking for this and appreciate your help.
Will certainly try now.

Just one word "AMAZING"

This is awesome! Not useful as i have 16gb external card, but will do when i upgrade
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App

I did the tutorial and now show me the sd space is unavailable and all the space of the sd is in usb storage,how I can do to show me the two spaces at the same time

the lines must be exact so likely there's a space you're not seeing or a letter missed, I've attached a copy of mine in a 7zip file, see if this helps, make sure the permissions match your old file
edit: updated file attachment for move to sd function

I dont think this is getting the attention is deserves, so ... bump
I may just try this before the day is out

Thanks for this tip.
I've found an issues with move apps from the 2GB storage partition to SD card (now the removabe one) after doing the swap. The phone generate an error of "SD card is full".
Any idea on how to solve this problem?
Cheers

Bigmille said:
Thanks for this tip.
I've found an issues with move apps from the 2GB storage partition to SD card (now the removabe one) after doing the swap. The phone generate an error of "SD card is full".
Any idea on how to solve this problem?
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
edited first post, the asec disable/enable needed to be reversed, this should fix the move to sd coming back as full, just change those 2 save and reboot and that should take care of it

sorry for asking this in note thread....but i want it on my galaxy s2......
can i do the same for it to swapping the memory paths.....???????????

thanks for sharing. so i just install apps and it will be in sd card?
the titanium move apps to sd is external or sd?

this might work for a galaxy s2 with the same paths/partitions however as i do not have a galaxy s2 i cannot test this, at the worst you can just revert to the original file, as long as you made a backup if it doesn't work. it'd definitely be doable either way by following the same overall method of reversing the 2 mount points
as for the apps to sd thing, this doesn't enable any apps to be moved to the sd card that weren't already movable before, this simply makes it so they would go to the sd card instead of the internal 12gb partition, this is mostly useful for games that store files in a fixed path like mnt\sdcard or mnt\sdcard\android such as larger games

Be warned though, the internal space if probably much faster than your SD card. It certainly is in my case, and I don't see myself wearing out the chip in the next few years.

I have SG-N...
If I do this, will the device going to be faster or it's just about more storage space?

Just more storage space. The internal SD is a great design as the average read and write is about 20 ~ 30 mb/s. Run an ANTUTU test and you'll see what i mean.
If you prefer performance, this is definitely the way to go. The external SD is better suited for recording videos, storage pictures, and movies on the go.

Would it be possible to update this hack for the ICS build?
I tried the same with ICS "vold.fstab" but only the external SD card will mount, not the internal SD card.
Many thanks

Still, doesn't work for apps storage space (The 2GB allowed for apps to be installed on device)!
If this way can be extended to cover that instead of Move2SD or Link2SD, it would be great!
Sent from my GT-I9220 using xda premium

updated original post with ICS support

AT&T LTE White Samsung Galaxy Note
OK, so I followed this step by step & now my external SD is unavailable & won't mount & the internal USB storage is unavailable as well. Restarted a few times to no avail. Because the external card won't mount. I can't copy the original file back over. I typed it in, per the original file & that didn't help either, any ideas?

if you edited it with root explorer then it should have also created a backup called vold.fstab.bak unless you edited it more than one time in which case that file would have been overwritten with your second edit, you could try going into cwm and mounting the storage via usb from in there to get to your backup on your card(this doesn't effect your sd card while not booted into android), and then put it in a dropbox account or email it to yourself, and then save that file to an accesible area of your 2gb internal storage, and then copy it from there, did you use the correct copy? ie GB ver on GB or ICS ver on ICS? they changed a few things so the 2 are not interchangeable, but as long as you have it exactly right including spaces then there shouldn't be any way this wouldn't work on any of the Samsung based roms

increase 16gb harddrive space for roms/emu/android games? whats the best way? (use sd

and is there a guide to do this, is it using the sd?
what software apk files do i need?
thanks

I'm using default option to transfert apps on SdCard (after installing), on menu setting/applications.

does that transfer the big obb/data files?

kyrusdemnati said:
does that transfer the big obb/data files?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It did with Doom 3. All 4GB transferred to my SD card.
But YMMV depending on the app of course

I have bought Tales From the Borderlands, which BTW plays really nice with the Nvidia-controller. Whereas the app itself is installed on the microSD-card, the game data it self (e.g. the different seasons - and those are several megabytes) will load internally. That's sad.

Apps to externals HDD
ive been trying to figure out how to move apps from the internal memory to an external HDD i alread used the drive to create a TWRP backup, i can also see the drive in ES file explorer but i cant find any apps or method to move app OBB/DATA to an external HDD there are plenty for apps to SD but i need APP to HDD. can anyone shed some light on this? do you have this kind of thing working?

beefy143 said:
ive been trying to figure out how to move apps from the internal memory to an external HDD i alread used the drive to create a TWRP backup, i can also see the drive in ES file explorer but i cant find any apps or method to move app OBB/DATA to an external HDD there are plenty for apps to SD but i need APP to HDD. can anyone shed some light on this? do you have this kind of thing working?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe Apps to USB storage will be available when we get an Android M update for the Shield TV.

any news on android m ?

If you happen to have xposed
Theres a module thats purpose is to "reroute" those internal folder contents to its counterpart on external sd card
Theres no mention of usb harddrive, but those in this situation thats willing to test and find out......
"Change path to internal SD card on OS level! Android Storage API tweaks.
This module changes path to internal SD card.
You can: change path to internal SD which is returned by System API, change path to obb dirs, app files, download dir (you can have everything on SD card!)
Control it in app settings."
[Xposed][MODULE][4.0+] XInternalSD
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/xposed-disablesignaturecheck-t2789267
Github
https://github.com/pylerSM/XInternalSD
If there are and it works, im sure future readers in this situation would appreciate the confirmation assuming theres no other way

Xposed
I'll try that out don't have xposed installed yet but I guess that will have to be the next thing on my list.

on full android i use link2sd.

@tailslol
Thanks for the tip with the app:good:

Apps to externals HDD
For apps to HDD you need folder mount tested and working

beefy143 said:
For apps to HDD you need folder mount tested and working
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I made a post about it here on xda in shield android tv general.

Why does Nvidia even keep putting 16GB options in these tablets and STB? I swear 32GB should be the absolute minimum.

Sub-Negro said:
Why does Nvidia even keep putting 16GB options in these tablets and STB? I swear 32GB should be the absolute minimum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyway the beta 6.0 is comming with native app to SD support.

tailslol said:
Anyway the beta 6.0 is comming with native app to SD support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does the apps to SD support in 6.0 move everything? Obb and Data.
Also will it support moving to USB or external HDD?
If not I would say it's still pretty useless to me.

beefy143 said:
Does the apps to SD support in 6.0 move everything? Obb and Data.
Also will it support moving to USB or external HDD?
If not I would say it's still pretty useless to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything,yes but sd only,not USB.
It mount USB as a external device.

There is no "best way" until we can figure out a way to get the Shield TV to support EXT4 file system.
I installed a custom kernel on my Galaxy Note 10.1 v2014 16GB tablet so I can use my 64GB external micro SD as "internal" storage. It works fairly well. It's not perfect, but it works well.
Once I got my tablet to recognize EXT4 file system, I was able to format my micro SD to EXT4 use a Windows app, there are several.
Then, I used Link2SD to mount the card as "internal storage".
My internal storage has only 10gb free when it's stock with no apps installed. I cleaned out the bloat and managed to recover another 0.4gb.
Using Link2SD, I'm able to install another 11gb of apps and games onto my tablet. My real internal storage now is about 8.82gb free. The rest of the data is stored on the micro SD.
For a lot of apps, it's able to store 100% of the app's data onto the micro SD.....I mean 100%!
BUGS:
Because of the way my tablet mounts the micro SD, if I ever have to reboot my tablet, then I have to reboot it twice. First, I do a "hard" reboot". Second, I do a "soft" reboot. The first reboot mounts the micro SD. But, because Links2SD loads before the micro SD mounts, it doesn't see it. So, I do a "soft" reboot, which only reboots the Android UI. Links2SD has a built-in feature to do this. After the soft reboot, Link2SD sees it. You have to buy the paid version to move 100% of the data to the micro SD but it was only $2-3.
Once in a blue moon, my NOVA launcher acts weird. I just do the process above and it resets it.
Without directory linking, which is how Link2SD works, then there is no BEST WAY to do this because there's no way Android will move 100% of the app to the external storage. Link2SD creates symbolic link on the internal storage, so when you look at the App Manager, it still thinks it's internal and even gives you the option to MOVE TO SD but don't do that! It's already on the SD.
So, bottom line, if you want this to work for our Nvidia Shield TV's, then you need to spread awareness to Nvidia and devs here about EXT4 file system support and hope that someone can port it to our machines!

Neo3D said:
There is no "best way" until we can figure out a way to get the Shield TV to support EXT4 file system.
I installed a custom kernel on my Galaxy Note 10.1 v2014 16GB tablet so I can use my 64GB external micro SD as "internal" storage. It works fairly well. It's not perfect, but it works well.
Once I got my tablet to recognize EXT4 file system, I was able to format my micro SD to EXT4 use a Windows app, there are several.
Then, I used Link2SD to mount the card as "internal storage".
My internal storage has only 10gb free when it's stock with no apps installed. I cleaned out the bloat and managed to recover another 0.4gb.
Using Link2SD, I'm able to install another 11gb of apps and games onto my tablet. My real internal storage now is about 8.82gb free. The rest of the data is stored on the micro SD.
For a lot of apps, it's able to store 100% of the app's data onto the micro SD.....I mean 100%!
BUGS:
Because of the way my tablet mounts the micro SD, if I ever have to reboot my tablet, then I have to reboot it twice. First, I do a "hard" reboot". Second, I do a "soft" reboot. The first reboot mounts the micro SD. But, because Links2SD loads before the micro SD mounts, it doesn't see it. So, I do a "soft" reboot, which only reboots the Android UI. Links2SD has a built-in feature to do this. After the soft reboot, Link2SD sees it. You have to buy the paid version to move 100% of the data to the micro SD but it was only $2-3.
Once in a blue moon, my NOVA launcher acts weird. I just do the process above and it resets it.
Without directory linking, which is how Link2SD works, then there is no BEST WAY to do this because there's no way Android will move 100% of the app to the external storage. Link2SD creates symbolic link on the internal storage, so when you look at the App Manager, it still thinks it's internal and even gives you the option to MOVE TO SD but don't do that! It's already on the SD.
So, bottom line, if you want this to work for our Nvidia Shield TV's, then you need to spread awareness to Nvidia and devs here about EXT4 file system support and hope that someone can port it to our machines!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you are a bit late but this is ok
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtPGPBN5PJQ

Apps write on internal SD-Card only even with Android 4.4 SD-Fix

I slowly look there no longer. I have rooted my S3 Neo initially quite normal and provided with CWM as it has been explained in various tutorials. Then I fixed the Android 4.4 write access issue with the "NextApp SDFix" from Android market. With the "ES File Explorer" and "Total Commander" I could normally rename files on the SD card, copy and move.
However, to me the practical effect is associated with all apps, which store data automatically on the SD card very mysterious, because instead of the SD card, they will continue stored internally namely in "/storage/Emulated/0". I tested this with "Dead Trigger 2", which is usually stores the game data in "Android/OBB". In Application Manager I have the opportunity the app to move itself to the correct SD card (.android_secure directory), but just the app itself and not the game data wich stay in the internal, emulated SD-Card.
For my previous smartphone, an Ace 2 NFC (I8160P) there was a fix for it to fit the "vold.fstab" to file: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28419837#post28419837
I could find only a tutorial changing the internal memory with the real SD-Card for the normal S3, which, however, is probably not compatible with the S3 Neo: http://android-hilfe.digidip.net/visit?url=http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2036796 - Or should I try it so anyway?
At first the question: Why the Kitkat-Fix is ​​at all useful, if it does not help in practice and the data continues to be stored internally? The only thing that has been directly accessed files to the correct SD card was the photo app but that's about it.
Update: I just see that it also provides an Android folder on the right SD card as well as in the emulated and actually reside in folders and the installed apps, including "Dead Trigger 2". However, the folder unlike emulated SD card are completely empty. What does that have to mean again?
I hope somebody can help me ans find a solution as I can't use my external SD-Card for most game datas or apps as planned or I will send back my S3 Neo tomorrow.

PLEASE!!! Can somebody help me???

do you use xposed? there are a couple of modules that allows you to use obb files from sdcard. Personally i use "xinternal". those ps apps never worked for me also.

Use Folder Mount

I use a xposed module called "HandleExternalStorage" and it works like a charm! Try it yourself!
Good luck

Set external SD card to default install location [HELP]

Hi, my problem is with the phone of my girlfriend. Now have external 64GB SD, because internal storage is full. I used Android SDK and all the instructions for set default storage for install APP the new SD Card, you know, with the command adb shell pm set-install-location 2. And no error, i try get-install-location and report 2. But googe play only try to install in the internal storage.
I think the problem is with the system of the emulated storaged or something, but i tried many APP, many solutions, and i cant fix this, i search in google and others locations, have 30 tabs in firefox open with information, but i cant found the solution for this
Samsung Galaxy NOTE 4 (910F)
Android 5.1.1 (Of samsung of course)
Rooted
The vold.stab is:
dev_mount sdcard /storage/sdcard1 auto /devices/msm_sdcc.2/mmc_host
PLEASE, help me! thanks

I tried dismounting and mounting the SD, touching the vold.stab file, but do not get any results.
Can anybody help me?

Go back to stock, upgrade to 6.0.1. Then see if this helps-
http://www.modaco.com/news/android/...e-adoptable-storage-on-your-s7-s7-edge-r1632/
The article is for S7, but see if you can have that working in the N4 - just have a backup of everything (int SD, ext SD, full backup in recovery).

ph03n!x said:
Go back to stock, upgrade to 6.0.1. Then see if this helps-
The article is for S7, but see if you can have that working in the N4 - just have a backup of everything (int SD, ext SD, full backup in recovery).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, for the moment 6.0.1 is not released in Orange (confirmation date has passed and still not have it, I assume that is in the offing). When have 6.0.1 i try you solution, thanks.

ph03n!x said:
Go back to stock, upgrade to 6.0.1. Then see if this helps-
http://www.modaco.com/news/android/...e-adoptable-storage-on-your-s7-s7-edge-r1632/
The article is for S7, but see if you can have that working in the N4 - just have a backup of everything (int SD, ext SD, full backup in recovery).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried this in my phone. While the command itself worked after a bit of a tweak, the storage situation was pathetic - the phone showed the External SD as a part of the overall storage, but did not save files to it. Instead, it started saving files to the actual internal SD Card, resulting in space running out pretty soon. The External SD card was just there, and there was no way to migrate the files from the internal storage to the adoptable storage.

I just got a new Note 4 (this is the 3rd one I'm using since the first release in 2014) and I also want to adopt external memory card as my internal space bcos the 16Gg duos version is just too small and app to SD comes with a lot of hassles. After a lot of search for different solutions (which I tried out by the way but didn't work) I came across this thread for another phone entirely but it resolved my issue: https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-s/general/patch-adoptable-storage-enabler-t3460478.
The only downside is that I can't pop out my card (128Gg Samsung) and plug into my PC but I can still explore it directly from the phone itself.
I've been using the phone for 3 days and it runs smoothly, I hope that solves your problem too.

So there are two parts to the adoptable storage. The first part is the partitioned SD card and mounting the partition. Simple to be done via root essentials or the command line.
The other part is the actual menu entry on an app in application manager for moving it to the second partition. IIRC samsung does not have this support built in. So you need to flash something to replace that manager bit. In my experience with an on5 (like less than 1GB free on internal storage out of the box), adoptable wasn't really worth it, too much stuff still on internal storage. As not every app will allow you to move it to that second partition. It requires both system support and app support.
What I did there was to use the app apps2sd. Same idea, second partition on SD card. But it doesn't show up in settings -> storage. You manage where the apps go via that app. I use the link feature which places a symbolic link in the internal storage and moves all the actual files to that sd card partition.

Will Rickards said:
So there are two parts to the adoptable storage. The first part is the partitioned SD card and mounting the partition. Simple to be done via root essentials or the command line.
The other part is the actual menu entry on an app in application manager for moving it to the second partition. IIRC samsung does not have this support built in. So you need to flash something to replace that manager bit. In my experience with an on5 (like less than 1GB free on internal storage out of the box), adoptable wasn't really worth it, too much stuff still on internal storage. As not every app will allow you to move it to that second partition. It requires both system support and app support.
What I did there was to use the app apps2sd. Same idea, second partition on SD card. But it doesn't show up in settings -> storage. You manage where the apps go via that app. I use the link feature which places a symbolic link in the internal storage and moves all the actual files to that sd card partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using apps2sd fot about a year and it comes with it headache too, sometimes the apps wouldn't find the external data (usually games with a lot of data) and it'll start downloading it again into the internal memory, so I usually find myself having to force stop the app, delink and relink the data on the memory card to fix the bind. I also didn't bother to partition my SD card since I can explore it on the PC with my phone connected. What this solution ( https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-s/general/patch-adoptable-storage-enabler-t3460478 ) does is to flash back the option to use the SD card as internal memory that Samsung removed from the phones and it works seamlessly on all Samsung phones with rooted stock OS.

Cannot Manually Add files to internal Storage SD Card, but Apps can be transfered

I'm having a rather unique problem with my the Micro SD card I installed.
I can format it as internal storage and it won't pop up for file managers or my computer.
This means I can't manually move files to it all.
Despite that when it's internal storage I can move apps to it and it adds new apps to it by default.
I could go to move all and move everything it can on, but it's a fairly slow SD card so I'm hoping to mainly put music, videos and any pictures on there.
I worry about it moving the apps that I want to keep in internal storage for speed over.
Does anyone know how I could fix this?
EDIT:
I didn't manage to figure out how to add files manually while it was internal storage through either internal file managers or through the computer.
But I did manage to find the SD card while it was portable.
The trick is to use the built in file explorer on the phone and copy a small file onto the SD card.
With there being something other than just Android files on the SD card it can then be discovered by the computer.
This mainly solves my problem as I plan to use it primarily for storage of music and game files, with the emulators being on the phone itself.

I had this issue a few days ago. You have 2 options to format, (1) as a internal storage and only your phone can read this and other option (2)to use on others devices. Using the second option I managed to transfer files to my microSD like it used to be.
While using the first option I was able only to transfer apps to it through the system.
I hope it helps

I'm using one, but I'm not even able to find it with File Manager?
Is that normal for Internal Storage?
I expected there to at least be a folder in the normal phone space called SD card or something?
Is there no way to manually move music there when it's internal storage?
Also I tried changing it to be portable but my computer still couldn't see it.
File manager could actually see it and open it but I couldn't copy paste anything to it.
So I turned it back to internal as I can at least move apps to it successfully at the moment.

Rajvir8 said:
I'm using one, but I'm not even able to find it with File Manager?
Is that normal for Internal Storage?
I expected there to at least be a folder in the normal phone space called SD card or something?
Is there no way to manually move music there when it's internal storage?
Also I tried changing it to be portable but my computer still couldn't see it.
File manager could actually see it and open it but I couldn't copy paste anything to it.
So I turned it back to internal as I can at least move apps to it successfully at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I tried as Internal Storage any File Manager found my SDcard too... Thats why I'm using as portable.
After that, i could see this.
Maybe you're missing something like changing the USB connection from Charging to File transfering.
Did you checked this?

Yes it can see the rest of my phone and move files, so I've made sure to change it to file transferring.
When you used internal storage file managers failed to find your SD card as well?
dennismac said:
When I tried as Internal Storage any File Manager found my SDcard too... Thats why I'm using as portable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here your saying that you could find it and that's why you swapped over?
I assume you forgot to say it failed to show up separately and that's why you changed to portable.

Rajvir8 said:
Yes it can see the rest of my phone and move files, so I've made sure to change it to file transferring.
When you used internal storage file managers failed to find your SD card as well?
Here your saying that you could find it and that's why you swapped over?
I assume you forgot to say it failed to show up separately and that's why you changed to portable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry! Yes, I failed to find my SD card too, thats why i changed to portable.
Im assuming this is a normal behavior, my last Android phone was a Galaxy S2 and I stopped following Android changes for the lasts 4/5 years. But idk why you can't see it even in portable mode... That should work as worked for me.
Hope someone help you more than I did!

dennismac said:
Sorry! Yes, I failed to find my SD card too, thats why i changed to portable.
Im assuming this is a normal behavior, my last Android phone was a Galaxy S2 and I stopped following Android changes for the lasts 4/5 years. But idk why you can't see it even in portable mode... That should work as worked for me.
Hope someone help you more than I did!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for trying to help.
I think I might have figured out part of the problem, the file explorer I normally use doesn't have permission to add anything to the SD card. I'm not sure how I would go about giving it permission though.
But when I use the system built in I was able to copy paste some music onto it.
With a file on the SD Card my computer was able to locate it as well, and I can now copy and paste to the SD card using my computer.
So with your help I was able to figure out how to get portable working.
It is a bit disappointing that there isn't a way to manually add files while it is an internal storage though.
So again while your solution didn't directly work, it made me think and find a solution to my problem even if it's not the one I wanted.