Root: Solve S4 Storage problem with Folder Mount - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi all loads of chatter about storage on the Galaxy S4, the best solution to the storage issue on the S4 is to Root and use Folder Mount from Google Play to move the app data and build a virtual link in the Android OS.
Video guide:
You need to keep in mind that if you have a crap SD card that is either slow or failing then you will see a performance dip in games or app responsiveness if it needs to access the externally stored files.
Your other root option is Debloater to remove the sammy apps you don't need, or use both these and save space and install more stuff

Does it really work well?
androidizen said:
Hi all loads of chatter about storage on the Galaxy S4, the best solution to the storage issue on the S4 is to Root and use Folder Mount from Google Play to move the app data and build a virtual link in the Android OS.
Video guide:
You need to keep in mind that if you have a crap SD card that is either slow or failing then you will see a performance dip in games or app responsiveness if it needs to access the externally stored files.
Your other root option is Debloater to remove the sammy apps you don't need, or use both these and save space and install more stuff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone else have experience using this app particularly with Verizon?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.devasque.fmount
Wonder if it really works well?? On Verizon version ??

Related

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

obb files to external

I did search and with the google searches I've done, can't really figure it out so thought might ask here.
When I moved applications to external sd card, i didn't realize it didn't move the application data itself (inside obb folder), which is in the android device's internal memory. So basically, I have the application (i guess equivalent to .exe for windows) on the external sd card, but the beef of it (the applicatin's data) is still on the internal memory and using up the device's memory....how can I move the data (obb folder) to external, remove it from interernal to free up space, and have it boot up / work on the android device?
i'm not advance geek so need a dummy explination
You didn't provide details of how you moved the app or even what app we are talking about. So it's impossible to give targeted advice. Which is unfortunate since you want a dumbed down, simple answer. Which can't be done without knowing those crucial details.
You can use one of the Play store apps to move the app. I'm sure that some of them would move the app data as well. Or change the app data path (folder) in the app's settings. Or reinstall the app. Or alias the current internal data location to the external card with a symbolic link. Or any number of other ways.
The simplest options there would be trying some of the Play store apps that assist in moving programs to the external data card. And if that doesn't work for some reason, then reinstall your app.
Good luck.
.
fffft said:
You didn't provide details of how you moved the app or even what app we are talking about. So it's impossible to give targeted advice. Which is unfortunate since you want a dumbed down, simple answer. Which can't be done without knowing those crucial details.
You can use one of the Play store apps to move the app. I'm sure that some of them would move the app data as well. Or change the app data path (folder) in the app's settings. Or reinstall the app. Or alias the current internal data location to the external card with a symbolic link. Or any number of other ways.
The simplest options there would be trying some of the Play store apps that assist in moving programs to the external data card. And if that doesn't work for some reason, then reinstall your app.
Good luck.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only thing I've done was root it then moved the application (move to sd card) via settings >> Application Manager. i want to do it for all apps but it's mainly due to games taking up lots of space. Reinstallng won't help cause everything that's obb just direct itsself to the internal storage, nothing i installed even gives me the option to install data into external, just only has a install button and it installs to internal memory
I'm not going to sort all of that out. It can be done if you look into the details.
The best advice that I can offer is to consider installing a custom S5 ROM like Phoenix. It has a setup option to swap the SD cards. That would mean that all of your apps that automatically install and live on the internal memory.. would actually end up on the external card. And it works perfectly.. because the apps think that they are on the internal card even though they aren't.
The source script could also be applied to your existing configuration, but doing so would not fit inside your stipulation for a simple answer.
.
by the way...
fffft said:
I'm not going to sort all of that out. It can be done if you look into the details.
The best advice that I can offer is to consider installing a custom S5 ROM like Phoenix. It has a setup option to swap the SD cards. That would mean that all of your apps that automatically install and live on the internal memory.. would actually end up on the external card. And it works perfectly.. because the apps think that they are on the internal card even though they aren't.
The source script could also be applied to your existing configuration, but doing so would not fit inside your stipulation for a simple answer.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fffft, one question here: Would it be possible to format the whole external SD card with ext4? So it would be quite simple to copy such files manually within a shell and set a softlink to the moved files? I don't understand why android stays with that fat drived file systems were softlinks are not working. Is there any reason for? So all data2SD apps have to work with specific *mounts*. I can't believe that this is fast and stable.
brachypelma said:
fffft, one question here: Would it be possible to format the whole external SD card with ext4? So it would be quite simple to copy such files manually within a shell and set a softlink to the moved files?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That won't work unless you do a lot more prep work. The file system isn't invisible, the OS would have to interact differently with ext4 than ExFAT. The OS would balk the first time it tried to follow a symbolic link and didn't find the ExFAT structure it expects.
To make that work, you'd need to mount the card yourself, manage permissions and hide the file attributes i.e. permissions from the void manager and other housekeeping tasks. Android expects to find a case insensitive and permissionless FS. Otherwise, void will report errors to the volume manager and the OS won't recognize your card. All of which is to say that this is a more distant outlier to the requirement for a simple solution. So you'd be generating fatal errors the first time the OS tried to follow a symbolic link to your ext4 files.
So yeah you can shoehorn an ext4 card into the system with enough work. But it isn't as simple as you believe. So back to my suggestions that the OP either install a custom ROM that does what he wants or that he looks at the script that I linked him to. Or perhaps migrate to CM 11, where native support for ext4 and NTFS have been added.
.

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

SD Card permissions

Hi Everyone,
Back with an android phone after quite a while.
Just added a sd card to my SGS7E and realised I can't do anything with it.
All I want is to be able to use the sd card as you would normally, create and move files, folders etc.
Is this possible without rooting?
If so could someone provide any advice or point me to a relevant resource.
If i need to root what would you good people recommend? I don't want to do anything fancy at the moment (I'm sure that'll change) just use the card as normal storage.
Thank you for your help, advice and time.
The SD issues are my biggest let down. My camera won't save to it... people tell me to factory reset but I don't feel like loosing all my work I put into it.
Other apps see it as having storage in mb I think instead of GB. issues and nobody talks about it
Hi,
The sdcard is working okay for me. If system apps can't read or modify the content inside the sdcard, then reinsert the card or reformat it because it's very likely that the phone isn't seeing it.
If you want user installed apps to access the sdcard, it's a bit more annoying. Open the app that you want to access the card, then try to make a modification in it (like creating a new file if a file manager, saving a picture if a camera, downloading a file if a torrent client, etc), it will say it can't access the sdcard and will ask you to point where to root of the sdcard is, just select your sdcard folder on the prompt and it will work fine.
Keep in mind some stuff like app data can't be moved to the sdcard, so try to keep all media on your sdcard and all apps in your internal memory, that's what I found to be a pretty easy and good memory management. If you want however to install apps on your sdcard, you can enable adoptable storage using a terminal window (formatting your card), or root your device to use some third party app that will do that for you.
All the best,
~Lord
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge using XDA Labs

Link2SD or similar - SM-G360T

I've spent the last two days looking around online for different ways to use my SD card as internal storage in my phone. I was able to successfully root, but Link2SD, Int2Ext, and other apps have been unsuccessful, always with the same problem. Unable to mount. I've tried partitioning as ext2, 3, and 4, with no luck. USB debugging is enabled, as well as SU access on boot. I've checked every forum I could find (not many) regarding different ways to use an SD card as internal storage, but always get this same error. I've also tried searching for fixes to the "unable to mount" error, with no luck.
I'm feeling really stuck now. I feel like it should be much easier to use external storage this way, especially using android.
Does anyone have any experience/ideas that might help? (Besides buying a new phone.)
BarefootFlash said:
I've spent the last two days looking around online for different ways to use my SD card as internal storage in my phone. I was able to successfully root, but Link2SD, Int2Ext, and other apps have been unsuccessful, always with the same problem. Unable to mount. I've tried partitioning as ext2, 3, and 4, with no luck. USB debugging is enabled, as well as SU access on boot. I've checked every forum I could find (not many) regarding different ways to use an SD card as internal storage, but always get this same error. I've also tried searching for fixes to the "unable to mount" error, with no luck.
I'm feeling really stuck now. I feel like it should be much easier to use external storage this way, especially using android.
Does anyone have any experience/ideas that might help? (Besides buying a new phone.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. This is quite the problem for this device, as there is not really very much internal space. I tried all the same things that you did when I first got the device too. The problem is that the internal SD is emulated, which confuses apps like Link2SD and makes them think that the emulated internal SD(/storage/emulated/0/), which is an emulated mirror of the actual internal SD(/storage/sdcard0/), is actually the external, so you will get messages like, "No need to move the items as they are the same location." You would need to disable the internal SD emulation in order to ever hope to move your apps and/or system stuff to the external. This was actually done by someone for my last device, the LG L70. This guy made a flashable file that disabled the emulated internal SD, which allowed you to do whatever you wanted with your internal and external space.
http://androidforums.com/threads/di...oid-lollipop-and-partition-table-tool.921136/
In the meantime though, you can try and clear space in other ways. If you have the Xposed Framework installed(recommended), then you can use some Xposed modules to move some stuff to your external SD. More info on installing Xposed here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=67909185&postcount=393
Some modules you can try which I use and I can say actually work on this device are:
- Downloads2SD: Allows you to change the default download locations for videos, music, pictures you take or download and other miscellaneous downloads so that they automatically go to the external. Actually does save a lot of space and time.
- Obb on SD: This is handy if you play games that take up a lot of space. It moves the sometimes huge Obb data folder for those to the external.
(NOTE: Both of these will also require you to install and run an app from the Play Store called SDFix by NextApp first.)
You can also flash SlimPickins rom, which is a completely debloated rom that takes up a lot less internal space:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...rom-slimpickins-stock-rooted-bloated-t3250883
For more info on debloating and creating more space on this device you can also check out this old debloating thread I made too here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...oating-sm-g360t1-sm-g360t-easy-guide-t3260136
You can also search the Play Store for light alternatives to your current apps. A great example of one I use now is called "Swipe". It's a super light Facebook app that looks and functions exactly the same, but cuts off about 300mbs+ of the space taken up by the original.
In short though, there is really no other way right now to clear up space on the SM-G360T/SM-G360T1. Hope this helps!
bogarty said:
Yes. This is quite the problem for this device, as there is not really very much internal space. I tried all the same things that you did when I first got the device too. The problem is that the internal SD is emulated, which confuses apps like Link2SD and makes them think that the emulated internal SD(/storage/emulated/0/), which is an emulated mirror of the actual internal SD(/storage/sdcard0/), is actually the external, so you will get messages like, "No need to move the items as they are the same location." You would need to disable the internal SD emulation in order to ever hope to move your apps and/or system stuff to the external. This was actually done by someone for my last device, the LG L70. This guy made a flashable file that disabled the emulated internal SD, which allowed you to do whatever you wanted with your internal and external space.
http://androidforums.com/threads/di...oid-lollipop-and-partition-table-tool.921136/
In the meantime though, you can try and clear space in other ways. If you have the Xposed Framework installed(recommended), then you can use some Xposed modules to move some stuff to your external SD. More info on installing Xposed here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=67909185&postcount=393
Some modules you can try which I use and I can say actually work on this device are:
- Downloads2SD: Allows you to change the default download locations for videos, music, pictures you take or download and other miscellaneous downloads so that they automatically go to the external. Actually does save a lot of space and time.
- Obb on SD: This is handy if you play games that take up a lot of space. It moves the sometimes huge Obb data folder for those to the external.
(NOTE: Both of these will also require you to install and run an app from the Play Store called SDFix by NextApp first.)
You can also flash SlimPickins rom, which is a completely debloated rom that takes up a lot less internal space:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...rom-slimpickins-stock-rooted-bloated-t3250883
For more info on debloating and creating more space on this device you can also check out this old debloating thread I made too here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...oating-sm-g360t1-sm-g360t-easy-guide-t3260136
You can also search the Play Store for light alternatives to your current apps. A great example of one I use now is called "Swipe". It's a super light Facebook app that looks and functions exactly the same, but cuts off about 300mbs+ of the space taken up by the original.
In short though, there is really no other way right now to clear up space on the SM-G360T/SM-G360T1. Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I have a Core PrimeSM-G361F with pre-rooted firmware and I am successfully using Link2SD.
Did you format and create two partitions on your internal microSD? I think this is necessary. Check out this tutorial:
https://awanstuff.wordpress.com/201...ink2sd-in-any-android-phone-with-screenshots/

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