Database Users

Writing to external SD guide

Not sure if this has been covered already on the 7.7 forum, but it's a very useful guide.
This makes Titanium backup and other apps able to write to the external SD card.
Quoted from Thaloneus post on the 7+ forum.
Simple solution for external sdcard write access on Android 3.2...if you're rooted
I've found a simple solution for gaining write access to the external sdcard (/mnt/sdcard2) on Android 3.2. The sdcard is mounted r/w, but the owning group is media_rw which is linked to the WRITE_MEDIA_STORAGE permission. Unfortunately, this permission was not required for access to the external sdcard prior to 3.2 so most file management utilities do not request it when they run...meaning they only have read access to the card.
The simple solution, if you're rooted, is as follows:
1. Using a root-enabled file manager, navigate to /system/etc/permissions and make sure you have mounted the file system r/w.
2. Edit platform.xml and find the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission.
3. Add an additional group definition for this permission...<group gid="media_rw" />
4. Save the changes to the file.
5. Restart your tablet.
After this change, any apps that request the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission (which includes almost anything that access either of the sdcards) will gain group membership in both sdcard_rw AND media_rw, giving them r/w access to both sdcard filesystems.
Sent from my GT-P6800 using xda premium

Copy or use mine at your own risk

Has anyone else tried this? Don't wanna make a mistake.
Semper Fi!!!
Sent from GT-P6800

Worke flawlessly! Thank you!!!
Semper Fi!!!
Sent from GT-P6800

how did you use it ?
just copy/paste ?

Used root explorer in rw mode, copy & paste to
/etc/permissions/platform.xml
If you're using vauxhallastra's, don't forget to unzip it first.
Semper Fi!!!
Sent from GT-P6800

thx
did copy/paste , but.. i'm still not able to move apps to the external sd card
must forget something
followed the steps, tab is root
must be one of those days :-(

I used root explorer in RW mode. Did you do this as well as unzip the file.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium

great!!works flawlessly
Sent from my GT-P6800 using xda premium

OK, so I have done this and all seems to be working. However, someone above mentions moving apps to the card, can someone explain how that should be done?

palexr said:
OK, so I have done this and all seems to be working. However, someone above mentions moving apps to the card, can someone explain how that should be done?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This can be done for instance with Titanium Backup. Tested and works.

what app2sd apps that you used? i tried few..but seems not to work either
Sent from my GT-P6800 using xda premium

answer is in mine opinion: not
Some people said that it is possible to move apps to sd card with Titanium Backup.
But when you looked afterwards at the size of your SD card nothing changed.

root enabled file manager?
Hi. I know this may sound stupid but what constitutes a 'root enabled file' manager? I've used the file manager that the 7.7 comes with, Astro, and ES explorer and I can't seem to find /sysem/etc/permissions.
What am I doing wrong?

mrexperience said:
Hi. I know this may sound stupid but what constitutes a 'root enabled file' manager? I've used the file manager that the 7.7 comes with, Astro, and ES explorer and I can't seem to find /sysem/etc/permissions.
What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The default file manager won't let you browse root, and I've never used Astro, but ES definitely does. You have to check "Root Explorer" (and if you want to make any changes, "Mount File System" as writable) in the options. I also recommend checking "Up to Root" option so you can just use the Up button or Back softkey to go from /sdcard to / (root directory), but in any case the favorites button will give you quick access to the root directory from anywhere.

mrexperience said:
Hi. I know this may sound stupid but what constitutes a 'root enabled file' manager? I've used the file manager that the 7.7 comes with, Astro, and ES explorer and I can't seem to find /sysem/etc/permissions.
What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
root enabled file managers will allow you to browse and edit the system config files which we are doing here. the fact that you cant find /system/etc/permission might be because they are file managers. perhaps the paid version of those apps will allow you root access.

Next question:
Once I copy and paste this bit of code into platform. Xls, how do I ensure that its'saved. I see no option for that and pressing the 'back' button doesn't do the trick.
I also tried to use the link given. This was extracted using my astro file manager. What do I do with this document then? Should i copy and paste it in /systems/etc/permissions/ ?
Sent from my GT-P6800 using Tapatalk

Figured it out. Thanks much.
In using ES explorer, you have to go to PREFERENCES first. Therein tick r/w and root. This will enable you to write on the system files.
I found that the Root explorer app didn't help me cause I couldn't save my copied and pasted amendment. Whereas it was easy to do with ES explorer. Hope this last bit helps anyone who needed spoon feeding like me.
Sent from my GT-P6800 using Tapatalk

is there any way to divert the folder \sdcard\Android\data to \sdcard\extStorages\sdcard\Android\data ... this will save me atleast 9GB in my internal memory and will put my sdcard in full use

vauxhallastra said:
Not sure if this has been covered already on the 7.7 forum, but it's a very useful guide.
This makes Titanium backup and other apps able to write to the external SD card.
Quoted from Thaloneus post on the 7+ forum.
Simple solution for external sdcard write access on Android 3.2...if you're rooted
I've found a simple solution for gaining write access to the external sdcard (/mnt/sdcard2) on Android 3.2. The sdcard is mounted r/w, but the owning group is media_rw which is linked to the WRITE_MEDIA_STORAGE permission. Unfortunately, this permission was not required for access to the external sdcard prior to 3.2 so most file management utilities do not request it when they run...meaning they only have read access to the card.
The simple solution, if you're rooted, is as follows:
1. Using a root-enabled file manager, navigate to /system/etc/permissions and make sure you have mounted the file system r/w.
2. Edit platform.xml and find the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission.
3. Add an additional group definition for this permission...<group gid="media_rw" />
4. Save the changes to the file.
5. Restart your tablet.
After this change, any apps that request the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission (which includes almost anything that access either of the sdcards) will gain group membership in both sdcard_rw AND media_rw, giving them r/w access to both sdcard filesystems.
Sent from my GT-P6800 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can we use this method I mean the zip file with tab 10.1

Cant delete CWM backups from internal SD Card

Need some help here:
I need to delete some of the backups I made with CWM recovery. I already have them backed up onto my PC, but need to delete them to make some room. For some reason I cant.
Ive tried root explorer, es file explorer, and my PC. Im unable to change the permissions of the files, and if you look at the pics I attached youll see they have some strange permissions, but I cant change them.
I am able to move the files anywhere else in the sd card folder, rename them, but no matter what I cant delete them. And when I try from my PC it shows them disappear, but they are actually still there.
If there is a way to format the sd card folder I will, but thats not an option in the settings, or CWM. Can someone please help me out here? This is really frustrating me. Thanks

No issues here when I delete backups using ROM Toolbox.

UnknownFearNG said:
No issues here when I delete backups using ROM Toolbox.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried through ROM Toolbox and still couldnt delete them.

Gam3r 4 Life said:
I tried through ROM Toolbox and still couldnt delete them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same, tried with multiple apps too.

I posted this in the other thread, but figured I would do so here in case other people needed the "fix".
Ok, so some good news and some bad news.
The good news is, I was able to put together a flashable zip that WILL DELETE the entire CWM backup directory from the sdcard. It is available here:
http://core.routed.com/CWM_Backup_Wipe.zip
You simply need to flash it via CWM. Easy peasy. I confirmed that the directory/files were all removed, AND the storage space is now available for other files (I checked df before and after).
The bad news is, before attempting to delete the directory, I first tried changing the permissions (recursively) to see if that was a better "fix" for this problem. Unfortunately, even with the directory 777 and the files 666, I still could not manually delete them through the system. Which means, whatever bug is causing this problem is much more severe than a file/directory permission thing.
In any case, until the CWM developer can figure out a way to fix this bug, at least we have a way to manually remove the backups and get our storage space back.
The script in the zip is very simple. It just does a recursive delete on /sdcard/clockworkmod/backup.
Enjoy!

phonic said:
I posted this in the other thread, but figured I would do so here in case other people needed the "fix".
Ok, so some good news and some bad news.
The good news is, I was able to put together a flashable zip that WILL DELETE the entire CWM backup directory from the sdcard. It is available here:
http://core.routed.com/CWM_Backup_Wipe.zip
You simply need to flash it via CWM. Easy peasy. I confirmed that the directory/files were all removed, AND the storage space is now available for other files (I checked df before and after).
The bad news is, before attempting to delete the directory, I first tried changing the permissions (recursively) to see if that was a better "fix" for this problem. Unfortunately, even with the directory 777 and the files 666, I still could not manually delete them through the system. Which means, whatever bug is causing this problem is much more severe than a file/directory permission thing.
In any case, until the CWM developer can figure out a way to fix this bug, at least we have a way to manually remove the backups and get our storage space back.
The script in the zip is very simple. It just does a recursive delete on /sdcard/clockworkmod/backup.
Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just saying thanks for this, I hope they figure a fix out soon. Flash worked perfectly, for some storage space back. :good:

camera 360 can't save photo to sdcard

After i upgrade my note 3 (sm-n900) to android 4.4 kitkat... my 360 camera app cant't save photo to extsdcard. is it just me? Or because of new kitkat update .help!

Have a look around, theres an issue with using extSD card, there is also a fix for it. - NOt sure if it'll fix saving pictures to SD Card but I don't have issues.

crazy_777 said:
After i upgrade my note 3 (sm-n900) to android 4.4 kitkat... my 360 camera app cant't save photo to extsdcard. is it just me? Or because of new kitkat update .help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You posted the question in someone's else thread and I answered you there.
I'll post the same answer here.
1. Install es file manager or any file reader with root.
2. navigate to /System/etc/permissions
3. open "platform.xml" file to edit
4. look for the stack that has "WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"
you will find something like <group gid="sdcard_r" />
5. make sure these lines are there, if not, add them
<group gid="sdcard_rw" />
<group gid="media_rw" />
That's it

I was also unable to save my photos to the external SD because in the Camera360 settings, when I change the save location to "external sd" and the dialogue popped up for me to choose a folder in the external SD, no folders showed up.
Any way, whether or not your problem is similar, if someone is reading this thread and is unable to save to ext SD, try what I did. Manually change the save directory.
You need a rooted phone and a root explorer like ES File explorer.
Go the this directory: /data/data/vStudio.Android.Camera360/shared_prefs/
Open the file "vStudio.Android.Camera360_global.xml" with a text editor. This is where some settings are stored. Go to the following line(close to the end):
<string name="pref_camera_save_path_key">/storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Camera/<string>
(you might have a different path depending on what is currently set as the save directory in Camera360)
Change the path in this line to the path you want it save photos in. For example, I have a "DCIM/Camera" folder in my external sdcard and I want the photos to be saved there, so change it to "/storage/sdcard1/DCIM/Camera/", that is, now that line is changed to
<string name="pref_camera_save_path_key">/storage/sdcard1/DCIM/Camera/<string>
NOTE THAT In your phone external sdcard may be at a different path instead of "/storage/sdcard1. Accordingly change it.

gganon said:
I was also unable to save my photos to the external SD because in the Camera360 settings, when I change the save location to "external sd" and the dialogue popped up for me to choose a folder in the external SD, no folders showed up.
Any way, whether or not your problem is similar, if someone is reading this thread and is unable to save to ext SD, try what I did. Manually change the save directory.
You need a rooted phone and a root explorer like ES File explorer.
Go the this directory: /data/data/vStudio.Android.Camera360/shared_prefs/
Open the file "vStudio.Android.Camera360_global.xml" with a text editor. This is where some settings are stored. Go to the following line(close to the end):
<string name="pref_camera_save_path_key">/storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Camera/<string>
(you might have a different path depending on what is currently set as the save directory in Camera360)
Change the path in this line to the path you want it save photos in. For example, I have a "DCIM/Camera" folder in my external sdcard and I want the photos to be saved there, so change it to "/storage/sdcard1/DCIM/Camera/", that is, now that line is changed to
<string name="pref_camera_save_path_key">/storage/sdcard1/DCIM/Camera/<string>
NOTE THAT In your phone external sdcard may be at a different path instead of "/storage/sdcard1. Accordingly change it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's really working for me
Thanks for Sharing
glad Found this way
================================================================================================
Phone : Xperia Z 6602
FW : Kit Kat 4.4.2 (10.5.A.0.230)
Bootloader : unlocked
rooted : Yes
---------- Post added at 07:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:35 AM ----------
y2kkingboy said:
You posted the question in someone's else thread and I answered you there.
I'll post the same answer here.
1. Install es file manager or any file reader with root.
2. navigate to /System/etc/permissions
3. open "platform.xml" file to edit
4. look for the stack that has "WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"
you will find something like <group gid="sdcard_r" />
5. make sure these lines are there, if not, add them
<group gid="sdcard_rw" />
<group gid="media_rw" />
That's it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can't save the "platform.xml" after making change. it said "error occurs during saving"
any suggest?
UPDATE
it's work after change the permission of that file.
just change it to read/write on setting

gganon said:
I was also unable to save my photos to the external SD because in the Camera360 settings, when I change the save location to "external sd" and the dialogue popped up for me to choose a folder in the external SD, no folders showed up.
Any way, whether or not your problem is similar, if someone is reading this thread and is unable to save to ext SD, try what I did. Manually change the save directory.
You need a rooted phone and a root explorer like ES File explorer.
Go the this directory: /data/data/vStudio.Android.Camera360/shared_prefs/
Open the file "vStudio.Android.Camera360_global.xml" with a text editor. This is where some settings are stored. Go to the following line(close to the end):
<string name="pref_camera_save_path_key">/storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Camera/<string>
(you might have a different path depending on what is currently set as the save directory in Camera360)
Change the path in this line to the path you want it save photos in. For example, I have a "DCIM/Camera" folder in my external sdcard and I want the photos to be saved there, so change it to "/storage/sdcard1/DCIM/Camera/", that is, now that line is changed to
<string name="pref_camera_save_path_key">/storage/sdcard1/DCIM/Camera/<string>
NOTE THAT In your phone external sdcard may be at a different path instead of "/storage/sdcard1. Accordingly change it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, thank you so much for your post. After 5 to 6 fails, I found out that I have to restart the device for it to work.... sorry guys, is there way to change how the picture is named? For example taking out "C360_" on the name?
Thanks.

[Q] Titanium Backup cannot choose SD card?

Verizon S5 with towelroot and Safestrap nandroid.
I'm trying to use Titanium Backup for the first time. I'm watching the video on the Play Store page. The guy says to go to MENU>Preferences>Backup folder location, and then click "DETECT!". When I do, it shows a progress bar and then a message "No backup location was found." I can click back and navigate to the SD card, but it doesn't show up as a backup location.
I'm hoping to eventually use Titanium Backup to remove some bloat and freeze some Samsung/Verizon processes, but I want to get the backup happening first. Every little step causes frustration because things never seem to happen the way they do in the instructional videos.
EDIT: Also, under Help, there is an option to "Upgrade Superuser". This takes me to Superuser app on the Play Store. I already have SuperSU. Do I need to install Superuser?

You need to do sd card fix / hack. One of the security features in kit kat was to limit 3rd party apps ability to write to the sd card. I believe the latest wanam exposed has the ability to change this, there is also an app in the play store sd fix, or you can just modify the file manually. I can't find the thread right now to do the manual edit, but that is what I did and titanium recognizes it now.
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

scadilla said:
You need to do sd card fix / hack. One of the security features in kit kat was to limit 3rd party apps ability to write to the sd card. I believe the latest wanam exposed has the ability to change this, there is also an app in the play store sd fix, or you can just modify the file manually. I can't find the thread right now to do the manual edit, but that is what I did and titanium recognizes it now.
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. I installed "SD KitKat Fixer". I tapped 'FIX' and it says "FIXED: Apps should be able to write to removable sdcards.". However, Titanium Backup says "This folder is not writable" for every folder on the SD card.

ergalthema said:
Interesting. I installed "SD KitKat Fixer". I tapped 'FIX' and it says "FIXED: Apps should be able to write to removable sdcards.". However, Titanium Backup says "This folder is not writable" for every folder on the SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to reboot afterwards if you haven't already.

ljv said:
You have to reboot afterwards if you haven't already.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well thanks. I love how these little details always seem to get left out of the instructions.

If you still have problems
Here is the link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53428200&postcount=1

Bumping an old thread......Currently stock rooted on NI2. I would like to put a ROM on my phone but would like to backup some of my apps using Titanium backup. In the Titanium backup app the Backup directory shows "not available". Going into preferences it shows that every folder in the device is not writeable. If I click DETECT, it shows no backup location was found. I tried to change the platform.xml to read/write using a couple different file explorers but I am unable to save the changes. I have tried to use the app as discussed above and rebooted the device but sill no dice. It seems that this problem started after I tried Rick's ROM for a very brief time and then flashed my nandroid backup on to the device. I would really like to change the ROM on this thing so any help will be appreciated.

brocksdad said:
Bumping an old thread......Currently stock rooted on NI2. I would like to put a ROM on my phone but would like to backup some of my apps using Titanium backup. In the Titanium backup app the Backup directory shows "not available". Going into preferences it shows that every folder in the device is not writeable. If I click DETECT, it shows no backup location was found. I tried to change the platform.xml to read/write using a couple different file explorers but I am unable to save the changes. I have tried to use the app as discussed above and rebooted the device but sill no dice. It seems that this problem started after I tried Rick's ROM for a very brief time and then flashed my nandroid backup on to the device. I would really like to change the ROM on this thing so any help will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to unmount and remount the card. If that doesn't fix it do a factory data reset from the settings menu and a advanced wipe from safestrap. Then restore your back up. If all else fails remove your card, back it up to your PC and format it and restore. I can assure you my ROM has nothing to do with it. I've installed many ROMs multiple times and re rooted many times without one issue with the extSD card. I even switched phones without ever formatting it. I hope this helps you.

It's not only the card that I can't write to, it's the entire device. Every folder in titanium backup says "This folder is not writeable". I can try the factory reset then reinsatalling a backup. The crazy thing is that I just used SMS Backup and Restore to backup all my SMS/MMS and it created the backup to the external storage.

brocksdad said:
It's not only the card that I can't write to, it's the entire device. Every folder in titanium backup says "This folder is not writeable". I can try the factory reset then reinsatalling a backup. The crazy thing is that I just used SMS Backup and Restore to backup all my SMS/MMS and it created the backup to the external storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's possible you need to remount the /system filesystem rw (read/write) before you can edit /system/etc/permissions/platform.xml. Apps like Root Explorer or ES File Explorer (with root enabled) do this automatically, but depending on the editor they spawn, it may not be able to re-save the file. I followed:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53428200
and used Root Browser with the RB Editor, and was able to edit and save platform.xml. Don't forget to reboot after making changes. This made Titanium Backup much happier.
- Dave

Thanks for the tip. There were several other things that did not work. Widgets, voice mail, ring tones, the list goes on. I un-rooted my phone and everything works again. When I did root the phone, it was kinda wierd. It never showed that I was on NE9 after using Odin to get to NE9 from NI2.

[Q] [SOLVED] TiBu can no longer protect backups (access mnt/media_rw)

Hello guys and galls and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
TiBu fails to protect backups located on the external SD on a Note 4 (SM-N910W8) - while it can access/read/write the external SD card without any problems. I had the same issue in my old Galaxy S4 and, at the time, I solved it by adding media_rw access to the platform.xml file under system/etc/permissions. For some strange reasons this fix doesn't seem to be working for the Note 4.
I use a 128GB SanDisk, formatted as FAT32 (same one used in my old Galaxy S4) and I when I tried setting the backup folder's path to mnt/media_rw/extSdCard it returns an error saying that mnt/media_rw is not accessible. Every other app, including root explorers CAN access/read/write the respective location without problem.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
SOLVED! See this thread for the solution!​

Did you try to restore to the default backup folder?

vndnguyen said:
Did you try to restore to the default backup folder?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The current folder is set to "storage/extSdCard/TitaniumBackup" (yes, default!) and, like I said, while I am able to access/read/write backups at that location I'm not able to protect any backup. I had the same issue with my old Galaxy S4 and the fix was reassigning the backup folder location to mnt/media_rw/extSdCard/TitaniumBackup - now I can no longer do that as TB reports media_rw as inaccessible.

I'm not sure why it becomes like that but you can try this path instead: /mnt/extSdCard/TitaniumBackup

vndnguyen said:
I'm not sure why it becomes like that but you can try this path instead: /mnt/extSdCard/TitaniumBackup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried, but mnt/media_rw is the only pathway that gives full access - in fact this is precisely the modification performed by the SD card fixer: it adds media_rw to the platform.xml file under system/etc/permissions. It worked just fine under 4.4.2, but it no longer works under 4.4.4 and I have a feeling that this was pulled from Samsung's bag of dirty tricks.
EDITED: I found out that by elevating "media_rw" folder's permission to 770 (using any root explorer), TB gets full access to the external SD and can successfully perform any operation, however the permission is lost after reboot. I've tried several ways to make it stick/recursive (XPlore, ES Explorer, Root explorer) but none of my attempts succeeded. Any thoughts?

nacos said:
I found out that by elevating "media_rw" folder's permission to rwx_rwx_rwx (using any root explorer), TB gets full access to the external SD and can successfully perform any operation, however the permissions are lost after reboot. I've tried several ways to make it stick/recursive (XPlore, ES Explorer, Root explorer) but none of my attempts succeeded. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look how I solved this problem on my Moto G LTE:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=58696797&postcount=3

_jis_ said:
Take a look how I solved this problem on my Moto G LTE:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=58696797&postcount=3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Solved!! :good: Details in posts # 4, 6 and 11