Database Users

Use of storage card by the S4

So from what I understand, apps cannot be installed to the storage card on the S4, correct? Is this fixable with root or maybe a custom ROM? Also, when recording video, will the S4 at least be able to write to the storage card when doing that? And for something like Orange Backup that can create nandroids while in Android, does anyone know if it will be able to write to the storage card? I assume that recoveries like TWRP and CW will have no issue recognizing the card and installing zips from them?

Yes, you can tell the camera to use the SD card. Not sure about Orange Backup, but I've got TWRP on my S4 and it gave me the option of using the SD card, which I took advantage of.
Can't answer your question about custom ROM's being able to give us the app storage transfer to SD option. That would be nice, though.

jejb said:
Yes, you can tell the camera to use the SD card. Not sure about Orange Backup, but I've got TWRP on my S4 and it gave me the option of using the SD card, which I took advantage of.
Can't answer your question about custom ROM's being able to give us the app storage transfer to SD option. That would be nice, though.
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Hey jejb does that make the apps install on the SD card?
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium

kyhassen said:
Hey jejb does that make the apps install on the SD card?
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Not every app. Some give you the choice to use the SD card, some don't. And if the app does not give you the choice, it's hard to move the app/data to the SD card for most programs on this release of Android OS.
There are some threads on possible work arounds, but I've read mixed results on them so far.

External SD Card Write Issues

I'm having an issue where I can't cut/copy/paste, create files(.nomedia), and delete files/folders on my external sd card using ES File Explorer. I can create folders though. Everything works on my internal storage. I tried using another app and still having problems. The preinstalled My Files app works on the external sd card.
Any one else having these issues? Any suggestions?

I had that issue with two new cards I put them in my phone and had to format them with the phone under settings for it to work
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

syu78 said:
I'm having an issue where I can't cut/copy/paste, create files(.nomedia), and delete files/folders on my external sd card using ES File Explorer. I can create folders though. Everything works on my internal storage. I tried using another app and still having problems. The preinstalled My Files app works on the external sd card.
Any one else having these issues? Any suggestions?
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KitKat changed the way Android deals with SD cards, particularly in regard to what applications can and can't do. Formatting the card in the phone might help for some things, but it won't solve everything since some changes are at the system level. Here are a couple of articles that explain the changes:
KitKat and SD cards — what's fixed, what's broken and what's misunderstood
External Blues: Google Has Brought Big Changes To SD Cards In KitKat, And Even Samsung Is Implementing Them
If you're going to root your phone, some progress has been made in being able to change the permissions needed to allow apps to access the SD card in the same way as has been the case on previous versions of Android. It's something to keep an eye on in regards to how it might or might now work with the S5: [APP][4.4][ROOT] SDFix: Modify device permissions to allow apps to write to MicroSD

Thanks for the info

bsweetness said:
KitKat changed the way Android deals with SD cards, particularly in regard to what applications can and can't do. Formatting the card in the phone might help for some things, but it won't solve everything since some changes are at the system level. Here are a couple of articles that explain the changes:
KitKat and SD cards — what's fixed, what's broken and what's misunderstood
External Blues: Google Has Brought Big Changes To SD Cards In KitKat, And Even Samsung Is Implementing Them
If you're going to root your phone, some progress has been made in being able to change the permissions needed to allow apps to access the SD card in the same way as has been the case on previous versions of Android. It's something to keep an eye on in regards to how it might or might now work with the S5: [APP][4.4][ROOT] SDFix: Modify device permissions to allow apps to write to MicroSD
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Done reading and it helped.Thanks men

Yes. Might be it's working.. thanks @bsweetness

Unable to back up on ExtSdcard

Hi guys,
I was trying to back up my nova feature to my SD card and for x reason it didn't work. Saving to internal storage work but that would be useless when wiping for a new ROM, I noticed I can't transfer files from my device too ( internal to SD gotta be done by computer). SD card is a 32gb Kingston
Thanks
Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

xaznxplaya said:
Hi guys,
I was trying to back up my nova feature to my SD card and for x reason it didn't work. Saving to internal storage work but that would be useless when wiping for a new ROM, I noticed I can't transfer files from my device too ( internal to SD gotta be done by computer). SD card is a 32gb Kingston
Thanks
Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Hi There
Google has blocked the permission to write to sd card.
easiser solution is download SDFIX from google play.
root required.

Any idea why did they did? I'll try it, thanks
sent from my s5 you 'Mirin?

xaznxplaya said:
Any idea why did they did? I'll try it, thanks
sent from my s5 you 'Mirin?
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Click to collapse
Google seems take it as a security issue.
It happens kk4.4 or later.

xaznxplaya said:
Hi guys,
I was trying to back up my nova feature to my SD card and for x reason it didn't work. Saving to internal storage work but that would be useless when wiping for a new ROM, I noticed I can't transfer files from my device too ( internal to SD gotta be done by computer). SD card is a 32gb Kingston
Thanks
Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
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Use Samsung's own app for file moving, worked for me with with multimedia files.

Save it to phone memory then transfer to sd card using my files app.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

SDFix definitely fixes the issue if you are rooted. Android 4.4 changes the stock permissions, so apps only have read/write permissions to folders that they create and can't write to folders created manually or by other apps. SDFix restores permissions to how they were prior to 4.4. Its less secure, but it allows programs like Titanium Backup to function again.
xaznxplaya said:
Any idea why did they did? I'll try it, thanks
sent from my s5 you 'Mirin?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I have no problems with nova backup to sd on my s4,and its on 4.4 too
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Right now there isn't a way to change the folder where the Nova backups are stored (/sdcard/data/com.teslacoilsw.launcher/backup). What you can do next time is make your backup and then copy it to your SD card or PC. When you do your next reset you can copy that backup file back to where it's expected to be and be back in business. Kind of poor coding that you can't just save it to your SD in the first place...

Omega ROM doesn't have that glitch.

An app called File expert can read/write to external xd card without root. They have sorted this issue out

Sdfix did work guys. I used it to backup Nova setting on ExtSd
sent from my s5 you 'Mirin?

galaxy S4 microsd card problem

Hello
I have SanDisk 64gb microsd. I have not done anything to the phone and now periodically the phone stops reading the 64gb card .It does not say unmounted just when I check gallery the photos are not there and I have to restart the phone.
I have a rooted 4.3 ROM..The only thing I can think of is ES file explorer potentially caused issues. I noticed things acting weird after I used it when I do heavily.
Please help. Any and all advice welcome. Thanks

Tried to re flash a nandroid still issues. I noticed in general my touchwiz is running so slow. I flashed sacs red theme about a month ago. Not sure if that had anything to do with it. Should not have.
It will reread it when I remount it or reboot. Not sure specifically what is causing it though.

mikeprius said:
Tried to re flash a nandroid still issues. I noticed in general my touchwiz is running so slow. I flashed sacs red theme about a month ago. Not sure if that had anything to do with it. Should not have.
It will reread it when I remount it or reboot. Not sure specifically what is causing it though.
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Have you tried searching the forums for sdcard fix? Google it? There have been issues with 4.4 and sdcard reading issues. Also downloading foldermount from the playstore has helped others with issues. If all else fails reinstall rom.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app

I searched on Google and there is not really a concise answer as to why this happens. It is a very ambigious issue, however; it seems to be a reoccuring issue with SanDisk cards and 4.4 KitKat ROMs.
What I did was completely flush out and re-installed both custom recovery and my ROM to 4.2.2
It is disappointing because I really like my Samsung Galaxy S4 phone and you'd think upgrades mean better quality product when it has not. 4.4 KitKat ROM is not that good. I don't like both CM and TW versions of KK. One feature I do not like with TW KitKat is the inability to hide icons. There are also issues with battery drain and free hotspot mod.
I don't know what is going on. When I plug my phone into the computer I can access the SD card. When I check the phone it is not reading the SD card. Don't know what the problem is.

Have you tried a different SD card? That would help you determine if it is specific to the card or potentially a phone issue.

What I will do is try and format the SD card with the phone, then put everything back on. So far, I have isolated it to ESFile explorer. Initially I did not update the apk and thought that would work. It did not.
Here's what has happened:
I use ESFile explorer to access the SD card. Then when I went into clockworkmod, I tried to delete a nandroid copy I made. It says 'failed to delete'.
Then the ROM and sdCard do not work correctly anymore, so I have to wipe and re-flash an old nandroid.
Makes me wonder if something is corrupted in the SD Card. Everything used to work fine, but now whenever I access the SD Card with ESFile explorer, even the old version of it, it causes issue.

There is a problem with some Sandisk SD cards. Evidently there was a bad batch. I had some of the same issues. My card was bad. I went to Sandisk's website and they replaced it for free. I was without my card for a week but I got a new one and everything seems to be working fine now.

Can you explain how you did this ? So an update on my situation. I can read the sd card but it will not format and nothing can be written to the card. I tried using recovery and touchwiz to format and it fails.
Can access what is on there but cannot write or format anymore. Any ideas ? At this point I swapped to a new SanDisk card I had lying around. Don't know what to do with the old card

mikeprius said:
Can you explain how you did this ? So an update on my situation. I can read the sd card but it will not format and nothing can be written to the card. I tried using recovery and touchwiz to format and it fails.
Can access what is on there but cannot write or format anymore. Any ideas ? At this point I swapped to a new SanDisk card I had lying around. Don't know what to do with the old card
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I assume you are asking me how I got my card replaced. I did some research and found the issue mentioned here on XDA as well as on the internet. I went to Sandisk's website, http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/list/kw/microsd microsdhc/, and did some more research. I finally contacted their customer service and they told me the process for getting the replacement shipped. If I were you I would just contact their customer service on their website and let them run you through the process.

Do i use the MM feature and use my SD card as internal memory?

Hi All
I have a Samsung i9505 and just moved to Resurrection Remix 5.6.2 ROM using marshmallow and am having issues with writing to the SD card with 3rd party apps.
I have used the ES Explorer fix and mount R/W and enabled root explorer however my 3rd party app still shows as read only. The app is doggcatcher. Whats odd I found an article to sort this problem out for Titanium backup and that worked fine. Also my camera picture and whatsapp all get saved to the SD card without issue.
In the end I have told doggcatcher to use my internal memory but that is quickly filling up.
I am tempted as the phone as 16GB internal memory, whether I should backup my files and choose the options where I can turn my 64gb external SD card as part of my internal memory as I never take out my SD card so that option might work for me but the reviews I am hearing are more negative than positive. I did try it out and went back to the traditional approach but thinking that maybe I didnt give it enough time.
I used FolderMount which was great on LL and recently purchase Link2SD to move files to the SD card but my internal memory still fills up. Currently foldermount isnt compatible with MM, link2SD is but I am having a few issues with it crashing and dont find it as easily to use as foldermount.
Any advice would be appreciated on what others have done.
Thanks

I don't know about anything else, but from what I heard is:
If you format as internal, you will have to do the whole "setup your sd card" step every time you flash a rom. Which is garbage, unless you stay on the same rom for like ever.
Dirty flashing a rom might skip that setup, as you don't lose the data/settingd etc. Problem is, you can't always dirty flash. Especially when changing roms altogether. PC's might not be able to read it either even if it is in your phone.
This is just what I gathered over the time, nothing from personal experience.

Umm interesting well I normally backup my phone nightly using both TB and nandroid backup so restoring to a new ROM as long as it doesn't format the whole CSR I should be OK or does it when you install the new ROM in which case my backups are no good unless I save them to the cloud like Dropbox or google drive?
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

ranjb said:
Hi All
I have a Samsung i9505 and just moved to Resurrection Remix 5.6.2 ROM using marshmallow and am having issues with writing to the SD card with 3rd party apps.
I have used the ES Explorer fix and mount R/W and enabled root explorer however my 3rd party app still shows as read only. The app is doggcatcher. Whats odd I found an article to sort this problem out for Titanium backup and that worked fine. Also my camera picture and whatsapp all get saved to the SD card without issue.
In the end I have told doggcatcher to use my internal memory but that is quickly filling up.
I am tempted as the phone as 16GB internal memory, whether I should backup my files and choose the options where I can turn my 64gb external SD card as part of my internal memory as I never take out my SD card so that option might work for me but the reviews I am hearing are more negative than positive. I did try it out and went back to the traditional approach but thinking that maybe I didnt give it enough time.
I used FolderMount which was great on LL and recently purchase Link2SD to move files to the SD card but my internal memory still fills up. Currently foldermount isnt compatible with MM, link2SD is but I am having a few issues with it crashing and dont find it as easily to use as foldermount.
Any advice would be appreciated on what others have done.
Thanks
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I've the Same problem!