[Q] Removing internal SD card - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi, apologies if this has already been asked but I can't find a thread actually covering this question.
Does anyone know if/how I can completely "remove" the internal emulated SD card on the S4? I've got a much larger external SD card and would prefer it if android saw this as the only SD card so that all apps that want to write to the SD card will automatically write to the external one (giving me the peace of mind that all "sd card" data is in the same place and that all of this data will persist even if I need to format the /data partition).
I'm rooted and running CM11, in case that's relevant.
I gather that on this phone the internal SD is just a folder under /data (rather than a separate partition). So I'm wondering if it's sufficient to simply delete the /data/media/ directory? (and move it's contents over to the external SD). Or if that's not enough, will a full format of /data do the job? Or will android still somehow "know" that this phone is supposed to have an internal SD and hence re-create it as soon as it boots again?

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[Q] Format the Internal SD Card to Clear and Delete Internal Data

You go inside the settings, to SD card and Phone storage, and format the card. I discovered this on my own about .01 seconds after submitting the post, and cannot see a way to delete the post.
Well maybe it will help someone else

Want to use the 2GB internal memory for apps - how?

Hey there,
the U8800 has a 2GB partition which isn't used at all when an external SD-card is installed.
The internal 2GB partition is mounted to /HWUserData and is accessible. Now I want to use it for my apps. With the typical App2SD-apps that are available in the market I cannot move the apps to this partition. They are always moved to the external card.
Moving the apps manually is not very helpful as Android treats them as install-packages when I open them within the file manager.
tl;dr: The 2GB-partition does only show up within the file manager, how can i use it for apps etc.?
XphX
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1112857
Thank your for your answer; I do not want to use that program; I fear voiding the warranty. I have no problem with installing custom-ROMs, but I won't change the partitions of the internal memory.
I'll take out the external SD-card for a moment, maybe I can install the apps to the 2GB-part then...
Seriously, why does Huawei include 2GB of memory if it is not usable?
Use the default apps2sd option.
I've been thinking about this myself and thought about changing the mount points so the internal 2GB SD is formatted as ext then linked to /sd-ext and used as an a2sd partition. The advantage is that, unlike normal a2sd, you will still be able to remove the microSD card.
The problem would be that recovery images wouldn't like this as they always expect a2sd to be the second partition on the microSD. It would also stop the backups from working..
It's something I'll need to think about a lot.
flibblesan said:
The advantage is that, unlike normal a2sd, you will still be able to remove the microSD card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is exactly what I want to do. a2sd simply does not recognize the partition as it expects it to be a second partition within the external sd. Could changing the mount point resolve this issue? Where would I even mount it to? The external card will still be the one recognized (or not?)..

[Q] increase device internal memory with sd card.?

Good day
I have European device with limited memory
I want to know if there's a way to use the sd card storage to increase the total size of the device memory
Thanks
Most roms support app2sd or data2sd,, backup your SD card, enter cwm, advanced, partition SD card. This creates a partition on your Sd card formatted EXT format, which the system will use as internal memory without you doing anything.
I dunno if you can force your already installed rom to move stuff to the SD, or if you have to reflash to activate it.
When its active, you should make sure all your apps are set to use phone memory not SD card, if you click "move to SD card" it takes them out of the ext partition and puts them to the fat partition, thus defeating the object of the ext.

what is the relation between internal sd card and internal storage?

seems apks are installed to internal storage, then what is the function of internal sd card?
which kind of data would be save to internal sd card?
btw, it seems /data folder is on the internal storage, how can i move this folder to internal sd card?
dalvikna said:
seems apks are installed to internal storage, then what is the function of internal sd card?
which kind of data would be save to internal sd card?
btw, it seems /data folder is on the internal storage, how can i move this folder to internal sd card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's kind of complicated.
Huawei's setup on U8800 goes like this:
/data - standard APK installation, all settings & other OS stuff saved in there.
/HWUserData - almost exactly like external SD card, but apps cannot be installed on it (if I remember correctly external SD was default).
The reason it was designed like this was to enable media storage without SD card in pre-ics. Nowadays, most devices use combined /data (/data used for both apks, and also media like audio, files). The reason /datamedia is used is to have the same space available, but you can use it for how you want. On U8800 we cannot do that (standard 600MB for /data, 2GB for /HWUserData in stock).
Oh, and since /data and /HWUserData are different partitions, you really can't move these around. They are mounted onto Android.

Marshmallow Flex Storage: How to upgrade to higher capacity MicroSD card?

Hey all,
Forgive me if this question has been asked before (Google did not help me find an answer) but I'm looking for the "best practice" method of upgrading my MicroSD card once it's already been mapped to internal storage using Marshmallow's "Flex Storage" capability.
I bought a 32GB Moto X Pure Edition and promptly installed my fastest MicroSD card (a 32GB PNY U3 Turbo card) and set it to function as internal storage after the Marshmallow update.
Since then, I bought a 64GB U3 card so that I'd have ample space for music and video. What I'm trying to figure out is the process to:
1) Take a snapshot of my internal storage (i.e. copy to an external HDD)
2) Remove the "old" microSD without any detrimental affect to installed applications
3) Mount the "new" larger microSD as internal storage
4) Copy everything back to the new internal storage
Is there a documented process for doing this, or some sort of migration tool I can use to upgrade the microSD capacity?
Good question
Bumpage. Has anyone seen anything on the nets describing the storage upgrade process for Flex Storage?
Probably not possible unless you flash a new ROM over the old. My understanding is that the sd card, once made to be part of the phone storage, is that it is 128bit encrypted in EXT4 format.
bw03 said:
Probably not possible unless you flash a new ROM over the old. My understanding is that the sd card, once made to be part of the phone storage, is that it is 128bit encrypted in EXT4 format.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The thing is I currently have more internal storage free space available than actual data stored on my SD, so ideally there should be a way to migrate my data back to true internal storage, eject the SD, and replace with a bigger card?
Even if I have to do it manually, I want to make sure I don't screw with installed apps.
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
Might be a stupid question but have you tried taking out the card and seeing what happens?
I think the moral here is to start with the largest capacity card you think you'll need. 64GB cards are dirt cheap these days. Unless you need your entire mp3 collection on your phone, I doubt there is a real need for anything bigger.
I mentioned this in another thread, but probably more appropriate here. There is a way to partition the card for both internal and external storage. Portion of it is used for apps/data while the rest for pics/music and is visible when not in the phone.
The question is, can you create a twrp image of the system & internal storage with one sd card. Replace it with a different one, repartition it (in recovery), then restore your data?
http://blog.sam.liddicott.com/2016/02/android-6-semi-adopted-storage.html
Hello,
There might be a solution.
(Please notice I translate the android names from French, so there might be some variations)
In the settings/storage, click on the interal memory line.
In the settings -the 3 dots top right-, you might be able to transfer data from SD to internal memory.
Then, you can format back you sd card, remove and replace it, and voila, that should work.
My 2 cents,

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