Database Users

Lost photos

Hi all.
Today I noticed that in last 2 days I had lost around 300 photos from the SD card. I had around 600 photos on Thursday, more than half are gone (randomly, couldn't see a pattern for leftover photos). On Friday I upgraded the phone to .6 from .3, it wiped out the phone but was not supposed to delete anything from SD card. My music and video files seem to be not affected, ebooks are also untouched. SD card itself seems to be working fine, no corrupted files, no unusual files/folders on it. I don't think it was the upgrade but have no idea what could have happened. Before the upgrade I had to install HTC sync, to get the driver. Does it do something by default? Does it sync/remove any files?
We just came back from vacation. Most of the pictures were taken on my camera, but I had good amount of shots on the phone. It's my fault for not coping everything before the update but I wanted to know if you had seen anything like that.
My only hope is to check the work computer that I used for upgrade, but I don't think sync would move files without any notice.

This may not be what happened to you but i did have a friend that did the upgrade OTA, there wasnt enough space on his SD card for the OTA file, plus i guess it also needs extra space to swap files. Therefore, in his situation files on the sd were randomly overwritten. Anyway this im getting 3rd party from him so it might not apply to you but thought id toss it out there.
Evo Sent

Did the pics get moved to LOST.DIR? Sometimes when you plug your phone into a computer and don't eject or unmount the card, some files get corrupted and moved there. It sucks cuz it removes the extension, and changes the file name to a number, but sometimes you can just add the jpg extensions and save the pics. It's worth a try.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Yep. Same thing happened to me. I wasn't doing any kind of upgrade or anything. Still had 4+ Gigs free on my SDcard. Opened up the gallery and it only had 10 pictures in it. 90something pics just gone. I checked LOST.DIR and there is one big file in there around 140MB. Can't find a way to extract it.
Luckily, I had a backup on my laptop that was only a couple of days old so I got most of my pics back, but still annoying.

LOST.DIR has one small file.
I didn't think about not enough space on SD. I had around 300Mb when started the update, I didn't have to copy anything to the card, it was ran from the computer.
My lesson (again and again): there is not enough backup.
Thanks for replies!

Internal/SD storage mess

Hi everyone,
I got the latest Moto X as soon as it went public because I loved the idea of Vanilla Android with SD support. I got the 16 GB version and a 64 GB SD. Ever since I got it, the phone has been bugging me about the storage and today I finally gave in. Until today I kept my photos, music and podcasts on my SD card but the internal memory was constantly full and I couldn't install new apps. So I thought formatting the SD card under Android 6 would make it one with the internal storage. It didn't. It made it worse. I can move apps to the SD card but I can't force photos and other media to be saved there. I was hoping for internal-SD continuity and I got a total lack of control. So now I can't receive SMS and I keep having "storage is running out" notification while I still have 60 GB free on my SD card.
What's your take on this? Thanks!

Since this is about SD cards, I'm having another problem to state if OP doesn't mind. On my Moto X, when using exploring (using file explorer) the original sd card I've used for years, many folders do not show up. The same happens to a video player (RockPlayer), where it doesn't show many folders I have on my card (it did when used on my previous Atrix 2). However, when I go to "Storage & USB" and select the card, everything is normal. That means, only when viewing the sd card via "Storage & USB", all folders appear.
However, applications and games (besides gallery) will assume the first situation, where those folders remain invisible. Does anyone know what the problem actually is?
Edit: After checking, it seems that my /sdcard folder is the same as /storage/emulated/0.
Thank you.

MoCML said:
Since this is about SD cards, I'm having another problem to state if OP doesn't mind. On my Moto X, when using exploring (using file explorer) the original sd card I've used for years, many folders do not show up. The same happens to a video player (RockPlayer), where it doesn't show many folders I have on my card (it did when used on my previous Atrix 2). However, when I go to "Storage & USB" and select the card, everything is normal. That means, only when viewing the sd card via "Storage & USB", all folders appear.
However, applications and games (besides gallery) will assume the first situation, where those folders remain invisible. Does anyone know what the problem actually is?
Edit: After checking, it seems that my /sdcard folder is the same as /storage/emulated/0.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like my sdcard folder is now C601-8353 under Storage folder, along with Emulated and Self folders.

domi_niku said:
Hi everyone,
I got the latest Moto X as soon as it went public because I loved the idea of Vanilla Android with SD support. I got the 16 GB version and a 64 GB SD. Ever since I got it, the phone has been bugging me about the storage and today I finally gave in. Until today I kept my photos, music and podcasts on my SD card but the internal memory was constantly full and I couldn't install new apps. So I thought formatting the SD card under Android 6 would make it one with the internal storage. It didn't. It made it worse. I can move apps to the SD card but I can't force photos and other media to be saved there. I was hoping for internal-SD continuity and I got a total lack of control. So now I can't receive SMS and I keep having "storage is running out" notification while I still have 60 GB free on my SD card.
What's your take on this? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried using OpenCamera instead? It's free, open source, AND lets you choose where to store the pics. IMHO the picture quality is better too.
You could also move the pics to the card manually after you take them...

TXJim said:
Have you tried using OpenCamera instead? It's free, open source, AND lets you choose where to store the pics. IMHO the picture quality is better too.
You could also move the pics to the card manually after you take them...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great call, thanks for the tip.

I haven't had any problems saving photos or other media to my SD card with adoptable storage. This is something you should be able to specify in preferences whether you are using adoptable storage or not. If this doesn't work with some apps just use a file manager to move the files to the SD card.
Sometimes when I move apps to my SD Card, I would get similar messages about being out of space, even though this wasn't the case. Deleting the cache on SD card seemed to fix the problem. There can also be a problem if your SD card is too slow. However, you would probably get an alert if that was the case.

My advise erase it all internal and sd card start from a blank state the phone should give you the option to mount the sd as internal I don't like how it is implemented so I chose not to use it.

For some strange reason my phone will not read my SD card I have it formatted to internal stage and now it says searching for SD card. I'm so mad I've searched all over with no solution, I'm about to get a new phone and scrap this one, sorry I'm just very upset and I had to vent, of anyone knows of this type of issue please share.
Sent from my SM-G935T using XDA-Developers mobile app

Galaxy S4's hidden folder?

Okay so to start off, I was digging around in my phone a couple days ago (Keep in mind this is a white 16 gig S4 on CM13). And i stumbled across a weird folder, it was a faded one (I did have hidden files on). So I tapped and opened the folder, and for some reason, It was loading so slow (s4s pretty fast storage wise for me), but that slowed it down.
And as ES File Explorer was showing me, there was 44,000+ files. In that very folder alone. So I wondered what it could be (was a ton of old stuff I knew I had deleted).
But the strange thing about it is, once I selected each and every photo, the total amount of storage space used made no sense, it was using 24.6gigs of storage.
My phone remember is only a 16 gig model. But the folder took up 24.6 gigs, and I know it wasn't the sd card, since that was practically full of other things and wasn't in the phone at the time. After moving or trying to move it all to windows, I wound up with about 7000+ photos and 2 12+ gig files that can't be opened nor used at all. it gave me about a gig and a half back in storage as well. (phone has about 6-7+ used with 1.94 or 2.40 left after clearing cache and what not.)
What I'd like to know, has anyone had this 'issue' before as well or do they know what it could be?
I found it in DCIM>Thumbnails. Any information would be very helpful. It still bogs me as to why that happens.

it's function is for gallery apps to show thumbnails. and for the size, maybe the files where a file representing your data partition? very strange.

RDChase said:
it's function is for gallery apps to show thumbnails. and for the size, maybe the files where a file representing your data partition? very strange.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, could be but my data partition is no where near that size. It could of been compressed files, but I'm pretty sure 24.6 gigs would equal a decent 10 or more gig file, and to add to that, after deleting that first one. Two more popped up, each at 25 and 26 gigs respectively, I have no clue what the issue is. But it's only present on cm 13. Cm14 and 14.1 do not give me that issue.

Huawei P10 Lite - Expanding Internal Memory

Just bought a Huawei P10 Lite, was mainly looking for an Android 7.0 phone due to the newish Android feature of using an SD card to extend the internal memory and the P10 Lite seemed the most feature-rich phone at the price point.
To my horror there doesnt seem to be an option in the Memory & Storage options to configure the SD card as internal storage. I searched online but nothing about this phone and extending the internal storage which seems odd as I thought it was a popular phone. I noticed a post regarding the P8 where a user stated Huawei hadn't included this Android feature (seems bizarre) and they gave instructions on how to root the device and do something strange to it.
Surprised no one talking about it!

There's definitely an option to use the SD card as your main storage device in storage section as I used it before. What firmware is your on right now? It worked fine for me on my WAS-LX1AC185B172

If 32 gigabytes is not enough for you, then i don't know how much is enough. 128GB maybe?
Anyways, there is an option in "Memory & storage" called "Default location", which basically switches the internal storage for the SDcard. This is what you're looking for.

I think OP means adoptable storage - a feature introduced in Marshmallow. It merges your external and internal storage into one large pool. It, however, prevents the card from being portable. The card is formatted specifically to your device and I believe it'll cause problems with the device function if removed anyway.
I don't think Huawei supports it. I have only found the option to flip the default storage location. It may be available through some of the format options but I'm not too keen on risking it wiping my card if it doesn't give me a prompt if I was to test it.
It may be possible to force it through ADB commands. Not sure though.

Hi all yes specifically referring to adoptable storage.
I have set the SD card as "Default Storage" but in my experience it doesnt mean more than the system storing user data like photos and music on the SD card which is a no brainer really (why would a user even need to set this as an option?). Doesn't seem to be any info about what this actually does on this phone though. I can't even see an option to move Apps to the SD card on the P10 Lite but that was always a bizarre and tediously repetitive and half-hearted operation on my old Samsung S5, even if an App supported it, after an update it would just revert back to internal phone storage.
Many of my messaging apps have bloated databases that grow to over 1Gb in size after a couple of years let alone the bloatware of most apps in general. I notice that some messaging apps even keep media files inside the internal filesystem structure which ends up being the internal memory space. I would rather this was instead eating up cheap SD card space than the faster internal memory left for just the OS.
Considering that half of the phone storage is used up by the time you first turn it on, the adoptable storage funcationality introduced in Android Marshmallow is a gods send. Can't believe phone manufactures are trying to protect product placement with their 32GB and 64GB models to the extent of leaving out a flagship Android feature!
God data storage on Android is still a mess after all these years!

longreat said:
Hi all yes specifically referring to adoptable storage.
I have set the SD card as "Default Storage" but in my experience it doesnt mean more than the system storing user data like photos and music on the SD card which is a no brainer really (why would a user even need to set this as an option?). Doesn't seem to be any info about what this actually does on this phone though. I can't even see an option to move Apps to the SD card on the P10 Lite but that was always a bizarre and tediously repetitive and half-hearted operation on my old Samsung S5, even if an App supported it, after an update it would just revert back to internal phone storage.
Many of my messaging apps have bloated databases that grow to over 1Gb in size after a couple of years let alone the bloatware of most apps in general. I notice that some messaging apps even keep media files inside the internal filesystem structure which ends up being the internal memory space. I would rather this was instead eating up cheap SD card space than the faster internal memory left for just the OS.
Considering that half of the phone storage is used up by the time you first turn it on, the adoptable storage funcationality introduced in Android Marshmallow is a gods send. Can't believe phone manufactures are trying to protect product placement with their 32GB and 64GB models to the extent of leaving out a flagship Android feature!
God data storage on Android is still a mess after all these years!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SD card isn't as fast. That's one reason they don't want you to install apps onto it. It degrades the experience. And without an API of some sort it would be difficult to implement an app structure that split the data to place non-vital data on the card. Many devices don't have slots so it isn't an area developers give much thought.
If you use the format option, does it give you any option to select adoptable storage or is it just erase?
Otherwise I guess your best option is to try look for ADB commands or maybe even root.
Edit: I found an option to allow apps on external storage in developer settings if you scroll all the way to the bottom.

I used an SD card to store my Here we Go and Sygic maps when travelling.
Until I took a break from driving one day, connected an USB OTG cable with usb stick to the device and all my maps from the internal SD were gone.
From that day on I never install any data that is used by an app on the SD card. (and never had problems with it anymore)
Documents or music are no problem.

Spotify on P10 lite
Spotify in itself is using up most of my internal storage.
How can I move the songs from there to the SD card? If I can't then remind me never to buy a phone with less than 64GB internal memory next time.
The reviews all seemed too good to be true!!

chimneytops said:
Spotify in itself is using up most of my internal storage.
How can I move the songs from there to the SD card? If I can't then remind me never to buy a phone with less than 64GB internal memory next time.
The reviews all seemed too good to be true!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this

Spotify
Thanks but I do not see the Storage option in Spotify

chimneytops said:
Thanks but I do not see the Storage option in Spotify
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just downloaded the app to check and it's there. Found it immediately.

spotify
Under Other, I only see Delete Cache or Log Out.
I tried logging out and in again, but no difference.
So frustrating.
I cannot even send texts at the moment and I have already uninstalled loads of apps, complete disaster.

chimneytops said:
Under Other, I only see Delete Cache or Log Out.
I tried logging out and in again, but no difference.
So frustrating.
I cannot even send texts at the moment and I have already uninstalled loads of apps, complete disaster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to ask: you do have an SD card mounted, right?
Do you have the latest version of the Spotify app?
Do you have the latest ota update?
Have you tried clearing app data and cache?
Have you tried uninstalling the app and reinstalling?
However if you can't send texts then you have bigger problems. It may be related, it may not be.
Have you tried with another phone with the same sim? Have you tried a factory reset?

Did you try this???

Trixanity said:
I have to ask: you do have an SD card mounted, right?
Do you have the latest version of the Spotify app?
Do you have the latest ota update?
Have you tried clearing app data and cache?
Have you tried uninstalling the app and reinstalling?
However if you can't send texts then you have bigger problems. It may be related, it may not be.
Have you tried with another phone with the same sim? Have you tried a factory reset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, SD card mounted and storing photos on it.
I have uninstalled the app and downloaded it again. I still do not see the option to store the songs to the SD card though.
What is the ota update and how do I run it?
If I clear app data and the cache will I lose all the songs saved to date?
I have yet to download all the many songs again, so that has freed up loads of storage. So I can send texts again.

chimneytops said:
Yes, SD card mounted and storing photos on it.
I have uninstalled the app and downloaded it again. I still do not see the option to store the songs to the SD card though.
What is the ota update and how do I run it?
If I clear app data and the cache will I lose all the songs saved to date?
I have yet to download all the many songs again, so that has freed up loads of storage. So I can send texts again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OTA update just means the latest version/update for the phone. Check for system updates.
I can't guarantee what happens to your songs but I would assume that those are not stored locally if it's just a list (you did say you cleared some out to regain space). I would assume you'd be able to access the same list from any device as long as you are logged in. Otherwise that's pretty bad design considering their business model.
If you have very little space on your phone the system will start to get sluggish and if really low system functions will stop working.
Can you tell me the version number of the Spotify app? The reason I'm asking (besides making sure it's the same as the one I downloaded) is that I seem to recall Spotify cutting support for their old app and launching a new one to replace it.
But if you do have the new app, then either something's wrong with the compatibility of your phone/sd card/app or it's because you can't switch storage while data is stored (kinda like an initial setup) hence clearing app data could fix it.
If it's still not working I may have one last trick up my sleeve.

Trixanity said:
OTA update just means the latest version/update for the phone. Check for system updates.
I can't guarantee what happens to your songs but I would assume that those are not stored locally if it's just a list (you did say you cleared some out to regain space). I would assume you'd be able to access the same list from any device as long as you are logged in. Otherwise that's pretty bad design considering their business model.
If you have very little space on your phone the system will start to get sluggish and if really low system functions will stop working.
Can you tell me the version number of the Spotify app? The reason I'm asking (besides making sure it's the same as the one I downloaded) is that I seem to recall Spotify cutting support for their old app and launching a new one to replace it.
But if you do have the new app, then either something's wrong with the compatibility of your phone/sd card/app or it's because you can't switch storage while data is stored (kinda like an initial setup) hence clearing app data could fix it.
If it's still not working I may have one last trick up my sleeve.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, the version I downloaded is 8.4.61.683 armV7

chimneytops said:
Hi, the version I downloaded is 8.4.61.683 armV7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the same one I tested.
Try go into your app settings and make sure Spotify has the right permissions granted.
If it's still not working (also make sure you have plenty space on SD card) then clearing the data is probably the best solution. Apparently it deletes preferences and offline playlists (whatever that means). I'm not sure if it affects your playlists or if you can save them online so you can retrieve them later. Otherwise make a backup of: internal storage/Android/Data/com.spotify.music/ just in case.
Rebooting the phone can also sometimes help by the way.

Trixanity said:
That's the same one I tested.
Try go into your app settings and make sure Spotify has the right permissions granted.
If it's still not working (also make sure you have plenty space on SD card) then clearing the data is probably the best solution. Apparently it deletes preferences and offline playlists (whatever that means). I'm not sure if it affects your playlists or if you can save them online so you can retrieve them later. Otherwise make a backup of: internal storage/Android/Data/com.spotify.music/ just in case.
Rebooting the phone can also sometimes help by the way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, what are the right permissions for Spotify in app settings?

chimneytops said:
Thanks, what are the right permissions for Spotify in app settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Storage access I guess. I don't think there's explicitly an SD card permission (at least not to my knowledge).
I also wondered if you had tried formatting the SD card?

Excessive Storage Usage by the device - Shady practices ?

Hey Guys,
Did anyone else notice excessive usage of storage space. To me it almost feels like there is something shady going on here.
I have not even installed all my apps on the new one there is like 10 GB lesser space consumed on the Note 20 Ultra for apps rest of the storage space used is pretty identical on both.
There is no way that Android 10 OS is 30 GB bigger than Android 9. It seems the manufacturers are doing whatsoever they can to fill up your storage regardless of what size storage you buy.
Any thoughts ?
PS- See My note 8 (Android 9) vs Note 20 Ultra (Android 10) space usage comparison screenshot attached here.

recurring concerns year after year
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-9/help/128gb-note-9-how-storage-left-to-user-t3837054
I'm sure there is a similar thread regarding Note 10
no bother as far as I'm concerned

raul6 said:
recurring concerns year after year
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-9/help/128gb-note-9-how-storage-left-to-user-t3837054
I'm sure there is a similar thread regarding Note 10
no bother as far as I'm concerned
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not worried about out of box space i am bothered if they fill up storage with garbage just so it gets filled up with information not readable by file explorers esp when one is not rooted.

This is typical and maybe even a little less than my 10+
Get a data drive ie SD card as it helps manage your data files better and can make reloads a lot easier.
Fast 512 gb cards can be had for around $75, get a name brand one like Lexar, Samsung, etc.
I use the internal memory for apps and as a buffer zone before storing files to the SD card.
Downloads go to internal memory first. Occasionally a infected jpeg or whatnot gets downloaded. Hopefully the malware gets tagged by you there. If it makes it to another drive it's more likely to corrupt those files too.
Not foolproof but it's saved me more than once with damage being limited to only the downloads folder.
Doing it this way makes it easier to spot issues on the internal memory as it's less cluttered.

You can go into storage and see what extra is being used...I just checked mine and it was only 4.2 gbs for apps...Also could there be dead space or wasted space if you did a transfer rather than a fresh install? As user raul6 said it's always brought up and usually not a real issue...I always start with a clean install to ensure I don't carry over anything I don't need...

warriorvibhu said:
I am not worried about out of box space i am bothered if they fill up storage with garbage just so it gets filled up with information not readable by file explorers esp when one is not rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the 10+ 512 gb variant you have 466.5 gb of available space before -anything- is loaded.
Ater a hard reset the junk is gone. Reload as needed.
If you don't install a lot of apps and especially uninstall the load stays cleaner longer.
SD Maid can manage some of the hidden trash files without root.

blackhawk said:
This is typical and maybe even a little less than my 10+
Get a data drive ie SD card as it helps manage your data files better and can make reloads a lot easier.
Fast 512 gb cards can be had for around $75, get a name brand one like Lexar, Samsung, etc.
I use the internal memory for apps and as a buffer zone before storing files to the SD card.
Downloads go to internal memory first. Occasionally a infected jpeg or whatnot gets downloaded. Hopefully the malware gets tagged by you there. If it makes it to another drive it's more likely to corrupt those files too.
Not foolproof but it's saved me more than once with damage being limited to only the downloads folder.
Doing it this way makes it easier to spot issues on the internal memory as it's less cluttered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for suggestion I use a 200GB SD card for now sufficient for me. I have malwarebytes and lookout. Malwarebytes is really good at actively scanning the downloads. Thank you.
cezeff said:
You can go into storage and see what extra is being used...I just checked mine and it was only 4.2 gbs for apps...Also could there be dead space or wasted space if you did a transfer rather than a fresh install? As user raul6 said it's always brought up and usually not a real issue...I always start with a clean install to ensure I don't carry over anything I don't need...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got it. I used Samsung smartswitch but this is the last time I will use such an app coz no point all it did was brought over msgs and photos and Samsung settings. I could have done msgs manually,phitos are already on Google photos and Samsung Settings would have synced the moment I logged into Samsung account so you are right it makes more sense to start fresh as apps needs installing manually anyway.
blackhawk said:
On the 10+ 512 gb variant you have 466.5 gb of available space before -anything- is loaded.
Ater a hard reset the junk is gone. Reload as needed.
If you don't install a lot of apps and especially uninstall the load stays cleaner longer.
SD Maid can manage some of the hidden trash files without root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this add CCleaner pro or Avast Clean up pro to SD Maid. CCleaner is owned by Avast now so those two are basically the same apps with different names. I do use SD Maid pro.

Ccleaner has made a big mess on me before... I don't use it with Android.
SD Maid definitely has the potential too but has been well behaved. Running multiple cleaners may cause little nightmares...
Don't count on any virus scanners to catch everything because they won't... especially with the jpegs.
Best to keep a close eye on the Download folder and be ready to delete it if things go really south. The last one damaged some files completely and on others just changed the extension.
The ones I couldn't repair or wasn't 100% with I deleted. It wasn't able the breach folders in that folder thankfully.
Still it cost me close to 100 images and files.
Whatever it was, it died with the jpeg... however if I hadn't spotted it early and kept it relatively isolated, it could have destroyed a lot of files. A hard reload wasn't needed.

maybe samsung reserving the space for future activation of seamless update (a/b partition)? my two cents though

tribalfs said:
maybe samsung reserving the space for future activation of seamless update (a/b partition)? my two cents though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This seems likely!

warriorvibhu said:
I am not worried about out of box space i am bothered if they fill up storage with garbage just so it gets filled up with information not readable by file explorers esp when one is not rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
warriorvibhu said:
This seems likely!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It reserves 10 gb for the OS of which around 9 gb are used leaving about 1 gb of reserved space for future updates... I think.