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Hi,
I've done a search and haven't been able to find anything solid on this so I apologize if it's been covered. I've been using the Atrix for a few days now and I noticed that when I view click on the "Files" app (the default file viewer that comes with the Atrix) it comes up with a list of the following options:
Internal phone storage
SD card
Shared folders
Protected Content
This is different than previous Android phones I've used in that I get a file structure instead of options of where to look. That's fine; I can just click on one of those options to view the contents. However, I use a application at work to use my phone as a glorified picture frame. It's called Slideshow Bob and it does not recognize the external SD Card. This hasn't been an issue with prior Android devices, but from little I can glean from doing an online search, this does seem to be a limitation with some Motorola models. Again, I have had no problem accessing my pictures in Slideshow Bob from any of the Samsung Android devices I own and this is my first Motorola phone with this OS so I'm wondering if this is a bug that will be remedied or if they've basically limited file access from apps on this phone. I'm sure that's not the case with every app, but it certainly is for some. Anyone else have any issues or workarounds they'd like to share?
iirc, none of the currently released Samsung Android devices have built-in storage plus an expansion slot, which is why you've likely never seen the issue.
Basically, Android was never designed to have more than one expansion slot, so that ends up being mounted in /mnt/sdcard (or /sdcard, with one symlinked to the other). Since there's no standard on where additional storage ends up being (and most programs assume there's no additional storage anyways), programs usually don't know where to look.
There is probably an option is Slideshow Bob of where to get the pictures, try /mnt/sdcard-ext/[folder name], where [folder name] is the name of the folder on the external sd card where the pictures are.
Sogarth said:
iirc, none of the currently released Samsung Android devices have built-in storage plus an expansion slot, which is why you've likely never seen the issue.
Basically, Android was never designed to have more than one expansion slot, so that ends up being mounted in /mnt/sdcard (or /sdcard, with one symlinked to the other). Since there's no standard on where additional storage ends up being (and most programs assume there's no additional storage anyways), programs usually don't know where to look.
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Click to collapse
Hi,
My Samsung Captivate had 16GB of built-in memory and an SD expansion card slot which I filled with an additional 16GB card. In the android file manager I could access the expansion card by going into the ext_sd (or something like that) under the main sdcard directory. I could also see this folder in Slideshow Bob.
harolds said:
There is probably an option is Slideshow Bob of where to get the pictures, try /mnt/sdcard-ext/[folder name], where [folder name] is the name of the folder on the external sd card where the pictures are.
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Click to collapse
Hi,
There is no such option. There is an option for the default folder, but it's a text field you have to type in, not a directory structure. I tried typing in the path to the external sd card, /sdcard-ext/MEDIA, directly (which ASTRO file manager shows exists), but the app says the directory does not exist. I really think Motorola is doing something to limit what apps can and cannot access for whatever reason. This has never been an issue with my Samsung Captivate or Galaxy Tab.
I think this actually has to do with the external sd card being mounted separate from the internal. In my previous devices the external card was seen as a directory on the internal sd card. With the Atrix it is an entirely separate item and some apps may not be able to access it as a result of having that different mounting. I don't have any other apps with which I need to navigate to a directory (other than various file managers) so I can't test how endemic this is. I imagine it might be an issue for apps that rely on a folder structure for data access such as music apps that are folder based instead of reading from what's in the media library.
I just tried another slideshow app. It is a problem, I think, with Slideshow Bob. It can't see any folders not on the internal sd card. In my Samsung devices the external card was viewed as a folder on the internal card and was, therefore, not a problem.
Apps having directory navigation problems on the Motorola Atrix
Kenny, I have the same problem with the PowerAmp app. My phone is also rooted and I have root explorer which shows me the music files exist. I can even play one file at a time with the power amp from explorer. But I get the same issue when I try to navigate to the music using poweramp. One more possibility is that the Atrix is running Android 2.2.1. Perhaps there is an issue with the upgrade. (I thing this "upgrade" is a disappointment compared to 2.2. I'd rather try Gingerbread.) AT&T has a 30 buyers remorse period and I've only had the Atrix for a week. I love the phone and I would hate to take it back but wtf? I'm just like the rest of you, I just want the damn thing to work!
p.s. My wife's Samsung Captivate never had this issue either.
Update: I found this issue in the Poweramp forum and I also spoke to an at&t support specialist and they verified what was said earlier about the problem is in the difference between the Atrix file system versus the Captivate. The Captivate mounts the external sd card as a folder inside the internal sd card while the Atrix has it mounted separately. The Poweramp administrators promise a fix in a week so I'm glad they are aware of the problem. This seems like an easy bug to fix. I will snoop around the market to see if an app can "trick" the Atrix file system to put the external sd in an internal sd folder. If anyone is aware of such an app, let us know.
The Atrix is promised the Gingerbread upgrade later this year. It has a new file system (ext4) which promises to be faster for phones like our Atrix or the Nexus. As I said, it seem an easy problem to fix, I'm sure this problem will be a thing of the past by then, I'm going to keep my Atrix and wait.
Kenny, you might want to check your app's web site to see if they have a fix in the making.
The Atrix being my first android phone im still learning things every day and I have had similar issues with the sd card and storage partitions. while checking out different files and what not I stumbled upon this default.prop file which contains the following..
#
# ADDITIONAL_DEFAULT_PROPERTIES
#
ro.secure=1
ro.allow.mock.location=0
ro.debuggable=0
persist.service.adb.enable=0
EXTERNAL_STORAGE_MOUNT=/mnt/sdcard
I was wondering if any one with more android experience is familiar with creating and editing prop files for certain activities could confirm if we switch the last line to sdcard-ext if this would now read or set our external sd card to be the sd card that the system and most apps read and write to. I haven't tested it myself but being familiar with different registry edits in winmo and windows im thinking this will work.. anyone agree or have some information they can share?
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
I just switched from the iPhone 4S 64 GB AT&T to the Note 3 32GB AT&T and put in a Sandisc extreme 64GB microSDXC.
I had problems with the iPhone freezing and crashing. Doing a factory reset, a lot of my programs disappeared from iTunes. It was getting to be really annoying.
On the Note 3 I love the screen (size and resolution) and many other things. Asphalt 8 and RealRacing 3 look and play great.
While I had to call AT&T to block my outgoing Caller ID, I could do that from the Note 3.
There is no sales tax on purchases from Google Play store in Texas, while Apple always charged me 7-7.5% (I know because there is no "retail presence" of the Google Play store in TX).
Bad annoyance: I did, for as many programs as I could, the "Move to SD Card" and now I have ugly default android gray icons with SD in the right lower corner. How do I get the original icons back without transferring back to "device memory".
I am trying to upload music files to the SD card.
When I use Samsung Kies 3, will it upload the files to the SD (did not see an option for that anywhere). If it does not install it to the SD card: where are those files uploaded and how do I transfer the files over to SD and how do I play the files/playlists? Is there a way to directly transfer the files from the computer to the phone bypassing Kies. How and where do I upload books (pdf and other formats)?
Anyone know if there will be a combination extended battery/wireless charging case in the future?
My 14 days return time frame is not over, but they would have to "pry it from my cold dead hands".
The way I would do it is to just take the SD card out of the phone, stick it in the computer, copy and paste. The music player should find the songs automatically. As for the icon thing with the "move apps to SD card".... I don't know about that one. I haven't seen any reason yet to do that.
Welcome to Android, where you can use any file explorer on any OS to copy any file you want to any location on your phone.
You don't need to use Kies for media. Just use the phone and SD like you would any usb storage. In the music app you can then either select the specific folder, or let it scan the entire device.
Also no need to convert files, it plays pretty much anything. (and if the stock player won't, another will. For video I suggest Diceplayer from the start.)
Kies is for backup and sync, everything else you can do the good oldfashioned way. Most of us have never even installed Kies.
Send From My Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9005 Using Tapatalk
sgunes said:
I just switched from the iPhone 4S 64 GB AT&T to the Note 3 32GB AT&T and put in a Sandisc extreme 64GB microSDXC.
I had problems with the iPhone freezing and crashing. Doing a factory reset, a lot of my programs disappeared from iTunes. It was getting to be really annoying.
On the Note 3 I love the screen (size and resolution) and many other things. Asphalt 8 and RealRacing 3 look and play great.
While I had to call AT&T to block my outgoing Caller ID, I could do that from the Note 3.
There is no sales tax on purchases from Google Play store in Texas, while Apple always charged me 7-7.5% (I know because there is no "retail presence" of the Google Play store in TX).
Bad annoyance: I did, for as many programs as I could, the "Move to SD Card" and now I have ugly default android gray icons with SD in the right lower corner. How do I get the original icons back without transferring back to "device memory".
I am trying to upload music files to the SD card.
When I use Samsung Kies 3, will it upload the files to the SD (did not see an option for that anywhere). If it does not install it to the SD card: where are those files uploaded and how do I transfer the files over to SD and how do I play the files/playlists? Is there a way to directly transfer the files from the computer to the phone bypassing Kies. How and where do I upload books (pdf and other formats)?
Anyone know if there will be a combination extended battery/wireless charging case in the future?
My 14 days return time frame is not over, but they would have to "pry it from my cold dead hands".
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Click to collapse
OK first you need to release the mindset of itunes for everything as in with Kies. DONT USE KIES lol
Just plug in your note 3, open up the folder you want, it will say phone or card
Drag the files you want. If thats not cool with you, there is an app called iSync that can copy your iTunes playlist over to your phone.
Also I think you should leave your Apps on the phone memory and not on the SD. Use the SD for media and your internal for apps and such. This way if you need to replace the sd or whatever you will be good.
Historically Google removed that option from android because it causes issues like for example the corrupted icons you've experienced. Samsung only added it back in with the 16 gb s4 because the system rom got so big it left users with less than 9 gb available space.
As the poster above said chuck all your media files on the external card. The 25 gb you will have initially available internally is more than enough for all of your apps unless you install a dozen or more high end games. Likely you'll only ever play a few at a time and then remove them when you get bored, at least I do.
Sent from my SM-N9005
Thanks for all the tips. I will try it tonight.
Welcome to Android, enjoy the coming months of playing around and finding out what you've been missing out on! I was an apple user until the Galaxy S2, since then I've never looked back! One little warning though, customisation becomes addictive... Flashing Roms, kernels, rooted apps/services.
Xda has some amazing devs contributing and as always they are happy to help a friendly fellow androider.
Back on topic though, I wouldn't even bother moving your apps the SD card? 32GB is loads of internal storage! Even tho we only see 25(ish)of that, below is my games folder and I have 8GB of internal memory left! But if I feel like freeing up space I'll simply use Es file Explorer and copy the game files from Android /data to my SD card (if rooted, use titanium backup app to backup the apk of the game) and swap back in at a later date if I wanted to play again
Hope this helps :thumbup:
Sent from my SM-N9005 using xda app-developers app
jetbruceli said:
OK first you need to release the mindset of itunes for everything as in with Kies. DONT USE KIES lol
Just plug in your note 3, open up the folder you want, it will say phone or card
Drag the files you want. If thats not cool with you, there is an app called iSync that can copy your iTunes playlist over to your phone.
Also I think you should leave your Apps on the phone memory and not on the SD. Use the SD for media and your internal for apps and such. This way if you need to replace the sd or whatever you will be good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw iSyncr in the app store for $3.99 but there were a lot of 1 star ratings.
I will do the direct copy via Windows.
My note 3 has been quite laggy over the last month or so. A bit of googling, and I found a post saying that removing the SD card will help with wake lag. My wake lag has never been a big issue, it's mostly switching between apps and loading things on chrome.
Any idea why removing the SD card would fix the lag? Should I buy a new SD card?
It's a class 10 32gb lexar SD card if that matters, it's over a year old and has been through a few different phones.
Sounds like nonsense! While opening stuffs from SD card might take some time in comparison with opening something from phone's memory itself, but that shouldn't matter when the card is not in use. You can still just use the phone without the card to see whether there is any difference or not.
ithehappy said:
Sounds like nonsense! While opening stuffs from SD card might take some time in comparison with opening something from phone's memory itself, but that shouldn't matter when the card is not in use. You can still just use the phone without the card to see whether there is any difference or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know it sounds odd, but it seems to be true. I have the s pen set to open an action memo when I remove the pen. It went from 5s to almost instant.
And if you search on google, you'll see a number of threads about wake lag and removing the sd card improved it.
Hmm, don't know what to make of it. Probably Samsung is right by claiming external cards do make a phone run slower! I don't have one installed anyway.
What app are you using to set Action memo on S Pen remove? Note buddy?
ithehappy said:
Hmm, don't know what to make of it. Probably Samsung is right by claiming external cards do make a phone run slower! I don't have one installed anyway.
What app are you using to set Action memo on S Pen remove? Note buddy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's in the s pen settings, under detachment options. No 3rd party app needed.
The SDcard doesn't make the phone slower. Mediascanner/Indexingservice does. There is a very simple solution to this problem. (And it's not removing the MicroSD. Although that works too.)
Just pop a .nomedia file into every folder you dont need for the system. (like a folder with magazines. You don't need to see those in a gallery app, you can just open them from a file explorer. Ditto for documents, films, navigational files, etc.)
The .nomedia file excludes the folder from the index service. You can find one to copy in the Android directory.
The nomedia files also apply to subdirectories, so any folders within the folder containing the nomedia file are also excluded, no need to place one in those.
(Don't exclude the folder containing your alarm or ringtone!)
And can people please start remembering that MicroSD's are meant for MEDIA, not apps? You're not supposed to run programs from a portable harddrive on a desktop, either...
I ran out of storage for new apps a long time ago. My device is kind of useless for new things because there is no internal memory for INSTALLING APPS, even after removing 75% of my apps which includes system apps. There is just no more space. It still has 2gb of internal memory left BUT THAT CANNOT BE USED FOR INSTALLING APPS, stupidly. There are 8GB of total internal storage space.
I have plenty of storage for data. Just not for apps. I have a 32GB SD card as well.
App2SD apps, I maximized all possible data to be moved.
Apps with data larger than 20MB I just deleted the whole apps.
Still no more space.
Additionally, it means I CANNOT use this tablet for things like games, or for storing map data from gopilot live as a backup in case my phone dies. Which is VERY limiting. Especially because I used to like to play games on it but I had to remove all the games to make way for utilities.
Thus I DESPERATELY NEED to be able to install UNLIMITED NUMBER OF APPS using the SD card for internal storage.
I tried the vold.fstab method HERE, but it did not work.
PLEASE HELP!!! THANK YOU!!!
p.s. I WOULD BUY A NEW TABLET WITH MORE MEMORY BUT NO 7.0 INCH TABLET EXISTS THAT IS BETTER THAN THE TAB 4 BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL MAKING HUGE 8.0 and 8.4 INCH TABLETS THAT ARE TOO BIG SO I AM STUCK WITH THE TAB 4.
zxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzx said:
I ran out of storage for new apps a long time ago. My device is kind of useless for new things because there is no internal memory for INSTALLING APPS, even after removing 75% of my apps which includes system apps. There is just no more space. It still has 2gb of internal memory left BUT THAT CANNOT BE USED FOR INSTALLING APPS, stupidly. There are 8GB of total internal storage space.
I have plenty of storage for data. Just not for apps. I have a 32GB SD card as well.
App2SD apps, I maximized all possible data to be moved.
Apps with data larger than 20MB I just deleted the whole apps.
Still no more space.
Additionally, it means I CANNOT use this tablet for things like games, or for storing map data from gopilot live as a backup in case my phone dies. Which is VERY limiting. Especially because I used to like to play games on it but I had to remove all the games to make way for utilities.
Thus I DESPERATELY NEED to be able to install UNLIMITED NUMBER OF APPS using the SD card for internal storage.
I tried the vold.fstab method HERE, but it did not work.
PLEASE HELP!!! THANK YOU!!!
p.s. I WOULD BUY A NEW TABLET WITH MORE MEMORY BUT NO 7.0 INCH TABLET EXISTS THAT IS BETTER THAN THE TAB 4 BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL MAKING HUGE 8.0 and 8.4 INCH TABLETS THAT ARE TOO BIG SO I AM STUCK WITH THE TAB 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'd say you just need test different apps all over and over akd different methods from XDA, i have on my phone sdcard as internal memory but same method wont work on tab 4..... you should use folder mount to move appdata to sdcard and use it from there, it helps if you have big app data on internal sd card.
thelous said:
i'd say you just need test different apps all over and over akd different methods from XDA, i have on my phone sdcard as internal memory but same method wont work on tab 4..... you should use folder mount to move appdata to sdcard and use it from there, it helps if you have big app data on internal sd card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I tried that already. It does Not work because of the error "this has been limited due to kitkat so you're not authorized" or something to that extent. It's not an error, it is a limitation of the kitkat (and all subsequent) operating systems. Google did that on purpose to try to force people to have to upgrade their phone.
zxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzx said:
No I tried that already. It does Not work because of the error "this has been limited due to kitkat so you're not authorized" or something to that extent. It's not an error, it is a limitation of the kitkat (and all subsequent) operating systems. Google did that on purpose to try to force people to have to upgrade their phone.
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Click to collapse
well, you could install cyanogenmod to fix issue.....
bump
zxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzx said:
Extreme measures is NOT a solution. That's like saying, "I'm having an issue with my computer..." and someone saying, "well, you could always get a new computer." NO. Not a solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cyanogenmod isn't an extreme solution, it runs better than touchwiz IMO and it takes up significantly less memory, which is a fact. It's more like saying, "I don't like Windows," and the reply being, "You should try out Ubuntu," especially since both cyanogenmod, like Ubuntu, is completely free
bump
zxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzx said:
Reinstalling my entire OS is not a solution. Get over it. I am not reinstalling a new OS.
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Click to collapse
With a quote like that you are on the wrong website my friend. Sorry for trying to help. And it is a valid solution since it would've solved the problem
Bump
Waiting for a real solution to the actual problem.
uh if youre not ready to install different rom i guess theres no solution
I'm having the exact same dilemma. In my case, not going to CM (or another rom/firmware/kernel..) is due to the fact that my children use the tablets, so the KidsMode needs to work. I've looked at that one from Zoodles, and its rubbish compared to the Samsung one available on their Galaxy devices. My original post never had any reply other than my own update.
By the way: I'm still searching for a solution to this... If only Samsung would/could release Marshmallow on this tablet, the Adoptable Storage option could be used...
Now, if you can just hold your breath...
lol I know right...?
Full disclosure: I've given up hope of finding a solution that will work with (essentially) stock 4.4.2, so now I'm looking into how to get the TouchWiz framework to run on a rom/kernel that DOES support support an external/internal swap.
Of course, that does nothing to help the OP, but IMO the best solution has already been presented to him: Install a custom ROM that supports what he needs. It's still the best solution since there don't seem to be any TouchWiz-dependent apps he needs.
Years later still no solution
zxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzx said:
Years later still no solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are willing to root your device you can use Apps2sd to actually move(link) whole app into sd card.
You'll need to repartition your sd card to do it, but there are good guides to do it.
EDIT:
Oh it's renamed app2sd but here is the link https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.co.pricealert.apps2sd&hl=fi for it
you can also try link2sd app
keikari said:
If you are willing to root your device you can use Apps2sd to actually move(link) whole app into sd card.
You'll need to repartition your sd card to do it, but there are good guides to do it.
EDIT:
Oh it's renamed app2sd but here is the link https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.co.pricealert.apps2sd&hl=fi for it
you can also try link2sd app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's very limited and actually doesn't do anything more than the native android system does already, ever since about 2013 or so
zxzxzxzxzxzxzxzxzx said:
That's very limited and actually doesn't do anything more than the native android system does already, ever since about 2013 or so
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know about how limited it is, but it's completly different than native android moving apps to sd. Linking is like actually increasing your devices internal memory(not really but somethign like that). Also it's easiest/(propably)best way to get more memory for apps.
Basically when i use ES file explorer i have roughly 4gb of apps , system file, and other stuff but its showing an additional 14gb or so used. Is this a common problem? I didnt see anyone else ask about it and googled for an answer and found nothing. Im hoping its not damaged storage and a simple fix. Was planning on giving the new rom a spin as soon as enough folks were running it to know a baseline on fuctionality and common issues as i miss having a clean rom with root.
Isn't that the storage used by the OS?
jkcarp94 said:
Isn't that the storage used by the OS?
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Click to collapse
I believe that is 8.68gb atleast on my phone and is accounted for. I dont have much in the way of apps and push most of my files, music, vids, pics and such to my external.