Develop Bugs

[Q] Swap internal and external SD

In older versions of Android the external SD would be mounted as /mnt/sdcard but now that is used for the internal memory and the external SD is now /mnt/sdcard/external_sd. This is a bit of a problem as some apps can only save to /mnt/sdcard and it quickly takes up our phone's internal memory. I have offline GPS maps and a few Gameloft games which can only save their data to /mnt/sdcard and as you can imagine free space is very limited.
What I would like is to switch this around. Basically I have a 32GB SD card that I would like to use a storage for some of my apps as it is not being fully utilized. I've searched around and it doesn't seem like there is an easy way to do this. I'm not completely sure but it seems like there are methods that might be specific to different phones which requires modifying a file in /system/etc.
Will this safely work for our phone?

check this topic
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1458153&page=3
posts 21 to 25 and 33 & 34..
For Recovery swapping has been tried..
You may get some idea..

Maybe the use of symbolic links could help, but I never tried it on an Android device.

I had read people Mapping the External under a directory for example the Games directory and therefore all games would in theory be on the External. I think this is what you mentioned as symbolic links.

How can you do that. I tryed a million things. Last time i installed literom with added swap internal memory to sd mod. And after i copy something in phone i loose the mobile signal. I guess the card is getting corrupted or something. How can i make it so the sd card wont be unmounted when i plug the phone in pc ?

Might want to consider this:
Root External 2 Internal SD
I've not used this specific one myself but I have used similar apps in the past.

I didn't use that yet.
But what i found untill now
1. Using Directory Bind wich makes a link between actual place of the files and where they should be. Example You put com.xxx.xxx in your SD card and set the progam to tell android when is looking into sdcard/android/data/com.xxx.xxx go for files in sdcard/external_sd/com.xxx.xxx
This method is good for games and files for them
2. Another thing is modifing vold.fstab and swapping the way adroid mounts those partitions. (this option is buggy somehow)

[Q] Newbie ?:Have a nice 64GB SD Card - How to use?

Another Newbie Question here.
So AT&T only provides the 16MB Note 2, so of course we add a nice juicy 64GB SD card. But it seems that the stock phone does not really use it for much (that I can tell) to store anything.
First question: On the stock ROM, what apps can be told to use the SD card as default, and how do you change the app settings?
Second Question, for the future: Assuming one Root's the Note 2, what can be safely moved to the SD and how? Or is another ROM required?
Humbly yours - thanks in advance!

Flame Red said:
Another Newbie Question here.
So AT&T only provides the 16MB Note 2, so of course we add a nice juicy 64GB SD card. But it seems that the stock phone does not really use it for much (that I can tell) to store anything.
First question: On the stock ROM, what apps can be told to use the SD card as default, and how do you change the app settings?
Second Question, for the future: Assuming one Root's the Note 2, what can be safely moved to the SD and how? Or is another ROM required?
Humbly yours - thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also have a 64gb card. I put all of my Titanium backups and Nandroids on the external SD (right now TWRP doesn't work with the exfat formatting of my card, so if I want to restore I'll have to move it from ext to int SD).
I also have Spotify set to store any offline music on the external SD. You can do this by installing an old version of Spotify, pointing it to external SD, then updating the app. A quick Google search will find this if it's something you want to do.
It's hard to tell you what to move to the external card without knowing what apps you use. You can get an app called Directory Bind that will point any internal SD location to your external SD. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1889550

SD card setup/directory optimization
Really like Android and the Note 2 so far.
Thanks for the directory bind guide link...interesting. Maybe my answer is somewhere in there, so I will take a look either way.
New to external SD use on Android as well (or any phone, that is). I have a 64GB sandisk as well, and It was pre-formatted for Android apparently with some s/w on it. Which is fine, if that is the way I should go.
Just playing around with it at first and copied a music album over, in similar format to my iTunes directory structure -I figured, why not. Perhaps there is a better way to structure my directories though? More general way for all apps to recognize? Moot point?
I assume different apps might require different directory structures...to be efficient, or to be able to work with those dirs/files. I'd rather have the most optimal structure now, before I start messing with creating more directories, etc down the road.
The general questions are, should I format this as something else? What is best to use? (Still looking into different file manager/transfer apps for now, and MAY root and keep stock ROM in the future, but acclimating myself with Android OS has been more than enough for now...I do enough Linux at work, so not in any rush )
Since I went there, I don't know if the OP's question was fully answered...so again, here's a quick (newbie) question for those who root but keep the stock ROM: can apps be moved to the SD card in that case? Or do I need to break out of stock ROM to do that?
Thanks in advance!

Wanted to report back that I tried a simple case of using Directory Bind for something non-critical as a test. Used it to remount Titaniumn Backup to the external SD. Yes, I know you can just point it there. Just wanted to test Directory Bind.
It seemed to work until I rebooted the phone. Then it lost all the binding even tough I had checked off to save it for reboot and saved the binds to a file. So just beware that if you were using Directory Bind for something critical - you might have to recover the phone! I removed the package for now.

dponte said:
Really like Android and the Note 2 so far.
Thanks for the directory bind guide link...interesting. Maybe my answer is somewhere in there, so I will take a look either way.
New to external SD use on Android as well (or any phone, that is). I have a 64GB sandisk as well, and It was pre-formatted for Android apparently with some s/w on it. Which is fine, if that is the way I should go.
Just playing around with it at first and copied a music album over, in similar format to my iTunes directory structure -I figured, why not. Perhaps there is a better way to structure my directories though? More general way for all apps to recognize? Moot point?
I assume different apps might require different directory structures...to be efficient, or to be able to work with those dirs/files. I'd rather have the most optimal structure now, before I start messing with creating more directories, etc down the road.
The general questions are, should I format this as something else? What is best to use? (Still looking into different file manager/transfer apps for now, and MAY root and keep stock ROM in the future, but acclimating myself with Android OS has been more than enough for now...I do enough Linux at work, so not in any rush )
Since I went there, I don't know if the OP's question was fully answered...so again, here's a quick (newbie) question for those who root but keep the stock ROM: can apps be moved to the SD card in that case? Or do I need to break out of stock ROM to do that?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your'e just talking about music, you can put it in any folder and any structure you'd like. The Android Media Server process scans your entire SD card for media (including music) except for folders with a ".nomedia" file in them. It will use the tags to identify the artist, song, and album, then sort them based on that information.
Flame Red said:
Wanted to report back that I tried a simple case of using Directory Bind for something non-critical as a test. Used it to remount Titaniumn Backup to the external SD. Yes, I know you can just point it there. Just wanted to test Directory Bind.
It seemed to work until I rebooted the phone. Then it lost all the binding even tough I had checked off to save it for reboot and saved the binds to a file. So just beware that if you were using Directory Bind for something critical - you might have to recover the phone! I removed the package for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bummer

don't bother moving any apps to the external sd, since you have TONS OF ROOM in your internal memory on this phone..On the original note, I had over 300 apps installed on the internal, and still had over 5 gigs of room left..
just keep your music, movies, pictures, and other space hogs on it..trust me, leaving apps alone will never be a problem when you have a phone with this much storage space!

wase4711 said:
don't bother moving any apps to the external sd, since you have TONS OF ROOM in your internal memory on this phone..On the original note, I had over 300 apps installed on the internal, and still had over 5 gigs of room left..
just keep your music, movies, pictures, and other space hogs on it..trust me, leaving apps alone will never be a problem when you have a phone with this much storage space!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
11GB is a lot (available to start with on the ATT model) if you use the external for media (and app cache) and leave the internal for apps mainly...agreed.
Most apps are small in size...however, one app like NOVA3 is 2GB and that is a big bite of your 11GB available, so that is a little concerning
I haven't had the device or android long enough to know, but, are app databases and cache allowed to reside on the external card --in lue of the ability to move apps to the SD being taken away since Jelly Bean (was it at that update)? Can someone point to a good thread on the reason and discussion about that? Thanks.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1994046
App2SD change external to internal.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium
You can make your external your main storage device by using this root technique. But some people don't advise it saying it slows down your processing on apps.

wase4711 said:
don't bother moving any apps to the external sd, since you have TONS OF ROOM in your internal memory on this phone..On the original note, I had over 300 apps installed on the internal, and still had over 5 gigs of room left..
just keep your music, movies, pictures, and other space hogs on it..trust me, leaving apps alone will never be a problem when you have a phone with this much storage space!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note II is a Unified Storage device. It has 11gb available for both user content (pictures, movie, music etc) and apps. I lost 2gb of space moving from my S2 to the N2.
S2 is not a Unified storage device, so it has 11gb of storage available for user content and a separate Apps partition of 2gb.

memory storage..

if ill flash a rom from this forum or any other rom for my note 2 ill have the option to move apps to sd card?.. if not there is any way to moves apps or data to extarnal memory card? my phone memory is almost fully used..
plz help what should i do??
ty for helpers.
sorry for my bad english

any body help?... i cant install games any more.. there is a solution for this apps 2 sd problem?..

Just search for directorybind in xda it changes path from internal to sd but u need to setup it yourself.
or just download gl to sd from play store. both requires root.

desirer said:
Just search for directorybind in xda it changes path from internal to sd but u need to setup it yourself.
or just download gl to sd from play store. both requires root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wtf?... gl to sd is a 141kb app and i have 550mb of storage left and its says : not enough storage ... how can it be possible?.. and i have rooted phone..
and can you please give me a link to a :directorybind manuel? beacuse i dont know where to find it.

There is no way to move installed apps (installed .apks) to internal memory except one, and that is to use a mod that makes your phone thinks that sd card is your internal memory and internal memory is your sd card. This way, the phone automatically installs apps to your sd card, because it thinks of it as internal storage.
If you don't like the above option (and I personally don't), then search for Directory Bind. It can't move .apks installed to external but it can basically mount anything on your sd card to your internal. This means that it can be really useful especially for big games (like need for speed) that have up to 2gb stored in your internal memory. Just make sure to download the latest version, which is 0.2.0o. If you learn how to use it, you won't have any shotage in storage issues.

MohJee said:
There is no way to move installed apps (installed .apks) to internal memory except one, and that is to use a mod that makes your phone thinks that sd card is your internal memory and internal memory is your sd card. This way, the phone automatically installs apps to your sd card, because it thinks of it as internal storage.
If you don't like the above option (and I personally don't), then search for Directory Bind. It can't move .apks installed to external but it can basically mount anything on your sd card to your internal. This means that it can be really useful especially for big games (like need for speed) that have up to 2gb stored in your internal memory. Just make sure to download the latest version, which is 0.2.0o. If you learn how to use it, you won't have any shotage in storage issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
where can i find this diractory bind?... and there is any menuel which can teach me how to use it right and not like a moron ? ( what i guess will happend if i dont know how to use it right..) ty for help you got thanks

dokvader114 said:
where can i find this diractory bind?... and there is any menuel which can teach me how to use it right and not like a moron ? ( what i guess will happend if i dont know how to use it right..) ty for help you got thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1410262 This requires root
FIrst thing you need to do after installing is go to preferences and change the "Default data path" for the Note 2 path:
Default data path for note 2 should be: /storage/extSdCard
Default target path for note 2 should be: /sdcard/
Tick the Bind on boot box to make the program automatically bind the paths once you boot. Also makes sure that "Persistent Service" is ticked.
Then leave settings and go to Add New Entry. Put the entry you want moved from internal to external.
For example i moved my need for speed game data (1.8gb) to enternal by using this entry
Data path: /storage/extSdCard/Android/data/com.ea.games.nfs13_na/
Target Path: /sdcard/Android/data/come.ea.games.nfs13_na/
Tick the "Transfer files from target to data" and then click "Add".
After that the app basically moved my data from target path to data path and mounted it (it fools the phone into thinking that data is still in your internal storage, that's how it works). After you finish doing all the entries you want, click menu >>More >> Backup database. Read the topic above to learn more.

MohJee said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1410262 This requires root
FIrst thing you need to do after installing is go to preferences and change the "Default data path" for the Note 2 path:
Default data path for note 2 should be: /storage/extSdCard
Default target path for note 2 should be: /sdcard/
Tick the Bind on boot box to make the program automatically bind the paths once you boot. Also makes sure that "Persistent Service" is ticked.
Then leave settings and go to Add New Entry. Put the entry you want moved from internal to external.
For example i moved my need for speed game data (1.8gb) to enternal by using this entry
Data path: /storage/extSdCard/Android/data/com.ea.games.nfs13_na/
Target Path: /sdcard/Android/data/come.ea.games.nfs13_na/
Tick the "Transfer files from target to data" and then click "Add".
After that the app basically moved my data from target path to data path and mounted it (it fools the phone into thinking that data is still in your internal storage, that's how it works). After you finish doing all the entries you want, click menu >>More >> Backup database. Read the topic above to learn more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can do what you did on your need for speed folder on all "android" folder? ( which include obb and data) if so it will give me like 5 GB back so i can use.. and 1 more question i see there are 4 downloads there.. which should i download?
ty again for all your help

dokvader114 said:
i can do what you did on your need for speed folder on all "android" folder? ( which include obb and data) if so it will give me like 5 GB back so i can use.. and 1 more question i see there are 4 downloads there.. which should i download?
ty again for all your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it should work. I don't see why it wouldn't. You should download 0.2.0o, which is the latest version.

well.. its time to try it .. just before i do . you think its neccessery to backup all my apps with titanium backup ?ty for help..

Like I said, the app doesn't move apps or manipulate them in any way. It can only move folders found in internal storage and mounts them to make the phone think they are still there.

wtf?? i have 1.6 gb avilable and it says :cant install directory bind delete number of apps first and try again

please help why cant i install this app?

Go to data/app. Delete the .odex file
Accidentally sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2

melvinchng said:
Go to data/app. Delete the .odex file
Accidentally sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cant find it..would you like to explain more?..

Install Apps to SD Card

I recently filled up my internal storage and have put a new 64gb sd card in my TAB S. Now I have figured out how to move apps already installed on my device to the SD Card through the app manager. Is there a way to install apps right off the bat to the SD card or do I have to first install them to my device and then move them over?

I have the same question-
But i m not able to move app also, do we have a fix?
Few gb's game lead to no storage space available - how to fix this guys.

Root, install SDfix for R/W permission and FolderMount or Link2SD to transfer files, data etc to the SD card.

It's kind of convoluted. I read you could use adb to set default location to external sd. Sounds great except it doesn't work. I'm using folder mount right now. It's a bit tedious because you install your app on internal first, then move any large obb to external. I tried link2sd but had trouble with partitioning the card. I'll give it a shot some other time.
I don't know why you just can't like sym link /sdcard0 to /sdcard1 and be done with it.

barth2 said:
I don't know why you just can't like sym link /sdcard0 to /sdcard1 and be done with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me too! Can anyone make a flashable zip for us?
Sent from my Galaxy Tab S 8.4 using XDA mobile app

I had the same issue before., Rooted the device and install custom ROM which did not solve the issue as I wanted. Installed the Kalikazoo above and another KitKat External app from the Play Store and then I was able to use the Apps2SD for most of my apps. After using these, I was able to use the External SD as I had planned. My big issue was Apps Backup & Restore which is my backup to Titanium Backup if any of the ones I want fail. Since all of these take a lot of space the external SD is a MUST. I have it am I am a happy camper because of it. Shame on Samsung for limiting our use of that external slot right out of the box.

[Q] tab 3 (T210) - playstore to ExtSHoping someone can help

hoping someone can help. I have a tab 3 T210 running 4.4.2. Its rooted. I wanted to know if theres a way to set apps/games downloaded from playstore direct to ext sd card. Internal memory is small and fills up. I have a 32gb ext sd card and want to use it. already used folder mount to improve it. But hope a way to download direct to ext sd to save more space

1. Wrong category.
2. Nope there isnt a way. The best way is FolderMount really.

Folder mount is great for storing the files on yr extSdcard and able to save space, ive used it for years..
Try Apps2Sd or
Links2sd
I think these are what your looking for

Moved to correct board