Develop Bugs

How the M8 handles an SD card as internal Storage.

This is a completely 'unsexy' issue I have - but is driving me nuts, and I can't seem to find the answer anywhere else (which is causing me to doubt my own sanity).
My reason for using the internal rather than external is that whilst external works on some apps where you can explicitly point to the SD, there are enough where it doesn't (spotify), and I was hoping OS level settings would resolve my issues.
Enough preamble.
Marshmallow is supposed to handle SD cards properly, and I have two marshmallow devices with SD cards I've formatted as internal storage.
First up, my nVidia shield K1 where I understand it.
I put the SD card in, format it to the device and end up with two items displayed under settings->storage - internal and SD memory.
When I install an app it initially goes internal, but I can move it move it to SD, and when I launch it the app it can only see the storage it's been installed on.
i.e. podcast, plex, spotify I anticipate to use a chunk of space that doesn't have to be fast. So I install them, move to the SD, load the app, they report 128GB of space and happily use it.
All great. Whole kaboodle stays on the SD.
On my M8 though, it completely broken - except I can't find anybody else ripping out their hair - hence the questioning of my own sanity.
I add the SD and format as internal. I choose the apps I consider to be "high-capacity" and move them on my SD. The app installs there - just when it downloads anything, it dumps it to the internal storage still.
e.g. I've got a 20Mb podcast app I've moved to my SD. Within the app I've selected internal storage (being the only option) - but when triggering the download it's put all the MP3s on my internal storage and my phone is bleating that is has no free space and bad things are about to happen.
AFAIK the Marshmallow update to my M8 is completely broken, and the simplest thing I can do is just mount my SD externally and use hope apps requiring storage allow me to select it.
Just can't believe it's that broken and hoping somebody can point me towards how I can resolve it.

goldcd said:
AFAIK the Marshmallow update to my M8 is completely broken, and the simplest thing I can do is just mount my SD externally and use hope apps requiring storage allow me to select it.
Just can't believe it's that broken and hoping somebody can point me towards how I can resolve it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same, insanity inducing problem and hope some has found a solution since this post. I hope this reopens the tread and some one can help me out.
ThankS

Hmm was looking at getting a m8 as well but if adaptable storage is broken the phone won't be of any use to me. I hope we can find answers and solutions.

corrupt memory card (internal storaget mode) after reboot or app download

moto G5 2gb version.
I have a Toshiba U3 32gb card set as internal storage formatted in the phone. This card was previously used in my G4 and was fast and worked flawlessly as internal storage.
when I install an app manually from the play store, I get an "insufficient space" error. as per the FAQ that the error links me to, I reboot the phone but then get a message saying SD CARD MISSING REINSERT DEVICE while the card is still in the phone. I then have to reformat the card but the problem will still present itself when I try to install an app again. or just reboot the phone. the card works fine as removable storage, which is kind of useless for the internal apps.
ive read similar faults for the other G5 variants in the forum and online and couldn't find a fix unless I missed it.

Remove the sd card from the device - wait a few seconds then reinsert it (whilst the phone is on & fully booted)

Is that a permanent fix? I've tried removing and inserted a most times still recognise card.

TeamKilo said:
Is that a permanent fix? I've tried removing and inserted a most times still recognise card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You get corrupt sd card sometimes when you install new rom or wipe dalvik/art cache
Normally removing the sd card & reinserting it whilst phone is fully booted allows it to mount successfully
I use my sd card as external removable storage - I don't use as internal as I don't see the point - this phone has 16gb storage - you will never fill it with just apps - anything else you put on external
Plus you need a very high class sd card to get half decent read/write speeds if set as internal

I've not installed any roms, the phone me is completely stock (o2 network version).
I do need it as internal storage as the external storage only seems to store camera photos and not much else. Even whatsapp media is stored on the phone, but will store on the sd card if it's set as Internal Storage. the card itself is a U3 class and i know it operates faster than a class 10.
I just tried taking a photo with card set as external and the camera shuts down with an error after taking a photo. Works fine when I tell the camera to save to phone.
Going to try format the card on the pc and see what happens as it's clearly not working as an external card even tho the phone isn't flagging any issues.

update;
sd has been set as internal for the last few hours so thought id give it a reboot now, and guess what, SD CARD MISSING. i can tell something is definitely wrong. apps stored on the sd are failing to load or are loading after a really long time ie. 1min for 9gag and the QuickPic galllery app just fails to load. speed test on the sd while in the phone report 5mb read and write! on the G4 the same card was in the double figures.

TeamKilo said:
update;
sd has been set as internal for the last few hours so thought id give it a reboot now, and guess what, SD CARD MISSING. i can tell something is definitely wrong. apps stored on the sd are failing to load or are loading after a really long time ie. 1min for 9gag and the QuickPic galllery app just fails to load. speed test on the sd while in the phone report 5mb read and write! on the G4 the same card was in the double figures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many people have issues with sd card set as internal across various devices
If your phone is on stock & unmodified take the issue to Motorola
Obviously ignore them if they tell you that you need to factory reset & all that rubbish - tell them you already have
Sometimes it's just a case of a phone not liking a certain brand of sd card
There's no known fix for your issue that I'm aware of

TheFixItMan said:
Many people have issues with sd card set as internal across various devices
If your phone is on stock & unmodified take the issue to Motorola
Obviously ignore them if they tell you that you need to factory reset & all that rubbish - tell them you already have
Sometimes it's just a case of a phone not liking a certain brand of sd card
There's no known fix for your issue that I'm aware of
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ive arranged for a replacement with o2 but their stock is scarce at the moment. so will update when i get the new phone.
you could be right that its just the phone not liking this specific sdcard. tried a class4 but that was too slow to even attempt a trouble shoot lol.
new problem, YT Studio app fails to load, says Something Went Wrong. this just gets better and better. thanks for the advice.

TeamKilo said:
ive arranged for a replacement with o2 but their stock is scarce at the moment. so will update when i get the new phone.
you could be right that its just the phone not liking this specific sdcard. tried a class4 but that was too slow to even attempt a trouble shoot lol.
new problem, YT Studio app fails to load, says Something Went Wrong. this just gets better and better. thanks for the advice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tested the app on my phone & yt studio works fine
If I was to guess I would say you have a google play services issue - if Google play services was on your sd card running as internal & it isn't in your phone mounted correctly YouTube & other apps that require it will not work
You can either clear data of Google play services from the app settings menu (make sure you have set show system apps from the 3 dot menu on top right) or reinstall it - you will have to search on Google for the apk as normally it's not listed in the playstore

TheFixItMan said:
Just tested the app on my phone & yt studio works fine
If I was to guess I would say you have a google play services issue - if Google play services was on your sd card running as internal & it isn't in your phone mounted correctly YouTube & other apps that require it will not work
You can either clear data of Google play services from the app settings menu (make sure you have set show system apps from the 3 dot menu on top right) or reinstall it - you will have to search on Google for the apk as normally it's not listed in the playstore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cheers bud. ill give that a go, if that fails, ill just do a fresh install and not auto install any of the apps from my google backup.
just dug a bit deeper and found this https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Moto-G...ible-SD-Card-for-Internal-Storage/m-p/3661072
its the card im using. it baffles me how a fast card is running so slow.

Does someone try the adoptable storage since the last Nokia 6.1 update?

Hello,
Normally, in a perfect world, adoptable storage should allow to enhance memory thank to the sd card.
Anyone who tried to use the adoptable storage with the Nokia 6.1 encountered the problem of corrupt datas.
See
https://forum.xda-developers.com/nokia-6-2018/how-to/adoptable-storage-available-pie-update-t3873841
Does someone enough brave already try again to activate this adoptable storage?
Thanks you

yes, I retried it last week (with latest official patch applied).
I migrated > 10GB of data. Afterwards I checked 'DCIM' and 'Download'. All files got totally corrupted (looks like every byte different).
It seems that newly created files were not corrupted. (Was just a fast check with 2-3 pictures)
I migrated back and removed SD card. Files still corrupted. During the last test in ~2019 I figured out that the files some when magically got fixed again some time after migrating back. Hope this happens again this time...
Maybe it also just needs some time after migrating to reencrypt the files for the SD card?
Does anybody know more about the internal processes during and after migration?

Hi, I didn't try the above method, but I used adb commands to format the SD-Card as internal. It basically worked and I am able to run the apps that I migrated to the external card.
HOWEVER:
1. The external card and it's files are completely invisible to any file-system-apps. So I can't see the data.
2. Apps that require some kind of login never keep that login. If you close the app and start it again, you need to login again. This seems to indicated that the apps have been migrated, but are unable to actually use the external space to save new files.
Does anyone think that rooting the device would help?
Cheers,
Calon

my experience with adaptable storage was the same as krisha2k's. all migrated user data I had appeared to become corrupted, and most apps that I moved to the sd card either couldn't save any app data (game saves/logins) or even lost functionality (Snapchat friends list disappeared). some really old and ancient apps that I moved to adoptable storage kept their saves etc (ice cream jump, Neko atsume).
I also found that games with in-app downloads would save their download to the internal storage, as well as external when the app appeared to be stored on the external only.
most apps are broken because of newer android changes that protect external storage write access (and i think read too). I'm not an expert in that though. just speculation
in the end, I just did a factory reset and I've settled with using the sd card as portable storage and storing large files on there (4k video from camera etc).
its a shame because it was a spare 128GB card I had lying around, and I would have liked to have some bigger apps installed, but it doesn't matter too much. but I guess that's just how things are now.
i personally wouldn't recommend doing it. you have potentially everything to loose if you accidentally migrate all your internal data, and what seems to be absolutely nothing to gain.

cannot access phone internal storage (a2 lite).

hi folks,
So i chose the wrong SD card handling (the merged kind?) a while ago and after ejecting the card to set up a bigger one, I realise I now can't access the internal storage on the phone.
installed apps work fine
I can remove apps fine (but not reinstall!)
i can sideload apps fine (oddy!)
I cannot access e.g. photos with gallery apps
file browser apps cant access the internal space at all.
I cannot install anything from the play store, it just shows insuffucient space
apps like twitter crash.
whatsapp works (calls and text), but cant download photos sent, or attach photos.
There is loads of space free (14.65gb used of 32gb internal).
I also have an SD card with loads of space now set as portable storage.
I have the original SD card that was in before, but not in phone (still shows in storage manager).
Any ideas please?! Before i reset the phone and start again!
I have rooted it, but not sure what to fiddle with (the problem started before rooting).

nope? ok i guess i'll be wiping and hoping that fixes it!
moving to another phone for a while...

just to be clear, doing a full reset on the phone while rooted with magisk is ok? (unlocked bl). don't want to brick. android 10 up to date.
thanks, if anyone out there?

alright for the record and anyone else suffering this, i figured it out, and is slightly embarrassingly stupid.
if you set up the sd as combined storage, and still have the sd, put it back in and use the migrate data back to internal option which is hidden in the storage dot top right menu. voila.
then you can eject card, and still access the internal storage.
what you do if you've already wiped the old sd, i've no idea! you're maybe stuffed? hopefully wiping phone would fix it??
don't ever set your sd card as merged, use portable (i knew this, was a mistake).
so anyway, phone working again yay!

[Method] Merging SD Card with Internal Storage

This post documents a method of enabling Adoptable Storage with adb commands on sony phones where previously similar solutions seem hard to find. Please link similar methods if they exist somewhere else, I am curious to read.
Personal success on SO-02K (NTT DoCoMo XZ1c ) fw version 47.2.B.5.38 Android Pie, 128G A2 card.
The method results in a fraction of the microSD Card being recognised by the system to be able to transfer apps to, and another fraction where the sd card remains external storage.
The Stock Camera will only be able to save to the mentioned external storage partition after this process, and it will fail to save to internal storage.
Some apps may not work when transferred to the sd card and have to stay in onboard storage.
Premise
I carried out the process with a freshly flashed phone, with a minimal amount of apps present in the system. I cannot guarantee same success with an almost-full phone, although in principle it should be the same. If anyone has success on a more full system please let me and others know.
ADB Debugging should be turned on in developer options and authorization of PC given in advance; root or bl unlock not necessary.
SD Card will be WIPED in the process. For your data's safety do backup everything on your phone, both internal memory and external memory before proceeding! Don't yell at me if in the end it'll have to be restored.
Process
adb shell
sm list-disks this should return two integers such as 179,0
sm partition disk:179,0 mixed xx where the 179,0 should be your result in step 2 and xx be the amount of space reserved for /sdcard ; wait until command finishes. For the mixed xx see Miscellaneous#2 for explanation. Please also reply if you know the command to revert the changes made in this step, because I'd expect it be useful in the future and I don't know what it is.
Turn on force allow apps on external in bottom of developer settings if haven't done so.
Open camera app, click on OK until warnings go away, then set save directory in SD Card. Test if it saves successfully, if not, see Miscellaneous#1.
Reboot, then try moving some apps to your sd card! Some core function apps are not movable; that is to be expected.
Miscellaneous
If your camera won't allow you to open up settings (keeps saying cannot save), then you have run into a problem I have never seen before. If you can go into camera settings but the SD Card option is greyed out, that means either you have not reserved enough space in mixed xx or the command may have gone wrong. Or the card may not be in perfect condition for Adoptable Storage. You can unplug the sd card to see if the camera works fine after that, but I haven't tried that. If anyone knows the corresponding command to revert the changes made in Process#3, please let everyone know!
The mixed xx part allows a part of the sd card to remain.... an sd card. xx% of the space in your card will be recognised as external(portable) storage by your phone, and is readable by a PC. This portion will be the place where your future photos and videos are saved in, as the camera will fail saving to internal space. Thus you may want to use the fastest card you have and set xx based on your use patterns. The other part, the (100-xx) % of space is recognised by the phone as internal storage that it can put apps in, although some apps (especially some games) will still save assets in the phone's on board storage no matter where you move the main app.
This post is re-written from original post(chinese)

Thanks for sharing this but in my experience it does not work. I followed the guide and It looks like it worked, however now I don't understand how to move the apps away from the internal memory to exploit the new storage space provided by the SD "internal" memory... each time I try to move an app I get a "not enough memory" error message although there are about 64Gb free, no matter what app I try moving. I also noticed that deleting an app from the phone and then re-installing the app in the phone will finally install it in the SD but several apps I tried didn't work any more once re-installed in the SD storage.

indago said:
Thanks for sharing this but in my experience it does not work. I followed the guide and It looks like it worked, however now I don't understand how to move the apps away from the internal memory to exploit the new storage space provided by the SD "internal" memory... each time I try to move an app I get a "not enough memory" error message although there are about 64Gb free, no matter what app I try moving. I also noticed that deleting an app from the phone and then re-installing the app in the phone will finally install it in the SD but several apps I tried didn't work any more once re-installed in the SD storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi and Merry Christmas!
I do get system warnings saying the phone is full while it isn't; it seems that Android freaks out a little trying to gather disk usage info when the SD card is merged with internal space. However I can move most non-system-apps.
Did you move the app with the (Press&Hold App Icon)->App Info ->Storage->Change function? I found I didn't include this part in the original writing and might have been a source of confusion. Assuming it was done in App Info, could you tell me what apps don't work, and perhaps I can try on my phone. I also wonder how much storage did you allocate to each of the two partitions on the SD card.
Another potential source of error is the card itself, in some cases, the card may have bad blocks that Android doesn't correct for and cause read problems, as my SD card now begins to show. Sometimes I wake up to see my home screen devoid of apps, and I have to reinsert and restart the phone multiple times before the SD card gets recognized by the phone again.

Did you move the app with the (Press&Hold App Icon)->App Info ->Storage->Change function?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes.
Assuming it was done in App Info, could you tell me what apps don't work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all. I was not able to move any app.
I also wonder how much storage did you allocate to each of the two partitions on the SD card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
50% of 128Gb, that is 64Gb each.
Another potential source of error is the card itself
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it doesn't seem the card, since the remaining 64Gb left for external storage, that is where the camera app is saving photos and videos and some other apps save data, still works fine.

Here it is the screenshot of how Android now sees the storage configuration (android settings > storage) after I performed the procedure described above for configuring adoptable storage (writings are in Italian but I think it should be easy to understand).

indago said:
Here it is the screenshot of how Android now sees the storage configuration (android settings > storage) after I performed the procedure described above for configuring adoptable storage (writings are in Italian but I think it should be easy to understand).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mine looks the same. I don't know what to suggest. I'll look around on other forums to see if people have the same problem.
This post is re-written from original post in Chinese which in turn is adapted from a lost post on gfan.com.
It also turns out that googling sm partition would give a lot of information most dated back to android 6.

I've been looking around as well, but was able to find only people reporting failures in enabling odoptable storage on Sony devices. However, one difference between your phone and mine is fw version: mine has 47.2.A.11.228 (no brand) - don't know if this can make any real difference.
By the way, I'm wondering whether it could be possibile to install a rarely-used app in the internal memory, then "park" the app in the SD card's external memory by moving its files, then eventually move it back to internal memory only in the case you need opening that app. If it works, it could be a trick for keeping all the apps you want "freezed" in the phone, by taking the usually unused apps in the external memory, then moving one of them in the internal memory only in the rare circumstance you need using it. Then moving it back to the external memory if you think you won't use it any more for a long period. Obviously one could simply uninstall and reinstall those rarely-used apps on occurrence, but that would take more time, consume data traffic and lose the app existing data, so I think that >IF< this kind of trick could be feasible, I'd go for it.

indago said:
I've been looking around as well, but was able to find only people reporting failures in enabling odoptable storage on Sony devices. However, one difference between your phone and mine is fw version: mine has 47.2.A.11.228 (no brand) - don't know if this can make any real difference.
By the way, I'm wondering whether it could be possibile to install a rarely-used app in the internal memory, then "park" the app in the SD card's external memory by moving its files, then eventually move it back to internal memory only in the case you need opening that app. If it works, it could be a trick for keeping all the apps you want "freezed" in the phone, by taking the usually unused apps in the external memory, then moving one of them in the internal memory only in the rare circumstance you need using it. Then moving it back to the external memory if you think you won't use it any more for a long period. Obviously one could simply uninstall and reinstall those rarely-used apps on occurrence, but that would take more time, consume data traffic and lose the app existing data, so I think that >IF< this kind of trick could be feasible, I'd go for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Striking news in the new year-- my sd doesn't work now. Yesterday I checked everything worked, but now no apps installed on my sd card open. using sm list-volumes shows both internal and portable partitions on the SD are mounted, but the apps still refuse to open.
The card looks like it's corrupted, now the two partitions can't even be recognized with my card reader, I guess I'm screwed.

at my asus max m2 .... working, camera, i can move app to sd card and they still works
butttt the only thing is at settings/storage/ information; it shows numbers that dont are correct and a option "to forget sd card " ?!?!?
well i don't know.....