improper naming of "sdcard" and "removable" causing apps to store to internal memory?

[TinCanFury]

I noticed something funny the other day about the Asus implementation of the 4.x series. It calls the internal memory "sdcard", which most/all applications assume is the external removable storage. As such, NONE of my apps look to be using the SD card.

I assume others have noticed this, and so I'm wondering what the "work around" is?

thanks!

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[frenziedfemale]

If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, you will see a section called similar threads. The sdcard/removable storage issue has been around since Honeycomb. There is no real solution. Some people have been able to do some voodoo magic on rooted Android devices and get apps to run off the removable storage but it is not something for the average user to accomplish easily, and rooting of course, voids your warrantee.

[TinCanFury]

If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, you will see a section called similar threads.

ah, great forum feature! I was definitely not using the proper search terms to get those hits...

The sdcard/removable storage issue has been around since Honeycomb. There is no real solution. Some people have been able to do some voodoo magic on rooted Android devices and get apps to run off the removable storage but it is not something for the average user to accomplish easily, and rooting of course, voids your warrantee.

good to know, sucks for the the media apps that don't let you define the storage location and assume that sdcard means removable storage.

thanks!!

[MikeS]

Actually, I think it's an Android thing rather than something Asus dreamed up - the internal storage in my Motorola Defy Mini is also labelled as /mnt/sdcard.

It would be a somewhat "brave and innovative" step for a manufacturer to roll out their own version of the core directory structure - assuming they're even even allowed to under the terms of the Android license.

[TinCanFury]

Actually, I think it's an Android thing rather than something Asus dreamed up - the internal storage in my Motorola Defy Mini is also labelled as /mnt/sdcard.

It would be a somewhat "brave and innovative" step for a manufacturer to roll out their own version of the core directory structure - assuming they're even even allowed to under the terms of the Android license.

interesting.
I wonder if it's based on how the memory is configured in hardware and it automatically decides what to call it?
I know my CM9 Droid X the root is the root and the external card is at /mnt/sdcard

I wonder if, at least in the 4.x series, this reflects Google's opinion that they would rather not have any external storage devices in the Android universe, or whatever their excuse is for the Nexus devices not having SD cards...

[Frederuco]

interesting.
I wonder if it's based on how the memory is configured in hardware and it automatically decides what to call it?
I know my CM9 Droid X the root is the root and the external card is at /mnt/sdcard

I wonder if, at least in the 4.x series, this reflects Google's opinion that they would rather not have any external storage devices in the Android universe, or whatever their excuse is for the Nexus devices not having SD cards...

It is software that tells it where to mount the card.

I am running a CM10/Paranoid Android Hybrid and the microSD mounts at /storage/sdcard1/.

Also, I know that Acer mounts theirs at /mnt/external_SD/. Samsung I believe is mounted in /mnt/sdcard/External/ and Motorola mounts it somewhere different.

Google needs to set a standard on where external is mounted so that all devices should be the same and allow app devs to work with this.

[leeshor]

I can't begin to tell you how many variations there are between the various brands of Android tablets in the naming convention, not only of the internal but of the external storage. It would appear not to be an Android issue and certainly isn't an ASUS specific issue.

It is, (only in part), one of the reasons you can't move apps to external storage on a tablet, they are all called by different names.

imo this was a big mistake on the standards front on Google's part.

[zAlbee]

It's by design. xda-developers - View Single Post - Xoom storage, why MTP instead of USB file system, true APP2SD (from Google developer)

From Honeycomb, Google wants user data (/sdcard) and apps to share the same partition, meaning you can use the 16GB internal memory however you like: e.g. 15GB apps/1GB media, or 1GB apps/15GB media. To do this, they both have to be part of internal memory. Otherwise, manufacturers would need to choose between giving you a small internal memory (e.g. 500 MB) and risk running out of space to install apps, or large internal memory (8 GB), but realize that 99% of it will be wasted because it can't be used for media file or data storage, only for apps. The Honeycomb way is a big improvement in my opinion.

The only confusing part is the name - it's still "/sdcard" to be backwards-compatible with all existing apps. Just think of it as user data instead. Well-written apps can detect all partitions anyway.

[TinCanFury]

Well-written apps can detect all partitions anyway.

and that's the crux, it's the poorly written software that is a pain, and that is usually the apps you most want to be able to properly use the removable storage!...

thanks for that information!!

[mastermesh]

I can confirm as noted in another thread that zoom fx camera app can use sd card to save pics if you set up manual save to spot in the settings. It won't save the video there though since video is done through main camera app that asus preinstalled. However, for snapshots it works fine. so far, this is the only app I've seen that saves there if you set it up. Would be nice if there was a list of which apps can save to sd card if you set it up like this app does...