What happens to internal SD when you insert an external SD card?
Why does it disappear?
When I go into 'My Files' after I've inserted an external SD card, I can now see the files on my SD card, but my internal SD is now missing!
Mysteriously though, when I remove my external SD card, my internal SD files become visible again in 'My Files' !!!
Yes, both internal and external SD are mounted in Settings.
TIA
in File Manager app
/sdcard/ = internal SD
/sdcard/sd/ = external SD
AllGamer said:
in File Manager app
/sdcard/ = internal SD
/sdcard/sd/ = external SD
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Click to collapse
Maybe our phones are a little different?
When I don't have my external SD in the phone and I go into 'My Files'
I see at the top /sdcard/
and below that I see:
albumbthumbs
bluetooth
DCIM
Android
SD (internal)
When I have my external SD in the phone and I go into 'My Files'
I see at the top /sdcard/
and below that I see:
albumbthumbs
bluetooth
DCIM
Android
SD folder with a white symbol (indicating external SD card)
what if you navigate to /sdcard/sd/
what does it shows?
AllGamer said:
what if you navigate to /sdcard/sd/
what does it shows?
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It shows all of the folders on my SD external card (nothing at all about internal SD card).
not sure what's the cause of the problem, but that is one weird bug indeed.
So when you go to /sdcard/ without an external SD card you find all the files on your internal SD card (albumbthumbs, bluetooth, DCIM, etc.)
And when you go to /sdcard/sd/ with an external SD card you find all the files on your external SD card? I don't see a problem.
You said without the external card you see "SD (internal)" in My Files, does it actually say internal or are you assuming? That should actually be external.
ShezUK said:
So when you go to /sdcard/ without an external SD card you find all the files on your internal SD card (albumbthumbs, bluetooth, DCIM, etc.)
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Well let's first make an important distinction here.
There appears to be an internal SD card section that is *separate* from another part of the phone's memory.
So *without* the external card in the phone I have the following at /sdcard/
-bluetooth
-albumthumbs
-sd (internal) (with a bunch of test files that I placed here)
-DCIM
-Android
You seem to be lumping all of the files that are not on the external SD card as 'sd internal'. This is not the case!
Now, when I place the external SD card back in the phone and go back to /sdcard/, this is what I see:
-bluetooth
-albumthumbs
-DCIM
-Android
-sd (white marker external, with all of its subfolders and files)
And when you go to /sdcard/sd/ with an external SD card you find all the files on your external SD card? I don't see a problem.
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Correct. See above, there is a problem. My SD internal is now gone (with the test files that I placed there).
You said without the external card you see "SD (internal)" in My Files, does it actually say internal or are you assuming? That should actually be external.
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Click to collapse
It simply says 'sd'. I know for a fact that it is 'sd internal' because of the test files that I placed there, and because there is no little white icon next to the sd folder.
When I tap on this sd icon I see the test files and I don't see any of my 'SD external' folders/files.
i was always under the impression that the the place where the
-bluetooth
-albumthumbs
-DCIM
-Android
folders IS the internal SD card and the SD card folder shown in there is the external?
I'm assuming i've been incorrect all this time then?
makamiso said:
i was always under the impression that the the place where the
-bluetooth
-albumthumbs
-DCIM
-Android
folders IS the internal SD card and the SD card folder shown in there is the external?
I'm assuming i've been incorrect all this time then?
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Click to collapse
Yes by all indications you have been incorrect.
Let's put it this way. If someone paid an Android OS programmer to develop the most confusing way to set up the SD/file system on this phone, they couldn't have come up with something more complicated than what we have.
I just tried out some new experiments, but before I get into them, I notice in your example above you have left out the 'sd folder' under /sdcard/. Is this because you can't see it listed with the other folders listed above?
How big is your internal memory and is your internal SD card mounted?
Here's my latest experiments:
I went into settings/sd card and phone storage/ and Unmounted my External sd card.
Then I went into 'My Files' and this was the list under /sdcard/
-00001.vcf (a backup of my phone contacts)
/bluetooth
/albumthumbs
/sd (in here are some of my test files)
/DCIM
/Android
I couldn't see my external SD card because I unmounted it, but I COULD see my internal /sd folder now (mentioned above).
Next I went back to settings/sd card and phone storage/ and Unmounted my Internal SD card. It's Interesting to note that the message on the front notification panel said "Internal SD card safe to remove; The internal SD card can now be safely removed" !!!! Yeah right!
Next we go into My Files and it says "Your phone does not have a SD card inserted. So even though I believe the internal SD section is separate from the other phone storage memory (DCIM, Android etc.) they are still tied together so that when you Unmount the 'internal SD card' you are unmounting both of them at the same time.
Next I went back to settings/sd card and phone storage/ and Mounted my External sd card and left my Internal SD unmounted.
But before I could do that I had to physically remove the SD card from the phone and re-insert it! The phone will not allow you to Mount the external SD card unless you pull it from the machine (unlike the internal SD card).
Or should I say I tried to Mount my external SD card. Get this!!!
After I removed and then re-inserted the card and went back to the home screen there was a message on the front notification panel that said "Can not mount External SD card; Mount point absent or incorrect. Please unplug USB".
!!! Holy cow. USB! I haven't been able to get my USB to connect to my computer. What's the deal now??? There is nothing plugged into the USB!!!
Back to "My Files'. "Your phone does not have a SD card inserted" Yeah right.
Back to settings, sd card and phone storage/ and Mounted my internal SD card.
Guess what happened on this same screen when I mounted my internal SD?
Yes the Internal SD card said mounted, but what about the External SD card?
It was now mounted too!!!
OK back to 'My Files'. What do you predict will show? I know what I'm betting on.
You guessed it. Back to square one. Only the External SD card and its files are showing:
/albumthumbs
-00001.vcf (another backup of my phone contacts)
/bluetooth
/DCIM
/Android
/sd (with WHITE icon, and all of my subfolders and files inside)
Now you go figure this one out!
The folders layout on sgs makes PERFECT sense. Before the sgs there was no other phone that had built in storage of 8-16gigs so a external card would be named /sd card/ and apps where written to expect that folder if they ever needed to access external cards. Now along comes sgs with its built in mem, rather screw up all the apps out already they was smart enough just to do a soft folder link from /dev/whateverhardware/ to /sd card/sd/ and save everyone trouble. So if you dont have a card inside probe you are actualy viewing a folder called sd but when system sees the external card the folder turns into the ext card and links it while the original sd folder goes hiding. Your basic linux file handling knowledge would have told you. Simple
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ickyboo said:
... Now along comes sgs with its built in mem, rather screw up all the apps out already they was smart enough just to do a soft folder link from /dev/whateverhardware/ to /sd card/sd/ and save everyone trouble. So if you dont have a card inside probe you are actualy viewing a folder called sd but when system sees the external card the folder turns into the ext card and links it while the original sd folder goes hiding. Your basic linux file handling knowledge would have told you. Simple
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You obviously have a lot more experience with this OS than I do and I think you are pretty close to on the money. There's just one or two things I still don't understand though.
For fun and to see if I could get to the heart of this, I re-named the sd folder (when I didn't have my external Sd card inserted) to 'sd-internal'.
And soon after that (not immediately), and new folder popped up on its own, called 'sd'. Interesting.
Then later when I re-inserted my external sd card, I could now (for the first time) see the sd-internal folder (with my test files inside) BUT.... the new 'sd' folder was again hidden!
So I still don't quite understand what's happening.
Also, when you go into Phone/SD card storage you see the sizes of internal SD, external SD and phone memory. For me it's approx. internal-6G, external-8G, phone-2G.
So please, besides explaining why the SD internal comes and goes, can you explain what is considered 'internal SD' (the 6G of space) and where this storage space is? Is it ANDROID + DCIM + other + SD, or is it just 'SD' or ???
TIA
well when you're doing an update.zip, people say put it on the root of your internal sd card. Which is the screen you go into when going into astro or my files. I mean that whole directory is called /sdcard, that IS your internal SD card.
I have no damn idea what the SD folder is before you put an actual external sd card in as that folder then has that little white sd card icon on it indicating that its the external card. I believe the folder beforehand is just a placeholder or something similar. Basically when you want to put stuff on your internal, you put it in your main folder where stuff like the "Download" folder and alike is. At least thats what i do.
makamiso said:
well when you're doing an update.zip, people say put it on the root of your internal sd card. Which is the screen you go into when going into astro or my files. I mean that whole directory is called /sdcard, that IS your internal SD card.
I have no damn idea what the SD folder is before you put an actual external sd card in as that folder then has that little white sd card icon on it indicating that its the external card. I believe the folder beforehand is just a placeholder or something similar. Basically when you want to put stuff on your internal, you put it in your main folder where stuff like the "Download" folder and alike is. At least thats what i do.
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Makamiso I believe you've got it!
After much deliberation I believe we have solved the Internal SD card puzzle/mystery.
Here's how I see it.
As you said, that SD folder that you see inside the /sdcard/ is simply a placeholder, nothing more (actually it is a little more).
That was my mistake!
When I first saw it, I thought IT was the entire Internal SD card.
So when I had some files that I wanted to transfer to the phone that's the place I logically thought I should place them in!
It ALLOWED me to place files inside it! Therefore it's not simply a placeholder.
And when I inserted my external SD card into the phone, the 'SD' placeholder folder turned into the external SD folder (the only difference was the white icon next to it).
BUT, the files that I had placed into the 'placeholder' SD folder were gone!
Couldn't access them.
Later I renamed the 'sd' folder to sd-internal (I know it's a bad choice of name now) and when I did this a new sd folder was created automatically (the new placeholder).
NOW when I had my external SD card inserted, I could access the files in the 'sd-internal' folder.
So to summarize;
-the /sdcard/ IS the Internal SD card.
-the sd folder is a dummy/placeholder folder used simply to confuse users like us.
-when you insert an external sd card, the sd folder becomes a real folder (and has a white icon next to it).
-DON'T be tricked like me and place any files inside the SD folder (when you don't have an external card in the phone!!!)
*This last paragraph should become a sticky for new users!
I really have no idea how to fix this.
I have the EXACT problem.
Guys,
Just added a new sd card (2gb) on my SGS. Post adding the card on file manager external_sd is the 1gb card now but my internal nand memory and all the files which were in it have disappeared. I know removing the 2gb card will get me back my nand contents and also make external_sd as the 16gb memory. Question here is, is it not possible to have both the 2gb and the 16gb memory blocks and it's contents at my disposal from the phone itself?? Just like it is available when the phone is connected to the computer??
bump to the top!!
So, where is my external sd card in folder structure? I have these folders, in the list showing when connected by USB and looking at the root level (shows as E:\ on my computer):
external_sd
sd (shows as a 'hidden' file/folder)
Is one of these actually the external sd card mount point (4GB)? And how do you see what is the remaining space on the card while in this view--not looking at it on the phone?
external_sd is the external card.
Which rom are you running?
My external card shows up as another drive when I connect via USB and click on Mass Storage on the phone and mount it. It is not a folder, but a physical drive with its own drive letter.
sd was used in 2.1
external_sd was used from 2.2 up
they are linked shortcuts that work within the android system, but dont work when unmounted to windows as the external sd will show up as another drive.
TRusselo said:
sd was used in 2.1
external_sd was used from 2.2 up
they are linked shortcuts that work within the android system, but dont work when unmounted to windows as the external sd will show up as another drive.
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Very informative. Thanks.
Hello,
i have a problem with my EXTERNAL sd card on usb storage mode.
When i try to copy somes files on it, windows XP say me there's not available space, and it wrote that's the maximum capacity is about 5 Go ( size of the INTERNAL sd card) instead of the real capacity (16 Go).
Please help me.
PS: excuses my english
PS2:i'd try to search in forum but any solution found.
PS3: I have found the solution in explorer of windows, i've got 2 news storages (internal and external) then i can use each one.
BUT if you try to access on external SD card by the _ExternalSD directory on internal SD windows keep the maximum size of this last.
I'm new on android, and i think that's i have some problems with this file system (mount etc..)
I just got a new revo yesterday, and while poking around I noticed that the 12 Gb of internal memory is mounted as an sd card, while the actual sd card is mounted as a sub dir called _ExternalSD. Has anyone else noticed this?
Yep, you have 16gb internal and 16gb external
Yeah, but the point is that the internal memory is not being mounted as internal, it's being mounted as an sd card (with the actual sd card being a sub directory). I can see several problems with this, mostly with trying to transfer data. Or if you had a 32 GB card that you wanted to use for whatever instead, unless you can specify where a program stores stuff, it's going to store data on the "SD Card", which in this case is not the removable sd card. I guess if you want to transfer stuff you just have to remember to move it all the the "_ExternalSD" sub directory first, or you are going to plug your card in somewere else and wonder why there's nothing on it...
Not sure about your phone but mine saves to the real sd card. things i want on my internal memory, things i want saved on my sd card go to external sd card.