SD Card Question

sandy2470

Member
Dec 11, 2012
1
0
Hello, I have an Acer Iconia A700 that I recently purchased. I am having some issues with the SD card. On my HTC phone I also have Android, and on there, when I click apps, I get three colums "Downloaded, SD Card, All". On the tablet, there is no "SD card" column. Also, when I go to an app that I just downloaded, there is no option that says "move to sd card". It states the SD card is mounted but when I look at the data usage, there is nothing on there. The card actually has some data on it from a different Tablet that I had (kocasco) but I'm not seeing anything. I've tried to unmount it and remount it, but I'm still having the same problem. Everything looks the same as the HTC, except for the SD problem.

Could someone please be so kind as to help me out? I've tried everything and just can't get it to show up, not sure if I'm doing something wrong, if the tablet is defective or what. I am sure the SD card is working properly and the corect type and size for the tablet.

Thanks so much in advance, I appreciate it!
 

Angus66

Senior Member
Oct 17, 2011
151
11
What version of Android is on your HTC phone? I ask because the most recent version of Android (Jelly Bean) does not allow apps to be installed on the external SD card.
You can only put and access files such as MP3's, movies, pictures, etc.

As far as not seeing data on the card (when you know there is data on it) you might try copying all the data from the card you want to save & then formatting the card.

Something else is to try another brand and/or size microSD card. Some devices - whether it is a phone or tablet - can be finicky when it comes to the SD cards they will recognize.
I personally have not had this problem with my A700 - any good, working SD card is recognized.

Lastly, the SD card could be going bad. Most all memory sold today - whether it be PC ram, USB drive or SD/microSD card is a mass-produced, commodity product with a very low profit margin.
Bad flash memory cards - whether they are genuine or counterfeit/knock-offs -are definitely out there. For as cheap as they are, you may want to pick up another card and see if it is recognized by your tablet.
 

Frederuco

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jul 6, 2011
1,980
503
Congrats on the A700.

On a lot of phones (2.3 and older) the microSD card would mount in the /mnt/sdcard/ folder (also /sdcard/). With tablets (3.X and above) a portion of the internal memory is partitioned and mounted in this location (/mnt/sdcard/). Then, the OEM of each tablet decides where to mount the real external card somewhere else. I believe Acer mounts it in /mnt/external_SD/ or something similar. Samsung mounts it in /mnt/sdcard/external/, Asus mounts it in the /Removable/ directory and Motorola has a different place (I believe theirs is mounted in the /storage/ directory but I could be mistaken).

So, you see the issue is that there is no consistent way for the Android OS to know where to look for the external storage to move apps there.

On the flip side, I have a 16 GB tablet and have not had an issue with space. I keep apps/documents on the internal memory. Music is on Google Music (cloud) and videos on a 64 GB microSD. I think I only have 3 GB of apps installed and have plenty to keep me entertained, but that is just me.
 

Douvie

Senior Member
Jun 10, 2011
1,030
71
Do not use FILE MANAGER HD with your EXTERNAL SD CARD - in fact I've had to get rid of FILE MANAGER because it has causes file corruption and data loss on the SD CARD. If you find your data missing - do not attempt to find it. Just reboot tablet from new. The data will still be there if you haven't tried to fiddle. This happened on my phone and on my tablet.

Just a warning to prevent tears.
 

Douvie

Senior Member
Jun 10, 2011
1,030
71
Hello, I have an Acer Iconia A700 that I recently purchased. I am having some issues with the SD card. On my HTC phone I also have Android, and on there, when I click apps, I get three colums "Downloaded, SD Card, All". On the tablet, there is no "SD card" column. Also, when I go to an app that I just downloaded, there is no option that says "move to sd card". It states the SD card is mounted but when I look at the data usage, there is nothing on there. The card actually has some data on it from a different Tablet that I had (kocasco) but I'm not seeing anything. I've tried to unmount it and remount it, but I'm still having the same problem. Everything looks the same as the HTC, except for the SD problem.

Could someone please be so kind as to help me out? I've tried everything and just can't get it to show up, not sure if I'm doing something wrong, if the tablet is defective or what. I am sure the SD card is working properly and the corect type and size for the tablet.

Thanks so much in advance, I appreciate it!

Are you sure you are selecting EXTERNAL SD CARD as opposed SD CARD? Maybe that is why you can't see the data. Also reboot the tablet from fresh.

I have an HTC with ICS and it doesn't allow running apps on the external SD.
 
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