SD Card?

I've got this 8GB Kingston microSDHC card I figured I drop into my Tab 2. Thing is: Looking around: There's already /sdcard - which appears to be a symlink to /mnt/sdcard? And there's a bunch of stuff in there. So if I want to put an SD card in, do I not need to first copy that stuff to it? It'll overlay what's already there, right?

Secondly: Do you just plug these things in and take 'em out with the device running?

Thanks,
Jim

 

Android devices com with a built-in sdcard. If you have an external micro sd installed , you will see /mnt/sdcard and /mnt/sdcard2 or/mnt/extsd. If you have the ext micro sd installed, this method will work. If not, just plug it in. No need to copy anything.

This works with the system running, Unmount the micro sd in system settings, storage. Once it is unmounted, remove and replace. The new micro sd should be recognized and mount itself.

 

Hmmm... I don't know as that's necessarily correct for all Android devices. I know the Vizio VTAB1008 works that way. That was a big complaint on the part of many of its users.

My HTC Sensation 4G certainly does not work that way. When I upgraded the 8GB SD card to a 16GB one: The 8GB card I removed (after powering the device down) had everything on it, near as I could tell, that I'd seen with ES File Explorer on the handset under /sdcard or /mnt/sdcard. Using a USB card reader I cloned everything from the 8GB card to the 16GB card and put the latter one in the handset. Not wishing to tempt fate, I did not try firing-up the handset sans SD card .

There was, and still is, no /mnt/sdcard2 or/mnt/extsd on my handset.

Jim

 

Your point is correct. The "split internal method" is what my coby 7042 uses. But checking this lenovo a2109 (I've only had a short while) there is internal storage and sdcard (external). Both tabs however follow the unmount from system settings/storage method without reboot. Never had to copy any files from one external to another. Both run and reboot without the external micro sd. Your mileage may vary.

 

If I look at the tablet's storage manager (settings), it has only "mount sdcard" currently. So it's not treating the space currently shown as "sdcard" as a mounted filesystem.

Jim

 

Wow. Nobody around here has the definitive answer to this? Kind of surprising.

Jim

 

The sdcard you are seeing is the internal sdcard. Once you install the removable card (I would turn off the device before installing, but you probably don't have to) you will see a second sdcard in storage. Extsdcard or sdcard2. No need to copy anything to it. If you want to remove it you must unmount it through settings or turn off the device.

Since you dont have a removable sdcard installed now all your apps have been using the internal card for storage by default. Once the removable card is installed you will start seeing the option to store data on extsdcard or sdcard2. You cant move of run apps from that external card though. Just store data.

Just checked my Galaxy tab 2 10.1 running 4.2.2
In the settings menu the removable card is labled "sdcard"
In file explorer it is called "extsdcard"

I know on other devices lve had it has been called sdcard2.

Not sure if you are getting the answer you are looking for.

 

I knew that. What I did not know is what would happen when I inserted an actual SD card.

I'm a *nix guy, so I understand hard links, symlinks, mount points and so-on. On a Linux system (or any *nix system) I can create a directory, put stuff in it, then mount a device to that directory, and, lo and behold, everything in that directory will be "buried" by what's on the thing that was mounted using that directory as what's called a "mount point." The stuff that was "buried" is still there, you just cannot see it anymore. (This is a concept entirely foreign to MS-Win users, as MS-Win has no comparable mechanism.)

It would appear that it will be "extSdCard". I've just spent a bunch of time searching on this topic, incl. some very long threads on xda developers.

Yes. And storage isn't "low," yet, but I've only about half the original storage left. The card's available, so why not use it, I guess.

That's all I want.

It looks like the big long, angst-infused threads about making the external SD card appear as /sdcard and /mnt/sdcard are mostly about stashing apps on the (external) SD card. I don't care about that.

Between your answer and what I just found on my own: Yes. Thanks! (Thanks to tpaine, too.)

I wonder if I'll be able to move stuff there that's already been stashed in /sdcard? Guess I'll find out

IMO the only one to get this right, of Vizio, Samsung and HTC, was HTC. /sdcard is the flippin' SD card. Period. It would've been nice if Google would've found a way to impose some kind of conventions/standards on the manufacturers using its OS. I like Android well enough, but this kind of thing is goofy, IMO.

Jim

 

Google doesn't use external sd cards!

 

On most devices I've used the trigger point is the amount of on board storage. 4gb or les and there is no on board sdcard. So the removable card is in fact "sdcard" so apps can be moved c and run there. Once you start seeing 8gb or more on board memory it is partitioned so "sdcard" is just a partition of internal storage.

You are right about the focus on this being generally about moving apps to sd. I've come to the conclusion that a device should have 4gb or less on board or at least 16 or you start running out of space for apps.

 

Yes, I know. I don't have a big problem with that, but they also tend not to have removable/replaceable batteries, either, which is a show-stopper for me

Jim

 

Will you clarify that comment tpaine? What do you mean "google doesnt use external sdcards"?

 

I presumed he was referring to Nexus Android devices. I believe they don't (usually) have SD card slots.

Jim

 

Ah, I see. This is in a Samsung Galaxy tab 2 10.1 forum though. I figured he has one of those. They do have a removable sdcard slot.

 

I expect he was responding to my "Google enforcing some standards" in the context of (removable) SD cards.

Jim