Can't Move Apps to SD card on SuperSonic SC-75B

[AndroidVegas]

o SuperSonic SC-75JB (inexpensive 7" All Winner A-10 CPU. Android 4.1.1--Yes, the version susceptible to Heartbleed!).
-- 512mb RAM
-- 4gb internal storage
-- Microsd slot into which I have placed a 16gb card, which the system recognizes.
-- Micro-USB port. It is possible, using an adapter, to connect a thumb drive, which the system recognizes and will allow user to play various videos without difficulty.

o Looking at "Settings/Storage," I see:
--"Internal Storage . . . Total space 0.98gb . . . Apps 700mb . . . Available 187mb"
--"Internal Storage [again] . . . Total space 1.52gb . . . Apps 442mb . . . Audio 180kb . . . Available 22.70 mb [The math of that doesn't work, does it?!] . . . Erase SD card . . "
--"EXTSD . . . Total space 14.9GB . . . Available 14.89GB . . . Unmount SD Card"
--"USBHOST1" [which shows capacity if a thumb drive is mounted]

o In "File Manager":
-- "Internal Storage": Only folder shown is "sdcard." All other Android operating files are inside that folder. I'm surprised by that folder name, unless the tablet simply uses an sdcard as its internal storage device. I'd have to crack the case to determine that, which I'd prefer to avoid, but am not 100% opposed to doing so.
-- "External Sdcard": Shows the installed 16gb microsd card with one directory "extsd" with one file (which I sideloaded) and the empty LOST.DIR directory Android creates.
-- USBHOST1 icon [nothing attached, so nothing shown]

o Quirks (or so it seems to be to me):

--When trying to move apps to the installed microsd card, the option often available for apps so designed, the system seems to move them only to the 2d "internal storage" category and never to the actual microsd card.
-- With NO apps shown as being on the external/inserted microsd card, if I unmount the card, many of the apps need to be reinstalled, the ones I tried unsuccessfully to move to the microsd card, but seem to end up in the "2d" internal storage.
-- The same thing happens if I mount/unmount the USBHOST1 thumb drive: Same apps need to be reinstalled, yet they were *never* part of the "move to SD card" process; i.e., the USBHOST1 thumb drive was not installed.
-- Those "reinstalls" don't seem to require a full reinstall, because previous settings are often preserved and restored, even though the tablet can't find the app after the unmounting of either storage option.

o My experience of "moving apps to SD card" has been limited to an EVO 4g smartphone (Android 2.3), so maybe I'm just seeing normal behavior for a tablet using a later Android version? Doesn't seem plausible, though, especially in light of the "math problem" I cited.

 

[leeshor]

Welcome to the forum,

I would have to say, based on the copious amount of information you provided, that you have no other options. 4.1.1 is far from the "current" Android version but may be for your tablet. In other words, what you have experienced is normal. You have portioned internal memory and that format is rarely used in newer devices but when you see that it usually means that the only way to move anything is to the other partition, not to external anything.

 

[Spider]

Hi AndroidVegas, congratulations on your SuperSonic tablet and welcome to the forum. Glad you decided to join us here at Android Tablets.

Most likely due to space constraints, the internal memory is in the form of an MSD. The chips we're used to dealing with in PCs and laptops just wouldn't fit. Most of the later Android systems require the apps to install and reside in that storage, so what you're seeing is "normal behavior for a tablet using a later Android version". The numbers often don't seem to match up because of directories, system code etc. not always accounted for properly.

An external Micro SD Card (MSD) AKA TF Card (16GB in your case) is and always was intended as space to store your media files. Books, pictures, videos, movies, music files etc. are what you should be putting there. If you need more internal space, you can delete some of the apps you don't use on a regular basis and install them again when needed.

 

[leeshor]

That too ^^^^^^^