Saving In MicroSD

[manekineko]

Hi everyone and to our devs. i want to ask how to save in the MicroSD, especially the apps. I'm running out of internal memory. I just want to clear out from our devs if I need to edit volt.fstab or edit the permissions in platform.xml so that I can install/save using the MicroSD.

thank you so much!

 

[leeshor]

Generally speaking, without a whole lot of trouble, tablets cannon save apps to SD cards and it was not designed to do that. You may consider using the cloud, Google Drive or DropBox to move some "stuff"

 

[manekineko]

thank you for that one, leeshor.

if i move the apps or whatever to the MicroSD, are they still readable for the device?

 

[leeshor]

thank you for that one, leeshor.

if i move the apps or whatever to the MicroSD, are they still readable for the device?

There's the rub. Without rooting and some serious modifying of the Android OS you can't move them anyway. The primarey reasons are because the SD card is not standard on tablets where it is on most phones, and the naming convention changes from tablet to tablet. If I COULD move them I wouldn't.

 

[manekineko]

I see...though my device is rooted and I have ClockworkMod installed in it, I thought MicroSD in tablets are plug-and-play just like in mobile phones. The internal memory is way too small and that's sad...

 

[Traveller]

WARNING: Editing vold.fstab only works on Coby tablets with an Allwinner CPU. Attempting this modification on tablets running a VI Micro or Telechips CPU will brick the tablet!

Make sure you have a nandroid backup stored somewhere before you do this. You have to edit both platform.xml and vold.fstab.

Edit platform.xml and change the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE section so it looks like this. If platform.xml isn't edited you won't be able to write to the MicroSD card using an app. Then edit vold.fstab to change the mount points so that /mnt/extsd refers to the internal memory and /mnt/sdcard refers to the MicroSD card.

Reboot the tablet.

 

[manekineko]

thanks for that, traveller!

i already editted the platform.xml like you showed. but how am i going to change volt.fstab..? i tried to interchange the /mnt/sdcard/ and /mnt/extsd/ but after i reboot, they just went back to the same position. what commands will i input there?

 

[Traveller]

WARNING: Editing vold.fstab only works on Coby tablets with an Allwinner CPU. Attempting this modification on tablets running a VI Micro or Telechips CPU will brick the tablet!

It's edited with a text editor on your PC, like notepad++. I believe all you have to do to change the mount points is to change the names; however I'm not 100% sure because changing the mount points is something I have NOT done on my 9742.

Below is a sample. I believe this is all that needs be done, but as I said, I've not tried it myself so make absolutely sure you have a nandroid backup or system dump before doing this.

# Mounts the first usable partition of the specified device
#/devices/platform/awsmc.3/mmc_host for sdio
dev_mount    sdcard    /mnt/sdcard    auto    /devices/platform/sunxi-mmc.1/mmc_host    /devices/platform/sunxi-mmc.0/mmc_host
dev_mount    extsd    /mnt/extsd    auto    /devices/virtual/block/nandi
dev_mount    usbhost1    /mnt/usbhost1    auto    /devices/platform/sw-ehci.1    /devices/platform/sw_hcd_host0    /devices/platform/sw-ehci.2

 

[manekineko]

OMG thank you so much for this info, traveller! I ACTUALLY DID IT!!!!


I tried to install a game application, just to make sure that it will save in the MicroSD this time, and it did! I'm so happy about this!

WARNING: Editing vold.fstab only works on Coby tablets with an Allwinner CPU. Attempting this modification on tablets running a VI Micro or Telechips CPU will brick the tablet!

For anyone who wants to have a fully integrated access to MicroSD, here's what I did:

1. I MADE A NANDROID BACK-UP using ClockworkMod. Seriously, if you don't want to struggle restoring your system after every single failed tweak you do in your device, make a back-up. Also, make sure your device is rooted.

2. To get started, I downloaded Notepad++ on my PC at this link. This will be used to edit the mount points in vold.fstab.

3. then, I edited the platform.xml file in system/etc/permissions like this, (just like Traveller1701 said) then save.

4. So since I already have the program (Notepad++) on my PC, I copied the vold.fstab in my MicroSD using root explorer but during this step, I needed to physically unmount the MicroSD out of the device and use a card reader instead. Because when I directly plugged the USB (with vold.fstab in MicroSD), my PC did not recognize the device.

5. I edited vold.fstab (refer to the code above) and saved. I did NOT change the permissions.

6. Mount the MicroSD back to the device.

7. I moved the vold.fstab to system/etc. Overwrite and save.

8. Lastly, I rebooted my device.


So again, MAKE A BACK-UP of your system before you try to do this!!! This worked in my device and I'm hoping this will work on yours too.
Thanks to Traveller!

 

[Traveller]

It's all YOUR fault! Because of you I'm actually thinking of changing my mount points.

I'm glad it's working. Just one thing though; you might want to edit your post and mention downloading notepad++ before editing platform.xml, as regular notepad will screw up the formatting of the file. Also, did you change the permissions on vold.fstab after copying? If so, you might want to mention that as well.

 

[tpaine]

Good job guys. Gotta try this !

 

[manekineko]

It's all YOUR fault! Because of you I'm actually thinking of changing my mount points.

I'm glad it's working. Just one thing though; you might want to edit your post and mention downloading notepad++ before editing platform.xml, as regular notepad will screw up the formatting of the file. Also, did you change the permissions on vold.fstab after copying? If so, you might want to mention that as well.

haha! Go ahead and try it! I'm sure you can do it on your tab. This is a big achievement for me.

btw, I already edited my post. I was away so I didn't have the time earlier.

 

[somone]

Hello and Thank you! I love this forum all the information has helped me make my tablet even better…
I used Note++ and Root Explorer to change system>etc>void.fstab


Factory:
#External nand storage
Dev mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard auto/devices/virual/block/ndda
#External SD Card
Dev mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard auto/devices/platform/tcc-sdhc


Edited
#External nand storage
Dev mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard auto/devices/platform/tcc-sdhc
#External SD Card
Dev mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard auto/devices/virual/block/ndda


It worked... No lag in apps, all worked, I could move apps to storage card and back to tablet.
However there are some glitches.
1. No camera..Says need to insert sd card.
2. I can install apps from Market but sometimes it gives an out of memory message eventhough I have penty of memory.I reboot and all works again.


I did not change the platform.xml and this could be the problem...


<permission name="android permission.WRITE EXTERNAL STORAGE">
group gid=sdcard rw" />
<permission name="WRITE MEDIA STORAGE">.
group gid=media rw" />








Please let me know if you have any suggestions

 

[Traveller]

Definitely edit platform.xml. However, be aware that your device uses a Telechips processor while manekineko's device does not. The processor difference may be sufficient to prevent this from working on your device. In that case, revert the edits to restore your tablet's camera.

 

[somone]

Traveller, Thanks for your help as you said this might be a processor problem...I edited the platform.xml but ended up with the same glitches...
I reverted to my backups but feel a little disappointed because the tablet is able to handle most of memory swamp very well!


This was my edited version
<permission name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" >
<group gid="sdcard_rw" />
<group gid="media_rw" />
</permission>
<permission name="WRITE MEDIA STORAGE">.
<group gid=media rw" />
</permission>


This is my orginal version
<permission name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE">
<group gid=sdcard rw" />
</permission>
<permission name="WRITE MEDIA STORAGE">.
<group gid=media rw" />
</permission>