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How to get around the SD card path using the volume serial number

P

peterh337

Android Enthusiast
This is all over the internet...

With android v6, all file paths use the volume S/N e.g.

storage/3367-44fd/DCIM/etcetc

where 3367-44fd is the volume S/N of the SD card.

If you change the SD card, all the config is lost. If like most people you kept your pics and movies on it, you have to reconfig your viewer. And reconfig everything else that references the SD card. A few apps auto-detect it...

One solution is to hack the volume S/N of the new card to match the old one. But there doesn't seem to be a utility for doing this for EXFAT cards. All the utilities are for FAT16 and FAT32. There is a way to format FAT32 cards over 32GB - there is an obscure windows app - but it is a bad hack because FAT32 has a 4GB file size limit. If anyone has a utility for EXFAT that would be great. But even Cyanogenmod users don't have a solution, looking at forums.

One solution I found was to format the cards in a piece of consumer electronics which always writes the same volume S/N. I found the Sony FDR-1000V action cam formats to EXFAT and writes 0000-0000 :) I have used it for 64GB and 128GB cards. I don't think 200GB cards work in it however.

Maybe a Go-Pro does the same?

Is there some other solution e.g. backing up and restoring with Trueimage?
 
Wow talk about over complicating things? Are you an engineer per chance?

Isn't it easier just to reconfigure your viewer(s)/apps ?

That's what i did when i swapped cards and it took about 5mins.
 
How about if you have 50 apps on the SD card and tons of other data?

Most apps cannot be reconfigured. They have to be reinstalled. Some may no longer be in the appstore!

Not everyone uses their phone for trivia.

Anyway, I wasn't seriously expecting a useful reply here. I posted it so it comes up on google and helps somebody looking for a solution.
 
I don't use it for trivia, i'm a developer, i have hundreds of apps, not had a single issue with any of them that access the SD card to be honest, just a case of re-pointing them. I guess if you are using sh1tty apps then it would become an issue. Especially if they are also no longer supported in the app store.
 
"i'm a developer, i have hundreds of apps, not had a single issue with any of them that access the SD card to be honest"

As a developer, how do you auto detect the SD card? Do you look for a file path which matches the xxxx-xxxx pattern? That's what most seem to do, but once they save the path into their config, if they are started with *that* SD card missing, they can't cope with it.
 
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