How are things stored on the SD card accessible? What does it take to locate and use them? I am asking this partly because photos has gone fruit loops and claims to be getting them, but it's lying. I had to redelere Firefox and am now just using the Focus version. Maybe I should just sit on the sidewalk with a tin cup until enough passing strangers generously donate enough for a new phone, harhar.
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Sd or bust
- Thread starter Rgarner
- Start date
That's going to depend on what you mean by "SD card" and what version of Android you are running. The /sdcard partition on most current Android phones is actually internal memory and not a removable memory card. The physical SD card (if you have one) is probably mounted at /sdcard/external or some such nonsense, again, depending on the manufacturer of the phone/firmware.
If you do have a physical card and are running android 6 or later with a phone that supports adoptable storage, then the card may be encrypted, which means it can only be read in the phone.
Most times to access user files, you plug in the USB cable to a PC and then turn on MTP mode (Media Transfer Protocol) which lets you see the files.
It helps if you can play an accordion and have a monkey.
A card reader is simply a device that you can physically place the micro sd card into, then insert it into your computer to read the sd card contents.
You can get one anywhere, but here is a sample:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006T9B6R2/ref=psdc_516872_t1_B0046TJG1U
Sorry, it does not come with a monkey, nor bananas
A card reader is a small USB device. Plug it into a computer, put the microSD card into the slot (or do those in the other order) and you can read the card on the computer like a flash drive. You can get them from any electronics store, or retailers like Amazon. They are not expensive, just make sure it is microSD rather than sd (much larger) - phones take micro, but we tend to be sloppy and just say sd.
Have you tried just looking with a file browser on the phone?
Have you tried just looking with a file browser on the phone?
Are microsd SD and flash drive all the same thing just in different "packages"? Is a file browser the same thing as a file manager? Do phones automatically have that, and if they don't what's a good free one that's really light? I'm sorry to ask all these questions but at least I'm learning.
Questions are the way we learn. Answers are the way we find out who the lunatics are. 'nuf said. 
SD cards, Micro SD cards, XD cards, flash drives, etc. are just memory with some circuitry that permits it to be used as storage in a device, be it a USB port or a memory slot. They all work pretty much the same way (from a user standpoint).
Every Android phone I've ever had comes with a file browser (or explorer -- same thing) usually called just "Files" or "My Files". There are other file browser apps with more features, but in the beginning it's best to keep it simple unless there's a specific task to need that the stock browser doesn't have.
SD cards, Micro SD cards, XD cards, flash drives, etc. are just memory with some circuitry that permits it to be used as storage in a device, be it a USB port or a memory slot. They all work pretty much the same way (from a user standpoint).
Every Android phone I've ever had comes with a file browser (or explorer -- same thing) usually called just "Files" or "My Files". There are other file browser apps with more features, but in the beginning it's best to keep it simple unless there's a specific task to need that the stock browser doesn't have.
You're asking me about "normal"? 
Man, you do have a problem.
If you're talking about "default" that I can help with. Unless you've specified otherwise, your photos that you take with your camera will be kept in a folder on your sd card partition called /DCIM/camera. Anything you save to your phone will either prompt you for a location or go to "downloads". Photos sync'ed online will usually not be saved to your phone unless a.) you took the photo in the first place with your phone, or b.) you view it in full resolution (and even then, it will only be on your phone temporarily unless you tell it otherwise.)
I would recommend sync'ing at least your camera photos to the cloud (aka Google photos) limiting it to wifi only so you don't burn through mobile data. Then you'll have a reasonable backup should something happen to the phone.
I can get bananas wholesale, if you don't ask where they came from.
Man, you do have a problem. If you're talking about "default" that I can help with.
Unless you've specified otherwise, your photos that you take with your camera will be kept in a folder on your sd card partition called /DCIM/camera. Anything you save to your phone will either prompt you for a location or go to "downloads". Photos sync'ed online will usually not be saved to your phone unless a.) you took the photo in the first place with your phone, or b.) you view it in full resolution (and even then, it will only be on your phone temporarily unless you tell it otherwise.)I would recommend sync'ing at least your camera photos to the cloud (aka Google photos) limiting it to wifi only so you don't burn through mobile data. Then you'll have a reasonable backup should something happen to the phone.
I can get bananas wholesale, if you don't ask where they came from.
What app are you using for photos?
I can point you to threads going back years with thousands of posts that would likely make your monkey's head explode, so I won't do that. Let me give you the reader's digest condensed version. Android is based on the Linux kernel. It is not Windows. It is not iOS. Freeing memory does not make it run better. Freeing memory makes it run WORSE. Think of it this way. You have a 1/2 ton pickup and you need to move a ton of manure (Hey, i shovel so much of it here, i have to get it from somewhere, right? ) Logic says, you move it in two trips, maxing out the capacity of the truck. Microsoft says .... Oh no, if you break it into 4 loads you can drive the truck faster and get better mileage (but it's still twice as many trips, right?) Apple says you 'could do it, but why not just buy a bigger truck?
Oh boy ... this one's and oldie, but a goodie.
I can point you to threads going back years with thousands of posts that would likely make your monkey's head explode, so I won't do that. Let me give you the reader's digest condensed version. Android is based on the Linux kernel. It is not Windows. It is not iOS. Freeing memory does not make it run better. Freeing memory makes it run WORSE. Think of it this way. You have a 1/2 ton pickup and you need to move a ton of manure (Hey, i shovel so much of it here, i have to get it from somewhere, right?
) Logic says, you move it in two trips, maxing out the capacity of the truck. Microsoft says .... Oh no, if you break it into 4 loads you can drive the truck faster and get better mileage (but it's still twice as many trips, right?) Apple says you 'could do it, but why not just buy a bigger truck?
Just so I'm clear, you open the camera app to take a picture. You see the image, tap the button to take the picture and it says saving and then crashes with no picture saved?
Or, you open the gallery app to look at the photos you already have, but when you try to view it, that's when the gallery app crashes?
In the first scenario i'd try to go to menu>settings>apps and finding the camera app. Tap on that and clear the data and cache for the app and then reboot the phone.
In the second instance, see if you can use Google Photos to view your images instead of the gallery.
Or, you open the gallery app to look at the photos you already have, but when you try to view it, that's when the gallery app crashes?
In the first scenario i'd try to go to menu>settings>apps and finding the camera app. Tap on that and clear the data and cache for the app and then reboot the phone.
In the second instance, see if you can use Google Photos to view your images instead of the gallery.
It's the second one. Aside from crappy resolution, the camera works OK. Photos is causing a problem by not doing what it's supposed to do, and gallery is even worse because it doesn't open. If I hook that piece of junk up to a computer, I can get at the photos that way, right?
You should.