/sdcard vs /sdcard-ext

[AMTrombley0924]

So what is the point of having an "on-board" sd card and an external card? I understand that -ext is your actual SD Card, but what is the /sdcard then? What goes to either directory by default? This is the first Android phone I've had that does this, so I'm trying to familiarize myself with this.

 

[AMTrombley0924]

Nobody knows?

 

[judyn1]

I can't believe anyone is actually using this phone and doesn't know about the problem. I couldn't figure out why nothing was on my SD card (yes, we ALL KNOW what an SD card is, except, apparently Motorola).

The only sensible explanation I've seen of this nonsense is that they are moving toward no user removable card and this is a step. Like iphone and isn't Windows Mobile 7 like that too? I love my Windows Mobile 6.x but I will not buy a WinMo 7 but the lack of a removable SD card not the only reason... Anyway, back to Android.

I've had this thing for less than a week, trying to learn Android as well as find substitute applications for the many things I had on my Windows Mobile phone. I must say, this was the most surprising thing. That my phone doesn't know where the SD card is! Or, rather, my apps don't.

I saw the "sdcard-ext" early on but I thought maybe some phone somewhere had another kind of SD card thing, like you don't have to take the back off with a special tool to use? I should have paid attention...

Alas, it seems to be a nightmare because all of my applications THINK they know where the SD card is. But they are wrong and my internal memory is filling up with podcasts and backups and who knows what else!

Checking into them, some of them allow the location of the "SD card" to be changed. In most cases, it is not a straightforward process if they've already started using the "internal" (fake) SD card.

So far nothing at all has by default been written to my "real" SD card. Podcasts, backups, news, mail junk, well, anything an app wants to write, is going to the "internal SD card".

If I had known this, I might have bought the only other phone that Verizon had with a slideout keyboard...

Right now I'm NOT a happy camper! After days of almost constant research and work to get this phone like I want it, I thought I was almost there, and now this is two steps back to re-think everything I've put on this phone.

 

[sleedeane]

Um... It knows internal as an sdcard because thats what its been programmed to call it.


Use an app2sd app to move moveable apps to external, if you want. Though they are more readily accessible from Internal.
Use Astro or es file manager or pc to move media to ext card.

 

[judyn1]

I've discovered that several of my apps will find things on the "external SD card" if I move the data (MOVE not copy) to sdcard-ext, restart the app (OK, maybe the phone too). BeyondPod is now writing to the "external" SD card. Astro is writing its backups there. Other apps I could either point or they searched the real SD card too (I prefer to tell programs where to look). So far I don't have anything large that I haven't been able to put on the SD card.

However, my husband is having more trouble with his new Samsung Galaxie Note. The real SD card is named even stupider than Motorola named theirs. This must be very difficult for people writing apps.

 

[sleedeane]

This must be very difficult for people writing apps.

I'm willing to bet this involves about 1 read or write command.
And people smart enough to develope apps get the whole usb/Internal/External and sd card partitioning thing

 

[sleedeane]

I've discovered that several of my apps will find things on the "external SD card" if I move the data (MOVE not copy) to sdcard-ext, restart the app (OK, maybe the phone too). BeyondPod is now writing to the "external" SD card. Astro is writing its backups there. Other apps I could either point or they searched the real SD card too (I prefer to tell programs where to look)

I kind of shy away from moving things as opposed to copying until I am sure I'm not messing things up.
Some apps will only look in certain places (they don't go for being told where to look).
Also, I have lost countless music and picture/video media moving between internal DCIM and eternal DCIM. I think some things get overwritten for one reason or another, sometimes.

 

[judyn1]

For the applications that look for their data in several places, you may have to move it because if they find it in the first location, they will be happy with it there and your copy will accomplish nothing but confusion. I read what the documentation said to do to

If I had known the sd card situation before I had started the programs for the first time, I may have been able to avoid the problem. I looked and it said it was writing to the sdcard so I thought what I think any sensible person would that it was writing to the sd card. Internal memory is NOT an sdcard. It never crossed my mind that an android phone would call a NOT sdcard an sdcard.