[Q] How do I transfer External SD card App data to new Card? - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

HI guys,
Trying to find a successful way to transfer my app data (Installed apps which were moved to sd card) from my old micro sd card to my new larger one. Simple copy and paste within windows did not work.
After some searching I found this thread tomsguide.com/forum/id-1607981/moving-data-microsd-card-android-smartphone
It seemed to be the only possible solution with only 2 people acknowledging it worked.
I also have a videos folder which I would want to be ignored when doing the transfer (to save time- there are many vids in the folder).
Any help and input is greatly appreciated.
Samsung Galaxy S4 M919 T-mobile. Android 4.3 - Rooted with stock ROM.
Thanks.

Spazite said:
HI guys,
Trying to find a successful way to transfer my app data (Installed apps which were moved to sd card) from my old micro sd card to my new larger one. Simple copy and paste within windows did not work.
After some searching I found this thread tomsguide.com/forum/id-1607981/moving-data-microsd-card-android-smartphone
It seemed to be the only possible solution with only 2 people acknowledging it worked.
I also have a videos folder which I would want to be ignored when doing the transfer (to save time- there are many vids in the folder).
Any help and input is greatly appreciated.
Samsung Galaxy S4 M919 T-mobile. Android 4.3 - Rooted with stock ROM.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cant imagine Im the only one who has run across this issue...

Copy paste worked fine for me in the past.
Why don't you move your apps to the internal storage until you got the new sd card, then move them back?

GDReaper said:
Copy paste worked fine for me in the past.
Why don't you move your apps to the internal storage until you got the new sd card, then move them back?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Internal storage is just about full and the apps are many.
Is Windows capable of successfully reading the android files and copying them? The card is formatted exFAT..Should it be formatted NTFS instead?

I haven't formatted anything. Besides, formatting will wipe the sd card.
I simply copied all the contents from the sd card to the pc and then to the new sd card. Had no problems so far.
Widows is just a temporary storage, it doesn't need any rights over them.
Aren't there any sd card clone programs? Like the ones used for cloning HDD partitions and transfering their contents to another HDD?

GDReaper said:
I haven't formatted anything. Besides, formatting will wipe the sd card.
I simply copied all the contents from the sd card to the pc and then to the new sd card. Had no problems so far.
Widows is just a temporary storage, it doesn't need any rights over them.
Aren't there any sd card clone programs? Like the ones used for cloning HDD partitions and transferring their contents to another HDD?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for following up on this frustrating issue.
The only android items which show in my old external card are the android folder which contains the obb folder. The other android based folder is a "data" folder which is empty.
Both of these were copied to the new external card with no luck.
Is there something I should be copying from the phones storage onto the new external card? I don't know why this is such an issue :/
What items show on your external card that you were able to successfully copy to your new one? I even tried navigating using ES Explorer and the only item that shows, which Windows cannot see, is a hidden android folder with nothing in it. ..If the original external sd has the same items as the new exteral card, this would lead me to believe that the android OS is simply linking something to the external card to link the external card apps to the OS.
I have never heard of any such programs for cloning from an android based system...

I selected everything (CTRL + A) and then copied it to the new card. Even if there were hidden folders, they were copied.
Game data is generally stored in the obb folder on the internal storage.
How exactly did you move your apps to the sd card?

GDReaper said:
I selected everything (CTRL + A) and then copied it to the new card. Even if there were hidden folders, they were copied.
Game data is generally stored in the obb folder on the internal storage.
How exactly did you move your apps to the sd card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just copied and pasted to the new card. Nothing was missing.
All the shortcuts are still in the OS but they are all blank and show as 0kb in size. If I try to go into google store it doesn't show any of the updates for the external card, only the ones for the internal storage are listed.
As for the OBB files, those I never keep on my cards, as there is never enough storage. this is not an issue with my internal storage either, as all them apps still show as being installed regardless of whether or not any obb files are there.
This makes no sense. There has to be something that links the external programs to the OS which is not getting copied to the new card...

Do you know Titanium Backup? Just make a backup from everything (all apps and datas) and store it f.e. in the dropbox, change SD Card and restore the backup from the dropbox via Titanium to your phone.

Cheeky Freddy said:
Do you know Titanium Backup? Just make a backup from everything (all apps and datas) and store it f.e. in the dropbox, change SD Card and restore the backup from the dropbox via Titanium to your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for this suggestion. I have the full version and was not aware they integrated db.
I set up drop box on my TBP but I cant get the apps to save into drop box...Every time i try to backup anything it keeps saving onto internal card...I'm trying to backup the external cards app to db as a single batch. Do you know what setting to change for this to work?

Spazite said:
Thank you for this suggestion. I have the full version and was not aware they integrated db.
I set up drop box on my TBP but I cant get the apps to save into drop box...Every time i try to backup anything it keeps saving onto internal card...I'm trying to backup the external cards app to db as a single batch. Do you know what setting to change for this to work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try to get your hands on an OTG cable and connect a USB flash drive to your phone, and use a file explorer like ES to transfer the entire SD card to the USB Flash drive, then fire up the new SD card and copy the items you put on the USB flash drive back to the SD card using ES. This should definitely work and you wouldnt require a pc also.

Spazite said:
Thank you for this suggestion. I have the full version and was not aware they integrated db.
I set up drop box on my TBP but I cant get the apps to save into drop box...Every time i try to backup anything it keeps saving onto internal card...I'm trying to backup the external cards app to db as a single batch. Do you know what setting to change for this to work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the backup from your SD card is stored onto your internal card everything is fine. Just plug your new SD Card in your phone and restore your backup and everything will be back on your new sd card.

TheAwesomeBit said:
try to get your hands on an OTG cable and connect a USB flash drive to your phone, and use a file explorer like ES to transfer the entire SD card to the USB Flash drive, then fire up the new SD card and copy the items you put on the USB flash drive back to the SD card using ES. This should definitely work and you wouldnt require a pc also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking at the card via Es, I see nothing in there that has not already been transferred. What folders do I need to transfer over...the "data" android" and hidden "android secured" are for the most part empty.

Spazite said:
Looking at the card via Es, I see nothing in there that has not already been transferred. What folders do I need to transfer over...the "data" android" and hidden "android secured" are for the most part empty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you enabled show hidden folders on ES?

TheAwesomeBit said:
have you enabled show hidden folders on ES?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Only 1 hidden android folder which is empty.

Looks like I was able to see the contents of the .android_secured folder using an OTG cable. It contains what look like to be the files required for the apps to be recognized by the OS. Also what i believe to be the files for Google Play to also recognize the apps for updates.
I tried copying the folder but it wont work. However, I was able to copy all the contained files onto the new sd card.
Looks like I'll have to mount it again and just use the titanium backup method.

Backed up all the external data using TB onto the new card...I'm now having trouble restoring the backup to the new card...cant seem to find the option to do so.
I have the backup stored on the new external card.

Related

corrupt SD card

hello all. I have a t-mobile wing and I am having problems with my extra storage card. I had 3 folders on there that seem to be corrupt. The folder names have changed to these weird symbols and the folders are empty. another problem is that I can not delete these folders. Through active sync or on my wing I can not delete the folders. But I am able to continue to save new files on to the storage card.
any advice on how to delete or format my storage card and start fresh?
thanks
The best thing would probably be to format your SD card using your computer. This software might help:
http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/sd/download/sd_formatter.html
I haven't used it personally, and I can't remember the exact name of the SD Formatter Utility I've used in the past, but if you Google "SD Format Utility" you're bound to come across one that will work.

Cant see fils from sd card on pc

hi,
i just pulled the sd card from my i9000 into my pc and i cant see any file from it...
then i put it back into the phone and navigated with astro filebrowser on it, there are all know android dir on it and one called sd...
I put something into it and only things in this folder i can see on my pc why? I would like to copy photos or music directly to the sd card...
can anyone help me?
If you try to access your SD card from the External drive folder called "SD" it won't work.
There are 2 drives actually for this phone when you plug it with USB, one is the External sdcard (the 6gb partition that comes with the phone) and the other is the microSD card. Both are in My Computer.
Archius said:
If you try to access your SD card from the External drive folder called "SD" it won't work.
There are 2 drives actually for this phone when you plug it with USB, one is the External sdcard (the 6gb partition that comes with the phone) and the other is the microSD card. Both are in My Computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im not using a USB Cable to acces the sd card, I put the card out of the phone into a cardreader and then I cant see any files on the card only the files in the folder called "sd" on the card but in the phone I see there more folders on the root of the sd card.
On the phone I see following folders in root of the sd card:
albumthumbs
Android
bluetooth
DCIM
....
and one folder called "sd"
Everything in this folder "sd" I can see on my pc but not the folders on the root of the sd card?
why?
audino said:
Im not using a USB Cable to acces the sd card, I put the card out of the phone into a cardreader and then I cant see any files on the card only the files in the folder called "sd" on the card but in the phone I see there more folders on the root of the sd card.
On the phone I see following folders in root of the sd card:
albumthumbs
Android
bluetooth
DCIM
....
and one folder called "sd"
Everything in this folder "sd" I can see on my pc but not the folders on the root of the sd card?
why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's because those files and folders you only see on your phone are in fact part of the internal memory and NOT from the microsd card.
The microsd card is in fact the folder named SD.
Your best bet and it is the one I personally use is to leave the card in the phone and attach your phone to the PC via USB.
Once you have 'mounted' the phone you will then see 2 (two) directories.
One directory will be the internal memory (roughly 5.6GB) and the other the microsd card.
On mine it shows as drives E & F.
Beards said:
That's because those files and folders you only see on your phone are in fact part of the internal memory and NOT from the microsd card.
The microsd card is in fact the folder named SD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry on my phone it isnt that way.
On the root of my phone there is folder called "sdcard" in this one I can find this folders:
albumthumbs
Android
bluetooth
DCIM
....
and one folder called "sd"
only things in the folder "sd" are visible on my pc. for ex. if i take a pic and store it by the cam app to the sd card its saved into the sdcard\dcim\ and it is on the sd card. when I put the card into the pc Im not seeing anything... if I go with astro and copy the pic from sdcard\dcim\ to sdcard\sd\PIC and put the sd card into my pc Im seeing on the sd card ONE FOLDER called PIC?!?!
Ive just checked it with the usb cable and its the same thing, if you plug it in you get two drives one with the folders
Android
bluetooth
DCIM
....
and another...
BUT BOTH ARE THE SD CARD, try to connect the phoen without a installed sd card to a pc you will see nothing...
And this point I would like to change.
audino said:
Sorry on my phone it isnt that way.
On the root of my phone there is folder called "sdcard" in this one I can find this folders:
albumthumbs
Android
bluetooth
DCIM
....
and one folder called "sd"
only things in the folder "sd" are visible on my pc. for ex. if i take a pic and store it by the cam app to the sd card its saved into the sdcard\dcim\ and it is on the sd card. when I put the card into the pc Im not seeing anything... if I go with astro and copy the pic from sdcard\dcim\ to sdcard\sd\PIC and put the sd card into my pc Im seeing on the sd card ONE FOLDER called PIC?!?!
Ive just checked it with the usb cable and its the same thing, if you plug it in you get two drives one with the folders
Android
bluetooth
DCIM
....
and another...
BUT BOTH ARE THE SD CARD, try to connect the phoen without a installed sd card to a pc you will see nothing...
And this point I would like to change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are misunderstanding what I am saying.
The folder sdcard is the internal memory
Whilst the folder sd is the MicroSD card.
If yours is different then I don't know what is going on with your Galaxy S
Beards said:
You are misunderstanding what I am saying.
The folder sdcard is the internal memory
Whilst the folder sd is the MicroSD card.
If yours is different then I don't know what is going on with your Galaxy S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh Im sorry my mistake...
Me again, you are absolutly right, but the people at samsung are really strange...
If you recive a mail with attachment and save the things its says saved on sdcard but it saves it into the internal mem...
audino said:
Me again, you are absolutly right, but the people at samsung are really strange...
If you recive a mail with attachment and save the things its says saved on sdcard but it saves it into the internal mem...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I agree... it is confusing.
On a Windows Mobile device the SDCard relates to the external SDCard.
With the Galaxy S, because it has an 8GB storage card (of which you only get to use around 5.6GB) it treats this as the SDCard and of course anything saved does indeed go to this storage.
Looks like we will have to wait for Froyo to arrive on the Galaxy S before we can download direct to the MicroSD card (which as we know is indeed buried inside SDCard/SD.

[Q] Help a noob with micro sd problem

I installed a new 32gb class 10 sd. It shows up in Astro file manager as being available. However, none of the many APP2SD programs I have tried allow me to move my apps to the card. What am I missing here? Do I need to format the card first and if so, how do I do that?
Apps2Sd will put apps in the "SdCard" directory which in the Iconia is actual internal memory.
You can only use your card for extra storage (like music/videos)
baldbear said:
Apps2Sd will put apps in the "SdCard" directory which in the Iconia is actual internal memory.
You can only use your card for extra storage (like music/videos)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, where in the file system is the actual SD card?
It's under /mnt/external_sd
the USB is under /mnt/usb_storage
They will not show up with the USB connector cable attached, but can be accessed through ADB on the host computer.
I think you are meant to actually pull the card and put stuff on it then put it back in the tablet.
Not all media players will see the card because of this name change in Honeycomb.
baldbear said:
I think you are meant to actually pull the card and put stuff on it then put it back in the tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the "First start information" document that came with my Acer, it states:
Transferring files from a microSD card (optional) to your PC
Remove the card from the tablet and use a card reader or USB adapter to access the card as an external storage device.

about the new SD card

i just bought a 16GB card, i moved every thing from the old 1 to this new 1 but not every files were moved and it seems to me that im not doing it right.
can some 1 please tell me what to do to be able to move everything on my old SD card to my new 1
thank you very much
khathaivu said:
i just bought a 16GB card, i moved every thing from the old 1 to this new 1 but not every files were moved and it seems to me that im not doing it right.
can some 1 please tell me what to do to be able to move everything on my old SD card to my new 1
thank you very much
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IF you have partitioned your SDcard you will either need a special program or need to use a Mac or Linux computer to copy the second partitioned section.
If you are using one partition just copy everything from the SD card to your Computer, then from the computer to the new SD card.
Remember to make hidden files and folders visible in Windows before you attempt copying, and move all the apps that reside on SD back to the phone's internal memory (if left on SD, their encrypted files might not work after copying).
sorry, im not really good with this stuff
if you dont mind, could you give me more detail instruction,
thank you
khathaivu said:
sorry, im not really good with this stuff
if you dont mind, could you give me more detail instruction,
thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He is saying
1.Make sure that Hidden Files & Folders are show on your PC.If not,appy it under My Computer>Tools>Folder Option
2.Connect your old sd card to your pc via a memory card reader or you can do it via Data Storagr mode on your phone using data cable.
3.Open old sd card(show as a drive on your pc) & select all the files on the sd card including hidden files too.
4.Copy selected files(whole files on the old sd card,ok) & paste it on somewhere pc your pc.
5.Now remove old sd card & insert new sd card to the card reader.Then open it.
6.Now move that old sd files to the new sd card.
That's all!

Error when trying to copy files between phone and SD card

I am unable to transfer files from my phone memory to my sd card.
I am also unable to transfer files from my pc to sd card in the phone. I have no issue transferring files from pc to phone memory.
I can view and open files on the sd card and the phone is able to play music and movies stored on the sd card.
Can anyone help me fix this issue?
Thanks!
I don't have such problem at all.
Try different file browsers like ES File Explorer and Astro.
If those do not work, try and factory reset your phone and ask for a replacement if the problem still persists after that.
chizzwhizz said:
I am unable to transfer files from my phone memory to my sd card.
I am also unable to transfer files from my pc to sd card in the phone. I have no issue transferring files from pc to phone memory.
I can view and open files on the sd card and the phone is able to play music and movies stored on the sd card.
Can anyone help me fix this issue?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does the phone read the sd card? Do you have anything on it to access? If not I would suggest formatting the sd card.
tabletalker7 said:
Does the phone read the sd card? Do you have anything on it to access? If not I would suggest formatting the sd card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone reads all the files on the sd card. I get an error that says Access denied when i copy a file from the phone memory to any folder on the SD card...however I get no error when I copy the files to the root SD card. It's weird...not sure whats going on.
You need to use the stock file manager to copy to the sd card or from the sd to internal as this is a "security feature" since Android lollipop. If you wish to use any other file explorer you MUST be rooted...
ultramag69 said:
You need to use the stock file manager to copy to the sd card or from the sd to internal as this is a "security feature" since Android lollipop. If you wish to use any other file explorer you MUST be rooted...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use ES File Explorer and it works - and I won't root until ZTE posts full factory roms for the US version.
I still think there is some issue with the sd card that can be solved by formatting it - if the phone won't move files to it and the pc recognizes the phone but not the sd card how did you get files on it in the first place?
ultramag69 said:
You need to use the stock file manager to copy to the sd card or from the sd to internal as this is a "security feature" since Android lollipop. If you wish to use any other file explorer you MUST be rooted...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true. I just used Solid Explorer to copy files from internal memory to the SD card. There was an extra procedure of selecting the sd card in what looks like the stock storage selection menu thing (that also has Drive, Downloads etc) which was apparently necessary for Solid Explorer to get the necessary permission. Maybe it doesn't work with old file explorer apps that haven't implemented this solution, but it definitely works with Solid Explorer without root.

Categories

Resources