How Do I Easily Move Apps to External Micro SD card on the PMID701C?

[avgary]

Change /system/etc/vold.fstab with data on original internal (no "sdcard&quot to make external sdcard appear as internal SDcard

I decided to poke around and view the vold.fstab file for my 701C.

The first line reads, "vold 2.0 fstab for HTC Passion"

lol..borrow much S.T.?

tedlogan42 had the basic answer: "modify the /system/etc/vold.fstab file so that you swap the extsd and sdcard."

I did this for a 701i and, in fact, the new 32g sd card that I bought is now seen as if it was the old internal "sdcard" and you can send apps to live there.

If you are going to try this, put the apps back on the tablet with app manager. Backup the apps with file manager. This puts copies of apk's on the sdcard.

Plug the tablet into a computer with the usb and wait for the page to come on that says "turn on USB." Now, I don't remember if this is turning on due to some other app I installed because it did not turn on when I first plugged in the tablet. I thought it was an issue between win7 and winxp but it is not.

When plugged into usb, you can't see the tablet's root directory to make a complete clone of the tablet's files - anyone have a suggestion? You can see the sdcard folder .android_secure and the installed apps are there. Although the folder appears with the tablet's file explorer, the contents are hidden.

Copy everything on the sdcard to the computer so you at least have a backup. This includes the backed up apps.

Make a copy of the original vold.fstab file and after exchanging "sdcard" for "extsd" - names on 701i could be slightly different on 701c. The odd thing is that I can't find the apps on the new card once they are moved but the games like temple run do play fine.

Changes to vold.fstab don't take place until you reboot.

If you have a problem changing the fstab file on the tablet - it first wouldn't let me save the text changes - copy it on to the sdcard and make the changes and then copy it. I think you may need to change the file permissions in file manager or settings for "system files."

The apk's are like installation zip files and I can see them in ES File Explorer with hidden files turned on but .android_secure is android's "program files" folder and the installed programs are hidden.

Be careful when putting in a new sd card. Although I had no problem with a 2g sd card with the stock setup, when I put in the new 32g Sandisk class 4 HCSD card, I got a msg that said the card was damaged! I tried it again and still it was damaged. OY! I put it in a computer with no problem - pre formatted and it was OK. I then put it back into the tablet and it tried again to mount it as EXTSD
but did not work and so in Settings/Storage I tried to format it. But then I saw the msg that it was formatting the "SDCARD" - the INTERNAL SDCARD. Double OY!

Luckily I had moved everything except temple run back to internal root storage, turned off the tablet with the new ext 32g sd card in and the tablet saw it and accepted it, now as the new 32g (29g+) internal sdcard where you can save apps, videos, music, anything.

Still would like to be able to clone the whole tablet.

[SingleDad]

tedlogan42 had the basic answer: "modify the /system/etc/vold.fstab file so that you swap the extsd and sdcard."

I did this for a 701i and, in fact, the new 32g sd card that I bought is now seen as if it was the old internal "sdcard" and you can send apps to live there.

If you are going to try this, put the apps back on the tablet with app manager. Backup the apps with file manager. This puts copies of apk's on the sdcard.

Plug the tablet into a computer with the usb and wait for the page to come on that says "turn on USB." Now, I don't remember if this is turning on due to some other app I installed because it did not turn on when I first plugged in the tablet. I thought it was an issue between win7 and winxp but it is not.

When plugged into usb, you can't see the tablet's root directory to make a complete clone of the tablet's files - anyone have a suggestion? You can see the sdcard folder .android_secure and the installed apps are there. Although the folder appears with the tablet's file explorer, the contents are hidden.

Copy everything on the sdcard to the computer so you at least have a backup. This includes the backed up apps.

Make a copy of the original vold.fstab file and after exchanging "sdcard" for "extsd" - names on 701i could be slightly different on 701c. The odd thing is that I can't find the apps on the new card once they are moved but the games like temple run do play fine.

Changes to vold.fstab don't take place until you reboot.

If you have a problem changing the fstab file on the tablet - it first wouldn't let me save the text changes - copy it on to the sdcard and make the changes and then copy it. I think you may need to change the file permissions in file manager or settings for "system files."

The apk's are like installation zip files and I can see them in ES File Explorer with hidden files turned on but .android_secure is android's "program files" folder and the installed programs are hidden.

Be careful when putting in a new sd card. Although I had no problem with a 2g sd card with the stock setup, when I put in the new 32g Sandisk class 4 HCSD card, I got a msg that said the card was damaged! I tried it again and still it was damaged. OY! I put it in a computer with no problem - pre formatted and it was OK. I then put it back into the tablet and it tried again to mount it as EXTSD
but did not work and so in Settings/Storage I tried to format it. But then I saw the msg that it was formatting the "SDCARD" - the INTERNAL SDCARD. Double OY!

Luckily I had moved everything except temple run back to internal root storage, turned off the tablet with the new ext 32g sd card in and the tablet saw it and accepted it, now as the new 32g (29g+) internal sdcard where you can save apps, videos, music, anything.

Still would like to be able to clone the whole tablet.

Sweet..I'm going to give this a try when I get home. Thanks avgary. I had read some people trying the vold.fstab mod on other devices and they got stuck in boot loops or the changes didn't stick when the tablet was rebooted. No issues for you then on the 701i? I'm also wondering whether there is a possibility that Gingerbread handles anything differently than ICS when it comes to this mod?

[avgary]

Check out this Android Commander windows pgm that allows copying of tab's root files to PC

Sweet..I'm going to give this a try when I get home. Thanks avgary. I had read some people trying the vold.fstab mod on other devices and they got stuck in boot loops or the changes didn't stick when the tablet was rebooted. No issues for you then on the 701i? I'm also wondering whether there is a possibility that Gingerbread handles anything differently than ICS when it comes to this mod?

I had android sdk already installed so you need the adb driver to make this work. Also my tab does not have "busybox" as described below.

I installed the program, then plugged in the tablet with USB debugging and virtual location enabled. Program "saw" the device and connected to it with a dual window graphic file list like the old file commander program that allows a lot of features through the computer.

Am copying complete root directory to my pc now.

http://androidcommander.com/

Features

Files Explorer

• copy multiple files/dirs between Device and PC
• copy multiple files/dirs between Device folders
• delete multiple files/dirs from Device
• drag&drop multiple files/dirs in to progrm
• drag&drop files/dirs between program tabs
• files/dirs properties
• edit files/dir permissions
• bookmarks
• new dir and rename options

Applications Manager

• batch/single apps install
  • install as private
  • install as update
  • install as system app
  
  
• batch/single uinstall apps
  • uninstall system apps
  • uninstall and keep app data
  
  
• batch/single apps backup to any dir on Device/PC
• app details
  • search app on Web Android Market/AppBrain/AndroLib/Cyrket
  
  
• windows integration

Search Bar

• search apps in device Android Market
• search location on device Google Maps
• open URL in device browser

Device Info

• device
• ROM
• partitions
• battery

Console

• run any shell command
• run sh script from PC

Logcat

• messages coloring
• message type filter

Flashing Tool

• flash any zip update/ROM/mod from PC
• flash recovery/boot/system/userdata/cache image from PC

Virtual Input

• emulate device keys
• send text to device text field

Signing Tool

• sign any zip file
• sign any apk file
• program explorer integration

Other

• reboot, reboot to recovery, reboot to bootloader, power off device
• multi device support
• WiFi Mode
• No Device Mode
• screenshots (beta)

Requirements

Phone Requirements:

• ADB ROOT Access
• BusyBox
• „Settings->Applications->Development->USB debugging” must be enabled
• USB Cable

Computer Requirements:

• Windows XP/Vista/7
• ADB USB Driver
• Java JDK
• Minimum 800×600 screen resolution

[lukenova]

Alright I think this is an excellent idea. I'm wondering if anyone could make a custom rom for the PMID701i and c that does this automatically... That is repartitions the internal storage and makes the external sd show up as sdcard to the OS from the beginning.

Sent from my Polaroid PMID701i using Tapatalk 2

[SingleDad]

Alright I think this is an excellent idea. I'm wondering if anyone could make a custom rom for the PMID701i and c that does this automatically... That is repartitions the internal storage and makes the external sd show up as sdcard to the OS from the beginning.

Sent from my Polaroid PMID701i using Tapatalk 2

I was thinking that too...but not everyone is going to like this setup. I'm sure creating a custom rom with this could easily be done. However making this change yourself really is pretty easy. You just use a text editor to make the changes to the vold.fstab file, save, and reboot.

Honestly, the most difficult part of the procedure is trying to select the tiny text with your finger if you edit the file directly from the tablet!

This method is far from perfect but it seems to be an acceptable solution for me for the moment. It basically does just what you'd think and flip-flops the way the tablet mounts things at boot. It mounts the micro SD card you install in the external slot as your "internal" sd slot. (The "fake" SD area where the tablet insists on putting everything in the stock configuration). The tablet's internal fake SD memory partition is then seen as the external SD card by the tablet.

Although I'd prefer it to be a perfect world and just have the tablet NOT have a partitioned internal memory to muddy things up, I at least sort of like this setup because when you tell something to go to the SD card it actually goes there instead of an internal memory partition like it does stock. Whenever you save something to SD or move an app to SD it actually moves the app to the external sd card like you'd expect it to to being with.

Of course not all apps can be moved to the SD card. Some system apps like Adobe Flash player 11 etc won't readily move over at all. I suppose some have to reside in the internal memory due to the way they are written or out of necessity.

There are some stock apps on the 701C/701i that won't move over to SD card because they were installed as a factory "system" type app. However if you uninstall them, download them from market and reinstall they can be successfully moved to the SD card afterward. For instance, I believe the NY Times app was one example. (Not that I really use it anyway)

Since I've done this mod to the vold.stab file I've noticed quite a few apps install right to the SD card without me telling them to. I've downloaded several apps that install right to the card by default. I go to appmanager expecting to need to move them over and they are already on the SD card.

Of course it's all hit or miss and you usually don't know until you install. Some apps will install right to microsd card in the external slot, some install to internal memory and have to be moved to SD card, and some install to internal memory and can't be moved. Some apps like Facebook and Twitter refuse to move over to SD for me right now....even if I unistall, download, and try to move them. It's all sort of trial and error.

At least this way I can install and move some apps to the external sd card. Before I couldn't move any!

[lukenova]

I think I'm going to try this tonight.. Along with flashing shawns rom.

Sent from my Polaroid PMID701i using Tapatalk 2

[SingleDad]

Titanium Backup Pro Makes Moving Apps around much easier.

Just a lil FYI for those who decide to do this mod to use apps on an external micro SD card: Titanium Backup Pro sure makes moving apps around much easier.

I had recently just bought the pro version to make backups of my apps and data since I've already grown tired of hunting down everything every time I decide to flash a rom etc.

I was pleasantly surprised that Titanium Pro has a batch feature that allows you to move user apps to and from the sd card in bulk batches. No need to go into app manager and move them one by one. You can simply select all the movable apps and move them all to the sd card at the same time! You can also do the reverse and move them all back to the tablet. I'm sure there are other ways and apps available that will do this, but it's just another perk for Titanium Backup Pro. At under $7.00 it's worth it the the first time you use it!

Also, another added benefit is Titanium Backup Pro has also allowed me to move a couple stubborn user apps that wouldn't move for me before. I was having trouble moving facebook, twitter, and TuneIn Radio for instance. They wouldn't move to SD card...even if I deleted them, re-installed from market and tried to move them. Titanium Backup Pro recognized them as a movable app and moved them over to sd card for me without issue. Something I haven't been able to do via the built in Move to SD feature in app manager!

[matt]

repartition

I once used a PC program called Partition Magic that would do a nondestructive repartition on the secondary part. Any movement on this front?

There are a number of free file managers that will batch copy/move but you have to hunt up the mnt /ext_SD folder to write to.


Oh yeh
rooted
Phone. Old

[SingleDad]

I once used a PC program called Partition Magic that would do a nondestructive repartition on the secondary part. Any movement on this front?

There are a number of free file managers that will batch copy/move but you have to hunt up the mnt /ext_SD folder to write to.


Oh yeh
rooted
Phone. Old

Yeah I hadn't looked but I was 99% sure there were free apps available to do the same thing. I basically discovered it had bulk move to sd as a surprise after the fact.

Being new to android and tablets I wanted a backup program I knew to be supported, widely used and reliable. Titanium Backup has tons of fans. When I learned the pro version was really cheap I just decided to grab it. I was surprised it had the added bonus of batch moving to SD. Even more impressed it was able to move a couple stubborn apps over that wouldn't move for me.

By all means look for a free app to save yourself some cash!

[kc9hi]

A week or so ago I picked up a couple Kodak 8GB Micro SD cards on sale for about $10.00 a piece at an office supply store. I mainly grabbed them because my 10 year old son is a digital hoarder and will quickly fill the stock memory on his PMID 4300 with pics, mp3s, and videos.

Since this was a decent deal I grabbed myself one thinking I could install or move some apps to the card on my 701C. (Especially since the manual recommends you install a MicroSD card before installing apps from Amazon appstore.)

When I go to manage apps and choose "Move to TF card" all the tablet does is move the app from it's internal memory to the about 2 GB partition of internal flash memory it calls "TF card storage". While that's great I'd really like to put some apps on the actual TF card/External Micro SD card I have installed and NOT the tablet's internal memory.

I realize not every app can be moved to an SD card but so far all of the tablet's I've encountered can be moved to what the tablet "thinks" is Micro SD storage. Is there any way to get apps and/or the tablet to recognize the external micro SD card in the slot as the TF card?

I know it's in there and recognized because it shows up as mounted and 7.45 GB. I can unmount and remount just fine.

My android phone has very little internal storage. Even with what few apps that I couldd move to the SD card I was constantly having to decide which apps I could remove to keep the phone running smooth. Then I heard about Link2SD. Even apps you are not supposed to put on the SD card, like widgets, run fine from the external SD card. Now I never worry about what I have installed and the phone always runs great.

I thought I'd give it a go on my 701i tonight and see what would happen. As far a I can tell it works as good as it does on my phone. Out of the 48 user apps I have installed, I probably have 44 of them moved to the external SC card.

To use Link2SD I created a second partition on my SD card using my PC and EASUS Partition Master. I chose to make it 1GB but it probably didn't need to be that large. I first formatted it ext3 but that didn't work. It has to be formatted ext2 or fat32 to work on this tablet (I chose ext2). Install the SD card back into your tablet and launch Link2SD. Create your boot script, reboot, launch Link2SD again and start moving you apps. Pretty easy.

You can even setup Link2SD so it will automatically move apps too SD when they are installed. That's how I have it on my phone.

Jim

[sabercatpuck]

one other cool feature

Just a lil FYI for those who decide to do this mod to use apps on an external micro SD card: Titanium Backup Pro sure makes moving apps around much easier.

I had recently just bought the pro version to make backups of my apps and data since I've already grown tired of hunting down everything every time I decide to flash a rom etc.

I was pleasantly surprised that Titanium Pro has a batch feature that allows you to move user apps to and from the sd card in bulk batches. No need to go into app manager and move them one by one. You can simply select all the movable apps and move them all to the sd card at the same time! You can also do the reverse and move them all back to the tablet. I'm sure there are other ways and apps available that will do this, but it's just another perk for Titanium Backup Pro. At under $7.00 it's worth it the the first time you use it!

Also, another added benefit is Titanium Backup Pro has also allowed me to move a couple stubborn user apps that wouldn't move for me before. I was having trouble moving facebook, twitter, and TuneIn Radio for instance. They wouldn't move to SD card...even if I deleted them, re-installed from market and tried to move them. Titanium Backup Pro recognized them as a movable app and moved them over to sd card for me without issue. Something I haven't been able to do via the built in Move to SD feature in app manager!

one other cool feature is you can set it up to move between platforms. so you can move all those levels of angry birds you have aced over to the tablet. i know i was able to move some stuff from my phone over using titanium backup.

[c,lei]

My android phone has very little internal storage. Even with what few apps that I couldd move to the SD card I was constantly having to decide which apps I could remove to keep the phone running smooth. Then I heard about Link2SD. Even apps you are not supposed to put on the SD card, like widgets, run fine from the external SD card. Now I never worry about what I have installed and the phone always runs great.

I thought I'd give it a go on my 701i tonight and see what would happen. As far a I can tell it works as good as it does on my phone. Out of the 48 user apps I have installed, I probably have 44 of them moved to the external SC card.

To use Link2SD I created a second partition on my SD card using my PC and EASUS Partition Master. I chose to make it 1GB but it probably didn't need to be that large. I first formatted it ext3 but that didn't work. It has to be formatted ext2 or fat32 to work on this tablet (I chose ext2). Install the SD card back into your tablet and launch Link2SD. Create your boot script, reboot, launch Link2SD again and start moving you apps. Pretty easy.

You can even setup Link2SD so it will automatically move apps too SD when they are installed. That's how I have it on my phone.

Jim

I thought of this too when I saw the thread, but couldn't remember the name of the .apk. as I downloaded it, but never really got around to actually installing it, as I had more than enough space free. There are a number of these programs floating around on the various Android Markets, so if Link2SD doesn't work for someone or they don't like it, they are others out there like App2SD they can try out.

[Lexridge]

I tried this method of editing the fstab file a few minutes ago, and behold, it worked! So I moved the contents of the Internal storage to my real SDCard, and rebooted, and viola, it worked as expected. So, in order to avoid any confusion, I went into System/Storage menu, and thought, well, I will format the old 2gb Internal storage. Instead of formatting the 2gb Internal storage, it actually formatted my 8gb SDCard!!!

Apparently the format command in this area is hard coded to format the real External Storage, no matter what. After the format was complete, it no longer showed me the expected 2gb partition as External, but showed it as the real SDCard. Essentially, I had to start over. Lesson learned.

[SingleDad]

I tried this method of editing the fstab file a few minutes ago, and behold, it worked! So I moved the contents of the Internal storage to my real SDCard, and rebooted, and viola, it worked as expected. So, in order to avoid any confusion, I went into System/Storage menu, and thought, well, I will format the old 2gb Internal storage. Instead of formatting the 2gb Internal storage, it actually formatted my 8gb SDCard!!!

Apparently the format command in this area is hard coded to format the real External Storage, no matter what. After the format was complete, it no longer showed me the expected 2gb partition as External, but showed it as the real SDCard. Essentially, I had to start over. Lesson learned.

Thanks for sharing! That's one drawback to this method. It's hard to keep track of which SD card the tablet is talking about
I hope you had a backup!

[SingleDad]

I've had a couple people ask me for more information how to do this little mod. It's really not difficult at all. All the info is here in this thread, it's just spread all over the place. I thought it might help if I try to post a quick walk through so others will have the info in one place:

Here's how to make the external sd card (the one you buy and stick in the external micro sd slot) the card the tablet sees as it's "internal sd" card. Basically you have to change a system file and flip flop the names in the file that tells the tablet how to mount the external card and it's "fake" internal sd card.

You can do this all right on the tablet if you want!

REQUIREMENTS:
1. You need to be rooted or otherwise have access to view and modify system files. I used the app, "Root Explorer"

2. You need a micro SD card to put in the external micro SD card slot (DUH!)


PROCEDURE:

1. Install the "Root Explorer" app.
You need a version that will give you full R/W access. I used the one linked to in the ****OFFICIAL Polaroid PMID 701C Thread! -Root, market and more!" thread here. To save you the trouble, here's the link to Root Explorer v2.19:

http://www.qfpost.com/file/d?g=QhuGKTnJL

Basically this gives you access to see and modify the system file you need to modify. There are other ways to do this, I'm just telling you what I did because it worked just fine.

2. Mount R/W in Root Explorer.
Once you've installed Root Explorer, navigate to the /system folder and then make it root accessible/writable by tapping the grey "Mount R/W" button at the top of the screen.

3. Find and Edit the "vold.fstab" file.
Now that you now have root access you can edit the vold.fstab file. In the Root Explorer app Go to /system/etc/vold.fstab

Once you've found that file simply long press it (hold down on it) until you see "Open With" and then choose "text editor"

You'll see a text file. In the 2nd paragraph you'll see two lines that say:

dev mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard auto
dev mount extsd /mnt/extsd auto

Highlight them and edit the lines to read:

dev mount sdcard /mnt/extsd auto
dev mount extsd /mnt/sdcard auto


4. Save and Reboot!
Press the menu button or tap menu and then select "Save and Exit".
(It should save the original file for you as a backup automatically when you save in case you screw anything up)

Turn off the tablet, make sure your external micro sd card is in the external sd slot and then reboot. (You need to reboot for the changes to the vold.fstab file to take effect)

5. Enjoy your tablet finally letting you put the things you want to put on your external sd card!