How to combine memory on android 5. Adoptable storage - combining internal and external memory into one logical partition. Move unnecessary applications from internal to external memory card

Starting with androil 6.0, it became possible to use a flash card as internal storage device data. Now the device, after certain actions, can use the memory available on SD as freely as the internal one. The article will talk about how to connect an SD card in this capacity and what restrictions are imposed on it.

How to connect a flash drive as internal memory

Before connecting the drive, you must transfer from it all important information. During the setup process, it will be completely cleared and you will not be able to return the data.

First of all, you need to go to Settings and then go to the " Storage and drive”, where you should click on the SD card.

Next, choose " Tune» and click « Inner memory". Immediately after that, the device will warn the user that all information will be deleted and it will become unreadable on other devices without full formatting.

Here you need to select the item " Clean and Format” and wait for the memory cleaning process to complete. You may then see a message that the media is running slowly. As a rule, this means that the flash drive used is not of very good quality and its use as device storage may also affect the performance of the smartphone itself. For good and fast work recommended to use UHS Speed ​​Class 3 (U3) drives.

After formatting is completed, the smartphone will require you to transfer the information, you should agree with this and wait for the work to complete. After the transfer, the work of turning the flash drive into internal memory will be almost completed, all that remains is to reboot the device.

Features and limitations of using an SD card

There are a few things to be aware of before using a flash drive in this way.

1. After conversion, all data, except for some applications and system updates, will be placed on the SD drive.
2. When connected to a computer, only this part of the memory will also be available for interaction.

In fact, all actions are performed only with a flash drive, the real internal storage of the phone not available for interaction and, practically, is not used in any way. Firstly, this means that when you remove the drive, almost all data, photos and applications will be lost. Secondly, if the volume of the flash drive is less than the actual storage capacity of the smartphone, then the amount of available memory will decrease, not increase.

Format the card with ADB for use as internal storage

On some devices, the function is not available, but it is possible to connect a USB flash drive as storage in another way. However, it should be noted that this method is very laborious and can harm the device, therefore, if you are not confident in your abilities, then it is better not to do this on your own.

To use this method, you will need to perform a lot of actions. You need to download from the site and install Android SDK, then download and install from the official website device drivers, and you also need to enable " debug mode byUSB» on the device.

• adb shell
• sm list-disks (after execution, the id will be given in the form disk:XXX,XX it should be written down and entered in the next line)
• sm partition disk:XXX,XX private

Then it will take turn off the phone, go to settings and click on sd, select menu and click " Transfer data". Everything, on this action is completed.

How to put a memory card in standard mode

To return the flash drive to standard mode, you just need to go to its settings, as in the first option, and select " Portable media". Before that, all important information should be transferred to another location, because the drive will be formatted in the process.

I’ll make a reservation right away that we are not talking about programs like link2sd. The principle is similar, but we will link not the program directories, but the data directories of these programs, for example /sdcard2/Navigon -> /sdcard/Navigon or /mnt/extSdCard/Books -> /sdcard/Books, etc.
In addition, we need a root (where would we be without it). By the way, after I found out about this program, this is another argument for root for me.

Many owners of android smartphones or tablets with a small built-in memory must have encountered the following problem: a large sd card is inserted (for example, 16, 32 or even 64 Gigabytes), but after installing several heavy programs, our device or another program with impudence declares that there is no enough space. Sometimes the program itself is small, but after installation it climbs the Internet and pulls gigabytes of data onto the smartphone.
Once again, having received the message “No space” and looking at the card, we see that it is almost empty, but the internal memory of the device is packed to capacity.
This is because internal memory is often used as the default directory for many programs. The fact is that it is mounted as /sdcard , which historically has always been an external sd card (it used to be the case on all smartphones). The external sd card is mounted in this case as /sdcard2 , /mnt/sdcard2 , /mnt/extSdCard or even /sdcard/.externalSD . I understand that this is done by manufacturers so that the device works out of the box, i.e. no sd card at all.

Many "unscrupulous" programs always want to read/write data from/to the /sdcard/NameSubstitute directory. Rarely, this can be changed in the program settings.
As a result, we have what we have, and several opportunities to improve the current situation:
The last two methods are also not a panacea, because. they require certain skills from the user, besides they are not “clean” enough, for example, there are known problems when connecting a smartphone to a computer via usb (they cannot be unmounted), etc.

The DirectoryBind program will help to correct the situation, which a good person slig from xda wrote for himself and posted on the forum for public use.

QR code

After installation, run the program (for the first time, of course, we permanently allow Root rights), press the menu then "Preferences" and set the default paths to the external memory "Default data path" for example / sdcard / external_sd / and internal memory "Default target path" / sdcard / . Exit the menu.

Press menu, then "Add new entry"

Now let's create a new directory link, for example, move the CamScanner folder to an external card. A long press on a folder path opens a small built-in file manager where you can create and/or select a folder. The folder on the external card must be created (and empty).

By checking the "Transfer files from target to data" checkbox, files and folders will be transferred from the /sdcard/CamScanner/ directory to the /sdcard/external_sd/CamScanner directory.

It should be noted that links are not automatically activated after creation (gray floppy disk icon, as in the screenshot below for gameloft). To complete the binding of folders, select the necessary links with the checkboxes and press the menu -> "Bind checked". Icons of active (linked) folders should turn green.

By the way, if you want to attach the entire external card, I completely recommend doing it not like /sdcard/externalSD/ , but with a dot in front of /sdcard/.externalSD/ . This will save you from troubles like double thumbnails in galleries, etc. The truth will not help for all galleries and players, because. some look for media in hidden directories as well.
Having suffered, I decided for myself to link only individual directories.

UPD. By the way, an external SD card is much slower than internal memory, so transferring program data to an external SD naturally slows down the work of this program. This should be especially remembered by those who decide to completely change the mount points of internal and external memory, because. chances are your entire device will run slower than before.

I hope this program will complement your collection of useful utilities for android devices.

If you still decide to swap the internal and external memory, i.e. remap the external sd card to / sdcard and there is no such option in the device settings - having root, this can be easily done by performing the following operation:
In Root-Explorer, mount "/etc" as R/W (if R/O), find the file "/etc/vold.fstab", save a copy and open (long click) it in the Text Editor.
In the next two lines, we change the name of the mount points in places: dev_mount sdcard / mnt / sdcard [email protected]/devices/platform/goldfish_mmc.0 ... dev_mount sdcard /mnt/external_sd auto /devices/platform/goldfish_mmc.1 ... to dev_mount sdcard /mnt/external_sd [email protected]/devices/platform/goldfish_mmc.0 ... dev_mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard auto /devices/platform/goldfish_mmc.1 ...
You can read more. They also offer, as an alternative, to use another interesting program Root External 2 Internal SD.
I will add that in both cases, before switching, you need to copy the entire contents of the /sdcard folder to an external sd card.
Keep in mind that after the switch, your entire system may work better than before.
be careful- you need to understand that everything you do under root, you do at your own peril and risk, and for example, saving the wrong "vold.fstab" may lead to the inability to boot the device and for treatment you will need to boot into recovery and edit "vold.fstab" already there.

This method can be used in conjunction with DirectoryBind, only now the opposite is "Default target path" (/sdcard) and all links created in DirectoryBind will point to an external card.

Most budget and mid-range Android smartphones have 4 GB of internal memory (and those released before 2012 are much smaller). Therefore, the installation of applications and games at some point is seriously difficult - the smartphone diligently tries to install something, after which it displays a wonderful message "internal memory is full" and offers to clear something. At first, this helps - by removing the excess, getting rid of the unnecessary, the phone user gets some free space for his needs. After another couple of weeks or months (depending on the intensity with which the software and game components of the smartphone are used), the annoying message is shown again, annoying with its importunity and irremovability. How to deal with this unpleasant feature of the behavior of inexpensive smartphones, deprived of the happiness of a capacious internal memory? There are a couple of ways, radical and not so radical, and we will talk about them today.

The first method, nowhere is easier

The first thing that will help free up memory if it is not enough, but you want to try something new, is to clear the application cache. There are a good hundred of memory-cleaning utilities on Google Play, and they are all equally useful, so we will not dwell on the description of a particular program. Just search the list of Cleaner apps and choose the most popular one based on the number of downloads and stars in the rating. We warn you that clearing the cache does not mean deleting programs, it only deletes progress in games, and may affect application settings (depending on the depth of cleaning). In some cases, if the cache has grown to an unreasonably large level, the internal memory will unexpectedly turn out to be practically free. There is a drawback of the above applications - to clean dalvik cashe, you need Root rights (this is written in the descriptions for the programs). Therefore, the first step is to find a way to obtain such rights and apply them to your smartphone (perhaps, the method is already described on our website, but if there are no rooting instructions for your device, try rooting through the framaroot, unlock root applications). Further, after making sure that the rights are really obtained (anything happens) by checking them in the Root Checker application, run the previously installed cleaner and clear the cache. After that, you need to restart the smartphone and go to the settings-memory, see what happened to the memory there.

The second method is a little more difficult.

It happens that the simplest solution does not work - the memory is really crammed with applications to the very tomatoes. Then transfer some of them to a memory card, having previously formatted it either in the phone or through a card reader (in this case, select a cluster size of no more than 64k and the fat32 file system). The transfer is done manually, through application settings, there are programs that automate this business, but often they work crookedly, therefore, for complete certainty, we recommend sorting applications by the space they occupy and sending the most voracious ones to a memory card.

Root Explorer will help you check if there is anything unnecessary in the system folders (put the latest version, it's more interesting). Through it, go to the datalocal mp directory and look for everything there that has the rm and log extensions - boldly delete all this, freeing up preciously limited resources.

Method three, dangerous

Have you tried all of the above, but is the memory still full or is it not enough? It doesn’t matter, there are other recipes, a little more complicated and more dangerous. To implement them, you will need a larger memory card, with a capacity of at least 4 GB (class 10 and higher is required, otherwise what was sent to the card will slow down). After inserting it into your smartphone, use the Root Explorer to find the vold.fstab file in the /system/etc/ section. We will correct it, replacing the internal memory of the smartphone with a memory card.

ATTENTION! This is a dangerous action that can lead to a cyclic loading of the smart and its inoperability! Before starting the substitution, copy all important data, contacts to a computer, transfer all files from the flash partition to sdcard (or external sd, if the internal memory is divided into two partitions, one of which pretends to be sdcard). Partition names for different manufacturers and firmware may differ, there is also the sd and extsd option. After copying, boot into the CWM recovery (you must first install it, instructions for your phone can be on our website). In it, you make a Backup system through the appropriate item (Backup and restore, backup, restore via restore). And only then, starting the phone again and getting to vold.fstab and pressing the rw button on top in the Root Explorer program, look for lines like

dev_mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard auto

dev_mount extsd /mnt/extsd

They go one under the other and without the # symbol at the beginning of the line. Now change the names in them - sdcard to extsd in the top line and vice versa, extsd to sdcard in the external one (the same method is valid for other section names, flash and external_sd. We do not touch other parameters, save the file, reboot. Now the internal memory of the smartphone became external, and the memory card became internal and, accordingly, there is a lot of space for installing applications (in the phone settings, specify - put in internal memory).If the device does not boot, then there are errors in fold.vstab somewhere, boot into recovery and restore the OS from the backup. We remind you once again, do not be heroic, make a backup, jokes with system files without reinsurance are bad!

Method four, boring

And the last option, which does not affect such a capricious system file, is to create an additional partition for installing applications, which is attached to the internal memory. This is done by the Link 2 sd program (available in Google Play, you need Root). But first remove a2sd, if you are already using it, they are incompatible. Take any memory card from a fairly normal manufacturer without a cloud of defective memory cards, insert the card into the card reader and format it, dividing it into two sections (one is fat32, the second is ext2). For detailed instructions with screenshots on how to use the program, see the project wiki ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=SD_card_partitioning).

WARNING 2 - there is a risk of damage to the cardss memory, irreversible by any means.

The ext2 partition is better to do no more than half a gigabyte, although the statement is not 100% confirmed - we tried 2 GB, everything works fine. Creating an additional partition larger than two gigabytes, meanwhile, is not recommended. If the card is not branded, but non-named, it is dangerous to do more than 512 MB - it is buggy, and unmounted and stops working altogether, in general, it shows its difficult character to the fullest. Don't forget, both sections are primary! Having made the partitions, insert the card into the phone and install Link 2SD, allowing it to work as an administrator (it will ask at the first start). In the program, click Create Link, after the message that everything is OK, restart the smart and run the useful utility again. Now sort the applications “by gluttony” and select the largest ones with a long press and click “send”. Previously, the transfer of the dalwick cache can also be noted with a birdie, but this is an extreme case when there is not enough memory at all. Otherwise glitches are more than likely. Having sent everything to an additional partition, use the freed memory at your discretion, because now there is more, much more!!

Problems and their fixes

The memory card is not seen by the computer when mounted? Install the Multi Mount SD-Card and start mounting before connecting to the computer, through the application widget on the desktop.

Should I delete what was posted? Select the program, select "return", clear the cache and delete it.

Did you buy a new memory card, the old one suddenly died and half of the applications disappeared and did not work? To avoid this miracle, after the first installation and configuration of the program, you need to create a copy of the partitions on the card through Acronis on a stationary computer, after which you carefully store the backup until you replace the card - by purchasing a new one, simply restore the partitions on the new card and stick it into your smartphone. Note! Pull out the card and insert it back when Link2Sd is installed and working only when the phone is turned off! Turn it on only after she returns to the slot - you don’t want to have fun googling how to deal with the consequences? And they will be, because a lot of things will simply “fall off” and will no longer work.

Most Android device owners sooner or later face the problem of lack of internal file storage space. Regular installation of applications gradually reduces the amount of free space in the gadget, which leads to slowdowns, improper operation, or even a complete failure of the system to work normally. In this case, replacing the internal memory of Android with a memory card will help. How to do this and what other ways there are to deal with such a nuisance, we will consider further.

Before digging through the settings and transferring applications to a USB flash drive all at once, you need to understand what types of memory exist on your Android device in general:

• operational - necessary for the correct operation of applications, programs and other processes that run on a phone or tablet;
• ROM - stores information about the operating system during firmware and this data cannot be transferred to third-party media;
• internal - applications are installed here automatically, as well as any user information; how much free space is left by the system when installing new software;
• expansion card - an external drive that is designed to expand the internal memory of the device and store applications, user information.

Why can't I save apps to my SD card?

In many gadgets, it will not be possible to automatically allow the installation of new applications on a USB flash drive. This applies to phones and tablets from version 4.4.2 to 6.0.1. In this case, replacing the internal memory with an SD card is simply necessary, and this can be done in several ways (including using third-party applications). But first you need to find out the version of Android that is installed on your gadget. To do this, click successively on:

1. Menu;
2. Settings;
3. About phone.

In the list that opens, the OS version will be indicated.

Programs for transferring applications to a memory card

The developers took care of the users and created programs to make the memory of the flash drive the main one on Android. This is especially useful for older system versions such as 2.2 or even earlier.

Convenient software that has all the necessary tools for transferring information from internal memory to an external drive. The interface is intuitive and simple. Applications available for moving are marked with icons, when clicked, all available information about them is opened, as well as possible actions (transfer, copy, delete).

Move2SD Enablerv

This software is of interest to users for two reasons. First - it is compatible with different versions of Android (including later ones). And the second is the ability to transfer data and applications that are marked in the system as “invalid for transfer”.

Another interesting development that simplifies the life of users of Android gadgets. The main advantages are simple software installation (without the need to additionally download scripts and libraries) and the ability to transfer information not by complete libraries, but only by their parts.

What other methods are there?

There is another option, how to make an SD card an internal memory on Android. If the version of your gadget is from 2.2 to 4.2.2, then the instruction is extremely simple, click on:

1. Settings;
2. Memory;
3. Disk for writing by default;
4. SD card.

A checkmark or circle will appear opposite the flash drive, which indicates a change in settings. Now the installation of applications will automatically go to the flash drive.

For users of Android KitKat and above, the process will be more difficult and dreary. The main problem is that you will need to root your device. You can do this at home, but there is a risk of turning your device into a “brick”, which is either beyond repair, or it will be brought to life only at a service center for an additional fee.

Remember that by installing root rights yourself, you will void the warranty on your device and act at your own peril and risk. Whether it's worth it or not is up to you. Maybe it's less risky to manually transfer new applications each time?

What do you think? Tell us in the comments if you had to get root-rights, whether it was successful, or maybe you know other ways to switch the memory of your tablet / phone to a memory card.