• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Root Switch internal memory with external memory

SinniS

Newbie
Dec 14, 2010
13
1
I did not come up with this, MikesTooLz did. i am simply just sharing it BUT there is a problem that i have run into thanks to this. I'll explain at the end.

6520674955_a034f648a5.jpg
I hate how the LG Esteem has a fake internal 4GB SD card. Its a small amount of storage and not all apps can find the external SD card storage located in /sdcard/_ExternalSD/

The last update to the Google Plus app also broke auto upload of photos stored on my external SD card. I have figured out how to make my 16GB SD card show up as the internal memory (or as the Main /sdcard/ directory) and the internal fake SD card storage shows up as external storage.


To do this your phone must already be rooted.
Once the phone is rooted its just a matter of replacing a file on the phone with the modified file.

Download the following file, unzip it on your computer and transfer the vold.fstab to your SD Card. After you have the file on your SD card, use a program like Root Explorer to copy the file to /system/etc/
When it asks if you want to replace the existing file with this new one, select yes to replace the file.
Reboot the phone and start enjoying your new increased internal memory.

http://androidinvasion.us/downloads/vold.zip


My problem is when i plug into a pc to get to my both memory cards, it wont connect. It says it has dismounted the external SD card but that's all. I then downloaded muti-Mount sd app. it kinda works but i have to enable the original Mass storage and then the muti-mount SD. sadly this will only give me access to the internal memory and not my external. i was thinking that when the original maker of this file was creating or editing it that he left out or deleted some important line of code to make this properly work. Any clues or ideas?
 
  • Like
Reactions: hippiegang
Clearly it does, would you or anyone else reading this be able to give me the original file it replace, I stupidly did not back it up. i wanna open them side by side and see if maybe there's something missing or to much added. I'm not to good at stuff like this but i usually find my way around things after some time, also i posted it here in hope that we can all correct this.
 
Upvote 0
Clearly it does, would you or anyone else reading this be able to give me the original file it replace, I stupidly did not back it up. i wanna open them side by side and see if maybe there's something missing or to much added. I'm not to good at stuff like this but i usually find my way around things after some time, also i posted it here in hope that we can all correct this.
heres what the original has in it:
Code:
dev_mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard auto /devices/platform/msm_sdcc.2/mmc_host/mmc1
dev_mount extsdcard /mnt/sdcard/_ExternalSD auto /devices/platform/msm_sdcc.4/mmc_host/mmc3

original file attached to this post too. Just renamed n remove the .txt and then place it in system/etc
 

Attachments

  • vold.fstab.txt
    2.4 KB · Views: 225
Upvote 0
Is there any way to just change the partition on the internal memory to allow the entire internal memory to be used as such, for system and data, and to have the SD card be external memory? You know, like a normal phone?

no, the phones has 8 gb which is split up in different parts, and the os goes on 1 part of it, and so on.
 
Upvote 0
Is there any way to just change the partition on the internal memory to allow the entire internal memory to be used as such, for system and data, and to have the SD card be external memory? You know, like a normal phone?
actually most mid to high end phones and tablets are the same way and all phones will eventually follow suit. So technically what you are calling normal is technically not. ;)
 
Upvote 0
yea, but it causing other issues too from what I've read. mainly all thats done is changing the order of the 2 in the vold.fstab.

its a give n take kinda of mod lol


I thought about it too. Maybe it's better to comment out the internal memory, just redirect the real sdcard to /sdcard lol. The space is puny anyways compared to 32gb and all apps would just save to one spot.
 
Upvote 0
I'm not 100% sure, I mean from the linux point of view, you can edit the vfstab file and save (carefully, backup first). But then there is the internal/external memory differentiation wich may or may not be a part of that file, that just means it should map it to /sdcard and tell android that path is external memory possibly. I'll take a look later tonight cause I really hate having folders scattered all over.
 
Upvote 0
Make 2 folders on your pc. One called INTERNAL, one called EXTERNAL
Connect to pc via usb
backup all the files in the INTERNAL drive, except the folder called _ExternalSD to the INTERNAL folder on your pc.
Copy all the contents from your sdcard's drive letter to EXTERNAL

Make a new folder on your pc called MERGED
In this order:
copy the contents of the EXTERNAL folder on your pc -> MERGED
copy the contents of the INTERNAL folder on your pc -> MERGED (overwrite if it asks)

replace the contents of /etc/vold.fstab with:
Code:
# Copyright (c) 2010, Code Aurora Forum. All rights reserved.
#
# Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
# modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
# met:
#     * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
#       notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
#     * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
#       copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
#       disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
#       with the distribution.
#     * Neither the name of Code Aurora Forum, Inc. nor the names of its
#       contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
#       from this software without specific prior written permission.
#
# THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
# WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
# MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT
# ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS
# BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
# CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
# SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR
# BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY,
# WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE
# OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN
# IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

#######################
## Regular device mount
##
## Format: dev_mount <label> <mount_point> <part> <sysfs_path1...>
## label        - Label for the volume
## mount_point  - Where the volume will be mounted
## part         - Partition # (1 based), or 'auto' for first usable partition.
## <sysfs_path> - List of sysfs paths to source devices
######################

#[STAR eMMC migration]
# LG_FW_SDCARD
##dev_mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard auto /devices/platform/msm_sdcc.4/mmc_host /devices/platform/msm_sdcc.2/mmc_host
##dev_mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard 15 /devices/platform/goldfish_mmc.0 /devices/platform/msm_sdcc.2/mmc_host/mmc1
##dev_mount extsdcard /mnt/sdcard/_ExternalSD auto /devices/platform/goldfish_mmc.1 /devices/platform/msm_sdcc.4/mmc_host/mmc3
#
#Commented out by kanaida
#dev_mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard auto /devices/platform/msm_sdcc.2/mmc_host/mmc1
#dev_mount extsdcard /mnt/sdcard/_ExternalSD auto /devices/platform/msm_sdcc.4/mmc_host/mmc3
#
#New Values:
dev_mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard/_ExternalSD auto /devices/platform/msm_sdcc.2/mmc_host/mmc1
dev_mount extsdcard /mnt/sdcard auto /devices/platform/msm_sdcc.4/mmc_host/mmc3
#
#[STAR eMMC migration]

once that's done,
reboot your phone. Now the partitions are backwards :) internal is the real sd and external is your internal memory. You can now format them both if you want, connect back to your pc and copy the MERGED folder into the INTERNAL memory on your phone so all data is nice and merged in one place :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: p-bOt
Upvote 0
Hmm looks like usb mode doesn't mount the drives correctly, they just make the drive letters but no drive mounted. That's workable for me though. I just use samba to do my dirty work over the network :) didn't ever use usb really anyways when windows shares are so much more convenient. It may have to do with the entries in init.rc but those are kind of a pain to play with, think you gotta flash a zip to modify those.
 
Upvote 0
UPDATE: DO NOT TRY THIS.
I'm not sure if it's because i tried formatting the internal sd after this (because I was able to reboot and copy stuff ok), but my phone sat there charging for a while, and I just saw a red led, but couldn't turn the screen back on, so I held the power button and nothing. Then I took the battery out and put it back in, nothing turns on at all, no LG logo, vibration... nothing. Tried another battery, same thing. Even though I don't think it makes sense or that it's related, I suggest NOT trying it to be on the safe side. I think it just died on it's own, I will see tommorow if I can exchange it for the other new dual core LG. I know it doesn't have hdmi but I don't use it so this might be goodbye guys as I won't have an esteem anymore.
 
Upvote 0
Hey guys, i know there are some smart people out there but i need help. Okay, so i updated to zvd and tryed this method. it all worked, however just wouldn't stop media scanning. After all that, i just deleted the vold and did a hard reset....now its saying i have no sd card! :( i know there's gotta be a way to fix it, but its hard to even download anything because it says i have no sd card. Any ideas? This has,happened before, but i just reflashed my ROM and it fixed itself. What should i do?!? Please h
elp!
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones