Help How can I move stuff onto my SD card?

[k3Ck]

I just bought an SD card and I want to move games and whatever else I can onto it.

How can I do this? Thanks.

 

[WolfmanRobby]

Go into Settings, Applications, Manage Applications.

Pick the app you want to move and click on it.
There will be a button in the storage area that says "MOVE TO MEDIA AREA."
IF it can be used on the SD card, that button will be enabled.

 

[k3Ck]

Go into Settings, Applications, Manage Applications.

Pick the app you want to move and click on it.
There will be a button in the storage area that says "MOVE TO MEDIA AREA."
IF it can be used on the SD card, that button will be enabled.

This could take a while...

 

[WolfmanRobby]

Especially since you should check with the developer (usually noted on the app's market page) if the app is OK to run on the SD card.

Many apps won't. And, most that have "Widgets" the widget won't work if you have the app on the SD card.

 

[james27007]

I though that moves them to the internal SD card but not the one you purchased/inserted. To be clear, where exactly do you want the data, internal sdcard or external sdcard? Because as far as I know, you cannot store your data on the external sdcard on the AT&T Atrix

 

[WolfmanRobby]

Terminology is everything. You are correct, that moves it to the MEDIA area of the phone storage. However, that is considered the SD card.

If you fire up a file manager app, (Like Astro or File Expert) you will see that the system names are "SDcard" and "SDcard-Ext."

SDcard = internal phone Media area (I think that's about 10Gb??)
SDcard-Ext = the SD card you put in the slot.

When you move apps to the MEDIA area, using the button, it moves them to the "SDcard."
But, many apps let you store your data (Files, pictures, video, documents...) on the "SDcard-ext" storage.

Hope that makes it as clear as the mud it really is.

 

[k3Ck]

Terminology is everything. You are correct, that moves it to the MEDIA area of the phone storage. However, that is considered the SD card.

If you fire up a file manager app, (Like Astro or File Expert) you will see that the system names are "SDcard" and "SDcard-Ext."

SDcard = internal phone Media area (I think that's about 10Gb??)
SDcard-Ext = the SD card you put in the slot.

When you move apps to the MEDIA area, using the button, it moves them to the "SDcard."
But, many apps let you store your data (Files, pictures, video, documents...) on the "SDcard-ext" storage.

Hope that makes it as clear as the mud it really is.

Yeahhh I want to move stuff onto the SD card that I put in. Moving them to the media area didn't put them on there. This is kinda confusing, what's the point of the "media area"?

 

[WolfmanRobby]

This is kinda confusing, what's the point of the "media area"?

• Storage for people that don't want to spend money on an SD card.
• It's internal to the phone, and not removable. This adds to the security as well as stability.
• Faster access. The read/write rate to the internal media is much faster than to an external SD card. Especially since most of us by the CHEAP Class2 cards that are SLOW!!!
• Convenience - I keep my pic's and ring tones on the internal media area. Nothing changes. I can pop the SD card out, and change the video's and MP3's I have on it, and my ringtones/contact pictures.. are not bothered. Not to mention, I can change SD cards. Maybe I have all my heavy metal MP3's on one, All my classical on another, and all my Midget-German-MudWrestling Porn on another!!!

 

[HankAtrix]

I am still trying to find an option to send the files to the external SD (the purchased 32GB one) but so far nothing works to move them yet. You can store pictures and video on the external one.

Hopefully there will be an option soon!?

 

[WolfmanRobby]

Hank -

This depends on what application you are using. Most apps have a place in the settings to change the default SAVE TO location for files. Just make a folder on the SD card and change the app to use it.

What app are you trying to change to write there? I wouldn't tell the camera to save there. The internal media area has a much faster read/write, meaning that your pic's will save faster (Be ready for the next shot faster) and the performance will be better (When you open them, zoom... it will run smoother). But, if you wanted to, just open the camera, choose Settings, and at the bottom is a "Storage Location" setting. Choose SD Card over Internal Phone Storage.

The EASIEST way to move things there. Download "File Expert" from the market. (It's free) - Select the files/folders you want, choose "CUT" - esc back until you see "SDCard-Ext" - go into there and choose "PASTE."

 

[HankAtrix]

Hello Forum - I am reaching out again to see if there are any new options for moving apps to the SD card (32gb) on the Atrix. They move pretty easily to the internal SD but there doesn't seem to be a way to move them to the external SD card (usnig either the internal tool or 3rd party apps like Apps2SD).

Thank you for your help!

 

[WolfmanRobby]

No - they move to the Media Area of the phone.
As discussed in the other thread, there are many reasons for this.
Mainly for speed. The phone can read/write from the internal media area MUCH faster than from an SD card in the ext card slot.

Not to mention, if you remove the SC card, it would break any application that was trying to run from it, causing crashes and force closes.

There is 10Gb of space in the Media area. That's plenty for applications.

Use the 32Gb SD card for storing things like Movies, MP3's....

 

[HankAtrix]

No - they move to the Media Area of the phone.
As discussed in the other thread, there are many reasons for this.
Mainly for speed. The phone can read/write from the internal media area MUCH faster than from an SD card in the ext card slot.

Not to mention, if you remove the SC card, it would break any application that was trying to run from it, causing crashes and force closes.

There is 10Gb of space in the Media area. That's plenty for applications.

Use the 32Gb SD card for storing things like Movies, MP3's....

Sorry - I meant for that message to go o everyone and not just this stream.

 

[WolfmanRobby]

Sorry - I meant for that message to go o everyone and not just this stream.

No, the mod's combined your thread into this one since it was a duplicate topic. That's why it's in this "Stream" (Thread).

 

[HankAtrix]

Hank -

This depends on what application you are using. Most apps have a place in the settings to change the default SAVE TO location for files. Just make a folder on the SD card and change the app to use it.

What app are you trying to change to write there? I wouldn't tell the camera to save there. The internal media area has a much faster read/write, meaning that your pic's will save faster (Be ready for the next shot faster) and the performance will be better (When you open them, zoom... it will run smoother). But, if you wanted to, just open the camera, choose Settings, and at the bottom is a "Storage Location" setting. Choose SD Card over Internal Phone Storage.

The EASIEST way to move things there. Download "File Expert" from the market. (It's free) - Select the files/folders you want, choose "CUT" - esc back until you see "SDCard-Ext" - go into there and choose "PASTE."

Thank you for taking the time to answer. Unfortunately, the Atrix won't even move 'movable' apps to the external SD card (my 32GB one). With movable Applications it simply moves them to the internal SD (media area).

Thanks again

 

[WolfmanRobby]

Thank you for taking the time to answer. Unfortunately, the Atrix won't even move 'movable' apps to the external SD card (my 32GB one). With movable Applications it simply moves them to the internal SD (media area).

Thanks again

There's a reason for that. Look up a few posts (#12) and I explain why.

 

[HankAtrix]

There's a reason for that. Look up a few posts (#12) and I explain why.

Hello - Yes I saw the post and agree the 10gb is good for most people. However, I have over 100 apps loaded and still looking for a workaround to get the movable apps onto the external SD. Most other 2.2/Froyo phones will allow it.

Thanks!

 

[WolfmanRobby]

The FroYo/GB OS can move applications to the area of the phone named "SDcard." On some phones, this is the card you put in.

However, as I've tried to explain. The Atrix considers the INTERNAL storage "SDcard" and the removable SD card you put in "SDcard-Ext."

See:


When you Move an app to the SD card on FroYo/GB, the operating system looks for it in "SDcard" - and on the Atrix, that's the internal storage. The FroYo/GB os builds do not know how to handle apps stored in "SDcard-ext" named storage.

You would have to re-write the firmware of the Atrix OS builds to have it change how it names the storage area to do what you want.

And, it's the same way on my other Android devices that have an internal storage area. Take my ViewSonic Tablet. It also has 16GB internal storage that it see's as "SDcard" and that's where it moves apps to. It calls the external SD card in the slot "SDcard-ext." And, it can't move apps to "SDcard-ext" either. - So, this is not an Atrix issue. It's how the Android OS builds see the storage areas of the devices.

 

[HankAtrix]

The FroYo/GB OS can move applications to the area of the phone named "SDcard." On some phones, this is the card you put in.

However, as I've tried to explain. The Atrix considers the INTERNAL storage "SDcard" and the removable SD card you put in "SDcard-Ext."

See:


When you Move an app to the SD card on FroYo/GB, the operating system looks for it in "SDcard" - and on the Atrix, that's the internal storage. The FroYo/GB os builds do not know how to handle apps stored in "SDcard-ext" named storage.

You would have to re-write the firmware of the Atrix OS builds to have it change how it names the storage area to do what you want.

And, it's the same way on my other Android devices that have an internal storage area. Take my ViewSonic Tablet. It also has 16GB internal storage that it see's as "SDcard" and that's where it moves apps to. It calls the external SD card in the slot "SDcard-ext." And, it can't move apps to "SDcard-ext" either. - So, this is not an Atrix issue. It's how the Android OS builds see the storage areas of the devices.

That was my understanding as well. However I am looking for "workarounds" that will let me do it (there seem to be plenty of workaround and 3rd party apps that overcome other shortfalls with these phones).

Thanks for the info. Hank

 

[peeps]

If you have downloaded apps from the market, naturally they go into the internal storage in the Atrix. The only workaround is to find the apps you want online, download them to your computer and install them directly on your sd card. From there you can install them directly to the phone. If you want to go through the time of doing so, I would create a folder on your sd card such as APK's and put all the apps there. However, as many people have said on previous posts, if you are running an app that is not on your internal storage, and the sd card tanks, then you will force close any apps that are running from the sd. As well, the internal storage generally is faster unless you have something like a class 10 sd which can be expensive, about 60 bucks. Make sure you phone is in usb mass storage mode when transfering any files to the sd and make sure you have checked the "Unknown Sources" box in your settings to install whatever you have downloaded to the external sd card. Please heed the advice of the other postings as well. Good luck and hope this helps.