Is my phone backed up?

bertie11 · Jan 22, 2018

Hi all, new member here and my first Android phone since 5 days ago!
I have an Alcatel U5 4047x ( which doesn't seem to be on your list).
My specs are:
Android 7.0 Nougat
Version details are: 7.0 05.10.17
Baseband MT6580M
Kernel 3.18.35 Build no. 010 01.

My problem is that having installed a 2GB SD card, formatted it and transferred files via an option I found on the phone a couple of days later I started getting a notification saying that the SD card wasn't plugged in and/or corrupt. Having spent 3 days on trying to search for answers without finding a valid solution and trying 2 more SD cards (16GB, 64GB) and trying various format options like FAT32, EX-FAT I still cannot get the cards to work. I tried formatting as internal and external memory to no avail.

I have made sure (I think!) that my phone is being backed up as I am thinking I need to try to do a reset and start again but when I went into my Google account it said the drive was empty! So where are all my phone backups, especially all my configuration settings? Is Google Drive same as Google Cloud?

And how can I get round this SD card problem as I have found lots of instances with many different phones with the same problems. I'm in two minds as to whether to return the phone but then I would need to reset it anyway and if the seller then says they won't exchange it I would have to start all over again if my data hasn't been backup up! From what I have read it must be an Android problems hence seller won't change the phone as another one would do the same.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated as I'm not very happy after ditching a Windows Lumia for Android!
Thanks.

mikedt · Jan 22, 2018

Android requires FAT32 formatting, which should work. Where are the SDs coming from, where did you buy them? Suggest you check their integrity with SD Insight. Because there are a lot of fakes around which don't work, often sold on eBay.

bertie11 · Jan 22, 2018

I usually get my memory from MyMemory, I had been using these with Windows with no problems.
I've got another 16GB card coming from MyMemory tomorrow.
SD Insight isn't compatible with my device, according to Google Play.

bertie11 · Jan 22, 2018

I just tried another format of the 2GB card. Although it told me that Swiftkey isn't responding (I haven't even set it up and I wasn't doing anything other than waiting for format to finish) Format told me that the card was ready, go to settings/storage.That told me that the SD card was corrupted and two more items said that SD card not inserted!

svim · Jan 22, 2018

Any 2GB microSD card will be a) dated and not surprisingly prone to failing at this point and b) very, very slow as far as transfer speed. This article nicely sums up microSD card speeds, including a table on speed/functionality:
https://www.sdcard.org/developers/overview/speed_class/
Don't cheap out on a microSD card, they're relatively inexpensive and even though it's appealing to buy bargain-specials to save money up front, they're typically very problematic in the long run. This article has a more detailed summary on what to shop around for a good card:
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-microsd-card/

As for your phone, with only 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage, those are relatively specs for an Android phone so set your expectations accordingly. Lags and pauses in day-to-day performance and frequent 'out of storage memory' messages should be considered normal.
https://www.gsmarena.com/alcatel_u5-8591.php

bertie11 · Jan 22, 2018

Well now, the phone was doing all sorts of odd things, while formatting it came up with several apps that 'weren't responding' but then they weren't supposed to be doing anything anyway. Then although I had a good signal I could no longer connect to the internet.

So I bit the bullet and did a system reset and it went much more smoothly than I thought it would! I'm still puzzled as to where all the settings etc are backed up to as like I said earlier Google Drive was empty. I'm probably missing something here but I would like to know where a backup goes.

I then tried another 16GB SD and it went through the format ritual and said it was ready for use, it also said it was very slow (which was one of the points you raised!) but then it said the card was corrupt. OK, fair enough, I have another card arriving tomorrow,
TDK 16GB Micro SD Card (SDHC) - 30MB/s FFP which I assume will be a lot faster.

So thanks for your SD articles svim, I obviously hadn't made sure of what I was using, which were ones I had used in Windows 10 and a camera, where they had behaved OK.

I'll post back when I have the new card. I wanted to download offline maps and photos/music, the usual stuff.

Thanks!

svim · Jan 22, 2018

Also keep in mind the Backup functionality in your Settings menu is only referring to Google-related data, things like your Settings options. It does not cover your other data like photos, videos, music, and documents. Those things you need to set up some kind of backup solution for yourself. The Google Photos app will automatically backup and sync your photos and videos into your online Google account (which you can then access your photo library online via https://photos.google.com and/or by enabling the Google Drive option in the Google Photos app Settings menu). For other files and things, you can either use Google Drive and/or Google Docs, or third-party online storage services like Dropbox or OneDrive. With only 8GB of storage memory, you're going to need to rely quite a bit on online storage. Once you get your microSD card situation straightened out, be sure to put as much data as you can on the card. Go into your Camera app's Settings and point it's default save location to your card.

bertie11 · Jan 24, 2018

SD card not arrived yet so I'll respond anyway!

Actually, I'm not a 'typical' smartphone user, I carry one so wife and family can contact me and I very rarely give out my number.

Likewise, I won't want to install masses of music/photos etc so I won't need very much extra space for storage so I will probably just use the 16Gb card (assuming it works) and Drive.

Just remembered, I already use iDrive on my Windows laptop so I may as well use that instead of or as well as Google Drive.

I have seen references to Alcatel Smart Suite which is supposed to allow me to connect my phone to my laptop but I don't know if I'm supposed to install it on both or one or the other! It might be useful to connect to the laptop if I can work out how!

Thanks again svim, for your assistance, much appreciated!

bertie11 · Jan 25, 2018

Hi,
Well the new card is working but I'm told it is a bit slow (Type 10) but at least it is working so far.

I transferred a load of apps to the card only to discover that I should have selected to use external rather than internal so now I need to find out how I can transfer the Android files that were moved across to SD. I can see about 30 such files but I cannot see how I am supposed to move them back to their original source. I've got my downloaded apps moved back OK though.

I cannot find an app that will move these files back to where they came from. Once I've done that I then need to format the card for external use.

Any suggestions please?

svim · Jan 25, 2018

Assuming you used your phone's Settings to move those apps, as opposed to a third-party app, try going back into Settings >> Apps >> 'app to move' >> Storage >> Change and then move it back.

bertie11 · Jan 25, 2018

Yes, I was asked if I wanted to move files to SD and I said yes.
They appear to be mainly system files and I cannot see move when I open any of them. I imagine that they will be needed so I can't delete them.

bertie11 · Jan 26, 2018

I've just done another system reset and now trying again!

I formatted the SD card in my laptop as Fat32 and placed it in the U5, then selected to use as portable storage. I then attempted to download and install a large app but it finished up in the Internal Shared Storage again but I wanted it in the SD card! Most frustrating.

Can this be done or is it a vagary in my Alcatel U5? I really don't want to be going round in circles if I'm attempting something that can't be done.

Am I wrong in assuming that I can transfer apps to the SD card when setup as portable storage, for example I'm trying to get Firefox onto SD? Or it it only data like photos and music that I can use the SD for?

Thank you.

svim · Jan 26, 2018

First off you'd probably be better off formatting a new microSD card using your phone. That way the card itself will be more optimized for compatibility, as opposed to Windows setting it up primarily for Windows usage. (i.e. the default cluster size is 4KB, but if you inadvertently change it to more or less when using the Windows utility, that can create issues when using the card in different situations. FAT, and all its variations, is not a very robust file system to begin with, adding in non-standard options just adds to its weaknesses.)

Also some apps just can't be split up and moved to the card, plus there is an issue where some phones simply don't support moving apps to external cards in any case. Might be just as well, a Class 10 card is relatively slow so even if you were able to apps to it, the slower data transfer speed will hamper your phone's performance even more.

svim · Jan 26, 2018

YMMV:
https://howto-android.com/move-apps-to-sd-card-on-alcatel-u5/

bertie11 · Jan 26, 2018

I have finally started to make progress, as the penny had dropped, actually two pennies. I realised that not all apps were written so that they could be moved anyway and then I also discovered that if 'Change' came up after pressing storage then I knew that I could move it onto SD. Before, I had been using one app as a test so of course every time it failed as it wasn't able to be moved! Well, I am 82 so it takes a bit longer!

I managed to move just over 1GB onto SD so that has given me a bit more space to play with. I haven't noticed any speed programs so far but then I'm not a speed freak with a phone.

Thanks again svim, the learning curve is straightening out a bit now!

Is my phone backed up?

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