Help Can't navigate to the MicroSD card

[JayAaroBe]

If I go through the file browser, I can go browse around in either the internal 8GB storage or my 32GB MicroSD card storage. However, in other situations, the highest it will let me browse back is to the home folder of the internal 8GB storage.

Example: Before I bought my Bionic, I had a BlackBerry which I also had my 32GB MicroSD card in, and I got the application PodTrapper. The application allows you to select where to store the downloaded podcasts, and I chose my 32GB MicroSD card. No problem.

However, when I tried to do the same thing on my Bionic, the highest directory I can browse back to is the home folder of the internal 8GB storage. It won't let me "go back" a step and see my 32GB MicroSD card.

And this problem is not unique to this application. Another example is Dropbox. Again, I can't browse to the 32GB MicroSD card.

So for all intents and purposes, my 32GB MicroSD card is wasted since I can only use the internal 8GB storage.

I tried to ask the developers of the applications but I got no help. There must be some setting with the Bionic that I am overlooking, because otherwise this is a serious flaw. I'd be surprised if I'm the only one who has noticed this. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

 

[Thom]

It was done that way on purpose to hide the system files from the user.

The inconsistency in naming the cards causes confusion. That is explained in ... http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid-bionic/438060-bionic-reference-terms-links.html.

The way to see the structure more completely is to install the Astro app from the Play Store. At the top of the Astro display there is an Up arrow. Hit that to go up one level and you will see the SD and SD-Ext card structures.

When you go up (it is actually down but that is another whole subject) you can then select a number of folders and they are reported as empty.

You never manipulate an installed program by adding or deleting it directly (unless you are root-ed). You click on its distributed copy and it gives you the option to install. You can go in with various managers click on the file and will be given the option to uninstall.

There is a whole area of the Bionic that you cannot directly manipulate (unless you are root-ed).

The install program for new versions of the system also installs updates to the pre-installed programs that came with your Bionic. If you delete one of these pre-installed programs (AKA bloatware) and it needs to be updated by the system update then the system update will fail ... until you restore the program you deleted.

Never delete them.

If this is an area of interest for you, check out ... Bionic - All Things Root - Android Forums.

... Thom

 

[johnlgalt]

If I go through the file browser, I can go browse around in either the internal 8GB storage or my 32GB MicroSD card storage. However, in other situations, the highest it will let me browse back is to the home folder of the internal 8GB storage.

Example: Before I bought my Bionic, I had a BlackBerry which I also had my 32GB MicroSD card in, and I got the application PodTrapper. The application allows you to select where to store the downloaded podcasts, and I chose my 32GB MicroSD card. No problem.

However, when I tried to do the same thing on my Bionic, the highest directory I can browse back to is the home folder of the internal 8GB storage. It won't let me "go back" a step and see my 32GB MicroSD card.

And this problem is not unique to this application. Another example is Dropbox. Again, I can't browse to the 32GB MicroSD card.

So for all intents and purposes, my 32GB MicroSD card is wasted since I can only use the internal 8GB storage.

I tried to ask the developers of the applications but I got no help. There must be some setting with the Bionic that I am overlooking, because otherwise this is a serious flaw. I'd be surprised if I'm the only one who has noticed this. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

It's not the phone in and of itself, per se. it is the fact that the phone has 2 storage locations but many apps are not written to to accommodate using multiple locations for storage.

Dropbox is hard coded to use a particular location (now, that location is \sdcard\Android\date\com.dropbox.com\ with at least two folders in that location, \files\ and \cache\). No amount of messing with the Android system will allow you to change that location - it's hard coded into Dropbox. For more information, see Change Dropbox folder location on Android?