Help Help understanding Storage on the Bionic

[Travisimo]

I searched the forums and Google but still haven't pieced together exactly how storage works on the Bionic. If I understand correctly, the SDCARD directory is actually stored in the internal memory of the Bionic, not on the sd card, right? So in this way, any application that normally installs or backs up to the sdcard directory is actually storing in the internal memory.

Here's my concern and questions:

1) I routinely back up my custom launcher (GO Launcher EX) using the built-in backup option. In this way, if I have to do a factory reset for some reason, I can easily restore my backup, making it easier to get things back to where they were. However, doesn't the "sdcard" directory also get erased during a factory reset? Which means my backup would also get erased. On my previous phone, for example, I could factory reset and my backups would still be on the sd card as "sdcard", which was separate from the main internal storage.

2) I also have the Mog streaming audio app on my phone, which I use all of the time. In Mog, you can download music files for offline viewing. And by default, Mog will download media files to the sd card. However, since it stores them in the "sdcard" directory, it is actually storing them in internal memory, NOT the sd card itself. There doesn't appear to be a setting to download the media files to the actual sd card. And I'm not sure if manually moving them with a file manager will work since Mog will likely lose track of where they are, no? I can see myself filling up the internal memory very quickly if I don't actually have an option to store the downloaded media files to the actual sd card????

3) When you do a factory reset, what actually gets erased? Does it erase both partitions of the internal storage? And if so, how can you ever back anything up if there is no setting in the backup apps to store/recover the backups to the actual sd card?

Any suggestions? Any clarification on how storage works on the Bionic would be helpful as well...

 

[johnlgalt]

I've made 2 other post about this - see http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid-bionic/418920-sdcard-ext-can-removed.html#post3250282 for a brief answer, and http://androidforums.com/bionic-all...ing-like-n00b-all-over-again.html#post3250165 for a more robust answer.

Now, to answer your specific questions:

1) No - unless you specifically format /sdcard, a factory reset will not format it on its own.

2) As I mentioned in the two linked posts, this is a hard coded issue that developers are eventually going to have to resolve. 2 posts before mine in the first link shows that Samsung Galaxy S also has this same setup, so I'm not thinking that this is a change in Android itself, and that we're stuck with it for a while. So, just like I've seen with other apps, I'm betting that you're right - since it is hard coded to DL those files to /sdcard that moving them to /sdcard-ext will, in fact, make them 'hidden from Mog. I'd write to the Mog developer about it to see if they can make an update to accommodate this change.

3) As mentioned above, factory reset only erases /data and /data/apps. Read more here at Motorola's website: https://motorola-global-portal.cust...id/69191/~/droid-bionic---external-hard-reset

Specifically, note this quotation:

...however, nothing stored on the Internal Storage Memory or MicroSD (if available), i.e., pictures, music, videos, etc. will be affected.