Request Option to direct /sdcard to desired location

techiem2 · 05-02-2010, 02:00 PM

This may or may not be reasonable, depending on just how the Edge is written to handle locations, but it would be nice to be able to define whether /sdcard points to the internal storage or external storage.

Something like mounting the internal in /intsdcard and external and /extsdcard and then an option to specify which one /sdcard points to.

This would allow us to store application data, etc. on an external SD card if desired, since most apps do not have an option for where to store their data and always go to /sdcard. There are some apps some would like to use (such as WikiDroyd), but cannot take full advantage of (like using an actual Wikipedia dump) due to them storing their data in /sdcard, which does not have enough space for large datasets.

(If the internal memory and sd card were both using ext2/ext3, you could theoretically - if there was an app that would support making them - just go in and symlink the data directories for certain apps to your sdcard to put their data there - actually this would work if the internal sd memory was ext3 since that's where the symlinks would be - symlinks can be on an ext partition and point to a location on fat, but alas they are aren't using ext.)

As I said, this may not be reasonable as it may require a fairly hefty overhaul of the Edge setup to ensure certain things (like applications...) are always installed to the internal memory, but it would be nice.

cheyennedonna · 05-02-2010, 02:29 PM

Many Android users have been waiting for the option to install apps to the SD card, Google has announced this function as coming soon. More reason for this fix.

rongoms · 05-03-2010, 07:42 PM

It's in 2.2.

But be aware that lots of application devs will not allow this.
We (Nitrodesk) allow moving the TouchDown DB to the SD card. it's more risky than having it run in he native memory, but not tremendously so.

Is this where i go off on my rant about not rooting your device and installing custom ROMs are evil and of the devil?

10tklz · 05-03-2010, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rongoms

It's in 2.2.
it's more risky than having it run in he native memory, but not tremendously so.

More risky in what respect? Are you talking security or data loss?

rongoms · 05-03-2010, 11:43 PM

If the card become dismounted for any reason while it's being written, bad, bad things happen. This happens more often than you would think. It can result in a corruption of the DB.

There is also a known bug with the 2.0/2.1 OS where Android just arbitrarily decides that the DB is corrupt (it's not) and deletes it. We have fix this in TouchDown, but lots of other applications are still susceptible to it.

cheyennedonna · 05-04-2010, 11:19 AM

That could be ugly with apps that use a database, but my G1 is so space limited and there are so many large apps. I'm constantly uninstalling some to try others. Android needs 1/3 of its space free to run with any speed so I can see the potential for the edge app space to fill up too soon as well. (Ive never had the nerve to try and root my phone, afraid to brick it)

05-02-2010, 02:00 PM	#1
techiem2 Edge User	Option to direct /sdcard to desired location This may or may not be reasonable, depending on just how the Edge is written to handle locations, but it would be nice to be able to define whether /sdcard points to the internal storage or external storage. Something like mounting the internal in /intsdcard and external and /extsdcard and then an option to specify which one /sdcard points to. This would allow us to store application data, etc. on an external SD card if desired, since most apps do not have an option for where to store their data and always go to /sdcard. There are some apps some would like to use (such as WikiDroyd), but cannot take full advantage of (like using an actual Wikipedia dump) due to them storing their data in /sdcard, which does not have enough space for large datasets. (If the internal memory and sd card were both using ext2/ext3, you could theoretically - if there was an app that would support making them - just go in and symlink the data directories for certain apps to your sdcard to put their data there - actually this would work if the internal sd memory was ext3 since that's where the symlinks would be - symlinks can be on an ext partition and point to a location on fat, but alas they are aren't using ext.) As I said, this may not be reasonable as it may require a fairly hefty overhaul of the Edge setup to ensure certain things (like applications...) are always installed to the internal memory, but it would be nice.

05-02-2010, 02:29 PM	#2
cheyennedonna Edge User	Android will soon incorporate apps to SD card Many Android users have been waiting for the option to install apps to the SD card, Google has announced this function as coming soon. More reason for this fix.

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05-03-2010, 07:42 PM	#3
rongoms Edge User	It's in 2.2. But be aware that lots of application devs will not allow this. We (Nitrodesk) allow moving the TouchDown DB to the SD card. it's more risky than having it run in he native memory, but not tremendously so. Is this where i go off on my rant about not rooting your device and installing custom ROMs are evil and of the devil?

05-03-2010, 11:43 PM	#5
rongoms Edge User	If the card become dismounted for any reason while it's being written, bad, bad things happen. This happens more often than you would think. It can result in a corruption of the DB. There is also a known bug with the 2.0/2.1 OS where Android just arbitrarily decides that the DB is corrupt (it's not) and deletes it. We have fix this in TouchDown, but lots of other applications are still susceptible to it.

05-04-2010, 11:19 AM	#6
cheyennedonna Edge User	That could be ugly with apps that use a database, but my G1 is so space limited and there are so many large apps. I'm constantly uninstalling some to try others. Android needs 1/3 of its space free to run with any speed so I can see the potential for the edge app space to fill up too soon as well. (Ive never had the nerve to try and root my phone, afraid to brick it)