Moving the library (and all other content) to the SD Card

@cheyennedonna - Agreed. Not much benefit for me at the moment.

@Chas - Thanks for the insight. I thought it was something simple as a re-point. From storage space and file management/modification perspectives, I have wondered about the Library app. I suppose it works fine, but it appears efficiency and effectiveness using eDGe resources (internal or external) could be increased. Maybe we will experience such a quantum leap next upgrade.

This was from last week... (started this thread)

And if you remove the SD card once you've moved your content, you will only have limited abilities with the enTourage eDGe.

This from today on another thread...

Chas-
You can now move your library on to the SD Card. It will not be reversible though. You can have multiple libraries by just replacing the SD card with a new one.

So, is it safe to move the SD card, or not?

We need official clarification on *exactly* what this feature is doing, and point out what is true and not true among the observations posted by users so far.

GOOD IDEA! I'm hoping today's comment is correct. That would be awesome, boosting EE funtionality tremendously! As per Chas' comments re the write speed of the library... it would be nice to know if that is likely/possible to improve with future updates?

Originally Posted by borisb

sladwig's post (the one addressed to Chas) seems to suggest only the Library is moved, not the "home directory". This suggests you *should* be able to move your Library back to the internal SD card (something another user above said apparently couldn't be done).

We need official clarification on *exactly* what this feature is doing, and point out what is true and not true among the observations posted by users so far.

The opening dialog rather insistently warns:

Warning

This operation will move all of your content (library, downloaded files, documents, pictures, etc.) from internal storage to the SD card. This operation is permanent and can not be undone.

Prior to proceeding, please:
Save all current work.
Be certain you are connected to AC power or that your battery has at least 25% charge.

Please note that the software update process will result in a reboot of your device and take several minutes to complete.

Proceed?

That's certainly enough to discourage the casual passerby. The text says everything, not just the Library, is transferred.

I started the procedure and after a LONG while it determined I had sufficient space on the SD card, but then warned that it was better to use an empty card. So, I decided to abort it rather than risk messing up something. When I'm ready to try again I'll backup the SD card on another computer, and then restore it after I see what happened to the card.

Undoing it? The dialog says it cannot be undone, but Never Say Never where a computer is concerned. It probably means root access is required to change things (or yet another utility to transfer back to internal memory.)

Unfortunately, this feature is not reliable. I turned on my eDGe this morning only to find it ate my sd card.

Chas, have you had any more problems with this, since?

I just discovered this on the blogs. Looking forward to having things clarified.

sladwig - Yesterday 03:49 PM

Joe-
Sorry I didn't see your post sooner. I will write up a knowledge base article on SD card library storage and let you know when the article is available. I have to talk to engineering to confirm some details.

Susan

Originally Posted by aidren

Chas, have you had any more problems with this, since?

So far no. When it died, I did have to reformat it. I went with a full format instead of a quick. Now if the Library app wasn't so freaking slow (takes about 10 seconds to load).

Thanks, Chas.

(takes about 10 seconds to load)

I know you have about 4 gb of material in your library, but how big is your SD card?

Aidren--
I did write up this article. It's a pretty straightforward process.

https://www.entourageedge.com/suppor...barticleid=134

I'll check with testing and see if they have seen the problem that Chas did with the SD card content getting lost.

Susan

Thanks Susan,

It seems the more I find out... the more questions come to mind

Once you fill up an entire SD card, you can insert another one. This will open a new library. The two SD cards will be distinct. In other words, the two libraries will not be aware of each other.

So, do we have to completely fill each card, or will we be able to, let's say have 3 cards... each with a distinct library (Sciences, Lit, Art History)... that we can swap back and forth, as needed?... whether they are full or not.

Which leads to the next question. If individual library cards are swappable... are they hot swappable... or will the device need to be shut down... then swap the cards... and reboot with the new card in place?

Sorry to be such a nuisance. I just want to understand this well, before I implement it... and run in to a lot of trouble.

Originally Posted by aidren

Thanks, Chas.

I know you have about 4 gb of material in your library, but how big is your SD card?

32GB

Originally Posted by sladwig

Aidren--
I'll check with testing and see if they have seen the problem that Chas did with the SD card content getting lost.

Susan

Just to provide a little more info in that case, I had moved to the sd card. The day after I moved to it, it came up as a blank card. Storage settings showed it was 0MB and did not give the option to format or unmount. I did try power cycling the eDGe a few time also. Eventually I stuck it in a Windows machine. Windows said it needed to be formatted. The format window showed the proper capacity. I did the slow full format and so far eveything's worked since.

I am still unclear on this. Has anyone tried this?

Once you fill up an entire SD card, you can insert another one. This will open a new library. The two SD cards will be distinct. In other words, the two libraries will not be aware of each other.

This is suggesting that we can have swappable libraries... are they hot swappable?... or will the device need to be shut down... then swap the cards... and reboot with the new card in place?