[HOW TO] Save all Google Play Music to External SD Card

kellin

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Edit: I had no idea so many people would find this useful, so here's a couple of details regarding the scenario that worked for me:

- My phone is rooted.

- I have the Sprint GS3.

- I'm running CM 10.2.

If you're running a different ROM / variant, do a little research on the directories to make sure you can find the right folders.

Now, on to the original post:

I often have trouble finding a guide for this, so here are the SUPER simple steps.

1. Using ROM Toolbox (lite works), open Root Browser and create a folder on your external SD card named "GoogleMusic"

2. Create a folder in "GoogleMusic" named "files"

3. Long press "files" to bring up the menu and hit "Create Shortcut"

4. Without making any more selections, navigate to "/data/data/com.google.android.music/" and DELETE the "files" folder that exists there. Unfortunately this will delete all of your existing offline music. If you wish to bypass this, copy the "files" folder to your "GoogleMusic" folder on your external SD card, then proceed from step 3.

5. Hit the "Create" button to create your shortcut.

That's it! I was surprised at the simplicity. Google Play Music will now store all offline data to your "folder," which is actually a shortcut to another folder, which you created, on your external SD card.

WARNING: If you perform a factory reset or ANYTHING like that, this may still delete your music. To prevent this, delete the "files" shortcut from "/data/data/com.google.android.music/" BEFORE doing the wipe. Your files will stay safe.

Voil?!

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spmode

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How do you prevent Google Music from adding the songs stored in number format from your external SD? It's adding songs twice, one from the files/music folder, and then again from the external SD.
 

Valid8r

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Thanks for the write up. I'm having two problems with the following.

3. Long press "files" to bring up the menu and hit "Create Shortcut"
(When I try to create the shortcut with ROM Toolbox indicating that the creation failed and a message about some SD cards not being compatible... rooting is new to me so I'm not sure what this is about)

4. Without making any more selections, navigate to "/data/data/com.google.android.music/" and DELETE the "files" folder that exists there. Unfortunately this will delete all of your existing offline music. If you wish to bypass this, copy the "files" folder to your "GoogleMusic" folder on your external SD card, then proceed from step 3.
(My second problem here is that I can not find this path anywhere. I can only find a /data/data directory on my SD card which I know isn't where it should be, on my device, I can only find a /data directory with nothing similar...
Edit: I can see this directory path (/data/data/com.google.android.music/) on my device when I use windows explorer, but not from within ROM Toolbox. Any ideas where it might be found?
Any ideas? Thanks,
Jon
 
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Mitri360

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I used the rom toolbox method on my s3 worked beautifully. On my s4 it deletes the songs everyday. Refuses to keep them on the external sd. When I delete the shortcut and leave it internal it's fine.

Any way to fix that?
 

Kandisa4u

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I am stuck here. I have recently upgraded the stock rom of my Note 2 to leaked Android 4.3 JB. And below is the error message that I continuously get when I am trying to create a shortcut of a cache folder from my external sd card to Note 2's internal SD card using ROM Toolbox. I did not experience this problem or issue when I did the same using the Stock ROM.

Please can you point or guide me in the right direction.

Also Continuous Input/Swype and AllShare Cast/Mirror to my Samsung AllShare Cast dongle/hub (connected to my TV) has stopped working too since this upgrade.

Please see the attached pics for more information.

Many thanks.
2013-10-16 01.27.25.png
2013-10-15 21.58.41.png2013-10-15 21.51.16.png2013-10-15 21.52.17.png
 

kellin

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How do you prevent Google Music from adding the songs stored in number format from your external SD? It's adding songs twice, one from the files/music folder, and then again from the external SD.

That's a completely different "issue." The music files you place on your SD card from your computer will automatically be scanned by Google Play Music and displayed in your phone's library. I suggest uploading your local files to your Google Play Music online library via Google Music Manager, then making them available offline on your phone after doing the steps in the original post. This keeps your library far more consistent. Sorry if I missed anything or didn't fully answer your question.

Posted via Android Central App
 

kellin

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Mar 27, 2011
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Thanks for the write up. I'm having two problems with the following.

3. Long press "files" to bring up the menu and hit "Create Shortcut"
(When I try to create the shortcut with ROM Toolbox indicating that the creation failed and a message about some SD cards not being compatible... rooting is new to me so I'm not sure what this is about)

4. Without making any more selections, navigate to "/data/data/com.google.android.music/" and DELETE the "files" folder that exists there. Unfortunately this will delete all of your existing offline music. If you wish to bypass this, copy the "files" folder to your "GoogleMusic" folder on your external SD card, then proceed from step 3.
(My second problem here is that I can not find this path anywhere. I can only find a /data/data directory on my SD card which I know isn't where it should be, on my device, I can only find a /data directory with nothing similar...
Edit: I can see this directory path (/data/data/com.google.android.music/) on my device when I use windows explorer, but not from within ROM Toolbox. Any ideas where it might be found?
Any ideas? Thanks,
Jon

Depending on your model and ROM, the directory may be elsewhere. You also must be rooted. Do a bit of research, considering the updated original post and the info I just gave you.

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kellin

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I used the rom toolbox method on my s3 worked beautifully. On my s4 it deletes the songs everyday. Refuses to keep them on the external sd. When I delete the shortcut and leave it internal it's fine.

Any way to fix that?

That's an interesting issue, but unfortunately I have no idea why it happens. Best of luck.

Posted via Android Central App
 

kellin

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Mar 27, 2011
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I am stuck here. I have recently upgraded the stock rom of my Note 2 to leaked Android 4.3 JB. And below is the error message that I continuously get when I am trying to create a shortcut of a cache folder from my external sd card to Note 2's internal SD card using ROM Toolbox. I did not experience this problem or issue when I did the same using the Stock ROM.

Please can you point or guide me in the right direction.

Also Continuous Input/Swype and AllShare Cast/Mirror to my Samsung AllShare Cast dongle/hub (connected to my TV) has stopped working too since this upgrade.

Please see the attached pics for more information.

Many thanks.
View attachment 86883
View attachment 86884View attachment 86886View attachment 86888

Sadly, I have no clue what the issue is. The best I can do is recommend some intense Googling.

Posted via Android Central App
 

joeyp2003

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when songs go into the external sd folder we've created is there any feature to "find" a song once they've become the coded numbers? (for example if look at a phone on my mac i have the option to "show in finder") is there a way to do that through google music... yes this is so i can share some songs that I have "all access" to
 

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