[AC Question]

Hi, I wanted to know that as i have a non rooted android phone , i want to change the default install location to memory card by using the method of Android SDK of using the terminal by entering the command of somewhat pmsetinstalllocation. Will it be safe on a non rooted device and will it void my warranty ?

[Golfdriver97]

Welcome to the forums. That is changing part of the base ROM, which may require root access anyway. Even if not, you would have to change it to the SD card, which is a less reliable storage method than the internal.

What device do you have?

[Janit Lodha]

I am having Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime , so can you give me a simple and short answer ? Is it safe or not ?

(I have logged in to the account and now i am replying , so dont get confused about the post owner and me )

[Golfdriver97]

I don't know if its safe or not. I personally wouldn't do it.

From an AOSP M8

[Janit Lodha]

Any advice ? or can you ask somebody ?

[Golfdriver97]

I would not even consider suggesting to do it for several reasons:

1. You are messing with system files/codes. Any of them may be attached to the bootloader (which I am guessing they will be as a storage change is most likely connected there)
2. If there is any mistake in any of these changes, you may have a bricked device. There may be no correcting it short of reflashing your ROM. If the changes kill the USB port, recovering your device may not be possible.
3. Assuming the changes are successful, I will reiterate that the SD card is not as stable as the internal storage. Corruption can easily happen. I have had it happen on 2 SanDisks and 1 PNY. Not always fun to try and recover.

[Js Chase]

Hey, I have actually just tried this on my z3 lock boot loader non-rooted. The command seemed to work, and adb shell pm get- install-location confirmed location 2, but install from play store came back insufficient storage. If you find out anything please post.

Posted via the Android Central App

[LeoRex]

Using the SD card for app usage is a risky proposition.. .first, pretty much every method requires root access. There are apps that can do think.. Link2SD is one that comes to mind. But that requires you to repartition the SD card to include an ext2/3 partition and then mount that to the data partition... this has a tendancy to corrupt SD cards and the partition can get 'lost' without notice and the data completely chewed up. I played around with this back a year or so ago and I killed a perfectly good SD card in the process (and kind of messed up my phone requiring flashing the factory image (it was a Galaxy SIII by the way).

There might be other ways.. maybe an Xposed module.

A direct method like you are trying, I have no idea how stable that will be. Google pulled the functionality from Android a long time ago, so you are kind of fighting against the current.

But in every case, its still risky. SD cards are not really designed for that kind of access and you are asking for trouble (in my opinion).

[xocomaox]

You need to be rooted for this, in my opinion.

[LeoRex]

What release of Android is it running? Another thing to keep in mind is that in KitKat, Google locked a lot of the SD card down to tighten security while they worked out a better method of access (which they've incorporated into Lollipop). That might cause some roadblocks as well.

[Janit Lodha]

I am running 4.4.4 , and ya LeoRex is right i can't use file manager they restrict the changes in the sd card whenever i create a new folder in sd card it says Permission Denied or something like that .

So what should i do , do it or not ?

Thanks In Advance
Janit