can /sdcard point to the sd card please?

[warrl]

It seems like a simple request...

I've rooted the machine, then:
* manually moved the mount points (they get moved back on reboot)
* doctored vold.fstab (could not get /sdcard to stop referring to the internal card)
* tried ICS SD Binder (does nothing, perhaps because this device actually mounts the external card at a non-standard location)
* searched for, but not found, another process or configuration file that imposes the built-in settings

Right now I'm using FolderMount which *can* (with the premium version) actually cause the external card to completely mask the internal emulated card and appear to be /sdcard - but it isn't really and in this use it makes the OS unstable; the preferred use is to map individual folders.

What I really want is to have the external card really be on /sdcard and the internal emulated card be available at some other point.

Has anyone made that happen? If so, how?

 

[zoranfooboo]

I've rooted the machine, then:
* manually moved the mount points (they get moved back on reboot)

fstab manages filesystems on all unices. I have no tablet by hand right now,
but it should mount what it is written in it. Be careful what you put inside.

doctored vold.fstab (could not get /sdcard to stop referring to the internal card)

So, it is named somehow else. Find the correct name first.

Right now I'm using FolderMount which *can* (with the premium version) actually cause the external card to completely mask the internal emulated card and appear to be /sdcard - but it isn't really and in this use it makes the OS unstable; the preferred use is to map individual folders.
What I really want is to have the external card really be on /sdcard and the internal emulated card be available at some other point.

Just names. Nothing else. If you feel ready to rename "sdcard" in all instances it is
used, you might miss one or two and find yourself out of the water.
In short: pay no attention to the sdcard name.
Best regrards.

 

[warrl]

The correct name for the fstab file is vold.fstab.

However, I found a pointer to a document on Android removable storage and it details TWO processes that might override vold.fstab.

Unfortunately, I'm not finding the configuration file for either one in the locations the article specifies. Which isn't surprising considering the number of other strange things I've found in this device (e.g. /mnt/sdcard and /mnt/sdcard2 are both symlinks).

As for the advice to pay no attention to the names: sorry, they are not just names, they are parts of file paths. Some apps know (no choice!) that their data belongs on /sdcard (or to be more precise, on /mnt/sdcard), and I actually want it on the external card. Some apps think that a file with a different path is a different file, and I have apps with over a megabyte of metadata about their collections of hundreds of data files - a significant fraction of which is in response to user inputs. Which would be bad enough if it were a one-time conversion, but I routinely synchronize this stuff between two Android device and the other one puts the SD card at /sdcard (plus a Windows box as intermediary and backup provider).

 

[zoranfooboo]

The correct name for the fstab file is vold.fstab.
Unfortunately, I'm not finding the configuration file for either one in the locations the article specifies. Which isn't surprising considering the number of other strange things I've found in this device (e.g. /mnt/sdcard and /mnt/sdcard2 are both symlinks).

I use freebsd and openbsd all the way down, and always use configuration file to tame the app.
Android is new toy to me, still cannot find myself in it.
My best guess is that rooting the device did something. I hardly expect it to change paths, but
who knows. If default device uses proper links and paths, what might change to abandon them?
I assume that app could ask for the place to be installed if not from play store. On bsd I some-
times change the path to suit me. On android? Dunno.

As for the advice to pay no attention to the names: sorry, they are not just names, they are parts of file paths. Some apps know (no choice!) that their data belongs on /sdcard (or to be more precise, on /mnt/sdcard), and I actually want it on the external card. Some apps think that a file with a different path is a different file, and I have apps with over a megabyte of metadata about their collections of hundreds of data files - a significant fraction of which is in response to user inputs. Which would be bad enough if it were a one-time conversion, but I routinely synchronize this stuff between two Android device and the other one puts the SD card at /sdcard (plus a Windows box as intermediary and backup provider).

What if the app asks for file name with full path? In that case you might make a simlink and put file elsewhere.
Then it would not matter if you have wrong directory, for the link makes it going to your sd card hardware.
I am very, very new to android and cannot believe how it was configured. It always surprizes me.
Best regards.