What use is my SD card?

[Mustachio]

I just got my Verizon Note II and put a 32GB SD card into it. I've installed about 2GB worth of apps and files, and all of it is on the internal storage. None of it went to the SD card. I downloaded albums full of music from Amazon MP3 and it put it into the internal storage. I used the File Manager to move the MP3s to my SD card but now Amazon MP3 can't find them. Even telling it to scan my storage returns empty searches. It seems that Amazon MP3 can't scan the SD card; for that matter, I haven't seen a single app that can detect the SD card.

Of course, Settings > Storage sees the SD card; I formatted it using the format option found there.

So I have to ask: WHAT GOOD IS THE SD CARD SLOT??

What do I have to do to make use of that 32GB of free space?

As you can tell, I'm a total noob when it comes to Verizon and Samsung, having come from Sprint and HTC. Love the phone, but I need to get around its quirks.

 

[B. Diddy]

Google Music and every other music player app (MortPlayer, PowerAmp, MixZing) has been able to locate music on the external SD card of my Razr Maxx. In your case with the Amazon MP3 app, it might have something to do with the fact that you downloaded the music using the app, then moved it manually using a different app. It might be that Amazon MP3 does some kind of indexing when it downloads, and if you move the files, the app can't locate them any more.

What I do is insert my external SD card directly into my computer, then copy music files from there directly onto the SD card, using the same folder hierarchy that the computer uses (Artist/Album/Song), and I save it all in a folder on the root directory called "Music." When I reinsert the SD card back into my phone, the system scans the card and finds any additional music files (which is what the Media Scanner app is doing whenever you reinsert your SD card). When I open Google Music, the music is right there.

In general, the benefit of SD cards is to store media files like music, videos, movies, photos, etc. Some apps can use the SD card for additional data storage, and you can usually set the camera app to save to the SD card instead of internal storage. It's a bummer that you can't install apps directly onto the SD (unless you root the phone), but if you think about it, doing so can make things unstable. For example, if you were to open an app installed on the SD card, and then the card being unmounted or jarred loose for some reason, that could cause the system to crash.

 

[Mustachio]

You're right, MortPlayer does let me play anything on my SD card. Unfortunately it looks like every app that is pre-installed on the phone is blind to the existence of the SD card. Well, except for the Camera app, which detected it and gave me the option to use it as storage.

Apps shouldn't crash just because the SD card isn't accessible, however. They should be designed so that they would display a helpful error message and then gracefully close in such a case. SIGH.

 

[pool_shark]

The purpose of the SD card is for storage obviously.

I have well over 200 songs, 7 or 8 movies, 40+ South Park episodes, tons of pictures, titanium backups, nandroid, etc.

 

[B. Diddy]

You're right, MortPlayer does let me play anything on my SD card. Unfortunately it looks like every app that is pre-installed on the phone is blind to the existence of the SD card. Well, except for the Camera app, which detected it and gave me the option to use it as storage.

Apps shouldn't crash just because the SD card isn't accessible, however. They should be designed so that they would display a helpful error message and then gracefully close in such a case. SIGH.

Yes, but look at it this way: it's as if you were running a program on an older computer with a floppy disk (remember those?), and suddenly ejected the disk while it was accessing. Removable data doesn't like it when you do that, even today!

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Jay Sacks]

Sounds like you need a file manager to make better use of all that storage.

Hope this takes you to ES file manager

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ls?id=com.estrongs.android.pop&token=4DsSKfdV
Sent from my SCH-I605 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Mustachio]

I'm coming from the HTC Evo line (EVO 4G, EVO 3D), which allows you to install right to the external SD card, or at least, use an App2SD app to move it for you. HTC doesn't automatically assume that I'm not smart enough to leave the SD card inserted.

 

[JayDroid78]

I've had 3 HTC EVO's and loved them. The EVO 4G Lte version however, has some of these same issues. Look up an app called GL to SD. If I remember right, I think I was using this app before rooting my fon. Apps you move to your card (mainly large game apps, but some others may work) you then open this app to open the apps installed to sd. It's a little bit of a workaround, but has been very helpful for me.

Update: No sorry, Root access is required for this to work. Easiest way to root the Verizon Note 2 (that I know of) is BackAtchaVerizon or Casual by Adam Outler over on the XDA developers website.

 

[Jude526]

I don't save apps to SD card even though some apps can be saved. I use it for photos and music

sent from my amazing Note2