Kitkat Issue: Can't Write to External SD Card

[Miguel Soares]

i've bought a ASUS transformer pad (tf103c) yesterday with a microSD 64GB card... it came with android KIT KAT....
and now polaris office (or any other office i tried) cant save my edited files in the card! the card costed me 35€!!

now in class i cant edit my files and properly save them on the SD card i bought JUST for that purpose.
i have to go and save everything on some sdcard directory in the internal memory then manually lose time to copy to the external sd card.

what was google thinking?? they cannot just prevent people from using their paid external memory cards!
i dunno what to do now!
maybe send this back and go windows!??
my friends warned me about android flaws and warned me windows would be better but no one told me about this SD restriction crap!

any advise? i dont even know if asus made this tablet possile for a next android update just in case goggle gains some sense and restores sd card writting acess.

i am ashamed i did not dig into this.. i investigated the tablet before buying it and totally forgot the android os research.

 

[bluzman]

This issue will be solved when Google becomes aware of very expensive and lengthy class action lawsuits headed in their direction because they have restricted access to the SD Card with their operating system. They have affected the use of the SD card for millions of users, and it is :no longer fit for the intended purpose" and unrestricted storage on the SD Card is one of the the reasons we bought the S4 android phone and sd card in the first place!

I'll preface this by saying it's strictly my opinion but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a lawsuit unless you are personally going to initiate one. While it's a real issue in my view, it's also my belief that the vast majority of Android users either don't actually realize this has occurred or they simply don't care that they must deal with an "inconvenience". That's the demographic from which Samsung makes money, not the those who parse and understand all the nuances of changes to the operating system. Like I said, JMO.

 

[bluzman]

I'm running the latest version (1.17.0.47) of File Manager from Cheetah Mobile (https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...etails?id=com.rhmsoft.fm&hl=en&token=wSWjTRjC) on my S4.
It allows me to copy/move files as follows:
1) internal memory <=> external SD card
2) external SD card <=> cloud storage (Dropbox)

It allows me to copy/move folders as follows:
1) internal memory => external SD card but not the reverse
2) cloud storage (Dropbox) => external SD card but not the reverse

Also, it will:
1) allow me to delete files on external SD card
2) NOT allow me to rename files on external SD card
3) allow me to create a new folder directly on external SD card
4) NOT allow me to rename or delete folders on external SD card

Oddly, the tablet version of this app, File Manager HD (https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ils?id=com.rhmsoft.fm.hd&hl=en&token=t77D3Flh), does NOT allow these functions on my Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 which is also running KitKat 4.4.2. On that device, I have to use My Files. Go figure.

The latest update to File Manager from Cheetah Mobile no longer exhibits these limited, albeit useful, functions. Frankly, it may be due to the latest Verizon update or the app itself - not sure which.

EDIT: Deleted latest version of File Manager and installed old version that had functionality described - no joy. It seems that it's the latest Verizon update that has negated what limited functions that had remained from this app.

 

[P Schmied]

i've bought a ASUS transformer pad (tf103c) yesterday with a microSD 64GB card... it came with android KIT KAT....
and now polaris office (or any other office i tried) cant save my edited files in the card! the card costed me 35€!!

now in class i cant edit my files and properly save them on the SD card i bought JUST for that purpose.
i have to go and save everything on some sdcard directory in the internal memory then manually lose time to copy to the external sd card.

what was google thinking?? they cannot just prevent people from using their paid external memory cards!
i dunno what to do now!
maybe send this back and go windows!??
my friends warned me about android flaws and warned me windows would be better but no one told me about this SD restriction crap!

any advise? i dont even know if asus made this tablet possile for a next android update just in case goggle gains some sense and restores sd card writting acess.

i am ashamed i did not dig into this.. i investigated the tablet before buying it and totally forgot the android os research.

 

[P Schmied]

There is an Asus update to the system software that enables the abilty to move/reconfigure apps to use extsd for their data. Since the new firmware was pushed to my Asus device, I've been able to use the File Explorer to do this change. 3GB of large files now reside on my 32GB external card, most of it put there by apps I reconfigured with File Explorer. Some newly installed apps recognised the extsd was availab!e and asked if I wanted to use it for data storage.

Register using My Asus. You'll get a notification that the update is available, then using Settings/About/System Update, apply the update after the device is fully charged, restarted, and otherwise idle.

Btw, there are othdr improvements in this upgrade. Miracast is made simpler to use. Pairs of some updated apps can be run in two simultaneous desktop window panes.

 

[MarathonMan]

Thank you.
Works fine on Note 4 running 4.4.4

 

[arfazero]

ok but id like to know where the button was ... saying warning this "new" and "improved" os will F*&# your sd card up. and now your hand held computing device will be downgraded to an apple thanks for signing up on a two year contract noob... you know what google I want a refund on every app I have purchased to date and also all the hand held devices capable of running this "****kat" 4.4.
yes bro im F&^%$^ mad bro.

#where'smyelephant

hay Google stop using apple source code

I wonder if the next I device will have integrated sdcard with read wright access able to be control by user preference with a ..... button omg I wonder why Google never thought of a button that would imply choice.

sad when I a forced to root my device the last time I did so was so I could upgrade my sgs1 to froyo because apparently it couldn't handle the new bloat ware

o and thanks to sam knox for making this task evan more annoying.
I wonder if theres a slim rom for sgs5 yet???
only issue that had was no fm radio
o wait they removed that to add more bloat ware in the stock nvm guess no reason not to root

 

[Benjamin Ohman]

Another app that seems to work good is file expert.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Martyn Britton]

Hello. I wonder if someone could help me out here. I have a note 3 device with stock Sammy fw. I don't mind the my files app. In fact I really quite like the ui and ability to ftp direct from the start page to my Web server. Three only problem I have is it doesn't support or open lots of file types where apps like explorer gives you the option to choose from any app installed on your device.

Is there any file manager which yet can fully access the sd card without problems? I had a small update 1.something mb software update the other day hoping this would fix it but it hasn't.

I tried xplore. Explore. Es. Astro. And none of them can create move copy or delete any file on the sd card.

I understand totally how Linux works. Being there is 2 removable memory's as Linux classes the default internal storage as external. Removable memory. It has to. It's the way all Linux os are in there file structures. But why completely cut us off access our physical removable memory? Are Google doing this because they want us to root our devices? This is the only reason valid. Rooting wouldn't normally be a problem for me. In fact I promote it. But I have several apps that simply don't work on rooted devices and no hide root apps work.


So now apps can only request permissions from one single fold er on the sd card. This is cool. I can work with this. It's there any app which has updated they're permission to use this yet? I just use extSdCard/sdcard/ all my stuff giving sdcard the permissions with full access.
Suggestions?

 

[vidness]

Hey guys, I have forever been rooted, so I knew not of these woes. But I recently upgraded to the non-rooted Note 4 thinking, "oh, it won't be so bad non-rooted!" And here we are. Being somewhat of a power user, my sd card is very integral to my needs on my phone. So for us non-rooted guys, you need two things:

Package name viewer
ES File Explorer

Get the package name of your app you want to have the ability to save to the sdcard with the package name viewer. Then create a directory using ES file explorer (or anything) with that package name in Extsdcard:/Android/data

For example, to have free reign with ES file explorer, create the directory:

/Android/data/com.estrongs.android.pop

And then ES can read/write/delete anything in that subdirectory. I'm still working on getting back the automation I used to have, but this is a start.

 

[Daboodah]

Get the package name of your app you want to have the ability to save to the sdcard with the package name viewer. Then create a directory using ES file explorer (or anything) with that package name in Extsdcard:/Android/data

For example, to have free reign with ES file explorer, create the directory:

/Android/data/com.estrongs.android.pop

And then ES can read/write/delete anything in that subdirectory. I'm still working on getting back the automation I used to have, but this is a start.

Thank you! This at least allows me to copy directly from my Windows share to my external SD card!

 

[Leo G]

How would I do that with Kingsoft Office? I have a few files on the SD card that I'd like to keep off the main memory. But when I need to make changes in the file I have to copy it to the internal storage, save my changes and then copy it back then erase the other file to keep it off of the internal memory. Thanks.

 

[Martyn Britton]

Hey guys, I have forever been rooted, so I knew not of these woes. But I recently upgraded to the non-rooted Note 4 thinking, "oh, it won't be so bad non-rooted!" And here we are. Being somewhat of a power user, my sd card is very integral to my needs on my phone. So for us non-rooted guys, you need two things:

Package name viewer
ES File Explorer

Get the package name of your app you want to have the ability to save to the sdcard with the package name viewer. Then create a directory using ES file explorer (or anything) with that package name in Extsdcard:/Android/data

For example, to have free reign with ES file explorer, create the directory:

/Android/data/com.estrongs.android.pop

And then ES can read/write/delete anything in that subdirectory. I'm still working on getting back the automation I used to have, but this is a start.

You sir may very well be a genius. As I said before I can live with just one folder as I can just make that folder my root directory for my storage.

I'm going to try this right now. Just a question. Is this only valid to ES file explorer? Or could I use my favourite Explorer. ?

Thank you

 

[Leo G]

Got it.

 

[Leo G]

OK, so now that I've got it working, I tried to do a search and it won't find the file in those folders. Is there a way to tell ES to search those areas?

 

[Mason Goodknight]

Re: Kitkat Issue: Can't Write to External SD Card

"Bottom line: you can still access, copy, delete, etc. your personal music and image files on your SD card. You just may be limited to specific file manager apps. Overall, it turns out not to be a huge issue."

I can't access files on my Note 2.
Even with stock file manager. I cant move, copy, or delete.

Help please!

 

[Louis D123]

If the os doesn't have write permission to the external memory card than no application can, because the writting to the card is made by the os not the application. The apps must have there own drivers to write to the sd cards. So I'm going back with Windows.

 

[Vishal Krishnani]

You are wrong about the ssds. The reason they have "only" 256gb of storage and are more expensive than a 1 tb HDD for example is not because of phones or whatever, it is because the technology is much more expensive to manufacture. The fastest most hdds reach is around 6gb/s but an ssd can reach over 500gb/s.

 

[Martyn Britton]

You are wrong about the ssds. The reason they have "only" 256gb of storage and are more expensive than a 1 tb HDD for example is not because of phones or whatever, it is because the technology is much more expensive to manufacture. The fastest most hdds reach is around 6gb/s but an ssd can reach over 500gb/s.

Yea that's cus the hdd is completely different technology. It has a physical drive. Like a cd disk that spins which in turn takes time to start etc. The ssd is same as sd card. No moving parts.

Ssd will always be considerably more expensive than the hdd. It's like comparing a sports car with a wheelchair lol. In terms of both speed and cost. Lol

 

[Leo G]

Eventually SSD will be cheaper then a physical HD Memory prices keep coming down. Use to be a 100 a gig, now it's about a buck a gig.