Rocksolid Light - alt.comp.os.windows-10 - Re: Tutorial: How to set up sdcards for re-use & backup/restore

Stefan Ram <ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de> wrote

>>Note: In the beginning I formatted my first sdcard as 0000-0001, and then
>>the second card as 0000-0002, and so on; but then I realized I could just
>>pop a card out of one phone into another if it had the same volume label.
>
> Thanks for the tip! I recently had a bad experience when
> I didn't take this to heart after changing the external
> SD data to a new medium and then various programs stopped
> working because they were expecting their data on an
> SD card with the old label.

I'm very happy you benefited from the tutorial, as helping only me isn't
good enough - my efforts need to be leveraged to help many other people.

Almost all my Windows/Android knowledge is empirical, where I found out
from experience that setting _all_ my external sdcards to the same volume
label allows me to pop them any one sd card out of of any one phone into
any other phone - and everything works!

Every app that saved data to that sdcard works because the data on the
second (and third and fourth, etc.) sd card is in the exact same spot!

The trick is to use the same volume label on _all_ your sdcards.
I use the volume label of 0000-0001 but any volume label would work.

Notice that Windows and Android are (essentially) the same file system.
What you do on one platform is also done (at the same time) on the other.

> Maybe I can change the label now, but first I have to find
> out what the old one was ...

I have a thread, from years ago, somewhere in the Windows newsgroup on
every step but the simplest summary is to pop the sdcard into Windows.

Then right click on it and select "Format", which will not only tell you
the existing volume label, but which will allow you to change the label.

Once the volume label is changed to your liking (e.g., AAAA-BBBB), then you
can set _all_ your sdcards lying around to the same volume label.

I'll cross post to the Windows newsgroup who will know more about volume
labels than I do, as you might be able to change it without losing data.
--
Tutorial:
How to set up both Android sdcards for logical use, re-use & easy
backup/restore.

I'm probably better at computer system organization than almost anyone
here, both on Android and on Windows - so here is some heartfelt advice.

You have to accept a few realities when it comes to Android filespecs:
1. You can't control the garbage Android spews into your filesystem
2. All you can do is control two top-level filespecs
a. You can only control the top-level directory you care about, and,
b. You can only control the formatted name of the external sdcard.

That's it.
The rest is almost completely out of your control.

Take it from me, nobody likes typing long filespecs; but you can't use the
slash partition on Android because it's read only (if you're unrooted).

So what you have is the "top level" of your internal & external sd cards.
<https://i.postimg.cc/yYWwgGmy/webdav12.jpg> sdcard filespec

Notice, like it or not, the "top level" of the two sdcards in that image is
a. Internal SDCARD = /storage/emulated/0
b. External SDCARD = /storage/0000-0001

Now isn't that stupid.
Don't blame me. Blame the Android developers.

Android developers "could" have made the filespec more consistent.
a. /storage/emulated/0 (or just /storage/sd0 or something like that)
b. /storage/emulated/1 (or just /storage/sd1 or something like that)
But they didn't. And why did they have to use the word "emulated"?

I can see how one sdcard is "emulated" but does it really matter in a
filespec to specify that it's emulated? I think not. Maybe others do.

Note that every single one of my sdcards is "0000-0001" for good reason:
a. I can pop any sdcard used in one phone into another phone & it works!
b. I always know the exact name of the sdcard (it must be xxxx-xxxx).

What I do the instant I get a new sd card is format to the volume label:
0000-0001
Where otherwise the label is something random like DFBA-7AB2 (or whatever).

Note: In the beginning I formatted my first sdcard as 0000-0001, and then
the second card as 0000-0002, and so on; but then I realized I could just
pop a card out of one phone into another if it had the same volume label.

So now, _all_ my sdcards are formatted with the name "0000-0001".

Moving onward in filespecs, both the internal & external sdcards get filled
up with rampant Android pollution, so what I do to avoid all that pollution
is I create a top-level directory on the sdcard of "0000" for the internal
sdcard, and "0001" for the external sdcard (again, I do this for all
phones). <https://i.postimg.cc/BQyRxCN9/webdav11.jpg>

The result is this is usually the main directory you back up and restore:
a. Internal SDCARD = /storage/emulated/0/0000/{your directory tree}
b. External SDCARD = /storage/0000-0001/0001/{your directory tree}

The actual name is meaningless, but these names are chosen for two reasons:
a. They sort nicely, and,
b. They indicate instantly which sdcard you are navigating.

Note that the instant indication of which sdcard is useful because you
often mount onto a desktop one or the other - but they look similar.

Yet, can you instantly tell from this image, which sdcard it is?
<https://i.postimg.cc/cJLK1wt0/webdav07.jpg>
I can.

Anyway... after you set up the top-level directory for your stuff,
now it's time to set up a hierarchy below that top level.

This hierarchy is up to you, where I make them the same for all sdcards.

Then I put all the stuff I care about in logical subdirectories _below_
that 0000 or 0001 level, where those logical subdirectories are the same
for all my phones & sdcards (and for my PC), so - the card can be popped
out of one phone & popped into another & most apps work fine with that.

It's also very easy to back up and restore when everything you care about
is in one directory. Of course, you can't control where a lot of apps store
their important stuff - but you can _choose_ apps which give you control.

For example, you can choose an app that allows you to save all your
installed APKs into /storage/0000-0001/0001/apks/.

You might choose a map program that allows you to save all your maps into
/storage/0000-0001/0001/maps/.

And you might choose a camera program that allows you to save media into
/storage/0000-0001/0001/pics/.

Even if you don't have apps that allow you to save important files into
your desired locations, you can still use it for _your_ important files.

For example you can put your important medical documents into:
/storage/0000-0001/0001/docs/medical/.
And you can put important financial documents into:
/storage/0000-0001/0001/docs/financial/.

I store, for example, my passwords into encrypted files located in:
/storage/0000-0001/0001/passwords/.
Where I can pop that card out of one phone & put it in another and
that new phone can easily read the same encrypted password files.

Likewise with encrypted container files, and so on with all files.
/storage/0000-0001/0001/containers/.

In summary, if you do a little bit of planning, such as naming all external
sdcards with the same volume name, and creating a top level directory tree
on both sdcards and installing apps that allow you to specify where they
keep their data, etc., you can better control the atrocious filesystem
naming convention mess that is Android.

Essentially, you create a "safe space" next to all that atrocious mess.
And that's what you back up and restore & re-use in another Android phone.

As always, if you know more about this topic than I do, please add value.
--
Note: I never use plurals but I used them here for readability.
I only use a trailing "s" when absolutely necessary e.g., as with "news").
And most directories are three letters (e.g., doc,map,pic,txt,url,etc.)

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Subject	Author
Tutorial: How to set up sdcards for re-use & backup/restore	Wally J

The light of a hundred stars does not equal the light of the moon.

computers / alt.comp.os.windows-10 / Re: Tutorial: How to set up sdcards for re-use & backup/restore