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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