Why this blog post?
Honestly, I did not found yet a functioning and simple guide on the Internet, that does not require any apps or root access.
It isn't a really big problem. The solution actually also not.
You got a cell phone, I use the Samsung Galaxy S5. And you are using a microSD card. Eventually you realize the card is too small. Or you got a immoral offer for a bigger card. In unrootet condition the cell phone will be no help.
The easiest way is to use the PC. In order not to mess up the permissions and /or file names et cetera I use a Linux system. However, my PC is installed with Windows. But this is not a problem. With a live Linux distribution and an empty USB stick in sufficient size we are able to do the job.
We need an out-of-the-box installer that runs. An installation for a USB stick installer is not really necessary. Here helps YUMI - Multi-Boot USB Creator of PenDriveLinux. For this purpose, we yet need a current Linux distribution. I prefer Ubuntu for this, because it offers support for unknowing users. The Ubuntu Users Wiki is really very good. The current distribution is found at ubuntu.com. After starting YUMI the installation on the USB stick is easy .
We start our PC with Ubuntu live system. To boot from an alternative source there is often used the F12 key. So press this when the PC starts. Ubuntu asks us at start if we want to install it or just run it. We leave default, which offers us to run. Finally we do not want to overwrite anything. Yet we got an almost usable Linux system. Unfortunately, Ubuntu has no more package management on delivery. So we start the Ubuntu Software Center and search for Synaptic. We need this package, the Ubuntu Software Center will not find the file system support which is needed from us. The really nice thing is that we do not need a reboot for all that. If Synaptic is installed, we start it and searching for exFAT. Probably our memory card is formatted with this file system. We find two packages, we install both.
On the phone we remove the old mciroSD card after deactivation. If it is not possible to deactivate it simply make a proper shut down wih the cell phone. We remove the old card. The best thing ist to format the new card in the mobile phone. Then we can verify that it works perfectly. We insert the new card. If the phone was shut down we turn it on. Normally, the Android system realizes the new card and offers formatting of it. If this did not funktion you have to go to the System Menu. We remove the new card as the old one before.
Now, and only now, we take a memory card reader and connect it to the PC. The one who has two was lucky and is able to copy directly. Others use space on the live USB stick for the copy action. In this case it is necessary to have a USB stick with more than 1GB available. It should have enough space for the files on the microSD. Or you use another USB stick. Of course the fastest and the best way is to use two microSD card readers.
In Ubuntu now we see both memory cards left in the display bar. We open both. Unfortunately, we do not see all the files yet. Just simply press Ctrl-H, then the hidden and system files are visible. Now we are able to copy the data from the full to the empty card. Users with apps outsourced at the microSD card will be specially interested on copying the .android_secure folder.
We shut down the live system, there is no more need for it. After inserting the new card into the mobile phone, we give the system a bit more time to find everything. Everything should be alright, even the current app states. In my case there was everything there, even play scores and app settings from apps that was stored on the microSD card.
Once again, a brief "parts list":
Of course there are many other ways to make sure to copy all the files from the old card to the new one. However, the following points were important to me in this manual:
- no additional cost, if possible
- no root access required
- no warranty loss on the phone
- a safe and reliable copying
- possible understandable to everyone
- continuing help with problems, therefore Ubuntu
That's all folks. I hope you enjoy Android, the mobile phone and especially the new memory card.
Hooray! Love! Future!
SMD
