Re: Clever helpful suggestion for portable memory using Windows & Android editors

On Sun, 2 Feb 2025 23:20:45 +0100, Carlos E.R. wrote :

Ok, now that I understand what type of editor you are talking about and the scenario,

Well, that's only one type of editor, but it's an editor that most of us
can agree that if we had an sdcard, that we'd want to store the (admittedly
huge) map data on that sdcard, which then needs to be edited at times.

I can agree that changing the label of the card is the thing to do.

I think most people perhaps don't understand the genius of my advice
because they, themselves, never bothered to try to overcome problems.
So they've never experienced a seamless non-cloud phone-to-phone upgrade.
I have.

It is a particular scenario.

I agree that about many Android phones sold today don't have a portable
storage slot (or it does double duty for the SIM card perhaps); but last we
checked, most Androids still came with the portable storage sdcard slot.
Given that is coupled with the fact that {OSMAnd~/OSMAnd+/OSMAnd} is a
common offline map application, people have to store its data somewhere.
It either takes up a lot of space on the sdcard0 internal memory.
Or not.
For those with sdcards & OSMAnd, it's easier just to match the volume name.
But, you can manually change the directories out from under this editor.
But not from all editors - which is the point of bringing up editors.
BTW, I learned this the hard way, as you can see from the images below:
 <https://i.postimg.cc/nr8KNVby/sdcard06.jpg> OsmAnd~ Data storage folder
 <https://i.postimg.cc/mrzHRxwB/sdcard07.jpg> OsmAnd~ Move to ext sdcard
 <https://i.postimg.cc/vZ1RtXhc/sdcard08.jpg> OsmAnd~ Moved to ext storage

Then, remember that you can just edit the label to anything without formatting, in Windows. There is a "label" command in MsDOS that should still be able to do the trick.

I used to write, decades ago, tutorials on MSDOS DEBUG programming, in the
Peter Norton days, but it has been a long time since I messed with that.
However, to your value-added point, yes, you can change the sdcard volume
name (aka volume label) using the DOS "label" command & the File Explorer.
Here's how to change the volume name through the command prompt:
 1. Win+R > cmd  2. Label P: 2025-0202 (e.g., to label it as February 2nd, 2025)
 3. Press "Enter"
You can also change the volume name through File Explorer:
 1. Open File Explorer:
 2. Right-click on your SD card:
 3. Select "Properties":
 4. In the "General" tab, change the text in the "Volume Label" field:
 5. Click "OK"
Both methods work without affecting the data on your SD card.
This is actually a *much better* idea than the one I had espoused!
Since this offshoot is only on the Android newsgroup, I'm gonna forward it
to the rest of the groups so that others can benefit from this useful
improvement - which - I must admit - is sheer genius due to the fact that a
(quick) format isn't needed (and hence, existing data isn't in jeopardy).
Note: You generally do NOT have existing data on a new sdcard though. :)

That said, it happens that I can not quadruple the storage in my tablet, because the maximum size it accepts is not that large.

Well, OK. I get that. For me, 128GB on my free Samsung works fine.
I just looked up how much it can take, and mine appears to be 1TB.
Lucky me. :) (I suspect by the time 1TB sdcards get to be about ten bucks,
I'll pine for a new phone (even as I'm happy with my free Galaxy A32-5G).
It's the iPhones that I have which always die (as AJL & I discussed earlier
in this thread) where my free ($200 MSRP) phone has a better battery than
Apple has ever put in any iPhone ever sold - where those iPhone batteries
are so bad, the EU will forbid Apple from selling their iPhone later this
year. Apple, being scared of the EU, finally upgraded the iPhone 15 to
*barely* meet the minimum charge-cycle lifetime expectations - which means
no iPhone older than that can be sold in the EU later this year. Meanwhile, almost every Android phone not only easily met the battery
charge-cycle lifetime requirements, but most *doubled* the minimum spec.
--
Fancy that: Apple puts the cheapest components they can into the iPhone.