[Req][Android] Saving cache to external SD card

[SirSid]

Hi,
Love both the android app and the server software. Its been working perfectly. The only issue I've really come across is the inability to save the cache of songs on an external SD card. I have a 8 gig external SD card I bought specifically for music, but I cant seem to find a way for the subsonic app to store its cache there.

Thanks so much for this wonderful program!

PS: Ill donate another 10 bucks to the dev if this gets added!

[gabbott]

hmmm, what phone do you have? On my EVO it caches the music on the SD card.

[SirSid]

I have a galaxy S captivate which has an internal SD card that the cache is saved to. I have an external SD card which I would like to save the music to instead.

[PharetH]

I have a Galaxy S Mesmerize and it caches on the external SD card. Not sure why your phone won't.

[BigLa]

I actually have the opposite request. The app defaults to my sd card, but I'd prefer an option to save to my internal storage, where I have 6 gig just wasting away.

[SirSid]

It seems both could be solved by allowing the user to specify the location of the cache file.

[evegas316]

Bump

[rspeed]

I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding on this thread. The original Galaxy S has a somewhat unusual (if not unique) configuration. The Galaxy mounts a big chunk of its internal memory at /sdcard and then mounts the actual SD card at /sdcard/sd (or /sdcard/externalsd in Froyo). Since the internal memory isn't expandable, running out of space is a likely event.

The OP was essentially requesting an option to relocate the folder for cached files. I'm not terribly fond of the idea of setting paths (not everyone is a sysadmin). Perhaps display an option when an external SD card is detected?

I actually have the opposite request. The app defaults to my sd card, but I'd prefer an option to save to my internal storage, where I have 6 gig just wasting away.

My understanding is that isn't possible (except on rooted devices). The internal memory isn't directly accessible to applications except through limited APIs.

[SirSid]

I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding on this thread. The original Galaxy S has a somewhat unusual (if not unique) configuration. The Galaxy mounts a big chunk of its internal memory at /sdcard and then mounts the actual SD card at /sdcard/sd (or /sdcard/externalsd in Froyo). Since the internal memory isn't expandable, running out of space is a likely event.

The OP was essentially requesting an option to relocate the folder for cached files. I'm not terribly fond of the idea of setting paths (not everyone is a sysadmin). Perhaps display an option when an external SD card is detected?

That is in fact exactly what I would like the ability to do. I found it strange how the galaxy S mounted its external SD card, but I had assumed it was just how android mounted it on all phones.

[jag216]

Yes plug for this again.

As more tablets come out that run subsonic, this is going to become more of an issue as they have various configurations.

For example, on my Adam the internal SD card is mounted as /sdcard/ and acts as the internal memory, while the external card mounts as /sdcard2/ and plays as a floppy.

Further, the music players all read the external sdcard2 for music and ignore the internal memory.

The ability to select the location based on detected volumes would be ideal.

[Alsaya]

I've the same problem on a LG-P990 Optimus Speed

[rschauer]

I'm going to have to agree with this request, even though I'm not having the problem myself. I wasn't aware there were Android phones mounting the external card anywhere other than /sdcard. Since that's the case, the option should definitely be available.

Meanwhile, for those who are having the problem: if you have root access on your phone (maybe even if you don't; depends on directory permissions), perhaps you could replace the cache folder in /sdcard with a symlink to a directory in /sdcard2 as a temporary solution?

For example, in a terminal emulator:
NOTE: Please don't try this without checking the directory names; I'm not sure what they are off-hand.

$ su -
$ mkdir /sdcard2/subsonic
$ rm -rf /sdcard/subsonic
$ ln -s /sdcard2/subsonic /sdcard/subsonic

Sort of a hack I guess, but at least it would solve your problem for the time being if it works as I'd expect.

[sty]

$ su -
$ mkdir /sdcard2/subsonic
$ rm -rf /sdcard/subsonic
$ ln -s /sdcard2/subsonic /sdcard/subsonic

Sort of a hack I guess, but at least it would solve your problem for the time being if it works as I'd expect.

At least on my SGS the internal and external SD cards are formatted vfat, so does 2.2 have patch so that vfat would support symlinks?

[happy_red]

Sindre has already answered this in another thread after I requested the same thing (when I bought my Samsung Galaxy S). He indicated it was not something he would ever implement, so we just have to live with it.

My problem was I had a 16GB card in my G1 that was full of music. My Galaxy S only has 8GB in its' internal additional memory and Subsonic no longer sees the real external card.

The solution is to stop using Subsonic except as as download client. Use Subsonic to download the music and then copy the files to the external SD card (using Astro or something), then use Winamp or something to play the music.

Not ideal and it's a shame Sindre couldn't implement this in a way that allows those with more than basic computing skills to make the change themselves. A text file with the path in it - that could be changed manually - would do the job and could be posted in the forums for those who want to change it.

Until this is implemented, my one star rating of Subsonic on Android Market stays where it is.

[rschauer]

$ su -
$ mkdir /sdcard2/subsonic
$ rm -rf /sdcard/subsonic
$ ln -s /sdcard2/subsonic /sdcard/subsonic

Sort of a hack I guess, but at least it would solve your problem for the time being if it works as I'd expect.

At least on my SGS the internal and external SD cards are formatted vfat, so does 2.2 have patch so that vfat would support symlinks?

Ack...good point, I hadn't thought of that. I know you can link to a FAT FS, so the external being FAT is no problem, but no, I don't think there's a way to create a symlink on a FAT FS. Sorry, I guess it won't work in that case.