Moto Z CD Card upgrade

[Bithawk]

I just purchased a Moto Z Droid and although it has a 32GB CD Card, when I transferred all my pictures and music files over from a Samsung S4mini, I actually ran out of memory space(the system uses around 8GB alone). So I need to upgrade to a 64GB or 128GB CD card. My question is if my CD card is now setup to be "Internal shared" and I want to change that to "portable", will I lose the applications I now have and how do I properly change the storage to "portable" from "Internal shared"? The physical upgrade seems simple enough but I am not sure about all the folders and files. Any suggestions before I make the big plung!

 

[Sajo]

My understanding is that once you make an SD card internal storage it can only be used it that phone. Once you eject it from that phone all files, apps, pics, music, etc cannot be read or accessed by another phone or computer. Before switching to a new card you might want to backup all data that's currently on that SD card somewhere else, so you can copy it to the new SD card. Unless you really need the space for apps, external storage is a much more user-friendly option for SD cards in my opinion. You can access the data on any other phone or computer and the data is not tied to that one phone forever.

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[Bithawk]

Thanks for replying Sajo. If I understand you right, I can backup all the folders & files on my current SD card(32GB), replace it with a new SD card(128GB) and then copy all the folders & files back onto the new SD card and all my applications and associated data will be back to functional order. In addition, during this upgrade process I can change the memory from "internal shared" to "portable", making my new SD card(128GB) exchangeable with any other device that accepts the same type of SD card. Considering that I have only added approximately 6 new apps beyond what the Moto Z came with, my internal memory should not be maxed out, correct?

 

[Sajo]

No, the way I understand it that card can only be used in that phone. And you can't just copy from that card to a new card. Honestly, I'm not sure what you do with the files on the current SD card since it's ties to that phone forever. I only use SD cards as external storage.

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[Bithawk]

So this does make sense but how does one do an upgrade without starting from scratch. Further if Motorola gives you the choice between "internal shared" or "portable", how are you expected to make the switch without starting from scratch? There seems to be a disconnect here that I can't understand. Any thoughts?

 

[Sajo]

It's not Moto, it's Google. The Android SD card options are all Google and manufacturers like Moto just incorporate the stock Android SD card code. I'm not sure how you take a SD card formatted as internal storage and use those files on anything else. If the files are all on your phone also, you can move them off the phone into a computer, external hard drive etc so they can be used on a nother device later. If they are solely on the SD card only and it's formatted as internal storage I don't know what the options are. Hopefully someone else that uses SD cards as Internal Adoptive storage can help answer.

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[Sajo]

So this does make sense but how does one do an upgrade without starting from scratch. Further if Motorola gives you the choice between "internal shared" or "portable", how are you expected to make the switch without starting from scratch? There seems to be a disconnect here that I can't understand. Any thoughts?

From the Moto support site about setting up SD cards.

After I adopt an SD card as internal storage, can I use this card in another device or my laptop?

No. The card must be kept in the device. Another device (laptop, camera) will not be able to view the content on the card. If an adopted SD card is removed from a device, the system will request that the card be reinserted; you will lose access to apps and data on the card until it is safely re-inserted.

IMPORTANT: If an SD card set up as internal storage is removed from the device, it can cause card corruption. There is no guarantee that, upon re-insertion, the device will still be able to read the card as it contains a unique encryption key.

How can I protect my data on the adopted SD card?

We recommend you make sure important content (contacts, movies, pictures, media) and apps are backed up to the cloud.

The lifetime of an SD can vary depending on its manufacturer and class. We see a large variety of cards, each with different properties. If you decide to use an SD card for internal storage, it will typically have lower life span expectations than embedded device storage. Perform regular back-ups to the cloud to ensure you don't lose important data in the event of SD card failure.

What if I change my mind about how I want to use the SD card for storage?

To access storage settings, touch Settings >Storage > select SD card > select the three dots in the upper right > Settings > select whether you want to Format as Internalor Format as Portable, depending on what was initially formatted.



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