Dear,
To save memory on my android phone (Samsung Galaxy S4mini), I want to move the data location to external SD card.
I found the next link
http://kodi.wiki/view/HOW-TO:Change_data...or_Android,
And created the file
xbmc_env.properties and put it in the root of my phone.
Via
ES File Explorer I found out that my external SD card address was:
/storage/extSdCard/
I created a map called
kodi_data here (on the rood of my external SD card)
I edited the line to put in
xbmc_env.properties to
xbmc.data=/storage/extSdCard/kodi_data and saved it.
Problem is that when I now start KODI the screen goes black and nothing happens anymore.
Knows anyone what I’m doing wrong?
Help would be appreciated
Regards
Jeroen
i have the same problem
I think that you also have to copy your current data/addon files to the new location that you're pointing KODI to...
You may have to modify where you place them based on where you find them on the original path in your internal storage. I haven't tried it yet, but have had a certain developer telling me how simple it would be for everyone... in the "petition to add ability" thread I started the other day. Like most who are in the know, he, or whomever wrote the helpful How to change part of the Wiki, leaves out a few "obvious" items like exactly which files and data must be copied/moved prior to creating the file redirecting KODI and starting up again! The lack of complete and thorough instruction is what gives some developers and engineers a bad name.
It looks like you need to copy the directory ".kodi" from your original location, or at least all that's found in it to the new location.
The confusion that comes about from incomplete instructions is in part why I started a thread to petition that this function be made a part of KODI, in the hope that people wouldn't have to muck around with android and figuring out what the new path should be as well as what needed to copied.
On my system the path for the original directory is:
/mnt/sdcard/Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/.kodi
I think you have to copy the .kodi directory & possibly .swinfo from there to your new locations as specified in the path you created in the xbmc_env.properties file, in other words copy it into the kodi_data directory to which you are pointing on the correct storage device.
The process is about as clear as mud the way it written! Needlessly complex!
No files have to be copied. If you don't want to start anew, backup first, then restore after specifying the new data dir.
Well, you sure have to do one or the other if you expect your current installation to function as most users would! NEITHER of which is suggested in that "helpful" section of the WIKI!
Man, I am having flashbacks to countless years of reading other people's comments, more often lack of, in their code.
ARRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!
Surely, you can see how little things like this need to be said.
Perhaps the wiki should have been written along the lines of:
If you wish to keep your current setup:
Backup your data.
Create this new file called xbmc_env.properties in this location(root of your SDcard?) with these contents "blah blah blah"
Then Restore...
If you perform the process as outlined in the WIKI KODI apparently hangs waiting for the .KODI directory which does not exist at the new location you've specified the way I read things because it thinks the external SD card or drive is not yet active... It doesn't even let you "start anew" which sure sounds like what the OP and 2nd poster reported above.
If you are an Engineer or Software Developer, you have to learn to USE YOUR WORDS! You must be as exacting as you are when writing code if you expect anyone else to ever have a clue what you mean or be able to follow your directions. <Shakes head in frustration while looking for a wall on which to bang it!>
Are you starting to see why I was petitioning for this to become a simple part of KODI?
Everyone likes bitching about how no one else has made easy-to-follow instructions, and everyone expects everyone else to make those instructions. Making easy-to-follow instructions is itself not that easy. To make a really good guide that can be universally understood, honestly be helpful and not insulting, and easy to maintain is not something that comes easily to most people.
I would do it myself, but currently I'm doing almost everything on the wiki myself, and there are a lot of other things higher up on the to-do list. For example, finishing xbmc -> kodi renaming while making sure each and every instance is still contextually correct, as there are still thousands of legitimate mentions of "xbmc".
Ned, you're right. I'm wrong.
I apologize if I stepped on anyone's toes, but I made a point about this issue just the other day and was told how simple it was, basically not worthy of consideration, and got more of the same above from someone for whose work I have the utmost respect, which probably ticked me off more. My bad, and I apologize, I don't have a right to have such expectations of others in this situation. I'm getting to be less diplomatic and more just plain tired as I get older. If I live long enough it seems I may be destined to be that old guy yelling at the kids playing on his lawn...
I am not a good little mushroom and am not good at sitting in the corner in the dark and being fed HS. HS disguised as a two sentence pat answer that does not, in fact, resolve the issue as the wiki is written merely annoys. It is not that pat an issue, and is going to bite some posterior. In my work from hardware engineering to software, I have always conducted BS sessions in which I laid out what I'm thinking or planning/designing and let people take their shots, so if I seem a little unwilling or difficult it's because that is how I've always worked, taking nothing personally and always letting the work or concepts speak for themselves -ego has no place in it. If a better idea results from another source, or interaction, hell, we go with that one -that's the best teamwork I know, but it does not work with anyone that cannot get past their own ego on either end of the process.
I shouldn't have bitched, because I certainly didn't volunteer for the job -but then I'm just a new/old hand, but I'd be afraid to touch it with my level of specific knowledge about android and the internal workings of the process... Maybe after I've actually done it on my system.
The main issue as I see it is simply making certain points clear to those who are not clued in, like exactly where the new file needs to be created, and that android seems to have more than one method of referencing the same storage locations which could be a landmine when making general instructions or that locations may vary from system to system at least in the path statement. More research required.
Suggesting a backup and restore was a great idea, but totally outside the scope of the wiki, as written, considering it states: "Note: The destination folder must be created manually beforehand (This is not a limitation. Presence of the folder is used to find out if Kodi has to wait for an external drive to be active)" Which If I'm not mistaken using any tool operating inside KODI for Restore would still hang on restart as the two posters above seem to be complaining so you'd not get a restore... Perhaps with an external tool. Now the process gets more involved... and down the garden path we go following the Mad Hatter and whistling in the dark.
Sorry to be blunt, but any wiki instruction in the world still requires a little bit of thinking. That's what I hate in the current world: people always expect and require "step-by-step" guides in the hope they don't have to use their brains.
I'm stating how it should work, works for me and do work for some. If it doesn't, there is something else at hand. I just cannot handle every single android setup all by myself, so yes, users will have to use their brains to solve their own issues, sometimes, by checking the logs/logcat for instance. If the user has not the knowledge to do it, too bad. Just learn, as everyone in this project did at one point (no, I was not born with an android in my hands, 3 years ago I did not know what "YUV" or "passthrough" meant, ...)
Creating whatever app or addon to limit the brain consumption will just move the support hassle to the poor guy who created the app/addon.
(2015-06-28, 13:20)Koying Wrote: [ -> ]...people always expect and require "step-by-step" guides in the hope they don't have to use their brains.
Creating whatever app or addon to limit the brain consumption will just move the support hassle to the poor guy who created the app/addon.
Yes as I have found out to my peril.
The best one I've had this year is a step by step YouTube video request for Kodi / iOS 8.3 Mac compiling and Xcode 8.3 installs on iOS devices !
That thread had to be shut down before
Memphiz blew a Vacuum Tube such was the power of the vortex.
You end up wanting to help people and just get caught in a whirlpool of requests for that draws you in and consumes your time, when all you wanna do is watch
My Little Pony DVD's Game of Thrones
Koying,
I apologize, but between being dismissed on how simple a thing this is, seeing two more people having issues with it, reading the wiki referred to and only gathering sketchy info about where the new file must be created and how the path is constructed -along with a complete absense of which files need to be moved if one follows the wiki as written was just a bit too much.
Maybe I expected something more like: (and I realize those are just my expectations)
1. Using an app external to KODI perform a backup of the .kodi directory or at least locate it before proceeding.
This directory is usually found at: /mnt/sdcard/Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/.kodi
2. In the root directory of the internal storage of your device, usually just mnt/sdcard (not mnt/sdcard/root) create a file called: xbmc_env.properties
3. In xbmc_env.properties you need to tell KODI where it's data will now be stored.
This will be done by creating a path statement like: xbmc.data=/storage/sdcard0/external_sdcard/kodi_data
The path should start with /storage/ as shown but may differ based on your setup and the storage device you wish to use to store the data.
Using a file explorer, file browser or Root Explorer determine the proper path by clicking through the directory structure noting the levels.
For example, on my android tv box I have no sdhc card expansion and can only use a USB Flash or hard disk drive.
My statement to indicate the data would be stored on the first external USB device would be:
xbmc.data=/storage/external_storage/sda1/kodi_data/
Remember to place that path statement in the xbmc_env.properties file you created.
4. Either restore or copy the .kodi directory backed up or at least located in step one to the location you told KODI to look in for it's data
in the path statement you created above.
For example copy /mnt/sdcard/Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/.kodi to /storage/sdcard0/external_sdcard/kodi_data/
(whatever new path you created)
5. After starting KODI and verifying that everything works as expected, you may wish to delete the original files found in the original .kodi location to
recover space on your internal storage.
Does that work? Someone please check me on the above... If it does, I respectfully ask it be considered as a replacement for the existing wiki entry or a supplement to it.
I still think this would be best handled in KODI or an add-on that allowed users to choose the path for the new storage location by walking them through a browse session to construct the path.
I'm afraid you're deadlocked in your beliefs. Unsubsxribing...
Looks good to me, as far as I can tell. I've changed it a little bit and added it
HOW-TO:Change data location for Android (wiki). Feel free to suggest other changes or if you didn't like something I've changed or added. This is a very appreciated addition to the wiki :)
@
Koying, Yeah, maybe I am. I also believe I may not be the only one deadlocked in my beliefs... ;-) Ah, what the hell do I know? Sorry to give you grief. I'll try to be more flexible if met with the same attitude. Fair enough?
@
ned Scott, Thanks, I hope it helps and the way you implemented what I wrote by integrating it with what existed prior was much better than my original. Nicely done.
If I knew how to write an add-on or had a clue where to start I'd give it a try as I think it'd be a lot better if the uninitiated user could simply browse to the correct storage location and get the path made and the files copied automatically.
@All, If anyone has any specific changes that should be made to the procedure I outlined above and Ned edited/implemented, or problems with it, please chime in. I just want it to be correct and as dead simple as possible.
I am attempting to use Android today for the first time, and ran into a problem not being familiar with the operating system. I followed
http://kodi.wiki/view/HOW-TO:Change_data...or_Android and was certain I followed it correctly. After several hours re-checking and reading this thread I realized I created xbmc_env.properties.txt instead of xbmc_env.properties. I also wasn't 100% sure my file path was correct. I ended up with xbmc.data=/storage/external_storage/sdcard1/Android/data/ running KitKat 4.4.2. Can this be added to the wiki in case anyone else has issues with this? Will check the wiki edit rules and see if this is something I can add myself.