[mikedem]

Hi guys,

I'm pretty new to XBMC (couple of weeks) and I must say these forums are invaluable. Pretty much got the system up and running on the first try with a NAS and all my add-ons working flawlessly. I bought this box to replace a still working Patriot Box Office Core but really wanted something to stream with.

What I am having trouble finding is info on moving some of the user data to an external SD Card. I have a new MyGica ATV520E so I have the external SD card slot and I have a 16GB card in there. There are many threads but no real conclusions I could find.

My system as it is now has XBMC using close to 700MB of data on the system SD card.

I tried Directory Bind with minimal success - I was able to relocate the "add-ons" folder. That isnt a very large folder but it was some progress. I was trying to get more info and read that Directory Bind is no longer being supported and
a new app named Folder Mount is a newer version. Once again I was able to relocate the Add-on folder but I tried relocating the entire User Data folder to the 16GB external SD card . It moved all the data properly but when I fired XBMC back up it basically ran as if it was a first time run. Here's where it was strange. I removed the Folder Mount entry and confirmed it moved the data back but when I went back in it was just like a first run again. As I was in the process of adding XBMC Backup to the system to restore it I noticed all my Video and Programs add-ons started to repopulate again. I assumed it just took a while to reload the database? Not sure, but everything is back to normal.

Does anyone know if there is a way to make use of this external SD card and save some disk space on the system SD Card.

Thanks in advance

Mike

[MassIV]

You can use Link2SD if you have root.
Problem is, when you reinstall/update you have to do it again. And then afterwards override it with your backed up userdata.
Which is far from ideal, specially when running nightlies. At least i haven't found a better way yet with that app.

I was also going to try pathsubstitution in advancedsettings.xml when i had some time.
Not everything in the userdata folder takes up a lot of space. So perhaps just move the big folders.

[teeedubb]

I haven't used android much but bind mounts could work. You probably need root too.

EDIT: looks like it is possible http://android.stackexchange.com/questio...to-another

[mikedem]

You can use Link2SD if you have root.
Problem is, when you reinstall/update you have to do it again. And then afterwards override it with your backed up userdata.
Which is far from ideal, specially when running nightlies. At least i haven't found a better way yet with that app.

I was also going to try pathsubstitution in advancedsettings.xml when i had some time.
Not everything in the userdata folder takes up a lot of space. So perhaps just move the big folders.

Thanks, I think this is what I need to figure out - first what folder is ballooning to over 600mb and then see if its moveable - I think it might be the thumbnail folder but I need to find a better remote file manager so I can do this via the pc if possible.

I haven't used android much but bind mounts could work. You probably need root too.

EDOT: looks like it is possible http://android.stackexchange.com/questio...to-another

Thanks, I will look into this - luckily the ATV520 comes rooted so all these apps work well.

[Mittel]

Same problem here. I have only 2go internal memory and XBMC already takes 1.5go !
I have not found a good working solution yet.

[mikedem]

The only app I could get to work last night was Folder Mount. I relocated the Thumbnail folder to the external SD card. It appears to have worked fine. The odd part is in any file manager app the directory appears to still have files in it, yet the free space on the internal SD rose by the amount of data that was relocated - I guess thats just how it works. I will try doing the same to the other large Add-On folder(250mb) tonight and see how it works.

I think the reason it disnt work the other time was I tried to relocate the entire User Data folder to the external SD.

[Mittel]

I tried Folder Mount, but when I try to move the userdat folder it crashes.
I may have to pass on XBMC because of this as my internal memory is not enough for my library.

[mikedem]

I tried Folder Mount, but when I try to move the userdat folder it crashes.
I may have to pass on XBMC because of this as my internal memory is not enough for my library.

Don't try and relocate the whole user data

directory. That's what I did originally and it didn't work. Start with the thumbnail folder. It is the largest in my install. Relocating it saved my over 400mb.

[Mittel]

I tried Folder Mount, but when I try to move the userdat folder it crashes.
I may have to pass on XBMC because of this as my internal memory is not enough for my library.

Don't try and relocate the whole user data

directory. That's what I did originally and it didn't work. Start with the thumbnail folder. It is the largest in my install. Relocating it saved my over 400mb.

Ok, I will try this way, thanks.

[hondas3000]

yeah Thumbnail take the most space on my android box as the more and more addon I open it keeps download more thumbnail and 1gb internal is not enough to do anything. So where can I find the guide for Folder Mount guys? thanks.

[Blas]

I found that Folder Mount just caused issues for me, it was more trouble than it was worth IMO. Using the path subs (wiki) for the thumbnail folder freed up the vast majority of space for me though so I just stuck with that. The directories may vary on your Android device, but for my bluetimes MX5 box, I had to use the following directories in my advancedsettings.xml:

<pathsubstitution>
<substitute>
<from>/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/org.xbmc.xbmc/files/.xbmc/userdata/Thumbnails/</from>
<to>/storage/emulated/0/external_storage/sdcard1/xbmc_thumbnails/</to>
</substitute>
</pathsubstitution>

You can tell what "home" directory that your XBMC is using by looking in XBMC's "System > System Info > Storage." Mine was "/storage/emulated/0" so I had to use that at the beginning of my substituted directories rather than just "Android/data/..." like is suggested on the userdata folder (wiki) wiki.

[hondas3000]

I found that Folder Mount just caused issues for me, it was more trouble than it was worth IMO. Using the path subs (wiki) for the thumbnail folder freed up the vast majority of space for me though so I just stuck with that. The directories may vary on your Android device, but for my bluetimes MX5 box, I had to use the following directories in my advancedsettings.xml:

<pathsubstitution>
<substitute>
<from>/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/org.xbmc.xbmc/files/.xbmc/userdata/Thumbnails/</from>
<to>/storage/emulated/0/external_storage/sdcard1/xbmc_thumbnails/</to>
</substitute>
</pathsubstitution>

You can tell what "home" directory that your XBMC is using by looking in XBMC's "System > System Info > Storage." Mine was "/storage/emulated/0" so I had to use that at the beginning of my substituted directories rather than just "Android/data/..." like is suggested on the userdata folder (wiki) wiki.

Thanks I will look into that, and you are right about folder mount as it change the setting on my xbmc and it slow down the fanart picture as well.

[3happypenguins]

I found that Folder Mount just caused issues for me, it was more trouble than it was worth IMO. Using the path subs (wiki) for the thumbnail folder freed up the vast majority of space for me though so I just stuck with that. The directories may vary on your Android device, but for my bluetimes MX5 box, I had to use the following directories in my advancedsettings.xml:

<pathsubstitution>
<substitute>
<from>/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/org.xbmc.xbmc/files/.xbmc/userdata/Thumbnails/</from>
<to>/storage/emulated/0/external_storage/sdcard1/xbmc_thumbnails/</to>
</substitute>
</pathsubstitution>

You can tell what "home" directory that your XBMC is using by looking in XBMC's "System > System Info > Storage." Mine was "/storage/emulated/0" so I had to use that at the beginning of my substituted directories rather than just "Android/data/..." like is suggested on the userdata folder (wiki) wiki.

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but I'm ready to pull my hair out. I originally tried the path substitution (created the advancedsettings.xml because I didn't have one) and for the Thumbnails it worked *perfectly*. This is what I did:

Code:

<pathsubstitution>
  <substitute>
    <from>special://mnt/internal_sd/Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/files/.kodi/usedata/Thumbnails</from>
    <to>PROTOCOL://mnt/external_sd/Kodi/addons/Thumbnails/</to>
  </substitute>
</pathsubstitution>

Then I tried it with the addons folder, and I could not get it to work:

Code:

<pathsubstitution>
  <substitute>
    <from>special://mnt/internal_sd/Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/files/.kodi/addons/</from>
    <to>PROTOCOL://mnt/external_sd/Kodi/addons/</to>
  </substitute>
</pathsubstitution>

So then I tried using the app DirectoryBind to make the whole app run off my SD card. It "seemed" to work, but then I would start Kodi and it would reload all the userdata and everything back on the internal sd and run on there. Then I tried the FolderMount app and it had the same problem.

So I decided to try Link2SD. I made the proper partition on my microSD card using Partition Wizard on my PC. I found Link2SD very confusing and didn't understand how to use it. I had everything working (where it found my root and when I rebooted the screen thing didn't pop up again), and I had the option of moving Kodi to "SD card" (internal? external? I have no idea). Only I didn't get whether to do that, or to "Link" it to the external SD card. Or ext2 or whatever. I don't even know where to find the ext2 files.

So I gave up on that and followed this thread. I tried this code given in this thread:

Code:

<pathsubstitution>
      <substitute>
         <from>/mnt/internal_sd/Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/files/.kodi/addons/</from>
         <to>/mnt/external_sd/Kodi/addons/</to>
      </substitute>
</pathsubstitution>

Kodi started up, and in file manager I could see that the addons folder added files to my microSD card. But when in Kodi, I couldn't get into Programs or System or anything. The screen would just go black and stay black. I also could not exit. When I hit the Kodi power down button, nothing would happen (no menu popping up asking me if I wanted to exit). In order to shut it down I have to force stop. No matter how many times I uninstall and reinstall Kodi (and I don't add another advancedsettings.xml file, it does the same thing.

I even tried installing XBMC gotham, and I'm getting the same problem now! I don't want to have to completely reflash my stick to solve this! I looked for the following files, and they are completely gone when I uninstall (I thought maybe there were leftover folders):

/mnt/internal_sd/Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/
/sdcard/Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/
/data/data/org.xbmc.kodi/

So I'm lost. Please someone help me.

[3happypenguins]

YAAAAAAY! I figured it out!

Okay, for one, I don't touch the "Move to SD button" in Link2sd. I just use the link button and link the library and stuff. I also had to purchase the plus version of link2sd so I could move the data files. When I moved all the files to the microSD card (using the link feature), for some reason Kodi started working again.

Now, I was getting a really bizarre thing happen any time I tried to move a skin directory into the addons in the data files for Kodi. I wanted to move confluence customizable mod into the addons (since it's broken in Helix... hasn't been updated yet), and any time I would try and transfer the files in the file manager in Android, Kodi files would just DISAPPEAR! I have no idea why. Then I would have to uninstall and reinstall Kodi and start all over again.

So on my PC, I installed Paragon ExtFS so I could read the Linux (ext2) partition with Windows (I have Windows 8.1). It worked perfectly. I was able to transfer the skin files into the addons folder (because the data files had been linked on there) using Windows, and then popped the microSD back into my TV Stick and PRESTO, everything worked perfectly, skin and all.

[mansafreak2000]

I looked through my user data and found "axel.downloader.meta" taking up 5.7gigs from me. I opened it and deleted all the movies and tv shows I had no idea were being stored and got back down to 600mg which is fine.But I got 16 gigs to work with. I was losing 1.2 gigs per day so,ya. it's in the user data files under 0/ drive on my g-box Q. may help some of you out, good luck.