[Guide][NoteII] Move data (games,etc) to external SD card [Directory Bind]

[tipsek]

Intro

This is a summary of bala_gamer's guide for using Directory Bind on Galaxy SIII but with my own additions and tips.
I'm using Galaxy Note II (N7100) but should work on other models too.
You need ROOT and this app called Directory Bind.
All credits go to original guide author and the app creator.

What does this app do?

Directory Bind lets you move big (or small, your choice) data files/folders from games, apps, navi software to your external SD card. If you use 16GB variant of the Note 2 you can quickly use up the space with a few big games, so what is the solution?
Directory Bind will take care of this. It will move the folders containing big files you choose to the external SD card. Read on for instructions.

What you need?

- ROOT (guide here)
- Directory Bind (get the app here)
- External SD Card mounted (I used SanDisk Class 4 32GB formatted to FAT32)

1) Setting things up

When you install Directory Bind you need to set up a few things first. You only do this once but you better do it right. If you don't, things might not work as they should. These settings work best.

• Open Directory Bind and give it ROOT access
• Press the (softkey) Menu key -> Preferences
• Check Bind on boot, Alert on unbind fail, Alternate dbase mgmt, Persistent service
• Leave the rest unchecked

Select Default data path and set it to:

/mnt/extSdCard/

Select Default target path and set it to:

/sdcard/

Make sure those target paths are EXACTLY like ones I wrote. These WORK, others probobly WON'T.

*** If using another phone, just make sure you set the data path to your External SD and target path to internal ***

This is it. You now have everything ready to move stuff from internal to external sd card.

2) Step by step guide to moving things

OK, we are ready to move things now. I will give step by step guide with pictures and an example. (click on image to view)

1) First install the app/game you want, open it and download all files you need. For this example I will use the game BackStab.
Screenshot of Storage before installing the game:


2) Screenshot after the game downloaded it's data. You can see it used about 1,3 GB on internal storage:

3) Open the game check it works and it downloaded all it needs. Now exit the game. Go to task manager and kill it if it's running (if it's not, proceed). Go to Settings -> Application Manager search for your game, select it and Force Stop (if it's greyed out, proceed).

4) Open Directory Bind (your list will be empty at first, so just ignore my list) and hit Menu softkey, select Add new entry:


5) Now hit Menu softkey again and select Data transfer Assistant (if your keboard pops up ignore it or press back):


6) Now you will select your source. Source for games is usually within Android folder and subfolders data or obb. Sometimes it's directly on /sdcard/appname. For some gameloft games it's under /gameloft/games. You must find where the game stored it's data. In my case it's under /sdcard/gameloft/games/GloftSDHM.

So I will tap on gameloft -> games -> GloftSDHM: *** DON'T hit Select just yet!!! ***







And now when we are within the folder which we want to move we tap on Select:


8) Now the mount (target) path is set to the internal sd card folder, where game stored it's files. In my case this is

/sdcard/gameloft/games/GloftSDHM

Check that you have indeed selected the correct folder!
The source (data) path is external SD card folder where files will be moved. As pictured, I created an extra, optional, folder just to make it easier identifying the game later. You don't need to do this, leaving default will be just fine.

Make sure Transfer files from target to data is checked and hit Add


8) If you see "Data directory not exist, create now?" select "Create". It will say Copying files... I recommend you leave the phone until it finishes. It usually takes a few minutes.


9) Once it's done make sure there is a checkmark on the right and tap on the grey diskette icon:


It will now turn green:


10) DONE! This is it. Exit Directory Bind and reboot the device. It's not mandatory to reboot, but I recommend you do. When the phone turns on, you will see a notification that Directory Bind is performing binding. Wait a minute or two. Now go into Settings -> Storage aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand:


There you have it. Available space on internal card is back and the files are now moved to external SD card. You can now fire the game up and it should work the same as before. I didn't notice any lag or longer load times, runs just as smooth as before moving.

3) Tips & Tricks

• Use the same method as described above for each individual game/app.
• I don't recommend binding the complete Android/data or Android/obb folder. For me, it broke some games, and some games that use /obb didn't work. Individually binding each game worked every time.
• I can confirm that Class 4 microSDHC 32GB works perfect. No lag, no longer load times, everything the same as from internal. So Class 4 or above is recommended, can't say for Class 2. I formatted to FAT32 and works just fine.
• You don't NEED to reboot after each binding, but I recommend it, just to be sure everything is working. I always install the game, play it a minute, exit, perform binding, reboot. Then try the game again for a minute, and check storage before and after. For me it worked every time.
• If there is an option within the game/app to download extra data to external SD card I recommend using that option directly. Only bind those games/apps that do not support this on their own. Example would be The Bard's Tale there you can select to download that huge HD 3,5GB file straight to external SD.
• Make sure you set source (data) and mount (target) as instructed. Just do it.
• On last picture of storage you can also see the color graph which represents internal SD card and how full it is. Don't panic as the grey (free) space will eventually disappear when you move a lot of files. It seems the graph can't "read" what we done and thinks internal SD is full. Just ignore it, only check the Available Space number and there you will se how much free space is left on internal SD.
• Also important, if you use a file explorer and navigate to the original folder on SD internal, where data was before (in my case sdcard/gameloft/games) the original folder will still exist, and also checking Properties you will see it has the same size. It will seem as this was only copied to external SD and the original folder still exist. This is not the case! On internal SD this folder is actually kind of a "shortcut" or a "link" and does NOT infact use space. So if you delete anything from there, it will actually delete stuff from external SD. This one is hard to understand, but you will get it eventually.

The End


I simply copied this article/guide from XDA, where I wrote it. Link: Original thread @ XDA
Thanks for reading, I hope it helps some of you. Bye

[holdmyown]

Thanks for the useful guide I'm gonna try this as soon as my phone is fully charged but I have a question

What do I need to do if the games files located in 2 directories (like Android/Data and Android/Obb)?

[tipsek]

I recommend only binding the big directory. Usually if game has obb file then it might create something in data aswell, but that data is maybe a few KB or MB. I always only bind the big files (a few 100 megs or gigs) and works well. I have about 20 gigs worth of games/apps on External SD with no probs.

[holdmyown]

I recommend only binding the big directory. Usually if game has obb file then it might create something in data aswell, but that data is maybe a few KB or MB. I always only bind the big files (a few 100 megs or gigs) and works well. I have about 20 gigs worth of games/apps on External SD with no probs.

Thanks for responding.. So I can leave the Obb data and just move the big files and everything should still play fine??

[tipsek]

Thats how I do it, just move the big folder, leave the small, all works fine. Try it and report if there are problems. Just follow the guide should be fine.

[holdmyown]

Thats how I do it, just move the big folder, leave the small, all works fine. Try it and report if there are problems. Just follow the guide should be fine.

Your were right, everything went fine.. I ended up moving ShadowGun, Max Payne, Modern Combat 4, NOVA 3 and The Dark Knight and they all still play just fine.. I wanted to try moving some big Obb files but wasn't sure if the same steps applied for those files..

[robinmbers]

yeah,I recommend only binding the big directory. Usually if game has obb file then it might create something in data aswell,

[rasmus1979]

Working great on galaxy tab 7 plus P6200, but the default directories must be : /mnt/sdcard/extStorages/SdCard/ and /sdcard/, thank you very much for the great topic, it helped me a lot

[tipsek]

No problem, added a note on setting correct paths, everyone should take advantage of this if they run out of internal space

[robinmbers]

yeah,me too,added a note on setting correct paths, everyone should take advantage of this if they run out of internal space