Titanium Backup cannot write into SD card?

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Batman

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#150438 22-Jul-2014 20:50

Hi since I upgraded to Telecom 4.4.2 my titanium backup cannot write onto my SD card.

SD card can be written onto by the OS, i can create folders, copy files onto it etc

Any ideas?

(SGS4)

blakamin

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#1093931 22-Jul-2014 21:14

Didn't security change in 4.4.2? Apps need different permissions and need to be rewritten? Root has be be re-done? I can't remember. I gave up on titanium after it corrupted apps after version updates. It was easier to just reinstall from google play.

edit: pretty sure individual apps can only write their own data to their own folder from 4.4.2 on IIRC.

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Dingbatt

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#1094005 23-Jul-2014 08:22

I have a tablet running android 4.4.4 with titanium installed. It appears to have access to my SD card but I had to set it under preferences. It then easily scanned and found the TB files that were resident on the card.

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#1094009 23-Jul-2014 08:44

well that's android for you. it's really weird.

it can see the sd card. it can see everything. there is a green tick at the start screen.

but it is unable to write anything onto it, it cannot delete any saved backups, nothing.

so looks like it's only me. maybe time for a new phone. and maybe never a samsung. ever. but it's a shame other cool ones have no sd card slots

NikT

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#1094079 23-Jul-2014 10:37

That'll be the changing permissions in 4.4.2. Since you're using Titanium Backup, your phone is presumably rooted - give this a crack: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nextapp.sdfix

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Dratsab

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#1094081 23-Jul-2014 10:38

That's odd. I've had 4.4.2, 4.4.3 and am now running 4.4.4 and have never had a problem with TB (Pro) writing to the external SD card.* If you have ROM Toolbox maybe try fixing the permissions on TB?

*Just to clarify: Android mounts the internal memory as "sdcard" and external memory as "extSdCard" from root or "sdcard0" and "sdcard1" respectively from the storage container - I assume you're talking about external memory?

Perhaps cheek the backup path in TB as well - are you writing directly to "extSdCard" or going via "/storage/sdcard1/yourbackupdir"?

Edit: NikT beat me to the punch with what looks like a very likely solution :-)

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#1094103 23-Jul-2014 10:57

wow so confusing!

1) using SDfix worked!!!
2) i am talking about an external microSD card - but why fixing the internal SD by SDFix works i have no idea
3) i have appops - if permissions are different should i remove the thing?

nzgeek

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#1094388 23-Jul-2014 17:57

The core issue here is around permission changes that Google add to Kit Kat regarding writing to storage locations. In older versions of Android, you needed a permission to write to secondary storage (e.g microSD cards), but nothing to read from them. This changed in Kit Kat, where a new permission is need to read from the card. The old write permission is still there, but only allows you to write to a specific location. General write access to the card is blocked. More info can be found at http://www.doubleencore.com/2014/03/android-external-storage/.

The SDFix app works by modifying the file that says what permissions let you write to the SD card. It makes the write permission work the way that it used to.

It looks like a lot of ROM developers disagree with Google's decision, due to the number of custom ROMs out there that already have the permission fix in place when you install them. CyanogenMod is one major example.

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#1094512 23-Jul-2014 21:08

joker97: but it's a shame other cool ones have no sd card slots

Sony

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#1094525 23-Jul-2014 21:25

Sorry my definition of cool is high screen size small body size low weight. Lg is what I'm referring to ... I looked at the sony it's quite bulky

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#1094538 23-Jul-2014 21:43

The change is a good idea, but it came too late.

Good to stop apps going thru other apps data on the SD card.

Richard rich.ms

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#1094683 24-Jul-2014 09:27

My biggest issue with this permission is around third-party file explorers. System apps, i.e. ones in the /system/app or /system/priv-app partitions have different permissions to downloaded apps, i.e. ones in the /data/app partition. So if a file explorer is bundled with the OS, as Samsung's is, it will have the ability to create/delete new folders on the external SD card, while superior third party alternatives will not. This is an essential feature for me, as friends who have bands often send me untagged demos in archives. I prefer to extract the files and place them within my neat & tidy music folder hierarchy, as they're often untagged. Without a bundled file explorer, some devices now have no ability to create or delete folders on the external SD at all, rendering the vibrant file explorer app ecosystem virtually useless (Although notably the HTC M8 did not seem to have this issue). Easy fix with root as above, but a solid step backwards for Android as a whole IMO.

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