Winamp does not support SD card on Samsung Galaxy S

[jolux]

Winamp for Android is great, but unfortunately it does not support Wifi synchronisation from PC to the (external) SD card on Samsung Galaxy S i9000.

After synchronization from PC, Winamp stores the music files on the INTERNAL memory at /mnt/sdcard/music. But this path is the INTERNAL memory of the Samsung Galaxy S, which is very limited.

Winamp should have an option to store the music files on the EXTERNAL SD card which has more capacity and is dedicated to MP3 files on my device.

On the Samsung Galaxy S, the SD card has the path /mnt/sdcard/external_sd

Please add an option to synchronize the files on this path. Or, even better, an option for a user-defined path.

[jcott28]

I'd be curious to know if this is something that will be worked on. I have a large external SD card so I can keep my music on it and not the device itself. But now my playlists can't be copied over because they are larger than what's left on my external drive. I have a Samsung Galaxy S (TMO).

The ability to sync to the external drive is a dealbreaker unfortunately. Not a threat or anything. I really just need to know if I should keep using winamp. If it's on the radar as something that's planned to get done, I can hold out until then. But if it's not a priority I can just go back to Mixzing.

Thanks

[jolux]

No word from the Winamp team? :confused:

[dodgyracer]

I would really like to know if this this can be tweaked to allow choosable sync locations?

Can you do it via the USB cable?

Cheers Chris

[Mi Amigo]

I'm also a Samsung Galaxy S user and after jumping through all the hoops to install Winamp for Android, setting up wifi sync, etc., I was very disappointed to discover that the external SD card cannot be used.

To make matters more complicated, as has been stated elsewhere, the phone looks like a different device when connected via wifi, compared to when it is connected via USB. Therefore, if I sync up all my music and podcasts to the external SD card, then disconnect the USB cable, enable wifi on the device and sync via that connection, I get a complete duplicate set of files on the internal SD card. Obviously this is a less than ideal outcome...

I've been a fan of Winamp as a desktop application since its early days and was pleased to see the Android app appear. The wifi sync function is a great idea, but it still seems to be somewhat half-baked at the moment. I hope someone from Nullsoft / AOL will respond here to let us know whether there will be further refinements and fixes in this area in the future.

[jolux]

I am afraid that the Winamp team has no interest to reply to this topic. :down:

I will uninstall Winamp on my Android phone and go back to MixZing.

[Mi Amigo]

Sadly I think you may be right jolux. I have yet to see a reply to any of my posts or many other bug reports, feature requests, etc. that people take the time to post on this forum. It does make you wonder what is the point of having these parts of the forum in the first place, if we are just talking amongst ourselves, with no-one from Nullsoft listening.

[DJ Egg]

Hmm, interesting. I'll forward this to the relevant dev(s). Looks like we'll need to get hold of a Samsung Galaxy S.

Wifi sync should be defaulting to the Music folder on the SD card (as it does with all other models, afaik), not internal memory.

Alas, the path isn't configurable for wifi sync, only for usb sync
(via: Winamp > Prefs > Media Library > Portables > Android/USB Drive X > Advanced tab).

[jolux]

For the developers:

The Galaxy S mounts the physical SD card on /mnt/sdcard/external_sd/ since the update to Froyo (Android 2.2).

As the path for the external SD card is different on several configurations (dependent on smartphone and Android version), an option for a user-defined path would be optimal.

Let the users decide. ;)

[pgonza02]

I have a Viewsonic G Tablet and have the same issue.
Would like to sync to external SD card as well over WiFi.

Thanks.

[Accessory Geeks]

For the developers:

The Galaxy S mounts the physical SD card on /mnt/sdcard/external_sd/ since the update to Froyo (Android 2.2).

As the path for the external SD card is different on several configurations (dependent on smartphone and Android version), an option for a user-defined path would be optimal.

Let the users decide. ;)

I have a Viewsonic G Tablet and have the same issue.
Would like to sync to external SD card as well over WiFi.

Thanks.

So all we have to do is change the option from Internal to SD now right?

[pgonza02]

So all we have to do is change the option from Internal to SD now right?

Not necessarily, some users/devices might not have an external SD card or people might want to organize things different and have a nested path for their media.

[pgonza02]

Hmm, interesting. I'll forward this to the relevant dev(s). Looks like we'll need to get hold of a Samsung Galaxy S.

Wifi sync should be defaulting to the Music folder on the SD card (as it does with all other models, afaik), not internal memory.

Alas, the path isn't configurable for wifi sync, only for usb sync
(via: Winamp > Prefs > Media Library > Portables > Android/USB Drive X > Advanced tab).

FYI, this path is only within the drive letter that Windows assigns to whatever the device exposes as USB storage, usually the internal SD.

[Mi Amigo]

Thanks to DJ Egg for confirming that the developers are actually reading (at least some of) what we post on this forum; that's reassuring to know.

I'll eagerly await further news on this topic, but would also like to draw the Nullsoft team's attention to another sync problem with the Galaxy S - this one has been an issue for me since the beginning. I refer to the problem of a sync process deleting and and re-copying a large proportion of existing files on the phone every time a new sync is done. Here's a thread which discusses this in more detail:

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=327794

Although the title of the thread is "Wireless sync deletes and re-syncs most existing files" I believe that this is basically the same issue that occurs when a USB connection is used. It's incredibly irritating and wastes a lot of time at every sync operation. So if you guys are going to get hold of a Galaxy S, it would be great if you could have a look at this and fix it as well.

Many thanks

[jolux]

FYI, this path is only within the drive letter that Windows assigns to whatever the device exposes as USB storage, usually the internal SD.

By the way: Windows assigns two different drive letters to the Galaxy S as USB storage. One for the internal memory, and another for the external SD card. For example, my Galaxy S shows up as drive I: (internal) and drive J: (external SD). Certainly these letters are different and depending on hardware and Windows configuration.

[yeshuawatso]

Wow! I haven't logged into these forums in a LONG time. As far as the external SD goes, it's actually an Android thing. The way an app accesses the external SD card in apps is supposed to be consistent across all versions of Android to avoid reprogramming an app for each devices. (The methods are usually getExternalStorageDirectory () and/or getExternalStoragePublicDirectory() in the base os.Environment class, if you're a developer). Unfortunately, various manufactures have been implementing this function incorrectly (or at least misleading to developers) so that all apps that use these functions will store the files on the internal storage instead of your SD cards as expected. Really, the only way to go around this is to have reports come in, exactly like you guys are doing, for each device that behaves inappropriately, and place exceptions in the program's design for each device.

Unfortunately, these exceptions add complications to the program and introduces more bugs if your system is detected incorrectly (custom ROM users for example). For instance, in the Galaxy S line of phones, the location of the SD card on the file system is different based on the version of Android you have. For those using Android 2.1 on a Galaxy, for whatever reason, your location is /sdcard/sd while those on 2.2 the location is /sdcard/external_sd. By default, Android expects the functions mentioned above to point to /sdcard which is the internal storage for these phones.

So in short, it's not really Winamp's fault, it's the device manufacturer for changing Android's behavior for whatever reason. The only way around this is to continue telling the devs that the location of the external SD is different for your device. Dev's an easy solution for you is to just give people the option to specify where to sync the data. In terms of programming, this is trivial.

[lokhor]

I can't use Winamp on my Galaxy S until they let me define where it stores the music

[Accessory Geeks]

That's a good point.

[eatonjb]

So in short, it's not really Winamp's fault, it's the device manufacturer for changing Android's behavior for whatever reason. The only way around this is to continue telling the devs that the location of the external SD is different for your device. Dev's an easy solution for you is to just give people the option to specify where to sync the data. In terms of programming, this is trivial.

you are correct. but you one thing that was already discussed. The ability to choose.. Yes Devs get it all wrong, and put the SD card folder in weird places, but what is wrong with a simple "Select location" setting.

Also, remember that the Galaxy S line is one of the most popular Android phones out there, and now that Samsung has about 10 other phones that work pretty much the same, its a HUGE market for android phones.

[nightwlf]

I am having the same issue on Samsung Galaxy Tab GT-P1000, would like to be able to wireless sync to my shiny new external SD card. May try USB syncing in the meantime.

[jackleung]

Same issue here with another popular device, Galaxy SII i-9100. Winamp discover and wifi sync only works for the very limited internal storage. I really hopes winamp allow us to set which directory to use for our media files.

[robdog2004]

not seeing this issue on my galaxy s phone

[Docqualizer]

I just installed WFA on my Samsung Fascinate. It works well. I was also able to copy about 135 MB of music (via USB) to my SD card with no issues. WFA also picked up that the songs were indeed on my SD Card as opposed to my phone memory. So far so good - I will update you as I can...

[GreatHeights]

I'm having this issue with a Droid X2.

[dtocci]

Same issue here with another popular device, Galaxy SII i-9100. Winamp discover and wifi sync only works for the very limited internal storage. I really hopes winamp allow us to set which directory to use for our media files.

This issue still exists as I'm having it with the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II. I have more music than will fit on the internal storage, and there is no option on the desktop nor in the android app settings to specify the default music location on the device. Unfortunately this prevents me from using the wifi sync, which is one of the main reasons I got the app for the phone.

[asecsc4]

I thought it was a trivial thing, but maybe not...

When I connect my phone to the computer with a cable, I have the option of copying music on either the internal or the external storage place.

However, the phone winamp does not see the music on the external drive, nor can I find a way to point winamp to the external SD card.

Am I missing something or is this how things are supposed to be?
:hang:

christos

[joemachine]

Hi,

I have the same problem on my Samsung Galaxy SII (AT&T) model SGH-i777.

The way these devices configure their storage is very confusing. As far as I can work out the phone itself has internal storage divided into two logical areas: phone storage and SD card. The term SD card is misleading here because it's actually internal to the phone and not an SD card at all in the normal sense. So, /mnt/sdcard actually points to phone internal memory which may or may not be an actual SD card (impossible to tell since you can't get at it). The internal SD on my phone is 12Gb total storage.

The phone also has a microSD expansion slot, in which I have a 32Gb card which I want to use for all media (music, photos etc.).

The problem with WinAmp and all other music players I've tried is that it only looks at /mnt/sdcard, and so wants to sync media there. This completely negates the 32Gb card I've bought for this specific purpose.

Kind of crappy workaround: I hope this tip helps out others with the same problem while we wait for a proper fix...

While you can't use WinAmp sync to your external SD you can still use WinAmp to play music on the card. Just copy your music to the external SD manually (mine is in /mnt/external_sd/media/audio). Then on your device go into App Manager and hit WinAmp, Clear Data. The next time you launch WinAmp it will search your device and find the music on external SD.

Hope this helps,

[Gogster]

I would like to add my voice to this problem.

A someone said above, USB attachment allows internal phone memory or SD card, Wi-Fi just uses phone memory.

My music collection will not sync due to the folder size.

[robs23]

How can it be Winamp Team have totally no interest in solving this matter..? How hard is allowing user defined path to the sync folder on Galaxy S/S2/all S alike Samsung phones?
I would only like to remind that both Galaxy S and Galasy S2 are the all time best selling Android phones... And the ability to sync via Wifi is crucial function distinguishing Winam app from other Music player for Android...
Even though solving this issue might not be as easy as I claim it to be, Winamp team approach to this topic is just pathetic... If there is or is not something going on with solving this issue, You might keep users informed, instead of leaving them on their own...

[NPKDroid]

Wireless Sync works *almost* flawlessly between my desktop and android Winamp on my Droid X2 (running 2.3.4). All the metadata and playlists work perfectly. However, without the option to sync to my SD card wirelessly, I am limited to only 4GB of storage space rather than the 32GB I need to make my phone a viable MP3 player. I can copy files over USB to the SD card but winamp only sees it as an SD card attached by USB rather than Winamp Android so all of my organization and playlists go away when syncing. There is so much to love about Android Winamp but until Winamp supports SD card syncing I can't really use it. Please work on this problem!

[robs23]

Well, no one seems to care... I don't understand Winamp's approach... Maybe it's proper time to consider other players in Android Market...

[mremulator]

So what happens if you do this (see below image)? Does it ignore your request and place the files on the internal SD card instead?

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/3002/sdcardsync.jpg

[Edit -> DJ Egg]
This is USB mode, not WiFi.

The problem is with WiFi transfers/sync only.

[Rocker]

works fine on my i9100, comes up as pictured above

[robs23]

I tried it for myself but apparently I have only that part device-->i9003(my phone)-->Transfers. There's no way to turn on these parts where would be "i9903 SD card" in my case.On the screen it is marked with little lama icon on the left - don't know what it means and where to enable it. So still, I don't have possibility to pick some other SD card as shown on Your picture... Besides, in some kind of device overall survey it shows I have about 1,52 GB total capacity, which is capacity of my very internal SD card....

[riprowan]

I just installed on my Amaze, and Winamp Sync over wifi only sees the phone's internal memory. Is there a fix or solution? I want my media stored on the SD card.

[Lommer]

@mremulator - yes, that works when the phone is plugged in via usb. However it is apparently impossible to get winamp to sync to the sdcard over wifi. That's incredibly frustrating when adding a simple user-changeable "sync path" (which they already have for usb sync) would completely solve the problem. This thread is 10 months old and the Dev's have been obviously aware of the issue since June? Pretty lame support given that the wifi sync is winamp's only real edge in this market...

[lilfoo]

New year and problem still exists. Add another Samsung phone to the list the Exhibit II (SGH-T679).

[Pigpen80]

I get the same issue as Lommer with my Samsung Galaxy Note (a big S2 with a stylus, really). I can sync to the external SD via USB but not via Wifi.

I'd rather use Winamp primarily as I've been using it for years on the PC and I've bought Winamp Pro for Windows and Android already...

[Severian37]

Count me in as having the same issue. I paid for the WinAmp Pro version, which I cannot apparently use. I didn't figure that out until after the sync, which took a lot longer than 15 minutes - so I missed the refund window.

I can sync via USB, but the wireless insists on putting the music on internal storage, which makes it a useless feature. PLEASE allow a setup option to point to a folder location for wireless sync.

[Waldir]

Wifi does saves only on internal memory.

Just in USB sync mode the external card apears!!

[Waldir]

Só que toda a hora ele se embaralha com os arquivos. A cada sincronização ele não reconhece alguma porção dos arquivos que ele acabou de sincronizar.

[rasmith1959]

Too bad I find this out after the fact... Oh and add another problem to the mix, if your music files are on the SD card, Winamp doesn't update the play counts.

[backfiah]

Experiencing this on the Motorola Atrix 4G too - is there a way to fix this so it appears similarly to the Samsung Galaxy S?

Thanks

[dende]

Bump for I have the same problem.
Can't be that hard to change the source code so that the user can decide which folders the wifi sync should use.

[robs23]

Changing source code is not that difficult. Winamp for android team just doesn't care for users... If You looked upon what they are doing, You would see they only try to make app as wide accessible as possible to the new users and pay NO ATTENTION to users they already have. 95% of changes in each version are changes towards ICS users, only absolute minority of changes are dedictated bug fixes or introducing a new function.

This topic has been here with ABSOLUTELY no responce from Winamp for almost year now. So fot those hoping something would finally change one day - stop deceiving Yourself....

[adrianmk]

I registered on this forum purely to jump on the bandwagon of much frustration at this issue.

I used to use Winamp years and years ago, and have just come back to using since getting a Galaxy SII. But this is a dealbreaker. Wifi Sync to an external SD card is pretty much the defining reason I use Winamp.

I can't believe such an obvious issue dates back over a year on these forums with no fix. What the hell Winamp!?

[whoknows1]

Oh, and here I thought I was the only one struggling with this issue (http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=344027).

I really hope they will fix this as soon as possible...!

[Batter Pudding]

I have one of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/A1CS-FUSION5-Tablet-PC-Capacitive/dp/B007SHWKFQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337457999&sr=8-1

A Cheapo Chinese Android tablet that works well. On that Android device the External SD card is at /mnt/extern_sd

[FirkinBucky]

I came here for a solution to the same problem. I hopeful that a year of pondering the issue means a solution is right around the corner.

Please help!

[maest]

Any way to wirelessly sync to a SD card yet? Since these cards tend to have more space than the built in storage (which is used for apps and photos etc) it seems it should definitely be an option. The now defunct musicwithme app synced to SD cards.

[fornix]

A possible solution to fix this issue on all Samsung Galaxy S series phones (or others who have two flash devices (internal sd and external sd) ) :

Get the external drive using the existing method which I believe is
Environment.getExternalStorageState()
This should return /mnt/sdcard
Check if there exists a folder called external_sd in the returned path (/mnt/sdcard/external_sd
If such a folder exists, it means the phone mounts an external memory at /sdcard/external_sd
This folder can be used to store music (Music) folder

If such folder does not exist, then /sdcard can be used as is existing.

Best solution is to give user a choice for a default music folder for winamp and users can themselves choose /mnt/sdcard/external_sd. If user hasn't chosen a location, then winamp can continue using default.

Some info about folder structure for developers if needed (I have samsung galaxy s phone)
~ # cd /
~ # ls -l | grep sd
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 23 Jul 6 10:33 sd -> /mnt/sdcard/external_sd
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Jul 6 10:33 sdcard -> /mnt/sdcard
~ # ls /mnt/sdcard/external_sd | grep -i music
Music
~ #

This link would help too http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5694933/find-an-external-sd-card-location

Please let me know if any more information about my device is needed.

[bapkssist]

Hello,

Googling and googling for help on how to get winamp to transfer to external sd card on my Lg optimus 3d (device where both sd cards are displayed separately in windows and where in android the real external to phone (swappable) device is located under /sdcard/_ExternalSD)

I finally found a solution that seems to work with ROOTED phones only. A guy that was very frustrated because all apps where writing to internal sd card and not external made a little app for rooted phones called DiretoryBind. Just from the name you can tell what it does, it binds a diretory of your internal sd card to a directory in your external sd card so that when the app thinks it's writing to the internal sd card it gets in fact redirected to the external one.

you can download it here : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1410262

Steps to take :

1. Locate the folder where winamp wireless sync saves your music usually
2. Create a folder on your EXTERNAL sd card where you REALLY want your music to be saved
3. Download and install DirectoryBind from link (version0.2.0o seems to work well for me)
4. GRANT ROOT ACCESS
5. Click at the bottom right corner on activate
6. Menu Add new entry
7. In the source path enter the place where you want your data TO BE REALLY SAVED (the external SD path for me it was /mtn/sdcard/_ExternalSD/Musique on an optimus 3d )
8. In the mount/target path enter the place where THE APPS thinks it's writing (this path will "stay empty") mine ws /mnt/sdcard/Music wich seems to be the default winamp for android path
8. Click on Transfer files from target to data (the apps warns you but target must contain files and data must be empty
9. click on add
On your main screen click on the drive icon to make it green and the redirect should be ok

It is currently transferring music via wifi and only my external sd free space seems to go down in the Sd card and memory menu of my android phone so everything looks good so far

Also, winamp is telling me that there was not enough space to copy all music and that I have to use auto fill because it's the internal memory usage that is displayed. I'm going to see if the auto fill can be run once again when winamp will detect that files are already in this folder but that it still has place to put them on the phone.

-- Known bugs --

winamp seems to detect the music it has transferred as music not in your library, so select leave them to make sure they don't get deleted. Hope it won't create any duplicates on the phone tough..

Gonna finish my transfer and see what it gives and i'll keep you up to date

note to winamp devs : seriously consider integrating a non-root fix for this or at least to integrate this fix or you'll losse many other to wired transfer or to paid apps wich aren't as good on windows then your is.

[robs23]

Guys, as Winamp doesn't give a shit to fix this issue, I found solution on my own. Acctualy, the solution was created by xda-dev members so all credits go there.
Here is the thread which I used: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=30291586#post30291586.
In shorts, by changing few lines in vold.fstab file which is placed in /system/etc folder, You swap internal and external cards. It's acctualy very simple but You have to pay attention to use appropriate file. The link provided above is for samsung s sl (i9003) at gingerbread ONLY! If You have other phone or android version, look for same thread but on Yours phone forum! Read instruction provided there through not to get Yourself in trouble.

After applying this, winamp wirelessly sync all music to your external sd card. Works as promised, just give it a try.

Best Regards,
Robert

[masonmaverick]

Hey all.

I noticed many folks here struggling to sync winamp with an external SD memory card. I had the same problem. Winamp kept syncing to my Samsung S2's internal on board memory. Super frustrating...

The GOOD NEWS is that I found a really simple fix!!

Basically by default your phone will install any app to the internal memory. This is the problem. To fix this, simply make sure the winamp app is running from your sd card instead of your onboard memory.

For those of you who don't know how to do this:

1: Install android assistant(free):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.advancedprocessmanager&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5hZHZhbmNlZHByb2Nlc3NtYW5hZ2VyIl0.

2: Go to the "tools" tab

3: Click the "app to SD" button.

4:Select winamp

5: Restart your phone (i don't know if this is needed but it's what i did :D:D )

6: try again...

Happy wireless syncing!!

[creative-2008]

Hey all.

I noticed many folks here struggling to sync winamp with an external SD memory card. I had the same problem. Winamp kept syncing to my Samsung S2's internal on board memory. Super frustrating...

The GOOD NEWS is that I found a really simple fix!!

Basically by default your phone will install any app to the internal memory. This is the problem. To fix this, simply make sure the winamp app is running from your sd card instead of your onboard memory.

For those of you who don't know how to do this:

1: Install android assistant(free):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.advancedprocessmanager&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5hZHZhbmNlZHByb2Nlc3NtYW5hZ2VyIl0.

2: Go to the "tools" tab

3: Click the "app to SD" button.

4:Select winamp

5: Restart your phone (i don't know if this is needed but it's what i did :D:D )

6: try again...

Happy wireless syncing!!

You don't need that app in order to move apps to the SD card. All that app is doing is providing a link to a setting that already exists in the Android settings. It can be found by Settings --> Applications --> Manage applications --> All --> name of app --> Move to SD card.

I've tried it the way I suggested, and using the method I outlined above. And neither were successful for me. Android 2.3.6, Samsung Galaxy W.

[Batter Pudding]

You don't need that app in order to move apps to the SD card. All that app is doing is providing a link to a setting that already exists in the Android settings. It can be found by Settings --> Applications --> Manage applications --> All --> name of app --> Move to SD card.

I've tried it the way I suggested, and using the method I outlined above. And neither were successful for me. Android 2.3.6, Samsung Galaxy W.Lets take a wild stab at a guess... masonmaverick wrote the app and is posting here promoting it? Otherwise it would be a little odd for someone to post a "solution" that doesn't actually work.

Even my cheapo Chinese Knock-off Android Tablet has that option in an easy to find location...

[Milos1977]

It supports it on my Galaxy S3. I have winamp-Pro installed.

[Sentient7]

+1 on this problem

my "solution" so far has been so move the files from the internal to the external sd card using a file explorer tool... winamp still seems to recognize them on their new location so they don't get copied again; it's just a pain to keep having to manually move files after each wireless sync.

[jcm4101]

Is this fixed at all yet?? Can we sync the music to the SD card???

[juanbrunette]

Yep it sucks! I see there is still no fix out for this. I would really like to see a fix as it is a great feature to sync like this but it would be even greater if it is to my SD card.

[Robotochan]

March 2013.... and still no change.

Basically, wifi transfer is useless on my Galaxy S3 since it can only access the phone storage, not the SD storage.

[Julian66]

I did everything as eltutorial to set my radio but I can not find on the Internet.