[Zubersoft]

So that would indicate that ES File Explorer is using the new file storage API from Google, and that works correctly with your SD card. I have no idea why my app is unable to write to the SD card using the older approach. I can start trying to migrate my code over to support that newer API, but I'm not sure how long it will take me to get everything working and fully tested.

[Vibraphon]

Hi Mike,

what does that mean to me?
I do not want you to create hugh effort only for me.
But actually I don't know what to do.
I bought that big size tablet only to use it with mobilesheets.
And all information I got told me, that this would not be any problem.

Do you have any idea, what I could do?

Thank you so far.

[Zubersoft]

You are certainly not the only person that would benefit from me making those changes. It would allow users to specify any directory on their removable SD card as the storage location instead of having to pick the cryptic path that is currently required. You are also not the only person that has experienced this issue with not being able to write to their removable SD card.

If you need a solution sooner, the only thing that comes to mind is rooting your tablet and removing the SD card restrictions in the OS itself. I could help point you to some instructions if you want to go that path (those instructions might even be on previous posts on the forum).

Is there any chance you can just use the internal tablet storage until I'm able to make the changes?

[Vibraphon]

If you have an instruction for non android experts, how to root this tablet, that would be ok for me.
Otherwise I will have to reduce the song list and all audio to be able to use the internal memory, the worst solution for me.

[Zubersoft]

That's not a widely used tablet unfortunately, so I don't think there are going to be simple instructions for how to root it. If I start working on switching over the code now, I can start to get an idea about how long it will take to make the transition. How soon do you require the changes? I'm just not sure what other options there are if you want to be able to use the SD card on that device.

[bumblebee]

Vibraphon, Would a different file manager work (just for now)?

[Vibraphon]

... How soon do you require the changes? ...

I'll try to work with a reduced content until you are fine with the changes. I am not a professional musician, so I can wait.

Vibraphon, Would a different file manager work (just for now)?

No, because there is not problem to move the PDF-files to the SD card. It is Mobilesheet that doesn't accept the SD card.

[Zubersoft]

I just released version 1.7.6 to Google Play with support for SD cards. Please give it a try and let me know if it works for you.

[GraemeJ]

If you have an instruction for non android experts, how to root this tablet, that would be ok for me.

I suggest you try Kingo - https://www.kingoapp.com/ - I've rooted several different tablets using their software and it's definitely good for the non-expert.

[Vibraphon]

I just released version 1.7.6 to Google Play with support for SD cards. Please give it a try and let me know if it works for you.

It is not yet really working but it became a little better.

• If I press on the SD-Icon in "Set MSh Storage Location" the selected path is "/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.zubersoft.mobilesheetspro/files", but not on the SD-Card.
  
• If I  select manually an existing path on the SD-card I get a message that it is "read only"
  
• If I Select from the 3 points "Set SD Card", there is a request to select the root folder of the SD-Card.
  
• If I then press on the SD-Icon in "Set MSh Storage Location" the selected path still is "/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.zubersoft.mobilesheetspro/files", but not on the SD-Card.
  
• If I then select manually an existing path on the SD-card and restore a backup (without companion), the files are written to the SD-Card
  
• "Expose Database File" doesn't work: "Failed to move the database. If the storage location is set to a folder on a removable SD card, this is not allowed."
  
• Restore via Compainion doesn't work. After 4 hours of connection there were 10% (about 400 sheets) tranferred, but the database was empty
  
• Restore from a local msb-file worked, but very very slowly. The files were stored on the selected folder on the SD card (found with the internal explorer) and could be read in MSP. I had no access to the song folders amnd sheets from my desktop computer using USB-connection!
  It took about 4 hours for 450 sheets.
  
• Then I manually created the folders "/mnt/external_sd/Android/data/com.zubersoft.mobilesheetspro/files" and moved the song folders to there from my dektop via USB-connection
  I was able to select this folder as Msh-Storage Location. Then I copied the mobilesheets.db from my first tablet to the new one.
  After every starting mobilesheets it took about one minute to load songs from database.
  

After all: It doesn't really work!
Sorry.

I just released version 1.7.6 to Google Play with support for SD cards. Please give it a try and let me know if it works for you.

[Zubersoft]

It may take a couple iterations for us to get things working on your device. The major problem is that your device isn't reporting the removable SD card correctly. That screws up a lot of code that normally relies on being able to get that information. For example, on most devices, if you select a read-only directory on a removable SD card, my app is going to recognize that in the file browser and prompt you to select the SD-card, at which point access is granted. With your device, I have no way of detecting if the selected directory was on a removable SD card, because your device is saying there isn't one! So I just fall back to saying it's read-only. You did the correct thing by selecting the "Set SD Card" option in the overflow menu, as I added that for devices like yours that don't operate the normal way.

I'm going to need you to work with me to see if we can get this all working correctly. If you want to install beta versions for me, I'll be able to get things working much faster than if you just wait for regular releases where I won't know for certain if it's fixed. If you want to do this, send an email to mike@zubersoft.com so I can provide information about how we will go about doing this.

A couple of notes:

1) You shouldn't need to select the /mnt/external_sd/Android/data/com.zubersoft.mobilesheetspro/files directory with my latest changes. Once the SD card is set, you should be able to pick whatever folder you want.
2) As you noted, the restore from local MSB file to the removable SD card is going to be very slow. The new interface that Google added for this is so much slower than direct file access - there is absolutely nothing I can do about this. If you want to use a removable SD card on a device that doesn't properly support the /mnt/external_sd/Android/data/com.zubersoft.mobilesheetspro/files path, the only way my app will have access is through that very slow interface. The good news is that I should be able to read files at normal speeds, so in theory this should only affect writing operations (i.e. importing new files that have to be copied to the storage location, restoring backups, exporting songs, etc).
3) Expose database file will not work on a removable SD card unless the application data directory is used (/mnt/external_sd/Android/data/com.zubersoft.mobilesheetspro/files). It will not work on your device at all due to it not correctly handling the removable SD card. There is nothing we can do about that - you will have to leave that disabled.
4) Restore via companion worked for me when I tested it, but there may be some issues on your device to the way the SD card is handled
5) I really don't think you should try storing the database on the removable SD card. It sounds like it sort of worked in your last bullet, but I can't guarantee there won't be problems
6) It's true that your PC may not be granted access to files and folders created through the new SD card API - I'm not sure how Google handles this.

So I think the next step is for me to add some additional code so that you can pick a different folder on the removable SD card, and it won't say it's read-only. That way the rest of my code will work the way it's supposed to. It sounds like you found some ways to work around that, but I don't believe the code is working correctly if the normal process doesn't complete through the file browser. Just to verify - did it still say the path was read-only after you used the "Set SD Card" option, or did it work after that?

I'm also confused about one thing - in the last bullet, you made it sound like everything did work, albeit very slowly. If you had left the original storage location, and didn't try to put the database on the SD card, did everything work properly? That's the real test I want you to run.

Thanks,
Mike

[Vibraphon]

... If you want to do this, send an email to mike@zubersoft.com so I can provide information about how we will go about doing this.  ...

You got an email.

[Zubersoft]

Yes, thanks for sending it, I've been swamped with work for my day job, I'm going to try to get you a build soon.

[Vibraphon]

I still have some smaller problems using the SD card.

• All backup and restore actions are working extrem slowly - but the do work. As a work around I do all restore actions on the other tablet and than change the SD-card from one tablet to the other.
  
• Export (f.e. as msf-files) does not work on SD card
  
• Exported msf-files to the internal SD card can't be found by PC-USB connection
  
• Import of msf-files doesn't work too because the new folder for the new song has not been created
  

[Zubersoft]

I'll try to look into those issues and get back to you.