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I am not a programmer, I am a 'user'. I have bought a FonePad and added a 32GB SDHC card, naively thinking I could use it to store the maps I will need on a storage-hungry navigation software.

However, I find I cannot rename the device from Removable, I get the message 'Permission Denied'. Same result when I try to create a subfolder. Same result if I try using a utility like SDCard Manager or Card Manager HD.

Coming from a Windows world, I am just completely lost.

Take SDCard Manager for example: when running it says that it has *Storage -- Modify or delete the contents of your SD card. I note that SD card is the 'built-in' device.

SeptimusFry
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  • Is this "SD card" built in or removable? The title suggests its removable but at the end of your question you say its the "built in device"? – Jonny Wright Jun 01 '14 at 10:47

2 Answers2

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The device you mentioned runs Android JellyBean. A terrible feature was added to JellyBean that stopped apps being able to write/modify data on an SD card, except for folders they owned on the SD Card. When an app is installed, a folder is automatically created on the SD card for it. So, your app should be able to save the maps to its own folder on the SD card, however you cannot use a third party app to create folders and such on the card. You'll either have to use a built in file manager or create folders and edit data from a PC.

MyNameWouldGoHere
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It sounds like you formatted the card using your computer, or another device. It seems like now your Android device doesn't have proper permissions to write to the card. You can fix this by formatting the card. If you don't want to format the card, just run this on Ubuntu or another linux based system:

sudo chmod -r o+w /path/to/sdcard

This will recursively give everyone permission to write to the card. If the card is empty, you probably just need to apply this to the root directory, with no recursion:

sudo chmod o+w /sdcard/root
John
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    Thanks. I have not formatted the card, just put it straight in. I cannot find any formatting utility on the fonepad. Can I format on a Windows or Apple desktop? I do not have access to Linux based system. Supplement: I note a lot of stuff about rooted systems, how do I find out if my system has an accessible root? – SeptimusFry Sep 02 '13 at 20:30