How to combine internal and external memory Xiaomi Redmi 9

Owners of the popular budget smartphone Xiaomi Redmi 9 often face a lack of free space for installing modern applications and games. Standard volume of 64 or 128 gigabytes may not be enough, especially if you actively use instant messengers, social networks and navigation. The MIUI system installed on the device takes up a significant part of the built-in storage, leaving the user with limited space for personal needs.

Fortunately, there is an effective solution to this problem, Adoptable Storage, which allows you to use a microSD card as part of the device's internal memory, and it's not just a file transfer, but a full-fledged fusion of disk spaces, which makes the phone perceive the flash drive as a system partition, but it has its own technical nuances and requires careful attention to the choice of storage medium.

Before you start manipulating the file system, you need to understand the risks and requirements for the hardware. Unprepared memory card can slow down the smartphone or lead to data loss, so it is important to study the compatibility and speed of writing your drive in advance. In this article, we will discuss all the stages of preparation, settings and possible problems that you may encounter.

Preparation of equipment and selection of memory card

The first and most critical step is to choose the right microSD card. To implement the Adoptable Storage function, a regular slow flash drive will not work, since the speed of reading and writing directly affects the performance of the entire operating system. The minimum speed class is Class 10 or UHS-I, but for comfortable work it is better to focus on A1 or A2 standards.

Using low-end drives can cause the phone to start running with delays and apps to run longer than usual. Xiaomi Redmi 9 supports cards up to 512 GB, however, the stability of working with large volumes depends on the memory chip manufacturer.

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Buy memory cards only from official stores or large electronics networks to avoid counterfeits that may fail after formatting.

Remember, memory integration involves completely formatting the map, so all the data on it will be permanently lost. Copy important photos, documents and videos to your computer or cloud storage in advance. Once formatted, it will be impossible to recover information using standard means.

⚠️ Warning: Do not use old cards that have been in use for a long time in other devices for this procedure. They may have hidden sector errors that will only appear after you create system files.

• 📀 Check the card markings: look for icons U1, V10 or A1 case.
• 💾 Make sure that the card size does not exceed the officially supported limit of 512 GB.
• 🔄 Backup all the data on the memory card right now.
• 🔋 Charge your Redmi 9 to at least 60% before formatting procedures.

Activation of the developer mode and debugging via USB

In the standard MIUI settings menu, the option of formatting the card as internal storage is often hidden from the average user. To access advanced memory management functions, you need to activate the developer mode. This is a secure system setting that allows you to make changes to the Android operating system.

To activate the hidden menu, go to the Settings section → About the phone and find the item Version MIUI. You need to press this paragraph quickly. 7-10 Once in a row, until the screen does not appear a notification that you have become a developer, and then in the settings menu will appear a new section. → For developers.

Inside the menu for developers you need to find an item associated with the forced permission to record on the SD-It can be called differently in different versions of the firmware, such as "Force allow apps on external" or "Allow save to external drives." Activation of this switch signals to the system that the user is aware of the risks and wants to use the flash drive to install applications.

After turning on all the necessary switches, it is recommended to restart the device so that the changes take effect.The Android system should properly process the new configuration settings before the next step.

Formatting the map as an internal storage

The main step of memory consolidation is through the standard storage management menu.Put the prepared memory card into the Xiaomi Redmi 9 slot and wait for the notification of the new drive. Don’t ignore it, but click on the link in the settings or manually open the Settings → Memory section.

Click on your memory card name to open the control menu. In the upper right corner or in the context menu (three dots), select "Format". The system will warn you that all data will be deleted and will offer two use cases: as a portable storage or as internal storage.

Select the option "Internal Storage" and start the formatting process, during which the system will create a special secure file system, the card will be encrypted and linked specifically to this smartphone, you can not use it on another device without re-formatting.

The duration of the process depends on the volume of the card and the speed of writing, at which time you can not remove the card or turn off the phone, interrupting the recording can damage the file table and lose the ability of the drive.

⚠️ Note: After formatting as internal memory, the card becomes unreadable for computers and other phones.

Transfer applications and data to a new disk

Once the formatting is successfully completed, the system will suggest migrating the already installed applications and media files to a new volume, an automatic process that can be started immediately or postponed, and agreeing to a transfer to free up space in the system partition is recommended.

However, not all applications support external storage, and software developers decide whether they can be installed on external storage. SD-map, and many of the system services Xiaomi and Google need to stay on the built-in memory for stable operation.You can manually control the location of programs through the Settings menu → Annexes → All applications.

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The system itself will decide which data is more profitable to move, but manual control will allow you to free up more space in the system partition.

To port a particular application, select it from the list, find Memory or Storage and click Change. If the button is inactive, the developer has banned the transfer, and the application will only work with internal memory. Photos, videos and music can be transferred freely through the file manager.

• 📱 Heavy gaming often requires transferring additional caches manually through the game itself settings.
• 📸 The default camera can continue to save the photo to internal memory, check the save settings.
• 📥 Downloads from the browser and messengers are also better to reconfigure to a new saving path.
• 🗑️ Clean the gallery basket regularly, as it now takes up space on the combined drive.

Using ADB for forced association

In some cases, especially on global versions of MIUI firmware, the standard formatting button as internal storage may not be available, and then the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) toolkit comes to the rescue, a more complex method that requires connecting a smartphone to a computer.

To get started, you need to install Xiaomi drivers and the ADB platform on your computer. Connect your phone with a cable, enable USB debugging and confirm the connection on your smartphone screen. Then, through the computer command line, you enter a special command to create a partition.

adb shell sm partition public:128,2 mixed

In this command, the number 128.2 means that 128.2% of the card volume (i.e., the entire volume with a small margin) will be given to internal memory, and the mixed mode allows you to use the remaining space as a regular flash drive. If you want to give 100% of the volume, use the command adb shell sm partition private:100.

Once the command is executed, the phone may need to restart. It is important to understand that using ADB gives more control, but also increases the risk of error when entering parameters. Inexperienced users are better off limiting themselves to standard methods if they are available in their version of the software.

Possible problems and ways to solve them

Even if all instructions are followed, there may be a failure in the combined memory, most often users complain of a slowdown in the interface or periodic application freezes, because the data exchange rate of microSD cards is usually lower than that of the embedded memory eMMC or UFS.

If you notice that your phone is running slower, try reducing the number of widgets on your desktop and turning off the live wallpaper, and it’s also worth checking the status of the memory card with utilities like SD Insight or A1 SD Bench to make sure there are no broken sectors.

⚠️ Warning: If the system is constantly writing about a memory card error, don't ignore it.Urgently copy the data, as the drive may soon completely fail.

Another common problem is the inability to update apps on Google Play. The store may try to download the update to internal memory, which is no longer available. In this case, temporarily disable the map as internal storage (through formatting), update the applications and return the settings back, although this is inconvenient.

In some cases, cleaning up the cache of Google's system and services helps. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps → Show system, find Google Play Services and clear the cache. This can eliminate file path conflicts.

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