How to install the game on the memory card Xiaomi: the complete guide

Modern mobile games take up a huge amount of space, and owners of Xiaomi smartphones often face a lack of internal memory. Built-in storage is quickly filled with system files, photos and, of course, heavy applications, in such a situation, the only reasonable way out is to use a microSD memory card.

However, the standard installation of games on external drives in shells MIUI HyperOS is often hidden from the user's eyes. The default system seeks to write all data into internal memory for maximum download speed. This creates the illusion of not being able to change the way the record is going, but there are actually several proven methods to address this problem.

In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to transfer games, from standard settings to advanced methods using ADB. You will learn how to make your phone perceive a flash drive as part of internal storage, and what risks can arise. Proper file management will allow you to free up gigabytes of valuable space without losing the functionality of the device.

Preparation of memory card and smartphone for work

Before you start transferring data, you need to make sure that your drive is ready for high loads. Games require not only high volume, but also high read/write speed, otherwise you will encounter long loads of levels and friezes.

Insert the memory card into the smartphone slot. If the device has already worked with this card, it is better to back up the data to the computer, as further actions may require formatting. Go to the phone settings to check the connection status.

Find the Settings section → The phone. → The storage. There's two storage devices that should be displayed here: internal memory and SD-If the system sees the drive but it's not formatted, the phone will suggest doing so. Select formatting as Portable Storage to start with so you can port media files and some applications.

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Use speed class memory cards UHS-I (U1) or UHS-II (U3) The "Class 10" marking is the minimum standard required, but for heavy duty 3D-Projects are better to take cards with an index A1 or A2, optimized for running applications.

It's important to understand that not all games support external media transfer at the developer code level, but there are system workarounds that allow you to force the prioritization of data writing.

Standard methods of transferring applications to MIUI

The MIUI shell provides basic memory management functionality, though it is often limited. In newer Android versions and Xiaomi firmware, the ability to transfer entire applications to a memory card is often hidden or not explicitly, but it’s worth a try.

Go to the Settings menu → Annexes → All applications. Find the game you're planning to move and open up the properties of the game. If the developer has this option, you'll see the active "Move to the port" button. SD-map".

If the button is inactive or absent, this means that the application is rigidly tied to the internal storage, in this situation, you can not transfer the "body" of the program using regular means, but you can try to transfer the cache.

• 📂 Open the standard guide and find the folder with the game.
• 📂 Copy the contents of the folder Android/obb or Android/data.
• 📂 Insert the copied data into a similar folder structure on an external drive.

Some users have noted that the portability may disappear or appear after the firmware update, depending on Xiaomi’s policies regarding specific versions of Android.

Adoptable Storage (SD as internal memory)

The most effective way to get your phone to install games on a memory card is through Adoptable Storage, which allows you to format an external drive so that the system will consider it an integral part of internal storage.

To activate this feature on Xiaomi smartphones, you often need access to hidden settings through your computer. You will need a PC, a USB cable, and an installed ADB driver (Android Debug Bridge) This method turns your USB drive into a system partition.

The first step is to include the debugging of USB. Go to Settings. → About the phone and press 7 times on the item "Version" MIUI", Then, in the advanced settings, activate the switchboard. USB-debugging.

After connecting, open the command line on your computer in the folder with ADB. Enter the command to get a list of disks:

adb shell sm list-disks

The system will give you an ID for your card, such as disk:179.64. Remember or copy this number, it will be needed for the next formatting command.

ADB commands for forced memory expansion

Now you have to execute a command that turns the external drive into internal memory, and be careful, after that step, the memory card will be encrypted and cannot be read on other devices without re-formatting.

Enter the following command in the terminal by substituting your disk ID:

adb shell sm partition disk:XXX private

Where XXX is the number that you got in the previous step, it takes a few minutes, and when it's done, it can reboot.

⚠️ Note: The speed of the interface and games depends on the speed of your memory card. Cheap cards with low write speed can cause a severe slowdown of the entire system, as the operating system will begin to actively use them for system processes.

If everything goes well, you will no longer see the separation into "Inner Memory" in the storage settings "SD-It'll show one total volume. All new games will now be installed on the extended storage by default.

• 🚀 The system decides where to write data, optimizing the space.
• 🚀 Applications that previously could not be ported are now available for installation on an external module.
• 🚀 There is no need to manually manage cache files.

Compatibility table and speed characteristics

When choosing a memory card for games, it is critical to pay attention not only to volume, but also to speed classes. Below is a table that helps you choose the best storage device for different use cases.

Pay attention to the A1 or A2 markings. It is the IOPS parameter (number of I/O operations per second) that is more important than the linear speed for the Android interface and games.

If you plan to use Adoptable Storage mode, we strongly advise you to choose cards from proven brands such as SanDisk, Samsung or Kingston. Cheap counterparts can quickly fail when you record intensively.

Possible problems and ways to solve them

Users may encounter a number of difficulties in expanding memory or transferring games, often with games stopping to run or with errors after moving files.

One of the common problems is loss of access rights, and once you reboot or update the system, the paths to the files can change, so try to re-slip the rights or reinstall the application without deleting the cache folder.

⚠️ Note: If you have formatted a card as internal memory, never remove it without first unmounting it in the settings (Settings) → Warehouse → SD-map → Extract) Abrupt extraction can damage the application database.

Also worth remembering is the memory card overwriting resource: the constant installation and deletion of games, as well as the operation of system logs, quickly wear out memory memory cells of the flash drive. For an active game library, it is better to have a spare drive.

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SD as internal memory is a two-way solution: you get a lot of space, but you lose the card’s mobility and risk speed if the card is of poor quality.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions