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How To Bump Your INTERNAL Memory To 64GB On The Galaxy S3 and Note 2

How To Bump Your INTERNAL Memory To 64GB On The Galaxy S3 and Note 2

 

You read that right folks. I am going to show you an easy way to take your 16GB Galaxy S3 or Galaxy Note 2 (and a way for the Transformer Prime), and literally quadruple your INTERNAL memory (for installing apps and using as storage) up to 64GB. On top of that, you will even get to keep the 10 free gigs of internal you have left to give you a whopping 70GB total storage (64GB internal, roughly 10GB external). You guys think I’m joking, but I am not. The method for doing this is not only amazingly easy, but will literally save you hundreds of dollars on buying a device with more storage. So enough of my yacking. Let’s bump your 16GB up to 64 in literally less than 10 minute time.

The Proof

So guys, if you’ve never had a good enough reason to root your device, have a look at these before and after pictures. The pic on the left is from my Note 2 WITHOUT the mod applied, and the pic on the right is WITH the mod applied. Have a look:

Notice anything odd about that pic? That’s right...my 16GB is now rocking ALOT more internal memory isn’t it? But how is this possible?

Now before you guys leave this article due to your fear of rooting, STOP. Let me put this to you as clearly as possible: Rooting the S3 or the Note 2 (and applying this mod) is so easy that it will quite literally make you wanna slap yo mama. I’m serious. Matter of fact, I did indeed slap my mother after applying this mod, but due to how awesome it is, she understood.

Don't be afraid

You know how to upload a photo on Facebook right? You press “attach photo”, search your PC for the picture, and then press the “upload” button right? I mean, 13 year olds do it everyday. Rooting these 2 devices uses the EXACT SAME PRINCIPAL. You open up a tool called Odin, navigate to a file you downloaded, and literally press the go button. DONE. Rooting complete. It can also just as easily be reversed, so have no fear, ok?

All the files you need to root the Note 2 are here, and to root the S3, they are all here. It takes literally 2 minutes guys. Once you have done that, you can continue with the mod.

How it works

So now you’re probably asking “how is this possible? I mean hell, buying a 32GB or 64GB GS3 or Note 2 costs ALOT of money! Surely it can’t be that easy to bypass the money you would have to spend by applying a simple mod?”. Well folks, it is that easy, and all you need is a microSD card and a rooted device...nothing more. All this mod does is the following: It fools your phone into thinking that your external memory is your internal memory, and vice versa. In a word: BRILLIANT.

The mod comes from XDA member mattiadj, who actually made it for the Galaxy S3 originally, and it just so happens to work on the Note 2 as well. BIG credits to him (and szymi22 for bringing it to the attention of Note 2 owners) for his awesome work. So now, lets get into installing it.

The right card

Keep in mind that this is only worth doing if you have at least a 32GB microSD card. I am using a 64GB card, and it works great. I personally recommend a class 10 64GB Sandisk Ultra card, which you can buy for about 50 bucks (here it is on Amazon, 32GB here, which is around 30 bucks). That’s just my recommendation though, and you can use whichever card you wish.

The simple method to apply this mod

So here we go. For the Note 2, all you need to do is the following:

  1. Root your device
  2. MAKE A NANDROID BACKUP IN CASE SOMETHING GOES WRONG
  3. Head over to THIS thread on XDA
  4. Download the Perseus kernel file (the mod requires a custom kernel) IF your ROM already has an option to apply this kernel, you shouldn't need to flash it seperately, but I would go ahead and flash the original to be on the safe side (Mikes Android Revolution ROM uses it, which I highly recommend).
  5. Download the correct 11extsd2internalsd file. If your card is 32GB, get the FAT32 file. If it’s higher than 32GB, get the exfat file.
  6. Reboot into recovery
  7. Flash the kernel
  8. Flash the 11extsd2internalsd file
  9. Reboot
  10. Freak out with your new storage space

The files on that thread should also work for the GS3 (they are even still named S3 files on the Note 2 thread), but just in case, the original S3 thread for this mod can be found here. He also includes a video tutorial.

When you reboot, you will find that your internal memory has increased, and that your “original” internal memory is now being read as your SD card. Now you can go crazy with installing as many big games and apps as you wish, along with pictures, movies, or whatever the hell you desire :)

On the Note 2, I have noticed that the only downside is that games and certain apps can take literally just a few seconds longer to load, but in most cases, I notice no changes whatsoever in performance. 

For the Transformer Prime (thaks to developer TweakerL for creating this AMAZING mod), the method is a bit different, but will also bring you an INSANE performance boost due the hardware Asus used for the Prime’s internal memory. More info and the method for doing it on the Prime can be found here.

A great reason to go Android that even iPhone users can't deny

This is another huge reason why I love Android. Only with its open source system can mods like this be done. It’s easy, it’s very practical, iPhone users will DROOL, and you can remove it if you don’t want to have it anymore ( instructions for doing this are on the GS3 thread. Or you simply reflash your ROM to remove it). The benefits are HUGE, and I am filling up my Note 2 with all the games that I had on my Prime before.

So there you have it guys! This mod will save you a LOT of money, and will totally open up the possibilities of your Note 2, Galaxy S3, or Transformer Prime. Big credits again to XDA members mattiadj for this awesome mod!

Enjoy!

P.S: Some points our commenters below reminded me of that I didn't include. For Transformer Prime owners, using data2sd will literally double the speed in terms of daily performance for your Prime. That being said, if you would somehow accidentally pop the microsd card out, you would need to reboot after reinserting it. There should be no data corruption due to the journaling used in the required ext4 partition that data2sd uses. The same hack for Prime exists using ext2 with NO journaling, which is double as fast as ext4, but the downside to that is that if the card pops out, your data will corrupt, and you will need to reinstall your ROM.

For Note 2 & S3 owners, I haven't tried popping out the card, but as its pretty damn hard/almost impossible to do anyway, it should not be an issue that a simple reboot couldn't fix if you did somehow manage to do it. 

Picture credits: for the GS3 and Note2 - cdn.itproportal.com (edited by myself)

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  • 2
    Richard Staats Feb 12, 2017 Link to comment

    Will this method work for the S4 also? I have already rooted it, but am running o of memory. I only have about 400 apps though. Rick


  • Shahul Hameed BS 1
    Shahul Hameed BS Mar 1, 2016 Link to comment

    This is a great post. But can I apply these steps for Samsung Note 3?


  • David Weng 1
    David Weng Feb 26, 2016 Link to comment

    This is great!
    I have a note 2, seems the internal memory is broken, I am thinking changing it to use external SD, is it possible to install without internal memory?


    • 2
      Advitiya Paranjape Feb 27, 2016 Link to comment

      i doubt ur phone would even boot if internal storage broken. did u try changing rom or simple factory reset on original filmware?


      • yx weng 1
        yx weng Feb 27, 2016 Link to comment

        I can goto recovery menu. My understand is rom is ok while ram is broken. What do you mean by changing rom? On reset menu. It shows all the cannot find folder like e:\cache error etc.


  • 2
    Advitiya Paranjape Dec 4, 2014 Link to comment

    i know i m late but for all those saying article is wrong/misleading/ how its saving money . When u install games high end games u cannot transfer them to sd card so ur internal memory gets low for instance mine is now stuck at 9 ish gb after installing vice city gta blah blah so with this trick ur internal memory will boost and also u can download more then:)


  • 2
    Stuart D Apr 26, 2014 Link to comment

    @author:
    You should either rewrite or remove this article, as it is very misleading, as was pointed out.
    And how could anybody possibly save "hundreds of dollars" by telling the phone to use the external memory instead of the internal?? I hope you don't work in the sales industry.


  • 1
    Rico Maranto Feb 25, 2014 Link to comment

    AWESOME!!!! I had to search the web to find a few of the files that were compatible with my T-Mobile Galaxy Note 2 but it worked! Now instead of having only 2 GB of working memory I now have 60 GB.


  • 1
    Simsøn Cørreya Jan 7, 2014 Link to comment

    can we do this for Sony Xperia Arc S? i have a very low internal memory!...only 500mb


  • 1
    Jacob Berman Aug 25, 2013 Link to comment

    Just so you guys know, this mod causes A SHITLOAD of TECHNICAL PROBLEMS. I installed this exact mod (On a different phone, though) and trust me. You will run into more tech problems than you know what to do with. Namely whenever something DOES try to save to your SD card (such as the camera app) it gets confused and just deletes your video or photo. Don't forget clearing your browser's cache is an all-day event now, and many times I have found myself LOGGING INTO FACEBOOK or similar apps every time I turn on my phone.


  • 1
    Augie Martinez III Jul 26, 2013 Link to comment

    I watched the video and he goes on about this only working with the "international" version. Will this mod work with a Metro PSC version of the Galaxy S3?


  • 2
    Stuart D Apr 22, 2013 Link to comment

    Completely agree with Muti007.
    This is a very poorly written article.

    "I'm going to show you how you can upgrade your 16GB phone memory to a whopping 64GB..! Yes that's right folks! I know! I couldn't believe it myself either! Okay, first step: go out and buy a 64GB memory card."


  • 2
    Ahmed Kotha Feb 26, 2013 Link to comment


  • 1
    fresH Feb 22, 2013 Link to comment

    it is just inversion. when I install a new game or app.. it is installed on the SD card (11 GB storage) and not on the 32GB . so .. does nothing.


  • 1
    Jassi Verma Feb 18, 2013 Link to comment

    please can it work on galaxy s2 please please please. ..........................reply. .........I m waiting. ..........


  • 1
    Jassi Verma Feb 18, 2013 Link to comment

    please can it work on galaxy s2 please please please............... reply .......I m waiting


  • 1
    Muti007 Feb 10, 2013 Link to comment

    Im sorry, but the title of this article is terribly misleading as is some of the content. Youre not "bumping" your internal memory an iota, youre just tricking the phone into thinking your sd card is now your internal memory. Thats it. You cant have 64gb internal and an additional 64gb with another sd card for example. Youre just as limited as you were before. As for how this will "save you a LOT of money", I must be mssing something. How will this save you even a $1?


  • 1
    Silver Liew Feb 7, 2013 Link to comment

    im srry i tried to follow the steps but alot of it confuse me.i spent about 2 hours trying to figure out what to do here and srry boss but your guide counldnt help me get past the "Simply methods".
    do you think you can get a video to show how you did it on the galaxy note 2.


  • 2
    Kamee Mitchell Jan 3, 2013 Link to comment

    Chad Bonaventura:

    Did Verizon actually let you keep your "Unlimited" data when you upgraded?


  • 1
    Terry Whalen Dec 29, 2012 Link to comment

    hi Eric, any chance I could pay you to walk me through this? I have a note 2 on Verizon.


  • 1
    chad bonaventura Dec 28, 2012 Link to comment

    it looks like you just lost room on sd card and transfered it to internal. If sd card is taken out is the internal memory still 64 I do not understand what the benefit is if you are just losing it on sd card. I am a android lover and just rooted my samsung galaxy note 2 on verizon that I paid full price for so I do not lose my unlimited data. I am not that knowledgable about everything on phones so just asking for my own knowledge thanks


  • 1
    Tony Dec 4, 2012 Link to comment

    Hello, on your post about expanding the memory of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, do you know if this will work with verizon's model? Also, I am currently rooted and have rom manager installed but cannot access ClockworkMod Recovery in order to do a nandroid back up, I can only access the stock recovery ( because I am on a stock rom). Is there any way around this? Ive heard of a shell script in the filesystem that pervents the CWM from booting in recovery, do you know anything of this? Thank you!


  • Leandro de Jesus 1
    Leandro de Jesus Nov 27, 2012 Link to comment

    Não estou conseguindo expandir a memoria do meu s3,será porque a rom é 4.4?
    complei um sd 32gb class 10 e fiz tudo da maneira que foi explicada mais não estou conseguindo por favor alguem pode me ajudar?


  • 2
    Cun Liong Kwok Nov 8, 2012 Link to comment

    I finally manage to get my N7100 back to Stock/Official ROM and Kernel with 0 Binary counter....and then again tried these instructions exactly step by step (twice) but still with no luck.... :-D

    O well....guess I have to be happy with only 10GB mem only.... :-)


  • Malek Hussein Manan 1
    Malek Hussein Manan Nov 4, 2012 Link to comment

    Will the same procedure apply for both versions of the Note 2 i.e. GT-N7100 (regular version running JellyBean 4.1) and the GT-N7105 (LTE version running JellyBean 4.1.1)?


  • 2
    Cun Liong Kwok Nov 2, 2012 Link to comment

    @Eric...thanks for your help bro. :)
    Now...I'Ve downloaded the newest samsung official stock Rom and official kernel. But when I flashed it with odin it failed.... so i can't flash my kernel back to stock.


  • 2
    Cun Liong Kwok Nov 2, 2012 Link to comment

    @Anna...Before I follow Eric's blog...my Rom and kernel definately STOCK. Now after I followed Eric's blog....it change to what I post before.


  • Anna F. 12
    Anna F. Nov 2, 2012 Link to comment

    Always glad to help. I can feel this guy's frustration. It's such a horrible feeling when you're tinkering with an electronic device and something goes wrong or doesn't turn out as expected...


  • 31
    Eric McBride Nov 2, 2012 Link to comment

    Thank you Anna :-)


  • Anna F. 12
    Anna F. Nov 2, 2012 Link to comment

    Hello Cun Liong, I'm having some trouble understanding you.. I'm gonna quote you here: first you say "it's definately stock ROM" and then you say "I want to revert my ROM and Kernel to stock". So which is it? Are you running the stock ROM or not? Eric can't help you if he can't understand your problem.


  • 2
    Cun Liong Kwok Nov 2, 2012 Link to comment

    'Cause I just bought my N7100 a couple week ago.....and haven't done anything yet...so...it's definately stock ROM right ?
    I don't do the Nandroid backup 'cause I think there's really nothing in my phone right now...so I just go ahead... :D

    I just root my android based on your blog.....and it's no problem.
    And after I followed your step by step....
    now Kernel Version is 3.0.36-Perseus-alpha24
    af@mintvm #314
    SMP PREEMPT Thu Oct 11 00:07:41 CEST 2012

    Baseband version
    N7100DXALJ1

    Build number
    JRO03C.N7100XXALJ3

    Now, I want to revert my ROM and Kernel to stock...
    I have downloaded the Stock ROM and stock Kernel...
    but when i try to apply it with ODIN...it say FAILED....why is that ?
    Am I missing something here ?

    How is the correct way to flash back to stock ROM ? any easy tutorial I can follow ? :D


  • 31
    Eric McBride Nov 1, 2012 Link to comment

    Wait a second....a couple things..

    So you THINK your ROM is official stock? Would be nice to know if it definetely is or not bro. Second thing is, why do you not do a Nandroid? I wrote it in big letters for a reason!

    Is your Note 2 rooted?

    Stacy Allen


  • 2
    Cun Liong Kwok Nov 1, 2012 Link to comment

    @Eric - My Device is Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100
    I think my ROM is official stock ROM

    I Follow you post about rooting the phone - no problem here.
    Then I follow the exact steps from your post to apply the MOD...except the Nandroid backup step. And when I rebooted the device....nothing change except my external memory is now a clone of my internal memory.

    How can I reverse this procedure ?


  • 31
    Eric McBride Nov 1, 2012 Link to comment

    @Cun - Please tell me which device you are using, which ROM you have flashed, and the exact steps you took.

    It also might be worth asking your question in the XDA thread, just so other users running into problems could be informed how to solve them.


  • 2
    Cun Liong Kwok Nov 1, 2012 Link to comment

    Please HELP !!! I followed this step and my internal memory doesn't change...still 10GB....but my external memory change to 10GB....
    Now I have two identical sd card....
    If I browse through My Files (or ASTRO) , the extSDcard and SDCard have exactly the same contents...

    How can I reverse this action ?


  • Anna F. 12
    Anna F. Oct 29, 2012 Link to comment

    @CJ as Dvoraak said, you can't add additional memory to an iDevice. None of them have microSD card slots.


  • Dvoraak 14
    Dvoraak Oct 29, 2012 Link to comment

    @CJ - Jailbreaking won't give any extra memory to an iDevice.


  • CJ Brown 29
    CJ Brown Oct 29, 2012 Link to comment

    I haven't decided upon the Galaxy S II or the Galaxy Note I - as both are available "no contract" - but I do appreciate the tips in expanding your memory with minimal costs (something you could never do with an Apple iPhone or iPad without jail breaking them) ......


  • Dvoraak 14
    Dvoraak Oct 27, 2012 Link to comment

    I'm about to flash the "high on android flyin' high" ROM by Zedomax on my Note 10.1 for the same reason (Zedomax included the ext/int swap in the ROM). I'm really disgusted with Samsung now though. I'm only doing this because the device won't allow app2sd even after rooting.
    *edit* who really wants to see the whole sad rant....
    *edit* Well, the ROM was a huge failure for me (but it did switch internal for external memory.... SWEET!). Oh well. Can't stay angry at Samsung though. It's an amazing tablet. I should be angry at Best Buy for not carrying a 32 gig model.


  • 31
    Eric McBride Oct 24, 2012 Link to comment

    Biggest benefit is for people who have lots of apps or play lots of big games. With this mod, you have 64gb for apps and games, and not just 16gb.Games like The Bards Tale are 4gb installs. 2 or 3 games like that with only 16gb and your phone is full. With 64gb, you can go crazy on app and game installs.


  • H C B 1
    H C B Oct 24, 2012 Link to comment

    Looking at the image the internal memory increased by 49GB but the SD memory decreased by the same amount. Can you explain the benefits?


  • Anna F. 12
    Anna F. Oct 24, 2012 Link to comment

    Great! So I'll just have to get the tablet first! xP I'm gonna wait until after the Nexus 10 announcement though -don't wanna have any regrets.


  • 31
    Eric McBride Oct 24, 2012 Link to comment

    Im not sure about the s2, but it should work for the tf300. You just need someone on xda to repack the kernel to generate a modified blob file for you. Should be pretty easy.


  • Anna F. 12
    Anna F. Oct 24, 2012 Link to comment

    Is something like this going to become available for other devices later on? Specifically the Galaxy S2 and Transformer Pad TF300T.


  • 8
    Gio A. Oct 23, 2012 Link to comment

    Thanks for the quick response Eric. Now I just need the phone to start.


  • 8
    jesus corona Oct 23, 2012 Link to comment

    works on note


  • 31
    Eric McBride Oct 23, 2012 Link to comment

    I updated the thread with some answers to some questions at the end guys, but I will answer/respond to them here one by one.

    @Caspar - Hope you enjoy it!

    @Patrick - from what I can tell, the mod seems to clone the ROM and kernel to your "new" internal memory, as I am able to delete the exfat partition contents (the new external memory ) after applying the mod.

    And yes, if it pops out on the prime, you will need to reboot.

    @GIO A - You can just put the mod on your internal memory. You can use external if the recovery you use allows you to read your external sd card. CWM recovery does with the Note 2, but im not sure about the S3.

    If you want to swap for a bigger card, you will need to download the exfat mod and flash it, as that one is used for microsd cards bigger than 32GB.


  • 8
    Gio A. Oct 23, 2012 Link to comment

    THANK YOU Eric, you came true man. Now I realy can't wait to get the note 2, and like you said this really is why android rules.

    Just twoo questions Eric, wright now I have a 32 Gb micro sd card that I'm using. Should I remove everything from it if I where to do this mod? And also wil the mod allow me to just swap a 32Gb micro sd card for a 64Gb one later on without any trouble?

    Once again Eric, thanks a lot for the how to. And I hope I could an answer for those questions.


  • 3
    kamarul ajimain Oct 23, 2012 Link to comment

    so anyone tried it yet?


  • Patrick R. 12
    Patrick R. Oct 23, 2012 Link to comment

    @Eric, sorry I am out and just reading this on my note, so I am a little lazy to go through the links at the moment. I have a question though.

    Are the kernel and ROM loaded in the SD card or the original internal memory? I mean would the phone boot IF the sd card is pulled out or ruined or swapped out? Kinda hard to do on the note by accident but easy to do with the prime. I kinda keep several SD cards and swap them out once in a while. Thanks.

    *Word of warning to the uninitiated though - the rooting process is indeed simple for Samsung devices but be careful with flashing. Read up on it on XDA (the complete set of instructions) and download ALL the required files BEFORE starting. Carefully follow ALL the instructions exactly. Lastly, check the MD5 sums of your downloads (the devs usually provide those for verification) as the file might have been corrupted during the download.

    If something does go wrong, relax, there are a million ways to revive a phone - from the simple (restoring your nandroid backup or reflashing) to the complex (making and using a jig). Samsung devices has one of the best and prolific dev and enthusiast communities out there. Just ask for help nicely - no sense in blaming a dev and pissing him off if he may be your only hope of salvation. Flash with confidence and have fun.


  • 30
    Deactivated Account Oct 23, 2012 Link to comment

    AWE-SOME!

    And then some more.

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