Whatsapp issue

[vladman]

Hi,

Following some issues (unrelated to Whatsapp - I'll get to that) I had with my phone, and following the advice I got here, I performed a repair on my Z1.

Some of the issues I had are now resolved (I no longer get asked to choose language every time I turn on the phone), but I'm having a problem with Whatsapp now.

When I first installed Whatsapp, prior to repairing the phone, I was able to successfully import my Whatsapp chat history from my iPhone, using the Whatsapp migrator program on my PC.  This tool converts your backed up iPhone chat history into a file for an Android phone which you're supposed to put in the correct folder on your SD card.  Like I said, I used this tool and was able to successfully import all my old  chats.  After I repaired the phone, I tried to do the same again, but I can't get it to work this time.

I think I narrowed the problem down to the fact that this time, for some reason, Whatsapp is refusing to recognise my SD card, and writes (and reads) its database (and all other files, including backups) to the phone's internal memory.  I have no idea why this is happening, and how it worked the first time.  It's the same phone and the same SD card.  No other app has a problem writing to my SD card.  The card is a (verified) genuine Sandisk Ultra 32GB micro-SDHC card.  I re-formatted it (in the phone), but that didn't help either.

Can anyone who uses Whatsapp on their Z1 do me a favour, and go into Settings - Chatt Settings and tap Backup conversations, then watch the little pop up and let me know if it says it's saving the backup into external, or internal memory?

I read somewhere Samsung phone have the same issue, where Whatsapp saves everything to internal memory - but I still don't understand how I got this to work the first time, without any problems.

Any advice or suggestions will be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

[Uliwooly]

Whatsapp files should be on the internal storage 

[Mystic]

Hi vladman,

Mine backsup onto the internal storage in a folder called Whatsapp/Backups.

I would suggest the following to solve your issue. (Since this is really a minor one)

1) Uninstall Whatsapp

2) Create the folder manually on your internal storage.

3) Place the backup file there

4) Install watsapp 

5) Let the magic happen (hopefully) 

If it doesnt find the file then something much more annoying has happened. 

But in all likelyhood it should pick up the file and just start working. 

Let us know if this works. (About the external memory, it usually picks up the backup on first install from any memory source. But for some reason its sketchy)

[vladman]

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@uliwooly wrote:

Whatsapp files should be on the internal storage 

---

Hi uliwooly,

Whatsapp themselves state:

WhatsApp automatically makes backups every day at 4 AM and stores them on the microSD memory card of your Android phone.

and

This manual backup file will be saved as "msgstore.db.crypt" in your /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases folder. Save this file as "msgstore.db.crypt.current" so you do not get it confused with other backup files during the restoration process.

Please note, your backup files are saved in the /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/ folder.

Source:

http://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/android/20887921

So, I'm trying to do what they are saying should work, but it doesn't.  Whatsapp simply ignores my SD card and uses internal storage for everything, including reading and writing of the backup file.

[vladman]

---

@Mystic wrote:

Hi vladman,

Mine backsup onto the internal storage in a folder called Whatsapp/Backups.

I would suggest the following to solve your issue. (Since this is really a minor one)

1) Uninstall Whatsapp

2) Create the folder manually on your internal storage.

3) Place the backup file there

4) Install watsapp 

5) Let the magic happen (hopefully) 

If it doesnt find the file then something much more annoying has happened. 

But in all likelyhood it should pick up the file and just start working. 

Let us know if this works. (About the external memory, it usually picks up the backup on first install from any memory source. But for some reason its sketchy)

---

Mystic, thanks.

I already tried this, and it didn't work.  It actually said found a backup file and restored messages, but then it said "restored 1 message" (and there should be hundreds, or thousands), and even though it said that, there was still nothing at all there (in other words, I didn't even see that one message it says it has restored).

I must've tried this every which way I could think of at least 10 times, and it still won't work.  I deleted Whatsapp app, I manually deleted its folder in internal storage, rebooted the phone, made sure the file is in the correct folder on the SD card, reinstalled the app, and still nothing, it doesn't see the file on the SD card.

[Mystic]

Well this really depends on the phone. But from what i remember of my Galaxy S2, the internal memory was called sdcard and the actual micro sd was called ext_sd... so go figure. 

Based on your message above, heres my reply.

Ive noticed that ive always gotten a better result with backups by just pasting the whole whatsaap folder into the target location. not just the backup file... 

Try that and see if it helps.. there are multiple files there in that folder that are all connected in some fun way im sure. 

[Uliwooly]

Memory in Android devices

http://talk.sonymobile.com/t5/FAQ/Memory-in-Android-devices/m-p/348064#U348064

[vladman]

---

@uliwooly wrote:

Memory in Android devices

http://talk.sonymobile.com/t5/FAQ/Memory-in-Android-devices/m-p/348064#U348064

---

Uliwooly, I had a look at that article, but am not sure what exactly in it you wanted to point out to me?

[Mystic]

hey vladman.. i think hes pointing out the fact that in android as i mentioned the sdcard is really the internal memory while ext_sd is your external or SD card. its just silly nomenclature that gets everyone confused. 

[vladman]

Thanks both Mystic and uliwooly, I understand what you mean but it still doesn't explain how I was able to do this without any issues the first time, same phone, SD card and converted iPhone chats backup file. Also, whatsappp support site specifically states that these backup files should get created on the SD card (and I think they mean "real" physical external SD card, not the internal storage under that name).

Finally, even if I decide to ignore the SD card and put the backup file in the internal folder (which is NOT what I did the first time, when it worked), that still doesn't work, and nothing gets restored.

I'm really at a loss.