/ storage / emulated / 0 received from getExternalCacheDir (), generates an error "there is no such file or directory"

Question

Running on Nexus 4, when I call getExternalCacheDir().getAbsolutePath() , I get the path /storage/emulated/0/Android/Data/com.example.myapp/cache . The problem is that, as indicated in various places, /storage/emulated/0 generates the error "there is no such file or directory."

What I expect to get is something like /storage/emulated/legacy , since I am correctly querying the EXTERNAL_STORAGE environment variable with commands like System.getenv("EXTERNAL_STORAGE") .

I just use the if statement to check and correct the path in case it points to something different from what I get with getenv , but I want to understand why getExternalCacheDir() returns an invalid path, or if this function is somehow deprecated .

Additional notes: Xperia U runs CM11, works great; Targeting Nexus 4 with adb I get

 ls /storage/emulated/0 /storage/emulated/0: No such file or directory 

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I have the appropriate permissions, because if I call, for example, echo "hi!" >> /storage/emulated/legacy/Android/Data/com.example.myapp/cache echo "hi!" >> /storage/emulated/legacy/Android/Data/com.example.myapp/cache , I have no hints, and when I call echo "hi!" >> /storage/emulated/0/Android/Data/com.example.myapp/cache echo "hi!" >> /storage/emulated/0/Android/Data/com.example.myapp/cache lead to errors. The latter is what I get from getExternalCacheDir .

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I am interested in using this path with shell commands, not just Android API functions.

Answer 1

getExternalCacheDir gives the correct path.
You can read / write, given that your external storage is mounted correctly and you have the appropriate permissions.

I.e:

 if (MEDIA_MOUNTED.equals(Environment.getExternalStorageState()) // mounted && context.checkCallingOrSelfPermission("android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE") == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) { // have permissions File myTempDir = new File(getExternalCacheDir(), "tempDir"); myTempDir.mkdirs(); // create and write to files } 

Hope this helps.