I set up apps2sd a couple of months ago and had about 120meg of internal memory free (up from 25ish). I've since upgraded to modaco 3 (from 2.8), and the free memory has been falling to below 40meg now.
Is there any obvious reason why this would be, and what I can do to solve it?
he who searches shall find answers...
I've done a search, and it looks like apps are being installed to the phone and not the sd card.
Is this easy to rectify, or do I need to repartition?
I've had a look at my sd card using ADB, and it is partitioned as follows
Model: SD SU16G (sd/mmc)
Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 15.9GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 512B 15.4GB 15.4GB primary fat32 lba
2 15.4GB 15.9GB 512MB primary ext3
3 15.9GB 15.9GB 31.5MB primary linux-swap(v1)
(parted)
I'm using Modaco 3.0, but my apps don't seem to be moving to my sd card. I tested it using the following information and this confirms what I thought.
To confirm whether A2SD is working properly from a terminal / ADB Shell type:
busybox df -h
You should see something along these lines below:
/dev/block/mccblk0p2 532.9M 67.1M 438.7M 13% /system/sd
The key is that you see one of the entries as /system/sd
This means that the phone is picked up your Ext2 partition.
Next if you see the above you can check that you setup the symlinks properly.
To do this type these cmds:
cd /data/app
pwd
The terminal returns /system/sd/app which means that the apps are now being saved onto the Ext2 Partition since the /system/sd = your Ext2 partition.
If it returns /data/app then the apps are still being installed onto the phone's internal rom.
Hope this helps, let me know if not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi guys i kno this is slightly off topic but i wanted to know if theres a way to check hw much my memory i got left on my ext2 partition cos im tryin to install the game iron sight by polarbit which is 16mb and im gettin out of space message but i still have 47mb of internal phone memory? Thanks in advance
edit: sorry disregard this post i used the above busybox df -h ang gt my answer my bad gt buttons for eyes lolz
Can anyone help?
I think my sd card is partitioned correctly, and I have modaco 3.0...
Sausageman said:
Can anyone help?
I think my sd card is partitioned correctly, and I have modaco 3.0...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you quoted yourself a way to check if it is working or not...
kendong2 said:
you quoted yourself a way to check if it is working or not...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not working, and I don't know why as I think I have all the right bits for it to work.
I was hoping that someone who knew about how it worked would be able to suggest solutions or diagnose the problem...
same for me too.
with modaco roms my a2sd isnt working. but when i install 2.01 roms a2sd works just fine.
btw how much space is occupied after 1st boot with a2sd in modaco 3.0 you are getting? i get 44 mb occupied after 1st boot.
and the old apps ?
I had installed Modaco ROM 3.0 with a SD card entirely formated FAT32.
Then... the apps resided in the real /data/app (physical internal memory).
I create partition ext4. The new apps resides in this partition (i.e on SD card).
Well.
And the old apps which resided really in /data/app?
If the system melds old /data/app and /system/sd/app (ext4) where are physically my apps?
If my old apps are physically in /data/app, how can I move it in sdcard?
dd
Related
Hi i have searched and cant find a clear guide, I have a 8 gig memory card and want to install apps to it. I can easily set a 3.8gig fat32 and 3.9gig etx3 partition but form this point on im lost!!
cheers
delete i figured it
IMHO, 3.9 gig as an EXT3 partition is way too big. It won't hurt of course, but it is rather a waste of space that could be better employed elsewhere.
512mb should be more than enough - indeed most Apps2SD guides I've seen seem to recommend this amount.
Regards,
Dave
anarchyuk said:
delete i figured it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where? I'm lost yet...
sorry
I figured out where i was going wrong, I used the recovery image to format and part the 2gig that came with it and realised in gparted on linux that it had the LBA flag so i re done it, 6gig fat32 LBA, 1.4gig ext2 and 100meg swap when i booted the phone i then mounted the ext partition and it had already created a apps folder and moved stuff over!! This modaco rom is good!!
Hello! I've searched all over the internet about this but haven't found any usable information about this. I was thinking about storing music files etc on the ext partition on my SD-card. I've a 8GB sdcard with a 64MB swap, 1024MB FAT32 and rest of the space goes to an ext2 partition. The problem is, how do I acess the ext2 partition in the phone? I know it is placed in /system/sd. But it seems it is only the super-user who has access to this folder. Is it possible to symlink the folder to another place and make it accessible for the user?
Every info I find is about storing apps on the ext-partition, which works. But having 6GB space for apps feels very overkill. FAT32 seems to be quite limited to speed when copying files, and also it have size limit of files.
The easiest and most recommend way to solve your problems is to repartion your card to:
0M swap (no use for swap on hero)
512M ext2 (see below)
rest as FAT (over 7G for your music)
If you plan on having every single one of the apps on the market you can give the ext2 partition 1024MB, no need to give it any more. There are numerous problems that can arise from having larger ext2 partitions, just of the top of my mind if you do have more data on the ext2 partition larger than your FAT free space you can't do a nandroid backup, you'll end up storing too much stuff on the ext partition which is usually wiped on ROM update and replacement, and it is much harder to access these files, as opposed to the FAT partition which is can be mounted as a USB drive to your PC.
Finally note I said ext2, and not ext3/ext4 because Ext3/4 are journaling file systems which are NOT suited for flash devices. They also have much more CPU overhead then ext2. Finally not all ROMs/kernels support ext3/ext4 and for a good reason!
BTW, please post questions in the either the Q&A or general sections. This is the DEVELOPMENT fourm.
Good luck.
Thanks for your reply, and sorry for posting in the wrong forum, which is quite obvious when I see it now!
Moved to Q&A as not development
erasmux said:
The easiest and most recommend way to solve your problems is to repartion your card to:
0M swap (no use for swap on hero)
512M ext2 (see below)
rest as FAT (over 7G for your music)
If you plan on having every single one of the apps on the market you can give the ext2 partition 1024MB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1, Yeppers, wow a 6gb ext... That is some serious overkill,why?
Sent from my phone.
I was thinking to use the ext partition as a storage of music etc instead of the fat32 partition. The ext-partition is faster to copy files on, especially if you get a 32gb card and maybe you want to transfer big files. If I remember it right FAT32 table doesn't allow file-sizes more the 4GB, and it is also slower to copy to or from.
Any linux operating system should be able to read the ext partition on your sd card, or a program such as gparted is another thing to look into. Remember you can boot to linux without installing the operating system (boot from CD). Ubuntu or Knoppix is a good one to check out if you're new to it all.
Hehe, I think you did misunderstand my main question. The question is how to read the ext-partition directly from the phone with a file-manager (i.e. Astro File Manager). Not from a computer, from the phone, in the phone.
Vantskruv said:
Hehe, I think you did misunderstand my main question. The question is how to read the ext-partition directly from the phone with a file-manager (i.e. Astro File Manager). Not from a computer, from the phone, in the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
O in that case you have no chance lol. AFAIK there isn't any program designed for this purpose.
Vantskruv said:
Hehe, I think you did misunderstand my main question. The question is how to read the ext-partition directly from the phone with a file-manager (i.e. Astro File Manager). Not from a computer, from the phone, in the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it depends where your ROM mounts it. I think most ROMs mount it to /system/sd, so you can use any file explorer with root permissions to browse there (i.e. ES File Explorer).
I have had low memory problems on my S2/4.1.2 for a long time. I have tried to get by by moving apps to the SD Card (the internal one as I can't move to the external one). This just isn't enough anymore. So I have tried moving some apps by force to the internal sdcard and while this seems to work fine, the apps are lost after a reboot.
I have tried moving using the adb shell command: "pm set-install-location 2" and also tried moving the apps using an app that requires root. The result is the same. App works fine until reboot after which it vanishes.
Is there a trick to make apps force-moved to sdcard stay working?
Especially Google Chrome would be nice to move to sdcard as it uses 60MB+ when installed.
Or is it possible to repartition the system without reinstalling everything?
galmok said:
I have had low memory problems on my S2/4.1.2 for a long time. I have tried to get by by moving apps to the SD Card (the internal one as I can't move to the external one). This just isn't enough anymore. So I have tried moving some apps by force to the internal sdcard and while this seems to work fine, the apps are lost after a reboot.
I have tried moving using the adb shell command: "pm set-install-location 2" and also tried moving the apps using an app that requires root. The result is the same. App works fine until reboot after which it vanishes.
Is there a trick to make apps force-moved to sdcard stay working?
Especially Google Chrome would be nice to move to sdcard as it uses 60MB+ when installed.
Or is it possible to repartition the system without reinstalling everything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can use all in one toolbox(which i use) and several other in the playstore like link2sd
By these you wont lose your apps after a reboot
Hope it helps u mate
p.s. also if you force move an app it may get broken
galmok said:
I have had low memory problems on my S2/4.1.2 for a long time. I have tried to get by by moving apps to the SD Card (the internal one as I can't move to the external one). This just isn't enough anymore. So I have tried moving some apps by force to the internal sdcard and while this seems to work fine, the apps are lost after a reboot.
I have tried moving using the adb shell command: "pm set-install-location 2" and also tried moving the apps using an app that requires root. The result is the same. App works fine until reboot after which it vanishes.
Is there a trick to make apps force-moved to sdcard stay working?
Especially Google Chrome would be nice to move to sdcard as it uses 60MB+ when installed.
Or is it possible to repartition the system without reinstalling everything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Follow these steps -
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=44009547&postcount=66329
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
machokingjim said:
Yes you can use all in one toolbox(which i use) and several other in the playstore like link2sd
By these you wont lose your apps after a reboot
Hope it helps u mate
p.s. also if you force move an app it may get broken
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Link2SD only works with external SD cards and only when they are repartitioned. External SD cards are not where I want to put my apps as that location is unreliable. I would like to use the internal SD card memory (there is 5GB free which I have no other use for).
My phone's memory is split into system, data and internal SD card partitions. The data partition is used for apps. When I move to SD card, apps get moved to the internal SD card (poor name). The external SD card is just for media.
I have moved 2 upgraded system apps (that would occupy data memory) to the system partition (which now has 2% free) but that freed some MB from the data partition.
Link2SD can force move apps, but when I do that, they disappear after a reboot. The only place I can see any leftovers of those apps are in the programmanager where they appear with internal names like com.something.somethingelse. When visiting google play for those apps, they are not installed and I am offered to have them installed.
Jeetu said:
Follow these steps -
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=44009547&postcount=66329
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cannot mount my internal partitions on windows as I am not using a custom rom. I do not have the "mounts and storage" option in my recovery mode.
Anyway, that link is just for errorchecking the partition and removing stuff. Using the ADB shell and busybox, I could run fsck if I needed to.
But the space I would regain (if any) will probably not be something like the 500MB-1GB that I need.
I was perhaps hoping to repartition with a non-destructive tool, but I don't know if it has been ported to android (I would guess it has).
This is the partition table:
[email protected]:/ $ su
su
[email protected]:/ # fdisk /dev/block/mmcblk0
fdisk /dev/block/mmcblk0
Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT
Command (m for help): p
p
Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 30777344 sectors, 29.3M
Logical sector size: 512
Disk identifier (GUID): 52444e41-494f-2044-4d4d-43204449534b
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 30775262
Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
1 8192 49151 40960 0700 EFS
2 49152 51711 2560 0700 SBL1
3 53248 55807 2560 0700 SBL2
4 57344 73727 16384 0700 PARAM
5 73728 90111 16384 0700 KERNEL
6 90112 106495 16384 0700 RECOVERY
7 106496 311295 200K 0700 CACHE
8 311296 344063 32768 0700 MODEM
9 344064 1392639 1024K 0700 FACTORYFS
10 1392640 5586943 4096K 0700 DATAFS
11 5586944 29720575 23.0M 0700 UMS
12 29720576 30769151 1024K 0700 HIDDEN
Command (m for help):
I would like to shrink partition 11 (UMS, internal sd card, 11GB) and expand partition 10 (DATAFS, data partition, 2GB). They are placed next to each other so I wont have to touch any of the other partitions.
Anyone have tried that?
I could probably settle for a solution that moved the apps to internal sd card and linked to them. I would try it myself, but I don't know enough of androids inner workings on what to move.
Also, my phone has the brick bug but I have no idea what this actually means. Is this something that could cause a problem if I used a partition manager on the internal memory?
Hi guys,
I have a Sony ericsson X10 mini pro with nAa's Kernel 2.6.32.60-nAa-05 and miniCM10-4.1.0-20130518-NIGHTLY and I also flashed:
gapps-jb-20121011-signed.zip,
miniCM7-SEMC_kb.zip and
querty_br.zip
On top of that a internal memory of 192MB and a 16GB SDHC class10 SD card.
Boring story part (with more details and links and stickie just in case I forget something ) :
So far so good until I start installing apps and noticed that with a couple the memory was full. After a little research I found link2SD was the solution,
the SD card I have is more than fit for the job.
But then starter the problems, after I partitioned, with MiniTool,
my SD card as FAT32 (~13GB) and ext-N (2, 3 & 4) (~1GB) as primary none worked (at least for long).
I had some success with Ext-3 but the 2nd time I restarted my phone, Scrips were nowhere to be seen nor any linking of some kind.
Then (after more Googling) I tried both partitions as FAT32 and there it was working cool again.
Well went to download more apps, but memory was full, how so? I added a GB to it!
Found that I would, also, need to use A2SDGUI and it's Scripts (Version 2.7.5.3 Beta 04).
Flashed the scripts and then tried to run A2SDGUI not working pop's this error window:
Exiting A2SDGUI
Could not start for one of these reasons:
Your device is not rooted
A2SD scripts could not be found
No EXT partition found
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I'm in trouble because android DOES NOT mount my 2nd partition if it's filesystem is not FAT32
(perhaps this is a scripting problem instead of Filesystem support ? )
And A2SDGUI is no longer being developed/suported.
Bottom line:
I installed link2SD but it only works when my 2nd partition is also FAT32, or else it won't mount,
and the phone internal memory continues to get shorter as I install apps.
Then I installed A2SDGUI and (Flashed) it's Scripts to try to JOIN the internal memory(/data)and SD card's 2nd partition so,
android doesn't give that annoying low memory error message.
I'm having trouble making andoid think that /data is ~1.2GB.
Can someone help me out on this? How can I "make" a "bigger" internal memory?
I searched Google but I couldn't find any GOOD answer to my question.
Shaameless self bump
Beware, this guide is more or less untested, it will interfere with stuff like memory encryption and OTA or other firmware updates. You have been warned, I assume no warranties for bricked phones, SD cards or lost data.
Many cheap-ass Mediatek phones ship with Android 4.4.2 or later and only ridiculous amounts of internal storage (2GB in my case, CAT B15Q). That may be enough for basic apps, but as soon as you install Navigon or other data-heavy apps (or WhatsApp with a load of videos) you're going to run out of space in no time - and because Google is a bunch of fools, they disallowed app installations to SD cards entirely in 4.4!
So, we're going to move /data in its entirety to our nice huge SD card and be able to use even bigger apps on small phones. It might be possible that this guide works on other phones, but that depends on how they boot and where the fstab and init.rc reside!
Prerequisites:
Mediatek-based 4.4.2 or later phone with root access in recovery (boot it in recovery, run adb shell, therein run id. If it says root, all fine. If not, install CWM)
A large enough SD card (I chose a 32GB card with a 50:50 split between /data and the "external sd card")
Solid Linux knowledge, one Linux PC and one Windows PCs. I urge you to NOT use any kind of VM unless you have experience with USB passthrough.
spFlashTool and the Mediatek drivers from http://forum.xda-developers.com/general/general/stock-rom-cat-b15q-rom-development-t2988774, for a flashing guide see http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/help/howto-firmware-flashing-cat-b15q-t2989627
mtkdroidtools from https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=23501681358558543 on the Windows PC
mtk-tools from https://github.com/bgcngm/mtk-tools on the Linux PC (no, Cygwin does not work, it messes up the permission bits), cloned on an ext4 partition (not sure if ext2/3 can handle the extended permission bits...)
a network connection between the PCs or a USB stick to transfer files
Take the sd card out of the phone and insert it into your computer. Many laptop SD slots don't like SDXC (>4GB), you might need e.g. a Huawei 3G stick or a SDXC-compatible USB dongle.
Repartition the SD card using Acronis Disk Director, gparted or whatever you're familiar with. The first partition must only be resized (this is the FAT partition), the second partition is a ext4 (!) partition. Both MUST be primary partitions. Acronis and other tools on Windows might require a reboot to repartition SD cards. I recommend a 50:50% split, but if you're heavy on apps or their data, you might go for a 25% FAT: 75% EXT4 split.
Boot your phone into recovery, connect to it with adb in a root shell.
Assuming your data partition is at /dev/mmcblk0p8 (look in /fstab to find it out, followed by mount /data and ls /data to verify), execute the command "dd if=/dev/mmcblk0p8 of=/dev/mmcblk1p2", wait until it is finished. This can take up to ten minutes or more, depending how much data there is.
Shut down the phone, take out battery and SD card.
Insert the SD card into your Linux machine, run resize2fs /dev/sdb2 (or wherever the ext4 sd card partition ended up, check it in dmesg) as root so that the filesystem grows; then eject the SD card and put it back into your phone
Readback your BOOTIMG partition, transfer it to the linux PC (or, if you already have a boot.img for your current firmware, use this one)
On the Linux PC, open a rootshell (to avoid permission issues when building the ramdisk).
Run "./unpack-MTK.pl /path/to/bootimg"
"cd boot.img-ramdisk" (directory might be named different, depending on how you named the bootimg dump file)
Using a text editor, edit the "fstab" file(s) (there might be multiple, with suffixes): From (adjust if needed)
Code:
/[email protected] /data ext4 noatime,nosuid,nodev,noauto_da_alloc wait,check,encryptable=footer
to:
Code:
/dev/block/mmcblk1p2 /data ext4 noatime,nosuid,nodev,noauto_da_alloc wait,check,encryptable=footer
Now, edit the init.rc file (beware, other .rc files in the ramdisk root might also contain mount commands!).
Search for "on fs_property:ro.mount.fs=EXT4" and again replace /[email protected] (or whatever the node for /data had been) with /dev/block/mmcblk1p2 in the commands in this block (should be fsck, tune2fs,ext4_resize and mount).
Repack the boot image: ./repack-MTK.pl -boot boot.img-kernel.img boot.img-ramdisk/ /path/to/newboot.img
Transfer newboot.img to the Windows PC and flash it using spFlashTool
boot your phone, look in Settings->Memory to see if it went OK!
If the memory view didn't change, also modify the other blocks of on fs_property, in case your device does not use an ext4 rootfs (but yaffs or ubifs instead).
Functionality
It is a good idea, but
Are I still have part of it as external storage?
If yes, it means I can not remove it because there are some apps used it.
If no, it means I will not have external storage anymore!
e.ahmedmahfouz said:
It is a good idea, but
Are I still have part of it as external storage?
If yes, it means I can not remove it because there are some apps used it.
If no, it means I will not have external storage anymore!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SD card is now both internal and external storage! You are not able to remove it because else your system will not boot anymore.
harddisk_wp said:
The SD card is now both internal and external storage! You are not able to remove it because else your system will not boot anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what if the sd card is damaged ?
Can my phone boot again..or will booltloop
madthinker said:
what if the sd card is damaged ?
Can my phone boot again..or will booltloop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you manage to kill your sdcard while you have my sdcard hack installed, then the phone will bootloop until you insert a new sd card partitioned just like the old one. Then it will act like you had factory-resetted it.
Alternatively you can always reflash original boot.img/recovery.img and use the phone with limited internal memory.
harddisk_wp said:
If you manage to kill your sdcard while you have my sdcard hack installed, then the phone will bootloop until you insert a new sd card partitioned just like the old one. Then it will act like you had factory-resetted it.
Alternatively you can always reflash original boot.img/recovery.img and use the phone with limited internal memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i see, thanks to explain me :good:
There is another way to get more space: Link2SD (2.- euros) with a second partition on your external SD-card exactly like shown above (ext4 partition, primary).
The advantage is, that if the sdcard is faulty the system still runs, just the apps which are symlinked to the ext4 partition won't run.
So I use this for all these not absolutely important apps which needs lots of internal memory, e.g. kindle bookreader, Amazon, WhatsApp etc. I dont use it for all apps, most importantly not for any app, where there is no alternative. Last week my two years old 64 GB MicroSD card (SanDisk, with warranty 10 years) in my SGS4 stopped working and this could happen all the time. They are not that reliable I think, that I would put my system on it.
I did this now with the Cat B15Q of my friend.
EDIT: and she has now more than 1 GB free internal space
I think this is the best solution, 2 GB for the pure ROM and the system apps is more than enough and all user apps go to the external sd-card (2nd partition).
good day!
hope you can help me.
what if i want vice versa? because my phone's default storage (0) is sd card.and i want my default storage will be its internal since it is 32gb rom. tried all ways but i think the answer is its boot.img. thank you..hoping for a help