Hi all,
maybe a very simple question here, but when I move files to SD (using Elelinux/Cyanogen, android 2.3.4), in which folder do they end up, with which file extension? When I had to flash a new ROM, sometimes I had to do a full wipe including factory reset, so all apps vanished from the phone, but did they still persist on SD? and if yes, in which folder, and do I need to delete these files?
I've searched my SD-card, found different folders with app-like names and different extensions, but I don't know which is the correct one.
(example: moved Facebook app to SD to save internal memory space, flashed new ROM -> factory reset, installed FB app again, it says I can copy it to SD again, but is there still a piece of the previous FB app on the SD?)
thanks for your help!
EDIT: did some searching and some say it might me the ".android_secure" folder. Is it safe to just delete everything in this folder? because it's taking up some space...
That's correct, the applications end up in .android_secure. If you do a full wipe (factory reset) it is safe to remove it, since those apps needs to be restored before they can be used anyway.
Br,
Henrik
Related
I did a search and couldn't find the exact info i was looking for. I possibly didn't put in the right search terms...
Anyways, with App2SD I noticed how it creates the hidden androidsecure folder to store the app data. Now my question is:
When flashing to different Froyo roms and having to do full wipes, when I boot up first time and it pulls all my apps from the market as it syncs, does it put those apps back to that SD card? And if not, when I move them back to the SD card, does it overwrite that apps existing information or does it add a 2nd data storage file? I just want to know if when I'm doing full wipes if I should delete the app data off my SD card before it boots up a first time.
Thanks.
Hi everyone,
I just updated my Aria to FR007 and really want to have a 'brand new' phone look + feel.
I would like to delete ALL unnecessary files in the SD card & phone memory cos at the moment, I feel like something is not amiss.
I only have 574mb left out of the stock 2gb SD card. And my internal phone storage have only 132mb available space left.
I would like to save only my nandroid backup in the SDcard and nothing else. So deleting all other datas like saved apps, games, contacts, images, music and others are fine.
Please advice what procedure I need to follow as I am not familiar with what files are safe to delete. Is it safe to just do this:
Settings > SD & Phone Storage >Factory Data Reset ?
Thank you for your advice!
I would like to know this as well because out of a 8GB SD card (7.59GB) i only have 549MB remaining and i only have 1 nandroid back up and 3 GB of music on the phone.
That's a loaded question dependant upon what apps are installed. Many apps create folders and populate the sd card in some form.
Best I can tell you, mount the storage and copy the sd content to your computer. Erase the sdcard content and see what happens after reboot. Should only potentially bother 3rd party apps.
Sent from my Liberty using XDA App
Thanks for the advice BelacNongaw.
I thought about that too but I was thinking maybe there are some system files or essential files that MUST be in the SD card. And also, wouldn't deleting everything in the SD card also delete my nandroid backup? And Clockwork? <-They do reside in the SD card, yes?
Let me reiterate please: I want a 'brand new' phone while keeping only my last nandroid backup Will a factory reset do?
Thanks again everyone!
I had the same problem and the only thing I noticed was nandroid backups take a lot of space and also apps that have been deleted keep their folders in the sd card
Sent from my HTC Liberty using XDA App
Okay this is what I did:
1. Back up my SDcard to the computer (plug it in, mount as disk drive, copy all contents to a folder on the desktop).
2. Restart the Aria in Recovery mode (Vol. down while Power up)
3. Go to Recovery > Partitions > Format SD Card
Now I have 1.84gb of SD storage with these folders (viewed in Astro):
1. .footprints / thumbnails / voices
2. LOST.DIR
3. tmp / .astro / astro
Haven't tested everything yet but eBuddy and Market are doing well, downloading and app installation are running fine too.
Now I'm quite concerned about the following:
1. Does this mean that I do not have clockwork anymore? Because there was a 'clockworkmod' folder in the SDcard before I formatted it.
2. Am I screwed?
Thank you for any suggestions/advice. I hope this thread can offer some helpful tips to those who need it in the future.
You are fine. The clockworkmod folder is where rom manager downloads and your nandroid backups are stored. You can just copy it back or rom manager will generate it again next time you nandroid backup.
Sent from my Liberty using XDA App
Thanks for reminding me BelacNongaw.
I just made a nandroid backup of my bare minimum Aria, and it automaticall created a clockworkmod folder in the SDcard with the md5 file.
Anyways, it's great to have all these space now
Great post guys I was wondering this myself. I recently rooted my inspire 4g to factory restore but all 3rd party apps are still on the sd card and i have no intention of re-installing any of them so i am looking for a safe way to delete unnessesary folders without deleting the vital ones, ill give your suggestions a try.
Technically you can safely delete everything that's on the sd card. Android will automatically create whatever folders it needs. Of course you'll lose any data saved to the sd, but you wont mess up your phone at all.
Sent from my cm7 Aria.
i have a g2 but i have the same thoughts i want the space back from sd card not worried about loosing any thing just dont want to mess the phone up
Don't worry. SD card is totally an external of the phone. Delete everything, it doesn't matter. And backup your needed files to any place you like. You can move them back to your reformatted SD card whenever you like.
is it ok to delete all the files in internal sd card?
i did a factory reset and wipe in cwm but it didint delete the files in sdcard (internal)
so i want to do is delete all files in internal sd card manually
It would be better to delete via settings - storage - erase USB storage
1. Android and .anroid_secure would be kind of important folders in internal SD. It contains the data and stuffs of the apps. But you can delete them off and they will be auto generated when the OS needs them (correct me if I am wrong)
2. A best way to do nice wipe is to use this code *2767*3855# in the stock dialer app in your stock ROM. This will actually make the phone as it was when you opened it from the box.
Harsha Raj said:
1. Android and .anroid_secure would be kind of important folders in internal SD. It contains the data and stuffs of the apps. But you can delete them off and they will be auto generated when the OS needs them (correct me if I am wrong)
2. A best way to do nice wipe is to use this code *2767*3855# in the stock dialer app in your stock ROM. This will actually make the phone as it was when you opened it from the box.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct me if I'm wrong-but no it doesn't.I done that on Sunday and the phone was still on ICS, and I think it still had SUPERSU.I too thought it would be wiped,and it done a great job of deleting my photos and video I hadn't backed up......lol
Sent from my GT-I9100
Hi
I accidently deletede all files on internal storage, when trying to setup DropSync. My mistake. Wanted to sync a Dropbox folder til internal storage, but had it set to sync from Dropbox to internal storage root. Well, all files are gone, except the folders synced from Sropbox and the Android folder.
My question is, how do I recover the files that resided on the internal storage. I have only used my phone fore some days, and didn't have any data (of my knowledge) on the internal storage, that I've put there. A don't mind doing a factory reset of the phone, if this means that the internal storage will be build up again to a normal state. I have no idea whether the files are necessary or not, and the phone seems to work fine. Since I've synced other files to the internal storage, I guess a recorvery is waste of time. Haven't found an aswear to whether a factory recovery would rebuild the internal storage. Hope someone here can answer my question.
Best regards
Frank
Did you delete internal SD then just restored but if you deleted system file / with no root, I can't help you.Find your phone's forum online they will be able to help if anyone can.
lamike said:
Did you delete internal SD then just restored but if you deleted system file / with no root, I can't help you.Find your phone's forum online they will be able to help if anyone can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi lamike
Thankz for your reply. I'll be more specific, since I forgot this.
I'm on a non-rooted Sony Xperia Z3 running Android 4.4.4.
I installed DropSync to sync folders between my Dropbox and the internal storage. I set up sync from Dropbox to Internal storage, which resulted in only (first) the folders from my Dropbox appearing on internal storage. My mistake was not syncing to at dedicated folder on the internal storage, instead of the root. Then the folder "Android" appeared, and others has show up in the time after the sync. I've had my handset turned off to, which also returned some folders I could recognize. Funny thing is, that when I connected the handset to my PC, I could see the folders, that was gone when browsing with file explorer tool on handset. Weird. Tried to copy all folders, but was only able to copy a few.
Will a factory reset rebuild the folder/file structure on the internal storage back to as when recieved from the factory? As mentioned before, I havn't placed files (only some ringtones) on the internal storage, so I don't think I'll be missing anything.
How does the internal storage work? Are there files residing here, that the system depends on, and which needs to be recreated? Since I did the sync, and new files has been placed on the internal storage, I think a restore might be out of scope, or what? Again, if I can restore the files, by doing a factory reset, I'll just do that. Only used the handset a couple of days.
Best regards
Frank
Well, I went ahead and tried doing a factory reset. From reading several posts, I thought the phone would be brought back to original state, as when I turned it on the first time. But that wasn't the case. Files that was placed on the internal storage by me, still resided there after the reset, which astounded me. I thougt everything was wiped when doing the factory reset. This means that I manually have to delete files, when wiping the phone, or what? Also, original files from Sony wasn't present/recreated after the factory reset, like sample pictures and videos. Are they not recreatable? Isn't it indeed possible to recreate the phone to it's original state, as the factory reset claim to do? If the factory reset claims to reset your phone to the state you recieved it in from the factory, then I'm truly scared, since old data would reside in the internal memory, on phones that I've wiped and sold.
Edit: Ohh, just found out, that a tick should be set, when doing the factory reset for erasing data on the internal storage. Missed that. Trying to factory reset the phone again later today, and see what happends.
Edit 2: Well, did the factory reset again with the tick set. Didn't recreate the original files placed on the internal storage by Sony.
Br
Frank
Contacted Sony Support today. They suggested running a repair through PC Companion (PC software). Tried it, and also tried updating through PC Companion. Same result. Took contact again, and was now told that, it's not possible to restore files like sample pictures and videos, unless I send it to a local service center. Since non important files has been removed, needed by the system (also confirmed by Sony Support), I'm clear to start using the phone. Happy days. Hope I don't f*** up the phone again like that, doh.
Hi all,
I recently did a full nandroid backup on my i9100 onto the external SD card, then took SD card and put into another i9100 and attempted a restore on that device using the nandroid backup from the other.
When I put the SD card back into the first phone, a bunch of apps are greyed out and can't be launched. They appear in the app manager (in settings) and on the launcher shortcuts screen, but there are no icons at all in the launcher apps grid (where all the apps are listed). When attempting to move them back onto the internal storage, the message is that they 'don't exist' .
Looking in the 'android_secure' folder in the SD card (with the card in a card reader on the PC) I found it to be empty, and its empty in the root explorer in android.
When I did the nandroid recovery on the second phone I also did a 'wipe data', 'wipe cache', and 'wipe dalvik cache' on the device during the install. I assumed this resulted in deleting the apps which were stored on the SD card as well, so I ran a data recovery on the 'android_secure' folder and found a bunch of deleted '.asec' files., (though no apks). Putting one of these asec files for one of the lost apps back into the -androi_secure' folder didnt result in the app data being recognised on the device though.
So now Im stuck looking for a way to get these apps back (on the first phone I mean) and am hoping someone could suggest what I could try next. Would the wipe of the second phone whilst it had the sd card in it have also wiped out the apps on the sd card? Are these .asec files what got wiped?
LiteROm Custom based on Jelly Bean
64Gb SD Card
Rooted i9100
Thanks for any suggestions.
califauna said:
Hi all,
I recently did a full nandroid backup on my i9100 onto the external SD card, then took SD card and put into another i9100 and attempted a restore on that device using the nandroid backup from the other.
When I put the SD card back into the first phone, a bunch of apps are greyed out and can't be launched. They appear in the app manager (in settings) and on the launcher shortcuts screen, but there are no icons at all in the launcher apps grid (where all the apps are listed). When attempting to move them back onto the internal storage, the message is that they 'don't exist' .
Looking in the 'android_secure' folder in the SD card (with the card in a card reader on the PC) I found it to be empty, and its empty in the root explorer in android.
When I did the nandroid recovery on the second phone I also did a 'wipe data', 'wipe cache', and 'wipe dalvik cache' on the device during the install. I assumed this resulted in deleting the apps which were stored on the SD card as well, so I ran a data recovery on the 'android_secure' folder and found a bunch of deleted '.asec' files., (though no apks). Putting one of these asec files for one of the lost apps back into the -androi_secure' folder didnt result in the app data being recognised on the device though.
So now Im stuck looking for a way to get these apps back (on the first phone I mean) and am hoping someone could suggest what I could try next. Would the wipe of the second phone whilst it had the sd card in it have also wiped out the apps on the sd card? Are these .asec files what got wiped?
LiteROm Custom based on Jelly Bean
64Gb SD Card
Rooted i9100
Thanks for any suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install titanium backup pro, and check if the apps are frozen. If they are, then defrost them and then you can use them. But, since you did a data-wipe before the backup, your data can not be recovered. You can also try this app, which can recover some data partially - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.defianttech.diskdigger&hl=en
Regards.
warrior1208 said:
Install titanium backup pro, and check if the apps are frozen. If they are, then defrost them and then you can use them. But, since you did a data-wipe before the backup, your data can not be recovered. You can also try this app, which can recover some data partially - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.defianttech.diskdigger&hl=en
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The apps aren't frozen - I have checked this and the apps are listed as grey icons that 'dont exist' according to the application manager.
I have done a data recovery using R-stuio already, and as I mention, .asec files were found for each of the missing apps (right there in the 'android_secure' folder on the SD card). Are these files useful, or do I need to recover another type of file?
.