Help me understand the storage system - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II SGH-I777

I'm trying to grasp how the storage system works on my GS2. I have the latest AOKP ROM installed and I'm slightly puzzled as to how apps are placed when I install them.
In ROM settings I have a checkbox "Use Expanded Internal Storage/Use SDcard for apps/media". It seems that I have internal storage, expanded internal storage, and an SDcard, and that in this box expanded internal storage means internal storage, and SDcard means expanded internal storage? I guess this must be the case because there seems to be no way to make the OS actually use the SDcard for anything.
Under "apps" I can choose to move apps to SDcard/phone, and here I assume SDcard also means expanded internal storage. However even though I move apps to phone, most of them still seem to keep their data on the EIS. Is this always going to be the case? I have a huge 2gb partition I'll probably never fill because apps won't store their data there.
It seems like a real mess tbh. I would gladly do away with this EIS partition and just have phone/sd so everything would work right, what's the point of splitting it?
This rant started when I tried to find out how to move Google music's offline music to my sdcard and found that I couldn't without a 3rd party program with a background service, and then discovered that even if I map a folder from my sdcard to where Google music saves its data, it still checks the EIS's space to determine how much can be saved. >.>

Welp, I'm not sure if it was there before but there's a post in the AOKP thread about the checkbox/toggle, stating that it swaps emmc and sdcard mounts. That's one mystery solved.
Still frustrating though, not a very elegant system.

Eckyx said:
Welp, I'm not sure if it was there before but there's a post in the AOKP thread about the checkbox/toggle, stating that it swaps emmc and sdcard mounts. That's one mystery solved.
Still frustrating though, not a very elegant system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The cm9 developers changed it to make it fit the standard of Android the way they should have from the beginning. Unfortunately it stores its caches and stuff on the external SD and I don't want that so I use the old way. Otherwise it doesn't matter to me
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5

This was already answered. Search for your answer in the aokp thread, you'll find it.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2

Related

Memory full issues

My niece is having issues with her Amaze 4G. The application memory is full (the 2Gb partition) is full, but after reviewing the list of apps in Manage Applications, there isn't 2 Gb's worth. All apps have the Move to SD button grayed out. I am unsure how to move items over to the other internal partition (10Gb). Please advise, and thank you.
any ideas??
some games have a big package that downloads with them and i dont think it shows in the apps size.
doesnt sound like you have a external sd so you should probly get one
maybe some more details would help
There is a 32gb sd card in the phone, and the 10 gb internal memory partition is empty. I've also put Apps2SD on the phone but it only recommended to move 4 apps, each of which were less than 1mb. In the Manage Apps list the largest app was Facebook at 50mb, with a series of others dropping in size quickly after that. It seems to me that the phone has been saving all app data to the 2gb parition but I can't see it in ES File Explorer to manage.
Also what common apps can typically be moved to the SD card?
Thanks!
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using XDA
jcicora said:
There is a 32gb sd card in the phone, and the 10 gb internal memory partition is empty. I've also put Apps2SD on the phone but it only recommended to move 4 apps, each of which were less than 1mb. In the Manage Apps list the largest app was Facebook at 50mb, with a series of others dropping in size quickly after that. It seems to me that the phone has been saving all app data to the 2gb parition but I can't see it in ES File Explorer to manage.
Also what common apps can typically be moved to the SD card?
Thanks!
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
50 mb for facebook is huge. try getting a cache cleaner and movetosd
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...251bGwsMSwxLDEsIm1vYmkuaW5mb2xpZmUuY2FjaGUiXQ..
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...xLDEsImNvbS5jdXJ2ZWZpc2guYXBwcy5tb3ZldG9zZCJd
mrmako777 said:
50 mb for facebook is huge. try getting a cache cleaner and movetosd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry forgot to mention that I installed ES Task Manager and cleared the cache for all the apps. The 50mb is all app & data. Is Move2SD different than Apps2SD?
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using XDA
My fb is only 25
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using XDA
Download superbox in Google play and from there can move files over easily to the SD. It will auto generate which files you can move.
Has a nice battery widget as well.
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using Tapatalk
I'm having the same issue with my Amaze, I don't have an SD Card yet, I can't up date my applications!
davidktk said:
I'm having the same issue with my Amaze, I don't have an SD Card yet, I can't up date my applications!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the problem you guy are having might be related to a full cache...use a file explorer to check /cache and see if there any files in there. If you see a bunch of apk's in there, that's your issue. You can delete them all no worries, but dont delete any folders
How do you use a file explorer? Thanks.
davidktk said:
How do you use a file explorer? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
download es file explorer or astro
Downloaded that application and no apk files there it's getting annoying because I have a load of applications to update.
What I would do is move all the apps back to the phone and save any files that are needed/wanted to the pc. Then go and clear phones internal sd card. Then move everything back.
Chuck Norris CAN touch MC Hammer!
Double0EK said:
What I would do is move all the apps back to the phone and save any files that are needed/wanted to the pc. Then go and clear phones internal sd card. Then move everything back.
Chuck Norris CAN touch MC Hammer!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have an sd card!
The phone comes with an INTERNAL sdcard. That's where moving applications to sdcard goes to.
Go to Settings> Applications > Manage Applications then go to each app and move it back to the phone if it gives that option. When you're done connect the phone to the pc and transfer any wanted files to the pc....this is called backing up your sdcard. When you're done with that then go to Settings > Storage and pick Erase Phone Storage. It will erase everything on the phones INTERNAL sdcard. That's why we backed everything up.
Now first thing you should do is move your apps back to the INTERNAL sdcard. So go to Settings > Storage >Make More Space and you can mass move any of the apps that you wish to move back to the phones INTERNAL sdcard. When that's done you can opt to move the files you saved on the pc back to the phones Internal sdcard.
You should also have your niece or her parents invest in an sdcard to put into the sdcard slot. So any pictures or music should be saved on that instead of using the phones internal sdcard. I would suggest a SanDisk 8gb or bigger with at least a Class 4 rating.
Chuck Norris can but Walker Texas Ranger can't.
I'm having the same issue. When I go to update apps from Google Play, I get an "Insufficient Storage Available" error.
Astro doens't show anything in /cache, but I have a feeling that's due to it not having global read access. The 2.5GB partition only has ~200MB free. I started with tons of apps installed, and I've had to start moving them off to SD or uninstalling to free up enough space to update the apps I really care about. The thing is, the size total for apps shown in the settings menu is constantly droping, but the total free space always ends up back around ~200MB. It's almost as if some app on the phone is filling up a cache or log file and isn't cleaning up after itself.
What folders in root comprise the 2.5GB partition? I'd like to see if I can determine where all the space is going. I've had an open ticket with HTC on this issue, and their solution is to factory reset. They're supposed to call me tomorrow night to work through this (I know how to factory reset, just want to hear what they say). I don't want to factory reset until I figure out why I'm running out of space as I figure I'll just end up in this same situation again.
It's very strange that many people are having this problem with the stock rom. Have you guys checked the available storage space by going in to the setting/storage? You should see 'Internal Storage' on the top. Do you have more than 50mb free? Theoretically, 50mb should be enough to update most apps through the Market (Play Store). Did you clear cache using the 'Make more space' option? What happened when you did it?
If you have enough space, yet cannot update apps, you probably have junk files sitting in some other partitions that are not included in 'available storage' calculations. If that's the case, then moving apps to sd card won't fix the problem. If your phone is rooted, it would be a lot easier to diagnose the issue and correct it. Without root, I can only think of one option; factory reset will probably fix the problem.
By the way, if you have to factory reset and loose the existing data anyway, you might want to use the opportunity to unlock the bootloder and root it at the same time.
I got two times the memory full message with Android 4.0 even there was enough space. After reboot it disappeared.
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA
oryan_dunn said:
I'm having the same issue. When I go to update apps from Google Play, I get an "Insufficient Storage Available" error.
Astro doens't show anything in /cache, but I have a feeling that's due to it not having global read access. The 2.5GB partition only has ~200MB free. I started with tons of apps installed, and I've had to start moving them off to SD or uninstalling to free up enough space to update the apps I really care about. The thing is, the size total for apps shown in the settings menu is constantly droping, but the total free space always ends up back around ~200MB. It's almost as if some app on the phone is filling up a cache or log file and isn't cleaning up after itself.
What folders in root comprise the 2.5GB partition? I'd like to see if I can determine where all the space is going. I've had an open ticket with HTC on this issue, and their solution is to factory reset. They're supposed to call me tomorrow night to work through this (I know how to factory reset, just want to hear what they say). I don't want to factory reset until I figure out why I'm running out of space as I figure I'll just end up in this same situation again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Without root, you won't be able to see much using Astro (or any file manager) because of the read restrictions on many directories. I believe you are correct about the system not cleaning up junk files. And unfortunately, they won't be accessible without root unless HTC included such an utility program to clean it in the stock rom. I doubt it, though, because their 'make space' process only gives you the option to clear cache and delete/move apps.
I know factory reset is not pleasant if you have lots of app data you want to keep. Time to root, maybe?
---------- Post added at 01:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:44 AM ----------
Fazettit said:
I got two times the memory full message with Android 4.0 even there was enough space. After reboot it disappeared.
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One S? Are you in the wrong forum?
Anyway, what were you doing when you got the error message? Downloading something? ICS may have a better cleanup routine than GB built in so that rebooting would solve the problem... Or you haven't used your device long enough to accumulate junks.

[Q] Internal Storage

I can't seem to access all the internal storage in my Note. I know I have 16gb in total and plenty of free space left. But when I go to setting and look under storage I find two listing of internal storage. I'm not sure why I have two internal storages. This is apart from my external sd card. One of the storage is around 2 gb and the other one is 11gb. Yet under the 11gb it says I only have around 500 MB free even though I almost have nothing on my phone. Whenever I do a backup of my ROM I seem to run out of space. Can't take pictures anymore. So I can't even backup as I keep running out of space.
I thought it might have something to do with the rom so i switched from CM9 to CM10. No change. Now I'm using liquid smooth and it's still the same. Can anyone tell me why I have two internal storages? And why there's so little free space even though I barely have any data?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
enigma_15 said:
I can't seem to access all the internal storage in my Note. I know I have 16gb in total and plenty of free space left. But when I go to setting and look under storage I find two listing of internal storage. I'm not sure why I have two internal storages. This is apart from my external sd card. One of the storage is around 2 gb and the other one is 11gb. Yet under the 11gb it says I only have around 500 MB free even though I almost have nothing on my phone. Whenever I do a backup of my ROM I seem to run out of space. Can't take pictures anymore. So I can't even backup as I keep running out of space.
I thought it might have something to do with the rom so i switched from CM9 to CM10. No change. Now I'm using liquid smooth and it's still the same. Can anyone tell me why I have two internal storages? And why there's so little free space even though I barely have any data?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please use the search feature... its has been explained quite a few times (by myself at least 3 times)....
Simple explanation:
In order to use the setup as-is (no major user changes), 2GB is set aside for /data and a few GB here and there for other partitions, the rest is for your personal storage... so data/system/cache/recovery/bleh is set aside and you get 11GB~ of usable storage space...
The end
Since everything by default of the FAULTY setup for Android phone devices these days saves to internal memory... your backup's of your phone, pictures, app cache.. app data... it all gets saved to that internal memory storage area... Use something like Solid Explorer and check it out to find out whats eating all your space and possibly clean it up or move some/most of it to your REAL /sdcard...
Thanks. That worked.
I deleted a bunch of stuff that was left over from the previous owner. Not sure why it was still there even though I formatted my memory when installing ROMs. Does this mean that it only formats the 2 GB internal storage? And not the one for my personal usage?
Also I tried searching for some more info on the split internal storage on the forums. Couldn't find anything. Would you please explain or give me a link that explains in detail the function of two internal storages?
Again, thanks for all your help.
Sent from my SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
enigma_15 said:
Thanks. That worked.
I deleted a bunch of stuff that was left over from the previous owner. Not sure why it was still there even though I formatted my memory when installing ROMs. Does this mean that it only formats the 2 GB internal storage? And not the one for my personal usage?
Also I tried searching for some more info on the split internal storage on the forums. Couldn't find anything. Would you please explain or give me a link that explains in detail the function of two internal storages?
Again, thanks for all your help.
Sent from my SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The internal storage is not cleared by a standard wipe, IIRC, theres an option in the stock rom to wipe the internal storage but you have to chose it when performing the factory reset option!
OR when using twrp/cwm you have to manually chose to wipe the internal storage/memory...
Otherwise it all stays behind...
I cant find my good post about it... IIRC it was in the n7k forums somewhere... Ive made too many posts to sort through in the interim...
Heres a thread someone else made earlier a month or 2 ago where I posted with basically what I said above, there really isnt that much to expand upon:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1909960

[NABI 2] Free up Internal Storage - Basic Tips

Fuhu's Nabi 2 comes with 8 GB of internal storage, but the actual space available for app install evaporates quickly. Here are a few tips from my experience that may help you figure out possible space hogs.
Part of the problem is due to the Nabi 2's file storage system. Instead of its external storage being located at /mnt/sdcard, it is instead at /mnt/sdcard2. This causes problems as many programs will assume they are saving to the external drive at sdcard, but are instead using precious space on the limited internal drive.
There are a couple different work-around rooted options, but at this time they seem to me a bit like a bandage. If you feel like tackling these more advanced drive swapping options, see Root External 2 Internal SD (How-to for Nabi 2 by e2950) and DirectoryBind by slig (How-to for Nabi 2 by Clarkiss). Root External 2 Internal SD swaps the two. DirectoryBind causes apps to install their extra data to sdcard2.
The first thing to do when you've got a failure to install an app due to insufficient space is to check the device's storage. Get there by accessing Android's Settings, Storage, and when the graph and list come up on the right, touch Apps. You can sort by app size or by alphabetical. Sort by size and the list will show which apps are taking the most space. Another way to get to the same place is via Android's Settings, Apps, and select All at the top.
A. Easiest is removing unwanted demos and preinstalled apps. Touch the name of the app and select Uninstall. I am unsure if this will require root or not. I didn't try while still unrooted and don't know if some apps are locked in by Fuhu.
B. My first space hog was actually the Gallery. One of the first things we do after getting recovery and root on the Nabi 2 is to install GApps. In doing so, Google's Gallery replaces Fuhu's. I have uploaded many Picasa albums over time and, using my Google account on my son's Nabi 2, syncronized and downloaded 300 MB onto the internal storage.
Unsync and clear Google Gallery:
1. Open Android's Settings, Accounts & sync, [Your Google Account], Uncheck Sync Google Photos
2. Settings, Storage, Apps (All), Gallery, Force Stop, Clear Data
3. Reboot
After rebooting, the downloaded albums and photos Google had sync'd will be gone, freeing up precious internal space.
Update: More picture/video space hogging was found in /mnt/sdcard/DCIM/.thumbnails There were two thumbnail files adding up to 277MB hiding out.
C. Having multiple rooted android devices, one of the first things I set up after rooting is Titanium Backup (TB). Normally, TB saves its backed up files to sdcard. But, because sdcard is the Nabi 2's space constricted internal storage, this causes a problem quickly. The solution is to change TB's backup storage location. This can save hundreds of MBs. This was the first problem I tackled, so I don't remember how much
1. In Titanium Backup, open Preferences, Backup storage location
2. Change the default location from /mnt/sdcard/TitaniumBackup to /mnt/sdcard[BOLD]2[/BOLD]/TitaniumBackup
TB will handle copying your contents from the old directory to the new one.
D. My next surprise space hog was cloud storage app Box. Hogging a respectable 138 MB of files apparently sync'd/cached, this one was easy to clear.
1. In Box, open Settings, and touch Clear Cache under the Folder Activity heading.
These are basic, simple, and temporary tips which will only free a little more space to allow installation of that one last app you mean to get on your Nabi 2. Any other suggestions would be more than welcome.
I'm hoping that as the Nabi community matures and XDA grants us our own subforum (hint: lets do our best to stoke more Nabi 2 threads), that solutions are created to truly fix the lack of space to make this device pain free and open up its true potential.
Sent from my NABI2-NV7A using xda premium
Bait-Fish said:
....
There are a couple different work-around rooted options, but at this time they seem to me a bit like a bandage. If you feel like tackling these more advanced drive swapping options, see Root External 2 Internal SD (How-to for Nabi 2 by e2950) and DirectoryBind by slig (How-to for Nabi 2 by Clarkiss). Root External 2 Internal SD swaps the two. DirectoryBind causes apps to install their extra data to sdcard2.
....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This Root External 2 Internal SD (How-to for Nabi 2 by e2950) works great with my Nabi2. But does not work on boot. Does anybody knows why?
arvati said:
This Root External 2 Internal SD (How-to for Nabi 2 by e2950) works great with my Nabi2. But does not work on boot. Does anybody knows why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried and tried myself too and never got it to work at boot or really even swap over the storage in any usable way. I have since given up on that.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk HD
Bait-Fish said:
I tried and tried myself too and never got it to work at boot or really even swap over the storage in any usable way. I have since given up on that.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I finally got it to work at boot and looked like everything was ok. Watched as I added apps and such, seemed that 80% of everything still installed to original Internal storage. Only real change was anything I downloaded went straight on micro sdcard. I also gave up.
Despite me using the external2internal app and it LOOKING like it was all swapped in the settings under data, the apps still all seem to go on the original tiny internal sd card and also when you use settings to look at installed apps, the free space it quotes tallies with the internal card, not the swapped-large-external card.
I can only assume something has gone a bit wrong in the settings of the app.
I dont understand how the nabi2 settings sees huge space under "storage" but tiny space under "apps" its as if the external2internal app has only swapped the two cards for "some" of the nabi's setup/brain
Any ideas please?
I was never able to get Ext2Int working properly so I abandoned that route.
Something that does work for me is [APP][ROOT] FolderMount - Link folders from internal SD to external to free space. It doesn't swap the internal for external outright, but does allow you to move specific data hogs to sdcard2. I still need to do a little walk through on it. . .
FM can move files from the original location to the destination of your choice if the files don't require root permissions. If they do, you have to move the files using a root file explorer of your choice.
FM will not work for moving apps due to its inherent time delay before actually changing the link to the new location. It's 30 seconds to 3 minutes after boot.
Sent from my VS910 4G using Tapatalk 2
Bait-Fish said:
I was never able to get Ext2Int working properly so I abandoned that route.
Something that does work for me is [APP][ROOT] FolderMount - Link folders from internal SD to external to free space. It doesn't swap the internal for external outright, but does allow you to move specific data hogs to sdcard2. I still need to do a little walk through on it. . .
FM can move files from the original location to the destination of your choice if the files don't require root permissions. If they do, you have to move the files using a root file explorer of your choice.
FM will not work for moving apps due to its inherent time delay before actually changing the link to the new location. It's 30 seconds to 3 minutes after boot.
Sent from my VS910 4G using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks very much, Im not sure if that would work for me as most of my little boys apps are pretty small in size, most around the 20mb mark, with a few being 100mb so its not the big games or datahogs thats a problem, its the sheer weight of numbers of how many of these small apps he has installed.
So Im not sure if FM would actually be able to move any of his apps over to the external and actually work.
Even though he has so many apps, selective removing isnt a solution as he remembers them all. He is autistic trust me he remembers them hehe
Thanks and all help is appreciated.
Alex
DiskUsage is a good app to visually find large data stores. On my phone, I found Amazon caching all of the apps it had downloaded but I cancelled the installation on, over 1.5 GB! I don't use Amazon the same way on the Nabi though.
Sent from my VS910 4G using Tapatalk 2
reply
nice..
Bait-Fish said:
DiskUsage is a good app to visually find large data stores. On my phone, I found Amazon caching all of the apps it had downloaded but I cancelled the installation on, over 1.5 GB! I don't use Amazon the same way on the Nabi though.
Sent from my VS910 4G using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I had a look at diskusage but honestly I am so noobish that I couldnt quite tell exactly what it was explaining to me.
Looking on things like data or apps there were things listed that almost seemed twice and also some noted as apk's and I wasnt sure if this was the game itself, of if it was the apk file that installed the game and the tablet is storing the apk's as well as the installed games.
As a beginer at this kind of thing, its quite hard to get your head around it all.
And we have now officially run out of space and trying to magane through as best we can.
Thanks for the suggestion
Alex
The actual APKs, not good to move with FolderMount. But, if there's a bit of data in /data/data, /data/obb, /android, FolderMount can move that to your external storage, freeing space for more apps. At least you looked into it. My son has a couple apps that take 100s of MBs of data. That makes freeing space easy.
Sent from my VS910 4G using Tapatalk 2
Bait-Fish said:
The actual APKs, not good to move with FolderMount. But, if there's a bit of data in /data/data, /data/obb, /android, FolderMount can move that to your external storage, freeing space for more apps. At least you looked into it. My son has a couple apps that take 100s of MBs of data. That makes freeing space easy.
Sent from my VS910 4G using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Ill have a look at that data aspect when I can next get the tablet off of him, Thanks I appreciate the advice.
Dont think Ive seen the obb folder...
When I plug the nabi into the PC lead and it pops up like an SD drive on my PC, there does seem to be a lot of folders that people mention that I dont seem to be able to see. Possibly like a kind of hidden folder? Also the size of the SD looked at through the PC always shows as much smaller than it is.
So Im really thinking that there is a chunk of the internal-sd card, or internal memory, that is hidden from the basic pc cable connection. Is that right and if-so how am I able to see that area to be able to back it up and/or be able to mess with it?
Thanks
Alex
I don't have a Nabi 2 anymore but have any of you used the app Link2sd? I've been using it on another 4 gig device and works really well. You have not split your micro sdcard into 2 partitions. Link2sd uses the second partition and you use the first as your micro sdcard. When you click Link app to SD, it moves it, then open app and see if it runs OK. If not you'll have to click move to SD to put it back so it will work.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I957 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Yes. That and FolderMount are what keep my son's Nabi functional.
A 2 GB partition was a bit small for me though. For anyone that goes that route and had a large SD (64 GB), give the Link2SD partition at least 3 GB. I had to start over after doing it the first time.
Or, count and calculate the apps you mean to move them add extra space for future expansion. That'd be the smart way
Sent from my SCH-I545 Dev Edition using Tapatalk 2
Im really dumb on these things and am terrified of busting my sons nabi (he relies upon it so much now).
So does this move the whole app, or just the data bits of the app? I heard that the bigger apps that are heavy on data move well, but the smaller apps that are mostly just the apk dont always move. Almost all my sons apps are the small kind. So Im not sure if this will still work.
Also, we hardly have anything at all to put on our external sd, we only bought it because we thought we could get apps on it. So is there any reason not to put a huge partition on the sd for the program? Our sd is 32gb, so I guess formats at about 28gb, so I was thinking of having the partition 25gb
Thanks for all the thoughts and help people.
PS: Is foldermount necessary as well? Or can I just try this with Link2SD? Im nervous enough about trying to learn one new software but integrating two at the same time concerns me somewhat.
Thanks
Alex
Some thoughts.
Honestly, from my experience with both, do Link to SD with a respectable partition. Something big enough to grow into, maybe 5 GB. Or, 10 since you say you have a lot of external SD space, but that is surely overkill since the apps data will burst your internal before the apps exceed 10 GB.
That allows you to move the largest apps to the external. Their data will still be on the internal though. That will be your next headache.
I find my FolderMount pairs frequently unpinned and I have to log into Daddy mode and re-enable them. I think that would not be good for you, alexbobspoons. When the FolderMount pairs are not enabled, some of the larger data apps (Mini Motor or My First Trainz Set) will download their data again when my son tries to play them (to internal since the pair is not active). My four year old will tell me now so I can straighten it out. I use FolderMount to move the entire /sdcard/android/data and /sdcard/android/obb folders to the external.
But, like I said, focus on Link to SD and that should free some storage pretty well. I found it a bit more difficult than FolderMount. Also, I am unsure how Link to SD plays into making a nandroid, if it's all copied and restored properly. I haven't really tried that yet.
Update: And again, FolderMount was not linking my pairs this morning. I haven't tried to ask for help on that issue since the Nabi's storage is all funked up by default. FolderMount had an update so I will see if that changes anything. Also of note, I haven't upgraded to the latest Nabi update either.
While I was in there, I checked that I used all 2 GB I alloted for Link to SD (I should have done at least 4 GB) on the external. FolderMount has about 7 GB on the external.
Sent from my SCH-I545 Dev Edition using Tapatalk 2
Hi thanks again for the advice.
Am I right in thinking that most apps are composed of just two components, one component being the apk itself (which can be moved to external using link2sd), the other being the data (which can be moved to external using foldermount).
Is this right??
If-so, then IF I am using the disk-usage app correctly, then almost all of my sons apps are in the apk bracket with hardly any usage on the data aspect.
So if this is the case, then I wouldnt much need to use foldermount, and would simply need a huge partition on the external SD to have all the apps (apk's?) moved to. If that is the case, then I dont think I would bust the nabi2's internal memory with the data as theres hardly any of it.
Am I then right in thinking that after moving all the stuff via link2sd that my internal memory would be almost all empty, and all I need to do in future is 1: Buy new app and download, 2:Link2sd the new app, 3:Hand tablet back to son and all done.
Am I understanding it all correctly so-far please?
Thanks
Alex
PS: You mention nandriod.... whats nandroid?? Thanks.
Yes. apks are the apps. You've got the idea.
A nandroid is a term used for the backup image made while in custom recovery (TWRP on our Nabi 2s). It's like ghosting your PC. If you mess up after, you typically can restore that backup nandroid and make it like nothing ever happened.
I'm guessing the apps moved with Link to SD will not exist when the external SD is ejected. And, not backed up in the nandroid.
Ok thanks for that.
Well I have a spare 32gb sd card so my plan is:
1: Backup the nabi using twerp onto my existing sd card
2: format and prepare new sd card
3: remove ext2sd app in case it conflicts
4: put new sd card into nabi
5: Install link2sd
6: attempt to move apps over onto the external sd and see what happens
hopefully, the internal memory should get nice and empty, while the external memory slowly fills with the other stuff.
Then if it works, I can download all his missing apps and move each one to external sd
Fingers crossed.
Cheers
Alex
alexbobspoons said:
Ok thanks for that.
hopefully, the internal memory should get nice and empty, while the external memory slowly fills with the other stuff.
Then if it works, I can download all his missing apps and move each one to external sd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alex,
Were you met with success? I'd like to clear out my daughter's Nabi 2, but I'll go your route if it worked. Also, has anyone found a way to save pictures or videos to the CD card by default?

Storage confusion question.. (0:

I use AndroZip. And I am really confused about the different folders..
I included 2 screenshots for this part of my question..
First one.. can someone tell me what those folders mean..
Second picture.. what the heck are all those folders..
Is the actual external SD card one of those folders. I figured it would be the obvious one but I swear I had more stuff in that folder and Its not there...
Is there a way to make the external sd card the default to where all pics and stuff are saved??
Seems I am running out of storage space on my phone already for some reason.
3rd picture is of a screenshot of my storage use.. ridiculous. I dont understand why everything is on my phone and nothing is on the card..
It was worse a few days ago. My phone kept telling me I had no space left.. it was at like
System storge was 15.23gb/16.00gb
Sd card was 2.20gb/29.71gb
Sorry my question is kinda lame. Im just not good at this stuff.
Thanks for your guys help I really appreciate it
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
Not sure what all those folders mean, but emulated sd is actually still internal...your "ext sd" is your external sd. when you open your camera for the first time, it should give the option to save all photos to ext sd. If you missed it, you should be able to hit the menu button, go into settings and change it within a secondary settings menu in there. I use es file explorer or astro typically and have never seen all those usb folders. Perhaps you are plugged into a desktop?
Mount Points
For whatever reason, the Galaxy S4 has many, many mount points for its emulated SD Card. If you're rooted, the actual path to it is "/data/media/0/"
However, the folders in the first picture are ALL paths to your internal or emulated SD Card. sdcard0, ext_sdcard, emulated, legacy, etc.
In the second picture, those look like pre-created mount points for... multiple flash drives? Either way, no reason to worry about them unless you somehow manage to plug up about 7 flash drives or SD Cards to your device.
And as for the space issue... That really is a good question. Factory resetting is never out of the question if you're up for it, however, assuming you're not, the only explanation I could come up with is just a ton of apps with big extra files. Like Minecraft, Call of Duty Black Ops Zombies, Temple Run 2.
Hope I helped, sorry if I didn't. I'm new to Android this year, so I haven't thoroughly looked at all of the quirky stuff it tends to do, but your data usage has to be from something, and if it's not from stuff you put on your emulated SD Card, it has to be from big apps or malware, assuming you didn't tamper with anything in a root file explorer. Are you sure you haven't messed around and copied files to some directory you thought was the emulated SD?
As far as the internal storage, the OS and "most" of your downloaded apps will go here, unless you use foldermount ("move to sd" only moves part of the file). Anyways, I have about 60 apps on my phone and am running hyperdrive and have about the same amount of internal storage left as you. After formatting and whatnot, the device does not have 16gb internal memory...it's more like 11 or 12. Before I was running hyperdrive and was just stock rooted, on that same screen as your 3rd picture, it showed me that I had 9.82gb of internal memory TOTAL, but I had way less used (I currently have no more or no less than I did then, but shows I have 8.23gb out of 16, instead of the 3.9gb out of 9.82 it used to show). Most of which is under "miscellaneous" files and when you go in there to see whats actually there via phone settings, you can't really see what's using all the space. You really need to be rooted and use root explorer (or similar) to see whats using all the storage.

[Q] Master "What can I delete" list?

Hey everyone. I have searched around and can't find an answer to this, so here goes;
I have a Verizon Galaxy S4 and while I love the phone and all the ROM's out for it, I HATE that due to it's limited 16GB internal memory, I am CONSTANTLY running out of space on the phone. I have moved everything I can to my SD card but still can't get it down. When I open my phone on my PC and look at the internal memory, I see a ton of folders that I don't know what the hell they are. I would love to just go through arbitrarily and delete them all but obviously that's not a great idea. Can anyone tell me and/or compile a list of files and folders that commonly end up on our phones from bloat and whatnot?
Here's a screenshot of what I see in mine, just as a for instance...
Do you have a lot of photos?
They would be in the DCIM folder
joshuabg said:
Do you have a lot of photos?
They would be in the DCIM folder
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. There are a lot in there. Can I not move that folder to the SD card?
I only got the S4 last Saturday, and today UPS brought my 32G SD card. When I went to the camera app to see if there were any way to change the target location, a popup said (about), "You now have an SD card, so all single shots will now go there. Multi-shots will still go to the internal storage." There is indeed a setting for that though, Internal or SD. I plan to leave the DCIM folder on the Internal, but let it be empty
I Hate Import Cars said:
Hey everyone. I have searched around and can't find an answer to this, so here goes;
I have a Verizon Galaxy S4 and while I love the phone and all the ROM's out for it, I HATE that due to it's limited 16GB internal memory, I am CONSTANTLY running out of space on the phone. I have moved everything I can to my SD card but still can't get it down. When I open my phone on my PC and look at the internal memory, I see a ton of folders that I don't know what the hell they are. I would love to just go through arbitrarily and delete them all but obviously that's not a great idea. Can anyone tell me and/or compile a list of files and folders that commonly end up on our phones from bloat and whatnot?
Here's a screenshot of what I see in mine, just as a for instance...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You probably already know this...but here goes:
-By all means invest in an external sdcard. Use the sdcard to store all your pictures, video, music and any other documents you may be storing on your phone.
-There are two apps in the Play Store that enable you to "sort of" move apps to sdcard. Aparted will allow you to partition your sdcard. You create a partition that will be reserved for app data, cache and other "stuff". Link2SD is the app that will use that partition to "link" your apps to the data etc being stored on the sdcard partition. I saved about 1gb by using these two apps. This only works on your downloaded apps, not on system apps. Your apps will update and run as normal, but their associated data etc will be stored on the sdcard partition you create.
-Consider the type ROM you're running, if you have an option. Generally speaking, TW ROMs are more "heavy" than AOSP ROMS. You have to pick your poison. If you like and use all the unique features Samsung has put on the S4 (hand gestures, smart screen etc) then a AOSP ROM may not be what you want as your daily driver. Yes, it will use less resources in terms of RAM and internal storage, but some of those unique features that you like will not be available because most of the supporting firmware has been removed in an AOSP ROM. If you're forced to use SafeStrap to flash ROMs then your options are even fewer.
-There are a number of "safe to remove or freeze" list floating around on the web or in this forum. Like most things, one man's passion is another man's poison. Just because some guy says "xxxx.apk" is safe to remove or freeze doesn't mean it won't have an undesirable effect for you. Besides, you really don't save a lot of storage space by deleting most of those things. Unless it is truely "bloat" like NFL Football or Blockbuster I just freeze those things associated with functions or apps that I know I will never use. On a TW ROM that usually means most of the Samsung "stuff".
Hope this helps.
Remove Stuff
Removing all of the Samsung stuff that you dont use dose free up some space. Even with that I have found on the TW roms I can only hold 2 of them on my internal storage. Usually I have my Daily driver rom on there and any new roms that I want to try I just have to keep deleing those when I want to put a new one on.

Categories

Resources