Hey there guys...
To start with i have my S3 two days now and i absolutely love this phone...:')
But,after installing lots of games my internal memory has gone full and i can't download any data in-game because i have low storage space...
My external sd on the other hand is around 10gb free but when i try to move the data to the same folder on the external the data isn't identified by the game and it asks me to download again?
It has become really frustrating,it seems i can't do anything about it...
Any suggestions to try?
Cheers,George
As the system now uses unified storage all apps will remain on internal memory; moving the data alone to an external SD card will have no use without altering the application to look for that location for its data. i.e. in the GS2 you had a move to SD option since the phone was partitioned. With the S3 however this option is not there which means that when an application is downloaded all of its information needs to be stored on the internal storage. When the "Move to SD" option was selected within the S2 or prior phones, it informs the application that its new location is within x folder rather than the folder it was originally downloaded too. Since this option is no longer there then the application has no way of being told where its new location is.
Maybe move to SD could be an add-on with a mod/hack but I am not sure if this is possible. Maybe check with a developer?
Have you got a prior Android phone? Maybe install the application on to it; use the "Move to SD" option and see if that will allow it? It's just a suggestion; if you don't have a different Android phone I can try it for you.
Edit: Just tried it; the phone itself doesn't even check for applications stored within an external SD. Sorry man - the only way around it would be a mod/custom/hack (if possible).
T__ said:
As the system now uses unified storage all apps will remain on internal memory; moving the data alone to an external SD card will have no use without altering the application to look for that location for its data. i.e. in the GS2 you had a move to SD option since the phone was partitioned. With the S3 however this option is not there which means that when an application is downloaded all of its information needs to be stored on the internal storage. When the "Move to SD" option was selected within the S2 or prior phones, it informs the application that its new location is within x folder rather than the folder it was originally downloaded too. Since this option is no longer there then the application has no way of being told where its new location is.
Maybe move to SD could be an add-on with a mod/hack but I am not sure if this is possible. Maybe check with a developer?
Have you got a prior Android phone? Maybe install the application on to it; use the "Move to SD" option and see if that will allow it? It's just a suggestion; if you don't have a different Android phone I can try it for you.
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Click to collapse
Thank's for the answer...
In my galaxy s 1 i had no problem having the games data on the sd card,i havent moved and application to the sd but i had the data on sd and everything worked great...now...i don't get it....:/
nfsmw_gr said:
Thank's for the answer...
In my galaxy s 1 i had no problem having the games data on the sd card,i havent moved and application to the sd but i had the data on sd and everything worked great...now...i don't get it....:/
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Click to collapse
I did check for you; the S3 physically doesn't look for application data in the external SD (I edited original post after testing few things).. There probably are ways around it as mentioned but you would need to speak with developers for further insight.
If worst comes to worst application developers may have to implement a look in x location first, if no data found, look "here" in to their applications.
As the phone is unified storage you can store applications in the full ~12GB storage space (All the ones I have, have roughly 11.3GB after OS and all is on it) so have you used the phones storage itself for only applications; and the SD for media etc?
I am interested to know how you have managed to fill at least 11GB of space with applications; how many do you have? How is the performance of the phone with this many applications on it? Any lag navigating (I know there shouldn't be with quad core processor - but it's interesting to know if hundreds of applications cause lag between screen scrolling).
You can use an app called directory bind to link the game data on the SD to a mounting point on the internal SD. Search for it and you'll find it, not sure if I got it here or the play store.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Yup, there's directory topic on forum, as well as working 'gl to sd' app in play store. It is not just for gameloft games.
Sent from my SGH-I747M
Thank you all guys!!
Well i filled it with lots of games that's why i don't have much space available!
No the phone is flying,it doesn't lag at all!
I use Dragon Ics rom and Siyah Kernel...no oc....
I'll try directory bind and post back soon!
To put applications on the sdcard, you could use symlinking (confirmed this works myself).
Install the application, then go to /data/app and move the apk file to your sdcard (/mnt/extSdCard) or inside a folder on your sdcard.
Then type ln -s /mnt/extSdCard/your-apk.apk /data/app/your-apk.apk
Related
Hello!
I need to know how android phones handle applications being installed in them?
I didn't know if this is phone specific or software specific, so am posting it in both.
I own a Samsung Ace and hope to own an Xperia Play as well.
Now if I install an application, how can I make sure it goes to the SD card instead of the phones internal memory?
For example:
I recently installed Talking Tom Cat 2 on my Ace, when I opened it the first time, it asked me to download a few more files, only when I did I was able to use the application. After that I uninstalled the application using the Task Manager. But where do I delete the other package, or does it get deleted automatically?
Please reply soon.
Thanks.
In some cases it's phone specific and others, it's software specific. Before I explain this, the answer to your question about if the data is deleted automatically, is: for some games/apps, it is, and others, it's not. The data is usually stored on the sd card so you can check to see if you see a folder which was not there previously. Data for games are usually stored directly on the sd card, or the following folders: data/data, android/data, or gameloft/games. Phone's without an sd card slot will have the directory created for the data storage. Phone specific wise is explained in my previous sentence. Software specific wise is of course based on software. Certain roms allow you to choose the default location for apps to be installed to. On stock roms, apps are usually (if not always) installed directly to the internal memory and if the software is Android 2.2 (Froyo) or higher, you'll have the option to move some apps to the sd card.
Hi
Sorry not a high tech question but would appreciate some help
Re. my viewpad 7
Seems to be constantly short of inbuilt memory.
(should be 512mb)
was down to zero today though have not addded anything for a while.
Clearing cache and history via browser took it back up to 8 mb but already with an hours use down to 6mb again.
Have moved everything that Apps manager allows over to the (16GB) SD card, which still has lots of space.
Neither of the "File Explorer" or "Settings/SD card and phone storage" routes let me actually see what's in phone memory.
Pad is "as bought" re rom's etc
Would appreciate any help.
thx
Russ
It's got 512mb total, which is split over different partitions.
You are running out of space on the /data partition, try uninstalling some apps, or use an app like apps2sd to move some to your sd card.
Thanks for quick response but have tried deleting a few apps and have already moved everything that can be moved onto sd card
have downloaded a couple of versions of app2sd apps 2sd etc but they do not offer any more suggestions on apps that can be moved as I say I have aready moved all that seem moveable
It does seem that it's some sort of data thats the problem but I can't see into the inbuilt memory to see what data it is or from what app
rgds
russ
It is stupid Android. When you move apps to SD, than still some (usualy bigger) parts is still in internal memory. When you move apps to SD, than info about occupied space is valid only for occupied space on SD by the apps. If you want to know how big is the application than you have to move back to internal memory, than info is correct.
Also some updating of system apss can consume very big space of internal memory. For example Aldiko can occupy 6MB !!!!
The problem is, when you install a new app either from Android Market, Amazon App Store or anywhere else, the system retains the .apk install file somewhere in memory. I'm yet to find where those files are stored.
You can use a file manager like Astro File manager to see all the files on your viewpad 7's internal memory however, manipulating those files is a bit trickier. I thought I found them in a \sys\data directory or something like that but the system refuses to let me delete them.
Does anyone know for certain where these .apk files are stored. I've deleted/moved everything I can and am down to the apps that I need on the unit. If I have to delete more, then there is no sense having a small form-factor tablet. The space that is being used is far above the applications that I have installed so there has to be garbage files somewhere that need cleaned up.
Hi, I'm a total noob to Android phones, I admit it. I just got my first smartphone, and it's an old one - an HTC Aria. Thanks to a lot of info here in XDA-developers, I got it rooted with clockwork mod and am using the Cyanogen ROM with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).
Well, it's such an old phone, I see that it only has ~185 mb internal storage. I added an 8GB SD card. Even though I move my apps to external storage, I can see that the data didn't get moved and is still quickly eating up all the phone's internal storage. I'm trying to use Madmack's "FolderMount" but am having trouble figuring it out. I think it might be an understanding of Android file/folder structure (I have very little). I'm considering buying the "pro" version (if it works for me), just so I can move the whole data folder at once and free up my internal memory again.
Here's my efforts at testing to see if it works. I'm trying to move the data from the "Plague, Inc." game to the external card (the app is already on the external card). So, when I choose source, it automatically starts me in the /mnt/sdcard/ but doesn't allow me to go "up" to any further root folders of that. So I found in the "Android" folder the "data" folder. I tried to FolderMount that but it gave me the error about the non-Pro version. So I tried the "com.miniclip.plagueinc" folder (knowing that it's currently using 15MB of data) and then using an app called SDCardManager (which I understand is supposed to make it easier for me to access my SD Card, like Windows Explorer or something), I made a folder with this path "/mnt/sdcard/foldermount" I think it should be the right path because it's also where my "android.tether" folder is that I know I created myself.
Anyway, when I pair those two folders in FolderMount, it copies stuff over, and the pin looks green, but it shows my internal memory hasn't changed, still almost entirely full. So what do I do to clear it up? I think my problem is in my understanding of the Android's file structure. I think on "source", I should be able to access some folder before "/mnt/sdcard", but I can't get there. Please give this noob help from anyone who can! Thanks!
Can anyone help me with this? Particularly the developer, madmack? I really need to find a way to move the app data to the external memory so I can clear up space. Even if someone could help me understand the file structure better, that'd be helpful. Thanks!
I'm running the stock unrooted AT&T Jellybean 4.1.2 on my Galaxy Note i717. Since upgrading to 4.1.2, I've been occasionally getting the dreaded Play Store "Insufficient Space" error when app updates are being applied. This behavior seems random, and cannot be replicated. A reboot clears it ... for a little while.
I've spent several hours searching XDA and Google. I've found a thread that discusses partitions in the i717, and suggests moving apps to the external SD card. That's fine, but it seems like a partial solution, since even after moving an app to the SD card, *some* of the app still appears to be in "device storage".
Here is what I see on my phone:
- System Storage: 1.69GB / 1.97GB
- USB Storage: 10.17GB / 10.84GB
- SD card: 57.96GB / 59.46GB
It seems to me that if I WAS running out of space, I should be able to remove files from "USB Storage", to free up more room for Apps. This, however, seems not to be the case. It appears that ALL apps I download are installed to the much smaller "System Storage" partition. When I move an app to the SD card, space is freed up in "System Storage" (and NOT "USB Storage") and taken up on the external "SD Card". But of course in the stock configuration at least, not all apps can be moved, so, again, if I want to install additional apps, I will eventually hit a wall - and, it seems, a very NEARBY 2GB wall, beyond which I cannot really install apps.
So, my questions are:
1. Am I reading this right? Are we really installing apps to the much smaller System Storage partition instead of the larger user-access "USB Storage" partition? Or do I have a setting wrong or an artifact left over from upgrading?
2. Can I repartition this phone (I know it means a full wipe, I'm fine with that) to get more space in System Storage so I can comfortably install more apps? If so, how might that be done?
3. I've rooted this phone in the past, and have run custom ROMs on it but have never hit this particular problem before. Do I really need to root or go custom again to solve this problem? Would doing that solve the problem automatically, or do I have to "do something" once I'm rooted?
4. Is there a better way of dealing with this (other than "don't install so many apps!" ) that I'm not aware of?
Thanks in advance for any help/pointers/guidance!
Glen
go to manage apps and look at downloaded apps. sort by size and see if any are unusually large. some apps are not designed well and store data on the system side rather than use sd. i know next issue is one of these. if you download to many magazines it will use up all free space. if any that you dont use daily and are large i would remove. i keep a copy of all my apps on my external card. only apps i use daily are installed and any others i can install when needed without having to download again. also good when you dont like an update and want to go back to previous version.
s89281b said:
go to manage apps and look at downloaded apps. sort by size and see if any are unusually large. some apps are not designed well and store data on the system side rather than use sd. i know next issue is one of these.
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Click to collapse
Thank you for this. It seems to me that ALL the apps I've downloaded - including such favorites as Google Chrome - are installing themselves completely inside the System Storage, and that NONE of the apps are installing in the larger USB storage partition.
So it's not only a matter of poorly-written apps, it seems to be a systemwide thing. Each time I remove an app, space gets freed up out of the 2GB system partition. Nothing changes in USB storage.
How can I approach this problem?
You are confusing yourself. First off it is NOT "system storage". It is "device memory". That 2GB is the default location to install most apps. However you can move most apps to the "USB storage" (10GB) in Application Manager. In application manager it is called "SD card" and not "usb storage". Do not confuse sd card with your external micro sd card. That is referenced as SD card in the storage menu but it is actually external SD card.
It is poorly written software by samsung. When you go to move apps in the application manager it should say usb storage and not sd card. And when you move them back it should say device memory and not device storage.
Agoattamer said:
You are confusing yourself. First off it is NOT "system storage". It is "device memory". That 2GB is the default location to install most apps. However you can move most apps to the "USB storage" (10GB) in Application Manager. In application manager it is called "SD card" and not "usb storage". Do not confuse sd card with your external micro sd card. That is referenced as SD card in the storage menu but it is actually external SD card. It is poorly written software by samsung. When you go to move apps in the application manager it should say usb storage and not sd card. And when you move them back it should say device memory and not device storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, thanks for explaining that. I understand. So I assume there is no way to repartition or change the default to get more room for apps? Rooting won't assist with that? Seems that my only choice is to manually move what apps I can off of device memory onto USB storage?
Thank you!
Glen
I have not seen anyone repartition the memory so it would be like the Galaxy S3 and S4 (Device memory and USB memory combined as 1). So yes, your only option is to move what you can to the USB storage. It is a samsung fail to have the memory partitoned on the Note as they do.
Agoattamer said:
I have not seen anyone repartition the memory so it would be like the Galaxy S3 and S4 (Device memory and USB memory combined as 1). So yes, your only option is to move what you can to the USB storage. It is a samsung fail to have the memory partitoned on the Note as they do.
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Click to collapse
Okay, thank you! I'm glad they've at least fixed this in newer models. I have an N7100 and N8000 and neither have the two partitions either. Just sad we can't fix it on the Note.
Thank you for your replies and explanations!
Glen
It would be awesome if a dev could somehow pull these together.
I actually put up a similar request several months ago, but didn't word it like this. I have several other devices, and they all use the space much better than Samsung does on this one. I have a Asus Transformer, that uses the entire internal space, as mentioned, and so does my Nexus. The silly 2 GB limit Samsung puts on these really wastes the capabilities of the device.
This is how to do it
Confirmed working on the i717
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1388996
Hi there, noob speaking... (at least in terms of Android)
Let's start with the fact that I bought rooted phone with Cyanogenmod alredy installed which is my 1st Android device. That way I omitted few steps of learning how to root, how to flash it, etc. not to mention that I'm not a Linux guy, so even the way system handles folders and files is new for me. As the problem is more phone-related than system-related I'm posting it here, on XDA.
I'm trying to learn how to partition an "internal SD card" to make it work with Link2SD. I've found lots of tutorials how to do this with an external memory card, but there is not much info about doing the same with internal storage. I've found a tutorial for a diffrent phone, but I'm worried that droid devices seem to be very diffrent and simply retyping everything without understanding what I'm actually doing may cause more harm than good.
My biggest objection is the fact that I'm alredy using my internal SD and beside various media files (photos, music, etc.) there are lots of system, or app related stuff there. There are folders like .android_secure which as I guess store app-related files (or even parts of apps that I moved to SD with build-in feature). If this was Windows, I'd simply back up everything, format it, partition into "general storage" and "app memory" and put backed up files back directly onto new partition only worrying to keep correct letters assigned to new partitions. I'm preety sure that doing same in Android (by copying everything to PC and back to phone) would not work because all those permisions, or am I wrong?
Anyway - Any advice how to do this?
Additional question is related to accessing whole phone memory via PC connected by USB. I know that Android phones are made with security in mind and "system" partition is hidden when connecting USB, but there should be some other way than browsing everything from some phone apps with root permissions. I'd really like to browse my phone both for educational reasons and to check what really takes up space on my "system storage". I'm suspecting that some app went crazy eating lots of space, because once every time I uninstalled something my storage after few minutes was again at 20mb level and it continiued for some time.
BTW: Is there any reason why having about 200mb empty space for apps is not enough to install or update some small applications, while other install even when just 100mb is left?
Tl;dr:
-How to partition internal SD to make it work with link2sd while there are some system/app files on internal SD alredy?
-How to browse "system memory" from PC via USB?
-Why some apps don't install when there is still 200mb+ free space?