Hi to all.
I need some clarification about Android storage, please.
How many storage units Android OS have? Including a possible microSD external Card.
Internal Storage, internal memory?! Whats the difference and location in file system folders?
When an app is installed from market where does it go?
In application manager, in most apps there is an option "Move to SD card"...
If I have an external micro SD Card and choose this apps option "Move to SD card" where the heck is suppose to going the app or some part of it? (Data? Apk? Cache?) It's not in external microSD Card! So what is "Move to SD Card".
I'm confused here need some expert (but simple) explanations.
Thanks.
sammmurai said:
Hi to all.
I need some clarification about Android storage, please.
How many storage units Android OS have? Including a possible microSD external Card.
Internal Storage, internal memory?! Whats the difference and location in file system folders?
When an app is installed from market where does it go?
In application manager, in most apps there is an option "Move to SD card"...
If I have an external micro SD Card and choose this apps option "Move to SD card" where the heck is suppose to going the app or some part of it? (Data? Apk? Cache?) It's not in external microSD Card! So what is "Move to SD Card".
I'm confused here need some expert (but simple) explanations.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well in Android you have a couple of partitions. When you install apps from the market their apk files are most commonly found in /data/app/ folder. Their data goes to /data/data/ .You also have the /system/partition where core system files are found along with the system apps. You also have a /cache/ partition and /dalvik-cache one I think. As for moving to SD it moves most of the data and cache I think.
Sent from my LG-P350 using xda premium
Commonly, android phones have 3 storage places:
-internal system space (/system)
-internal user space (/data)
-external space (/sdcard and /mnt/asec)
Apps have 4 parts:
-application file (.apk)
-libraries (.so)
-dalvik-cache (.dex)
-data (gane saves, data bases, xml files, text, etc, that the app stores as additional data)
dalvik-cache and data of apps always remain on internal user space (/data).
The application file and libraries are stored on the memory the app is installed to (if moved to sd card, the are stored in the android secure sd partition /mnt/asec)
When dealing with system apps:
-in deodexed systems, application files go to internal system space system/app. dalvik-cache, libraries and data to internal user space (/data).
-in odexed systems, application files and dalvik-cache go to internal system space /system/app. Libraries and data to internal user space (/data).
Thanks for the replies now its more clear.
When you referer external space /sdcard and /mnt/asec are these in the device or in external micro sd card?
Where do micro sdcard enters here?
Thanks
sammmurai said:
Thanks for the replies now its more clear.
When you referer external space /sdcard and /mnt/asec are these in the device or in external micro sd card?
Where do micro sdcard enters here?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Micro SD card is located in /mnt/sdcard/
Sent from my LG-P350 using xda premium
Related
Hi, is it possible to increase the size of the partition where the apps are located? in other devices like my iPad I can use the total amount of disk space for apps but in my Galaxy SII if I want to have lot of apps I have a small 2gb partition. Do you know a solution? I need more space for apps...
Thanks!
Are you talking about the internal or external (SD card) disk?
I think the internal disk space is fixed to a custom partition, but if you're using App2SD or any similar script with a partition inside the SD card, you can repartition that partition to fix your needs without problem with any partition editor (like GParted).
I'm talking about the internal memory of the SII ... In other gadgets like Apple we have the entire disk space to install applications if we like.
Do you know a method to increase the space of the app partition? I think that is not a great solution to depend of an SD card, we have a lot of memory on the phone. I don't know why samsung have limited to 2GB the data partition, I think is too small...
Any idea about resize the partitions of internal memory?
ferrnando said:
Any idea about resize the partitions of internal memory?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know if its possible atm...
What do you have installed that you need +2Gb for apps? Have you considered moving some apps to SD?
/data partition has 2Gb
/sdcard has 8Gb
Both partitions are from the internal memory so moving any app from /data to /sdcard won't affect your speed, since both are internal memory...
PS: Despite the name, /sdcard is internal and /sdcard/external_sd is the external SD Card mounted on the phone.
Hi! AzureusPT thanks for your help... The problem is when I try to move to Sd card a message appears saying that I have to insert an SD Card... so I think that is not possible to move applications to /sdcard internal memory.
Do you know another method?
ferrnando said:
Hi! AzureusPT thanks for your help... The problem is when I try to move to Sd card a message appears saying that I have to insert an SD Card... so I think that is not possible to move applications to /sdcard internal memory.
Do you know another method?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sd card means micro sd card.. the /sdcard is the internal sd card w/c you can store data internally.. external sd card is your memory card.. the way android works is (or sgs2) has 3 partitions, 500+ for rom, 2gb for applications and tge rest for storage.. for games like gameloft which has huge amount of data, the installer itself is in thr 2gb partition while its data is stored in the 11gb + partition.. so no need to worry about running out of space
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Hi all!
I have recently brought an 16GB External SD card for my SGSII, to store my Titanium Backups. I found the external_sd folder in the internal sd card, and thought that it was the External SD card, so i placed all my backups there. But just recently it seems like i have run out of space on the phone, so i can't update some of my apps. I started deleting a lot of photos and videos from my phone and cleared 2.5GB, but i still can't update some of my apps. I began looking through my folders, and noticed that i also have an External SD card partition on my phone. The same one i see when the phone is connected to the pc. In it i can see a Clockwork Recovery folder containing my ROM backups. So i began wondering if the external_sd folder is actually located on the phone and not in the External SD card. Can anyone confirm this?
Also, when i open the Storage (i think that's what it's called) section in the settings on CM10, and noticed that i have 2 Internal Storage sections, one of them has only App data, and the other has photos, apps, music etc. and a SD Card section, with 6.64GB storage left. Does anyone know why is there is 2 Internal Storage sections?
Thank you in advance!
/gammarik
As far as I know the "external_sd" is your removable external SD card. For some inexplicable reason it mounts as a sub-directory from the internal SD card, but it is definitely your removable external SD card.
I have a feeling that Jellybean brings a change and the external SD card mounts in a different way to ICS. I had only a brief experience of this when I played with the leaked ROM but I have reverted to ICS because of battery drain problems.
Your internal memory is partitioned with about 500MB for the system ROM, and 2GB reserved for app installations. Once this fills to around 85-90% you'll begin hitting problems with insufficient storage space errors. If you move apps to SD then this will make use of the data partition of your internal memory (about 12GB available to user on a 16GB device).
I'm running JB (Rootbox 3.2). I set the target path as /extSdCard/Titanium Backup in Preferences for it to work.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
Mr Anderson said:
As far as I know the "external_sd" is your removable external SD card. For some inexplicable reason it mounts as a sub-directory from the internal SD card, but it is definitely your removable external SD card.
I have a feeling that Jellybean brings a change and the external SD card mounts in a different way to ICS. I had only a brief experience of this when I played with the leaked ROM but I have reverted to ICS because of battery drain problems.
Your internal memory is partitioned with about 500MB for the system ROM, and 2GB reserved for app installations. Once this fills to around 85-90% you'll begin hitting problems with insufficient storage space errors. If you move apps to SD then this will make use of the data partition of your internal memory (about 12GB available to user on a 16GB device).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So i should move my apps from the App reserved partition to the main storage partition? Or the external SD card? And how do i do that? Sorry for noob questions, i am not too much into how Android works
I don't think you can move apps to external SD card.
Go to settings -> applications and you'll see your apps listed with information about their size. Select one, and you should see a button "Move to SD card". If this is greyed out then the app doesn't support operation from the SD card, but for many you can press the button and it will move the app for you.
The interface in settings isn't the best - I use ZDBox which is a free utility tool available from the Play Store with several useful functions, including an improved "App to SD" UI which makes it easier to see what is going on.
Be careful with widget apps and others that interact with OS functionality as these often don't play happy if moved to SD card.
in your internal memory there is a folder call externel_sd ok leave it coz you still in your internal memory and go search your external sd card memory it named extSdCard or emmc
Also, when i open the Storage (i think that's what it's called) section in the settings on CM10, and noticed that i have 2 Internal Storage sections, one of them has only App data, and the other has photos, apps, music etc. and a SD Card section, with 6.64GB storage left. Does anyone know why is there is 2 Internal Storage sections?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1st internal is /data, 2nd internal is /storage/sdcard0 (your internal 11GB memory).
Hello
I have a galaxy s2 and i wonder what is the difference between internal storage and internal SD card.
In the internal storage i see only apps are installed
and in the internal SD card i have only music photos and others.
it already happened to me that i tried to download an app from the google play and i did not have enough space
is there a way to move my apps from Internal storage to Internal SD card?
(i do not have an external sd card) and if you dont understand what i mean i can upload a screenshot.
thank you
Hello,
Yes, internal storage (or system storage in my phone) is where all the apps are installed.
And internal SD card (known better as internal storage) is where photos, videos etc etc are stored.
This is the only thing i know..
About the moving of apps, i recommend you go to settings -> applications and to the app you want to move and check if you actually can move it. (yes, there's an option to move that app to Sd card) My gues it wont since you need an external storage (or known as SD CARD) if you want to move apps.
If you can't install apps from google play, there are mostly two explanations:
1. Actually insufficient storage. To prevent this, free up memory from system storage by deleting apps/games etc.
2. .odex file causes the erroe. To prevent this, (you need to be rooted) goto /data/app in file manager and find <The app you want to install from google play>.odex
Eg. for second alternative.
If you want to install Swiftkey but get an error. Goto /data/app and delete swiftkey.odex
Internal storage, different names
orr77746 said:
Hello
I have a galaxy s2 and i wonder what is the difference between internal storage and internal SD card.
In the internal storage i see only apps are installed
and in the internal SD card i have only music photos and others.
it already happened to me that i tried to download an app from the google play and i did not have enough space
is there a way to move my apps from Internal storage to Internal SD card?
(i do not have an external sd card) and if you dont understand what i mean i can upload a screenshot.
thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There the same thing. You can verify by checking the size of the two & the contents to see if they show the same thing.
It would be helpful to know what version of Android your running since this affects how things are displayed.
To find that information open press the menu or home button (bottom left),
Settings
at the very bottom is "About Device"
Look for Android Version
Within most versions of Android (I have 4.1.2 in front of me) what is called "sdcard" or "internal storage" or "internal sdcard" is actually a partition of the device's total internal storage. Unless you are flashing ROMs or running root, you won't see these other paritions.
The internal storage or sdcard is also called sdcard0 or /storage/sdcard0 depending on your version of Android.
The physical sdcard (external storage) is sometimes called /emmc or /extSdCard In later versions you can also get to it as /storage/sdcard1
Hope that helps
Ed
i am running android 4.0.4
and i understand that i cant move apps to there..
i will just buy an external SD card
you helped me alot
Thanks everybody!!
So, under settings -> storage, I'm seeing the external SD card as it should but the internal memory is only 2.35GB. Isn't it supposed to be near to 13GB? I am not getting any low storage space or anything, just setting my available space.
Maybe the space is there with another name, how do I check the available internal space? DiskInfo is showing the similar thing.
lamborg said:
So, under settings -> storage, I'm seeing the external SD card as it should but the internal memory is only 2.35GB. Isn't it supposed to be near to 13GB? I am not getting any low storage space or anything, just setting my available space.
Maybe the space is there with another name, how do I check the available internal space? DiskInfo is showing the similar thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are three storage areas in the stock Rezound...
Apps - about 2.3GB
Phone Storage - about 13GB
These are part of the internal 16GB of storage in the phone itself, and is shared with the operating system, cache partitions, app partitions, and regular storage. They are segmented and cannot be joined and actually seen as one drive.
External Storage - about 15GB (sd card dependant)
each one is it's own partition, you cannot access the "App" area without root access. the Phone Storage is the "HTC STORAGE" drive that opens when you connect to the PC, the unnamed volume is the external SD card.
acejavelin said:
There are three storage areas in the stock Rezound...
Apps - about 2.3GB
Phone Storage - about 13GB
These are part of the internal 16GB of storage in the phone itself, and is shared with the operating system, cache partitions, app partitions, and regular storage. They are segmented and cannot be joined and actually seen as one drive.
External Storage - about 15GB (sd card dependant)
each one is it's own partition, you cannot access the "App" area without root access. the Phone Storage is the "HTC STORAGE" drive that opens when you connect to the PC, the unnamed volume is the external SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, is there any easy way to see how much actual free space do I have left?
lamborg said:
So, is there any easy way to see how much actual free space do I have left?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Settings - Storage shows free space on all 3 volumes.
Sent from my HTC Aria using xda app-developers app
acejavelin said:
Settings - Storage shows free space on all 3 volumes.
Sent from my HTC Aria using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can only see
Total space - 2.3, then sub-sections like downloads, cached etc
SD card - (external card space), same sub-sections
Unmount SD
Erase SD
Does your settings like any different?
lamborg said:
I can only see
Total space - 2.3, then sub-sections like downloads, cached etc
SD card - (external card space), same sub-sections
Unmount SD
Erase SD
Does your settings like any different?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes... This is stock, rooted. Are you running a custom ROM?
acejavelin said:
Yes... This is stock, rooted. Are you running a custom ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I am running a custom ROM. That could be the reason for the different screen.
There is an issue sometimes with the newer ROMs where the internal or external memory is not seen in the ROM but is when connected by USB... You usually just need to format the partition in FAT32 either via CWM/TWRP/Amon Ra or Windows.
Can you browse to it with ES File Explorer or other file manager?
acejavelin said:
There is an issue sometimes with the newer ROMs where the internal or external memory is not seen in the ROM but is when connected by USB... You usually just need to format the partition in FAT32 either via CWM/TWRP/Amon Ra or Windows.
Can you browse to it with ES File Explorer or other file manager?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you be willing to list out the process for properly formatting the internal storage? I've tried several things, the most recent of which was mounting through recovery and formatting with Windows. However, the internal storage still can't be accessed by the camera, in ES File Explorer, etc. Thanks for any help you can provide.
millerslxk said:
Would you be willing to list out the process for properly formatting the internal storage? I've tried several things, the most recent of which was mounting through recovery and formatting with Windows. However, the internal storage still can't be accessed by the camera, in ES File Explorer, etc. Thanks for any help you can provide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In TWRP, you would go to wipe - advanced wipe - then select only internal SD option.
Sent from my Infected Rezound using xda app-developers app
I am using the solid exp and here's this folder "Internal memory" at SystemRoot, Now, this internal memory is actually my memory card. At the systemroot, there's another folder named "Storage". This folder has these 3 sub-folders - Internal memory (same as the previous one), sdcard1 (empty with free space 376MB) and usbdisk0 (empty with 376MB).
BTW, using the Xenon HD ROM and as far as I can remember, TRON had the same folders and all.
My phone with Android O has an unfortunate partition table atm - large internal storage, small internal "sd" storage.
To my surprise, many apps insist to put their data on the sd parition like offline maps or email storage. So atm, half my internal storage is empty, and my sd is full :-\
All tools I have found move data/apps from the internal storage to the (external) sd card (apps2sd, link2sd, appmgr), and anything I have tried (Directory Bind, Folder Mount) aren't successful move-linking the "Android" folder on the sd to the internal storage. Moving and symlinking with the shell doesn't work either.
Question: Is there any app/way to make apps use the internal storage instread of the internal sd card (if they offer no config option)? Thanks!
.. Answering my own question:
After another day of fooling around I discovered that apps2sd "Folder Mount" tool can be mis-used to link external to internal with the "bind" option, even though it insists with a warning screen that this very thing shouldn't be done