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?
Related
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.
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.
Click to expand...
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....:/
Click to expand...
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
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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
I'm not by any meaning a technology, software, programming expert, please forgive my beginner language.
I have the LG P769 20h
I have rooted my phone
I have partitioned my SD card
I have installed Link2SD and App2SD
I receive an error message when I try to move apps to my SD card using Link2SD "App2SD is not supported by your device. Because your device has primary external storage which is emulated from the internal storage. You can link the app in order to move its files to your SD card"
I have successfully "linked" apps to my SD card but that hasn't created any additional storage space. I still can't download apps due to insufficient storage.
Please help!! I'm reaching the end of my sanity in trying to figure this out! I'm about to just go buy a new phone, but this one isn't even a year old yet!
Also, please respond in layman's terms, since i'm not a guru in this arena.
THANK YOU!!!
ZanyAL711 said:
I'm not by any meaning a technology, software, programming expert, please forgive my beginner language.
I have the LG P769 20h
I have rooted my phone
I have partitioned my SD card
I have installed Link2SD and App2SD
I receive an error message when I try to move apps to my SD card using Link2SD "App2SD is not supported by your device. Because your device has primary external storage which is emulated from the internal storage. You can link the app in order to move its files to your SD card"
I have successfully "linked" apps to my SD card but that hasn't created any additional storage space. I still can't download apps due to insufficient storage.
Please help!! I'm reaching the end of my sanity in trying to figure this out! I'm about to just go buy a new phone, but this one isn't even a year old yet!
Also, please respond in layman's terms, since i'm not a guru in this arena.
THANK YOU!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi ZanyAL711
You've pretty much done the proper steps to try and get apps to work. The reason that it's not working is that the phone, android version (not supported after 4.0+), most of the downloaded user apps and device system apps, just really doesn't support this feature.
The L9 has only 4gb total memory, which most of that is used by the "/system" partition and leaves a very limited user usable internal memory on the "/data" partition of something only like 1.6gb to 1.8gb of user stirage. Which barely leaves any room for the user to store user apps and or data on the device.
To kind of break it down to you in simple terms...
As i mention above, in android there are 2 main partitions on the devices internal memory:
The "/system" partition - This is where the OS, system apps, etc... are stored. No user data is stored on this partition.
The "/data" partition - This is where all of the user data is stored on the device.
Inside the "/data"partition you have -
"/data/apps"
"/data/data"
"/data/apps" Is where Downloaded user apps are stored and intalled to.
"/data/data" This is where the user "System settings", things that you have changed on the device (ringtones, wallpaper etc) are stored.
Also there are a several other minor partitions on the device but these really have no use to the topic at hand.
Both of these main partitions "/system" and "/data" are on the internal nand flash memory or eMMC (Embedded MultiMedia Card)
The whole data partition is used for user apps and system data only. Which leaves no where for music, movies, photos, documents etc. to be stored on the device.
This is where the external SD card comes into play and allows you to store music, movies, docs etc. off of the devices internal memory. The problem here is that, eben though the L9 has an external/removable SD card, it also has a small internal nand flash memory and it doesn't allow for much user data to be stored in the device and is causing the problem that you have, which is really the phone's lack of internal memory.
So there's not very many more options for you to try other than maybe the following.
You could try the method where you edit the build prop and run a script that allows you to add the feature to move apps to the SD card in "settings/apps/" menu
This can allow you to move some apps to the SD card. Again thought it's not a solution to the problem, but might help.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2372172
Another option and probably the best one... Would be to install kuma82's stock modified ROM/backup. It's not custom ROM... It's slightly modified stock ROM and has extra apps, features and it's themed. Looks great too, way better than the complete stock ROM look. It also has an internal/external memory swapt script. You can read about it in the 2nd post of the ROM thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2468880
It's a simple process, doesn't require the bootloader to be unlocked and kuma has directions for what you need and how to install it, in the 2nd post.
I personally have kuma's ROM running on my wife's L9 and no way would I go back to 100% stock ROM after running his.
Anyway hope this helps!
I own a Nokia 6, never rooted, 8.1.0 with the latest security patch installed (1 August 2018).
I have 32 GB internal shared storage and 64 GB microSD card installed. Be it a good or bad idea, I have formatted the card as internal storage, and migrated data to it using options available in Android settings, no third party shenanigans.
When I look at apps' details, those that have the option to choose storage signify that they are on sdcard.
Now, to the problem: I approached about half of used space on the sdcard, that's a bit over 32 GB, and I'm closing in on about half on the internal shared storage, that's about 13.4 GB used at the moment.
However, even though it would look like I have lots of unused space left, the phone started to act as if I don't have any. But... Not always. Let me elaborate.
I can't make a picture or record video, all I get is: "there was a problem with saving your photo or video."
I can't download files using a browser. It instantly fails.
I can't install apps from Google Play Store like "Google" and many others, however, I can install some other apps, seemingly at random (but if it fails, of keeps failing).
I can - because I just did - download security patches from settings/system updates....
From the above I speculate without any specific Android knowledge that:
- the internal shared storage isn't a single partition spanning the whole of built-in memory but rather is partitioned into multiple... Well, parts, therefore:
- there's probably a /system, /data and /user partition (forgive the layman guesswork on the names). There's probably also a /swap like in *nix? Then again, I guess not because that would probably slowly kill internal storage flash memory...
Anyway, from the above I gather that the simplistic reporting on how much internal storage I used doesn't let me know that I might have ran out of space on one of those discrete partitions.
That might explain why some apps I can install (they can be installed in external storage, so they do) and some I can't (they need to be on internal storage for whatever reason).
I have tried looking at the app info to maybe move apps to SD card but any and all I check either don't have the option or they already are on SD.
I tried deleting files and removing apps with various results:
- some files I just can't remove, even though they don't appear to be in use (still, maybe they have handles open, I don't know how to check for that apart of forcing suspected apps close)
- some apps (HERE Maps) left a considerable amount of junk in Android/data after themselves, and none of my file managers seem to be able to delete these files.
- some files and apps deleted just fine and the used space indicator did reflect that, however...
I still can't save a photo or video, or download a file, and apps still either install or not, just like before.
That got me thinking that there may be a problem with file/directory permissions for some bizarre reason.
I'm stumped. I'm on the go, visiting Milan tomorrow and I won't be able to take a single photo. Not that Nokia 6 has a great camera, but it's there and I can't use it when I need it.
Halp?
A little bump
So, am I truly sentenced to factory reset?
Hidden Android dialer codes don't work at all... I think I'm out of options here.
Update: So I did end up doing the factory reset. Afterward, my phone started to work fine, with the exception of the microSD card that always showed up in the notification area as needing of attention. I tried formatting it as portable, and it would supposedly work if you went by the final "success" message, but it wouldn't change anything, and it would still not show up in file manager. The notification about it needing to be set up would still be there, no matter how many times I tried.
So I took the card out and connected it to a PC - tried formatting it, deleting and recreating all partitions, wiping it out, all supposedly would work in partition managers, but after the things were all done, it wouldn't reflect on the actual card.
Seems like it was dying already.... Fortunately, I had a 32GB card to spare, got it into the phone. Worked on the first try.
So that's all folks, my 64GB microSD card died on me, and that's the reason of all the anguish above. Now you know.