Hello all .
I have a Android Phone that has very low Internal Storage. (After STOCK mod restore, there is only 100 MB internal storage free .).
So, naturally I want to put all the apps that I install now to External SD Card.
I've tried App2SD and Link2SD already.
But, when i used App2SD, the internal storage was still dropping as I installed more and more apps. (App2SD was working, meaning app2sd did move the apps to SD, but still there was decrease in free Internal Memory).
Then, I tried Link2SD. This gave me the same result as App2SD. This was better than App2SD though, meaning the decrease in Internal Memory was slower compared to App2SD.
Now, here's my question : I want a proper technique to move EVERYTHING app related to SD card when i install an app.
Here is an Idea :
Can i create links to Directories in Internal Memory and move the Directories to external SD card ?
i know i can create links to files. but is it possible to link whole directories ? (If the app tries to create new files or directories, the link must work in such a way that new files and directories are created in External SD....... this must be invincible or transparent to the App..)
Some more of my Ideas :
Recently, I came across this : [TOOL] DirectoryBind - move data to external_sd (GameLoft, Shadowgun etc.) ROOT req. - xda-developers
Can I Bind the whole "/data/app" and "/data/data" and "/data/dalvik-cache" to External SD Card ?
Will it cause any OS instability ? or any other problems ?
And i have 1 more question :
When i install a new Application, I wanna know all the directories that it uses.
These i know : /data/app (for apk), /data/data (for data) and /data/dalvik-cache (for odex) ... Where else does the application use storage space ?
This i wanna know coz, im going to try to Bind the Directories using the tool i mentioned above. Or try to create Links...
Thanks a lot fellow XDA-Developers.... :highfive:.
If its of any help, my android device is "Karbonn A5i" .
Bump
.:Death_Angel:. said:
Bump
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Int2Ext sript is what you're looking for You will have to partition your sdcard. First partition Fat(32), second partition Ext2/3/4. The scripts are meant to flash immediately after flashing the rom via cwm as other recoveries are not doing well with the scripts.
Int2Ext scripts move all app data to the Ext partition on your sdcard
Int2Ext+ scripts will move most of the data to Ext partition but will still use some of the internal storage as its faster this way.
Keep in mind that moving all data to sdcard will slow down your device
Thanks a lot LS.xD for your reply. I hit a few bumps along the road, but its working like charm now .
Here are the problems that I faced :
1) I didn't have Init.d Support in my Phone.
Solution : Universal Init.d - Android Apps on Google Play
This Doesn't work at all : [GUIDE][XSP]Easy init.d support for Stock ROMs - xda-developers
2) The Int2Ext script installation resulted in an Error (in ClockworkMod) (Status 0 Error.).
Solution : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=29421274&postcount=66
After getting past those things, everything is working just fine now (I'm using INT2EXT) .
Again, Thanks a lot LS.xD for you help.
Related
I installed the magnificent Cronos 0.0.9 ROM (Android 2.3 Gingerbread) in my HTC Hero, following dkelley's instructions on the Developer forum for that device. It works brilliantly, speed is superb, and it looks like battery life is going to be better than the Cyanogen 6.1 it replaced.
Everything works for me : Camera, compass, GPS (sort of), auto brightness.
But there is one unusual problem. I cannot find any other forum threads that refer to this. When I use menu->Settings->Applications->Manage Applications, I can move apps to or from the SD card. Except it doesn't work most of the time. I get this message: "Failed to move application. There is not enough storage left"
I have 24MB free on the phone and 2.4GB free on the SD card. So it should not have a problem when I try to move anything (all but 2 of my apps are under 7MB). I have seen a case of being successful with an app of 730K moving to SD. But when I remove that, and try again with a 410K app, it fails. 90% of apps I have tried have failed.
I was very successful with this in my previous ROM, so I know it's not read errors on the SD.
I did forget to delete the old apps dot directory on the SD card before the upgrade. I don't know if that can cause a problem.
As I am too shiny and new, I can't post on the developer forum. A good rule, if it keeps the noise level slightly lower.
So I thought I would post here & see if anyone knows of general fixes for app 2 SD problems of this kind. Maybe it's just that the ROM is too Beta & it's to be expected. That's what happens out at the ragged edge
If u don't have an ext partition on your sdcard then I'm afraid it won't work on Cronos GB 0.0.9 Beta because the apps moved to External are moved on the fat partition and they Force Close all the time anyway on this rom. Now ... app2sd works verry weird on this rom. If u have an ext partition on your sdcard and if u want your apps to be on that partition (and they wont FC on you) all you need to do is let them on Internal (move to phone) and not External (move to sdcard). The apps are installed/moved to the ext partition instead and not on the phone's actual memory (again... as I said weird but it works). If u want to be able to move the apps to sdcard .. I recomend you back-up your files from sdcard to your pc, go to recovery and make an ext partition and wipe it(just in case) and boot your phone and try installing your apps.I'm installing my apps automaticaly to the ext partition by choosing the Install Location to Internal from CM Extra->Application settings. Sorry I wrote alot and if I haven't made myself clear but I'm still at work (3rd shift) and I am tired.
Example: I have a 2gb sdcard... On it I have the ext partition of 240MB, the rest is the fat partition.If I leave my apps on Internal(move to phone), my Phone's Memory is 140/173MB and my ext partition 47.5/240MB .. If I move them to External(move to sd card), My Phone's Memory is 140/173 and my ext partition is about 230/240 MB because the apps are moved to the fat partition (with your errors) and they Force Close when launched on this rom.
You're right, I can see that in the release notes. I am surprised, it's a long time since I have used a ROM that supported ext partitions. Most of them seem to use the Google apps2SD method now.
Cyanogen has even stated that it is no longer officially supported by them.
So I guess it's just individual developers who still prefer the ext approach that still use it.
It's not too hard to do...
Thanks for the tip
You're welcome! Remember that your sdcard content will be deleted when you will partition your sdcard so make a backup if you need them. I find ext is better than normal because you can use the apps from your sdcard while you phone is connected to the computer (your PC mounts the fat partition and leaves the ext partition to be used as normal on the phone and I find that a good thing)
i often have this problem: There is an app2sd-gui DT script included in the rom... and this automatically places apps to the fat partition on the sd card ..
now, i always partition my sdcards with a second ext4 partition and prefer to use that one as an sd-ext directory and use linking to place my apps and all the stuff on my sd.
This allows me to use virtually unlimited storage and keep my internal memory completely free... (i also have a htc wildfire with CM7 and this setup; there i have about 70 apps installed. the internal memory has about 10 MB in use with some files i really wanted to have there so they always start fast like go keyboard, go contacts ex and my ringtones / alarm sounds. All other files are on my 16 gb sd card)
With a lot of the roms i've been trying i just can't get this working on my galaxy ace... especially the ICS roms i can't see my EXT4 partition as /SD-EXT for some reason, but often it gets mounted as /System/SD and thus link2sd cannot use my second partition.
Especially if app2sd is builtin as a system app this seems to be a problem. Has anyone ideas on how i could get this working again with these roms?
BoGy1980 said:
i often have this problem: There is an app2sd-gui DT script included in the rom... and this automatically places apps to the fat partition on the sd card ..
now, i always partition my sdcards with a second ext4 partition and prefer to use that one as an sd-ext directory and use linking to place my apps and all the stuff on my sd.
This allows me to use virtually unlimited storage and keep my internal memory completely free... (i also have a htc wildfire with CM7 and this setup; there i have about 70 apps installed. the internal memory has about 10 MB in use with some files i really wanted to have there so they always start fast like go keyboard, go contacts ex and my ringtones / alarm sounds. All other files are on my 16 gb sd card)
With a lot of the roms i've been trying i just can't get this working on my galaxy ace... especially the ICS roms i can't see my EXT4 partition as /SD-EXT for some reason, but often it gets mounted as /System/SD and thus link2sd cannot use my second partition.
Especially if app2sd is builtin as a system app this seems to be a problem. Has anyone ideas on how i could get this working again with these roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to edit the a2sd-script wich should be located in /etc/init.d/
But using "Link2sd" would be much easier. It is a well structured app and the usage is simple, because the first time (when you open the app) you have to choose your partition and the mountscript will be created automatically.
You can get Link2SD from this xda-thread or the play store
BoGy1980 said:
i often have this problem: There is an app2sd-gui DT script included in the rom... and this automatically places apps to the fat partition on the sd card ..
now, i always partition my sdcards with a second ext4 partition and prefer to use that one as an sd-ext directory and use linking to place my apps and all the stuff on my sd.
This allows me to use virtually unlimited storage and keep my internal memory completely free... (i also have a htc wildfire with CM7 and this setup; there i have about 70 apps installed. the internal memory has about 10 MB in use with some files i really wanted to have there so they always start fast like go keyboard, go contacts ex and my ringtones / alarm sounds. All other files are on my 16 gb sd card)
With a lot of the roms i've been trying i just can't get this working on my galaxy ace... especially the ICS roms i can't see my EXT4 partition as /SD-EXT for some reason, but often it gets mounted as /System/SD and thus link2sd cannot use my second partition.
Especially if app2sd is builtin as a system app this seems to be a problem. Has anyone ideas on how i could get this working again with these roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sd-ext is for CYANOGENMOd only...in stock based rom's u wont find a sd-ext..so s2e wont work.... but charmingly link2sd works....
now if it isn't working what shall u do???
-- if it says mount script not created,, partiotion is busy,,,, reflash the rom or i tried flashing another rom on wich link2sd worked and then reflashing the rom u want... install link2sd apk.. choose ext4 partition reboot.... (it works u can switch from cm7 to stock it wont be a problem)
- if ur sd-ext partition is of ext3 type,,, still choose ext4 on link2sd partition type screen
Fly-High said:
You have to edit the a2sd-script wich should be located in /etc/init.d/
But using "Link2sd" would be much easier. It is a well structured app and the usage is simple, because the first time (when you open the app) you have to choose your partition and the mountscript will be created automatically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always try to use links2sd; but if app2sd(gui) is installed it won't work.
I'd like to edit the init.d 'mount' script, but i don't know how to open thiis since it always says it cannot be found when i try to open it for editing or even for reading.
(i'm trying to open it with an app that has SU rights like Total Commander)
i have some experience with android and installing custom roms ; but i don't have real experience with editing files in a live OS.
Or should i edit the files in the APK before installing it? (isn't this going to break the APK's CRC-key rendering the file unusableN)
I already thank you guys for reading and sharing your knowledge...
I found it
I could edit the mountsd file in the original ZIP (which is not a crc'ed APK )
then reflash my device.
I removed everything in the mountsd file except this;
Code:
#!/system/bin/sh
#
# mount ext partition from sd card
(so this is what's left)
then i installed S2E & Link2SD, i let link2sd initialize it's scripts and pataboom; i got access again after the next reboot of my device ... finally i have a galaxy ace with unlimited space (or at least kinda limitless compared to the 120mb you get)
i was so used to the big space since it worked like a shine on my htc wildfire (like 60+ apps and only a few mb in use by some apps i really wanted on the internal memory so they start up fast anytime (no interference when other apps are running/starting).
I really love link2sd since it allows you to put apps on external memory and still use the widgets/services/.... while app2sd can't do that
thx again for your help guys! (although i did a lot of fo the job myself too
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'm a kind of a guy who wants atleast 250 apps on his phone which he actually had when he was on Kitkat (Link2SD linking did all the magic). After switching on to lollipop, the LP version of Link2SD is totally buggy and hardly works. Linked apps don't work, they force crash or show some other error. Link2SD is out of question and I think it's not getting any fixes because the dev says "v4 is is fully functional with LP" and v4.0.6 is already released but is still super duper buggy and it's working for no one, I'm not alone. I don't understand why does the dev still say it's "fully functional" when linked apps don't even work and neither do the mount scripts.
Anyways, link2sd is out of question now.
My query is, is there no way to "expand" the internal memory? I googled and found out some solutions like swapping internal and external memories (means internal would act as external and vice-versa, so if we have a 32GB card, system will see 32GB as internal and 2.1GB internal memory as external memory).
This appeared to be the best solution to all th problems of low internal memory and this is achieved by editing the /system/etc/vold.fstab file. But that file is not there at all on KK or LP! What the hell?! Why is Google "removing" "features" from the newer versions?!
Is there no way to swap?
nilanko said:
I'm a kind of a guy who wants atleast 250 apps on his phone which he actually had when he was on Kitkat (Link2SD linking did all the magic). After switching on to lollipop, the LP version of Link2SD is totally buggy and hardly works. Linked apps don't work, they force crash or show some other error. Link2SD is out of question and I think it's not getting any fixes because the dev says "v4 is is fully functional with LP" and v4.0.6 is already released but is still super duper buggy and it's working for no one, I'm not alone. I don't understand why does the dev still say it's "fully functional" when linked apps don't even work and neither do the mount scripts.
Anyways, link2sd is out of question now.
My query is, is there no way to "expand" the internal memory? I googled and found out some solutions like swapping internal and external memories (means internal would act as external and vice-versa, so if we have a 32GB card, system will see 32GB as internal and 2.1GB internal memory as external memory).
This appeared to be the best solution to all th problems of low internal memory and this is achieved by editing the /system/etc/vold.fstab file. But that file is not there at all on KK or LP! What the hell?! Why is Google "removing" "features" from the newer versions?!
Is there no way to swap?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
XinternalSD is the only solution for you dude. I can confirm that it is working. It works flawlessly on lollipop, no issues at all.
I already use that but but apks, dex, lib, cache all go to internal only during installation.
I realised that even if I swap the internal (/mnt/emulated/0) and external (/mnt/media_rw/sdcard1), there still a magical "data" partition formatted in ext4 where everything goes-- dex, apks, libs, caches. So, that internal 2.17GB on Moto E which is free is actually shared by both the /mnt/emulated/0 and /data/ which is something I don't understand.
Can anybody explain how does this work? If I check in ES File explorer, 972MB of internal is shown as used up. When I open it and select all folder and files and see the properties, it shows 3 MB used up. This is so confusing.
Isn't there no way other than LINK2SD which would currently work and allow me to successfully link or directly install stuff to the second ext4 partition or SD card or *any* similar workaround? :'(
Android is so stupid :'( Why such a devastating limitation? :'(
Link2sd really works on lollipop also. After creating mount script for the first time reboot the phone , there will be a link2sd mount warning in the notifications after sometime , double click on it and choose the quick reboot option instead of recreating mount script. After quick reboot from the link2sd all the linked Apps will appear. You have to do this every time your phone boots .
Hit thanks If this helped you !
rkmiks said:
Link2sd really works on lollipop also. After creating mount script for the first time reboot the phone , there will be a link2sd mount warning in the notifications after sometime , double click on it and choose the quick reboot option instead of recreating mount script. After quick reboot from the link2sd all the linked Apps will appear. You have to do this every time your phone boots .
Hit thanks If this helped you !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't always work. Those apps which have lib files don't work after linking. Even if we don't link the lib files, it still doesn't work because the lib files kinda "vanish" and show 0 bytes after linking. And the apps either FC or complain about missing lib files.
nilanko said:
I realised that even if I swap the internal (/mnt/emulated/0) and external (/mnt/media_rw/sdcard1), there still a magical "data" partition formatted in ext4 where everything goes-- dex, apks, libs, caches. So, that internal 2.17GB on Moto E which is free is actually shared by both the /mnt/emulated/0 and /data/ which is something I don't understand.
Android is so stupid :'( Why such a devastating limitation? :'(
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The internal 4GB is partitioned into /system, /data and internal sd.
/system is fixed and stores your ROM and system apps.
Back in the days /data/ used to be just like system. However now /data and internal sd are say dynamic. They grow as you install / copy stuff. This is much better than having fixed size partitions. This isn't a limitations instead consider it a flexibility.
All user apps are installed to /data by default which you cannot swap.
They don't seem to expand at all, for instance, /system/ which has a fixed size and once space is over, I can't copy anything to it!
nilanko said:
They don't seem to expand at all, for instance, /system/ which has a fixed size and once space is over, I can't copy anything to it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay. Once again. /system/ is fixed in size for security reasons. You are not supposed to copy anything to it.
Its /data/ and internal sd that are dynamic.
Hi everyone.
Recently i rooted my phone Xperia M4 Aqua E2303
I have Android 5.0 (26.1.A.3.92)
My Sd card: SanDisk Extreme 16GB
I've created another partition on my microSD card (EXT4, Primary)
I installed and bought Link2Sd Plus.
Link2SD Version 4.0.12
Some apps doesn't work when moved by link2sd app. They don't want to open.
Should I still leave some files on internal memory to keep apps (for example Messenger/Snapchat/Instagram) available to open?
When i move an app to SD i check every checkbox.
-Link application file
-Link dalvik-cache file
-Link library files
-Link internal data(available after buying Plus which i've already got)
Should I maybe change format of partiton to EXT2?
have you tried not moving the internal data? there might be incompatibility across partitions when it comes to internal data
Same problem here,..
Some Linked apps (chrome,uc,etc..) not starting up.
Helppp
Yes, your androed is 5.0
You can use EXT2 or vfat (VFAT IS NOT FAT32)
After create the scripts, you will get Link2sd working like the old times, ODEXING the apps, and forget the name dalvik-cache forever.
You can odex your apps with universal odexes using apktool armel 4.1 found on xda searchthread.
Or here:
http://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=482809
Note:
Don't persist trying linking data,libs,and dalvik on androed 4.1+
This will crash after the first reboot after the linking.
dalvik is a death name.
After odex your linked apps, you need to link the new odexes in sdext2 mannually, in the same dir0 of the relative apps.
I use rootExplorer that is more efficient, or sManager that had batch linker.
Sent from Somefon