How I have completey fixed 'Insufficient storage availble'. error - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello,
Last months I faced the problem with 'insufficient storage available' message which came out all the time on my phone (CAT B15).
The reason is simple — system updates are installed to the '/data' partition which has only 1 GB and they take around half of available space. I googled and found a lot of ridiculous solutions like 'install app X and it will magically solve all your problems including this', 'put all apps to the SD and you will save additional 40M' etc.
These advices sounded like a meaningless loss of time and I decided to fix the real problem which is lack of space in '/data'. 1 GB is ridiculously low limit for modern device with a lot of apps and updates for Android components.
I have documented the procedure in detail in my blog: vrepin.org/vr/Android-InsufficientSpace/
I would be happy if my post can help to other Android users.
The questions which are still open for me:
- Cyanogen support for CAT? No hope? It was hard to find rooted firmware for CAT phone. I would prefer to simply install cyanogen
- Changing mounting device for '/data'. I have solved this problem by bootup script which remounts it to the proper device (see step 7) but it does not look very straight-forward. Prefer to change system configs but was not able to find the place to change. It looks like '/fstab' is generated on the device start somehow.

Related

[Q] Reaching out for help on CM7 market issue

Well as I'm sure most of you know we released CM7 alpha for the NT on Sunday and it was very warmly received, even after a major bug was found it was still downloaded almost 2000 times by the time I eventually removed the files form download server yesterday (links were removed form thread at about 1200 downloads lol). The feedback is still extremely encouraging and people are itching for the next release.
We’ve been working hard on fixing everything so that the next version we release has a lot less bugs, we’ve fixed the main bug of formatting the xloader and we've fixed a handful over other things causing issue too.
The issues we are having now which we are struggling with are usb sync for media as well as sdcard to a computer (in another thread) and a more important one of market not being able to install larger games / programs if there is an sdcard in. For instance one that I use for testing is Zombie bash, if you have an sdcard in it just won't install.. We've looked up the error online and all the errors point towards deleting a certain file but the problem is that we don't actually have that file so it would appear we have a different issue!
So the time has come for Goncezilla and I to reach out and ask for help, somebody out there probably knows or can debug and find out what the issue is. We're stumped and we don't want to release the next version until that’s fixed!
So please, if anybody can help, drop me a Pm or say something on here and lets get CM7 next alpha version sorted and released !
Is there any way to get an error log of this issue? I am using an app called LogThis and nothing is shown in Logcat.
Probably totally unrelated but on the stock ROM I grabbed a couple of Amazon Freebies the weighed in over 50Meg's each. I wasn't even really interested in them so I carried on about my business and a couple of days later noticed that they never installed. After digging around the "error" was that I DIDN'T have an SD card installed. This struck me as weird because the 1GB user and 12GB B&N partitions should have certainly been enough.
Either way once I popped in an SD card the downloads automatically started and off I went.
Like I said .... probably useless information but I figured I would throw it out there.
arclite00 said:
Is there any way to get an error log of this issue? I am using an app called LogThis and nothing is shown in Logcat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point, HERE is the logcat.
Mainly it would appear the errors showing are
E/Vold ( 1168): Error opening devmapper (No such file or directory)
E/Vold ( 1168): ASEC device mapping failed (No such file or directory)
and then a few lines on
E/PackageHelper( 2146): Failed to create secure container smdl2tmp1
E/DefContainer( 2146): Failed to create container smdl2tmp1
any help to anybody ?
I'm not too versed in the world of Android development, however this might be useful. LINK 1 LINK 2
Perhaps the permissions to the folders referenced in these articles are incorrect...
scsione889 said:
I'm not too versed in the world of Android development, however this might be useful. LINK 1 LINK 2
Perhaps the permissions to the folders referenced in these articles are incorrect...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for trying, that's one of the articles we found but unfortunately we couldn’t get anywhere with it
From the log it appears as though it is unable to create the smdl2tmp1 temp file. So wouldn't it make sense that it would either be permissions of the folder it's going in, or an issue with whatever is trying to create that temp file?
Have we tried not pre-packaging gapps with the ROM to see if that helps?
Quick question, is there a specific file size where the install fails\hangs? Ex installs are okay up to 9 meg files, but anything over, and it fails?
I want to try and download something and replicate the issue.
Disregard...
I had no problem installing Google Earth and other large apps (over 8MB) today, but cannot install Zombie Dash (only 4 and some change) moments ago. Not sure what relavence the size of the app might be having with the install issue...
Sent from my BNTV250 using xda premium
I found that the "/mnt/sdcard/.android_secure" folder has 000 permissions. The other folder mentioned in the links I posted (/mnt/secure/asec) has 075 permissions.
I compared this to my phone with fully functional market and found "/mnt/sdcard/.android_secure" has 000 permissions. The asec folder has 175 permissions. Perhaps the execute permissions is the problem? I am unable to change permissions in root explorer to test. I get the "some file systems (e.g. SD card) do not allow permission changes" message.
You considered posting on the Android development section? They may have some more info or guidance with this.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
I'm not thinking it's permissions I think we've messed up and something isn't tuned on in kernel like driver mapper or asec.
Just been unable to find it. Although I'm speaking to somebody now and I think he may have hit on the cure
Okay...
"Size of container 7 MB 5392635 bytes"
I am assuming based on that, that the app is 7 meg?
D/Vold ( 1168): DEVPATH='/devices/virtual/block/loop0'
D/Vold ( 1168): DEVTYPE='disk'
D/Vold ( 1168): MAJOR='7'
D/Vold ( 1168): MINOR='0'
E/PackageHelper( 2146): Failed to create secure container smdl2tmp1
Okay, sp if you eject the SD card, the download works and installs. So that means when you go to download the app, it creates a temp file (same as when you download a file in windows via your web browser), and then once the download completes, the temp file is removed and you have an apk which is automagically installed via android app handler or whatever. IF the SD card is inserted, it tries to create the file on the SD card instead of internal memory. So the issues lies with the SD card itself possibly(?). Have you tried running checkdisk or some disk checking tool on your card? I have had issues in the past where my sd card got corrupted (once after running the partitioning tool in cwm) and I couldn't install large market apps. I ran checkdisk and found errors (i cant remember the exact msgs), but I repartitioned the card and all was well. It is possible with all the partitioning etc you have done to your cards, they have gotten a bit screwy, have you tried swapping out the SD card for a different one?
I just installed gun bros which is a 12meg app, with my sd inserted and mounted, with no issues...I tried to view it in logcat as soon as I hit download, but I didn't see anything pertaining to the market download and install =(
I already re-partitioned my card and went out and bought a new card to try. It's not that.
CWS - Glad to hear you're making some potential progress.
Well, I've done my best to collect info on the error, so based on what others have found, this seems to be what I've learned so far, including the obvious.
-The error we're seeing is "Couldn't install on USB storage or SD card."
-This error seems to have been most often encountered by people using Android 2.2 (Froyo) and derivatives because that version was related to reading a temporary file called "smdl2tmp1.asec." The user workaround in 2.2 was to browse your SD card using ES File Explorer (so that you can see .folders, which are normally hidden), finding the file in either:
/sdcard/.android_secure/smdl2tmp1.asec
OR:
/mnt/secure/asec/smdl2tmp1.asec
and deleting it.
-This apparently has been fixed in 2.3 (Gingerbread). Because Cyanogenmod 7 uses 2.3.4 as a base, it's odd that we're still having this problem then.
So in my exploration of this stuff, here's what I found:
/sdcard/.android_secure has ZERO FILES in it. Ditto for /mnt/secure/asec. On my HTC Hero, both contain plenty of files with .asec extensions. I have no idea what these files are for, but I'm getting the impression that the reason why these .asec files are not appearing has to do with how the current ROM is treating the SD card.
Also, the error doesn't seem to have anything to do with install size. I've tried to install Minecraft Pocket Edition before, it's only 1.57 MB but it will get the error regardless.
Keep in mind that I'm not a programmer, but this is all I've been able to gather.
---------- Post added at 05:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:49 AM ----------
[/COLOR]
Mike_IronFist said:
Well, I've done my best to collect info on the error, so based on what others have found, this seems to be what we know so far, including the obvious:
-The error we're seeing is "Couldn't install on USB storage or SD card."
-This error seems to have been most often encountered by people using Android 2.2 (Froyo) and derivatives because that version was related to reading a temporary file called "smdl2tmp1.asec." The user workaround in 2.2 was to browse your SD card using ES File Explorer (so that you can see .folders, which are normally hidden), finding the file in either:
/sdcard/.android_secure/smdl2tmp1.asec
OR:
/mnt/secure/asec/smdl2tmp1.asec
and deleting it.
-This apparently has been fixed in 2.3 (Gingerbread). Because Cyanogenmod 7 uses 2.3.4 as a base, it's odd that we're still having this problem then.
So in my exploration of this stuff, here's what I found:
/sdcard/.android_secure has ZERO FILES in it. Ditto for /mnt/secure/asec. On my HTC Hero, both contain plenty of files with .asec extensions. I have no idea what these files are for, but I'm getting the impression that the reason why these .asec files are not appearing has to do with how the current ROM is treating the SD card.
Also, the error doesn't seem to have anything to do with install size. I've tried to install Minecraft Pocket Edition before, it's only 1.57 MB but it will get the error regardless. Of course, ejecting my SD card or unmounting it temporarily allows me to install the app, but that doesn't fix the bug, does it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You think some apps check for those .asec files, and since they don't find them, it fails some kind of authentication and bombs out the installation?
Actually, I just checked my shift, and those folders are all blank as well. Hopefully whomever Celtic is talking to knows what's up.
stealthfx said:
You think some apps check for those .asec files, and since they don't find them, it fails some kind of authentication and bombs out the installation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, essentially like that. Further down that rabbit hole is what Celtic mentioned:
CelticWebSolutions said:
I think we've messed up and something isn't tuned on in kernel like driver mapper or asec.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apps don't seem to be creating .asec files anywhere, and it seems like some apps need .asec files to validate certain information. It seems to have less to do with the size of the app and more with whether or not the app needs to check an .asec file to install or function.
Mike_IronFist said:
Yeah, essentially like that. Further down that rabbit hole is what Celtic mentioned:
Apps don't seem to be creating .asec files anywhere, and it seems like some apps need .asec files to validate certain information. It seems to have less to do with the size of the app and more with whether or not the app needs to check an .asec file to install or function.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/dev/block/vold/179:17 /mnt/sdcard vfat rw,dirsync,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1015,fmask=0702,dmask=0702,allow_utime=0020,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro 0 0
sould be
/dev/block/vold/179:10 (< Check on that) /mnt/sdcard vfat rw,dirsync,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1015,fmask=0002,dmask=0702,allow_utime=0020,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro 0 0
also im looking into the fact that /device/virtual/block/loop0 does not exist.
stealthfx said:
Quick question, is there a specific file size where the install fails\hangs? Ex installs are okay up to 9 meg files, but anything over, and it fails?
I want to try and download something and replicate the issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the filesize problem is a red herring. It looks to be apps that have "'android:installLocation="preferExternal" in their apk manifest file.
Obviously this is probably used on larger apps more often so it looks like it is tied to the filesize. I have some small apps that give the same error.
Checkout http ://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/install-location.html for more info.
This doesn't necessarily help with the original problem but it might help limit the scope of troubleshooting.

[Q] How to test flash memory?

Hello,
How to test internal nonvolatile storage (filesystem space) accessible to running apps for being successfully writable and readable afterwards? And have some numerical results, not having to guess what is going on from behavioural events. I mean some already available app or some console command. I do not mean writing code myself.
This post is related to my other question posted here, but I decided to to separate this one for clarity.
I consider this not trivial (maybe in error) because it appears to me, that Android filesystem must be RAM cached and written back to NVram only when needed (which may in light use without power cycling not happen for months), and simple read and write to file does not reflect NVram state: in the moment of writing and reading back it occurs almost certainly to and from volatile RAM.

[Q] Encryption support in CM 10.x

I'm trying to encrypt the storage on my HTC One, but when I kick off the encryption task it just sits at the Android "gear-droid" (what I call the funny Android encryption logo, the one with the gear) until I manually restart the device. Encryption never takes place.
Running logcat on the device shows the infamous error:
"Orig filesystem overlaps crypto footer region. Cannot encrypt in place."
Searches on CM's issue tracker shows this open issue which discusses the problem at length, basically for this type of device the problem is almost certainly a misconfiguration of the fstab files. Essentially, they're set to use the last 16kb of the data partition to store the key in, but the partition isn't setup to reserve this space.
(XDA won't let me post the link, so go to CM's JIRA and look for bug CYAN-87)
A change was pushed to the Evita branch to fix this, but I haven't found a similar push occurring on the HTC One branch.
(XDA won't let me post the link, so go to CM's review board and look for change 48090)
I've been trying to run some of the commands referred to in the JIRA thread from recovery, but the file system presented to ADB there looks a lot different than the one at run-time, and it can't find any of the tools needed to do the job (vdc, make FS, etc).
Two questions:
1) Can this be fixed after ROM install? I'd rather not have to rebuild the ROM to fix this minor issue (reformatting is fine though)
2) Where are all the file system tools during recovery? I don't quite get why the recovery file system is so different than the normal run-time one, let alone where all the tools disappeared to
And if someone with the proper accounts / permissions could remind CM and the various device maintainers about the broken encryption support that would be swell. It seems like a lot of devices have mis-configurations preventing encryption from functioning, which is dangerous given how much access these devices have today (and how prevalent cell phone losses / thefts are).

Partitioning SD card in u8150

I partitioned my SD card in huawei u8150 everything for me is ok but when I look in cyanogenmod settings then application the check box in the expanded internal expanded storage is not clickable please help
ROM: CYANOGENMOD 7.2 STABLE
Sent from my U8150 using xda app-developers app
Don't know the specific device but when running into similar issues I usually do the following
1 back up everything
2 back those backups up somewhere other than the SD
3 reformat the SD with the device you intend to use it for
4 check if re-partitioning is needed
4a if not then; skip to 5
4b if so then; re-partition and go to 5
5 check that things seem ok, try moving an app to SD, try reading/writing/deleting a few junk files
6 if all is ok then move backed up data back to SD card and chock it up to the oddness of electronics, if all is not ok then perhaps your ROM or kernel or device has something sooooo check for bug reports on the sites that you get those from and or check the lists of features.
Currently I run cm 7 on my HTC device and have a multi-partition set up on the SD card, no issues other than Android only seeing the first one in the list.
Sent from either my SPH-D700 or myTouch3Gs
Debian Kit/QEMU Linux Install guide for all android devices that I'm writing:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2240397
Now have working Installers for ARM Java 7 JDK + Maptools + jMonkey
S0AndS0 said:
Don't know the specific device but when running into similar issues I usually do the following
1 back up everything
2 back those backups up somewhere other than the SD
3 reformat the SD with the device you intend to use it for
4 check if re-partitioning is needed
4a if not then; skip to 5
4b if so then; re-partition and go to 5
5 check that things seem ok, try moving an app to SD, try reading/writing/deleting a few junk files
6 if all is ok then move backed up data back to SD card and chock it up to the oddness of electronics, if all is not ok then perhaps your ROM or kernel or device has something sooooo check for bug reports on the sites that you get those from and or check the lists of features.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can move applications but the sd card partition does not increase my internal memory which is 163 mb by the way thanks bro for your help in advance
bonsoljoshua said:
I can move applications but the sd card partition does not increase my internal memory which is 163 mb by the way thanks bro for your help in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mean that if i can move the full application in that partitioned aprt of the sd card that would increase my memory
I've written a few guides here and there, if you search hard enough you'll find one about
Folders plug
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1502893
that I wrote once about that app... I think so anyways if not then here is a quickey to save time for all readers that stumble across this work around
1. Get some warnings out of the way
~ this app is in beta (currently)
~ requires root
~ use at your own risk
~ don't use on system apps (like your phone or contacts)
~ don't use on apps that you rely on (anti theft apps for example)
~ I'm not the dev of the app just a supporter
~ make a backup (nandroid style) then back all that up and what ever you value on you sdcard somewhere else
~ I've done some hard testing with this app and put two devices into boot loops / simi-bricked states. So know how to recover from this and be careful.
~ I have yet to fully brick any device ever, even with this app, so it might be safe when used properly.
2. Provided the warnings don't bother you, then download and install the above app
3. Open the app and be presented with a few options
~ under menu + Preferences = Mount on boot
~~ I would not use this until playing with the other options first and seeing how your device responds
~ under menu + Edit = a screen that will say something like "no mount points selected"
~~ this is where the magic happens, move to step 4
4. Under 'menu + Edit'
4a~ now press menu and then "Insert"
~ this is where things may be confusing
4b~ For source folder you may want to make a new folder on your sdcard with an app like root browser (hint this app comes bundeled with ROM Toolbox; another fantastic app) I put mine under '/sdcard/Adev/Internal_Spoof/' and then make a new folder path per app from there
4c~ For Target folder things get a bit complex; you've got to find the folder on the device's internal folder structure (root browser for the win on this again) that contains the apps data.
... be back to edit the rest in in a sec, just posting to ensure you know I'm still here
5. Before finalizing any links you should probably back up the app data somewhere else too. For example '/sdcard/Adev/Internal_Spoof/backups/'
6. So you've got a good target for both now there are more options.
6a~ you can press accept and then press and hold on the connection you've just made and then select mount
6b~ or after setting a bunch up the main screen with the red plug icon can be pressed like a button to activate all the ones in the list that have a green check box next to it at once.
7. Once you've tested this... for example I used;
~ for Source I used '/sdcard/Adev/Internal_Spoof/download
~ for Target I used '/data/download'
And kinda get what's going on here and know where you app data is saved (hint I think mine is under '/data/data' but yours maybe different) it's time to make it useful for your quest for more space to install apps (among other things too maybe?)
7b~ so if an app like Pandora is under 'data/data/com.pandora' and you map it like so--
~ source '/sdcard/Adev/Internal_Spoof/Pandora'
~ target 'data/data/com.pandora'
-- and back the data from '*/com.pandora' to '*/Internal_Spoof/Pandora' and then activate the link... then nothing will look different... except when you view the available space that its
8. Rinse and repeat for each app and don't forget to copy the data (otherwise it'll brake the app till you un-link and copy the data ) and remember not to do it to certain apps.
9. Once you've verified that it's all good and your apps run with ok levels of lag you can try testing the "mount on boot" option that I told you not to use yet. If it works after a reboot then opening and interacting with the affected apps, then rebooting again and interacting again and rebooting again, then it's time to do something dangerous...
10. Provided that your with me so far and things are good on your device its time to do the risky bit; deleting the data from 'data/data/com.pandora' and running it strait from sdcard and re-testing for broken apps with a reboot.
This will effectively open real system memory back up for other tasks but like I said use at your own risk.
final edit before seeing any feedback- this work around may seem a bit complex at first but once you've got a list of apps that work when short-cutted like this it can make a big difference in how much available space can be accessed, however, this may cause force closures on some apps, and may degrade the life of your sdcard. Furthermore in some usage scenarios I had better battery life but that's for another guide on another day
I'll be linking in a google doc version of this guide when I get it shairable and maybe link in screen shots or screen casts for better guidance. If I've really helped then consider hitting the thanks button and happy hacking and modding.
Sent from either my SPH-D700 or myTouch3Gs
Debian Kit/QEMU Linux Install guide for all android devices that I'm writing:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2240397
Now have working Installers for ARM Java 7 JDK + Maptools + jMonkey

[Q] help with repartitioning please?

hi,
In Veronicas repartitioning method: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1531120
she gets about 12gig storage. at the end of her video, she does show the new partitions via "mount USB storage"
I did find links to the official B&N flash sd card image method, but that only gives 5 and 8gig, so fancy trying Veronicas method instead.
however, I have a small question before I take the plunge and repartition my 16gig Nook (model BNTV250)
when I have done it, how do I access this 'mount USB storage' to see the changes?
no doubt this is a very simple thing to do, and I am showing my inexperience,
but, unlike some newbies, I always check every step before I actually do anything, yet am obviously missing something very simple indeed!
if it's any help, what I have done so far is:
1. as soon as I got it, I upgraded it to firmware 1.4.3, then spent ages reading all I could on here about rooting and repartitioning
(and what a wealth of information and internal/sdcard roms choices there are here!)
2. I then rooted and tried: pac_acclaim_22.0.1_29MAR2013_12_HD.zip which worked fine.
(I think this one did show the 'mount' thing in settings, but it was greyed out)
3. my current rom is: cm_acclaim_10.2_12NOV2013_HD.zip from:
http://iamafanof.wordpress.com/2013...id-4-3-for-nook-tablet-imgsdc-boot-09aug2013/
I picked this one as the page states: Mass Storage: 5) Mounts and Storage > mount USB storage but I cannot find this 'mount' in settings
so after all this meddling, (which I have thoroughly enjoyed)
my tablet now has Cyanoboot on it, CM acclaim Nov rom, and CM recovery 6.0.2.7CM (at one point it did have TWRP on it, but have no idea how I replaced it with CM)
by now you will have gathered that I have got myself in a bit of a spin, and any advice would be welcomed.
Kevin
up to 50 views and no replies is quite disappointing - was my request to stupid to answer?
this was never the case back in my smartphone days
but no matter
since posting earlier, I have reverted back to the 'pac' rom I mentioned above, as the Nov CM rom kept 'losing' the keyboard.
I was also getting ADB problems with it, - eg: seemingly offline and reporting an incorrect serial no. (the 'pac' rom is fine though on both counts)
attached are 2 pics, showing my storage - 1st internal rom of nearly 12 gig, 2nd of 1 gig, plus my Nook as in Windows
if I have got this right in my mind, I am assuming that when partitioned correctly with Veronica's method,
that these will effectively be reversed and I will finally have the setup I so long for?
so perhaps I should just take the plunge, and forget all that 'mount usb storage' malarkey that confuses me so?
again, any help would be very much appreciated, but if none is forthcoming ...
would anyone want to buy a cheap Tablet, as I'm not interested in it in it's current configuration.
Kevin
no need to respond now people .... it's all sorted
see: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2577135

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