Dunno if anyone else has picked up on this but it looks like google might have solved the problem of the G1's (and other phones) low ROM and newer android updates.
Question went something like this:
Q: "Why does the Nexus One have limited storage space for Applications?"
A: "We want to protect our apps and developers however we are working on encrypting apps and allowing them to be stored on the SD".
So basically we have A2SD (legit) coming up soon.
Which means 2.0,2.1,2.5,3.0 etc etc should fit fine on the G1 right?
um, not really
The storage limitation they're referring to deals with the 79 MB size of the /data partition on the Dream.
The android system, though, is installed at the /system partition, 70 MB big. Newer releases add new features, for example, in 1.6 the tts (text-to-speech) service was introduces. In higher capacity devices, there's a folder in /system called /tts (5.9 MB big) that holds the voice data for speech synthesis. On the Dream, however, though the feature is there, the voice data has to be downloaded from the market to be usable, and it's stored on your sdcard.
If future android releases can rely on external resources downloaded to sdcard (plugins, libraries, etc), then the life of the device can be extended, but space is running out and there's no way to add new features without removing others.
What they were talking about in the N1 conference was about the other partition, the /data partition, which stores your personal data, e-mails, mms, settings, and programs. I personally believe the sdcard should have initially been used for that purpose, giving more space to /system, and that way a wipe would require nothing but formatting your /sdcard, however, because of copyright protection of apps (which is useless against a root-user anyway) apps are kept internal, spaced robbed from /system, and sdcard used only for user's files.
What they're now trying to do is to (possibly) have apps now be moved to sdcard, but have those apps encrypted so that they can only be read from the particular system. That way the limit of apps you can install is as big as your sdcard.
I still think all phone ssd should be reserved for /system (and maybe a tiny bit 10 MB /data partition) and leave mms, e-mails, and other infos into xmls in the sdcard so that allows you to move from device to device and keep your data with you without having to re-customize.
jubeh said:
um, not really
The storage limitation they're referring to deals with the 79 MB size of the /data partition on the Dream.
The android system, though, is installed at the /system partition, 70 MB big. Newer releases add new features, for example, in 1.6 the tts (text-to-speech) service was introduces. In higher capacity devices, there's a folder in /system called /tts (5.9 MB big) that holds the voice data for speech synthesis. On the Dream, however, though the feature is there, the voice data has to be downloaded from the market to be usable, and it's stored on your sdcard.
If future android releases can rely on external resources downloaded to sdcard (plugins, libraries, etc), then the life of the device can be extended, but space is running out and there's no way to add new features without removing others.
What they were talking about in the N1 conference was about the other partition, the /data partition, which stores your personal data, e-mails, mms, settings, and programs. I personally believe the sdcard should have initially been used for that purpose, giving more space to /system, and that way a wipe would require nothing but formatting your /sdcard, however, because of copyright protection of apps (which is useless against a root-user anyway) apps are kept internal, spaced robbed from /system, and sdcard used only for user's files.
What they're now trying to do is to (possibly) have apps now be moved to sdcard, but have those apps encrypted so that they can only be read from the particular system. That way the limit of apps you can install is as big as your sdcard.
I still think all phone ssd should be reserved for /system (and maybe a tiny bit 10 MB /data partition) and leave mms, e-mails, and other infos into xmls in the sdcard so that allows you to move from device to device and keep your data with you without having to re-customize.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In theory your idea of using the sdcard for all userdata sounds great. However, what about the user who wants to have multiple sdcards for media storage beyond 16GB. Right now, I have like 4 8GB sdcards that just sit around collecting dust (full of tv shows formatted for my G1), because I run A2SD and can no longer swap cards.
The proper way is similar to how Symbian UIQ3 (not sure if other OS's used the same model) gives the ability to store on the removable storage. When you install an app it prompts you to install internally or to the media card. If you chose the external storage - that app is written to that card, where that app stores it's data is up to that app. This way, you have the ability to place lesser used apps, or larger apps, on your removable storage device. While maintaining the ability to swap cards and still have a functioning phone.
I for one, am not satisfied with 16GB of storage for my portable media appetite.
The only limitation is against OVER THE AIR UPDATES.
Dream has *TONS* of space.
Only 50% of the space that could be used for system images is actually used!
Actually LESS than 50% since the stock /system image isn't even full.
Whatever doesn't fit in /system can *VERY EASILY* be moved into /cache.
In building a newer system image, there is also no reason why ALL features must be included! Some features can simply be LEFT OUT.
Maps for example. Leave it out of the system image and force it to be installed from market.
Further compile-time optimizations can also be used to make the compiled image smaller than usual.
Related
Hi Guys
I am considering buying the nexus S and have a couple of questions that stem from what I've been reading in android related topics
1- Will the nexus S come with a software to sync Outlook contacts/calender/notes through a direct USB cable connection with the computer? are there any 3rd party software to do that if the nexus S does not ship with this software
2- I assume the 16 Gig will be divided as 1 gig for system and remaining as internal Card. I play games on my phone, and some have installation files as big as 500 or 700 MB, so will the 2.3 support installing apps on the internal card, or am I limited to the 1 gig of system space?
3- Is the Nexus S file system same or different from the Galaxy S file system (RFS)
4- Has anyone that tried the phone experienced any sort of lag after using the phone for sometime, installing a lot of apps, or after opening and closing a lot of applications
Thanks
1. No. Are there any? Probably. There are plugins you can use that syncs Outlook to your Google account then that'll sync to your Android.
2. The app limit itself is set to 50megs, if the game itself requires more, it will download to sd card automatically like that new game.
Other apps can install (if coded that way) to install onto "external", although it will still take up some internal space. Android 2.3 "apps2sd" is exactly the same as 2.2
3. Supposedly it's different so it's better, read the development forum I think people said it uses EXT4
4. All the reviews so far says no lags at all. It's the fastest and smoothest Android phone ever.
little addition to the storage space.
The Nexus S has .95GB for apps on the /data partition, this holds the apk and any other data the app stores on the /data partition.
The android market limits games to 50MB so anything bigger than that needs to download and store the rest of the game files on the SD card, most gameloft games do this.
The "SD Card" in the nexus s is a 13.3GB partition.
I have just bought an Archos 101 16gb and downloaded just a few small apps.
I got a "Low on Space" notification today....but i cant understand why. Under /settings/staorage in shows under "Internal Storage" total space 14.44GB and available space 14.15GB.
I dont have an SD card yet
On system storage it says Avaialable space 25.25MB
Can someone help me understand whats going on here. Whats the differnce between Internal Storage and System storage and where do apps get stored by default....
Many thanks
Hey Pete,
System Storage is storage for apps that you can't put on internal storage or and SD card. Now, in order for you to only have 25mb free, you must have put a lot of data on there as well. I have a whole boatload of apps on my system and still have 162mb free on system storage (most are not on the SD). If you were to think of system storage in computer terms, it would be like RAM memory.
Internal storage is the storage where you put your data. Think of this storage as your "hard drive."
The next storage is, of course, the SD card. This is another place to store your data.
Finally, there is external storage. This is for things like flash drives and external hard drives.
By default apps load to the system storage area. You can go into your system preferences and move some to SD once you get an SD...but seriously, something else is at work for you to only have 25mb free right now.
ExploreMN said:
Hey Pete,
System Storage is storage for apps that you can't put on internal storage or and SD card. Now, in order for you to only have 25mb free, you must have put a lot of data on there as well. I have a whole boatload of apps on my system and still have 162mb free on system storage (most are not on the SD). If you were to think of system storage in computer terms, it would be like RAM memory.
Internal storage is the storage where you put your data. Think of this storage as your "hard drive."
The next storage is, of course, the SD card. This is another place to store your data.
Finally, there is external storage. This is for things like flash drives and external hard drives.
By default apps load to the system storage area. You can go into your system preferences and move some to SD once you get an SD...but seriously, something else is at work for you to only have 25mb free right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you that. Really helpful. So on my internal storage or "Hard Drive" I just have two apps, Aldiko and World Newspapers, totally 9mb.....
I had a look under /manage applications/downloaded and their is the AppsLib icon with 120MB next to it. That cant be right surely. This is just the Archos AppsLib app..... The MArket app is only 2.89 MB. If I look at the Application Infor for AppsLib under storage it says Total 120MB, Application 1MB and Data 119MB. What is this 119MB???
Also how do I set up storage preferences and what should they be.
Many thanks
OK, sotday the problem has changed. The missing 119MB of System storage has re-appeared. It seems that the AppsLib app which had shown 119MB of data cleared itself before I could uninstall it. No Idea why it had created 119MB of data in the first place.
So, can someone explain this for me. Not sure Im upto spead with this whole storage regime yet :-(
under /settings/storage "System Storage" was showing 119MB available.
I then downloaded Angry Birds (1.87 MB) and Angry Birds Seasons (1.99MB). Then checking /settings/storage "System Storage" now shows 104MB.
Next checking /settings/applications/manage applications and then clicking the "On Internal Strorage" tab I see the two Angry Birds apps there on Internal Strorage.
So my question is how come my "System Storage" has gone down by 15MB when the two apps only add up to less than 4MB. But, as manage apps shows them on the internal storage i.e. my 16gb storage, why did my system storage available space change at all. I'm very confused........
Update. I just checed AppsLib under /settings/applications/manage applications and its showing under application infor "Stroage" Total 41.46MB, Appkication 1.0MB and Data 40.46 MB. Whats going on here. What is the 40.46MB of data made up of. Its eating my System Storage.....Why?
Pete917 said:
Update. I just checed AppsLib under /settings/applications/manage applications and its showing under application infor "Stroage" Total 41.46MB, Appkication 1.0MB and Data 40.46 MB. Whats going on here. What is the 40.46MB of data made up of. Its eating my System Storage.....Why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you installed Dolphin Browser HD or something similar?
In the options you can set cache to write into System Storage....
You should set the option to write cache into sdcard instead!!
Remember first to delete all caches...
I don't know if in the standard browser there is a similar option...
Honestly Pete, I have no idea what to tell you. I mean I'm not doing anything special and I have about 60 apps installed and still have 120mb of system storage, about 5gb of my 8gb internal storage and my 8gb SD card is maxed out with movies, music, documents, and some e-books I'm reading.
I have angry birds (not seasons...not feeling Christmas at the moment) and several other games as well.
I haven't done anything with the apps other than hit the "install" button. I know there are a lot I can move to SD, but since I don't need to I haven't.
The system memory does jump around though. As you use applications, load and unload, etc. Try using Archos's task manager to stop all apps, wait like 10 seconds (1 hippopotamus, 2 hippopotamus type 10 seconds...) , then check your storage. I bet that might be the issue. Hell, it almost has to be!
ExploreMN said:
Honestly Pete, I have no idea what to tell you. I mean I'm not doing anything special and I have about 60 apps installed and still have 120mb of system storage, about 5gb of my 8gb internal storage and my 8gb SD card is maxed out with movies, music, documents, and some e-books I'm reading.
I have angry birds (not seasons...not feeling Christmas at the moment) and several other games as well.
I haven't done anything with the apps other than hit the "install" button. I know there are a lot I can move to SD, but since I don't need to I haven't.
The system memory does jump around though. As you use applications, load and unload, etc. Try using Archos's task manager to stop all apps, wait like 10 seconds (1 hippopotamus, 2 hippopotamus type 10 seconds...) , then check your storage. I bet that might be the issue. Hell, it almost has to be!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thankyou. I think Im getting there. I noticed that in /settings/apps/manage apps the Archos AppsLib was showing 120MB. Weird I thought. So looking that the App Info for it said App 1MB data 119MB.
So I have uninstalled, re-booted and then sideloaded the latest build of AppsLib from Arcos. No App Info shows 1MB. Magically Angry Birds re-appeared too ...
This sounds like it has something to do with the problem and I now have to keep an eye on AppsLib to make sure it doesnt start eating System Storage Again.....
This seems very unusual to me. Maybe something is coded incorrectly by Archos in their latest release of AppsLib. Can others please tell me what amount of Data AppsLib has created on their devices? Thanks.
I havent got an external SD card yet, so I think that's going to be a must. Whats the biggest SD card that it can take? 32GB???
I should maybe also get Apps2SD. There seems a few versions out there. Who's the author of the one everyone here has loaded?
My appslib is 0.93mb of that, only .02mb is the data part.
ExploreMN said:
My appslib is 0.93mb of that, only .02mb is the data part.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Mine is curretly 1.05MB. The data part being 0,05MB. I'll keep an eye on it now I have re-installed to make sure it doesnt creep up again. What version are you running?
the most recent one.
Im still having problems in thw whole storage and could do with some help.
The System Storage is listed as 299.44mb available when I look in App2sd. It shows I have 86.29mb available.
Using App 2 SD it shows the list of immovable apps on the System Storage. When I add up their indivdiual file sizes it comes to 65.919mb.
So where is the other 147.23mb gone?
Is System Storage where the Android OS sits? If so would that account for 147mb?
Many thanks Guys.
Pete917 said:
Im still having problems in thw whole storage and could do with some help.
The System Storage is listed as 299.44mb available when I look in App2sd. It shows I have 86.29mb available.
Using App 2 SD it shows the list of immovable apps on the System Storage. When I add up their indivdiual file sizes it comes to 65.919mb.
So where is the other 147.23mb gone?
Is System Storage where the Android OS sits? If so would that account for 147mb?
Many thanks Guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the OS is on a different partition, specifically a mounted squashfs. There will always be more data on the /data partition(System Storage) than is listed in the Applications menu. Keep in mind all the System Apps (ones you didn't install) will still need to store databases, settings, etc. on the /data partition, because the OS partition is read only.
147mb seems like alot, but my Archos has about the same amount of storage available(~86mb), and I have about the same amount of installed apps(~65mb), so I guess it's right.
msticninja said:
No, the OS is on a different partition, specifically a mounted squashfs. There will always be more data on the /data partition(System Storage) than is listed in the Applications menu. Keep in mind all the System Apps (ones you didn't install) will still need to store databases, settings, etc. on the /data partition, because the OS partition is read only.
147mb seems like alot, but my Archos has about the same amount of storage available(~86mb), and I have about the same amount of installed apps(~65mb), so I guess it's right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for answering that. I thought i was going nuts loomlking fot the missing storage
Pete917 said:
Thank you for answering that. I thought i was going nuts loomlking fot the missing storage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem. I never really did the math, but it seems like an awful lot is used by non-download apps. I may have to do some crawling through the file system to see what's using so much.
msticninja said:
No problem. I never really did the math, but it seems like an awful lot is used by non-download apps. I may have to do some crawling through the file system to see what's using so much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you discover anything please let me know. 147mb seems a lot to have gone missing
I contacted Archos support and they gave this answer:
"Dear Customer,
The information given by the 3thd party software is not correct, we do not support 3thrd part software.
Kind Regards,
Archos Technical Support"
So they are not helpful at all. Given the amount of money we pay for these devices you'd think they wouldnt just dissmiss my request for support and perhaps try and help even a little bit....
Do you both think that an operatingsystem can run without any memoryneeds?
Android is build for small memory devices but it still needs some memory or all that ui, threading, file and other services.
It is a bare Linux which consumes around 100MB depending on the features you have installed/switched on.
I am trying to understand the folder structure on the TF.
I have a 16GB micros SD card and I want all data type files to be saved there e.g. photos, downloads, music etc.
There is a folder at the top level called /SDCARD and I had assumed that this was the MicroSD card and all this sort of data is being stored in sub folder from there.
I have now realised that the MicroSD card is actually accessed from /Removable/MicroSD and that the TF has not stored anything on it. I have just moved my music and video to there.
Can I move all the other SDCARD subfolders to /Removable/MicroSD and then delete the SDCARD folder?
I can't see the point of having a folder called SDCARD it is very misleading.
Thanks for any help.
This is your internal storage. I'm not sure why it is displayed this way, maybe that will become standard in Gingerbread?
You cannot 'delete' the SDCARD folder. It is a mount point for the remainder of your internal storage (16GB or 32GB)
As bizarre as it seems when compared to a phone, this actually makes more sense. My Droid X has 6.5GB of the 8GB internal memory put aside for the /data partition. Despite having the phone for a full year and having a ton of apps installed, /data still has 5GB free. That's 5GB of storage I do not have access to, so it's effectively wasted.
On the ASUS (and others HC tabs?) that space exists as a virtual device /dev/fuse and is mounted as /mnt/sdcard. A symbolic link exists /sdcard which points to the mount point. The net result is, you have the majority of free space on the internal memory available to you. If you didn't, there'd be no incentive to buy the 32GB version over the 16GB version.
It is called /sdcard to maintain the illusion within the OS. This space, like it or not, is your primary storage. It makes your actual sdcard more of a transient storage location, great for just music, movies, etc., that you do not necessarily want to keep on the device long term. This is a great advantage as you can keep multiple sdcards with different content and not worry about messing up the core OS storage needs.
Be aware that the OS and apps expect to find certain data in /sdcard and moving the folders to your 'external' card will only force these apps and processes to recreate the folders in /sdcard. Also some apps will have lost some of their data and may not operate as expected or will act as when they were first installed (games will redownload supporting data, for example)
Sent from my rooted ASUS Transformer running PRIME 1.4
jhanford said:
You cannot 'delete' the SDCARD folder. It is a mount point for the remainder of your internal storage (16GB or 32GB)
As bizarre as it seems when compared to a phone, this actually makes more sense. My Droid X has 6.5GB of the 8GB internal memory put aside for the /data partition. Despite having the phone for a full year and having a ton of apps installed, /data still has 5GB free. That's 5GB of storage I do not have access to, so it's effectively wasted.
On the ASUS (and others HC tabs?) that space exists as a virtual device /dev/fuse and is mounted as /mnt/sdcard. A symbolic link exists /sdcard which points to the mount point. The net result is, you have the majority of free space on the internal memory available to you. If you didn't, there'd be no incentive to buy the 32GB version over the 16GB version.
It is called /sdcard to maintain the illusion within the OS. This space, like it or not, is your primary storage. It makes your actual sdcard more of a transient storage location, great for just music, movies, etc., that you do not necessarily want to keep on the device long term. This is a great advantage as you can keep multiple sdcards with different content and not worry about messing up the core OS storage needs.
Be aware that the OS and apps expect to find certain data in /sdcard and moving the folders to your 'external' card will only force these apps and processes to recreate the folders in /sdcard. Also some apps will have lost some of their data and may not operate as expected or will act as when they were first installed (games will redownload supporting data, for example)
Sent from my rooted ASUS Transformer running PRIME 1.4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After reading your explanation, it makes better sense to me. I was a bit annoyed, but I see how this could work to my favor. Using just the actual SD cards for movies, music, ect.
Moving data - Video
Sorry, I find what is said here a little disconcerting.
Why have SD cards and USB devices attached (eg. USB Flash drives, hard drives) when the data flow only goes one way, "in", and not out.
If I want to edit a video, the files are too large to email.
I can't find a way to move the video to an external device.
All one can do, as far as I can tell, is to upload the unedited video to YouTube.
Once there initially one get an error message saying that the file type is not recognized. It is...eventually, but only after it's fully processed. This is really confusing to the user. You'd think Google would give Android users a processing message rather than something that makes you think there is no way to view and share your video other than your tablet.
I couldn't find a way to tag a video either.
The default seemed to be "entertainment."
The options for sharing video are much to limited.
The only site you can upload a video to is YouTube.
I'd love to be able to put it on another site (e.g. a personal/corporate website).
I sure wish there were a way of off-loading and storing a folder generated from the Tablet to an external device, especially one with external ports like the Transformer.
If anyone knows of an app to do two way data flows, I'd sure like to know about it because my SHDC card and USB Flash drives look so lonely with nothing to do.
[email protected] said:
Sorry, I find what is said here a little disconcerting.
Why have SD cards and USB devices attached (eg. USB Flash drives, hard drives) when the data flow only goes one way, "in", and not out.
If I want to edit a video, the files are too large to email.
I can't find a way to move the video to an external device.
All one can do, as far as I can tell, is to upload the unedited video to YouTube.
Once there initially one get an error message saying that the file type is not recognized. It is...eventually, but only after it's fully processed. This is really confusing to the user. You'd think Google would give Android users a processing message rather than something that makes you think there is no way to view and share your video other than your tablet.
I couldn't find a way to tag a video either.
The default seemed to be "entertainment."
The options for sharing video are much to limited.
The only site you can upload a video to is YouTube.
I'd love to be able to put it on another site (e.g. a personal/corporate website).
I sure wish there were a way of off-loading and storing a folder generated from the Tablet to an external device, especially one with external ports like the Transformer.
If anyone knows of an app to do two way data flows, I'd sure like to know about it because my SHDC card and USB Flash drives look so lonely with nothing to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is nothing stopping you from copy files from the internal storage to an external sdcard. From the built-in file manager you can select a folder using the check boxes to the left of it, and then click the Copy or Cut button at the top of the screen, then navigate up until you see "Removable". Tap that and then "MicroSD" and then you can tap "Paste" at the top of the screen to copy or move to the new location.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App
Drive letters or some kind of unique ID from the root would be favorable. I know it's meant to adapt to Android, but last time I checked, Honeycomb was a separat version of the OS. It's unfortunate that it has to fool both the user and itself to be effective.
moo99 said:
Drive letters or some kind of unique ID from the root would be favorable. I know it's meant to adapt to Android, but last time I checked, Honeycomb was a separat version of the OS. It's unfortunate that it has to fool both the user and itself to be effective.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It still maintains the overall Adroid/Linux filesystem structure, there are no lettered drives in *NIX.
I know that, bru. Calling it , I dont know, "Internal" instead of "SD Card" would make a little sense considering there are two separate ports for SD Cards on there. Writing an alias isnt that complicated
I was wondering if anybody could help answer a few questions about the Sprint S4 for me.
Currently I have an HTC Evo 3D, the internal storage is so small that I have made a 4gb ext3 partition on my SD card using Link2SD just to alleviate some of this annoyance. The 32GB counting the 4GB partition is actually almost full.
First of all, is there any word on a 32GB version? I saw some forum threads a while ago about Sprint supposedly not carring the 32+GB versions, but I saw no official word, if there has been one.
And also, how does the 16GB of internal work? The first time I saw a phone with large internal memory was the original Droid RAZR. And it basically partitioned off the majority of the space like a virtual SD card. Most to all apps on it saved to here instead of the actual SD card assuming it was an actual external storage. Does the S4 do this too, or is the entire 16GB (minus obviously what the system partitions take up) used as internal?
The reason I am asking is because I have many apps and games which download anywhere from 50MB to 3 gigs of additional data, and they almost never ask you where to download it, and just use the first "external" space they find, and many are hard-coded to only use that space. Like I said, my 32GB card on my Evo 3D is practically full, I do NOT not want those apps to install that data on the internal memory and fill it up, I want that space to keep the apps installed on, while photos, music, and video, as well as that app additional data, will be on the real SD card. I am planning to get a 64GB card for the S4.
Cyber Akuma said:
I was wondering if anybody could help answer a few questions about the Sprint S4 for me.
Currently I have an HTC Evo 3D, the internal storage is so small that I have made a 4gb ext3 partition on my SD card using Link2SD just to alleviate some of this annoyance. The 32GB counting the 4GB partition is actually almost full.
First of all, is there any word on a 32GB version? I saw some forum threads a while ago about Sprint supposedly not carring the 32+GB versions, but I saw no official word, if there has been one.
And also, how does the 16GB of internal work? The first time I saw a phone with large internal memory was the original Droid RAZR. And it basically partitioned off the majority of the space like a virtual SD card. Most to all apps on it saved to here instead of the actual SD card assuming it was an actual external storage. Does the S4 do this too, or is the entire 16GB (minus obviously what the system partitions take up) used as internal?
The reason I am asking is because I have many apps and games which download anywhere from 50MB to 3 gigs of additional data, and they almost never ask you where to download it, and just use the first "external" space they find, and many are hard-coded to only use that space. Like I said, my 32GB card on my Evo 3D is practically full, I do NOT not want those apps to install that data on the internal memory and fill it up, I want that space to keep the apps installed on, while photos, music, and video, as well as that app additional data, will be on the real SD card. I am planning to get a 64GB card for the S4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The way samsung does it is actually very anoying. First thing they do is cut off 8.5 gigs of storage, thats your "internal memory" for system stuff. That's untouchable. You then have 9gigs give or take left for apps and the like which is EMULATED external storage. This emulated bit confuses android and so your real external sd card is only usable for movies and music. The only way to put apps on it would be to root your phone and use folder mount (which for some reason isn't working for me yet). So to sum it up:
16gb +ext sd card (lets say 32 gb)
8ish gb- system internal
9ish gb-apps EMULATED external
32 gb- movies, music, books/media BUT NO APPS UNLESS YOU ROOT REAL external
AAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH!</CharlieBrown>
Wow, I can not possibly think of a worse way for Samsung to handle it. The low internal memory giving me problems installing and updating apps was a major reason for wanting to upgrade. With this, it means I actually have less space for apps than my current phone, since I can't actually install to SD and the apps that download hundreds of megs to gigs of additonal data will be downlioading it to the internal instead of external.
I... honestly have no idea which phone to get now.
I know the Sprint S4 is unlocked, is there any way to use rooted tools or a custom rom to just make the memory internal and make it mount a SD as an actual SD? I am worried that unofficial roms might be lacking in features or glitchy.
Cyber Akuma said:
AAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH!</CharlieBrown>
Wow, I can not possibly think of a worse way for Samsung to handle it. The low internal memory giving me problems installing and updating apps was a major reason for wanting to upgrade. With this, it means I actually have less space for apps than my current phone, since I can't actually install to SD and the apps that download hundreds of megs to gigs of additonal data will be downlioading it to the internal instead of external.
I... honestly have no idea which phone to get now.
I know the Sprint S4 is unlocked, is there any way to use rooted tools or a custom rom to just make the memory internal and make it mount a SD as an actual SD? I am worried that unofficial roms might be lacking in features or glitchy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well this is an issue with all honeycomb plus android phones. Google is trying to phase out the external sd card while increasing the internal memory. Well that's all good and fine EXCEPT that we are right in the middle of the phase out process where the sd cards are too small for that. 2-3 years from now googles plan will work, but samsung has to be on board for that to happen. For now the only thing you can do is use folder mount or wait for ext2intSD script. It will swap it so your external sdcard works as your internal and vice versa. However, we will have to wait for that to be released.
I don't get what phasing out the SD slot has to do with emulating the external SD storage when all apps can work on internal storage anyway.
What is folder-mount? And I tried link2sd on my evo 3d and its kinda problematic, I wanted to get AWAY from these problems by upgrading.
Cyber Akuma said:
I don't get what phasing out the SD slot has to do with emulating the external SD storage when all apps can work on internal storage anyway.
What is folder-mount? And I tried link2sd on my evo 3d and its kinda problematic, I wanted to get AWAY from these problems by upgrading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason why is that android its self, the code that google supplies, has to create partitions in order for it to work with only one internal sdcard so that the average user does not corrupt the system somehow. The emulated external storage is what google expects you to use so that you can't mess up. However, samsung just adds in an sdcard without changing anything which means its not set up correctly. This is a problem with all new sd card phones and finally think of folder mount as a better link2sd
But aren't the system partition and the internal storage partition separate partitions? I don't understand why the rest of the memory outside of the system partition needs to be an emulated external instead of just being an internal storage partition like on phones that do not have a large amount of internal memory.
Also, why do we have to link folders or use link2sd scripts and other such work-arounds? Can't we re-partition the internal memory with a custom recovery or through the bootloader?
not work brother
Sent from my ST18i using xda app-developers app
deadger said:
not work brother
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Click to collapse
.... what? I have no idea what that means.
So, can the phone be repartitioned if you have root access? And is only the Sprint version partitioned like this, or all of them?
This phone has no root and likely never will.
Is there anyway to move apps to the sdcard without formatting to internal (adopted storage)?
I don't want to do that because It encrypts the card and im fearful if the phone was ever damaged I'd never be able to pull the card and recover anything.
At the very least is there a way to shuffle off the OBB files to the sdcard without root?
Bonus question: is there a fix for this if root was possible?
Raztan said:
This phone has no root and likely never will.
Is there anyway to move apps to the sdcard without formatting to internal (adopted storage)?
I don't want to do that because It encrypts the card and im fearful if the phone was ever damaged I'd never be able to pull the card and recover anything.
At the very least is there a way to shuffle off the OBB files to the sdcard without root?
Bonus question: is there a fix for this if root was possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that I'm aware of. But you could do a hybrid sd card to put apps on the adopted partition, and keep your photos/music/other stuff on a standard unencrypted partition.
dandrumheller said:
Not that I'm aware of. But you could do a hybrid sd card to put apps on the adopted partition, and keep your photos/music/other stuff on a standard unencrypted partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Genius, That sounds like a workable solution.
So do I need to format the card in any special way or can I just repartition the card in half and android will see both partitions?
Raztan said:
Genius, That sounds like a workable solution.
So do I need to format the card in any special way or can I just repartition the card in half and android will see both partitions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's the guide I followed:
http://blog.sam.liddicott.com/2016/02/android-6-semi-adopted-storage.html?m=1
I got yelled at over on Reddit for suggesting this for to the potential for killing your SD card (as they're not 'designed' for this much read write action). That may be true. I've been running this way with no issues for over a year. YMMV.
dandrumheller said:
Here's the guide I followed:
http://blog.sam.liddicott.com/2016/02/android-6-semi-adopted-storage.html?m=1
I got yelled at over on Reddit for suggesting this for to the potential for killing your SD card (as they're not 'designed' for this much read write action). That may be true. I've been running this way with no issues for over a year. YMMV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been following a similar dual partition practice on a rooted Android 5.x device using symbolic links to migrate apps to the ext4 formatted partition while retaining a larger FAT32 partition for general use. I used the free version of Partition Wizard on Windows to format the SD card to my liking. To date no issues with card endurance.
I never considered this approach for adoptable storage until seeing your post! Very interested in trying this on on an unrooted Android 6 device that's getting a little snug on internal storage. I'll post outcomes if they differ from your findings.
Thanks again for sharing!
Confirm, Works on Verizon Moto E4
I tried to be clever about it and repartitioned with Gparted, Then aligned the fat under linux mint.
I popped the SDcard back in teh phone and it detected 2 SDcards.. great I thought.. I went into the smaller partition 48gb / 10gb
Hit internal memory format.. to my horror it took over the entire card..
I tried the guide and it worked fine, although you're sort of at it's mercy on how it formats.. it's a fairly simple procedure.
I am somewhat confused though after I did it before I moved anything to the card it says 5.5gb of space is being taken by "system" on the internal portion of the sdcard, It says total internal memory is 32gb but actually it should be more like 26gb (16 onboard + 10gb sdcard)
Im seriously confused on how to tell what files are stored on the sdcard and what's stored on the onboard memory.. it shows them separate under "storage" but ES explorer just shows the 48gb fat partition and the 10gb.. does not seem to be able to separate the internal and the sdcard, but it shows total space as 10gb so something really wrong there.
Maybe cause Im using a old version of ES before it went to hell.. 4.0.3 I think.
Im not sure now when I select sdcard if im getting the 48gb portion the SDCard or the 10gb "adopted storage" sdcard..
Very confusing.
EDIT: Ok I think I see what's going on.
The 10gb Im seeing is actual internal memory.. So it does not appear I can access the 10gb I set aside on the sdcard at all.. is that how it's suppose to work?
I installed a few large games, If I go into storage and click on the 10GB partition it says each game is saving about 50mb out of about 700mb /ea on the card.. whoa what a savings, I don't what that 50mb is but it sure ain't the huge ass obb file sitting in internal memory.
If I go into the app's data storage list it says it's storing to the adopted 10gb but obviously that's a lie since only a fraction is actually making it to the card...
if this is the best I can hope for out of adopted storage I'd be better off just going full portable.
Am I missing something?
Raztan said:
Confirm, Works on Verizon Moto E4
I tried to be clever about it and repartitioned with Gparted, Then aligned the fat under linux mint.
I popped the SDcard back in teh phone and it detected 2 SDcards.. great I thought.. I went into the smaller partition 48gb / 10gb
Hit internal memory format.. to my horror it took over the entire card..
I tried the guide and it worked fine, although you're sort of at it's mercy on how it formats.. it's a fairly simple procedure.
I am somewhat confused though after I did it before I moved anything to the card it says 5.5gb of space is being taken by "system" on the internal portion of the sdcard, It says total internal memory is 32gb but actually it should be more like 26gb (16 onboard + 10gb sdcard)
Im seriously confused on how to tell what files are stored on the sdcard and what's stored on the onboard memory.. it shows them separate under "storage" but ES explorer just shows the 48gb fat partition and the 10gb.. does not seem to be able to separate the internal and the sdcard, but it shows total space as 10gb so something really wrong there.
Maybe cause Im using a old version of ES before it went to hell.. 4.0.3 I think.
Im not sure now when I select sdcard if im getting the 48gb portion the SDCard or the 10gb "adopted storage" sdcard..
Very confusing.
EDIT: Ok I think I see what's going on.
The 10gb Im seeing is actual internal memory.. So it does not appear I can access the 10gb I set aside on the sdcard at all.. is that how it's suppose to work?
I installed a few large games, If I go into storage and click on the 10GB partition it says each game is saving about 50mb out of about 700mb /ea on the card.. whoa what a savings, I don't what that 50mb is but it sure ain't the huge ass obb file sitting in internal memory.
If I go into the app's data storage list it says it's storing to the adopted 10gb but obviously that's a lie since only a fraction is actually making it to the card...
if this is the best I can hope for out of adopted storage I'd be better off just going full portable.
Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what the method is for determining where a specific app lands when installed. Maybe up to the developer? But going into settings > storage shows me what's below. Drill down to the apps section, and you can manually choose what storage you want for each app.
This is my setup with a 128gb card with 32gb used as adopted storage.
Your's looks similar to mine.
Are you able to actually access the adopted storage partition... browse for files? see I can't.. I can see internal storage and the public portion of the sdcard..
The adopted storage is not accessible via file manager.
It does not look like it will switch over once internal is full either.. I filled up the internal memory and then tried to install a app and it is telling me im out of space.
If this is the the way adopted storage is suppose to work it's fairly useless imo.
Raztan said:
Your's looks similar to mine.
Are you able to actually access the adopted storage partition... browse for files? see I can't.. I can see internal storage and the public portion of the sdcard..
The adopted storage is not accessible via file manager.
It does not look like it will switch over once internal is full either.. I filled up the internal memory and then tried to install a app and it is telling me im out of space.
If this is the the way adopted storage is suppose to work it's fairly useless imo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not aware of any file manager that can see the adopted storage. Haven't filled up internal to know if it will "spill over".
Some apps cannot be moved to adopted. Some install there by default.
My use case is to dump my low use or less resource demanding apps to the adopted storage, freeing internal faster storage for high use apps.
It's certainly not an ideal solution, but it at least provides an option for reducing limited internal storage...
I gotcha, I can only seem to get about 50mb's to transfer over, dead trigger 2 and hitman sniper
the bulk of it (the OBB files) stick around on internal whether or not I tell it to "change" to the sdcard or not..
Oh well Im just gonna reformat to portable and just limit what I install.. Why does google do this crap to us.
I lived without root on some of my previous phones but from here on out if it don't have root I got no use for it
Raztan said:
I gotcha, I can only seem to get about 50mb's to transfer over, dead trigger 2 and hitman sniper
the bulk of it (the OBB files) stick around on internal whether or not I tell it to "change" to the sdcard or not..
Oh well Im just gonna reformat to portable and just limit what I install.. Why does google do this crap to us.
I lived without root on some of my previous phones but from here on out if it don't have root I got no use for it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NVM, forgot you said no root. My apologies
Raztan said:
I gotcha, I can only seem to get about 50mb's to transfer over, dead trigger 2 and hitman sniper
the bulk of it (the OBB files) stick around on internal whether or not I tell it to "change" to the sdcard or not..
Oh well Im just gonna reformat to portable and just limit what I install.. Why does google do this crap to us.
I lived without root on some of my previous phones but from here on out if it don't have root I got no use for it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I messed around with this for a bit. Was able to partition the card to my liking using the simple sm command outlined in this post (manual method). Much easier and more understandable than the previously linked approach IMO. Installed and moved a few things; everything worked as expected although the feedback from Google's storage panel is less than reassuring. They really want to make the process transparent and in doing so dilute the detail that enthusiasts appreciate.
Someone asked if you could see inside adopted storage with a standard file manager. Nope, as the contents are encrypted and Google does not provide an API TTBOMK.
There are random posts mentioning lost of home screen icons on reboots and other 'weirdness' when using adopted storage. I didn't experience any of that but also didn't spend much time testing.
In the end I stepped away and returned the entire SD card to portable storage as the benefit wasn't worth the potential hassles. That said, I could see this as a potential solution for those who are bumping up against the limits of internal storage AND need/want to reserve part of the SD card for general purpose storage.
Davey126 said:
I messed around with this for a bit. Was able to partition the card to my liking using the simple sm command outlined in this post (manual method). Much easier and more understandable than the previously linked approach IMO. Installed and moved a few things; everything worked as expected although the feedback from Google's storage panel is less than reassuring. They really want to make the process transparent and in doing so dilute the detail that enthusiasts appreciate.
Someone asked if you could see inside adopted storage with a standard file manager. Nope, as the contents are encrypted and Google does not provide an API TTBOMK.
There are random posts mentioning lost of home screen icons on reboots and other 'weirdness' when using adopted storage. I didn't experience any of that but also didn't spend much time testing.
In the end I stepped away and returned the entire SD card to portable storage as the benefit wasn't work the potential hassles. That said, I could see this as a potential solution for those who are bumping up against the limits of internal storage AND need/want to reserve part of the SD card for general purpose storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any icons on home screens for apps that are in adopted storage will vanish after reboot until the device has time to re read adopted storage. Size and speed of card, and amount of data there all impact this. Pretty sure widgets are unavailable to apps on adopted storage as well.
It pretty much works about the same as the old apps2sd / link2sd options that we had to use back in the days of tiny on device storage sizes.
dandrumheller said:
Any icons on home screens for apps that are in adopted storage will vanish after reboot until the device has time to re read adopted storage. Size and speed of card, and amount of data there all impact this. Pretty sure widgets are unavailable to apps on adopted storage as well.
It pretty much works about the same as the old apps2sd / link2sd options that we had to use back in the days of tiny on device storage sizes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have used symbolic linking (Apps2SD/Link2SD/etc) for sometime on rooted devices and never ran into such issues. I am also able to migrate apps and all associated data w/o limitation.
As you pointed out hardware/card speed and quantity of data likely are likely factors when using adopted storage. There is less setup and boot verification with symbolic linking; much of that takes place before the device is ready for user input. It's not a perfect solution as the mount scripts sometimes get borked and have to be rebuilt but supervisory apps detect/correct that with minimal intervention.
The biggest benefit of adoptable storage is it can be used on stock/unrooted devices. It's also relatively transparent for noobs. Beyond that it's more of a PiTA IMHO.
Davey126 said:
I have used symbolic linking (Apps2SD/Link2SD/etc) for sometime on rooted devices and never ran into such issues. I am also able to migrate apps and all associated data w/o limitation.
As you pointed out hardware/card speed and quantity of data likely are likely factors when using adopted storage. There is less setup and boot verification with symbolic linking; much of that takes place before the device is ready for user input. It's not a perfect solution as the mount scripts sometimes get borked and have to be rebuilt but supervisory apps detect/correct that with minimal intervention.
The biggest benefit of adoptable storage is it can be used on stock/unrooted devices. It's also relatively transparent for noobs. Beyond that it's more of a PiTA IMHO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's been a long time since I've played with symbolic linking. At the time it felt pretty cumbersome to me, relative to my current experience with adopted storage. Definitely less user control and fine tuning with adopted though. Also, as you mention, no root required.
Davey126 said:
Someone asked if you could see inside adopted storage with a standard file manager. Nope, as the contents are encrypted and Google does not provide an API TTBOMK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya that sucks, It wouldn't be so bad if it would just move the largest chunk of an app over which on games is the OBB file(s)
Im sure google thinks this is better than the old move to sdcard option but imo they took a big step back.
I read their reasoning is how "wild west" the sdcard access was.. ya well if they're so worried about security maybe crack down on the overly abusive permissions on apps.. you can control some access, but some permissions they just treat like it's no big deal.
I guess google knows best right? /sarcasm.
Davey126 said:
In the end I stepped away and returned the entire SD card to portable storage as the benefit wasn't work the potential hassles. That said, I could see this as a potential solution for those who are bumping up against the limits of internal storage AND need/want to reserve part of the SD card for general purpose storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya that's where Im at, Im just gonna be real selective about what I install, with only 16gb's about 5 of which is the system (that's crazy imo that android needs that much space) leaving only around 10-11gb of user space a few large games can really eat it up on top of cache, and other apps.
I think GTA SA for example takes like 2-3 gb (iirc, been a while)
madbat99 said:
NVM, forgot you said no root. My apologies
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not at all, Im also interested in root solutions it won't help me on this phone but it would be good to know what other options are out there..
Next phone has to have root.. no two ways about it.
Raztan said:
Ya that sucks, It wouldn't be so bad if it would just move the largest chunk of an app over which on games is the OBB file(s)
Im sure google thinks this is better than the old move to sdcard option but imo they took a big step back.
I read their reasoning is how "wild west" the sdcard access was.. ya well if they're so worried about security maybe crack down on the overly abusive permissions on apps.. you can control some access, but some permissions they just treat like it's no big deal.
I guess google knows best right? /sarcasm.
Ya that's where Im at, Im just gonna be real selective about what I install, with only 16gb's about 5 of which is the system (that's crazy imo that android needs that much space) leaving only around 10-11gb of user space a few large games can really eat it up on top of cache, and other apps.
I think GTA SA for example takes like 2-3 gb (iirc, been a while)
Not at all, Im also interested in root solutions it won't help me on this phone but it would be good to know what other options are out there..
Next phone has to have root.. no two ways about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was going to say the Xposed module obb on SD looks promising. But then I remembered that no root was mentioned.
https://labs.xda-developers.com/store/xposed/com.smartmadsoft.xposed.obbonsd
madbat99 said:
I was going to say the Xposed module obb on SD looks promising.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya exposed framework is one of my favorite things on a rooted device, although someone told me it's semi broken on a lot of newer devices?
Raztan said:
Ya exposed framework is one of my favorite things on a rooted device, although someone told me it's semi broken on a lot of newer devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works great on my moto e4 sprint (virgin mobile). And rovo89 just updated it for Oreo (beta of course), so it should be good. I'm using it with greenify, amplify, and gravitybox.
Raztan said:
Ya exposed framework is one of my favorite things on a rooted device, although someone told me it's semi broken on a lot of newer devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Outdated info; works fine on Marshmallow, Nougat and (very soon) Oreo.