Database Users

SD card primer, anyone?

Hello,
I just discovered I'm even more of a ignorant farmgirl than I thought... this time it's the MiniSD card I don't know anything about.
I mean: of course you plug it in and you browse to it to add/move/remove files... but it would seem that's not enough. So, can anyone point me to a SD-on-Wiz Faq, please?
A few things I'm looking into:
- How do you get the Wiz to automatically look among SD card-based files from an app? (i.e. "Open" from Word looks into the card first)
- How do you get the camera to save pictures directly onto the SD card, so as not to waste precious device-based memory?
- What are the actual differences between installing apps onto a SD card compared to the device memory? I noticed some apps seem to behave differently according to where they are placed.
- Is there any way to create a card-based auto-multi-installer to do all the dirty work of reinstalling apps automatically after a hard reset?
I'm sure I left out several other interesting and useful things...
Thanks in advance for your contributions!

there´s some reg tweaks you can do so the wizard will store stuff on the sd-card and not in main memorey (i. e. IE cache files, Camera pics, etc.)
just search the forum you´ll find some stuff there.
For the difference between SD-Card and main storage installation. i have no idea. haven´t noticed any change in my apps. maybe just in speed of loading apps. but that´s all i noticed.
for doing backup of your apps. a lot of programms you intall on your sd card don´t need to be reinstalled after a hard reset. just need to put the shortcuts and links back in the folders.
hope i could help.
greets Freez

Making the camera save pictures to the SD card can be done by changing the settings in the camera app under options.
There is no way to automatically have all apps look on the SD card first, every app needs a change in their settings or in the registry to accomplish that.
Installing apps on the SD card has pros and cons. The pros are of course that your storage space on the device (in the ROM) gets used up less, so you can install more apps on your device. It is however not necessary to leave it as empty as possible as it was in WM 2003 SE. In WM 2003 SE (on for instance the Magician) apps were installed in RAM and the more you installed on the device, the more RAM was used up and the less RAM there was available for running apps, resulting in a slow down of the device. Furthermore running out of battery power would result in the device turning off, emptying the RAM and lossing all data and installed apps. In WM5 this is different. Since ROM is used for storage and RAM for executing only, you can fill your ROM to the max without slowing down the device. Furthermore an empty battery will mean no data loss. Concluding, there is no necessity to install as much as possible to the SD card and leave your ROM space empty.
The cons of installing to your SD card are that some apps (e.g. today-plug-ins) don't like being installed on SD card. For today plug-ins this has to do with the start-up process of the Wizard. After turing the device on or waking it from sleep, the device will first load the apps and then initialize the SD card. The device will try to load the apps on the today screen (the plug-ins that is) that are stored on the SD before the SD slot is initialized and the apps cannot be found by the device, creating glitches and problems.
Another con for me is that I like to switch between my SD with TomTom navigation maps and my SD with my mp3/movie collection. If I install most apps to SD, this means that I will have to change my SD again if during a movie or MP3 I want to use one of these apps quickly.
However, if you use only one SD for installing and not much else, this problem does of course not exist.
If your storage in ROM is not full, there is no reason to install aps to SD.

Thak you for the info so far!
Koskie: paint me 'tard... I never even saw the camera Options menu until you mentioned it...

I am about to start getting some cards and here is what I was thinking...
1. a 512 or 128MB card for everyday use. Store IE cache, ringtones, pictures, and some programs (solitaire, puzzles, monopoly etc).
2. A series of 2GB cards for music, movies and TV content when I travel. I was planing on installing TCPMP on each one to avaoid putting that in my device memory.
As far as restoring after flashing or a hard reset, I currently keep a copy of all programs, ringtones, pim backups etc on my home computer. It is organized by file type, utils, games, rings etc. so when I flash I just go through again and reinstall one by one. I've found this is easier than figuring out where to download everything all over again.

@bubism: no problem, took me a while to figure it out too, that option is well-hidden!
@dcdivenut: Good plan. Those small size cards are really cheap. Why don't you install TCPMP on your device memory? It is not too big. Or have you crammed your mem so full that you have no more place for it.
I also have all apps I ever installed still on my desktop, including a list with all the reg edits I did and all apps I have currently installed with a short explanation for most apps and installation instructions when a standard install is not good enough (e.g. TomTom 5.21)
In case a hard reset is needed,I just grab the list and install all apps again, then do all the regedits. Still a lot of work, but quicker than having to search all apps and edits online. I recommend this approach to everyone.

Hey Koskie:
Can you post that list and what to do? I have a new 8125 and miniSD card and have no idea what to use the card for. I won't be putting music, pictures or videos on it since it is a work phone.
Ski

@ Skijackz: I use my SD card for music, TomTom 5.21 maps and video's only, all my apps are installed in main (=device) mem. I have approx. 16 MB free of Storage mem. If you have no use for your SD card and your storage mem is sufficient to store your apps, you can take it out and replace it with the plastic dummy that came with it. In that way your card slot is protected against dust and dirt, but the SD card will not use any power, thereby lengthening your uptime. If you use your device for navigation, you have to use the card to store the maps on it, since they are too big for your device mem.
The list I made is partly in Dutch, especially the notes, so it might not be very useful to you. Furthermore the list is a mess, since it works through my personal filing system (copy and paste wherever my cursor happens to rest). It is a mostly chronological list, I mostly added everything I found at the end. I'll attach it anyway, perhaps you'll find it useful. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them here or through PM.

Thanks a lot for the tip on storing pics to the storage card!!! That's a real find! ....and much appreciated!!
This place is the BEST :!: :!:

Thanks Koskie!! This is a real help.

more program memmory?

Hi all,
I would like to know if there is a way to free up more program memmory on the wizard. After a soft-reset I have about 22MB of program memmory free, this seems pretty low, it there a way to get it up to 30-32? I have read a lot on these forums, the most common options I have found where about increasing/decreasing the pagepool and flashing a new rom to the phone. Although i have read everything about these processes I am still a little apprehensive to try them, because I also read a lot of topics about people who bricked/almost bricked their phones, and I do not want to be one of them. So if any of you know of any way to get the program memmory up please share it with me, it will be much appreciated.
(note!..i'm not talking about storage memmory, so buying a bigger sd-card won't help me)
- I currently am running the newest t-mobile rom netherlands.

Here's some tips ...
Let's make one thing clear:
The amount of RAM you have free is a constant. With WM5, it automatically shifts an internal slider to adjust how much of that RAM is designated as "Storage" and how much is designated as for use by "Running Programs".
You might have a total of 35MB of RAM free, and WM5 might allocate ~20MB for running apps, and 15MB for storage.
Here is my opinion on how to free up more RAM:
1. Move applications to your MiniSD card. They take a little longer to load, but they will work. The exception are programs that are tightly integrated into the device. My rule of thumb: Will the phone boot up (with all the Today items working, skinning programs working, etc) without the MiniSD card plugged in?
2. Get a program to clear up memory. There is an app I occasionally use called Oxios Hibernate and CloseApps. Its free, and you can get it here.
3. Unlock your phone, and flash with a different ROM. I personally use Faria's AKU 3.3 ROM with the 8MB pool. My favorite feature is that the .NET 2.0 CF Framework is integrated into the ROM! This saves me ~8mb of RAM right there. I have flashed 2 MDA's as to date. During one, Windows XP blue-screened (hardware failure) when the flashing was at 48%. No worries. I booted the phone into bootstrap mode, and flashed the ROM successfully again.
4. Clean up your temporary internet files.
5. Uninstall apps from Main memory that you do not use. For example, when I had the T-Mobile ROM, I uninstalled all the Push Email junk, and other such apps because I didn't use them. I have found that Faria's ROMs are quite lean.
6. Store your personal apps on your MiniSD card. Configure Notes, Word, etc. to use your Storage Card to store documents.
7. I still store custom ring tones in Main Memory ... I have found that if stored on the MiniSD card, you have to wait for the SD Driver to load first before the ring tone becomes accessible to the OS. This will cause a delay in your phone ringing. (I know that this point can be argued ... since in WM5 you can set the OS to leave the driver always ON. I disabled that since it was causing significant battery drain.)
Good luck, and may your RAM be with you.

Thnx for the reply and the tips.
I have for the most part moved everything to the storage card, i have about 40 mb storage memmory free. I even skipped installing everything in the extendend rom and I now have about 25-26 MB program memmory free.
Flashing a new rom is a last resort for me. How much program memmory do you have available to you with the rom you are using? (the one with the 8mb pagepool)
Thnx for the info.

superrom has 45mb storage and 32.2mb ram
it's also THE fastest rom, but has less than others which are probably slower partly because there is so much in them
i highly recomend flashing another rom, follow these instructions exactly

How do I free up some main memory?

I have most programs installed on a card, and all 'my documents' on the card too, and yet my storage memory is down to 6.5mb and program memory is down to 15.5mb and the machine is a bit slow.
I've run SK Tools and cleared the internet caches, and this can get back a couple of mb, but not much memory is reclaimed.
A quick browse of the files does not show up anything obvious, or any large files which look like they can be deleted.
Does anyone know if there are any guides as to what files can be safely removed?
Also is it correct that even when files are installed on a card, then some files are still added to the main memory - and so the more programs installed the more main memory is taken up in any case?
I wonder how my memory has gone down, when I am very careful not to use it up?
I do have quite a few programs on the card though

Same problem
Hi, I also have the same issue. I save all my .cabs onto the storage card, yet when I use IE or TomTom I go to the memory and it slowly goes up until it maxes out at 62mb? Is TomTom or IE the issue here? I save nearly everything to my storage card and t makes no sense that it just gets used up so quickly. I have looked at programs like pocket mechanic and Memaid...Has anyone tried any of these programs and do they free up main storage memory... Is this a ROM issue...I use mUn TE. Thanks!

use Oxios Hibernate

I tend to use Tillanosoft Spacefinder to sort folders/files into size order, and see which are the biggest hogs.
Basic version is free, and the paid version adds very little, to not worth buying!
Some programs will put stuff into main memory- dll's, logs and settings etc. Usually the main culprit is Pocket IE Caches, but if you have cleared those, it ought to be OK.
TomTom, even when asked to install to a card, will place the application and voice files in main memory (= 5MB) but these can be manually copied back to the card, and the Programs link edited accordingly.
A large number of emails, calendar or contacts will also grab memory, especially if you store attachments. Don't delete the holding files though or you'll lose everything!
Wolfy: TomTom doesn't incrementally use memory, but IE does because of its cache. Go to PIE, MEnu/Options/Memory and Delete Files- see how much memory you get back! Memmaid and SK Tools do a good job in housekeeping these items.
If you add/remove a lot of applications, you may find your Application Data folder taking up a fair amount of memory- it holds dll's for safe removal of the apps, but some can be a few hundred KB. I've removed these in the past with no adverse effect, but maybe I've been lucky!

any other way to free up memory???

i need help with both the program and storage memory on the device itself...
first, the program memory, say i would have only one program open like right now I am on opera browser and it says about 1mb available. i would go to tasks and end it... then it would say about 3 mb available with no programs open.. i always notice that it has the most after a soft reset... any way to rectify that? i need help because it moves sooooo sluggish
2nd i need help freeing up storage memory on the device, i have tried everything i know of... deleting cookies , deleting every possible file that I put on it, including pics music sounds.. everything! even uninstalling some programs...(I usually install on storage card anyway)
every folder is virtally empty in regards to files that I put there myself...
the last thing for me to do is delete text messages but I have another post discussing why thats a problem
please help me with this, i feel its also causing the phone to move a little sluggish
any suggestions?

Ok, here's some advice, and some software. Both are free, and neither will take offense if ignored.
Load and run ClearTemp: http://mobile-sg.com/software/download.asp?dl=ClearTemp&platform=ppc
It will clear all of your temp files, cookies, etc.
Use a file explorer tool (the built-in one will do) to navigate to your Programs folder and remove all dead wood. Many programs leave behind configuration files and unpacked libraries when uninstalled. This goes double for anything that is customizable. You'll chew up a LOT of memory loading skinning programs and the like. Get an SD card, and leave that stuff on it, instead of the main memory.
Also, look through the Windows\Startup folder and see what's being started up on boot. You may be surprised just how many programs are running without being reported to your task manager. Any Windows user should be used to this. Delete any links to features you recognize and don't want to run at startup.
Optional: read the overclocking thread. Overclocking speeds up your processor. Most people experience significant improvement just increasing clock speed from 195 (default) to around 240, without any side-effects. Thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=255771
Lastly, if you're loading programs to an SD chip, you must be prepared for slower response on loading them. Wizard is slow in reading and especially writing to SD card.

well i have overclocked my wizard already to 240 a long time ago...
i have deleted everything possible on the phone's memory without anything left for me to delete
but i will run the program to delete temp files although i have deleted them through the browser itself...
thanks...
anyone else with othe suggestons?

What rom are you using? you might want to switch. task manager 2.9/or 2.7 will show you what is actualy causing the memory to dissapeare. for mine it is device.exe and another program gwes.exe that deals with activesync. in most cases that is the problem and the only way to rectify that is to change the OS because it probably hasn't been ported right (device exe)
also update your signature so that it will list your devece, OS, Ipl Spl Gsm versions. that way people will have more information and be able to give you better advice.

Phone Storage Memory

Hi,
I currently only have 4.98mb left of the 180.85mb total storage available on my device and am now getting 'critically low memory' warnings. I have not installed many apps or anything else to the phone and can't really understand why this is so high.
I had a look at the folders which are: -
Application Data 39.8mb
Documents and Settings 1.07mb
My Documents 2.77mb
Program Files 10.4mb
Windows - doesn't say but must be approx 115mb for the total to be correct? Is this normal?
Also, I have 115.06mb free of the 336.93mb total program memory available.
Is anyone else having similar issues? If the windows section is suppossed to use this high amount why has the phone not been allocated enough memory to deal with it?
Thanks
James

You should search a bit, but, empty the cache folder of HTCAlbum, Opera, etc.. in Application Data.

Thanks for the help. I have deleted the contects of the HTCalbum cache and Google maps and this has increased the available memory to 39.57mb.
Why should we have to delete cache data to be able to use our device? This seems a bit crap to me

Your memory usage is not normal- the HD2 has about 135MB free Storage Memory after a hard reset, so something has grabbed your memory somewhere.
I'd suggest downloading a small program called SpaceFinder which can give you a tree view of where the memory has gone sorted by folder size. It was designed for much older versions of WinMo but still works well. Some of the fiels it sees are in the ROM, but at least it will give you some clues.
Culprits for memory usage apart from the caches are music and video files- look in those folders to see if there's anything obvious.

Hello JJJJacksonjjjjj
Your problem is not new and has been reported many times on here.
If you look in the hints and tips thread in this forum there are a number of suggestions for clawing back memory space, which I suggest you implement.
Other thing is I bet you have been installing all of your apps onto the phome memory when you could have done so onto the storage card. If I am right then I would suggest you backup all your data using, say Sprite Backup or my preferred app which is SPB Backup, hard reset your phone and rebuild it from scratch, installing your apps carefully and onto the memory card instead.
Might sound a bit heavy handed but you will reap the benefits in the long run (If too drastic for you then deinstall and reinstall apps onto external memory instead without hard resetting).
I built my phone exactly this way from day one. Every app that gets installed gets assessed by me as to whether it needs to be in phone memory or not. If not then its straight onto the memory card (running an 8GB at the moment, waiting for the 32GB to come onstream and at at a reasonable price).
This, plus all the tips in the thread I mentioned earlier, have left me a happy bunny memory wise.
Good luck with it.
WB

Thanks guys, I am sorted now.
I downloaded spacefinder (really good program) and found out straight away that I had 30mb+ in Windows>Opera9>Profile>Download. I didn't know it kept all the downloaded cabs and pdfs etc you download (without saving), I thought these would be cleared when you exit Opera.
Also there were loads of facebook pictures in the temporary internet files of Internet Explorer! Why does it save all these?!
Anyway, I am now at 93.5mb free out of 180.85mb so all is good
Don't get me wrong I love my HD2 (and TP before) but HTC will never win over the mass market unless they sort out these kind of issues. Most people I know wouldn't have the first idea about all the messing about we have to do with these devices, and as a result they would have a sluggish, buggy device within weeks of normal use.
Without the help form you guys on XDA I would have probobly ditched the TP after a month or so, and I think I knew deep down I was being too hopeful, but I thought the HD2 would be free from the minor niggles I had with my TP.
That turned into a bit of a rant lol.
Thanks again guys.

...many problems are for cache of programs like htc album, opera, google maps...
...in this post there are many advice, and explain how to move the htc album cache to storage card
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=600578
...i have a good result with SKTOOLS program, because i had the same problem with the internal memory
good luck!

jjjacksonjjj said:
Don't get me wrong I love my HD2 (and TP before) but HTC will never win over the mass market unless they sort out these kind of issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you're sorted- despite its age, I still always load Spacefinder as one of my 1st apps. Only 72KB and does exactly what it says!
Don't blame HTC for these issues- it is down to both MS and the application developers like Opera to define whether & where they store stuff.
At least the HD2 has a fair amount of free space- unlike earlier devices which ground to a halt because of these stupid problems.

Spacefinder download link please gents (google is not turning up what I am looking for)?
Cheers
WB

NeilM said:
Don't blame HTC for these issues- it is down to both MS and the application developers like Opera to define whether & where they store stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am probably being a bit unfair to HTC, but a lot of the common issues most people seem to have are (as far as I can see) ones that HTC should sort - sms, pink camera etc (I didn't just mean the memory). How can they release a top line device with these issues and expect that users will check for and install fixes?
My point is that they are selling us a product; which they know things like Opera, the facebook app, HTC photo etc are integral to how it will be used by the consumer, so they should ensure these functions work reliably out of the box without user research and fixing.
I don't want to knock HTC (I wouldn't have any other device now), but there are always niggles that they should sort out before release