Related
First and foremost...hello to you all my fellow dream users. This is officially my first thread I've ever created as a member on xda. Yet I am far from a noob. I've been around for quite some time, even before becoming a member. Needless to say, I wanted to share a common thought with you all.
Lets face it, we all are not perfect. 50% of us or more dont make up our bed right away as soon as we wake up out of it. Hell, Im sure a lot of us dont seperate our laundry as we produce it not just as we wash it. Throughout the long hard work week for some of us, (especially those with kids, have two myself), we just dont always find the time to pick up here and there as we would like to, or wash the dishes as we use them instead of letting a sink pile up first. But im sure, if there is any ounce of humane sanity and hygiene in your body, eventually you'll get around to it right? Right.
So getting to the point...must it be a written rule that you only wipe your cache, ext, etc. right before flashing a rom? I dont think so. Your phone is always something you have time for, even if its just 5 min out of a smoke break at work. So you are always using it. So it should be pretty piled up. Would it kill you to turn off your G1 one or two nights out of the week right before bed, boot into recovery, wipe your dalvik, wipe your ext, repair your ext, fix your permissions, reboot it and let that puppy charge for another long day of use tomorrow?. I should say so. It wouldn't hurt. Now as far as wiping data, I dont know, thats too much. But I personally found that if you randomly wipe your system clean(other than data) once or twice a week or every other day, when comes time to flash that new awesome rom you've been impatiently waiting for the dev to post, you will be able to do so with no wipe at all. And more than likely, you wont have any problems with it, atleast none on your behalf. Just a thought...... why wouldn't you? hmmmm
wiping
I like wiping my card but i had a few questions. When wiping your ext. I believe your wiping a portion of your sd card and i think it may ware out your card.(not sure) i probably flash about 6 to 10 roms a week. Can i overflash my G1? Or wipe it out from wiping it so much?
antonio91282 said:
I like wiping my card but i had a few questions. When wiping your ext. I believe your wiping a portion of your sd card and i think it may ware out your card.(not sure) i probably flash about 6 to 10 roms a week. Can i overflash my G1? Or wipe it out from wiping it so much?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How many times can you wipe a baby's ass before it stops working? Exactly. Wipe away my friend. Just remember ALWAYS BACKUP before wiping. Its like wearing your seatbelt, for safety. You can not ruin your card for wiping, if anything that'll help it. That is...for a good quality card as far as I know....maybe there are some cheap under market sd cards that cant take the hard use, but I recommend not buying cheap stuff
I think you don't understand what wiping does. Give me a minute, I'm at work, and I'll explain.
jubeh said:
I think you don't understand what wiping does. Give me a minute, I'm at work, and I'll explain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
take your time...as Im am awaiting to be enlightened. Wipe means to erase-delete-remove-vanish-clean-destroy......if you got any more definition do feel free to post em
Klyentel said:
take your time...as Im am awaiting to be enlightened. Wipe means to erase-delete-remove-vanish-clean-destroy......if you got any more definition do feel free to post em
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But the matter is; what is it that's being erased-deleted-removed-vanished-cleaned-destroyed?
Wiping, as it currently works on Amon-RA's recovery, which I'm almost sure is the one you're using, erases these directories/partitions:
-Wipe data/factory reset: formats the /data and /cache mounts on the nand (internal memory), that means, the mount is erased and re-checked for errors and the blocks re-numbered to account for missing blocks, but this is already fixed by ext3-4 on the fly. /data holds your personalization information, saved messages, downloaded apps, phone numbers, basically, everything that means you've settled into your phone. Erase this alone, and your phone is in the same state as if it was the first time you turned it on (it'll even prompt you to sign to your google account).
/cache is used less, it only stores Browser cache and OTA updates, so this one is safe to erase, but offers no benefit (maybe only in browsing).
-Wipe Dalvik-cache: for any apk or jar in your phone that doesn't have an odex, a classes.dex file is created in /data/dalvik-cache. This file is not mutated at all during it's life in /dalvik-cache, it's not written-to, only read. It won't change, so it's not like the file will eventually get bloated.
What does happen is that if you have a lot of programs, the size of dalvik-cache will grow, but unless you uninstall the programs, there's nothing you can do about it, the file MUST be there.
-Wipe SD:ext partition: the SD:ext partition is really mmcblk0p2, and it's a symbolic link of your phone's /data/app, /data/app-private, /data/lost+found, and /data/dalvik-cache. The a2sd script moves the files from your phone's internal memory to the sd's ext partition as a means to save space in /data, but mostly so that you have more space for your apps and data (you decide the size of your symlinked space). Erasing your ext partition has the same penalty as erasing /data, again, because it's the same partition that was moved outside for larger space. Wiping it erases your downloaded apps (which you'll have to re-download), lost+found files (hardly any, really), and also wipes your dalvik-cache, which will be recreated upon boot anyway.
-Fix permissions: This one makes sense, but only after flashing a rom. Here's the thinking. Some "devs" have no idea what they're doing with their update-scripts and end up changing the permissions on several apps, which results in uid mismatches and ultimately prevents apps, or even the whole rom from starting.
Here's the kicker, the only time permission changes happen is when flashing a rom or an upgrade.
Changing permissions is not in the normal behavior of the rom, so, if you do run it, you're basically wasting your time because it has no effect whatsoever.
-Repair ext: I'll give you this one, as this one does make sense, mostly if your ext partition is ext2. Ext3 and Ext4 are journaled systems, so they do routine checks on themselves. Repair ext is an added check that doesn't hurt (because flash and nand cells do go bad every now and then), but doing it every week is overkill (unless you flash more than once per day). I'd say once a month or two is fine.
I think the real fault in your thinking (and I'm not only saying you) is that you guys are still thinking of nand and flash in terms of mechanical storage (hdd, cd, etc).
With memory, there's no seek time (except as defined by the system or medium bus), and there's no positioning of the reading head, or file fragmentation (well files do get fragmented, but it's inconsequential).
All your solutions make sense if you're running a computer with a physical, mechanical drive, but on a flash/nand/electric drive they're useless, and, in fact, the unnecessary writes lower the life of the drive itself.
The one true culprit in the decrease of performance in a rom that has been lived-in is usage. As you start getting comfortable, you start downloading apps, and a lot of those apps have listeners, and those listeners run all the time. Widgets are also memory hogs as they have to be persistent.
The only solution is more meory.
Wipe-now, and don't wipe later doesn't make much sense, if you think about it, because you're suggesting wiping once a week as opposed to wiping once when changing roms, which is a lot less frequent.
Wow....thank you. I mean really...thank you. I did not know half the stuff you just posted.
Thats very interesting, although it was only thoughtful thinking, I dont actually wipe that many times, but its just that i get tired of reading all these post of people having problems after flashing a perfectly good rom, all because their ext is corrupted or they didn't wipe like prompted or something. I figure if I can get people to think of ways to keep their phones running perfectly fine consistently as opposed to flashing so many times they dont even remember what stable really means, then it will post a lot less questions on the forum. Thats all.
but dude you're really smart, you must be a dev. Thanx for your time.
jubeh said:
But the matter is; what is it that's being erased-deleted-removed-vanished-cleaned-destroyed?
Wiping, as it currently works on Amon-RA's recovery, which I'm almost sure is the one you're using, erases these directories/partitions:
-Wipe data/factory reset: formats the /data and /cache mounts on the nand (internal memory), that means, the mount is erased and re-checked for errors and the blocks re-numbered to account for missing blocks, but this is already fixed by ext3-4 on the fly. /data holds your personalization information, saved messages, downloaded apps, phone numbers, basically, everything that means you've settled into your phone. Erase this alone, and your phone is in the same state as if it was the first time you turned it on (it'll even prompt you to sign to your google account).
/cache is used less, it only stores Browser cache and OTA updates, so this one is safe to erase, but offers no benefit (maybe only in browsing).
-Wipe Dalvik-cache: for any apk or jar in your phone that doesn't have an odex, a classes.dex file is created in /data/dalvik-cache. This file is not mutated at all during it's life in /dalvik-cache, it's not written-to, only read. It won't change, so it's not like the file will eventually get bloated.
What does happen is that if you have a lot of programs, the size of dalvik-cache will grow, but unless you uninstall the programs, there's nothing you can do about it, the file MUST be there.
-Wipe SD:ext partition: the SD:ext partition is really mmcblk0p2, and it's a symbolic link of your phone's /data/app, /data/app-private, /data/lost+found, and /data/dalvik-cache. The a2sd script moves the files from your phone's internal memory to the sd's ext partition as a means to save space in /data, but mostly so that you have more space for your apps and data (you decide the size of your symlinked space). Erasing your ext partition has the same penalty as erasing /data, again, because it's the same partition that was moved outside for larger space. Wiping it erases your downloaded apps (which you'll have to re-download), lost+found files (hardly any, really), and also wipes your dalvik-cache, which will be recreated upon boot anyway.
-Fix permissions: This one makes sense, but only after flashing a rom. Here's the thinking. Some "devs" have no idea what they're doing with their update-scripts and end up changing the permissions on several apps, which results in uid mismatches and ultimately prevents apps, or even the whole rom from starting.
Here's the kicker, the only time permission changes happen is when flashing a rom or an upgrade.
Changing permissions is not in the normal behavior of the rom, so, if you do run it, you're basically wasting your time because it has no effect whatsoever.
-Repair ext: I'll give you this one, as this one does make sense, mostly if your ext partition is ext2. Ext3 and Ext4 are journaled systems, so they do routine checks on themselves. Repair ext is an added check that doesn't hurt (because flash and nand cells do go bad every now and then), but doing it every week is overkill (unless you flash more than once per day). I'd say once a month or two is fine.
I think the real fault in your thinking (and I'm not only saying you) is that you guys are still thinking of nand and flash in terms of mechanical storage (hdd, cd, etc).
With memory, there's no seek time (except as defined by the system or medium bus), and there's no positioning of the reading head, or file fragmentation (well files do get fragmented, but it's inconsequential).
All your solutions make sense if you're running a computer with a physical, mechanical drive, but on a flash/nand/electric drive they're useless, and, in fact, the unnecessary writes lower the life of the drive itself.
The one true culprit in the decrease of performance in a rom that has been lived-in is usage. As you start getting comfortable, you start downloading apps, and a lot of those apps have listeners, and those listeners run all the time. Widgets are also memory hogs as they have to be persistent.
The only solution is more meory.
Wipe-now, and don't wipe later doesn't make much sense, if you think about it, because you're suggesting wiping once a week as opposed to wiping once when changing roms, which is a lot less frequent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:O
I'm voting to make this to be post of the month. Great info.
jubeh said:
But the matter is; what is it that's being erased-deleted-removed-vanished-cleaned-destroyed?...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, one of the best posts I have ever seen here. Kudos to you for taking the time to spell that all out.
I've been using my ADP1 since December 2008. In the time I have owned it and used it DAILY, and HEAVILY, I have NOT ONCE wiped it.
NEVER.
It is snappy and fast.
I do keep it clean, but not by doing anything drastic.
And this is despite several OS upgrades, trying out a few custom roms, apps2sd with a TON of apps installed, etc., etc., etc.
I've been having this problem on and off for a while, mostly I believed it was related to something getting corrupted when I restored my apps to a new Rom with Titanium Backup.
I am happy to say, that after scouring the web for days, and trying a lot of wrong information, I finally figured out how to fix this.
It's real easy. All you need to do is remove any *.apk files located in the /cache directory on your phone (did not even need to remount- though I did it as root just in case).
I never did figure out why only some apps will have this problem or how the problem first comes about, but I have successfully done this twice and have since been able to install/update files that had this error before.
Update (3/3/11): OK - After scouring the Internet for over a month I finally figured it out. My info above was only part right. The problem is specifically with ROMs/Kernels that move the dalvik-cache to the /cache directory (HTC puts it in the /data dir).
In any case, when it's in /data, it is using app space, and therefore you usually run out of app space and know about it. However, because this is in /cache, you don't really know what you are using. As you load up on apps, your dalvik-cache grows, and since these apps need the .dex files in the cache, even if you clear your cache, it will just get re-created.
the /cache dir is also where the apps are temporarily stored while downloading from the market. So....
1. If you are getting immediate download fails, that means that your cache is so full that you don't even have space for the temp file.
2. If you get "Invalid Package" that likely means that there was not enough cache left to install the .dex files (the download is also taking up some of this space).
Unfortunately, the only way to fix this is to either remove some of your apps, or move your cache to your SD card.
HOWEVER, I found this great app on the market called Link2SD, that allows you to only move select apps to the SD card, and you can also move the dalvik-cache files associated with these apps.
see this thread for specifics: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10711328&postcount=1
it lets you select which apps to move. You will need to create a new partition on your card, though.
So far results have been great and I can finally update the 30+ apps that have been stuck for me for the last 2 months.
almost forgot, if you adb shell or use terminal emulator, you can type "df" to see how much space is left on all your mounts.
My phone has been doing the same thing with the whole package file is invalid bs. I tried to follow your instructions on going to the /cache folder. When I went to the folder, it was empty, so I wasn't able to remove any .apk files. So now what? How do I fix this?
If you use a File Managemet app like ASTRO, it will show the folder as empty because you need root access to see the dir. However, if you use Terminal Emulator or adb shell (as root) you will see that there are indeed other directories, and probably these orphaned .apk files.
Hi,
I'm also having the same issue with invalid package. I cleared the /cahch direcotry and still have the issue -- Is there something else i can try before wiping and starting over?
thanks
Rudey
It could also be caused by the .android_secure folder on your SD card. Clearing this folder and letting the market restore them solves issues a lot ofthe time.
As always use TiBackup or something to backup all your apps first too to be safe.
As the OP, I can tell you that I have, in fact, been unable to fix this problem.
Initially the suggestion I posted above worked, however a couple of days later is was no longer working again.
I have tried every trick on the web, including:
1. Removing SD card.
2. Deleting the above mentioned folder
3. clearing market cache
4. Clearing all caches in recovery
5. logging out and back in to google talk.
The only thing that fixes it is a complete factory reset.
I currently have a combination of 3 errors:
1. No download at all.
2. Download unsuccessful
3. Invalid Package
some apps will still update, but what is really weird is that I am even getting invalid package on new apps (so its not a corrupt app already installed on the phone).
One last thought. Once I am unable to update an app, even if I remove it, I can no longer restore the backup using Titanium.
oughta try reformating your SD card and let the phone reformat it too.
sgt. slaughter said:
oughta try reformating your SD card and let the phone reformat it too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
don't see why this is different than un-mounting the SD which should do the same thing and has been tried.
sw99 said:
don't see why this is different than un-mounting the SD which should do the same thing and has been tried.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
na actually reformating it will fully wipe everything on the SD and having the phone do it is best always as its always better to format with the device your using the disk on the most in general.
Found the problem, updated in OP.
sw99 said:
I've been having this problem on and off for a while, mostly I believed it was related to something getting corrupted when I restored my apps to a new Rom with Titanium Backup.
I am happy to say, that after scouring the web for days, and trying a lot of wrong information, I finally figured out how to fix this.
It's real easy. All you need to do is remove any *.apk files located in the /cache directory on your phone (did not even need to remount- though I did it as root just in case).
I never did figure out why only some apps will have this problem or how the problem first comes about, but I have successfully done this twice and have since been able to install/update files that had this error before.
Update (3/3/11): OK - After scouring the Internet for over a month I finally figured it out. My info above was only part right. The problem is specifically with ROMs/Kernels that move the dalvik-cache to the /cache directory (HTC puts it in the /data dir).
In any case, when it's in /data, it is using app space, and therefore you usually run out of app space and know about it. However, because this is in /cache, you don't really know what you are using. As you load up on apps, your dalvik-cache grows, and since these apps need the .dex files in the cache, even if you clear your cache, it will just get re-created.
the /cache dir is also where the apps are temporarily stored while downloading from the market. So....
1. If you are getting immediate download fails, that means that your cache is so full that you don't even have space for the temp file.
2. If you get "Invalid Package" that likely means that there was not enough cache left to install the .dex files (the download is also taking up some of this space).
Unfortunately, the only way to fix this is to either remove some of your apps, or move your cache to your SD card.
HOWEVER, I found this great app on the market called Link2SD, that allows you to only move select apps to the SD card, and you can also move the dalvik-cache files associated with these apps.
see this thread for specifics: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10711328&postcount=1
it lets you select which apps to move. You will need to create a new partition on your card, though.
So far results have been great and I can finally update the 30+ apps that have been stuck for me for the last 2 months.
almost forgot, if you adb shell or use terminal emulator, you can type "df" to see how much space is left on all your mounts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didnt solve my issue.. I had reformatted my phone and SD card and reinstalled my apps. It was working fine again but now its back to some apps update fine.. some get DOWNLOAD UNSUCCESSFUL and some get PACKAGE FILE INVALID.. any ideas.. Im on sprint lovers rom (latest)
It appears th LINK 2 SD needs a second partition that I dont have nor use with SPRINT LOVERS ROM and 2.2 .... am I missing something??
To the OP,
The program you linked to seems to be a variation of dark tremor's a2sd method (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=715116). His lets you move data, cache, and/or dc to the ext partition, but doesn't (at least I don't believe it does) give you granular control over which apps remain in the standard location.
In my own use, I chose to move all user installed apps to sd, but dc remained on the internal memory (albeit, not in /data, but in the /cache partition). I figured this way, even if the sd card is missing, the phone will still boot. I won't have access to anything I installed, but whatever the rom came with will still be accessible.
Follow the instructions on that thread and create the second partition. You won't need more than 500mb. apps2sd or link2sd is the only way you can fix this problem unless you want to remove some of your apps.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
gpz1100 said:
To the OP,
The program you linked to seems to be a variation of dark tremor's a2sd method (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=715116). His lets you move data, cache, and/or dc to the ext partition, but doesn't (at least I don't believe it does) give you granular control over which apps remain in the standard location.
In my own use, I chose to move all user installed apps to sd, but dc remained on the internal memory (albeit, not in /data, but in the /cache partition). I figured this way, even if the sd card is missing, the phone will still boot. I won't have access to anything I installed, but whatever the rom came with will still be accessible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes that's true, and I eventually went the app2sd route. However, I was trying to avoid that because of the slow speed of my sd card.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
sw99 said:
Yes that's true, and I eventually went the app2sd route. However, I was trying to avoid that because of the slow speed of my sd card.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure which app2sd method you're referring to, but keep the following in mind. I discovered this after my backup images failed to restore properly.
In the past, i'd be backing up boot, system, and data partitions. Obviously with dt's a2sd, I need to include the ext partition now. No problem. BUT, when restoring, i'd run into issues where my apps were present, but all settings were lost. After much confusion and head scratching, I tried wiping cache and dc AFTER the restore, but before the initial boot. The restore was a success now!
Apparently, with a2sd on the ext3, some remnants of cache or dc remain when backing up, even if cache is not selected. As part of any good restore, first thing is to always wipe, so now we end up with a hodge podge of files in the cache which I think causes the OS to revert all the settings back to default.
Just something to keep in mind.
i wanted to go back how my dhd was.. lots of problem.. i havent fix my radio problem yet and now this invaled package thing *face palm*
My phone is HTC G7, and I use data2sd to get 1.5G rom space, now there is still about 1.2G left, but I also met the "invalid package file" problem. I can't find any *.apk in /cache, (root, with "ls -a"). But if I uninstall some apps, I could install or update other apps successfully. I could not use Link2sd for I already have data2sd and I guess it's not a problem of insufficient space, because I still have enough rom space.
Do you have any new solutions?
supericexu said:
My phone is HTC G7, and I use data2sd to get 1.5G rom space, now there is still about 1.2G left, but I also met the "invalid package file" problem. I can't find any *.apk in /cache, (root, with "ls -a"). But if I uninstall some apps, I could install or update other apps successfully. I could not use Link2sd for I already have data2sd and I guess it's not a problem of insufficient space, because I still have enough rom space.
Do you have any new solutions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is not the apps, its the /cache running out of space. I suspect that the app you are using cannot move the dalvik-cache files (and is really just a shortcut to android's app2sd - which is not the same as darktremor or link2sd).
in terminal us df -k to see how much space you have on each mount to confirm that there is little space in cache.
If you really have that much space in your apps mount, then I would suggest moving the dalvik-cache back to its original location (search for instructions, as the only way I know how to do it is by installing darktremor's app2sd). If you are still having problems, you really are limited to either partitioning your SD card and using apps2sd or link2sd or removing apps.
hope this helps.
I have been having this issue for a couple of months now - with a bit of a twist. After wiping my dalvik-cache, my apps began to sucsessfully update - except for Google apps.
I have no idea why just those apps, but going into settings/Applications/Manage applications, and selecting each app, then clearing that apps cache, allowed those apps to sucessfully update also.
I am thankful I did not have to resort to the above fix.
Any solution if not rooted?
I've just started to get this error when trying to update the Google+ app. The error is only happening with Google+, every other app I update/install works fine.
I haven't rooted my device, and I'm hoping there's a way to fix the issue without rooting?
Device: Nexus One
Rom: Stock Android
Version: 2.3.4
Although I couldn't see anything in the cache directories, I checked in /system/app and couldn't find any package that looked like it would be Google+.
To all the devs around here. Great work by the way!! Not that I wanna know all the technical details, but it would be nice to get an overview of how things work together on the GT.
I have a PC Windows and Linux background, but I don't fully understand as of yet how things blend together on the tab.
Can you explain a few things;
How come flashing a ROM doesn't wipe the entire system? Is a rom pretty much the same as a ghost image for PC?
How are system files (OS) differentiate with your media/videos for example.
If you install a custom kernel (see pershoot for example), will installing a rom overwrite the newly installed kernel, or do they reside in a different place on the disk? If so, can you explain.
How are things separated on the GTAB? Where is CWM installed, is it something similar to a PC bios that you flash with a custom bios?
The internal memory is split up (probably partitioned but it could be something else) into the system area and the user area that acts like the sd card does in most android devices. System files are in the system area, your media files are on the part acting like an sd card.
ROMs contain their own kernel which will overwrite your custom kernel but as long as the custom kernel is compatible with the ROM you can flash the custom kernel over the ROMs kernel. Im not sure if touchwiz and non-touchwiz need different kernels like htc sense.
I dont know where cwm is installed but its separate from the os.
That's a good start, but id love to hear more about the inner workings of everything. I don't want to know if X is compatible with Y. I just want to know how to work together and why A isnt overwriting B.
Wrong section buddy, go to the Q&A
i going to oversimplify this a bit to focus on the relevant portions of ROM flashing.
System partition - this is where the android operating system is installed. It contains the all of the files and apks for android to run. System apks are located here - stuff like the browser, gmail, contacts, calendar, etc. Just the apps are stored here, not their settings.
Boot partition - this is the kernel
Data partition - this is where all of your data is stored. Data includes all settings (including os settings like wifi passwords, brightness level, etc.), as well as any apps you have downloaded as well as their settings and data (example, the angry birds apk is here as well the angry birds data that contains your game progress.) Also the setting and data for the system apks mentioned above (like Gmail and the browser) are stored here.
Sdcard - on android phones this is a separate partition, but on tablets it is a pseudo partition - really just a folder on the data partition but treated like a separate partition most of the time.
When you flash a ROM without wiping anything you are just overwriting the system and boot partitions, that's why all of your data stays in tact.
Cool thanks, can someone describe how does the different options in CWM affect those partitions?
What is wiped when you do a factory reset? cache? and davlik?
I would also be interested in knbowing where does CWM resides.
Thanks
mickey78 said:
Cool thanks, can someone describe how does the different options in CWM affect those partitions?
What is wiped when you do a factory reset? cache? and davlik?
I would also be interested in knbowing where does CWM resides.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A factory reset in cwm wipes data and cache. Davlik cache is wiped separately through the advanced menu. You can also wipe system, data, cache, and sdcard in the mounts section of cwm.
Cwm is a replacement of the stock recovery partition that shipped on your tablet or phone.
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Moving to General
Heya guys,
yesterday, I found that I was in dire need of some more free space on my GT-I9505's internal storage and found that only the contents of /sdcard/DCIM/.thumbnails were taking up space. After a while of trying to get rid of those files that kept creating themselves again, I followed some advice I read on an Android forum: I deleted the contents of the .thumbnail folder, went to Settings -> Apps and cleared the data of the Gallery and Media Storage apps, respectively, before rebooting the phone.
The contents did disappear for good, but neither Total Commander nor the list of installed apps in the settings nor the Storage summary in the settings showed any different amount of free space than before. To make matters worse, the number didn't even change after I found and deleted about 1 GB of files left by an already uninstalled app, i.e. it seems to be stuck on that value. At the same time, SD Maid tells me that I should have a good 5 GB of free space more than the system is showing. Neither restarting nor wiping the cache and dalvik cache helped.
My rooted GT-I9505 is running this unofficial port of AOKP 4.3, Milestone 1, and version 6.15.6 of PhilZ/CWM Advanced. I'm not sure whether there's more information I might need to provide, other than that the size of the thumbnails files apparently exploded (about 4 GB) when I moved quite a lot of data and obb folders to my external storage using FolderMount.
I didn't find any information about this kind of problem anywhere and am afraid I messed up so badly that I might need to reflash...or worse. Do you have an idea how I can try to fix it?
Aironfaar said:
Heya guys,
yesterday, I found that I was in dire need of some more free space on my GT-I9505's internal storage and found that only the contents of /sdcard/DCIM/.thumbnails were taking up space. After a while of trying to get rid of those files that kept creating themselves again, I followed some advice I read on an Android forum: I deleted the contents of the .thumbnail folder, went to Settings -> Apps and cleared the data of the Gallery and Media Storage apps, respectively, before rebooting the phone.
The contents did disappear for good, but neither Total Commander nor the list of installed apps in the settings nor the Storage summary in the settings showed any different amount of free space than before. To make matters worse, the number didn't even change after I found and deleted about 1 GB of files left by an already uninstalled app, i.e. it seems to be stuck on that value. At the same time, SD Maid tells me that I should have a good 5 GB of free space more than the system is showing. Neither restarting nor wiping the cache and dalvik cache helped.
My rooted GT-I9505 is running this unofficial port of AOKP 4.3, Milestone 1, and version 6.15.6 of PhilZ/CWM Advanced. I'm not sure whether there's more information I might need to provide, other than that the size of the thumbnails files apparently exploded (about 4 GB) when I moved quite a lot of data and obb folders to my external storage using FolderMount.
I didn't find any information about this kind of problem anywhere and am afraid I messed up so badly that I might need to reflash...or worse. Do you have an idea how I can try to fix it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This will always be in the sdcard and sdcard/DCIM
Androiders96 said:
This will always be in the sdcard and sdcard/DCIM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your reply. However, the .thumbnails folder is empty since I deleted its content, cleared the data of the Gallery and Media Storage apps and rebooted as I described in my original post...so apparently, it will not always be there but still take up the space if you mess something up as I did.
Since then, the amount of free space seems to be stuck at the value from before the deletion of the .thumbnails contents, even though I deleted other, considerably large amounts of files since then as well, which should have freed up some more space. That can't be healthy for any kind of storage.
Some error in the file system, perhaps? Maybe some part of the OS keeps the space allocated but forgot what it was allocated for because I cleared the Gallery and Media Storage apps' information about it along with the data? I do not know, neither do I know how to fix it, and I'm getting increasingly worried.
Aironfaar said:
Thank you for your reply. However, the .thumbnails folder is empty since I deleted its content, cleared the data of the Gallery and Media Storage apps and rebooted as I described in my original post...so apparently, it will not always be there but still take up the space if you mess something up as I did.
Since then, the amount of free space seems to be stuck at the value from before the deletion of the .thumbnails contents, even though I deleted other, considerably large amounts of files since then as well, which should have freed up some more space. That can't be healthy for any kind of storage.
Some error in the file system, perhaps? Maybe some part of the OS keeps the space allocated but forgot what it was allocated for because I cleared the Gallery and Media Storage apps' information about it along with the data? I do not know, neither do I know how to fix it, and I'm getting increasingly worried.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no, it's from the rom, every rom will appear .thumbnail
Cache images on the gallery
All will be stored in .thumbnail
I do not know how to fix this :/
Androiders96 said:
no, it's from the rom, every rom will appear .thumbnail
Cache images on the gallery
All will be stored in .thumbnail
I do not know how to fix this :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you're saying it's controlled by the rom and Media Storage and Gallery merely use system functions or the like to create and manage those thumbnail files? I see, thanks for that information.
I assume that means I'm humped. After all, I made those two apps forget that they told the rom to allocate the space, which the rom apparently still is doing...
I guess I'll try if reflashing the rom will help, but I most probably won't have the time for that for a week or two. Until then, I'd be more than happy and thankful to hear more ideas.
I had Asphalt 8 installed on my phone while running a GPE rom. Then I decided to try CM12 out. So I got the rom, wiped everthing (except internal) and flashed the rom. When I restored the game using Titanium Backup it asked me to download the data again. I, of course, thought it's because of the wipe.
After some time I got bored of the game and deleted it (including the data). Then I wanted to go back to the GPE rom. So I got the latest zip, wiped everything (except internal) and flashed. Next thing I know is that the Asphalt 8 game data is back in the /android/obb folder, even though I deleted it.
So I guess GPE and CM12 use different partitions for this or how is it possible?
And how can I access those "hidden" partitions to delete the data from them? Without changing roms back and forth. Cause, even though I can't see the files and folders on the internal memory, it still uses the space.
Google likely restored the data from the data backup they take of the phone, if you agree to it when setting up your Google account. Simply delete the game again, and this time remove it from your app list in the Play Store. The next time around it shouldn't restore.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Google likely restored the data from the data backup they take of the phone, if you agree to it when setting up your Google account. Simply delete the game again, and this time remove it from your app list in the Play Store. The next time around it shouldn't restore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They restored 1+ GB of data without me knowing? And without an internet connection? As I was not connected to a wi-fi. I usually also opt, at rom set-up, to not have my stuff backed up to googles servers.
So that's very unlikely.
And even if it were so, why do those files take space on my internal starge?
The MicroSD card is intended for your stuff, not app data. Therefore, to adhere to Google guidelines apps store their parts in internal storage. Now, if you didn't have data of any kind active and opted out of Google backing up data, the only possibilities I can think of are that Titanium Backup didn't delete the data, or the internal storage was not fully wiped.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
The MicroSD card is intended for your stuff, not app data. Therefore, to adhere to Google guidelines apps store their parts in internal storage. Now, if you didn't have data of any kind active and opted out of Google backing up data, the only possibilities I can think of are that Titanium Backup didn't delete the data, or the internal storage was not fully wiped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already said that I generally don't wipe the internal storage. I deleted data folder manually using ES File Explorer and emptied the recycle bin while on CM12. On GPE the data was back.
I did the math. Everything on my internal memory combined uses about 1 GB. But it shows me that it has 4GB used. So I went back to GPE, deleted the game data manually, and flashed CM12 back. Now it shows 1 GB used space on the internal memory.
Let me give you another example. A friend had GTA: San Andreas while on GPE. I flashed CM12 on that phone, but did not delete the game data, nor wiped the internal storage, just a simple /cache, /data and /dalvik-cache wipe.
On CM12 she didn't install GTA anymore and there is no trace of the GTA data folder in /android/obb.
Here is the thing: Something is taking up nearly 5 GB on the internal storage. I checked every folder in the internal storage (hidden and visible) and everything combined adds up to a max of 1.5 GB.
Something is using space. That something is the GTA data. It has almost 3 GB of data. Fits perfectly to the used space.
The only explanation I have is that they use different partitions of the internal memory or a different data format. Otherwise I can't explain how the same data doesn't show up on GPE and CM12 if I didn't delete it.