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Hello,
Can someone elaborate on what is meant by Storage memory and Program memory?
I would expect storage to be My Docs and Programs to be Windows and so on. I ask since my Storage allocation is two thirds full and all my docs on the device is empty. I use the SD card for that.
Cheers.
rphillip said:
Hello,
Can someone elaborate on what is meant by Storage memory and Program memory?
I would expect storage to be My Docs and Programs to be Windows and so on. I ask since my Storage allocation is two thirds full and all my docs on the device is empty. I use the SD card for that.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-Storage memory is memory used for saving files on you're phone, extention is you're memory card (micro SD).
-Program memory, is like the RAM-memory on you're PC, this is used when running programmes, watching movies-pictures...
Thanks. Well there are two storage areas. "Main" and "Storage Card". My query is for "Main". Within this there is "Storage" and "Program".
I would like to know what is used for what so I can look in a specific area and delete stuff I don't need. Like I said "Storage" seems rather full but I do not store anything on the phone itself. I use the storage card which does not present a problem.
In the storage info on the settings tab, under device it shows "storage" which is like your hard drive, and "program" which is like your RAM. Obviously, you don't actually have a hard drive. It's just an example
There's certain stuff that gets cached on the internal storage, and this can obviously bump up the space that's used (there's threads on here for cleaning/moving these things). Then there's the other culprit - Marketplace. If you've installed stuff from there, it's on internet memory, not your storage card. Also, do you install software to the device, or to the storage card? I only put essential stuff on the device, and stuff that I can live without on the storage card.
Just thoughts and suggestions.
johncmolyneux said:
In the storage info on the settings tab, under device it shows "storage" which is like your hard drive, and "program" which is like your RAM. Obviously, you don't actually have a hard drive. It's just an example
There's certain stuff that gets cached on the internal storage, and this can obviously bump up the space that's used (there's threads on here for cleaning/moving these things). Then there's the other culprit - Marketplace. If you've installed stuff from there, it's on internet memory, not your storage card. Also, do you install software to the device, or to the storage card? I only put essential stuff on the device, and stuff that I can live without on the storage card.
Just thoughts and suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah ok that explains a little then. I have been installing cabs to the device.
Do not understand; my total storage memory is 181,23MB, in use is 175,21MB, but when I check in explorer, there is only 89MB in use. What am I missing here??
Also, what does it mean program storage - total space 336,97MB?
Flash size 512MB, RAM size 448MB, what is the difference?
Its rather more complex than it ought to be, and HTC are being a little 'economical' with the truth!
It has 512MB of total storage, of which about 175MB is taken up by the ROM image. This leaves the 337MB you see reported. Of this, about 150MB is taken up by the HTC Sense system, then another chunk by the video memory leaving around 135MB free to the user. The new 'Light' custom ROMs without HTC Sense have over 300MB free to the user.
The 448MB RAM is just that- same as a PCs RAM. Even after loading the OS on startup there is ample ROM left for pretty much any eventuality!
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 have 2 questions I am fairly new to the a500 although I have had an evo 4g for years and I have been flashing roms for many more.
I know thebquestion has been asked is there a way to move apps to the sd card. I am wondering if darktremors app2sdgui might work for our tablets and if so how to ise it. I have been seeing threads where people are using 64gb sdxc cards but whats the point if you cant move apps. Im starting to think thosbtablet sucks half the games dont work and you cant freely moves apps.
Anyway my other question is if there is no way to use app2sdgui is there any roms available that allow you to move apps and still have all the tablets good features? I have searched and from what I can tell most roms dont really say they can do it.
Thanks from the bomb
Sent from my A500 using xda premium
adambomb_13 said:
I have 2 questions I am fairly new to the a500 although I have had an evo 4g for years and I have been flashing roms for many more.
I know thebquestion has been asked is there a way to move apps to the sd card. I am wondering if darktremors app2sdgui might work for our tablets and if so how to ise it. I have been seeing threads where people are using 64gb sdxc cards but whats the point if you cant move apps. Im starting to think thosbtablet sucks half the games dont work and you cant freely moves apps.
Anyway my other question is if there is no way to use app2sdgui is there any roms available that allow you to move apps and still have all the tablets good features? I have searched and from what I can tell most roms dont really say they can do it.
Thanks from the bomb
Sent from my A500 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong forum. This should be in the questions section.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I don't have a full understanding of all this myself, but I *believe/think* that the A500 is already moving apps to the SD card -- the internal SD card. The 8, 16, or 32gb of memory that came with whatever model of A500 you purchased is considered the internal SD card, whereas the micro sd card slot is considered the external SD card. Your tablet has 1gb of RAM, which in phone terms is thought of as internal or system memory, like your (and my) EVO 4G has 512mb of RAM. Since the EVO doesn't have any internal SD card, in order to run the newer, larger footprint ROMs we have to use an apps2sd type utility to move as much as we can to the external micro SD card in the EVO 4G.
If you're running out of internal memory in your A500, you can move some data that seems to default there. This happens a lot with apps that aren't really designed for tablets because these apps think that your internal storage is your external micro SD card. I moved all my photos, music, and eBooks from internal storage (where they defaulted) to my external micro SD card. Now I'm only using around 4gb out of the total 16gb that came with my model of A500, and I have tons of apps, games, etc installed. Moving the data barely put a dent in my 32gb external micro SD card, which I mostly use for 720p movies/videos.
Anyone please feel free to correct me about Honeycomb tablet memory handling above!
It's a limitation of Honeycomb not the tablet. Hopefully ICS when it's released soon will solve this problem. I don't know why google designed the tablet specific OS Honeycomb like this it was stupid. There are several work around programs like GL to SD that work so so. I had GL to SD installed and it severely slowed down my tablet so I got rid of it. My first A500 I bought was the 8gb version which I returned a week later after buying the 32gb unit. The 8gb just didn't cut it without being able to take advantage of the sd card for game data.
internetpilot said:
I don't have a full understanding of all this myself, but I *believe/think* that the A500 is already moving apps to the SD card -- the internal SD card. The 8, 16, or 32gb of memory that came with whatever model of A500 you purchased is considered the internal SD card, whereas the micro sd card slot is considered the external SD card. Your tablet has 1gb of RAM, which in phone terms is thought of as internal or system memory, like your (and my) EVO 4G has 512mb of RAM. Since the EVO doesn't have any internal SD card, in order to run the newer, larger footprint ROMs we have to use an apps2sd type utility to move as much as we can to the external micro SD card in the EVO 4G.
If you're running out of internal memory in your A500, you can move some data that seems to default there. This happens a lot with apps that aren't really designed for tablets because these apps think that your internal storage is your external micro SD card. I moved all my photos, music, and eBooks from internal storage (where they defaulted) to my external micro SD card. Now I'm only using around 4gb out of the total 16gb that came with my model of A500, and I have tons of apps, games, etc installed. Moving the data barely put a dent in my 32gb external micro SD card, which I mostly use for 720p movies/videos.
No its not like this. The phones do have internal memory also. The ram has nothing to do with internal memory, even tho some advertise the ram and internal memory as greaterstorage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thread belongs in q&a section not dev sorry all
Ok sorry but my testing with the gl to sd app...
the order of chaos game i used that app to move it.. The game took forever to load and ping times went so High you could not play the game..
I Have a pny class 10 16 gb sd card.. tested to get about 8.7 mb transfur rate. and that is about average on most so called 10 mb (class10 cards)
my tablet runs very smooth with no apps running in background.
so i DO NOT RECOMEND THESE APPS.. Just my openion dont bash me if yours is diffrent.. i also dont understand how people are filling up the 16 gb tablet.. that alone has to be slowing your tab down...
internetpilot said:
Your tablet has 1gb of RAM, which in phone terms is thought of as internal or system memory, like your (and my) EVO 4G has 512mb of RAM. Since the EVO doesn't have any internal SD card, in order to run the newer, larger footprint ROMs we have to use an apps2sd type utility to move as much as we can to the external micro SD card in the EVO 4G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're confusing RAM and FLASH storage. Many older Android devices have a very small area reserved for applications and ROMs, it has nothing to do with RAM. RAM is memory where applications are loaded when you wish to execute them and gets erased every time you power off the device, flash storage is where the applications are stored and loaded from.
---------- Post added at 06:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:32 PM ----------
erica_renee said:
i also dont understand how people are filling up the 16 gb tablet.. that alone has to be slowing your tab down...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got the 32GB version + 16GB microSDHC and it's already filled to the brim. I just happen to consume lots of media, including comics, movies, music and books.
Also, the tablet doesn't specifically slow down by the amount of files on it, the process of indexing everything can temporarily slow it down but after indexing is done it doesn't consume resources anymore. Using some sort of an application that just loads everything to memory and doesn't care about trying to watch how it uses the memory is has reserved however can and will slow the tablet down, but that's an application issue, not a filesystem or OS issue per se.
So if the internal memory is like is primary I can't see why it wouldnt be easy to make the external micro sd and ext of the internal. Is that possable?
Sent from my A500 using xda premium
I found this post online for switching internal to external in honeycomb. I'm getting a 64gb sdxc for my 16gb a500 so it should come in handy.
I have had a mod to voold.fstab under previous Android versions so the OS looked at the physical MicroSD as the external card, not the internal 8 gigs in the Adam. Handy because some programs always wants to look for files on the external card. It was quite easy to do the same thing to Honeycomb, and in case anybody else needs it, here's the full code for the file (which is under \ETC, you need Root Explorer or simalar to edit/replace it):
Code:
## Vold 2.0 NVIDIA Harmony fstab
####################### ## Regular device mount ## ## Format: dev_mount <label> <mount_point> <part> <sysfs_path1...> ## label - Label for the volume ## mount_point - Where the volume will be mounted ## part - Partition # (1 based), or 'auto' for first usable par tition. ## <sysfs_path> - List of sysfs paths to source devices ######################
dev_mount microsd /mnt/sdcard auto /devices/platform/tegra-sdhci.2/mmc_ host/mmc1 # todo: the secondary sdcard seems to confuse vold badly dev_mount sdreader /mnt/external_sd auto /devices/platform/tegra-sdhci. 3/mmc_host/mmc2 dev_mount usbdisk1 /mnt/usb_storage auto /devices/platform/tegra-ehci
So the actual changes are in the fourth and third lines from the bottom, changing around a few numbers. You'll see the difference if you open the original. I have saved a copy of it on the SD card, so if (or rather when) the next update comes I can simply copy it to the \ETC directory with Root Explorer and do a reboot, and it's back where I want it.
Sent from my A500 using xda premium
richierich118 said:
No its not like this. The phones do have internal memory also. The ram has nothing to do with internal memory, even tho some advertise the ram and internal memory as greaterstorage
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Click to collapse
WereCatf said:
You're confusing RAM and FLASH storage. Many older Android devices have a very small area reserved for applications and ROMs, it has nothing to do with RAM. RAM is memory where applications are loaded when you wish to execute them and gets erased every time you power off the device, flash storage is where the applications are stored and loaded from.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, makes sense now that you both mentioned it. Sorry about that. So, it would seem to me that HC actually isn't using any A2SD solution, it's just that tablets typically have significantly greater internal storage and Google didn't expect anyone to really need it. If that's the case then it at least makes a little sense to me that HC doesn't have that built-in and than not many devs seem to be working on this type of project, especially for an A500 which can so easily use external USB storage for the usual storage hogs like media files.
i cannot see why people are so hellbent on apps2sd. seriously, i cannot. well, okay. i admit that it /does/ free up space on your internal apps partition.... but i can't see the point of wasting space on your external SD card.
the apps partition on the iconia tab is roughly 1GB. that's not too bad, unless you've got HD games and crap. i remember Sonic CD and Gameloft's NOVA 2 download stuff to the internal storage; which doesn't clutter up your app partition (the game is like 5mb for sonic cd and like 20mb for nova 2 on the apps partition, the rest is loaded from internal SD).
also, the tablet doesn't suck, if you're having issues with games, they aren't optimised for the advanced hardware that is used in the Iconia Tab. this is tablet hardware, not a smartphone logic board with a few addons and a sexy HD screen. the app developer hasn't taken the time to develop for tablets, most likely.
i guess less is more for me, but w/e.
How does apps2sd actually work? I haven't paid any attention to what filesystem format the internal SD is, but wouldn't just symlinking files work? Or does the Android kernel support loopback filesystems? I'm just wondering, perhaps I'll dig some details myself just for the sake of curiosity and see if I can come up with a solution.
Apps2SD works by moving programs residing in /data/app to the SD card. This can be accomplished in two ways:
1. Classic Apps2SD - This form is mainly used for Android units prior to Froyo, but can be used on Froyo and Gingerbread (and I presume Honeycomb and ICS, but I have never tested it with those Android platforms). By using a Linux partition that is formatted on your external SD card, the /data/app directory is symlinked to that partition. This tricks Android into thinking it is still storing applications in your Internal memory when, in reality, the programs are being stored on your SD card. The upside to this format is that any program can be moved over (and it is done automatically). The down side is that you will need to create two partitions on your SD card (one Linux partition for Apps2SD and one FAT32 partition for SD card storage) and your kernel must be able to run scripts on boot.
2. Secure Apps2SD - Starting with Froyo, Google implemented their version of Apps2SD. Their version moves your programs to a secured area of your SD Card and creates binding mounts to the actual programs themselves so that Android can run them off the FAT32 SD Card. The advantage of this is that no special formatting or programming is needed to implement this, as it is part of Android. The downside to this is that, without special programs, not ever application can be moved to the SD card (the program must be recompiled using at least the Froyo SDK...however, this issue is becoming less noticeable as more programs are being compiled using either the Froyo SDK or Gingerbread SDK).
The Acer Iconia A500 uses neither of these methods. The tablet is equipped with 8, 16 or 32GB of internal storage. Your applications are still stored on the /data partition, but your SD Card is nothing more than a FUSE mount to /data/media, which means both data and apps have access to the full 8, 16 or 32GB of internal storage, so there's no compelling reason that I can think of that you would need Apps2SD on this tablet. If you want your tablet to treat the external SD card as the actual SD card rather than internal storage, you would be better off changing the symlink to /sdcard from /mnt/sdcard to /mnt/external_sd (note that, when you do that, you won't be able to move files from your computer to the tablet by simply mounting the SD card, as the FUSE mount is not pointed to the external SD card, but to internal memory...you will either need a creative solution to change the FUSE mount to /mnt/external_sd on boot or you'll need to use ADB).
WereCatf said:
How does apps2sd actually work? I haven't paid any attention to what filesystem format the internal SD is, but wouldn't just symlinking files work? Or does the Android kernel support loopback filesystems? I'm just wondering, perhaps I'll dig some details myself just for the sake of curiosity and see if I can come up with a solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
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.