Moving Apps from Internal Storage to SD Card/External Storage - Droid RAZR M Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Been trying to figure this out for awhile, and rather than derailing the "Post your Razr M Home Screens" thread, I'd figure this would be more suitable for it's own thread in the Q&A section.
I'm looking for a method to transfer apps from the 8GB internal storage (stored on /data/apps) to the 32GB sdcard. A problem I have read from many other users is the lack of storage space and the inability to easily transfer the apps from the Applications settings (as in previous devices/ROMs).
Coronado is Dead recommended Directory Bind
Dyelon recommended Link2SD
based upon reviews, it looks like "app2sd" does not work for the M.
I tried directory bind, but ran into some issues where the app could not find my /data/app folder. For the Link2Sd, looks like I need to create another partition on my sdcard.
also, I found this youtube video for directory bind, but it's for the GS3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8PyqCOpERA
anyone that can offer up some step-by-step instructions would be very helpful.
thanks!

Related

[Q] Help! About memory space and app´s

Hello everyone
First at all want thanks the valious information in this forum. For a newbie like me is superb.
Now I´m needing here some tips please.
I have a IDEOS S7 tablet rooted (with SuperOneClick), working in full with the SuperUser, I have root access through with Root Explorer.
I use Link2SD to change the apps from the internal memory to the internal SD card.
I have no partitions on internal SD (do not know how to do).
The question: When i install an application this one goes to the /data/app folder, but also some additional files of this application goes to the /data/data folder.
With Link2sd when I move an app to the SD internal card, only the file in data/app moves and the files/folders in the data/data remain´s there!
For example when I install an application with 11MB (adobe flash for example) and move it with the link2sd to the internal SD card never copies all the 11MB (only about 3MB are copied )..... I conclude that any app that I install, and moved to SDcard, I can never keep in the same internal memory free "measurement" of bytes!
Example, I have 136MB free before installing Adobe. After installation I get 125MB. I move the app to the internal SD and are moved only 3MB! The remaining (8MB) stay in the internal memory. So, i never stay again with the 136MB that I had before, but +- 128MB.
What is wrong? Can I move all files of an application or not? What am I doing wrong or is this just like that!!? Any suggestion please?
By the way how can I create a partition on the InternalSD card and what is the advantage of doing this?
Thank you for your attention
regards
pedro
Can close/delete this topic please, solved and done.
Thanks
pedro

Multiple paths to sdcard and internal

When in. File managers there are multiple paths for my external sdcard and my internal storage.
For example just for my external sdcard there is /external_sd, /ExtSdCard, /storage/sdcard1.
For my internal storage there is /sdcard, and /storage/sdcard0.
Is there a reason for this ?is it taking up more memory ? Can I consolidate these somehow?
BTW I'm rooted and flash a lot of ROMs both touchwiz and aosp
I believe it is to ensure compatibility with older apps that were written for specific paths. As Android evolves the External SD card seems to get a different path name with each flavor.
No extra space is used as they are just symbolic links to the true path.
Yeah, like gharlane00 said, there's only one real path, the rest are links. You'll notice that they'll show something like "->somePath." That arrow indicates a link, sort of like a shortcut in Windows. It's aggravating when browsing, that's for sure. I've been trying to figure out how to get Root Explorer to get the proper path to my SD Card when I click on Storage.

Use free space in system partition

Hello,
I really like my G2 but i have one annoying issue:
When using one of those great custom roms i end up with pretty much free space on internal storage (system partition).
Since i'm having the 16GB-version i have ~10GB of usable space and currently ~7GB wasted space.
When using OSM-Maps 10GB is not much so i hope there is a way to utilize the free space on internal storage.
I have several ideas but i'm no dev and i hardly know about linux and even less about android.
So thats what i thought of:
Idea 1: Change partition size.
Well i think not a good idea but on my old HTC HD2 i could choose how the storage is partitioned. Don't know if this is possible on G2 and if changes there are not to risky.
Idea 2: Create a virtual SD-Card.
I know that this is possible somehow because i can do that with androidx86 on my tablet. So why dont write an app or zip-File-Patch that creates a custom-size virtual sd-card on internal storage/system partition. Problem is that i can't do that. Help of a dev would be needed.
Idea 3: Redirect folders.
On Linux and Windows it's possible to create "virtual folders" that are just links to the real folder that is stored somewhere else. Pretty handy on windows to move music-library to sd-card with full functions for example.
I think i've seen such things on android too when browsing my device. So why don't move for example the DCIM-Folder and others to internal storage this way?
But again a dev would be needed.
Idea 4: Copy some stuff with root and file explorer.
Thats maybe the simpliest way but i don't know how and where i can copy things. For example i've around 4GB of music on my device and if i can still access it i would have no problem to move it to internal storage somewhere. Maybe to ringtones folder or something like this.
But i'm not sure where i should put it to be on internal storage and access being still possible.
It would be great to further discuss this ideas with you and find some kind of solution.
Well i was able to evaluate on Android 4.2.2 that you can put your music folder into the system/media folder but it was only possible with aroma file manger in recovery.
Then the free space on internal storage gets decreased and the available storage gets increased. This means my files are now inside the system partition.
But there are problems:
Even with root total commander was not able to write things to this directory and even after setting permissions in aroma-fm after reboot i cant write there. So handling is painful.
The music app doesnt find the music now
Found that tool then to create a "link" on sdcard that links to the folder in system/media but that fails because it cannot link to this path.
Tool: http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/themes-apps/tool-directorybind-data-to-externalsd-t1410262
Overwhelming interest ...
Wrong section??
Well I've found your thread! Did you get anywhere with this?

Best strategy for storage mgmt using root and Link2SD

Love my Note 10.1, but was getting annoyed with the restrictions on moving files to SD. I have rooted my LG phone and used AParted and Link2SD to get around its storage issues. I'd like to do something similar with the Note but I have some Q's.
The tablet is rooted as of last night and Link2SD installed. I was hoping to have more options to "Move to SD" for some apps I have installed, but I don't. Or some apps that were moved before root only moved token files over to SD.
Should I move those back over to device, then moved them over wiht the new rooted status and will it move more over?
I'm planning on replacing my 16g card with a 32 g card, then using AParted to create an ext2 part and then I'll be able to create links to maximized my storage. How much should I reserve for system installations? 16gb? 20gb?
Thanks, any other Link2SD tips would be appreciated.

Can we mount ext partitions?

Hello all,
Now that we have root on our aesthetically unique device, I believe our next problem is storage space. I don't know about you all, but my aquos crystal has about 4 gb to work with when it comes to apps. Folder mount works well for me, as far as linking the obb files of large apps to the external sd card, but I still have to store a portion of any particular app on the phone's internal storage, which for me is no bueno. There has to be a better way. (For the sarcastic among you, buying another phone is not an option for me.)
Back in the day of Gingerbread, I remember having a whopping 300 mb of app storage to work with. I was able to partition a portion of my external sd to be used as internal storage for the device, solving all my storage woes. It worked so well, that I was sure that I would be able to find a similar method for the aquos crystal.
Now, I see that Link2sd is able to work with ext2, ext3, ext4, and fat32 partitions, so I figured I would attempt to create a ext2 partition on the micro sd to link to my internal storage directory. I used the Partition Wizard mini tool to create a ext2 partition in windows. Unfortunately after starting up Link2sd and selecting the format of my ext partition (ext2), Link2ds gives me an error telling me that the mount script was unable to be created. I've read that if we get this error, we can select ext4, even if we are using a different partition format. This got rid of the error. Mount script was successfully created. Autolink is selected, which should install new apps directly to the new partition. It doesn't, not for me at least.
I've read several guides around the internet dealing with this issue, as well as completely different methods besides Link2sd, and nothing seems to work for me. My goal in this is to supplement the capacity for apps. I would love to find a way to store all the library, devlik, and app files for each app on the external card, rather than having to keep some of each app on internal, and its larger counterparts on external. As you know, apps are constantly updated, and what seems to happen is if you install an app, then link it to the sd card, and the app gets updated in the future, the updated portion will get installed on the internal card, making your 'linked' app kind of pointless. What I'd really like to do is disregard the phone's internal storage altogether and use something like a 64 gb card as the phones internal storage. This may or may not be possible.
I'm not a programmer. I have a very basic understanding of how these things work. When it comes to things like this, I am literally standing on the shoulders of giants, and benefiting from their tenacity and willingness to share the fruits of their labors. Their exploits, and the internet that tells their story, have allowed me to root and modify practically every console and android device I've ever owned. With that being said, thank you to all that have been involved in unraveling the real potential of this device.
So, do any of you fine saints and scholars know of a way to get around the feeble storage capacity of our aquos crystal?

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