Database Users

Help me clean my phone

I am super anal about not having crap I dont need so I want to go in and all I want to save is my pics and my apps, I want to get rid of anything I dont need without deleting pertinent files. Can anyone help? If this has been posted please direct me to that post i cant seem to find anything. Thanks alot!!!

+1, I have the same question.
I know there is an option for formatting the SD card in settings. But I wonder if there are additional steps to complete this without harm. It would be nice if anyone can provide step-by-step instruction of how to do this.

So, you want to delete useless folders on your SD card? Most of them are used by Android, if you delete them, they'll come right back.

i noticed that a lot of the folders are for apps I no longer have so I went ahead and deleted those. I also had 6 backups for ROMS so i deleted 4 of them. After that I moved pics to my laptop and now I am only using 2 GB, removed tons of space!!

I covered this in one of my guides....
what I would do:
backup ANY/ALL things to my PC.
go to settings and unmount/format both internal and external sd cards
ODIN to JFD
move my update b and rom of choice to root, flash....
then move any important files back afterwards.
Phone always felt a lot smoother getting rid of the gunk from day to day stuff.

Thanks, I'll do that too!
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

s15274n said:
I covered this in one of my guides....
what I would do:
backup ANY/ALL things to my PC.
go to settings and unmount/format both internal and external sd cards
ODIN to JFD
move my update b and rom of choice to root, flash....
then move any important files back afterwards.
Phone always felt a lot smoother getting rid of the gunk from day to day stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but you are still relying on the user KNOWING what is important and what isn't.. If all they have that matters to them is videos, pictures, and music, they can just copy those, follow your instructions, and copy back anything that they deleted they may have needed..
In my opinion, if SPACE is what you want, this app is by far the best. DiskUsage shows you a visual representation of how your space is taken up. This pic may show it better:
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"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
From there, you either just click or long press on a folder or file you don't want, delete it, and move on. I love it so much because it is like a program I use on my mac called disk inventory X, which is what I used to scan my phones SD until I found that app. I wish there was a windows equivalent.
If you are anal and just sick of having a ton of folders you don't need that aren't really taking up space, I haven't found a better solution than figuring out what the files in that folder are for, or doing what s15274n recommended and starting fresh..
Then again, when a rom TRULY gets stable for me, wiping and reflashing will usually get me different results(suddenly worse battery life, or something doesn't work, etc), and I'll have to restore a nandroid. I typically only wipe and reflash if I have a problem with the way it runs.

This is the way I do it:
1. copy all personal files (music, pictures, etc.) to computer.
2. Flash JFD.
3. Format SD card.
4. return all personal files.
5. redownload apps.
You can also backup all your apps and copy the titanium backup folder to computer. That way you don't have to redownload your apps.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

God... I wanna do this but I don't want to flash back to jfd too much of a hassle I'm on ics
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda premium

xriderx66 said:
God... I wanna do this but I don't want to flash back to jfd too much of a hassle I'm on ics
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm too lazy to do this too. But there's really an improvement in speed when I do this.

What is 'system data'?

Can any one shed some light on what system data is on my N4s storage?
I assumed it was the os but that's partitioned and I then have the 5.8gb that's available...
Thanks!
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"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Most likely the OS.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

The OS takes up part of the 8gb to leave me with 5.8 though.. Anyone else?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

adaimespechip said:
The OS takes up part of the 8gb to leave me with 5.8 though.. Anyone else?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using CWM and if you do, what version are you using?
When I just got the phone, I had the same problem as you after I install a buggy version of CWM. Basically CWM made a backup to some folder that there's no way for you, CWM, or the system to tell where the heck it is.
I got rid of that by restoring my phone to stock then started using TWRP (try it, you'll like it)
Edit: Also, look at /data instead of /sdcard
/sdcard is an emulated folder, /data is more accurate since it's where stuffs are actually stored.

thats HUGE for system data. i only have 270MB used for it

Yeah I did but that was so long ago.. It could be that I guess. You suggest erasing the whole thing and restoring my apps?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Well, I got that back in CWM 6.0.1.6, which is like a month a go. A life time for the Nexus 4. There is a way to trace these folders using ADB, but I wiped my entire phone before I read the post so I don't know if the method works.
What I did was wiping everything (including system) then restore to stock. It was a little bit overdone, I guess restore to stock would do the trick. Just remember to back up /sdcard to your computer.
Edit: I was so annoyed by that wasted 1.7MB that I basically nuked the phone lol
bassmadrigal said:
If you are rooted and have adb set up on your computer, you can find out what folders are using the most space by using the commands below, then change into that directory and run the command again.
Code:
adb
su
cd /
du -hd 1
--find the largest folder and change directory (cd) into it - if you find you no longer want to continue in the folder you are in, you can cd .. to get to the previous folder or cd / to get back to the root of the filesystem--
Code:
cd large_folder
du -hd 1
rinse
repeat
????
profit
This will allow you to find what folders are using the most space and can eventually lead you to any large files and can then let you find out if you can delete them or if you need to keep them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

What application are you using to get that information?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

netsyd said:
What application are you using to get that information?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DiskUsage 3.4
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

mariosraptor said:
DiskUsage 3.4
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What he said - one of my must have apps..
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

KyraOfFire said:
Well, I got that back in CWM 6.0.1.6, which is like a month a go. A life time for the Nexus 4. There is a way to trace these folders using ADB, but I wiped my entire phone before I read the post so I don't know if the method works.
What I did was wiping everything (including system) then restore to stock. It was a little bit overdone, I guess restore to stock would do the trick. Just remember to back up /sdcard to your computer.
Edit: I was so annoyed by that wasted 1.7MB that I basically nuked the phone lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Will try when I'm back home!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Okay no luck - Have totally reset the device and still have 1900mb of system data showing....
EDIT: Fixed - Flashed new CWM recovery and it WAS a backup i'd taken weeks ago.. deleted it and now have 200mb system data.

adaimespechip said:
Okay no luck - Have totally reset the device and still have 1900mb of system data showing....
EDIT: Fixed - Flashed new CWM recovery and it WAS a backup i'd taken weeks ago.. deleted it and now have 200mb system data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So is it safe to assume that the space is from backups? I posted my situation here

There didn't seem to be a clear answer here so :
System data is the space taken up by files outside of the special sdcard directory.
Android is treating the emulated SD card as being 8Gb/16Gb (- the hidden partitions) and not taking into account space taken up by files outside of the special directories.
In the Settings > Storage screen you will also notice that the free space and used space do not add up, this difference is the 'system data'.
Apps from Google and those with root access commonly write to directories outside of the sdcard.
Google Music is particularly guilty of taking up space without reporting it properly, from the Settings > Apps menu you can see how much space the music application is taking up, and clear it if desired.
Backups are also likely to be eating a large amount of that space, from CWM or TWRP or another source.
These are outside of the sdcard to prevent you from accidentally deleting them.
They can normally be move/removed from within the application that made them, or with a root file manager.
You probably want to keep some working backups, I generally store them on a cloud service or external disk with only the latest on the phone.
You will not get the 'system data' down to 0 as some space is for actual system files, you should be able to get it below 500Mb easily, or just be happy once you know where the space has gone.
I hope that helped.

Play Store - Couldn't install on USB storage or SD card.

After downloading Gameloft Modern Combat 4 for the for last hour the installation failed like this:
{
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"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
What should I do to make sure it doesn't happen again?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

You cannot save apps or anything from Google Play to your external storage.
aryehzev said:
After downloading Gameloft Modern Combat 4 for the for last hour the installation failed like this:
View attachment 1924700
What should I do to make sure it doesn't happen again?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Asus_USA said:
You cannot save apps or anything from Google Play to your external storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just installed it normally to the internal sdcard and i still got that error
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Did you find a fix? Mine is sporadically giving this error also from normal Google Play updates.

Martin27S said:
Did you find a fix? Mine is sporadically giving this error also from normal Google Play updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Restart the tablet and it should work normally again.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

Work around...
Asus_USA said:
You cannot save apps or anything from Google Play to your external storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unmounting the SD card allows updates and installs. A PIA workaround and not a solution but it works, thanks. Kids have 2 identical Note 2's, 1 has the problem, 1 doesn't.

Apologies for reviving a semi-old thread, but I recently had this problem and a permanent solution came up on this site:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/0...on-usb-storage-or-sd-card-problem-on-android/
In essence, there's a temporary file called smdl2tmp1.asec. The file is used during installations and removed afterwards. Sometimes, the file doesn't get removed and this prevents most of the apps from installing normally. Deleting any instances of it you could find should fix the problem, but you must be rooted to do so.
I think my issue first arose when I was updating an app, but the phone crashed and left the update mid-stride. The delete command probably wasn't issued on time, making this temporary file a more permanent one.

Other fix
Just encountered the same problem guys. Searched all over and only solutions I've found were (time-consuming) unmounting the SD Card or deleting the smdl2tmp1.asec file.
Since I can't be bothered to UNMOUNT the SD Card everytime I install the app and the mentioned file can not be found in my system (Note 3) I found 3rd solution which solved my problem.
It works only on phones which have external SD Card.
Here's what you need to do (instructions for dummies )
1. Connect your phone or SD Card to your PC
2. Copy (most important folders and files to your hard drive - photos, music, videos, apk's etc. (basically do a backup of those files)
3. Disconnect the phone from your PC
4. Go to settings in your phone (Settings>Storage>SD Card)
5. Format your SD Card.
6. Copy back the folders and files you backed up on your PC.
It worked for me, so I thought I'd share it with those who don't find "unmounting" and deleting smdl2tmp1.asec file helpful.
Hope this helps.
Good luck!!

[Q] SafeStrap uses up internal memory

When i create slot and load rom reboot my internal shows full is there a fix for this or what am i doing wrong

From what I have read, once SS is installed internal sd gets improperly reported. Looking in a file manager will give you an accurate idea of how much space you have left.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Yep, only way around I've seen is to flash on the stock slot. That's what I did and haven't had any issues.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

It is but it's ok
With Safestrap, when you create a slot it artificially creates a large "file" like a partition for use on the internal drive. With that it segments into the three parts. Data, system, cache. When you install a rom on that slot it is placed in this designated space. The size of the selection you make at the creation of the slot will determine how much apps you can install. So when you activate a slot, Safestraps runs everything from that "partition." In regard to our situation, we are stuck with stock rom deviations so it is like duplicating the same large system over again for each slot. That's why it eats up large chunks.
***WARNING***: Never touch or alter the stock rom slot. This is fail safe fall back in case something messes up on your custom rom slot. Sometimes you have to switch to it to get the kernel to activate something like gps, wifi, radio drivers. Plus I have had a few instances where I install a rom and it doesn't work properly. With my back against the wall because I have to go to work, I just switch to the safe slot and use it for work. I only put the "must have" apps on so it is minimally altered.

danthepunman said:
With my back against the wall because I have to go to work, I just switch to the safe slot and use it for work. I only put the "must have" apps on so it is minimally altered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
correction to above (just for this one word... the rest of the concept is correct)... you switch to the "unsafe" slot and use it for work... stock slot is the unsafe place to flash... you want to keep that untouched... slot 1/slot 2/etc, are the safe slots to go nuts and brick your slot.
look at the color of the text when you select your slot
stock slot ... red means stop ... you are on the unsafe side of safestrap... don't make changes here unless you are experienced and ready to take some time to odin your way out of trouble
slot 1/slot 2 etc... green means go ... you are on the safe side of safestrap... go nuts... you always have a quick and easy way out with recovery and reboot to stock slot
And yeah... about the memory thing... when you flash a rom in a slot... and then check your storage in settings ... it looks full only because the slot is small and you are only looking at that partition ... use root browser or something similar to check your actual free memory from any slot... it's not a glitch or a problem or a situation where all your memory is used up... it's supposed to be that way so you know when your rom slot (slot 1/slot 2 etc...)is getting full... and you're rooted so you have access to whatever you need to look at whenever you want.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
You can see in the above pics taken a few minutes apart... the top pic shows a huge purple bar having 33Gb as misc. ... that's the part of your system that the rom can't see because you are in the slot 1 partition... then if you check it in root browser you will see it's actually 12Gb free memory... (keep in mind I have some huge HD movies and a few roms in my phone , that's why I only have 12Gb free)

Thanks yall! I installed SS last night and ROM'd this morning and noticed this and was like holy crap! I somewhat remember reading of others talking about it but again thanks for the detailed description.
Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

bskarpa said:
Thanks yall! I installed SS last night and ROM'd this morning and noticed this and was like holy crap! I somewhat remember reading of others talking about it but again thanks for the detailed description.
Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i understand that the system doesn't see the space because of safestrap. but how do i override this so that i can continue to install the apps i want?

No way to override... When you create the ROM slot... choose the largest data partition at 4GB... move apps you don't use often to sdcard...
Don't understand how anybody can be using over 4GB for apps but to each their own... maybe contact hashcode about upping the limit on ROM slots to be more customizable for those only using one or two slots?

No SD card detected issue/error

Hey,
My phone was working fine until this morning, now I can't use camera, download anything, use the gallery or other things that require storage however i can take screenshots use snap gallery instead of stock...
How would i fix this?
Example of the problem:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Any help would be appreciated.

Probably gonna need a factory reset, maybe a full flash to stock.

Well, considering the nexus 4 doesn't have an external SD card but rather a partition on the internal storage called sdcard there should be a way to fix this on the software side. Are you rooted? If yes use es file explorer and try to access your storage from the root directory (/sdcard/).
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Free mobile app

DrFredPhD said:
Probably gonna need a factory reset, maybe a full flash to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oxious119 said:
Well, considering the nexus 4 doesn't have an external SD card but rather a partition on the internal storage called sdcard there should be a way to fix this on the software side. Are you rooted? If yes use es file explorer and try to access your storage from the root directory (/sdcard/).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I'm rooted. I'm on Paranoid Android 4.3
I've used Solid Explorer (like es explorer) and I can access sdcard and all my files are still there

So it seems the partition is not broken. I think the /sdcard/ path is a symlink. The actual destination on my device is /storage/emulated/legacy. Maybe the link to /sdcard/ is broken. Usually apps just access /sdcard/, might be the reason why it's not working. I'm not familiar with that kinda stuff, though. Maybe someone else can shed some light.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Free mobile app

Oxious119 said:
So it seems the partition is not broken. I think the /sdcard/ path is a symlink. The actual destination on my device is /storage/emulated/legacy. Maybe the link to /sdcard/ is broken. Usually apps just access /sdcard/, might be the reason why it's not working. I'm not familiar with that kinda stuff, though. Maybe someone else can shed some light.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah /sdcard/ is a symlink hopefully someone can reply with advice

Due to the fact that you can access the symlink with a file manager I doubt the problem is the symlink itself but maybe the permissions?
This is what mine look like. I've used script manager app because it shows permissions and symlinks easier.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Free mobile app

Dirty reflash the ROM from recovery, should fix the problem.

Lol your code signature is not very good, are you a beginner? Delphi?

dwegiel said:
Dirty reflash the ROM from recovery, should fix the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, I'll try that in a bit.
Mashed_Potatoes said:
Lol your code signature is not very good, are you a beginner? Delphi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seriously... a signature is limited on characters and this is just a simple little if statement; it's not supposed to be good code and clearly you're the beginner if you don't know what language it is and question if it's delphi.

Hyflex said:
Hmmm, I'll try that in a bit.
Seriously... a signature is limited on characters and this is just a simple little if statement; it's not supposed to be good code and clearly you're the beginner if you don't know what language it is and question if it's delphi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
still done in a kinda lame way.

Still nothing
Sent from my Nexus 4

Hyflex said:
Still nothing
Sent from my Nexus 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try flashing a stock firmware to see if it solves the problem.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2527142
Enviado de meu Nexus 4 usando Tapatalk

Maybe of interest
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-4/help/external-storage-error-t2037141/page3
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