Safestrap System Memory Fix - Verizon Galaxy Note 3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I wanted to know if there was a fix for Safestrap system memory issue, where the phone shows it has only a limited amount of memory when it has a lot more. Has anyone figured this out yet? Or is there another rom flashing method I could use and avoid Safestrap all together?

mellis8 said:
I wanted to know if there was a fix for Safestrap system memory issue, where the phone shows it has only a limited amount of memory when it has a lot more. Has anyone figured this out yet? Or is there another rom flashing method I could use and avoid Safestrap all together?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you only use the stock slot, then memory is displayed correctly.

njfoses said:
If you only use the stock slot, then memory is displayed correctly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought we were supposed to not touch the stock slot.

mellis8 said:
I thought we were supposed to not touch the stock slot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many people (myself included) are using only the stock slot with no issues. Just make a backup first.

so the stock slot can be deleted and a new rom flashed over it? I also thought we werent supposed to mess with the stock slot
Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

The stock slot is saved as stock for a reason... If you consider yourself a fairly inexperienced user then leave it alone and it will always be your easy way out in case of problems with the slots you are flashing ... it will be the slot you can take OTA updates to without going thru the whole ODIN process etc...
If you are comfortable with the ins and outs of ODIN and Backups and getting yourself out of a soft brick then don't worry about keeping a virgin stock slot.
mellis8 said:
I wanted to know if there was a fix for Safestrap system memory issue,
not an issue ... it's supposed to be that way
where the phone shows it has only a limited amount of memory when it has a lot more.
it's showing the memory left in the slot you are in so you know when you are running out of space
Has anyone figured this out yet?
just use a root browser to see your total memory
Or is there another rom flashing method I could use and avoid Safestrap all together?
you can't avoid Safestrap on a Verizon Note 3 at this time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
don't worry about the memory showing exactly what it is supposed to in the slot you are using... it is showing how much room you have left in that particular slot... and it's like that on purpose so you have a reference... you are rooted... just use root browser (or many others) to check your overall memory totals whenever you want to.

I guess wut I was really wanting to know is...why r we given such a limited amount of memory to work with per slot. For instance I never use more than 3 slots, and that includes the stock one. Is there a way to take memory from slots not in use. Im sure that's probly a no but never hurts to ask. im currently trying to block ads on my device using the lucky patcher apps hosts file but it wont work becuz im low on memory. what am I supposed to be deleting so that to install? or does anyone have a recomendation for another ad blocking app? all the others ive tried r no longer supported. Thank u and I apologize if these r stupid questions
Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Same question
NinjaPerv said:
I guess wut I was really wanting to know is...why r we given such a limited amount of memory to work with per slot. For instance I never use more than 3 slots, and that includes the stock one. Is there a way to take memory from slots not in use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same question. I only use two slots total. Could the empty slots be deleted and the space reused ?
Also running out of space.

Have you guys read through the OP of this thread? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47849166.
There is step by step instructions on how to use stock slot as your daily driver and get rid of all other slots so all memory is freed up.
Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Safestrap uses a couple of mounting tricks where the non-stock slots are just giant files stored in the p25 partition (the /data mount point of the so-called "stock" slot). It absolutely does not re-partition the device.
That has a couple of implications.
The first one is that available flash memory space disappears from the stock slot just as soon as you create a non-stock slot - you just created a couple of giant (but empty) files. Even though you might not have installed a ROM in there (yet), you have used up file space "in the stock slot".
If you are booted into a non-stock slot, you will see those giant file blobs underneath the /ss mount point.
(they are somewhere under /data if you are booted into the stock slot or in the recovery - perhaps /data/media/ss. I can't remember right now). Don't touch them unless you are absolutely sure you know what you are doing - manage them using the Safestrap recovery, not external tools (if you can avoid it).
The second implication is that because the size of those blobs is fixed when you create them, they don't expand or contract depending on usage. You are stuck with that size*.
Third, it is quite correct behavior for whatever ROM you have booted in a non-stock slot to report free space remaining inside those file blobs because that's exactly how much you have inside the container the currently-booted ROM is operating in. It does not make sense to report the free space of the outer container**. Safestrap works by "fooling" the ROM to believe that there is nothing unusual going on.
Fourth, there is something important for everybody who uses Safestrap to understand: because those blob files are just normal files inside the p25 (or "stock slot /data mount point") partition, the stock slot /data filesystem needs to be able to mount correctly so that the blob files can be loopback mounted. (It gets mounted somewhere else instead of /data by the Safestrap trickery when you are using a non-stock slot). That means that - dog forbid - if the stock slot /data partition files system ever gets corrupted so that it will not mount - you will simultaneously lose the ability to boot ANY ROM on the phone. Or get access to your backups if you have not put them on an external SD card. You will be forced to re-install pure stock using Odin/Kies, and re-root the phone if you do not keep a good nandroid backup on external storage***
Even the Safestrap "recovery" (which is not a recovery at all) is engineered so that a ROM file containing a boot partition will appear to flash correctly, but what actually happens is that the bits for the "boot" partition are sent to /dev/null - All Safestrap ROMs are booting off the stock kernel and stock ramdisk.
Hope some of this rambling helped. Footnotes below.
* Deleting unused slots will free up space in the stock slot. And you can change the size of non-stock slots, but only by:
- make a nandroid backup
- delete the rom slot (using Safestrap - don't fiddle with the blobs unless you know exactly what you are doing)
- re-create the rom slot using the size you prefer
- restore the nandroid backup to the newly created slot.
**If you want to find out the size used/available in the "outer container" while booted into a non-stock slot, you can (inside a terminal emulator or using adb) do this:
$ df -k /data
$ df -k /ss
(The first one tells you what the current slot is using out of its total, and the second one will tell you how much is being used in the "outer" container).
*** So, get your nandroid backups onto external storage. Technically speaking, the "recovery" portion of Safestrap lives inside the /system partition - so it might be possible to rebuild the stock slot if you made and kept a Nandroid backup of the stock slot and copied it to external storage. If you don't do that, it's "start from square one" time for you Odin/re-rooting/etc. Note also that if you used Kingo to root, and that site has gone down in the meantime, you will be back to pure stock with no ability to restore your custom ROMs. (That's the downside of using an "online" rooting method - you can't back it up for a rainy day.)
.
---------- Post added at 09:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:11 AM ----------
bkinnd said:
Have you guys read through the OP of this thread? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47849166.
There is step by step instructions on how to use stock slot as your daily driver and get rid of all other slots so all memory is freed up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If folks want to put dev ROMs in their stock slot, that's their decision.
But I will make a recommendation that seems to be missing from those howto threads:
Using Safestrap's recovery, make a Nandroid backup of the stock slot while it still has "lightly rooted stock" installed, name it so that it will be easily identifiable in the future, and get a copy of it off of the phone for safe keeping
You may never use it. But when you suddenly have a need for it, you will know exactly why you did this. One of those "hear me now und believe me later" deals.

NinjaPerv said:
so the stock slot can be deleted and a new rom flashed over it? I also thought we werent supposed to mess with the stock slot
Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What a lot of people, including myself, are doing is installing the ROM you want to be your daily driver into slot 1 or 2 then making a backup and restoring that backup in the stock slot.

Related

Guide REQUEST! apps2sd

I read, and read, and read. Most of the chefs cook this mod into their ROM's but i am using the desire from modaco, so i`m left out.
As far as i understand, you have to create 3 Partitions on the SD Card:
- swap
- Ext2/3?
- FAT32
After that you do some shell editing and that's about it.
I`m sure some are wondering as i do if:
- Can i create the partitions in Windows and then place the card back into the phone?
- If i install apps2sd is backup still required? Or will a new ROM Flash automatically use the installed apps?
So this is an appeal to someone with the heart and knowledge to help us out with a guide.
Thanks
Found this thread, so basically it should work after flashing that ROM on top of the current OS.
You do not need the swap partition... just an ext partition (size your choice)... the rest vfat... and you partition it using Amon_RA's recovery...
And when you flash a new ROM, you might need to re-enable App2SD in that ROM to see the apps installed in the sd ext partition...
a related question.... can the files of the existing apps be moved from /data to the new partition /sd and still function.....or do they need to be reinstalled?
I highly doubt you can just move them...
britoso said:
a related question.... can the files of the existing apps be moved from /data to the new partition /sd and still function.....or do they need to be reinstalled?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tried this... was not successful!
I can't even get the "SD Secondary" to show up?!?
I've wiped everything
partitioned:
swap 0
ext 640
then installed a fresh rom I copied over and no "SD Secondary" showing up on the phone... any ideas?
I followed these steps exactly... (minus the memory number difference)
part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P3T2mf5Pu8
part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdKBmWU-ALg
Guys,
If you want to use A2SD. Enothmer's new ROM seems to be the easiest at the moment, BUT many smart devs are putting efforts towards this.
Basically.
Copy your SD to your computer.
Partition it via Recovery.
512mb 96 swap our my settings
do an EXT2 to 3
I did a 3 to 4, you can use 3 though.
Re copy your stuff from computer BACK to your SD.
WIPE everything via recovery. factory, EXT partition, battery, davlik.
Flash Enom's 1.7.1 rom, Log in, Go into spare parts, click disk mgmt, check A2SD stuff, reboot. Your good to go. Use titanium back up, download, whatever.
Again, other good versions should be coming out soon. I think of the current models Enom's seems to be the easiest.
Yeah I pretty much gave up on it for now... it will be more worth it in the future when I get a larger SD card and my list of install apps goes up. For now I just don't go download a ton of apps...

[Q] Partitioning Question

I have a question that is more android-in-general than Nook specific. I am trying this out on my Nook first, as it is an unbrickable device, before tinkering with my target device (a phone). My phone also does not have Clockworkmod recovery support, so a bricked device would be fatal.
I am attempting to increase the memory available for installed apps. My phone has limited space, but a bunch of pre-installed junk that I thought I might be able to get rid of in order to make more space for more apps. Knowing that simply deleting these pre-installed apps from the /system folder does really nothing, I set about making and editing an image file from the /system partition, then reflashing this image back to phone. As I am trying this on the Nook first, here is what I did:
1. Adb into the Nook and dd the system partition to a system.img file on the sd card.
2. Copy the system.img file to my desktop and mount the image.
3. Edit the image, removing the LiveWallpapers.apk file (a hefty ~3M file), then save the result back out as a new system.img.
4. Copy the new system.img to the sd card, then adb back into the Nook and dd the system.img from the sd card back to the system partition.
Everything appeared to work fine. The Nook boots, runs fine, and the LiveWallpapers.apk file is nowhere to be seen. Problem is, there is no difference in the available memory on the device.
In retrospect, I suppose I should not have expected there to be a difference. I am under the impression that the system partition is a read-only partition, and that extra space on this partition is not available for installation of apps. I am guessing that in order to increase the memory available, I would need to resize the data partition.
So, ultimately, my question is whether or not this is correct. Do I need to resize the data partition in order to actually get more memory available for apps, or is there an easier way? If I would need to resize the partition, how would I go about doing this, and would I need to take this extra space away from the system partition (the extra memory would need to come from somewhere, I imagine). I would envision removing bloatware from the system partition, shrinking that partition as I would no longer need that much space, and giving that extra memory to the data partition. Bear in mind that I need to do all of this through adb as I will not have Clockworkmod recovery on my target device.
Alternatively, I could be out my gourd and none of this makes any sense. Feel free to let me know if this is the case.
Thanks!
You've got it right.
The Nook emmc has partitions for boot, rom, system, data, and media. Originally data was 1g and media (/emmc under CM7) was 5g, newer models have reversed this. Data is where apps and their data go.
There are threads here about repartitioning newer Nooks with lots of good discussion. It sounds like you are capable (or want to be capable) of creating a custom partition scheme; there's enough info there for you to do that.
Experimenting with an 8g SD card might be a good place to get familiar with the tools. The "size-agnostic" installer will use a pre-partitioned SD if it finds one IIRC.
Good luck!
Sent from my NookColor using xda premium
xdajunkman said:
I have a question that is more android-in-general than Nook specific. I am trying this out on my Nook first, as it is an unbrickable device, before tinkering with my target device (a phone). My phone also does not have Clockworkmod recovery support, so a bricked device would be fatal.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just wanted to re-iterate the importance of what you said here.
I have sent several people off to buy Nook Colors who were interested in developing for android, for this very reason.
Nothing else you can get your hands on ( to my knowledge ) is as safe of a dev-tool as the Nook Color, because of the first boot to sd-card.
It doesn't matter what you do to it, at the end of the day you'll have a working device unless you throw it down the stairs or something.
Bonus points for running an sd-install directly, because when you hose it you just reflash a new microsd card.
Can't reformat the card because windows only reads the boot partition? No problem - if you still have your Nook Color with it's stock software just boot it up and pop the microsd card in. The B & N software in the Nook Color will just format the card, without a care in the world for any existing partition schemes or whatnot.
You're on the right track for what you're trying to do, as the previous poster has pointed out, so just wanted to give you another vote of confidence letting you know you're doing all the right things for all the right reasons.
Thanks for the replies!
You know, I actually did the repartition of my Nook using the CWR zip file. I hadn't thought to go look through the original thread for the manual instructions. As you pointed out, I found the directions here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=13971291&postcount=110
The only problem is that his instructions require that you boot from the SD card in order to manipulate your interal memory. This is fine and good on the Nook, but not possible with my phone. Any idea what would happen if I tried to repartition the internal memory while booting from the internal memory? Seems that this would not be possible....or at least wrought with peril. I think that my phone can boot into a fastboot mode, but have not tried that...anyone know if this would help?
Perhaps I am just playing with fire here and need to settle for cramped memory space on my phone. I am just too accustomed to my 5GB of available app space on my Nook.
Thanks again.
Well, after some more Googling, I think I might abandon the repartitioning bit. I think I am likely to brick my phone, even though I think I could do it manually on the Nook. In addition, it appears that many phones are set up so that the kernel resets the internal memory partitioning on boot....so I might also need to mess with the kernel to get this to stick. This is beyond my skill set and really not worth my turning my phone into a paperweight.
I thought of a bit of a workaround, however. As I can extract and edit the image of the system partition, I will simply install the apps that I will eventually want on my phone on my Nook instead, extract the apk's from the Nook, then insert them into the system image file from my phone. Reflashing the system image then puts these apps into the system partition instead of the data partition, effectively saving me hoards of space on my data partition. A bit laborious, but for several core apps that I know I will want and that are memory hogs, I think it will be worth it.
Anyone see any problem with this approach?

Delete WebTop Partition

Hi, I'm rocking the latest CM7 nightly, which doesn't support WebTop, so I have a 1GB+ partition just taking up space of my precious storage (which is very limited since I only have a 2GB SD card for now). I just read this article, could this be used to get rid of the webtop partition (and possibly shrink the /data as well)?
+1
Sent from my MB860 using XDA
nm, was thinking erase and not deleting the partition.
CaelanT said:
nm, was thinking erase and not deleting the partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I saw it in the update email, lol
even deleting the partition, the memory of it won't be relocated to anywhere else, DONT DO THAT IF YOU ARENT A DEVELOPER WHO KNOWS WHAT IS DOING! =)
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
You need to be able to edit the partition tables somehow, deleting the webtop partition and expanding the sdcard partition. Not sure how we can get a utility on the phone to do it. Id imagine it would be best to do it from a recovery so you wouldn't be using the internal storage partition while trying to do it. I don't think any simple and easy solution exists for this.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
I'm not a dev, but I'm quite knoelegable in general stuff (like partition maps, filesystems, etc) and a fast learner. That said, your right on that I probably shouldn't just go out and try it, and since I don't want to lose my little baby to a hardbrick, I was never planning on trying anything out. I posted the link to see if anyone had tried that method on an Atrix, or if someone knoelegable (or with a bunch of high end smartphones lying around) could try. I also must admit I haven't really read the thread & post linked in the article: I have a very busy week and this isn't something to do in a rush.
I'm also interested in this. I'll be following this thread to see if a solution comes up.
Silly suggestion: how about taking the card out and hooking it up with a proper PC. Copy the contents out of it to a temporary location. Then reformat the card to the full capacity and then re-copy all the items back in after. Reformat may have some issues if you are using Windows to try and rid of the EXT partition, but there are plenty of Partitioning programs out there that will kill it (including the native command prompt one called Diskpart).
bchliu said:
Silly suggestion: how about taking the card out and hooking it up with a proper PC. Copy the contents out of it to a temporary location. Then reformat the card to the full capacity and then re-copy all the items back in after. Reformat may have some issues if you are using Windows to try and rid of the EXT partition, but there are plenty of Partitioning programs out there that will kill it (including the native command prompt one called Diskpart).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We are talking about the internal storage (which is not removable as far as I know), not the MicroSD card.
adriangb said:
We are talking about the internal storage (which is not removable as far as I know), not the MicroSD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The OP: "Hi, I'm rocking the latest CM7 nightly, which doesn't support WebTop, so I have a 1GB+ partition just taking up space of my precious storage (which is very limited since I only have a 2GB SD card for now). I just read this article, could this be used to get rid of the webtop partition (and possibly shrink the /data as well)?"
Notice the SD card comment..
bchliu said:
The OP: "Hi, I'm rocking the latest CM7 nightly, which doesn't support WebTop, so I have a 1GB+ partition just taking up space of my precious storage (which is very limited since I only have a 2GB SD card for now). I just read this article, could this be used to get rid of the webtop partition (and possibly shrink the /data as well)?"
Notice the SD card comment..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but the webtop partition is on internal storage (unless you are using webtop2sd).
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
bchliu said:
The OP: "Hi, I'm rocking the latest CM7 nightly, which doesn't support WebTop, so I have a 1GB+ partition just taking up space of my precious storage (which is very limited since I only have a 2GB SD card for now). I just read this article, could this be used to get rid of the webtop partition (and possibly shrink the /data as well)?"
Notice the SD card comment..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was only to point out a possible reason for which I would want to do this, since I probably wouldn't care too much about 1GB of internal storage if I had a 32GB SD card.
U can format the partition by fastboot erase webtop command but other then that u cant use that space for other purposes and as far as i can tell there are certain number of partitions in atrix system (ever one is for some specific thing).
SO my suggestion is DO not completely delete the partition insted make it so small (as small as possible) and reallocate all of the free space to system partition (where user and preinstalled apps are installed. this way no natural order of flashing and backup will be disturbed and we will get extra space for applications and stuff.
Possible problems (unable to flash SBF through RSDlite) {Who flash thins via RDS now any ways ?}
if flashed rom with webtop (bluer bassed ROMs) then there is strong possibility that webtop partition so small unable to flash webtop causing aborted flasing process.
xateeq said:
U can format the partition by fastboot erase webtop command but other then that u cant use that space for other purposes and as far as i can tell there are certain number of partitions in atrix system (ever one is for some specific thing).
SO my suggestion is DO not completely delete the partition insted make it so small (as small as possible) and reallocate all of the free space to system partition (where user and preinstalled apps are installed. this way no natural order of flashing and backup will be disturbed and we will get extra space for applications and stuff.
Possible problems (unable to flash SBF through RSDlite) {Who flash thins via RDS now any ways ?}
if flashed rom with webtop (bluer bassed ROMs) then there is strong possibility that webtop partition so small unable to flash webtop causing aborted flasing process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, I hadn't thought of that. CWM flashs could probably work fine, or be modified to do so, but sbf I don't know, and sbf is useful to recover from a softbrick (I had to do so once, I don't remember th exact circumstance thou).
Some dev who knoes what he is doing would have to check this and see if there is a possible workaround (like the one you gave).
Sent from my MB860
in soft brick u can access fastboot so no need to flash SBF just flash recover and from it mount storage as a mass storage on pc and copy rom and flash. i do it all the times.
last time i used rsd was to flash unlock bootloader sbf.
xateeq said:
in soft brick u can access fastboot so no need to flash SBF just flash recover and from it mount storage as a mass storage on pc and copy rom and flash. i do it all the times.
last time i used rsd was to flash unlock bootloader sbf.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I know, I don't remember what tje exact circumstance was, but maybe I just had the sbf laying around, it's irrelevant to the thread anyways (as is this post). I was just trying to point out that it's just better if we can keep the sbf fladhing capibility, even if it's only to be able to return it under warranty (althou I'm pretty sure you can also flash stock ROMs under CWM, granted someone made a zip out of it).
Maybe there is a way of tricking the phone into thinking the webtop partition is an sd card after it's re-formatted. Like formatting it into a fat32 partition and have some command to mount it.
i will never use webtop, its just some space useless to me =[
i have found a purfect solution to webtop extras space problem.
BUY A BIGGER CAPACITY MEMORY CARD
Every thing els dont have to change, give developers some time they will find some webtop replacement and we r gona love it.

App2SD

I've owned my OG EVO since launch day, and have been rooted/flashing various ROMs ever since.
I've always had the app "App2SD" loaded, to make moving apps to external storage easier.
Looking at flashing other ROMs recently, I noticed some talk about supporting A2SD naively, and scripts and such. What is the difference between using the app or this naive solution?
Sent via Tapatalk on my E4G
The app ur referring to only moves the data for apps to the SD card, if u use dark tremors a2sd it moves the entire app and all its data. U must have a partitioned SD card to use it though.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
Hmmm... So DarkTremors A2SD is something that is built into the ROM? I guess I'm wondering how one would utilize that built-in capability after the ROM is loaded...
I didn't realize the Apps2SD only moved the data. It seemed to move the app too by looking at free space and how it was affected by using it...
if i understand it right... its not "included" in the rom. You need to download and flash the script, but the rom and kernel of most roms support it. It is well worth it. I did this not long after rooting. I partitioned my 32GB sdcard and flashed DT a2sd.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=715938
Thanks for the link I've seen a boat load of posts scattered about but never saw one dedicated topic. Looks like I have some reading to do so I can figure out what, if any, drawbacks or quirks there are to using this.
Thanks again!
Sent via Tapatalk on my E4G
So I've made it through a couple of pages on the linked thread, and the answer may be there (but I haven't gotten to it yet)... How does partitioning the SD card affect Nandroid backups/restore or Titanium Backup, if at all? I know that Nandroid has an "SD-ext" option... I assume this is for backup/restore of the EXT formatted portion of the card? Are Nandroid backups stored on the FAT formatted partitions still?
Sorry for all of the questions; just things I thought of before trudging through 34 pages of forum posts...
Sent via Tapatalk on my E4G
Am i able to do this with the stock sd card that came with the evo ?
Yes, but unless your ROM supports Dark Tremors A2SD, the system won't be able to utilize the EXT formatted space on the card, from what I am gathering...
Sent via Tapatalk on my E4G
im running Miui. Think it supports it. Its just the how.
Unfortunately,I can't answer that yet. Haven't read enough of the previously linked forum topic
Sent via Tapatalk on my E4G
Nandroid and tb remain on the storage partition, the FATS32 or whichever one your recovery uses. The ext- partition holds just the apps and data. Wont affect your backups in any way to my knowledge. Remember to back up all your data you want to keep to your pc or something before partitioning as it formats your sd card first.
私はローボーボブ。 Haro!!
Robobob1221 said:
Nandroid and tb remain on the storage partition, the FATS32 or whichever one your recovery uses. The ext- partition holds just the apps and data. Wont affect your backups in any way to my knowledge. Remember to back up all your data you want to keep to your pc or something before partitioning as it formats your sd card first.
私はローボーボブ。 Haro!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info!
Ive been using DT Apps2sd for a while now. I have the stock 8gb card that came with my evo and its partitioned for apps2sd. From what Ive always understood, what apps2sd does is it moves all your apps and the data for those apps to the ext partition of your sd card and it symlinks the apps to the phone so the phone actually thinks the apps are running from the internal memory even though it isn't. The advantage of the symlink is that it doesn't affect the apps' performance and widgets and such. The apps2sd app you speak of only moves the data to the sd card which can sometimes cause issues with apps' performance and widgets not working correctly. So, I recommend using DT apps2sd if you want more internal space without sacrificing performance.
Nice explanation I think my confusion had always been how it's utilized; with the app, I open it when I want to move something and it does it. With DT, it looks like you flash it, but after that I'm lost... Does it automatically install all apps to the SD anytime I initiate an installer action? Or do I need to do something to have the system install to the SD?
I'll find the answer in my reading I'm sure. Another 25ish pages, according to Tapatalk on my phone
Sent via Tapatalk on my E4G
Also am trying to find how to install this... Do you flash the ROM, flash A2SD, then simply reboot and all is well (assuming the ROM supports A2SD, and mounts SD-EXT during boot)?
here is some more info from what i understand. flash your rom, flash dt a2sd and reboot. once its all set, it automatically installs apps you download to the ext partition. also... if you decide to change roms, it is recommended to wipe the ext partition, but i never do and have had no issues. The only thing i have to do is once the new rom and a2sd are flashed and i reboot i have to install the terminal app and open it up any type the following commands...
su [ENTER]
a2sd reinstall [ENTER]
this reinstally the links to the apps... you can also move dalvik cache to the sd to free up more space.
a2sd cachesd [ENTER]
another helpful tool to make sure cache and apps are on the ext partition is apps2sd gui
you can get it from the market and it is just a graphical interface
here is a partitioning walkthrough if you need it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1158993&highlight=partition+sd+card
vwgtiturbo said:
Nice explanation I think my confusion had always been how it's utilized; with the app, I open it when I want to move something and it does it. With DT, it looks like you flash it, but after that I'm lost... Does it automatically install all apps to the SD anytime I initiate an installer action? Or do I need to do something to have the system install to the SD?
I'll find the answer in my reading I'm sure. Another 25ish pages, according to Tapatalk on my phone
Sent via Tapatalk on my E4G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After you flash DT, you would want to download terminal emulator from the play store and type the following commands:
Type "su" then enter
Then type "a2sd reinstall" (without the "" of course lol) then enter
After you do that, let the phone do its thing and it will reboot. After the reboot, you are good. All your apps should be moved to the ext partition on your sd card. If you want, you can also move your dalvik-cache to the ext partition by typing the following commands:
"su", enter
"a2sd cachesd", enter
Just like before, your phone will do its thing in terminal emulator and then it will reboot. After that, you're good! You should notice a HUGE difference in available internal storage after this.
*EDIT: I didn't even notice the post above mine until after i sent the post lol
dbenney/youngchris: You guys/girls (hey, I don't know...) put the missing pieces together for me I didn't realize that you had to run commands in terminal AFTER flashing your ROM and then DT (I've seen references to commands, but thought that they were similar to the old rooting/flashing guides back in the day, that required ADB push/pull commands before flashable zips became the norm). So...
There were a few ROMs I flashed 6 months or so ago, that 'required' A2SD and I didn't do it. Subsequently, the ROMs didn't have much free space, with all of the Sense 3.0-3.5, and ran like ****, so I went back to CM7. Now, I am putting this together, so I can get the E4G decked out (because we all know our EVOlt won't be around for a while) and am looking for sharp looking/behaving ROMs to make this old beast happy, and keep me satisfied until Customs gets off their lazy asses.
I just have to find a ROM that is nice enough now
vwgtiturbo said:
dbenney/youngchris: You guys/girls (hey, I don't know...) put the missing pieces together for me I didn't realize that you had to run commands in terminal AFTER flashing your ROM and then DT (I've seen references to commands, but thought that they were similar to the old rooting/flashing guides back in the day, that required ADB push/pull commands before flashable zips became the norm). So...
There were a few ROMs I flashed 6 months or so ago, that 'required' A2SD and I didn't do it. Subsequently, the ROMs didn't have much free space, with all of the Sense 3.0-3.5, and ran like ****, so I went back to CM7. Now, I am putting this together, so I can get the E4G decked out (because we all know our EVOlt won't be around for a while) and am looking for sharp looking/behaving ROMs to make this old beast happy, and keep me satisfied until Customs gets off their lazy asses.
I just have to find a ROM that is nice enough now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are plenty of good sense roms out there, but you really should try this one... Energy sense 3.5 rom march 15.... i used it before i switched to CIUI(base of CM7 with MIUI look/feel). Energy rom is very stable and fast, but also heavy and a2sd is a must to free up some space.
Do you know of any kernels that work with it? It uses the stock kernel, which, from what I've read, doesn't support DT A2SD...
Sent via Tapatalk on my E4G

[Q] Help a (desperate) newbie (how to back-up rom)

Hello all,
Firstly, please bear with me if my question seems simple... I have flashed a couple of roms without problems, have recovered a bricked mobile and have generally messed around without too many disasters - unless you count the many hours spent setting-up my mobile after re-flashing... and this is the point... I will give a background and then questions will follow...
background:
I have finally found the rom for me (Albe 95 v2 btw - highly recommended, the guy did a truly grand job) and since I reckon that sooner or later I will become "restless" again and want to re-flash or mess around, I would like to make a back-up of my complete system... not app-by-app but do the backup in such a way that I get a single .zip file at the end of it all, and no matter how badly I might mess things up further down the road I can always return to my current status with in a flash (sorry for the poor pun)...
should be easy, right? well I've tried following some simple steps with clockwork mod (basically trying some of the functions in the backup directory, where there is an option that says something that amounts to "make a zip") and just now for the second time I've had a failure... after seemingly working and copying files for some 5-10 minutes it suddenly stops, says there was an error, and that's it... time to exit cwm and reboot... and that's when the real problems begin...
upon exiting CWM, i get a weird message (something about maybe losing root, and having to fix it before exiting)... after exiting (I selected the option to "fix it" btw) upon reboot the mobile works fine (rooted and all) except one detail - the sim card doesn't receive signal anymore... this happened just the same way first time round and I want to know what I´m doing wrong.. I did read some guides about making a backup and they seem easy enough when I read them, but then this happens...
so question #1 - can somebody point me to a newbie-friendly, step-by-step, idiot-proof guide for how to reach my holy grail in the form of a zip file?
...all this brings me to question #2:
after installing the new rom, there is some 3Gb left of memory... after a day or so of using, theres about 700mb left... I formatted the SD card and wanted clockworkmod to backup directly onto the sd_card... is there an option for this? there is simply no way I will ever be able to free up space on the internal memory alone...
question #3 - where does all that space disappear??? and speaking of space disappearing, after clockworkmod did its partial backup, the internal storage was reduced from some 700mb to under 300... now even if the phone is strictly speaking working, I cannot so much as update an application, or download a new one... unfortunately this is where my ignorance shows, as I understand that the internal storage is split in two sections, but I have no idea how (if?) I can access the "main" one, where CWM is presumably writing its files and which I guess by now is chock-full... what can I do here? where does CWM hide its backups (and yes, I´ve searched around and read somewhere that its supposed to be in a directory such as Data/Media/clockworckmod, but I cannot find it... and I can see the hidden files...
in fact, out of 9Gb of internal storage, the directories & fiels I can see amount to a pitiful 1,3Gb, and yet if I check space available in system settings I get 300 Gb!!! that means I have a good 7,4 Gb of storage unaccounted for! that's not even considering that total space of internal card is 9gb, not the 16gb that it should be... in other words, I can account for almost exactly 10% of my internal storage... what the hell????? either my internal memory is made of dark matter or I need a charitable colleague on this board to explain to me what is going on... or maybe suggest a link that you learned from back in the day when you were a newbie...
that's it... for now... sorry for the extremely long post, but I am frustrated, as I have to flash this bugger, again...
Thank you in advance for any help, info, and advice...
P.
1. Not in a zip file. The backup feature in ClockworkMod and all other custom recoveries is what we call a nandroid backup. They generally are backed up and restored using the appropriate functions, and not via a flashable zip file.
2. On the Galaxy S4, the internal storage is labeled "sdcard0". Thus ClockworkMod apparently thinks it's a MicroSD card. Looking at another device running a current version of CWM, it doesn't appear that you can select the location. If you want to be sure the backup is made on the MicroSD card, change your recovery to TWRP 2.8.4.0. You can select where the backup goes on that recovery.
3. You likely made multiple backups with ClockworkMod. An odd thing, at least the the copy of ClockworkMod on my tablet, is that if you delete backups, the space itself is still allocated to the backups that no longer exist. To free up this space, in the backup and restore menu is an option to "free unused backup data". Horribly misnamed, if you select this option you should see your space return. In addition, keep in mind that Android stores hidden files and folders on the internal storage. If you download large games, you may find yourself running out of space as the game stores parts of itself on the internal storage in a hidden directory.
Once you get your space back, switch your recovery to TWRP so you can select the MicroSD card.
Thanks for your answer strephon.... but now i need to understand the next steps and to avoid a re-re-reinstall, i would like to ask what version of TWRP should i use?
I have Rashr to help me get this recovery app but i have a list of options to choos from and none seems correct...
if i run Phone Info, it tells me the following:
- device type: jflte
- Product name: kltexx
...but on rashr none of the TWRP versions seem applicable... the closest would be jfltexx (ver 2.8.5.0 )... there is also a ver 2.8.4.0 but also in this case only for jfltexx... is this what i'm after?
Please note that CWM and Philz both have jflte versions... maybe i should try Philz? Does it let me do nandroid backup on my Sd card?
Again, thanks in advance
You probably will have better luck using the TWRP Manager app, but the version you want is 2.8.4.0, for jfltexx. Philz is a derivative of ClockworkMod, but I don't know if it has the same limitations.
Thank you man... got twrp and ran the backup. Looks like just what i was after...
Much obliged ?
...now that i've managed to get the backup done i would like to make sure about one point :
This will work if i mess install a new rom and for whatever reason i want to revert to my backed up rom... but what if i brick my mobile?
Thats happened to me before and i downloaded a rom which I flashed using Odin and with the phone in download mode... is there a way i can merge these files in a zip (or whatever format )that i can then flash with Odin?
If you brick and need Odin, you won't be able to use these files in it. However, if you have to install a ROM via Odin, you can afterward install the recovery and restore from the nandroid backup. The backup would then restore the S4 back to the state it was in when the backup was made.
...but is there no way of doing that in one step only? I mean just as someone prepared that rom to be flashed via odin can i not create one myself? There's gotta be a way. ...
platypus78 said:
...but is there no way of doing that in one step only? I mean just as someone prepared that rom to be flashed via odin can i not create one myself? There's gotta be a way. ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you want is not possible.
You won't brick your phone, it's almost impossible.
If a situation like you describe emerges, then just flash a custom recovery trough Odin and restore the backup.
Damn that sucks ?
But at least its cleared so thanks for that...

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