So I've been looking around and trying to fix this problem myself but I've had no luck. I've almost completely run out of internal memory. I'm not sure if its a memory leak or what but its starting to affect my phone's ability to update apps. Currently, of the 16gb I have <800mb left but it used to be as low as ~50mb.
At first I tried just moving every app I could to my SD card, and I already transfer and delete every picture and video I have on my phone asap. So afterwards I wiped cache a few times. Finally I completely wiped and reset my phone to stock and still only freed up 1gb of space. I then flashed the negalite ROM. With this new rom and the core set of apps I use, all moved to the SD card, I have 829mb of internal memory free.
I understand that I really only have 8gb to play around with, but this screencap shows that I have 7gb being taken up by miscellaneous files, yet when I check what's in there it does not add up to 7gb (nothing below those files goes above a few hundred kb tops). Is there any way to free up more memory without deleting literally every app I have? I don't think I even have that many frivolous apps.
So to summarize, my phone is a sprint s4 SPH-L720 with 4.4.2 running the Negalite rom, with only 800mb/16gb internal free, trying to free up more. Not sure if its a memory leak or what.
Do you have any nandroid backups with either philz,cwm, or twrp recovery? If so those are about 3-5gbs each.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
Using a file manager that can show hidden files (ES can) look around and see if you see any folder named something like lost.dir or lost+found it might be that some deleted items were sent or left their instead of going into oblivion. I have had it occur before, after deleting the contents it freed up several 100s of MB to GB of memory.
It's possible it could be this.
daniel4653 said:
Do you have any nandroid backups with either philz,cwm, or twrp recovery? If so those are about 3-5gbs each.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm I just went through the CWM folder and deleted some old backups supposedly but those were only like 9mb big... The mysteries keep mounting!
And catfood I tried looking through the files with file explorer but I couldn't find a lost or a variation of it.
Thanks for the replies though every little bit helps!
pinoysw1mmer said:
Hm I just went through the CWM folder and deleted some old backups supposedly but those were only like 9mb big... The mysteries keep mounting!
And catfood I tried looking through the files with file explorer but I couldn't find a lost or a variation of it.
Thanks for the replies though every little bit helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have any cloud apps like Google Drive or something of the like? Try checking sync options, or the programs settings, something might be downloading data to cache offline.
Backup your data!
Install philz_touch_6.19.6-jflte recovery
then go to Mount and Storage Menu
do a format for{ system, cache, date and(( /data and /data/media ( /sdcard)))
jam97 said:
Backup your data!
Install philz_touch_6.19.6-jflte recovery
then go to Mount and Storage Menu
do a format for{ system, cache, date and(( /data and /data/media ( /sdcard)))
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do I have to install that one or can I just use CWM?
And catfood I will check my cloud settings.
pinoysw1mmer said:
Do I have to install that one or can I just use CWM?
And catfood I will check my cloud settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know but I used that recovery and it works for me.
Related
Take a look at my screenshot, if you add up all my usage + free space, it comes out to about 11.42GB. Subtract that from Total space of 12.92GB and you have about 1.5GB of space that's not being reported.
Now what made me notice this was, the other day I made a backup in TWRP, which according to TWRP, will use 1.4+GB of storage. Today I wanted to restore this backup, but TWRP shows that I don't have any backups. I booted back into Android and used file explorer to browse the TWRP folder, and it was empty. I made another backup in TWRP just now to make sure it was backing up properly, and everything seems fine.
Does this look normal? How much unreported spaced is being used on your device?
Edit: So it turns out to be an issue with TWRP. For some reason, the first backup ends up in /data/media/TWRP.
You should try a free app in the app store called storage analyser. It gives you a clear picture of where all you data is being stored. I found a few gb of data that where being used up by things I had installed previously and then left data behind when un installed.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
nelomen said:
You should try a free app in the app store called storage analyser. It gives you a clear picture of where all you data is being stored. I found a few gb of data that where being used up by things I had installed previously and then left data behind when un installed.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Storage Analyzer is reporting 7.97GB of free space, while Android is reporting 5.33GB.
shilent said:
Interesting. Storage Analyzer is reporting 7.97GB of free space, while Android is reporting 5.33GB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP save backups to the wrong location occasionally.
Using a root explorer. check your mnt/shell/emulated folder. you should find a TWRP folder either in shell or in emulated.
Move it to mnt/shell/emulated/0, or delete it if you need to.
Edit: when the backup folder not in these folder, android system will think it to be "system data"
/sdcard
/data/media/0
mnt/shell/emulated/0
/storage/emulated/0
KyraOfFire said:
TWRP save backups to the wrong location occasionally.
Using a root explorer. check your mnt/shell/emulated folder. you should find a TWRP folder either in shell or in emulated.
Move it to mnt/shell/emulated/0, or delete it if you need to.
Edit: when the backup folder not in these folder, android system will think it to be "system data"
/sdcard
/data/media/0
mnt/shell/emulated/0
/storage/emulated/0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see a TWRP folder in /mnt/shell, and /mnt/shell/emulated does not exist. Anywhere else I should be looking?
shilent said:
Interesting. Storage Analyzer is reporting 7.97GB of free space, while Android is reporting 5.33GB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Difference in mine also
Using Tapatalk 2
It never showed correct for me, especially cuz it wouldnt read a lot of files that i just dragged into my phone like a usb storage...
You would think the android team would get these kind of small things fixed...
long shot but If you use linux and delete a file, some put it into a hidden folder .Trash-1000 rather than actually deleting it.
Alright, the same exact thing just happened on my girlfriends phone. She saw my phone and liked how my colors looked, so I flash Franco's kernel onto hers. Before I flashed, I created a back up in TWRP. Again, this backup is no where to be found, and her phone just lost 1.6GB of free space.
Maybe I'll post in the TWRP thread.
So it turns out to be an issue with TWRP. For some reason, the first backup ends up in /data/media/TWRP.
shilent said:
So it turns out to be an issue with TWRP. For some reason, the first backup ends up in /data/media/TWRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Omg thank u so so much I just got back almost 1gb of storage back. You are da man seriously.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Where should we move the backups to? I'm afraid if I move them, they won't show up in recovery.
I'm using CWM and it looks like backups are saved in /mnt/shell/emulated/clockworkmod/backup
I'm having a heck of a time with the internal storage on my S4. What I have done so far: Rooted -> Flashed with Xousos v1.0 (no problem) -> Backup to SD card with CWM -> Flashed with Xousos v2.0 -> Flashed Theme Reverepats ICS (MF9) -> Flashed ComaDose = No Space
I moved all my apps to my SD card and even deleted dropbox and all documents sync to free up space. Before I do a rom flash I clear data/cache/davilik cache and format system. I know the S4's 16GB is really an 8GB - but to only have a few hundred megs left after a fresh flash and TiBackup restore of a handful of apps is not right.
I figure I must have copies of the previous installs somewhere on the internal storage, I just dont know where to look. So if anyone could point me in the right direction as to what directories I can delete or any steps to help free up some space, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks in advance
SS attached
Check the "MISC" folder and check to see what are the folders that take up the most space. I have a feeling you are going to have a nandroid on there that is taking up about 3-4gbs
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Wipe system/and factory reset then flash ROM will fix it. Make sure the ROM and everything else you need is on your external SD first.
Sent from my Sprint Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 2
daniel4653 said:
Check the "MISC" folder and check to see what are the folders that take up the most space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^^^^ that.
daniel4653 said:
Check the "MISC" folder and check to see what are the folders that take up the most space. I have a feeling you are going to have a nandroid on there that is taking up about 3-4gbs
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I apologize for the dumb question in advance, but do you know the location of that folder?
I went to storage/emulated/0 in root explorer and the file structure looks the same as the phone folder explorer but no large files - screen shot attached (largest file first)
GiantJay said:
Wipe system/and factory reset then flash ROM will fix it. Make sure the ROM and everything else you need is on your external SD first.
Sent from my Sprint Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This will be my last resort, I just did the wipe/flash and would like to try and solution the problem before I do the wipe
Get disk usage app and poke around the filesystem. It will graphically show you what folders are storing large amounts of data. It will be a lot faster using that tool with finding large files than going through each folder with a file browser app.
g420funk said:
I apologize for the dumb question in advance, but do you know the location of that folder?
I went to storage/emulated/0 in root explorer and the file structure looks the same as the phone folder explorer but no large files - screen shot attached (largest file first)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the storage screen (from your original post, where it showed the breakdown), just tap on miscellaneous and it should show you the folders that make up that 7.52GB
oscarthegrouch said:
Get disk usage app and poke around the filesystem. It will graphically show you what folders are storing large amounts of data. It will be a lot faster using that tool with finding large files than going through each folder with a file browser app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, this is a handy little app, especially with root access.
I attached a screen shot - it looks like the system data folder is dominating the space - is it possible there is still an old rom on there or possible a backup (like was mentioned earlier) and if so, how do I get to it?
jj14 said:
In the storage screen (from your original post, where it showed the breakdown), just tap on miscellaneous and it should show you the folders that make up that 7.52GB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was my last screen shot - when I tap miscellaneous the biggest folder in there is 3.69 MB - which is why I am so confused
I'd probably just make a nandroid backup, move any files from internal to external that I wanted to keep, turn off phone, remove SD card, boot phone back up, go into SD card in menu settings, format the card then go into accounts and do a full factory reset. I would think that would get rid of any unknown bloat from the internal storage. Yes you'll have to set the phone up again but it might fix your running out of space problem. A nandroid restore might throw the crap back in there. I don't know.
GiantJay said:
Wipe system/and factory reset then flash ROM will fix it. Make sure the ROM and everything else you need is on your external SD first.
Sent from my Sprint Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oscarthegrouch said:
I'd probably just make a nandroid backup, move any files from internal to external that I wanted to keep, turn off phone, remove SD card, boot phone back up, go into SD card in menu settings, format the card then go into accounts and do a full factory reset. I would think that would get rid of any unknown bloat from the internal storage. Yes you'll have to set the phone up again but it might fix your running out of space problem. A nandroid restore might throw the crap back in there. I don't know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wiping the internal sdcard did the trick. Reloading everything was not what I wanted but it did solve the problem
Thanks to everyone who helped in this thread, I appreciate it :good:
Mine started giving me the low storage space warning once the MF9 update downloaded. I had to wipe the internal sd card completely. What a PITA.
mich0020 said:
Mine started giving me the low storage space warning once the MF9 update downloaded. I had to wipe the internal sd card completely. What a PITA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that makes a lot of sense because mine did the same and the update notification wouldnt go away until I flashed the update. I guess next time I need to format the internal sd before I flash
I have a rooted note 3 running beans and when I was dling a few apps it then said insufficient space. I checked and it says that miscellaneous files are taking up 29 gb of space. Anyone had this happen and/or no a fix? Thanks !
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
Someone thumbnails files grab too much of space. Look for that.
I use the app called DiskUsage from the Playstore to identify what is taking up space on my phones/tablets. It will read the internal drive and the external as well then lay it out in a nice table. You are then able to delete things from right within the app.
sohebq said:
Someone thumbnails files grab too much of space. Look for that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that suggestion. But how do I do that?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
CreekDirt said:
I use the app called DiskUsage from the Playstore to identify what is taking up space on my phones/tablets. It will read the internal drive and the external as well then lay it out in a nice table. You are then able to delete things from right within the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I downloaded disk usage app but what exactly am I looking for that may be causing the miscellaneous file usage? Thanks !
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
So I did a clean install of beans to see if that may fix the issue but it didn't change anything at all. Any help would be appreciated !
I don't believe it's any of my backups because they are on my ext card.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
go to your internal memory then find a folder called dcim. You will find a folder called .thumbnails delete it and voila
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
lesalloum said:
go to your internal memory then find a folder called dcim. You will find a folder called .thumbnails delete it and voila
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks but that didn't change anything
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
When I click on miscellaneous files it shows
System memory 29.56 gb
Then lists
Viber 16.35 mb and other items listed down in decreasing size.
Anyone know how I can increase my storage ?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
Anyone have a fix?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
If you have made a backup through recovery, it takes up a lot of space. Also, Titanium Backups also takes up a huge amount of space. If your recovery is CWM, you should check a folder labeled clockworkmod. You will see how much a cwm backup takes. I believe the clockworkmod folder doesn't get deleted if you do a factory reset or if you unroot your device. Don't quote me on this. I may be wrong.
jtambis6 said:
If you have made a backup through recovery, it takes up a lot of space. Also, Titanium Backups also takes up a huge amount of space. If your recovery is CWM, you should check a folder labeled clockworkmod. You will see how much a cwm backup takes. I believe the clockworkmod folder doesn't get deleted if you do a factory reset or if you unroot your device. Don't quote me on this. I may be wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your response! I haven't made any backups with titanium as of yet. I am not sure if safestrap uses CWM or TWRP but I believe it's the latter. But all my backups were stored on my external sd card. Is it possible for it to be stored on the internal along with the external even if I pointed it to the external ?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
Titanium Backups is made internally. I'm not familiar with TWRP but CWM should have an option for internal or external. I use System Tuner Pro and it has a feature where it gives you a breakdown of all your heavy apps in memory. So far for me on my Note 3, it has been clockworkmod taking up 3.93GB and N.O.V.A. 3 coming in second at 2.4GB. I don't have many apps but I do have games that takes up alot of space such as Real Racing 3 (2.01GB), NOVA 3 (2.46GB),Need For Speed Most Wanted (2.02GB)
jtambis6 said:
Titanium Backups is made internally. I'm not familiar with TWRP but CWM should have an option for internal or external. I use System Tuner Pro and it has a feature where it gives you a breakdown of all your heavy apps in memory. So far for me on my Note 3, it has been clockworkmod taking up 3.93GB and N.O.V.A. 3 coming in second at 2.4GB. I don't have many apps but I do have games that takes up alot of space such as Real Racing 3 (2.01GB), NOVA 3 (2.46GB),Need For Speed Most Wanted (2.02GB)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will try system tuner pro but Its funny because I used an app called my drives and it says I 16gb of free space but that's contrary to what my device actually states and the fact that I can't add any more apps etc at this point. I have moved apps/data to the sd card as a temp fix until I can free up space another way. TWRP has that same option to backup to internal and external and I chose external so I'm lost as to what's taking up that space. Under miscellaneous files it says system memory 29 gb used and lists viber 16mb and others in decrease sizes.
cnotes2019 said:
I will try system tuner pro but Its funny because I used an app called my drives and it says I 16gb of free space but that's contrary to what my device actually states and the fact that I can't add any more apps etc at this point. I have moved apps/data to the sd card as a temp fix until I can free up space another way. TWRP has that same option to backup to internal and external and I chose external so I'm lost as to what's taking up that space. Under miscellaneous files it says system memory 29 gb used and lists viber 16mb and others in decrease sizes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In CWM, there is an option to "free unused data". I chose this option once on a whim not knowing what it exactly does. After my phone rebooted, I checked my storage and I surprisingly gained a few GBs in space.
jtambis6 said:
In CWM, there is an option to "free unused data". I chose this option once on a whim not knowing what it exactly does. After my phone rebooted, I checked my storage and I surprisingly gained a few GBs in space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will see if TWRP has that option as that would be great !
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
Just simply connect your phone to pc via cable. Now browse all folders inside phone storage, make sure you have selected to show hidden files. monitor the storage of each folder. This will help you in finding the culprit folder.
I have the same issue with my note 3 running the same rom. Let me know if you come up with a fix
the answer to your question
cnotes2019 said:
I have a rooted note 3 running beans and when I was dling a few apps it then said insufficient space. I checked and it says that miscellaneous files are taking up 29 gb of space. Anyone had this happen and/or no a fix? Thanks !
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
download DiskUsage from the play store to figure out what is taking up so much space. usually the problem is with the Android folder, delete the media under the android folder.
to be sure what folder is taking all the space go to your setting, then go to your storage then look at the miscelanous folder and and check how much gb/mb you need to get rid of.. check if the storage match the same size, then delete that folder.
in my case it was the media files under the android folder, i just deleted the whole folder and whala.
hi,
i have a storage issue that i'll like to ask the gurus.. I've just moved from PSX's v8.5 (4.3) to PSX v3 (4.4) and along the way, I've made numerous backups just in case. after flashing v3 and hellscore b43, i ran into a storage space issue where my N4 told me i had insufficient space to install more apps, to work system functions, anything. Ive attached a screenshot of my storage, but it seems to be there is a good 5-6gb of space unaccounted for? i have v little songs in my phone, no movies, little apps as well. its rooted. can anyone point to as to how i can solve this?
thanks!
to add on, I've used storage analyser to better understand by storage, and it says i have 9.87gb available, whilte the stock storage details shows the number at 611mb.
help pls?
thejiajielee said:
hi,
i have a storage issue that i'll like to ask the gurus.. I've just moved from PSX's v8.5 (4.3) to PSX v3 (4.4) and along the way, I've made numerous backups just in case. after flashing v3 and hellscore b43, i ran into a storage space issue where my N4 told me i had insufficient space to install more apps, to work system functions, anything. Ive attached a screenshot of my storage, but it seems to be there is a good 5-6gb of space unaccounted for? i have v little songs in my phone, no movies, little apps as well. its rooted. can anyone point to as to how i can solve this?
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try flashing SuperSU via the recovery.
Sent from my Nexus 7 (2013)
hi, I've tried that, but to no avail..
ive also realised that system data takes up a huge chunk, more than 6gb. which is where most of the missing storage is. help, anyone?
thejiajielee said:
ive also realised that system data takes up a huge chunk, more than 6gb. which is where most of the missing storage is. help, anyone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you downgraded to the rom where you don't have this problem?
Sent from my Nexus 7 (2013)
I only just realised I was having the same issue when I got an insufficient storage available message while trying to update some apps. To solve it reboot into recovery then go on backup and restore and delete any unnecessary backups you have, if the ROM's working now then you could do with deleting all of the old backups and making one fresh one with the new ROM. Also do the 'free unused space' thing in CWM, I had no backups but somehow there was almost 3 gigs of space being wasted by CWM. There's probably something similar in TWRP if you use that
thejiajielee said:
ive also realised that system data takes up a huge chunk, more than 6gb. which is where most of the missing storage is. help, anyone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've got the right app. check your /data directory to see what's chewing up space. I bet it's TWRP or other stuff stored by your recovery manager.
Use this great app to check whats taking up space: Storage analyzer
When u make full backups they won't show up in the system storage scan. Go to the file directly n try deleting an old backup. I guarantee u will see more space available after u do. Each backup is usually about 400-500mb depending on how many apps n other data u have
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Or maybe you got shrinkage problem which is pretty normal when upgrading (seeing that you flashed 4.4.2 rom over 4.3 rom). Your 16gb nexus was shrinked to 8gb. The easiest way to fix it is by formatting your internal in recovery (or flash stock recovery and do factory reset). Do make backup of your things though cause you'll lose them.
Hey all, I have a strange issue, tried all the obvious solutions, cleared caches, data, haven't wiped dalvik yet but eh. Got a storage space almost full error the other day so I linked some unlinked apps to the SD card, cleared cached data, moved images and downloads to folders in SD card and deleted what I didn't need and voila, problem solved, I cleared like 3 GB. I even tapped "Other", clicked "Explore", sorted that by size and delete files from the biggest folder (RAR files in downloads).
Idk if the image uploaded but here's a breakdown of my internal storage as it is right now:
-5.83 GB Used of 9.47 GB
-Apps 5.79 GB
-Images 30.71 MB
-Videos 20.00 KB
-Audio 224 KB
-Other 548 MB
-Cached Data 68.16 MB
NOW if you add all that up you get roughly 6.45 GB, which leaves like 616 MB just floating around. When i went into other and saw those RAR files, they totaled up to like 500-something MB and when I deleted it I noticed it fell off of the "Total Used" counter, but remained in "Other" counter.
Is there a way to reset the "Other" counter? The space is there I THINK, just seeing it there is kinda annoying. Wat Do?
By formatting the internal storage maybe.
You won't lose apps, as those are kept on a different partition.
The only things you will lose are the files on the internal storage and maybe some app settings (for apps that store data there).
TWRP also stores its settings there, so next time it boots it will be like you just flashed the recovery.
GDReaper said:
By formatting the internal storage maybe.
You won't lose apps, as those are kept on a different partition.
The only things you will lose are the files on the internal storage and maybe some app settings (for apps that store data there).
TWRP also stores its settings there, so next time it boots it will be like you just flashed the recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will try that now, will I have issues with link2sd or have to reflash xposed, gapps or cm?
noozman7190 said:
will try that now, will I have issues with link2sd or have to reflash xposed, gapps or cm?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nevermind, stupid question I'm tired, seems like a lot of trouble for something that is so strange and isn't really doing anything bad
noozman7190 said:
nevermind, stupid question I'm tired, seems like a lot of trouble for something that is so strange and isn't really doing anything bad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never used link2sd.
But for the rest it's a big fat no.
Formatting the internal storage is exactly the same as formatting the microSD card.
I do recommend formatting it once in a while.
I usually do it at every ROM update.
GDReaper said:
I've never used link2sd.
But for the rest it's a big fat no.
Formatting the internal storage is exactly the same as formatting the microSD card.
I do recommend formatting it once in a while.
I usually do it at every ROM update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll do it tonight at work, I just cleared data from the unrar app I used for the rar files I had and that freed up about 100mb from the "Other" counter, didn't do anything for the total storage though
@GDReaper Wiping internal storage worked for me, even freed up more space than just the "Other". gr8 m8, I r8 8/8 Thank you!!!