Database Users

Removing Bloatware

Due to the fact that I can't directly reply to the thread that was created because I don't have enough posts, I'm posting here looking for an answer.
I followed the advice in this post. The only difference is that I used Super Manager instead of Root Explorer to delete the files from /system/app/.
Here is the odd part, after finishing I rebooted and when I powered back up and checked my available memory, it didn't change at all. Naturally I went back in with Super Manager and checked for the files and they are not there. I also looked with Astro File Manager and the files were not in /system/app/. I don't understand that if I deleted the files, why didn't my available memory increase? That is the whole reason I removed.
Thanks,

Why do you need more space in system folder?...
Go in data folder and check dalvick and data folders for leftovers.
Sent from my S7 using Tapatalk

Removing the so-called "bloatware" won't free up app storage space.
The tablet uses different partitions to store different things. System applications are stored on a different partition than user-installed apps. They each have their own space, indepentantly of each other.

When I started this exercise in removing the "bloatware" from my S7, I had a little over 85 MB free from the 175 MB available. After removing the "bloatware" I didn't see a change. Over the weekend, I removed the battery from my S7 to check the version number. After starting the S7 again, I check the memory and I now have 101 MB free. The only change was to remove the "bloatware". After installing two more apps on the tablet and moving the .apk file to my Link2SD partition on the internal SD card, I now have 98.97 MB of available space.
For the other post about removing the cache, I just ran cachemate and now I have 105 MB of available space.
Removing the "bloatware" does have an effect on the available memory.
While I did restart my S7 after removing the "bloatware", I didn't remove the battery. I don't know what I had the difference, but by completely removing the battery I saw that I had more space available after removing the "bloatware".

Couldn't have been. All of the apps you deleted reside in /system/app. That's on a completely separate partition from /data.
/data is where apps you install from Market go. It's also the space listed under "Internal Tablet Storage".
/system is where the system core files (and any pre-bundled apps) reside. There is no way to see the space free/used without going into a root terminal and running "df -h"
There is no way deleting system applications freed any sort of space on your /data partition.
It would be like if you had two hard drives in your computer, labled C:\ and D:\. Why would deleting files from C:\ free space on D:\? It's the same concept.

Ok. I understand what you are saying. However, I'm just reporting what I see when I look under:
Internal Tablet Storage
Total Space = 175 MB
Available Space = 100 MB
After removing the .apk "bloatware" files from /system/apps the available space increased.

tedkitch said:
Ok. I understand what you are saying. However, I'm just reporting what I see when I look under:
Internal Tablet Storage
Total Space = 175 MB
Available Space = 100 MB
After removing the .apk "bloatware" files from /system/apps the available space increased.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
he's just being hostile and doesn't understand...
the bloatware resides in /system... now some of those files are Maps.apk which is an outdated version, and when you update it to the newest version from the market it installs to /data...
now...
it says it is updated, but we still have the outdated version which is still in /system taking up INTERNAL space. removing that apk from within /system and rebooting will add that much more space to your internal and the maps will still be installed because they are updated and installed to /data.
if you want to be so high and mighty, think before you talk.

also... data is installed internally, hence why we have the a2sd or links2sd method.

joenilan said:
it says it is updated, but we still have the outdated version which is still in /system taking up INTERNAL space. removing that apk from within /system and rebooting will add that much more space to your internal and the maps will still be installed because they are updated and installed to /data.
if you want to be so high and mighty, think before you talk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you need to think before you talk.
Space on /system is not (normally) accessible to the user to use for storage of any kind. It's reserved solely for the OS' system files to be stored.
I think this is where you all are getting confused. Yes, the entire storage (including the internal storage) is all on the same flash ROM chip. But, it's not all contiguous space. It's broken up into partitions, and changes you make to a single partition does not affect any of the other partitions.
I'm not TRYING to be hostile, and I understand more than you think I do. I understand the underlying Android OS' mounts, whereas it seems you do not.
If you had said "removing these apps keeps them from running and using up CPU cycles and ram" I wouldn't have an issue with it. But, saying they free up space for the user to install apps to is just plain wrong.

[Q] Question about storage size

I have a new to me S4 and it should be the 16GB version. However when I check the storage size when connected to the computer it says that I have 5.47GB free of 9.71GB total. Is this normal? Where is the other 6GB?

And a follow up question, using file explorer it says that there three storage locations: /Device, SDcard, extSDCard. So it looks like the internal memory is split into two parts, one for the OS (/Device) and another "SDCARD" for data? Is that correct? If I don't mind losing data, can I delete files from the internal "SDCard" or are those files also necessary for the OS?

First and foremost, the "16GB" of space is actually 15GB, since advertising defines 1GB as 1 billion bytes instead of 2^30 bytes as it is actually defined by the OS.
Next, from that 15GB of space, you've got roughly 5GB or so that's reserved for the system, drivers, firmwares, etc. The remaining 9.71GB of space is where your apps and anything else saved to your internal storage go. You *can* use the "move to SD" option to move apps if you're running low on space, but I wouldn't advise it unless absolutely necessary. Unless something's changed since Gingerbread, only certain apps can be moved, and even then any widgets those apps have will NOT function if you've moved the app. (yes, I know I'm off by .3GB, but I think that's just from rounding)
Apps and most of their data are saved to the location /data, but you can't access that unless you're rooted. Some of them make use of either the internal or external storage (/sdcard and /extSDCard) as well, but it all depends. Safest bet is to keep away from the folders "Android" and "data" on /sdcard, since that's where apps will sometimes dump files they need to run. Also, if a folder name is similar to an app name, use caution since it might be part of the app.
I'm not sure on /Device to be honest, since I'm running a custom ROM and haven't really paid attention to that one. I don't think it's the OS though, since you normally aren't supposed to be able to use a file explorer to browse around the OS files.

[Q] Help! Ran out of space for updates

My device is a 9506. Some updates today failed because it said I am out of space on the device's internal 16gb drive. I am on 5.0.1. and not rooted. As of now, system memory is 4.20gb, used space is 4.05gb, cached data is 3.41gb, misc. files is 3.29gb and available space is 1.05gb. How do I regain space? Delete apps? Clear or remove some things (which)? Move some apps to the external SD? I am kind of at a standstill now.

corvus.corax said:
My device is a 9506. Some updates today failed because it said I am out of space on the device's internal 16gb drive. I am on 5.0.1. and not rooted. As of now, system memory is 4.20gb, used space is 4.05gb, cached data is 3.41gb, misc. files is 3.29gb and available space is 1.05gb. How do I regain space? Delete apps? Clear or remove some things (which)? Move some apps to the external SD? I am kind of at a standstill now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Moving photos, videos and music to the external SD is enough sometimes.

I had moved all that stuff already. In the end, I removed a couple of apps I don't use and used SD Maid Pro to clean up a bunch of app caches and it cleared almost 3 gigabytes. So all is well now. Is there a way to change to PIT file like I could on my old S2? That was a very good solution.

corvus.corax said:
I had moved all that stuff already. In the end, I removed a couple of apps I don't use and used SD Maid Pro to clean up a bunch of app caches and it cleared almost 3 gigabytes. So all is well now. Is there a way to change to PIT file like I could on my old S2? That was a very good solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no idea

Link2SD or similar working on a Galaxy On5?

I've tried many combinations of partition types and numbers and cannot get Link2SD to accept my second partition. I had similarly bad luck with App2SD. Is there a known good combination of app, card, partition type, size, and number that lets me offload my apps onto the external SD card? I'm using a rooted but otherwise stock GT550T rom for T-Mobile. I have a 200GB Sandisk microSD card. 8GB phone with 4GB taken by default and I couldn't find much to remove. Any other good ideas as to how I can get my apps installed. Even with 0 games I cannot install my usual suite.

i have been experiencing the exact same problem, tried both apps2sd and link2sd, still no luck.. i actually managed to corrupt a brand new card, had to go exchange it. no luck with ext4 or any others... i hope we get some assistance

Yep. What they said.
Same issue. Any fix yet?

I would also like to know a way to get Apps2SD or Link2SD working.

Hey! Androeds 4.1up the link2sd does not work anymore if all of you, does not creates universal odexes for each app in sdext2. The zygote of libs in androed 4.4+ does not permits dalvik cache outside datadir.
The solution is odex all apps one by one, because gogle system apps never recognized and will never recognize odexed apps as third apps.
Is a long war against themselves new dumb zygote for deny odexes in sdext2 :
You need only copy the created odexes inside sdext2 togheter with apk's dir and link mannually, and finnally, delete the relative dex.
The rest is normally linked by link2sd

Apps2sd works for me. I am not rooted though. Let's try to troubleshoot. Go into settings/storage and make sure the sdcard is mounted and formatted. See if your screens match mine.

Apps 2sd is a lie!
Only a Half part of app comes to a dumb system in /mnt/secure and /mnt/asec.
Is a lie!
---------- Post added at 03:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:37 PM ----------
If you root your device, install link2sd (the real sdext linker) your apps will go to sdcard.
On androeds 4.1+ the .dex files need to be PURGED AND PUNCHED OUT DUE TO GOGLE'S SICKNESS NEW DUMB ZYGOTE, and converted to .odex.

I really like the phone itself, i honestly hope someone is able to make a rom for it. Cause out of the box i have basically no storage for apps and the apps 2 sd function in the rom only lets you move a handful of apps.

LINK2SD works on the Samsung Galaxy On5. I moved many apps and have tons of space now.

I don't know how typical my situation is, but I am having the same issue and thought i would attempt to provide a bit more in the way of detail.
My On5 is rooted with TWRP installed and functioning apparently normally. I can run apps that require root without issue, Titanium Backup for example. I have installed SuperSU and BusyBox which seem to behave normally, but Root Checker recognizes root and BusyBox but not SU Access.
When I try to use Link2SD, it doesn't recognize my second partition, and won't create a mount script. I can enter SU through terminal mode, and created /etc/fstab with mounting details for the second partition, but Link2SD still doesn't see it. Consequently, I can use the Move to SD function with some apps, but Link to SD is not functional.

I would contact LINK2SD support and ask them if the app is even capable of handling multiple partitions. My guess is no.

Link2SD not only is capable of handling second partitions, it requires them for the Link to SD function. I followed their instructions carefully for creating an appropriately formatted second partition. The issue seems to be that the phone won't allow it to mount. That is why I posted here.

n5dkj said:
Link2SD not only is capable of handling second partitions, it requires them for the Link to SD function. I followed their instructions carefully for creating an appropriately formatted second partition. The issue seems to be that the phone won't allow it to mount. That is why I posted here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I am sorry, that is why I should post before I have coffee. I see you need an ext4 and a fat formatted... I got it to work. Here are my exact steps..
1. Down root essentials, LINK2SD from app store. Also must be rooted and have TWRP installed. I also suggest a full backup.. Then move the backup to your computer, free space on the phone... Don't leave the backup on the sdcard as it about to be partioned and formatted!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. If you already did this and tried adoptable let storage then use the 'revert changes' and reboot
3. Go into settings a d format sdcard as standard Portable Storage. Click cancel or no if it wants to move anything over.
4. Go into root essentials, storage tab and click adoptable storage
5. Follow procedures to download apk needed (the app will automatically load the web page).. Edit.. When used how much percent of the sdcard to use It's elected 50%.. I am using a 16gb card.. So I split it down the middle.
6. Power down phone
7. Hold down volume up+home+power until logo appears... Essentially go into twrp
8. Do a kernel (system) backup if you haven't yet recently.
9. Flash Apk which will automatically reboot phone
10. Not sure this is important but I waited for my phone to full boot... Paying particular attention to the Toast saying that room essentials has been granted full permissions....
10b... Do not go into storage settings and try to format the second part of the partition... It's already been formatted..
11. Went into LINK2SD, Settings... And pressed 'app location' got a weird warning about hierarchical something or whatnot.. Pressed it a few times and finally got the right screen. SELECTED EXTERNAL.
That was it... Now when I move apps with LINK2SD it seems like a ton of more free space is clearing on the internal... Before when I moved apps I think it was just moving the data..

I got it working temporarily but somehow it started making apps unusable and un-re-installable again. I'll do a factory reset and reroot (I think I just have to sideload SU) and try your step by step this weekend.
The other possibility is the apps that come with the phone are so big they don't fit in the 8gb that comes with it. Every time a Google app gets an update I lose more space and I cannot move those apps to my knowledge. Its getting harder and harder. With this method do I get true adoptable storage? As in all apps and data share the space?

cracker_jax said:
I got it working temporarily but somehow it started making apps unusable and un-re-installable again. I'll do a factory reset and reroot (I think I just have to sideload SU) and try your step by step this weekend.
The other possibility is the apps that come with the phone are so big they don't fit in the 8gb that comes with it. Every time a Google app gets an update I lose more space and I cannot move those apps to my knowledge. Its getting harder and harder. With this method do I get true adoptable storage? As in all apps and data share the space?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most apps are under 100MB.. Even if they download extra data there is no way any one particular app is over 8GB...
Try this...
Sort the LINK2SD app list by 'size internal'
Uninstall the top 3-4 apps that take the most space
Move any system apps you moved to the sdcard back to internal
Clear the app cache and dalvik caches
Reboot
Reformat sdcard
Reboot
Then try my steps to get adoptable storage...
Report back if you can
---------- Post added at 03:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:20 PM ----------
cracker_jax said:
I got it working temporarily but somehow it started making apps unusable and un-re-installable again. I'll do a factory reset and reroot (I think I just have to sideload SU) and try your step by step this weekend.
The other possibility is the apps that come with the phone are so big they don't fit in the 8gb that comes with it. Every time a Google app gets an update I lose more space and I cannot move those apps to my knowledge. Its getting harder and harder. With this method do I get true adoptable storage? As in all apps and data share the space?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PS I heard rebooting after you move the apps to SD seems to also fix the problem.

djmcho said:
Most apps are under 100MB.. Even if they download extra data there is no way any one particular app is over 8GB...
Try this...
Sort the LINK2SD app list by 'size internal'
Uninstall the top 3-4 apps that take the most space
Move any system apps you moved to the sdcard back to internal
Clear the app cache and dalvik caches
Reboot
Reformat sdcard
Reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did the instructions to get adoptable storage and it appeared to work (adoptable worked anyway) but Link2SD has no functionality with moving anything anywhere. The card is not formatted correctly for Link2SD. The main (SD) partition is receiving apps (migrate to SD built into Android) but very few and the internal storage fills up quickly. Basically the apps that work via App2SD were able to be migrated with the migrate button in Settings > Storage. I'd consider formatting the SD card's second partition so Link2SD could work on it again but I know already that it won't work with the "data" of the apps, even with Link2SD plus. I had limited success with FolderMount but that is a pain and I'm not sure it worked at all. Having data exist in two places seems to confuse my phone. Adoptable storage seems to be dead with most apps refusing to use it and Link2SD seems to be dead as it won't move most of my data without breaking the app.

cracker_jax said:
I did the instructions to get adoptable storage and it appeared to work (adoptable worked anyway) but Link2SD has no functionality with moving anything anywhere. The card is not formatted correctly for Link2SD. The main (SD) partition is receiving apps (migrate to SD built into Android) but very few and the internal storage fills up quickly. Basically the apps that work via App2SD were able to be migrated with the migrate button in Settings > Storage. I'd consider formatting the SD card's second partition so Link2SD could work on it again but I know already that it won't work with the "data" of the apps, even with Link2SD plus. I had limited success with FolderMount but that is a pain and I'm not sure it worked at all. Having data exist in two places seems to confuse my phone. Adoptable storage seems to be dead with most apps refusing to use it and Link2SD seems to be dead as it won't move most of my data without breaking the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
App have to be enabled by the developer to move the data with the app, Dex etc.. For example Waze is... Here is my files list view from links2sd about Waze... As you can see everything Def moved over to the adoptable storage.

cracker_jax said:
I did the instructions to get adoptable storage and it appeared to work (adoptable worked anyway) but Link2SD has no functionality with moving anything anywhere. The card is not formatted correctly for Link2SD. The main (SD) partition is receiving apps (migrate to SD built into Android) but very few and the internal storage fills up quickly. Basically the apps that work via App2SD were able to be migrated with the migrate button in Settings > Storage. I'd consider formatting the SD card's second partition so Link2SD could work on it again but I know already that it won't work with the "data" of the apps, even with Link2SD plus. I had limited success with FolderMount but that is a pain and I'm not sure it worked at all. Having data exist in two places seems to confuse my phone. Adoptable storage seems to be dead with most apps refusing to use it and Link2SD seems to be dead as it won't move most of my data without breaking the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Continuing...
Where as chrome is not set by the developer to allow moving stuff like data over to SDcard. See attached... You will see some is on the phone and some is onbthe sdcard. If you want to move data over to the sdcard for apps that are not designed to do so you could purchase the pro version of Link2SD that allows for the forcing of data by creating linking. You might be able to do it for free using terminal emulator and the Linux linking command, which escapes me right now..

djmcho said:
Continuing...
Where as chrome is not set by the developer to allow moving stuff like data over to SDcard. See attached... You will see some is on the phone and some is onbthe sdcard. If you want to move data over to the sdcard for apps that are not designed to do so you could purchase the pro version of Link2SD that allows for the forcing of data by creating linking. You might be able to do it for free using terminal emulator and the Linux linking command, which escapes me right now..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My problem with the Plus version of Link2SD, which I purchased, is that whenever I liked the data portion (IIRC) the newly moved app would immediately force-quit when opening after that. So I would move the data back. It would still force-quit. So I would uninstall and reinstall. It would still force-quit. Sooooo if and when I used that function it completely broke the app until I did a factory reset.
Now, Link2SD plus has nothing to do with adoptable storage as I was able to move apk and data over simply by getting the correct formatting on my SD card, though I don't remember the correct combination of ext2,3,4 partitions that made it work. What I do remember is after that I would only ruin apps by moving the data. Now, with adoptable storage, Link2SD cannot use the card at all though I haven't tried reformatting the second partition as an ext2,3,4,whatever.
Maybe go back to trying to get support from Link2SD developer?

djmcho said:
That was it... Now when I move apps with LINK2SD it seems like a ton of more free space is clearing on the internal... Before when I moved apps I think it was just moving the data..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent!! I just got time to try it, and I now have much more available space. Thanks for your help!

Adoptable storage guide

Adoptable storage works quite well on Honor 4C. There are few faults, but if you know then, you can live with them
Guide based on posts from different threads and my experience.
I used 32gb microsd class 10 and Android 6.0. NO ROOT NEEDED, no additional partition soft needed.
PART 1 - Prepare your card
http://www.modaco.com/news/android/heres-how-to-configure-adoptable-storage-on-your-s7-s7-edge-r1632/
Summary:
Backup your microsd
Enable USB debugging
>adb shell
>sm list-disks
>sm partition disk:???:??? mixed 50 (if you want half encrypted/ half accessible, replace ??? with proper numbers)
If you get error, try formatting microsd from your phone first.
Now you have microsd with 2 partition.
One is encrypted(1) and is ready for moving and installing apps, second partition(2) is accessible through your file manager and pc.
Cons:
- Android doesn't show right free memory for (1). But you are able to check occupied space by clicking on this item in Advanced/Memory
- Google Play before installing app checks free space on your internal memory only. Try to free as much as you can so you will be able to install new apps. I have 1.2gb internal free
- Apps that use only internal memory will be easy to move to (1). Just use your phone menu under application details to move it to (1), now it works Use _first_ sdcard option when menu pops up.
Now most annoying part:
PART 2 Moving/installing apps that download big data after installation.
1. These apps (like NFS No Limits) install themselves to internal memory and then download data. They are useless to MOVE to sd, they won't free up internal memory this way.
BUT they can be INSTALLED to (1): In phone menu change default location to "sd", then install.
Changing this option restars your phone. Everything you install with this option MUST be run with this option on !!!
You have to make two groups of apps depending on this option. If you mix it, app won't have access to its data (like save data, etc).
2. If you install app with "sd" option you will not be able to locate this app save files with filemanager. For example I installed Minecraft with option "internal" to have easy access to worlds saves.

It works, but I cant flash zips from TWRP because it cant locate storage

I get
"Error: java.lang.IllegalStateException: java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException: Thread Binder_C gave up waiting for partitionMixed after 180000ms"
what can I do?

Plz stop using it