Database Users

Want to use the 2GB internal memory for apps - how?

Hey there,
the U8800 has a 2GB partition which isn't used at all when an external SD-card is installed.
The internal 2GB partition is mounted to /HWUserData and is accessible. Now I want to use it for my apps. With the typical App2SD-apps that are available in the market I cannot move the apps to this partition. They are always moved to the external card.
Moving the apps manually is not very helpful as Android treats them as install-packages when I open them within the file manager.
tl;dr: The 2GB-partition does only show up within the file manager, how can i use it for apps etc.?
XphX

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1112857

Thank your for your answer; I do not want to use that program; I fear voiding the warranty. I have no problem with installing custom-ROMs, but I won't change the partitions of the internal memory.
I'll take out the external SD-card for a moment, maybe I can install the apps to the 2GB-part then...
Seriously, why does Huawei include 2GB of memory if it is not usable?

Use the default apps2sd option.

I've been thinking about this myself and thought about changing the mount points so the internal 2GB SD is formatted as ext then linked to /sd-ext and used as an a2sd partition. The advantage is that, unlike normal a2sd, you will still be able to remove the microSD card.
The problem would be that recovery images wouldn't like this as they always expect a2sd to be the second partition on the microSD. It would also stop the backups from working..
It's something I'll need to think about a lot.

flibblesan said:
The advantage is that, unlike normal a2sd, you will still be able to remove the microSD card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is exactly what I want to do. a2sd simply does not recognize the partition as it expects it to be a second partition within the external sd. Could changing the mount point resolve this issue? Where would I even mount it to? The external card will still be the one recognized (or not?)..

sd partion

Clear your doubts guys!!!
Ok, so here's the deal, in a very longwinded way that should hopefully explain everything and answer ALL questions.
You have an SD card in your phone and, a bit like normal PC Hard Drives, you can "partition" them (split them into two or more sections of different filesystems). Normally, your SD card is just one big FAT32 partition, which is fine for storing your pics, messages, emails, etc.
Now, other then your Phone's SD card, your phone will have its own internal flash memory (or "NAND") storage. Tradditionally with Android, you could only install applications to this NAND storage, you cannot install them onto your SD card. So if you have an empty 32GB SD card, but only 5Mb of internal phone storage, you still wont be able to install many apps, if any at all.
This was done to protect the apps from things like piracy - it's not easy to access the location where apps are installed on your phone's internal storage (normally impossible without root), so you can't for example buy an app, copy it, refund it, then install it again.
Still, this is no good for those of us who like to install lots and lots of apps, legitimately, as we run out of internal storage very quickly.
So Google came up with a way to install apps to the SD card. A folder is created called something like .android_secure and this stores (I believe) encrypted versions of applications, but there's a few catches:
1) Apps aren't automatically stored here, you have to manually "move" them
2) Not all apps are capable of being moved, in fact most apps aren't, the developer needs to update their app and allow it. Some apps aren't and wont be updated and some developers may not want to allow it for whatever reason.
3) Not all app data is moved, most of it is but some data is left on your phone so many people still run out of internal storage quickly.
4) You can force ALL apps to be moved to this area by default, but it breaks incompatible ones - such as Widgets, which are unable to load due to the SD card not being "prepared".
So that's Froyo's version. Before Froyo existed, some very clever people came up with a thing called "Apps2SD". Remember I said that your SD card normally is one big FAT32 partition? Well, Apps2SD works by having your SD card patitioned into TWO filesystems. A normal FAT32 partition for your usual stuff and a secondary "EXT" partition. EXT is just a filesystem, like FAT32 or NTFS, but it's the filesystem used by Android internally. The SD card is normally FAT32 because it's a "universal" filesystem, that just about any machine will be able to read, whereas EXT filesystems are generally Linux only, but I digress.
EXT has several different versions. The most common one you'll see is ext3. The main difference between ext2 and ext3 is "journaling", which is just a fancy way of saying that should an operation (such as copying, writing or reading) be interrupted unexpectedly (say, by you turning your phone off), then no data should be lost or corrupted. You know how when you turn your phone on, it says "preparing SD card"? It takes a few minutes, but what it's actually doing is checking that the FAT32 partition hasn't been damaged, because FAT does NOT have journaling. If you used a computer back in the Windows 98 days, you may remember that lovely blue "Scandisk" screen that had to run every time you didn't shut your computer down correctly - that's the same thing. But then Windows 2000/XP came along with NTFS, which also has journaling, meaning you had less chance of loosing data. But I digress once more.
So you have your SD card partitioned into EXT and FAT32. Generally it doesn't matter if it's ext3 or ext4, but you don't get any real advantage with ext4 over ext3 in this instance. Apps2SD then runs a special script on your phone which "symbolically links" the folder from your phone's internal storage where your apps are normally stored, to the ext partition on your SD card. A symbolic link is a bit like a shortcut for folders, except it's transparent to the OS: In other words, Android doesn't know that when it's installing it's apps to the internal phone storage, it's actually being stored on the SD card. This effectively boosts your internal phone memory from the previous 5mb that you had in my example above, up to whatever size you made the ext partition on your SD card (often 512Mb or 1Gb, but it depends on how many apps you install).
Plus, because it's "journaled", it doesn't need to be "prepared", meaning it's ready to go as soon as the phone starts - so your widgets and apps work immediately (unlike "forced" Froyo Apps2SD, where widgets disappear).
The catch with Apps2SD is that whatever space the ext partition takes up is taken away from the SD card. So if you have a 4Gb card (with something like 3.5Gb of actual storage) and you make a 512Mb ext partition, your SD card will "shrink" to 3Gb. The space isn't actually lost, it's just being used by the ext partition. If you reformat your card, you'll get it back.
Finally, there's a difference between "Apps2SD" and "Apps2SD+". Remember I said that your apps are stored on a special folder inside your Phone's NAND storage? Well, that was a bit of a lie. It's actually stored in TWO places. There's a second area which is called the Davlik Cache. You don't really need to worry about what this is for (Hint: IT's to do with the Java runetime your phone uses to run apps), all you need to know is that apps use it to store data, which also eats up internal phone memory. Apps2SD+ moves davlik cache to the ext partition on your SD card as well, freeing up even more space. Some people believe that this may come at the cost of performance, as the internal NAND memory should be faster than your SD card (Which is why you also get people arguing over which "class" SD card is better for Apps2SD - the logic being that a faster SD card means less impact from this move), but the truth of the matter is that your applications will be running from your Phone's RAM anyway, so performance isn't really impacted at all. Since most apps are only a few hundred Kb's in size, or a couple of MB at the most, it's a non-issue.
Finally, any recent version of Apps2SD/Apps2SD+ should work with an SD card that is or isn't formatted with an ext partition. It'll check for this partition when your phone first boots and if it's not there, just use internal phone storage.
Having an ext partition WITHOUT Apps2SD+ shouldn't cause any issues, either, so you can format your SD card whenever you're ready.
So in summary:
Apps2SD "fakes" your phone's internal memory and puts it all on a hidden section of your SD card.
Apps2SD+ pushes even more content to the SD card, freeing up even more space on the phone itself.
"Froyo" Apps2SD has various limitations that "old" apps2SD does not, but is much easier to handle as it doesn't involve any kind of "partitioning".

[Q] SD card

Hi guys, so I backed up my sd card and went on a little quest. Never knew what this did so tried it out, went onto clockwork and did an sd partition of 1024mb. Turned phone on sd card worked fine, tried installing a big game but still it said not enough space when there is 2.5gb empty on sd card. So that failed I went onto MAGLDR and onto services and cleared sd partition. Now I turn phone on and it says no sd card and prompts me to format it on status bar, but then it still doesn't work. Tried mounting it via usb but still the sd card is not showing up. Has my sd card corrupted? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Also some instructions on how to properly install apps 2 sd, as just moving to the sd card on settings doesn't fully move the app, some of it still remains in the internal and after installing 50+ apps it comes down to 20mb internal memory and says I have no more internal space.
Regards

Tenpin said:
Also some instructions on how to properly install apps 2 sd, as just moving to the sd card on settings doesn't fully move the app, some of it still remains in the internal and after installing 50+ apps it comes down to 20mb internal memory and says I have no more internal space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if a rom supports a2sd (typhoon, for example,) you do not have to do anything, it will automatically use an ext partition if it finds one.
If you choose 'move to sd card' for an app, it will be REMOVED from the ext partition, and placed on the fat32 partition (where it may not work), so DO NOT choose 'move to sd', all your apps should be set to internal, and the rom will put them in the ext partition.

Tenpin said:
Hi guys, so I backed up my sd card and went on a little quest. Never knew what this did so tried it out, went onto clockwork and did an sd partition of 1024mb. Turned phone on sd card worked fine, tried installing a big game but still it said not enough space when there is 2.5gb empty on sd card. So that failed I went onto MAGLDR and onto services and cleared sd partition. Now I turn phone on and it says no sd card and prompts me to format it on status bar, but then it still doesn't work. Tried mounting it via usb but still the sd card is not showing up. Has my sd card corrupted? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Also some instructions on how to properly install apps 2 sd, as just moving to the sd card on settings doesn't fully move the app, some of it still remains in the internal and after installing 50+ apps it comes down to 20mb internal memory and says I have no more internal space.
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, i would start with HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool to format the sd card back to original. Then start from there.
samsamuel said:
if a rom supports a2sd (typhoon, for example,) you do not have to do anything, it will automatically use an ext partition if it finds one.
If you choose 'move to sd card' for an app, it will be REMOVED from the ext partition, and placed on the fat32 partition (where it may not work), so DO NOT choose 'move to sd', all your apps should be set to internal, and the rom will put them in the ext partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And @samsamuel wouldnt he benefit more from data2ext? From my experiences, that puts EVERYTHING on the ext partition. just puting my two cents in, (its about all i got xP )

elesbb said:
And @samsamuel wouldnt he benefit more from data2ext? From my experiences, that puts EVERYTHING on the ext partition. just puting my two cents in, (its about all i got xP )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends on what your needs are, .,,, running everything from the SD means much of the nand is unused, what's the point of that? Typhoon for instance,, 150mb system, say 20mb for cwm and boot, that's (round up) 200mb used out of 512,, nothing is gonna use the other 300mb, so might as well let the data use it.

Right I'm running this ice ROM off the nand: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1441462
[22-04-12][ROM] Unofficial AOKP for HD2 [Build 33][4.0.4][tytung_ics_r1]
It does say apps2sd is possible on thread op, so would I just partition my SD card on clockwork to 1024mb then just install apps without moving them to SD manually? Is that really it?
Regards,
Sent from my HTC HD2 using xda premium

samsamuel said:
Depends on what your needs are, .,,, running everything from the SD means much of the nand is unused, what's the point of that? Typhoon for instance,, 150mb system, say 20mb for cwm and boot, that's (round up) 200mb used out of 512,, nothing is gonna use the other 300mb, so might as well let the data use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, thats why i dont use either, i have the Tmous version so i ihave about 760 mb of unused nand. Only way id prolly use a partition is if i got a lot of bad blocks, but i only have about 5 bad blocks right now in just my data partition.
Tenpin said:
Right I'm running this ice ROM off the nand: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1441462
[22-04-12][ROM] Unofficial AOKP for HD2 [Build 33][4.0.4][tytung_ics_r1]
It does say apps2sd is possible on thread op, so would I just partition my SD card on clockwork to 1024mb then just install apps without moving them to SD manually? Is that really it?
Regards,
Sent from my HTC HD2 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, yes it is just partition sd card using minitool partition or disk utility(linux) and you should be good, i dont believe you have to reinstall the ROM either because apps2sd is an init.d script which gets ran upon boot.

[Q] Are apps stored on SD or internal memory?

I am running CM7 on a 16GB Sandisk Class 4 uSD. I'm very new to this, so I hope someone can help me with my question. When I download apps from Google Play, where does it get stored? When I go to Settings -> Storage, I see the following: SD card/Total Space = 13.31 GB, SD card/Available space = 13.22 GB. Under Internal storage/Total space = 0.93GB, Internal storage/Available space = 680 MB. Under Additional storage: /mnt/emmc Total space = 1.0GB, Additional storage: /mnt/emmc Available space 1.0GB.
So it looks like the apps are being stored in "Internal storage", but I'm not sure whether that is in NC's internal memory, or the SD card. On the one hand, the SD card shows 13.22 GB available out of 13.31 GB, so it looks like it is not being used. But on the other hand, Additional storage: /mnt/emmc Available space is 1.0 GB, so I assume that is my 1.0 GB allotted to me by B&N, so it also doesn't look like I'm using up the NC's internal memory.
So where are my apps being stored? If they are not being stored on the SD card, how can I move the existing apps to the SD card, and also how do I set it up so that all apps (and book) downloads go to the SD card in the future?

Your apps are running on your SD card's "internal" partition which is still on the SD card.
Sent from my NookColor using XDA

Size of Internal Storage?
If Internal storage is on the SD card, why is it only 0.93 GB? Shouldn't it be (in the case of a 16GB card) 13 GB? How can I use the 13 GB that is left on my SD card?

voyager28 said:
If Internal storage is on the SD card, why is it only 0.93 GB? Shouldn't it be (in the case of a 16GB card) 13 GB? How can I use the 13 GB that is left on my SD card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In CM terms, internal storage means your /data partition. For SD installed CM, your /data is still on your SD, just in a separate partition. And when play store installs an app, it installs the application files to your /data partition on the SD.
When your SD was first set up, several partitions were created on it, one of which was /data. The size for the /data partition was set when your SD was partitioned. This partitioning is why your 16GB looks like it now only has 13GB. Some of the space was set aside for other uses.
The 13GB is your media partition on the SD. It is named 'sdcard' in CM terms. It is to be used for your media files, books, movies, pictures, etc. And installed apps use it to store any files they need to (like files they download, etc.).
Sent from my Nook Color running ICS and Tapatalk

Re-sizing Partitions
j8048188 and leapinlar, thanks for explaining to this noobie where apps are stored. Is it possible to re-size the /data and /sdcard partitions, to say, 3GB and 11GB, without wiping out the apps I already downloaded? If so, how could I do it?

voyager28 said:
j8048188 and leapinlar, thanks for explaining to this noobie where apps are stored. Is it possible to re-size the /data and /sdcard partitions, to say, 3GB and 11GB, without wiping out the apps I already downloaded? If so, how could I do it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, no, not with Windows and not once you have installed a ROM and there is information stored in /data. Windows does not know how to read the data format that /data uses. Windows based partition managers can manipulate the /data partition if there is no data in it. And the only time that is true is just after you have booted the new SD, but before you have installed your first ROM. (However, if you have Linux, you can use partition manager software there to resize with data in it since Linux knows how to read the data).
So if you have Windows and you want it set bigger, you have to catch it before you install your first ROM on it. You can back up your installed apps with titanium backup, start over with your SD again, manipulate the partitions before installing the ROM and restore your apps later. If you decide to do that, use Mini-Tool Partition Manager and make partition 4 (media) smaller and partition 3 (data) larger. Be sure to copy the titanium backup files to your PC because they will be wiped out if you start over.

leapinlar said:
Unfortunately, no, not with Windows and not once you have installed a ROM and there is information stored in /data. Windows does not know how to read the data format that /data uses. Windows based partition managers can manipulate the /data partition if there is no data in it. And the only time that is true is just after you have booted the new SD, but before you have installed your first ROM. (However, if you have Linux, you can use partition manager software there to resize with data in it since Linux knows how to read the data).
So if you have Windows and you want it set bigger, you have to catch it before you install your first ROM on it. You can back up your installed apps with titanium backup, start over with your SD again, manipulate the partitions before installing the ROM and restore your apps later. If you decide to do that, use Mini-Tool Partition Manager and make partition 4 (media) smaller and partition 3 (data) larger. Be sure to copy the titanium backup files to your PC because they will be wiped out if you start over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Leapinlar, I'm running Ubuntu on one of my computers, so any advice you can give me will be appreciated.

voyager28 said:
Leapinlar, I'm running Ubuntu on one of my computers, so any advice you can give me will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In ubuntu, use gparted to resize the partitions on the sd. Shrink partition 4 (leaving space in front of it) and expand partition 3 to fill it. And usually people say 2GB is large enough for partition 3. If you find later it is not big enough, just do this again.

leapinlar said:
In ubuntu, use gparted to resize the partitions on the sd. Shrink partition 4 (leaving space in front of it) and expand partition 3 to fill it. And usually people say 2GB is large enough for partition 3. If you find later it is not big enough, just do this again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, leapinlar! I will try this tonight!

partition

I have pationed my sd card into 1 gb ext4 patition now I am using h9....now it shows only 6gb memory card....and my internal memory ia same...and the remaining 1gb is not found...hp to make that 1gb as my internal....

You need to use Link2sd & mount the partition then you can link apps
If link2sd doesn't give you the option to mount the ext partition you created it wrong
You can create your partition in cwm under the partitioning section - note that it will format your sd card so backup first to pc
Also note that your internal storage will not increase - this is a fixed hard drive and unless you magically fit a bigger one it will always be the same
What you are doing is creating virtual storage space on your sd card that acts like internal storage
The advantage is you can install more apps
The disadvantage is the more apps you link the more laggy the phone will get

marcussmith2626 said:
You need to use Link2sd & mount the partition then you can link apps
If link2sd doesn't give you the option to mount the ext partition you created it wrong
You can create your partition in cwm under the partitioning section - note that it will format your sd card so backup first to pc
Also note that your internal storage will not increase - this is a fixed hard drive and unless you magically fit a bigger one it will always be the same
What you are doing is creating virtual storage space on your sd card that acts like internal storage
The advantage is you can install more apps
The disadvantage is the more apps you link the more laggy the phone will get
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so how can delete this partition....?so that I get my memory back

–NigthFury– said:
so how can delete this partition....?so that I get my memory back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By either formatting the sd card with your phone or creating a new partition in cwm (this will delete everything on sd card so backup first to pc)
Or
Use mini tool on pc to format the partition & then merge the partitions or delete all partitions & create a new one