!IMPORTANT! - CHECK FOR POSSIBLE DATA CORRUPTION​
Quick Steps to check for possible data corruption:
1. Navigate to LOST.DIR Folder in Internal/External SD card using any file explorer (My Files, ES File Explorer, Astro Explorer, etc.)
2. If this folder is empty then you have nothing to worry about - no data corruption! Otherwise, delete ALL of these files (Labelled with various numbers)
3. Reboot device/Restart media scan for internal/external SD card
4. If files reappear straight after reboot/rescan, then there's a possibility that there are damaged files located on the phone or your SD card is damaged/error with file system used.
[If LOST.DIR folder remains empty after reboot/rescan then your SD card/DATA is safe]
Locating damaged files:
- Open the file using any file explorer (My Files, ES File Explorer, Astro Explorer, etc.) and choose to open as "Text" [Alternatively, you can connect/mount it to your PC and open the files with notepad]
- Text should indicate location of possible corrupted file, navigate yourself to this file
- Make backup of file on PC
- Reboot device/Restart media scan for internal/external SD card
- Check LOST.DIR again if any files are recreated, if files are again recreated, then move to next section.
SD card is damaged/error with file system used:
- If you are using a lagfix (especially those with EXT2 as LOOPS), then disable them and/or return to the RFS file system.
- Reboot device/Restart media scan for internal/external SD card
- Check LOST.DIR again if any files are recreated, if files are again recreated, then I would suggest you reflash your ROM and repartition/format
- If LOST.DIR files continue to reappear instantly after a reboot/rescan, then I would suggest you flash back to stock and contact your device maker for warranty claims.
Possible Causes for creation of files in LOST.DIR:
- Improperly turning off device, such as pulling out battery when device is still on
- Interrupted media scan
- Files copied for PC were corrupted initially
- Damaged SD Card
- Fake SD card
- Disconnecting your device when mounted as mass storage device to your PC (without first properly unmounting it)
Evidence/Reference: http://tinyurl.com/4bccju4
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x86-Dark said:
I have 1022 files in my LOST.DIR in the Micro SD :/...and only 2 in the sdcard.
I think i have some corruption issues...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having lots of files in your LOST.DIR does not necessarily mean that you have any data corruption - As noted by some users, it is safe to have these files, but I believe if these files continuous reappear in LOST.DIR, right after a reboot, then you have might have a problem
Delete the files, reboot, and navigate back into LOST.DIR folder and if files are recreated then you possibly have data corruption, if LOST.DIR folder remains empty then you do not have to worry about data corruption
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EXTRA INFO (Edited by me - thanks to rschenck for clarification/original post):
The LOST.DIR is where the system stores orphaned, damaged or corrupted files it finds during the file system check as it boots up. It would be expected that most all of you will have at least a few orphaned files in there. They are perfectly safe to delete, however, if after rebooting the system, MORE files are created in LOST.DIR then these aren't orphans, they are corrupted files and could signal a problem.
Hopefully when you delete them, they will not be replaced at reboot and you will gain some peace of mind that their is no evident DATA/SDcard Corruption/failure
This is a very important housekeeping/maintenance procedure to extend the lives of our phone, especially for those using EXT2 or loops.
Best of luck,
Peter
My lost.dir folder is empty.
I didn't use a lagfix for quite some time though.
I only recently used and ext4 lagfix which has been enabled for about a month or so.
Qazz~ said:
My lost.dir folder is empty.
I didn't use a lagfix for quite some time though.
I only recently used and ext4 lagfix which has been enabled for about a month or so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then your ext4 file system is good to go I'm using ext2 and my lost.dir fodler is empty too
Wrong section and useless post (as it was in speedmode section) as its too panicky and unnecessary (it is perfectly safe to have these files, and even if we have we don't need to remove lagfix, just switch on the brain).
dupel said:
Wrong section and useless post (as it was in speedmode section) as its too panicky and unnecessary (it is perfectly safe to have these files, and even if we have we don't need to remove lagfix, just switch on the brain).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh .... I'm sorry. If a moderator sees this post as useless then please feel free to delete it. Was just trying to help
my lost.dir is empty, and i haven't use lagfix
I have 1022 files in my LOST.DIR in the Micro SD :/...and only 2 in the sdcard.
I think i have some corruption issues...
/sarcastic mode on
I never wanted find out this thread
/sarcastic mode off
currydude said:
Oh .... I'm sorry. If a moderator sees this post as useless then please feel free to delete it. Was just trying to help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why? I found it so usefull...Thanks!
x86-Dark said:
I have 1022 files in my LOST.DIR in the Micro SD :/...and only 2 in the sdcard.
I think i have some corruption issues...
/sarcastic mode on
I never wanted find out this thread
/sarcastic mode off
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having lots of files in your LOST.DIR does not necessarily mean that you have any data corruption.
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Delete the files, reboot, and navigate back into LOST.DIR folder and if files are recreated then you possibly have data corruption, if LOST.DIR folder remains empty then you do not have to worry about data corruption
dupel said:
Wrong section and useless post (as it was in speedmode section) as its too panicky and unnecessary (it is perfectly safe to have these files, and even if we have we don't need to remove lagfix, just switch on the brain).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^^
This..perfectly safe.
currydude said:
Having lots of files in your LOST.DIR does not necessarily mean that you have any data corruption.
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Delete the files, reboot, and navigate back into LOST.DIR folder and if files are recreated then you possibly have data corruption, if LOST.DIR folder remains empty then you do not have to worry about data corruption
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Deleted everything and rebooted...no file has reappeared fheeew!
x86-Dark said:
Deleted everything and rebooted...no file has reappeared fheeew!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's good to hear I hope my post is clear enough .... Again, having lots of files in LOST.DIR does not necessarily mean that your internal/external SD card is damaged, it just means that there has been some form of data corruption and by deleting and reboot, you can confirm that your SD is not damage but instead there has been some data that was corrupted.
I think those files can also be the result of disconnecting your phone when mounted as mass storage device to your pc (without first properly unmounting it)
MarkSGS said:
I think those files can also be the result of disconnecting your phone when mounted as mass storage device to your pc (without first properly unmounting it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yea! I forgot about that too, thank you for your contribution - will add to O.P.
can someone verify this, please?
auralzx said:
can someone verify this, please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If LOST.DIR folder remains empty after reboot/rescan then your SD card/DATA is safe
Having files in the LOST.DIR folder does not mean that your SD card is damaged/data corruption - but if they reappear after reboot/rescan then there's a possibility of it.
Hmm...
I have some files in LOST.DIR folder, some in my internal and many in my external. I have deleted those files in both SD then reboot. My external SD's LOST.DIR remain empty after reboot, but in my internal SD there are 2 files reappear.
I am using ext 4 + ext 2 loops...
Thank you very much for sharing this, I will try to figure it out...
I get 2-3 files in LOST.dir on my internal SD. I have only tried this twice so far. I'm using EXT4. So what now?
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App
No lagfix Eclair lost Dir has a few files in it .
Moved on lagfixed rooted customised etc etc .Six months a few files in Lost Dir .
Yesterday got about a dozen files in the directory . Why well simple all Titanium backup files and i had a problem with a restore on that app .
Conclusion and from OP post any file that gets damaged is moved to this folder .
A folder to keep an eye on just in case as a warning of possible corruption or bigger problems .
jje
TerraBuzz said:
Hmm...
I have some files in LOST.DIR folder, some in my internal and many in my external. I have deleted those files in both SD then reboot. My external SD's LOST.DIR remain empty after reboot, but in my internal SD there are 2 files reappear.
I am using ext 4 + ext 2 loops...
Thank you very much for sharing this, I will try to figure it out...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remove your loops then check LOST.DIR again. (and/or refer to the Locating damaged files section)
#1RAGE said:
I get 2-3 files in LOST.dir on my internal SD. I have only tried this twice so far. I'm using EXT4. So what now?
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, if files do not reappear right after reboot/rescan, then you do not have to worry.
JJEgan said:
.Conclusion and from OP post any file that gets damaged is moved to this folder .
A folder to keep an eye on just in case as a warning of possible corruption or bigger problems
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly
My Phone's internal memory gets used up when i download some application from the android market(which is quite obvious) , but after it gets installed , the applicaion's setup file still uses internal memory along with installed files ..
is there any way clean up these downloaded setup files ..
Please please please help me .. i am running short of memory here inspite of APP2SD ..
i doubt it. its all in the apk file so i would assume that you couldnt separate the set up files from the actual application just because its really all one file. i mean you could use 7-zip and looked inside the apk file and you would see other files but you would still need the set up file to be able to install and set it up. right? besides i think this file would be very small anyway.
i agree with u that apk file can't be moved or deleted from mnt/asec/ ..
but i don't know why the downloaded setup file still uses the memory along with the installed files (apk and others) .. i mean either the setup file shud be moved to asec or it shud get deleted .. the application uses double space
and i have tested it too .. i used some apks stored in my SD card to install the applications .. and the space used by them was as much as expected .. (i didnt have ext 3/ext4 partition at that time to install them on SD card direct) ...
and when i downloaded the same app from market and installed it .. it used more memory!!
Now here's what i did to free up memory .. i downloaded all the required apks in sd card and used CWM recovery to factor reset and clean dalvik cache ,, plus i made a ext4 partition on SD card for A2SD+ ..
This way only nominal internal memory is used by apps ..
But this way i would never want to use android market to download and install apps .. thats why i need a way to clean my downloaded setup files and install the apps to SD card using A2SD+
When i Download something from the market the setup files often stay under the cache folder. You can delete them with root explorer or something like that to get more free space.
rauschkugl said:
When i Download something from the market the setup files often stay under the cache folder. You can delete them with root explorer or something like that to get more free space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the suggestion .. will try it
I created a backup zip file of some images that were in the main sdcard folder that's found within the mnt folder and I was trying to delete said zip file as I thought I'd made a mistake with the zip file and somehow I ended up deleted most of the folders within the sdcard folder!
I checked out the Storage section within settings and it has the following information:
Total space]
13.11GB
Apps
3.28GB
Pictures, videos
245MB
Misc.
8.33GB
Available
1.31GB
Even though the information in the Internal Storage section is correct, when I check my folders using a file explorer software on my device which is rooted and running AOKP, it shows that the folders and files that I deleted are still missing.
Is there anyway to access the internal memory via an ADB-type software that will allow me to recover the files and folders that were deleted by accident as well as let me back up the internal memory to a PC once the recovery is done? (That is, when I can access the damn device as it's being a pain in the ass trying to detect it on my laptop!)
I use Recuva from Piriform located HERE ! It found and restored 234 MP3's that I guess I was pocket deleting on my DHD.
Thanks for the link. I'll check it out as soon as I can get my device recognised on my laptop and netbook!
When I connect to PC in MTP mode i can see first "Internal Storage" then when i click, I can see my folders and files in somewhat my "SD card". But there are specifc files that doesnt show up like for the App Backup Restore, wherein all the backedup apps are stored, I could not see it when I open this folder. But when I use ES explorer in my phone, the backed up app files exist. Why is this so?
One more thing, I am still quite confused on the folder and file configuration of our nexy. It seems the folders "storage\emulated\0\", the "storage\sdcard0\" and the "\sdcard\" are all the same in content (i think). Can you explain how it works? Is it just like mirrors of the same sd card folder? if so, then which is the real one? Im confused.
One last thing, when you say "Internal Storage" or files in the "Internal Storage", does it refer to the phone system memory (is this also the "\storage\" ?) or the internal sd card?
Sorry for being a newbie..
One of the reasons why Im asking about the missing files is because I was hoping to transfer these APP backups to my PC because when I make factory reset or wiping in preparation for installing PA ROM, it might also delete the files in my SD card folder (or will it not)?
So I hope you could explain how I could see these files. All drivers were installed and PC communication is working well. Im just lost now how come I could not see this files wherein in the ES file explorer the files exists in that folder.
When you wipe to flash PA rom just factory reset, wipe cache, dalvik cache and system in advance wipe in twrp's wipe menu. That's all you need to do to make that switch to pa ROM. If you do not wipe data then you're fine. Everything in your internal storage will still be intact.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
If you are talking about the files that you see when you enable show hidden files on ES file explorer, then you would need to do the same on the PC. Also, if these files are an extension that the PC does not recognize, maybe it is possible that it will not display them thru MTP.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
I am trying to update my phone.
With EsFileExplorer I try to move OTA zip to the system and it keeps saying system task failed. I have also put the OTA zip in .OTA folder and when I go to local upgrade it does not show. Can someone help me with this?
thank you
ms.journie said:
I am trying to update my phone.
With EsFileExplorer I try to move OTA zip to the system and it keeps saying system task failed. I have also put the OTA zip in .OTA folder and when I go to local upgrade it does not show. Can someone help me with this?
thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ROM does not go to "system."
ROM goes to the root folder of your main storage, the folder where you can see other folders such as "Documents", "Music", "DCIM", etc. That is your root folder.
It prolly won't go into system because you are not rooted and/or don't have permission. Don't try to put it in system.
If you are already having trouble, you'd best read and follow the installation instructions very carefully, or enlist some aid.
System can't be written anyway unless you modify very specific properties with a terminal.
There is a problem of terminology effectively the root of your media storage is not the root of internal storage.
The root of internal storage is '/'
The root of your media storage (where your photos, documents etc are located) is '/data/media/0' (if you're the user 0, which is the case if you are the only user) [it was called internal sdcard in the old times, for example too]
If you think in term of file explorer. Android is a Linux based system so the filesystem architecture isn't the same as in Windows.
The instructions are to put the OTA file at the root of your media storage, meaning you can't put it in a folder (no OTA folder....) as said in the post above mine