[Q] Help managing your storage! - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi guys!
I have a bit of a problem with my S2 storage. I'm running cyanogenmod. So I wanted to ask you guys how could I best manage all my apps/pics/videos/backups etc.
My current status:
System ROM 528MB, 149MB free
Internal 2.11GB, 637MB free
SD Card 12.3GB, 1.35GB free
Ext. SD Card: 31.9GB, 29.1GB free.
So you see here my problem...I have this huge 32GB SD card that is mostly empty, while all my installed apps go either to the 600MB of internal data partition or to the internal memory. Either way, I barely have 2GB available for data, and a huge partition that now I can't even take for the camera (CM will only save to internal DCIM folder).
Titanium Backup allows to move the data folder anywhere, so it's into the big SD card.
ScummVM allows to save the ROMs anywhere, so also these ones are in the SD card.
Movies/Videos I download are in the SD card.
...And that's it. Whenever I take pictures, I need to remember to move the files manually to the external SD, because the camera app will only save them in the internal memory. What can I do? How can I improve this?
THanks a lot!

Up!

A camera app such as Camera Zoom Fx available on play, will allow you to specify where your pictures are saved.
Also, I am running the latest NEATROM lite based on the JB leak and the stock camera allows you to choose between internal and sd card as storage. This may not be the case on older versions of the stock camera.
Hope this helps with the picture issue at least!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Yeah, thanks. All the Samsung stock cameras allow saving into the SD card. The AOSP one, however, doesn't. Still don't quite understand it.
Anyway, besides the camera, would there be a way to move installed apps (or its data) to the SD card?

timonoj said:
Yeah, thanks. All the Samsung stock cameras allow saving into the SD card. The AOSP one, however, doesn't. Still don't quite understand it.
Anyway, besides the camera, would there be a way to move installed apps (or its data) to the SD card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have never done this with GS2 but on HD2 we could create a sdext partition on external sd. This partition would then be used by system to extend internal storage. I think this can be done on GS2 via cwm by partitioning sdcard. You would need to backup your data from external card first though before partitioning.
There is also Apps2SD on google play which will move installed apps to ext card.

Yeah, that's it! I did something like this on my Nexus One on its day. It wasn't perfect but it was good. I'll look into this. Thanks!

Related

[Q] SD Card Issue

Hi Guys,
I recently picked up a new galaxy s2 and but of course rooted it and installed cyanogenmod 7.1
The one problem i ve been faced with in an other wise perfect set up has been to do with the SD card.
I didnt realise that the internal memory (16gb) is actually partitioned into a internal drive of around 1-2gb and an internal SD card of around 14gb
See i have an external 32gb card, but the problem faced is it seems i can only either use the 32gb or the 16gb internal, not both at the same time (it can see both but paths one or the other down a root of mnt/emmc which cant be accessed by most apps
Is there any way to use both? Ideally i wanted my apps to be mounted on the 16gb and google music with its offline music to be mounted on the 32gb sd card?
Is there any way to achieve this?
No?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Narzsa said:
Hi Guys,
I recently picked up a new galaxy s2 and but of course rooted it and installed cyanogenmod 7.1
The one problem i ve been faced with in an other wise perfect set up has been to do with the SD card.
I didnt realise that the internal memory (16gb) is actually partitioned into a internal drive of around 1-2gb and an internal SD card of around 14gb
See i have an external 32gb card, but the problem faced is it seems i can only either use the 32gb or the 16gb internal, not both at the same time (it can see both but paths one or the other down a root of mnt/emmc which cant be accessed by most apps
Is there any way to use both? Ideally i wanted my apps to be mounted on the 16gb and google music with its offline music to be mounted on the 32gb sd card?
Is there any way to achieve this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Say wha?
The internal (14 gb partition of the included 16gb) is /mnt/sdcard.
If you have an external SD card mounted, it will be /mnt/sdcard/external_sd.
Apps using Gingerbread's native apps to sd will always be on the internal sd card, as far as I know.
I can access both internal sd and external sd whenever I want.
I have mp3s stored on external sd, pictures from the camera saving to internal sd.
At least, this is how it is on MY phone.
Hi mate,
cyangenmod let's you play swaps with what one is mounted as sdcard and emmc
None of my apps though can see the other card, except for esfile manager and titanium backup
ideally also for what I want, I need to move apps over to both since I want to dedicated the 32gb card to google music and offline music storage
Your question is what happens already? All apps are automatically installed on your Internal SD and then you put the music manually on your external SD. Not sure if troll or...
I'm honestly not trolling but maybe I'm missing a trick as google music won't see that card?
Also I was hoping to use the offline function built into google music to download the songs to that card so I can pick and chose albums on the fly
Ah, I missed the part where this is a CyanogenMod feature. I don't use CyanogenMod right now, so I'm not familiar with this feature. Can't help you, sorry.
You might want to post to the CyanogenMod forum since this is a feature specific to that ROM. (both the thread here on XDA and on the CM forums)

New Note, lots of questions Part1

Got my new Note, this is my first droid phone, and I got LOTS of questions. I currently have the i717 version, unrooted.
1) Is currently is any reliable way to install ICS on the i717?
2) How do I check if there were any previous kernel or ROM flashes?
3) Is there a reliable way to root the device WITHOUT increasing the counter (assuming it is currently at 0)?
4) How do I move installed apps, which are currently under "System Storage" to "USB storage"?
I can answer all of your questions very simply. Search and read.
yep all ur answers are here just gotta read,
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using XDA
Hi guys, found 2 answers so far, still looking for #1 and #4 if someone can point me to the right threads to ready it would be appreciated.
no ics for this device just yet and to move to sd there's an app u can use i just don't know the name or i think u can even use root explorer not sure on that one ill let someone else shine in on that
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using XDA
funziebear said:
no ics for this device just yet and to move to sd there's an app u can use i just don't know the name or i think u can even use root explorer not sure on that one ill let someone else shine in on that
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya from what I gathered, there is ICS for the international version. I have yet to see something for the i717.
I dont have an SD yet, I was referring to moving them from System to USB storage.
I will be getting as SD soon though.
GalNote said:
Ya from what I gathered, there is ICS for the international version. I have yet to see something for the i717.
I dont have an SD yet, I was referring to moving them from System to USB storage.
I will be getting as SD soon though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are two potential SD cards for the Note. One is the internal SD card. This is actually the part of the phone where you store your music and other files. It's the space allotted by the OS for storage. The Note comes with 16GB of internal storage, but 2GB is reserved for the system. You cannot access this for data storage. There is also a portion of the internal SD card that is used by the OS itself.
The remaining amount of storage is about 12GB. This is accessible through a file explorer such as Root Explorer, ES File Explorer, etc, and is located in the /sdcard folder. This is where any App2SD type app will move apps to. This is also where you store your music and other files like photos, etc.
The Note also has a slot for an external SD card. To access it, you take the battery cover off and right next to the SIM card, there is a little slot for the micro SD card. The Note is published as handling up to 32GB micro SD cards, but there are plenty of people using 64GB micro SD cards with their phone.
Using the external SD card would allow you to add additional music and photos and other files. It is not used at all by the OS or system, so you would have as much space on it as you can after formatting it. (You lose some space after formatting.)
So to summarize: the Note has 16GB, about 12GB available through the internal SD card. You can add additional storage using the external SD card (officially up to 32 GB, unofficially up to 64Gb).
lactardjosh said:
There are two potential SD cards for the Note. One is the internal SD card. This is actually the part of the phone where you store your music and other files. It's the space allotted by the OS for storage. The Note comes with 16GB of internal storage, but 2GB is reserved for the system. You cannot access this for data storage. There is also a portion of the internal SD card that is used by the OS itself.
The remaining amount of storage is about 12GB. This is accessible through a file explorer such as Root Explorer, ES File Explorer, etc, and is located in the /sdcard folder. This is where any App2SD type app will move apps to. This is also where you store your music and other files like photos, etc.
The Note also has a slot for an external SD card. To access it, you take the battery cover off and right next to the SIM card, there is a little slot for the micro SD card. The Note is published as handling up to 32GB micro SD cards, but there are plenty of people using 64GB micro SD cards with their phone.
Using the external SD card would allow you to add additional music and photos and other files. It is not used at all by the OS or system, so you would have as much space on it as you can after formatting it. (You lose some space after formatting.)
So to summarize: the Note has 16GB, about 12GB available through the internal SD card. You can add additional storage using the external SD card (officially up to 32 GB, unofficially up to 64Gb).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got it, but still have a little question. I noticed when I install any app, it goes directly onto the 2GB system reserved space. What if I run out of that 2GB, what happens in that case, can I move the installed apps into the 12GB or I have to move it into the purchased/external SD card?
GalNote said:
Got it, but still have a little question. I noticed when I install any app, it goes directly onto the 2GB system reserved space. What if I run out of that 2GB, what happens in that case, can I move the installed apps into the 12GB or I have to move it into the purchased/external SD card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read this paragraph again.
The remaining amount of storage is about 12GB. This is accessible through a file explorer such as Root Explorer, ES File Explorer, etc, and is located in the /sdcard folder. This is where any App2SD type app will move apps to. This is also where you store your music and other files like photos, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^^ got it, thanks.
K I researched and read, I still cannot find out if I can safely root my Bell i717, without increasing the flash counters.
Also, it seems there is no ICS yet available for this device.
Can someone please chime in?
wow this thread cleared up a lot for me. Still got a few questions though...so when i go to settings and click on an app and click "move app to sd" it moves it to the "internal sd" which has about 12gb of space? so then what goes on the external sd card? is the storage on the SD card ONLY accessible when you plug it into a computer and put it in mass storage mode? I remember when I had my nexus one, moving apps to sd actually put it on the external sd card..
The note is not a DROID. Droid is a verizon marketing term.
You can reset your flash counter. So even if you increase it by flashing CWM or rooting then just reset it back to 0. That's what I did.
Once CWM is installed flash all the ROMs you want through CWM. Just back up nandroid first and you can always go back.
I use a 64GB microSD card and store nandroid backups, photos, videos, podcasts, etc.
The internal SD (USB Storage) is used for app data.
GalNote said:
Hi guys, found 2 answers so far, still looking for #1 and #4 if someone can point me to the right threads to ready it would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root ir phone throigh odin then go search dev thread for the rom u want read the requiements then flash they r all good
note @ 1.83
... You don't need root to flash a ROM.
Instead of rooting with Odin, just flash CWM with Odin then flash the ROM from there.
The only reason to root first, is to run titanium backup if you so desire

[Q] its good idea to install apps2sd???

Hi
i just rooted my sgs2 and i got 16gb external sd card, i have seen lots of good apps and i want to install them but before that i have read that some people recomend to install apps2sd to save space on the phone but other said that with that amount of space you dont need to install this app, also i readed that some roms dont support the app, so its good idea to install apps2sd???
I really like apps and i will check 3 or 5 roms. If its a good a idea, should i install first, before any other app??
Greetings from MX
skaarax said:
Hi
i just rooted my sgs2 and i got 16gb external sd card, i have seen lots of good apps and i want to install them but before that i have read that some people recomend to install apps2sd to save space on the phone but other said that with that amount of space you dont need to install this app, also i readed that some roms dont support the app, so its good idea to install apps2sd???
I really like apps and i will check 3 or 5 roms. If its a good a idea, should i install first, before any other app??
Greetings from MX
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know apps2sd.
But it sounds like it moves your apps to the external sd card.
That can also be done with stock Android system: Setting > Applications > SD card.
Then click on the app you want to move and say move to sd card.
I had some apps on my external sd card, but some apps are loaded a little bit later/slower, when they are on the external sd card.
So, I recommend that all apps, which you need very often and especially direct after booting the phone, should stay on the internal sd card.
And after flashing some "early" ICS Rom versions, I lost my apps which were on the external sd card.
I had to re-install them from Play store.
But this was only an issue of some ICS ROMs/kernels, and should be fixed now.
Anyway, that caused me to move all apps back to the internal sd card.
I just want to be on the "safe side" ;-)
you should absolutely not install app2sd (the app of that name), because the functionality is already present in all roms.
in settings -> apps you can move apps.
however, in contrast to the previous post, apps are moved between the /data/ partition of the internal sd card and the /sdcard/ partition of the internal sd card.
as you might know, /data/ has 2GB, /sdcard/ has about 12GB. You can check on your current storage space occupation in settings -> storage.
if you have enough free space on data, leave your apps there, as sdcard is a universal storage space, that can also contain music, photos, videos and so on and since this space is also accessible to users that are not rooted, it is more versatile and therefor more valuable.
Since both partitions are on the same sd card, you don't have to worry about speed differences.
After moving some apps using apps2sd I had to restore a nandroid because it messed up my system.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
great i wont install apps2sd, but now what kind of files or info is recommended to be in the external SDcard?
I have on the external sd card my movies, music, photos and videos recorded with the phone camera, my titanium backup folder, few custom rom zip files, nandroids etc.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
^Ditto. Keep your media and big files on external SD, keep your apps on the internal app memory if you can (its around 2gb in size, unless you go over that there is no need to put apps on SD).
Sent from the Milky Way
Pretty much a obvious question for most people . Do install it ! It moves apps to SD ( wow ) , clearing space for many many other stuff . So , why not install it ?
Thank me if i helped ~
well iam fully loaded an my opinion is the app notifies u wen u install a app,but on the hard core side wen many apps r moved to sd ,ive crashd sometimes..i think it was better if there was a option to store apps directly on the ext sd card instead of phone or int sd card...
Try GL to SD from the market, posted a threat like this a month ago and someone recommend me this.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA

Extsdcard vs sd card. How is it saving?

I went into root explorer.
I went into /mnt/
And I noticed there's two options....
/Extsdcard and /sdcard
Seems like all my downloads, music, and everything is getting saved to /sdcard
What does this mean?
P.s. I have a 64gb micro sdcard card.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
your extsdcard is your external one in your phone you can remove. i would recomend saving most your files like your music and such to that. sdcard is your internal memory of your phone. you have less space there and should save it for more important things. hope that helped
It means everything is being saved to your Internal Storage. I haven't quite figured out how to default everything to the ExtSdcard yet. I know the camera can. The phone will read everything from the ExtSdcard fine though, such as music and other files.
The ext sd card can be used for the camera/video, CWM backups, music files you copy from your computer, and you can move most any files there that you download.
The internal sd card will be used for all of your apps, there's no way to 'move to sd card', you just have the full 16/32gb internal sd for all of it. Since you will always be forced to use the internal sd card for all app needs, I just try to keep everything on my ext sd card I can (my cwm backups are 1.7gb!). Not that it really matters for me though, I downloaded every app I ever use and a few games and only hit 1.2gb used on my internal sd card.
You can also go to th advanced tab within the stock browser and select memory card for default storage. I am guessing that is ext SD as the other option is "Phone".
Thanks for the information!
This was quite confusing at first. Time to start moving files
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
permanent fix for this?
My issue is that everything defaults to the /sdcard (internal partition - i'm calling it that for ease of terminology) and some apps just don't give you another option of where to save the media to (or don't let you browse over to the right thing). as it stands, the phone seems to be mounting that internal /sdcard partition as if it were external media, ie in android's default location for external media. thus, apps are looking ofr the REAL SD card and think they've found it but they haven't.
the reason this is a problem for me is 1. i have to change this in every app that allows me to, and 2. CWM sends backups to the internal one automatically and i can't change it and have to manually move the backup images to my external.
the reason i'm going into all of this is i'd like to find a way to entirely get rid of the /sdcard folder representing the internal memory and have the external card take its place. I'd like the rest of my 29ish GB of internal storage to be part of the system partition - where apps go, etc. it's not that i want to use that space, it's that i want to "move to SD" to the right SD. i just don't want the apps and system to treat ANY internal space as if it were external or mounted or anything of the sort.
my last phone, Atrix 2, had like 2-4gb internal. I'm just suggesting stretching that amount all the way to 32gbs and using the SD card as an SD card.
the question, basically, is whether there is any way to make this happen? i came across a thread (google "sd card mount point modification" as i can't post external links yet) elsewhere that discusses doing this with a VTAB and was wondering if this is something that is addressing my (our?) issue, whether it's a recommended solution, and whether it would work on the S3. i'm fine following technical instructions but I have very limited knowledge of the way addressing etc. works on Android and this filesystem. any help (or a redirect to a thread where this is more appropriate to ask) would be greatly appreciated.
Does this issue persist with custom roms? Is it an Ics bug that won't let you install apps to extsdcard or a Samsung intentional crap? I know one other android phones I had I could save apps to sd card no issues.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
sabre31 said:
Does this issue persist with custom roms? Is it an Ics bug that won't let you install apps to extsdcard or a Samsung intentional crap? I know one other android phones I had I could save apps to sd card no issues.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haven't tried any, waiting for something where key things like camera, LTE, etc all work. It's not that I can't install to extSD, it's that the default is "sdcard" (ie the internal space allocated). it's really a function of the way the system/phone allocates that extra internal space - rather than calling it "internal storage/system storage", they are calling it the "primary sd card" and the actual sd card is being called "2nd sd card". it's this treatment of the spaces by the system that i'm unhappy about, i guess.
that's a good point though, and i am hoping that a custom ROM will do this differently. will update when i find one i like
EDIT: gonna do the Task & Ktoonsez AKOP Rom this weekend, should know how the spaces are treated. again, will update.

[Q] .android_secure folder in the internal sd (usb storage)?

Hello!
I'm using the stock ICS 4.0.4 XWLPY rom and I'm really glad with it. But when I install all my apps and games I have to move some of the to the sd card. By default, the system moves them into a ".android_secure" folder in the External SD card, making the boot time very long, and sometimes it doesn't even load the apps/games stored at the external SD card.
So, my question is, is there any way to move the apps to the internal SD (usb storage)?
Thank you!
P.S.: I've a rooted phone.
Hi, I'm trying to do exactly the same. I've already spent all the evening searching for this and couldn't find an answer. The issue is simple, I want to use the internal memory (/storage/sdcard0) for the .android_secure folder, instead of the real external SD card (/storage/extSdCard).
Why? Because I would like to have all the external SD card free for music, videos, pictures, etc. and I don't use the internal memory for my files, so there's a lot of free space not used. Also my SD card is slow (in comparision with the internal memory).
Thank you very much!
Cheers!
arroba3 said:
Hello!
I'm using the stock ICS 4.0.4 XWLPY rom and I'm really glad with it. But when I install all my apps and games I have to move some of the to the sd card. By default, the system moves them into a ".android_secure" folder in the External SD card, making the boot time very long, and sometimes it doesn't even load the apps/games stored at the external SD card.
So, my question is, is there any way to move the apps to the internal SD (usb storage)?
Thank you!
P.S.: I've a rooted phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4.0.4 ? Really? At least move to 4.0.3 or even gb but not 4.0.4 brickwear.
Can't say for the OP (the post is an year old by now), I'm using stock Android 4.1.2 rooted.
Anyways, I would like to know if there is some mechanism for changing the default .android_secure folder location.
Cheers!
andrewwright said:
4.0.4 ? Really? At least move to 4.0.3 or even gb but not 4.0.4 brickwear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

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