[Q] where are market downloads stored? - Desire Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

gents,
I wonder in which folder the downloaded market apps go before the get installed.
Additionally the question rises if one can delete those files or do they get deleted automatically after installation??

HorNet505 said:
gents,
I wonder in which folder the downloaded market apps go before the get installed.
Additionally the question rises if one can delete those files or do they get deleted automatically after installation??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are run from the location they are downloaded to on the phone. So when you download a file from the App Market it will be stored in the folder, installed and run from said APK. If you move it to SD it moves the file from internal to external. If you uninstall the file if it sits on the phones memory it will automatically delete the file.

Not quite. They are stored on the cache partition. They are not always deleted, but they do not take up app space as the partition size is fixed. And when the space is needed on the cache partition, eventually they are deleted.

Is the cache folder visible to me? What's it called.
I got the problem that, despite all my apps are moved to my SD card, the updates fill up my internal memory. I understood that the updated apps are as well moved to the SD card. This is my default setting as well i

Downloaded apks are gets stored in /data/app. You need ROOT access to locate them. Root Explorer will let you access these files.

ip2op01 said:
Downloaded apks are gets stored in /data/app. You need ROOT access to locate them. Root Explorer will let you access these files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me make a correction here: installed apps are stored in /data/app (requiring root for write permissions). System apps are stored in /system/app (requiring S-OFF or Recovery mode for write permissions). Downloaded apks are stored in /cache/download, which is why in partition tables, where the cache partition is >5 MB, you should symlink the download folder to a folder in the sdcard, to be able to download apps larger than 5 MB. Otherwise the market will return the error "Insufficient storage available." or something like that.
Not that all of that really matters, seeing as this is a year old thread...

Please use the Q&A Forum for questions Thanks
Moving to Q&A

Related

What files can be safely deleted in the HTC Desire Root folder?

I've been looking at the root folder using Astro and there are several files/folders. Can any be deleted, without causing any problem? I'm running out of space and am hoping some are just temporary files etc...
For example I've spotted the APK files are in \system\app. I never use the Peep or Teeter apps. Can I safely delete their APK files?
Thanks
p.s - I am using an unrooted HTC Desire.
bradavon said:
I've been looking at the root folder using Astro and there are several files/folders. Can any be deleted, without causing any problem? I'm running out of space and am hoping some are just temporary files etc...
For example I've spotted the APK files are in \system\app. I never use the Peep or Teeter apps. Can I safely delete their APK files?
Thanks
p.s - I am using an unrooted HTC Desire.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you cant delete them using astro, we only have write access to /system in recovery, use adb in recovery to delete them
edit, without root you cant delete anything lol
bradavon said:
For example I've spotted the APK files are in \system\app. I never use the Peep or Teeter apps. Can I safely delete their APK files?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In addition, deleting anything from /system won't actually gain you any more space for applications anyway due to the way that the filesystems are partitioned.
Regards,
Dave
Thanks guys. I take it you mean we've got write but not modify access to the \system folder? So we can write to existing files but not delete them.
I wasn't just asking about \system though but any files/folders in the Root folder. Are there any at all, that can be safely deleted? Or are you saying you cannot delete a thing without rooting?
Not that it sounds like it will make any difference, due to partitioning.
Thanks
Ok to put it as simple as possible:
- no you cant pretty much delete a thing apart from sd without root
- we cant do anything in the system partition while the system is booted due to the nand protection
- we can modify /system while in recovery (using adb)
- when you are running out of space it is on the /data partition, which have a fixed size so deleting from /system or anything else won't help
And at last my advice to you is to go root and install a2sd easy as pie and i've never had space problems since.
Thanks for the informative reply mortenmhp
I have just rooted my 2.1 Desire, trying to remove two of the mms.apk and one other mms file in the /system folder so I can install a different mms.apk, however when I try to do it, it says I dont have the proper permissions. Its rooted, I see the Super User icon in applications.
Any suggestions?
Please read a little before asking questions. It is commonly known, that we dont have full root access on the desire yet.
Due to the nand protection you cant edit the system partition while the system is bootet. You have to use a custom recovery image either via fakeflash or installed by unrevoked. Then you can edit the system partition by using adb commands.
Edit: which i also stated quite clearly 2 posts above yours several months ago
Is A2SD better than the Android 2.2 implementation? Which as far as I can tell just moves the APK (not apps/data) to the SD Card.
Thanks.
Well it is kinda off topic here but in my opinion yes it is better. I'm running a2sd+ atm. and you can make it move /data/data as well.
In froyo there have been some complications though when remountingSD after using it as mass storage. But you can read more about that elsewhere(i would provide a link but I'm writing from my phone)
So the conclusion must be that it is down to personal preferences
Thanks because the official implementation is something of a cop out. On WM you could run the entire App/Data etc... on an SD card.

[Q] Safe to remove APKs?

My Desire's ROM is full. I have rooted the phone and using root explorer to remove garbage from the ROM. There are many apps in /system/app. Each app has a .apk file and an .odex file. Is it safe to move the *.apk files to my sd card to save up space? Or are they needed to run the application?
Thanx
norad73 said:
My Desire's ROM is full. I have rooted the phone and using root explorer to remove garbage from the ROM. There are many apps in /system/app. Each app has a .apk file and an .odex file. Is it safe to move the *.apk files to my sd card to save up space? Or are they needed to run the application?
Thanx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think you may need to read a fair few of the posts in the forum if you are asking is it safe to remove apk's.
A fair answer is yes and no.
Some you can some you can't.
Removing the wrong ones will cause havoc with your phone.
Why not try flashing one of the custom Roms on here.
Thanx Raze.
I believe that the operating system either *needs* or *doesent need* an apk file in the system/app folder for the app to function correctly.
My question is: Does android 2.2 *need* or *not need* the .apk file of an app to exist in the /system/app folder in order for the app to function correctly? Isnt the odex file enough?
Since apk's are package files, my impression was that maybe they are not needed after the app is installed.
deleted .apk file = uninstalled app
deleted important.apk file = havoc on your phone
norad73 said:
My Desire's ROM is full. I have rooted the phone and using root explorer to remove garbage from the ROM. There are many apps in /system/app. Each app has a .apk file and an .odex file. Is it safe to move the *.apk files to my sd card to save up space? Or are they needed to run the application?
Thanx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You won't get any advantage from that; freeing space on the system storage partition won't lead you to have more room for your apps on the internal storage of your device: those are two different partitions. If you want more space on the internal storage partition you should flash a custom, resized partition table (you need s-off, look on the related topic for the howto) and (if you didn't do that yet) partition your sd, so that you can use a2sd scripts to move your stuff there. That's the best you can do if you wanna have more room for your apps, everything else won't help much imo
norad73 said:
Thanx Raze.
I believe that the operating system either *needs* or *doesent need* an apk file in the system/app folder for the app to function correctly.
My question is: Does android 2.2 *need* or *not need* the .apk file of an app to exist in the /system/app folder in order for the app to function correctly? Isnt the odex file enough?
Since apk's are package files, my impression was that maybe they are not needed after the app is installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My understanding (please correct me if i am wrong as i am so used to windows phone) is that the odex file is simply the integrity of the apk. lots of roms now are de-odexed so you can push or zip-flash a file into its place and it will still function. if the rom still has the odex files this is not possible as the phone will check the apk against the odex file and bootloop. The apk is the install package and the woking part of the file itself. Your best bet would be to flash a rom with A2SD installed in it. This accesses a fat3 partition on your sd card which the android os sees as extra internal space. I'm running LeeDroid 2.2d A2SD version. I have more apps installed now than when i was on a stock rom (motonav, psx4droid, angry birds, snesoid etc) and my phone still says i have 85mb or 52% of my space left
Thank you guys, now it is clear.
I keep getting a storage space low warning on my Desire, and I am trying to find out how to free up some space. My phone is rooted, my sd is partitioned, and most of my apps are installed on the SD with apps2sd.
Any apps still installed on the phone do not support installing on the SD. I have removed almost all apps and left only a very few that cannot be moved.
EDIT: Just realized that HTC Mail data was taking up 65mb of the phone memory.... deleted it and now my phone can breathe again
you are rooted? well if you use a2Ext you dont have to move your Apps to SD.
Moved to Q&A as not development.
Please do not post such questions in development.
Check those articles:
Safe to remove apks:
http://androidforums.com/droid-x-al...t-apps-apks-removable-non-removable-root.html
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=Barebones
Custom MTD Partitions (resize data, system, and cache):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=806321

hexamob recovery apk

hi all while searching the net i came across the file i have attached ... now i have not seen this on the site and many of you may not be aware of it .. so i have decided to post it ...
this is what it does
Hexamob Recovery Lite can recover any type of deleted file from your internal/external SDcard. It can recover deleted files from external sdcard (tablets) and internal sdcard (smartphones). Internal sdcard from tablets will be supported in nearly. Data recovery is not guaranteed because it depends on the state of data blocks after delete process.
FEATURES:
- You can use this application like an undelete tool to recover your deleted files.
- Support FAT (vfat) filesystem type.
- Search for any file type or select types from filters.
- Deleted files long ago will be more difficult to recover because some blocks of file can be overwritten.
- Recovered files are stored in recovered folder of your device (usually in the "microSD" although some devices can create this folder on the internal storage).
- This application need "Superuser" permissions. Go to Google and look for info about how to be root on your phone or you can ask to us. Is important to be "superuser" because there are many apps on Android Market that need "superuser" permissions.
undelete recover deleted files pictures photos recovery backup internal external sdcard storage data folder root smartphone vfat fat save security
posted my pro version . will post lite free version in a min
Look interesting, I will give a try later

Data Apps

Hello, I have a question. I have the Samsung galaxy ace root and the root explorer I can see the files but the problem is that I have a problem with the sd card.
Explaining the root problem is that I open explorer and I get the root folder and there I give app data and then and there I get all the apps installed on the internal card and cell phone so I give the app and I can give install message so that if I give to see all your arxibos will I see, because I want to do the same thing but in the applications installed on the sd card is all that installed him stan to see how the d internal memory but the memory externally. Not if I explain here is better:
when I get into /data/app
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/713/18562887.jpg/
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/842/37418692.jpg/
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/94/41448627.jpg/
and when I'm in /mnt/sdcard
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/204/24011522.jpg/
The purpose of this is that in / mnt / sdcard no data / app so I can not give the application to see as before in / data / app so you can see the configuration files of the game
Even in the pc let me.
PS: the big problem is that the file is read-only and even changing the permissions and putting it all clicked not even let me delete or modify files in that folder or glue or anything.
Let's see if anyone can answer me. thanks
Double/cross posting is not allowed.
For reference, the two other identical threads:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1801169
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1799935
Thread closed.

Confused by file system

When I plug my phone into my PC I can see a file on my SD card called 'Android' with my game data.
But when I open ES File explorer on my phone there is another file called 'android' (small 'a') which appears empty, but I can't delete it.
When I go up to root /data/media I can see what looks like my SD card with the 'Android' and 'android' folders but there appear to be duplicate files while others are missing or moved.
I think after flashing new kernels this week there are duplicate files being created. I often have to re-download game data after flashing a kernel and I seem to be losing a lot of SD memory.
I just want to know which folders should I delete?
Using superuser permission should allow you to delete the "android" folder or file. If ES Explorer don't work, try Root Explorer or do it in adb if you know how.
In linux file systems, A and a can be two different files or folders.
Or you can reflash google factory image and that will wipe the entire internal storage.
Thanks.
I managed to delete both the Android folders.
Had to re-download all my game data but I've ended up with about 3 gig more memory.

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