[Q] SD file management - Desire HD Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi
I'm a huge file manegament freak.
Switching from a feature phone, I was shocked at the mess on my SD card .
So I ask the question is there anyway to clean up the main directory (tons of Browser, android, adobe, app, bugreports, logs folders). Like Putting all the app folders and android stuff in just 1 folder. Or hiding the files in the phone by putting "." (think this is how android marks hidden folders) infront (which for some reason I'm not allowed in Windows).
Also, is it safe to mark folders as "hidden" in Windows (will android still be able to use them).
One more thing, am I able to acess the 1,5 GB worth of built-in memory on my phone in Windows.
Any other tips are appreciated too!
huge Thanks to anyone able to help me!!

Related

How to manage RAM without a new ROM?

My Wallaby (with Windows PPC 2002) is too central to my life for me to risk losing it by daring to flash it with a new ROM. This means that new tools, ringtones and things have to go into its mere 32 MB of RAM. On the other hand, this RAM is also cluttered up with "skins", sounds and things (including a version of Windows Media Player that has always resolutely refused to work) that Microsoft, HTC et al. have decided I must have. Mostly if I try to delete them, either using its native File Explorer, or via the cradle with Explorer from my computer (Windows XP Pro SP2, local adminstrator account on the PC), I get an error message, "File in use or write protected", that sort of thing, i.e. I'm not allowed to delete them.
Can anyone help me with the following?
- An explorer tool which will let me see and change attributes and permissions where necessary, and delete unwanted files from RAM?
- Any information on possible Windows PPC 2002 equivalents of accounts, local, administrator, etc.? My unsuccesful attempts to delete files have a distinctly "not local administrator" feel.
Another thing that would be marvellous, would be the option to use the (currently 128 MB) SD card as a sort of hard drive, i.e. to put large executables on to that and start them with something like a shortcut, so that they only load into RAM when they're actually needed. Can anyone tell me any more about whether this is possible, and if so how?
Thanks to all in advance.
you cant delete files in rom of the device and even if you could it would not add more program memory or storage on wallay you can only access the rom at flashtime
and at all other times it's readonly and dont take up any of the ram of your device
Thanks for your reply, Rudegar, but I'm looking to delete things from RAM, for instance \\device\program files\windows media player\*.* Am I wrong to think all this stuff loaded from ROM into RAM after the last cold reset?
Oops, I just discovered I can delete the files mentioned above (and did), from the native File Explorer. However, when I tap and hold \\device\windows\player (the media player executable, presumably player.exe) the "delete" option is greyed out in the context menu.
total commander is way better then file explore
I installed Total Commander, with thanks to Rudegar, and to Lumpistefan for being able to use his site as a hop. It's certainly a better tool for file management, but I'm not yet able to delete files I want to.
Roaring guitar.wav is a sound I particularly hate, and a colleague at work is already using it as his ringtone. Therefore there is no way I want to keep that ringtone in RAM. Total Commander lets me see the attributes, which are Read only, System (and in ROM, grey of course). It seems as if I can "greytick" and untick Read only and System, but when I come back to the file these attributes are there again. If I try to delete Roaring guitar.wav using Total Commander I get the message "Warning! Could not delete 1 file(s)!".
As I said, all this has a very "not local administrator" feel to it.
I tried searching the registry for "roaring" but the string was not found. I also cautiously experimented with switching the values of the following keys between 0 and 1:
HKLM\ControlPanel\AdminPassword\Group
HKLM\ControlPanel\Password\Group
but neither had any discernible effect on the behaviour described. Of course Roaring guitar.wav is just an example (and no offence meant to my colleague), I would like to remove a number of sounds and wallpapers I'll never use, and free up some more of my poor Wallaby's hard-pressed 32 MB RAM for everyday use.
Does anyone know how I could do it?
Hate to tell you this, but if TC says the file is in ROM, its in ROM and you can not delete it.
I am not familiar with Wallaby in particular but I guess the file your are attacking is not copied in to RAM. No reason to do so.
Windows Mobile was never designed for multiple users so no 'local / remote' administrator and stuff. Just trust me when I say this, if you can't delete it - it is in ROM.
There are two programs I can recommend:
MemMaid - it will show you exactly what is clogging up your RAM and automatically clean out what it can.
CabInstl - this little free app will let you choose where to install programs so you can put most of your apps on the SD.
Also in ActiveSync, when asked if to install to default location select 'NO' and you will get an option to install to SD.
One more hint:
You can keep all your themes, including the one you are currently using on the SD. Once you selected and installed the theme the *.tsk file is no longer needed.
When my iPaq was my only and primary PPC I also struggled with 32MB RAM (total). I kept everything on my trusty 512MB SunDisk except what I needed on startup.

[Q] SD card directory structure

Hi,
I'm coming from a Blackberry device and I made the mistake of taking my SD card directly from my BB and putting it into my DI. I should have cleaned it up first. What I'm wondering is what is the folder structure on an Android 2.2 device supposed to look like? I want to get rid of extra folders that may have come from my BB, but I'm not sure which ones those are and I don't want to delete any folders that Android needs. Also, where is the correct place to put all of my sounds, ringtones, music, movies, etc. so that they will be seen by the phone? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.

[Q] Any uses for /system folder? (Rooted Phone)

I've a strange question that might or might belong in the development thread, but figured since it's a question, I'll try here first.
I'm using a Stock DeOxed Rooted Rom on my EVO.
I recently installed a few more apps and saw this pesky little warning about low on space.
When I went into my "SystemPanel" app to see how much space was left exactly and noticed that my /data folder only had around 30megs out of it's 428M available.
Ok.. time to delete some apps I thought, but then I noticed that my /system folder (Where I presume pre-installed apps live) had almost 1/3 of it's space still available (115 out of 350megs available).
So I'm wondering.....
Is there some method that I can use to install Apps directly to this folder instead of the standard /data that apps appear to go to when installed?
Is it as simple as moving the APK file with Root Explorer, or are there some under the hood items in apps that prevent this sort of thing?
I've a few rather large apps that I cannot move to the SD card due to widget problems and the like but would be perfect for the system folder if I can find a way to move them there easily.
Thoughts?
DroidGnome said:
I've a strange question that might or might belong in the development thread, but figured since it's a question, I'll try here first.
I'm using a Stock DeOxed Rooted Rom on my EVO.
I recently installed a few more apps and saw this pesky little warning about low on space.
When I went into my "SystemPanel" app to see how much space was left exactly and noticed that my /data folder only had around 30megs out of it's 428M available.
Ok.. time to delete some apps I thought, but then I noticed that my /system folder (Where I presume pre-installed apps live) had almost 1/3 of it's space still available (115 out of 350megs available).
So I'm wondering.....
Is there some method that I can use to install Apps directly to this folder instead of the standard /data that apps appear to go to when installed?
Is it as simple as moving the APK file with Root Explorer, or are there some under the hood items in apps that prevent this sort of thing?
I've a few rather large apps that I cannot move to the SD card due to widget problems and the like but would be perfect for the system folder if I can find a way to move them there easily.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/system/app is where system apps are kept. If I remember correctly, any app can be installed into there, but you have to do through flashing an update.zip if I'm remembering properly. You may be able to take the apk that's in /data/app for the app you want to move and move it to /system/app, but I'm not sure if that will work properly or not. Someone who cooks ROMs might know more.
Also, you can partition your sd card and use true apps2sd with most ROMs. Its a little bit of work and will shorten the life of your card, but that gives you a lot more room if you need it.
I don't know that there's a way to move user apps to system. It's very possible there is a way, I've just never seen any posts about it. Apps 2 SD is usually the way to go.
ps. 30 megs?!?! Geez, how many apps do you have?
Sent from my SUPERSONIC
Easy peasy
First, use a true apk backup tool to backup e apk files you want to move. Titanium backup will NOT work because it compresses and distorts, and we need true apk files. I recommend file manager by adao team. Just go to applications, check what you want, and hit backup. Next, get the apk files on your computer by mounting sd and copying files from backups folder. You will lose all app data, but what can you do? Next, adb push the files to system app folder while in recovery mode (just say so if you don't know how to do this and i will tell you) and reboot. Done. Tell me if it works well.
By the way, 30 megs???
Doesn't froyo install to the sdcard if you tell it to?
I thought a2sd was obsolete
You can put apps there after changing the folder's permissions but I wouldn't recommend it. Just not a good idea to put regular apps there.
Just install them to your SD card instead
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
go into the android app manager and go through all your programs and click on move to sd card...
they will all still occupy some space on your nand, but not nearly as much.
Thanks for the advice, I thought it might not be as easy as moving them, oh well, just seems a shame for there to be over 100 megs I cannot do anything with.
I already had moved all I could to the SD card prior to posting this, but thanks for that advice as well, I'm sure others forget they can do that with Froyo.
As for the 30 megs I had left.. we'll it's back up to about 70 free which should be plenty for a while. (Remember we only have about 420 to start with).
Some of the big ones which could not be moved to the SD card are:
Swype (Deleted, took over 17megs)
TouchDown (12 megs.. must keep for tasks sync sadly)
Google Maps update (7.6 megs)
Documents to go (8megs)
A few various games that cannot yet be moved to the SD card at around 5megs each..
The rest are just lots of little apps.. I'm sort of an app junkie You should have seen my old Palm Centro... it was amazing!
According to Titanium, I currently have 194 'User apps', though I think a few are simply widgets, icon packs and the like.

[Q] What needs to be on SD?

Over the past 6 months I have collected a plethora of "****" on my SD card, lots of apps that left behind empty folders, logs, etc. I want to "fresh start it" and wipe everything off of it to eliminate all the folders that are no longer needed. Yes, I'm a app downloader/uninstaller, lol and as I'm sure some of you know leaves behind a trail of crap on your storage medium.
My question is, what does the SD card HAVE to have left on it (if anything) for the phone to operate correctly? I am Rooted/S-Off/SkyRaider 3.3.
Do i need to leave update.zip for instance on it, pictures i can i move to my Linux box, but I would hate to format the SD only to find out I just borked myself by removing a crucial system file the custom roms or rooting need.
I would also move my RomManager backup to my LB as well, just thought of that....
Anyone know?
i would leave clockwordmod folder, android.tether, android, and titanium backup folder..i mean thats what i have and would keep on my phone...I'm sure your setup is similar.
Thank you! =)
Damn good post. I went ahead and wiped my SD as well through clockwork. I saved my pictures and stuff to my desktop and then retransfered from there. What really sucks is organizing my pictures/music/media/ Sometimes when I switch ROM's I forget the camera auto saves pictures to internall emmc folder. What would be prime is to have it auto sync with a service like drop box.
so... we dont need :
"update.zip"
data
permissions log
blackberry? (never understood this being on my card)
etc...
i just formatted card via settings - storage - card format...
it took like 2 secs... and i have 3-4 gig of music on there...
seemed too fast for a format...
only 2 files it left on card was android.secure and lost.dir
i am re-adding some files i need, but wondering if your list above is the only "neccessary" files - obviously i'm adding my backups but i'm nervous cause theres a ton of files i'll be "missing"
i do have it backed up on 2 pc's, so i guess i'm covered...
hoping this helps - really just want a fresh canvas to work with...

What is needed on the SD card

I have a 8gb sd card what are the bare necessities I should have on it. How do I know what I can safely delete. If I see folders with the names of apps that I no longer use, is that safe to delete? My card is half full. I also see folders with different rom names that I no longer have installed. I do manual full wipes 3x on everything when I reflash. Just looking for a little more knowledge in the sd storage area. Thanks guys
I usually backup the whole sd card while messing with this (then delete backup when I'm sure things are smooth)!
1. if you don't use it, LOSE it. (Is there an uninstaller that gets rid of all this crap?)
2. ...UNLESS you've uninstalled an app you plan on using again one day; keeps the settings; nice. Eg, sports apps that are out-of-season.
keep non-market *.apk files in /download so you don't have to hunt them down again, but clean out other downloads (pics, etc) that are trash. (Btw, the .apk files can add up; you can move them to computer, but I always keep at least a decent file mgr apk and Amazon Appstore apk on SD so I can easily get to work after a wipe/flash.)
Kernels, radios, etc: move to computer so there are no mishaps
PHOTOS: smash 'em all into one directory (I use /pictures) with subdirs if you want, point your photo apps to save to that directory. That'll get rid of a billion photo app directories :
(note: I also set default cam to save to SD card dir).
Also makes syncing with computer a breeze.)
MUSIC: have you tried Amazon Cloud or Google Cloud thing? (I have invites for latter if you want one)
Titanium Backup: one copy of user files (to get data); and use Dropbox (if you're Pro user) for redundant backup (it's saved me once!). But I'd keep ONE backup of user apps/data on SD just for convenience.
cwm ROMS: I keep a stable one or two via RomManager/backups, but I move the others to computer (until they're stupidly outdated).
Otherwise a good cache cleaner can keep **** clean on your SD card (and if you play too much with dirs of apps you use, it'll piss off the apps
SDcards get cluttered really easily when installing/uninstalling roms to test. I've always deleted the folders from old roms that I don't plan to reinstall later.
You can pretty much delete what ever you want from your sd as long as you dont want it. Apps will regenerate folders and files. Also if you want to keep some stuff but want more room on the sd there is always emmc with around 7gb free.

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