System cleaner - Desire Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

With android essentially being a Linux based operating system. Is there any apps to clean up the system folders.
For examplecon windows I would have thecregistry cleaner and ccleaner.
I'm not just thinking of a cache cleaner
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

What do you mean with "clean"? If you mean deleting system apps which you do not use and can be deleted, there are two ways.
First way, if you are s-off:
Use an explorer which has root rights, navigate to /system/app and delete.
Second way, if you are not s-off (you can also do this if you are s-off, of course):
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Barebones
On this linked you also find a nice table, which tells what you can delete and what not.
I hope this helps you.

no.
The system directory is read only so nothing can be left there.
I think a cache cleaner is about the best your going to get.

mercianary said:
no.
The system directory is read only so nothing can be left there.
I think a cache cleaner is about the best your going to get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is not true. Just do some search, and you will see, you are wrong and I am right.
Sent from Oxygen with Transparent XDA App

Confused, where am I wrong???

There's an app on market called 1-click cleaner which might be of some help to you
Sent from my CM7.1 Desire using XDA App

mercianary said:
Confused, where am I wrong???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With adb or an explorer with root rights (only if one is s-off) you can mount the /system partition from r/o (read only) to r/w (read/write). In r/w you can delete apps from /system partition.
Sent from Oxygen with Transparent XDA App

MatDrOiD said:
With adb or an explorer with root rights (only if one is s-off) you can mount the /system partition from r/o (read only) to r/w (read/write). In r/w you can delete apps from /system partition.
Sent from Oxygen with Transparent XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't agree more, but as you said /system is ro, the op wants to use something similar to ccleaner or a regcleaner for windows to clean up the system directory of files that are no longer required or old logs or whatever, not just apps, since /system is ro there is nothing there to clean up.

There is no need for such a cleaner in android or linux, imho. Never read/heard why it should be.
Sent from Oxygen with Transparent XDA App

As I can see he is S-OFF (from signature) so he will be able to delete system files - if he wants to. Still this isn't recommended to be used by anyone, unless you know exactly what you are doing.
Anyway I don't think he was looking for a way to delete the files himself, but for an automate app that does the job.
As timmaaa said the application 1-Click Cleaner could be what you are looking for, even though it won't delete unnecessary files in system folder (if these even exist? ).

I don't know the ins and outs of it.. apparently it just clears unused cache etc.. its only a few MB at a time though
Sent from my CM7.1 Desire using XDA App

UsManyDead said:
it won't delete unnecessary files in system folder (if these even exist? ).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is none. The previous posters stated /system is ro. On the more practical side, files being created on /system, would hypotetically change the space available there, which is not the case as the ammount of space is always the same. Cache cleaner is the best you are going to get. Not that you need anything else. This ain't the Windowz.

I think 'SD Maid' from the market is what you are looking for

UsManyDead said:
As I can see he is S-OFF (from signature) so he will be able to delete system files - if he wants to. Still this isn't recommended to be used by anyone, unless you know exactly what you are doing.
Anyway I don't think he was looking for a way to delete the files himself, but for an automate app that does the job.
As timmaaa said the application 1-Click Cleaner could be what you are looking for, even though it won't delete unnecessary files in system folder (if these even exist? ).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I wanted, as I know /system is read only but when I use root explorer there are unnecessary files such as logs which I have been deleting without any hassle. Which the cache cleaners haven't picked up. Also not just in the system folder but the few others that can be accessed.
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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] Device filesystem access

Probably I missed this question being answered somewhere, but I am tired of searching for it, so here it goes...
I decided not to root my device for now, and I am trying to get the most of it with stock limitations. Generally it is fine, but what bothers me most is the fact that i seem to be unable to write any files on phones internal memory. Is it so, that all / filesystem is inaccessible for write, or is there a dir where i could store some files i would like my phone to be able to access while sdcard is unmounted?
I may be wrong but thats the limitations of a "stock" phone,if you want access to the files you would have to root AFAI
That's exactly the impression I have, and I don't like the idea. I'm ex WM5/WM6 user, and I simply cannot understand why can't I have let's say /tmp/ dir just for myself...
banannq said:
That's exactly the impression I have, and I don't like the idea. I'm ex WM5/WM6 user, and I simply cannot understand why can't I have let's say /tmp/ dir just for myself...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any reason for not rooting then? there are plenty stock roms/alternatives out there.
I grown tired of constantly tweaking my previous htc smartphone, decided to keep this one stock at least for now. I know rooting is an open door I will not want to close
and also I think there's no rooting method for gingerbread so far, is there?
As much as I know a downgrade is involved,I know what you mean about tinkering with the phone!It gets obsessive at times
You should have access to /data/local or at the very least /data/local/tmp
That's where fiels get pushed for rooting.
-Nipqer
The problem is I cannot even open /data directory
How are you trying to access the /data folder?
Cause if its some file manager app, some of them will only read sdcard.
-Nipqer
I'm used fre3vo to get temproot on my device (Z, Android 2.3.3),
and after that called:
mount -o remount,rw -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk0p25 /system
i can write to /system, but after reboot or remount into readonly all my changes dissapearing. Should i need S-OFF on my device? Can i get S-OFF without rollback to v1.34 on temp rooted 2.42?
Yeah the emmc is write protected when you are s-on, so any changes to /system will dissappear on reboot.
Unfortunately you cannot get s-off without downgrading to 1.34.
-Nipqer
Nipqer said:
How are you trying to access the /data folder?
Cause if its some file manager app, some of them will only read sdcard.
-Nipqer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Normaly I use total commander for android, but tried also ES File explorer, Linda manager, andexplorer... all of them basicaly let me view / folders (with exception of /data, /root, /cache etc) so i think it is filesystem condition rather than file manager fault...
banannq said:
Normaly I use total commander for android, but tried also ES File explorer, Linda manager, andexplorer... all of them basicaly let me view / folders (with exception of /data, /root, /cache etc) so i think it is filesystem condition rather than file manager fault...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try root explorer. you can still view directories without root (the app will just tell you that it failed to request superuser access). I'm pretty sure everything under /data is r/w access by default. My phone is rooted so I can't verify whether or not you can write to that directory on stock (I'd assume you could as long as there's free space available) but I can definitely recall being able to look at all my directories on stock using root explorer.
sephiroth1439 said:
try root explorer. you can still view directories without root (the app will just tell you that it failed to request superuser access). I'm pretty sure everything under /data is r/w access by default. My phone is rooted so I can't verify whether or not you can write to that directory on stock (I'd assume you could as long as there's free space available) but I can definitely recall being able to look at all my directories on stock using root explorer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess it doesn't matter what software i use android simply locks me out of internal phone memory. It sucks, because phone was advertised as having over 1GB of internal storage space (no mention about it being inaccessible), and i can't even store ringtones on my device (have to use sdcard, and suffer side effect of it being unmounted at times). What a shame... with all the greatness, android sucks at very simple things
banannq said:
I guess it doesn't matter what software i use android simply locks me out of internal phone memory. It sucks, because phone was advertised as having over 1GB of internal storage space (no mention about it being inaccessible), and i can't even store ringtones on my device (have to use sdcard, and suffer side effect of it being unmounted at times). What a shame... with all the greatness, android sucks at very simple things
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't blame Android for your carrier locking down your device
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

Permanantly removing system apps

Hey guys if I'm posting this in the wrong section delete it
I've been trying to find an app for rooted devices to allow you to permantly remove system apps but haven't managed to come across 1 yet :/ does anybody know if there's an app that does this? What do you use?
I've seen the story's about the root managers etc but alot of people say the come back after a reboot?
Thanks dudes
Sent from my Desire HD using xda premium
All you really need to do is delete the corresponding *.apk file in /system/app. I'm not 100% sure what the current android install process is, there might be some sort of registry system or framework installation that takes place elsewhere among the system; but deleting the .apk file has always worked fine for me.
-----
To do this you first have to have root access, which I assume you have. You then need to remount /system as r+w (read and write access, by default the /system mount is read only). You can do this with many an app from the Android Marketplace, just search for "remount".
This will then allow you to use your favorite root-enabled file browser, be it a terminal on your phone or something entirely different, to browse to /system/app and remove said *.apk file.
Let me know how you get on.
you must be rooted...and you can download any file explore to delete them
Edit: tolate he has better explanation
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
Titanium Backup is the best choice. Make a backup of it first, then delete it. That way it'll save you a headache when you delete phone.apk by mistake.
Titanium backup is bull**** when removing system apps... It just freezes.... Try root uninstaller (free from market).. It takes seconds to uninstall system apps...
Sent from my HTC Desire HD
salarkhel said:
Titanium backup is bull**** when removing system apps... It just freezes.... Try root uninstaller (free from market).. It takes seconds to uninstall system apps...
Sent from my HTC Desire HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bull****? have you tried the uninstall option and actually looked through /system/app? I'm pretty sure the .apk you just uninstalled has disappeared.
but anyway, there are a number of ways to do this as the others above have helpfully explained
maatsby said:
bull****? have you tried the uninstall option and actually looked through /system/app? I'm pretty sure the .apk you just uninstalled has disappeared.
but anyway, there are a number of ways to do this as the others above have helpfully explained
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can confirm that titanium works for this....
Thanks guys yea titanium works fine i can finally get rid off all the **** i don't want and use
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Deleting HTC Widgets from internal memory

Is there a way that you can remove certain HTC Widgets from the phone to free up some of the memory? Can I use es file manager and go to /system/app and just delete apk's from there or will that cause problems? Thanks
Sent from my AT100 using Tapatalk
If you've rooted, yeah you might be able to do that. I think you'd need to root to access the system files (not sure, don't know about phones just thinking logically) and then it should be possible.
Rooted - File Explorer - System mount - delete those Files with the ending widget.
Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using Tapatalk
Yes you can.
I would use titanium backup.
And backup before deleting so if you run into issues you can restore individual apps.
Although es file will do just fine, just make sure in the es settings to give root access and mount file system.
matt5eo said:
Rooted - File Explorer - System mount - delete those Files with the ending widget.
Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You just beat me to it lol
Alright, perfect. Thanks a lot.
Sent from my AT100 using Tapatalk
Sorry for bringing up an old thread but it's kinda relevant.
I tried installing a few additional widgets through HTC Hub. The downloads were successful but the install wasn't. And this took up some (large actually) amount of space off my internal.
So, what do I delete and from where to get rid of these unwanted files? I don't really care about it not being installed, just don't want it bloating up my memory space. Thanks in advance, and I apologize if this has been answered elsewhere.
I'm sorry but Bump.
Any help would be appreciated with the above issue?
They should be installed to
/system/app. if your are using apps2sd with your Rom, look under /system/sd/app. Just look for the name of the widget u downloaded and delete it from there. I use es file explorer. U must go into its settings and allow root explorer and mount, to be able to do this. Also try wiping your dalvik cache in cwm.
Sent from my HTC_A510c using xda premium

[Q] Delete folders from root\sdcard\Android\data\ using root explorer

I have some superfluous folders from long-since-deleted apps in root\sdcard\Android\data\ that i'd like to clean up. one of them is massively large.
I'm on AOKP build 31, rooted, and using an up-to-date copy of Root Explorer (w/ super user) but the delete command fails. Mounting and deleting the folders using Windows makes them disappear from windows, but they don't disappear from root explorer (And the space they were gobbling up doesn't free up in android either)
I have a feeling these folders are resisting deletion while android is running because they're "in use" (even though they shouldn't be, since the apps themselves are long since deleted) Is it possible to mount my sd card to my PC from CWM recovery/bootloader and delete them that way?
Am I doing something dumb?
Try rmdir -R /sdcard/*foldername* in terminal emulator
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
You'll find the same folders in /data/media and you should be able to delete them from there...
danger-rat said:
You'll find the same folders in /data/media and you should be able to delete them from there...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! That did the trick. I had no idea the file structure was put together that way (fairly incomprehensible, actually)

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