Develop Bugs

[Q] A2SD+ and low internal memory

I haven't found really good explanation on forum and most of post on this seems not to be answered so I'm posting to see if I can get this sorted.
I used Leedroid, InsertCoin, and now on GingerVillian now. All of them had same setting of 500MB ext partition. Problem is I always seems to get low internal memory no matter what ROM I use. Currently I have 394MB free SD-EXT and 16MB Internal.
I moved adobe flash to SD card which seems to free up space and Dalvik Cache is on SD-Ext.
So question is why even though I have lot of EXT space left is it not being used and is there way to make it use it more instead of internal memory?

jinius said:
I haven't found really good explanation on forum and most of post on this seems not to be answered so I'm posting to see if I can get this sorted.
I used Leedroid, InsertCoin, and now on GingerVillian now. All of them had same setting of 500MB ext partition. Problem is I always seems to get low internal memory no matter what ROM I use. Currently I have 394MB free SD-EXT and 16MB Internal.
I moved adobe flash to SD card which seems to free up space and Dalvik Cache is on SD-Ext.
So question is why even though I have lot of EXT space left is it not being used and is there way to make it use it more instead of internal memory?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
App2SD is flawed because of this, say you have an app 20mb, 15mb would be put on to the SD card and the rest go's to internal, so you will still use up space and in the end will have to start uninstalling.
Best way is to use a Rom with data2SD witch give's you 2gb internal memory.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

I have the same problem... I hate it , i have 1 gb for sd-ext3 and i cant enjoy it !
Any ideas ?

wska said:
I have the same problem... I hate it , i have 1 gb for sd-ext3 and i cant enjoy it !
Any ideas ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Data2SD RoM problems solved

One could also flash a new hboot which increases the size of the /data-partition. However you need s-off for this and it's imho riskier than flashing a rom with data2sd. Whereas i work with a2sd + cm7 hboot and i am very happy it.

Desire with Cool Sensation v7
Hi,
I have this problem too. but it is not our choice to choose the data2sd instead of app2sd because it depend on what the ROM support.
Previously I use App2sd+ from ModaCo ROM. I have 200+ apps and it take the internal memory nearly full but sd-ext space just half.
I tried the Data2sd for Desire is only SuperNova with HTC Sense and it work in 1Gb sd-ext. BUT it uses Sense 2.1.
I just try Sense 3 from Cool Sensation v7 ROM. I love it and dont want to revert back to previous Sense It have 3D home screen, cool weather animation, SMS secure lock. However this ROM still use app2sd. I cannot post to the thread, I dont have enought post count.
I try some other way to apply Data2sd into this ROM but I got boot loop.
After few days I use this ROM, my internal memory almost full (15mb free) for only 57 apps even the app2sd symlink-ed /data/app, /data/app-private, /data/dalvik-cache and /system/app into sd-ext!
Expert please help me and give me some idea.
Do I need to symlink /data/data into sd-ext manually?
Is it possible to remove app2sd in the ROM and install Data2sd? How?
Data2sd require busybox, init.d and ext4 kernel support. I think this ROM have all this thing.
HTC Desire
Hboot S-Off with Revolutionary
4ExtRecovery
Cool Sensation v7 ROM
8Gb Class 2 sd card with Fat32 + 1Gb ext4
And have some basic in Linux shell

I can 100% get my head around this either, although i did install some apps and i could really tell if it was on Internal or EXT4.
From my understanding, as far as the phone os, it thinks apps are on Internal and will decrease the size counter, but apps are on EXT4 if you use a file manager etc.. but even if all goes to EXT4, we still get that annoying LowDisk message was it get to 15megs...
I still was convinced, but i accidently decided i wanted to format my FAT32 partition, mainly to get rid of all the junk that on there since STOCK Rom. I used the Phone own Format SD Card option.
Well that was fun (NOT!!) it instead formatted the EXT4 and not the FAT32, when i rebooted all the loaded apps that were on EXT4 were now gone.
Phone still works, but one side effect of this is now i have like 270megs free....lol, granted no wallpaper, lockscreens etc,
anyway seeing as i screwed up and that im already S-OFF, im going to just go with CM7r2 HBoot.

Similar issue - I think?
Hi all, my first post here
So I have been working my way through all the error messages and guides and finally have InsertCoin set up. All is looking good except after Titanium Backup restored all my apps my internal memory is as full as before I rooted the phone, so I think I can safely say that the 2gb I partitioned off on my SD is not getting ay use at all? Is there a way I can check?
For the record I am running with AmonRa, and I used Revolutionary to get s-Off. The guide I followed to set up A2SD did not have me using any Terminal commands, so I am guessing that is an area for me to explore in solving this, here is the guide I used (near the end)
/myhtcdesire.com/modding/how-to-install-a-custom-rom-on-your-htc-desire
I used that method as i am on a borrowed mac and it just seemed easier. I
I am hoping there is an easy fix that someone can suggest.

hoads1234 said:
Hi all, my first post here
So I have been working my way through all the error messages and guides and finally have InsertCoin set up. All is looking good except after Titanium Backup restored all my apps my internal memory is as full as before I rooted the phone, so I think I can safely say that the 2gb I partitioned off on my SD is not getting ay use at all? Is there a way I can check?
For the record I am running with AmonRa, and I used Revolutionary to get s-Off. The guide I followed to set up A2SD did not have me using any Terminal commands, so I am guessing that is an area for me to explore in solving this, here is the guide I used (near the end)
/myhtcdesire.com/modding/how-to-install-a-custom-rom-on-your-htc-desire
I used that method as i am on a borrowed mac and it just seemed easier. I
I am hoping there is an easy fix that someone can suggest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To check if a2sd is working, open terminal emulator and type
Code:
su
ls -l /data
Output should say (for a2sd):
Code:
app -> /sd-ext/app
app-private -> /sd-ext/app-private
Additionally for a2sd+:
Code:
dalvik-cache -> /sd-ext/dalvik-cache
If it does not show this, a2sd is not working. So make sure you partitioned sd card correctly (fat32 + ext; both primary).

CallMeLaNN said:
Hi,
I have this problem too. but it is not our choice to choose the data2sd instead of app2sd because it depend on what the ROM support.
Previously I use App2sd+ from ModaCo ROM. I have 200+ apps and it take the internal memory nearly full but sd-ext space just half.
I tried the Data2sd for Desire is only SuperNova with HTC Sense and it work in 1Gb sd-ext. BUT it uses Sense 2.1.
I just try Sense 3 from Cool Sensation v7 ROM. I love it and dont want to revert back to previous Sense It have 3D home screen, cool weather animation, SMS secure lock. However this ROM still use app2sd. I cannot post to the thread, I dont have enought post count.
I try some other way to apply Data2sd into this ROM but I got boot loop.
After few days I use this ROM, my internal memory almost full (15mb free) for only 57 apps even the app2sd symlink-ed /data/app, /data/app-private, /data/dalvik-cache and /system/app into sd-ext!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used Cool Sensation v7 but didn't have this problem until I flashed the newer v9 (just noticed v10 has been posted today though). My internal memory was very low but I then flashed the Dalvik to sdext.zip from the Cool Sensation thread and then had 180MB internal free. Try that and see if it works. If it doesn't, have you aligned your SD ext using the .zip on the same thread? if not this could be why your having problems, though it didn't work for me.

Thanks for the ideas, I was a bit out of my depth with the Mac SU functions, so although i didn't get the desired feedback you suggested, but it could have been me. So anyway I found a Ubuntu machine and plugged in the SD card in an adapter and can see that there is a successful partition, and that the EXT partition seems to have some files and folders in it.
I have also just noticed that the SD cards partitions also appear in the Titanium Backup overview screen.
So i guess my problem is that the memory is just full! Maybe my expectations of extra memory after rooting were unrealistic. ?
For the Record, just to make sure my situation is normal, in Titanium I see
System ROM - 262MB (129MB free)
Internal - 158MB (15MB free) - is this just a section of system ROM above?
SD CARD - 13.8GB (11GB free)
SD Card (a2sd) - 1.9GB (1.5GB free)

@xybadog this is my update,
@hoads1234 just want to share with you,
I use Cool Sensation v7, the internal memory full can be solved by flashing the additional zip for stock hboot but I flash non stock hboot. Why?
After some studying, now I know why expert keep asking for my hboot. Hboot define the data partition. On the phone memory, it divided into system, cache and data partition. the hboot define the partition size. For stock hboot, you will only have 147Mb for HTC Desire. Whatever the custom ROM symlink'ed some data partition, we stuck on 147Mb. If you flash like CM7r2 hboot, you will get more room (300+Mb) on data but just enough for system. "Internal memory" is referring to data partition.
Now I still have 130Mb free internal memory after installing 90 apps without wiping any cache for about 2 weeks.
I dont have Ubuntu even I know how to use it. No time to install or make virtual machine. To partition your sdcard easily without linux, use 4ExtRecovery. It is CWM based recovery plus support for Ext4 and some features like partitioning, check for aligned sd-ext and mount as disk drive.

To check for your current internal partition. boot into recovery, and use ADB to run command "df -h". The /system /data and /cache is the thing you need to look for.

You could use the cyanogenmod rom, then install s2e app from market. That app is designed purely for use with cyanogenmod. I use this combo, I have a huge amount of apps installed and still 50mb of internal space free. No need for changing your hboot or using data2sd rom. Very simple fix
Sent from my CM7.1 Desire using XDA Premium App

okay thanks, I am still happy having a go with InsertCoin, so I will have a look at the hboot.
I think i read somewhere that i could do it just like adding a new ROM and copying a zip file across, so time for some more forum reading to work my way through this next step.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1110921

okay here is my update, since in have revolutionary hboot, i tried to change to alpharev, so i could use their modified partition tables (found no reference of being able to do this in Revolutionary) - the folks on alpharev irc said not to, but didn't say why.
I did try and use the unrevoked tool to flash AmonRa across again, but this had a waiting for reboot error and may have failed. I have also reflashed my ROM again after a full wipe a couple of times. Not finding any improvements in memory, so will keep fiddling.

okay next question!
I tried the terminal emulator commands (once i worked out this was an app, and not the Mac terminal..) and got the following responses
app -> /system/sd/app
app-private ->
dalvik-cache ->
so am i guessing correctly that none of the apps i download are being sent to the SD partition.
Any advice to get app-private directed to my sd card?

hoads1234 said:
okay next question!
I tried the terminal emulator commands (once i worked out this was an app, and not the Mac terminal..) and got the following responses
app -> /system/sd/app
app-private ->
dalvik-cache ->
so am i guessing correctly that none of the apps i download are being sent to the SD partition.
Any advice to get app-private directed to my sd card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suggest you use ADB instead of terminal emulator because easy to type in PC.
Install Android SDK make ADB shell to work and connected to your device. The shell is just the same what you need to do in terminal emulator.
To move app private and dalvik cache simply make symlink like this:
Code:
busybox cp -a /data/dalvik-cache /system/sd/
rm -rf /data/dalvik-cache
ln -s /system/sd/dalvik-cache /data/dalvik-cache
The first will move all contents, the second will remove the existing original dalvik-cache folder. and the third one will make symlink to point from original location to the sd partition.

Something weird about MIUI 'n A2SD

Hello Xda'ers,
Recently I installed the MIUI 1.10.8 ROM.
I noticed that A2SD said 0.00 so I partitioned it.
Now it says 458MB at the A2SD section.
But what to do now?
Can't move a lot of apps to SD.
With kindest regards,
Mendel

youve kind of answered your own question, just move the apps that you CAN move to the sd
but if youre really looking for lots of space try data2sd

Hey Elliot,
First of all thanks for the quick response.
Do you mean move to SD like to old way? (Select app -> move to SD)
Because it doesn't say there is more space then normal (On the bottom there is a bar of internal memory). When I move apps to SD it's no different then else (like on stock rom).

if you are looking to make your internal memory increase, then you need data2sd
i would recommend the supernova rom for that
data2sd will basically use an extpartition on your sd card as internal memory
p.s. you can always use the thanks button to say thanks

I figured it out.
I had to activate it in the terminal.
Now i can have infinite apps
Can't find the thanks button, im a noob. where is it?

How to activate A2SD+ in MIUI 1-12.23 via terminal?
Hi XDA,
Its my 1st post on the forum.
My Phone: HTC Desire GSM on Orange.
Rooted. S-Off. MIUI 1-12.23.
Kerell: 2.6.3.7.6-cyangenmod-g8913be3
Baseband: 32.48.00.32U_5.10.05.30
I have recently installed MIUI ROM version 1-12. to 23. I have a 16GB SD partitioned ext3 using Revolutionary recovery. (I used Revolutionary to gain S-OFF)
The Partition went smooth, I created 1.5gb ext3 and 64mb swap.
When booted into MIUI it registers as A2SD+ 1.5GB. Success.
I install my apps and run out of internal space at which poitnt I expect my apps to auto install on the ext partition that I had created. This doesn't happen, why?
Ive searched the XDA forums for the answers but have yet to find a solution.
Do I have to activate A2SD via terminal? if so how? What cmds should I enter?
Id be grateful for a guide to activate A2SD on my device.
Thaks guys!
mcshooter

To activate the built in a2sd:
open terminal and run these commands:
su
a2sd install
To move dalvik cache do:
a2sd cachesd
Hope this helps mate

[Q] A2SDGUI not working on rooted Desire

I have installed the LeeDroid ROM v3.3.3 Port R5 on my Desire and I downloaded the A2SDGUI app from the market. But it gives an error saying phone is not rooted (which it obviously is) or A2SD scripts not found or ext partition not found. How do I make this app run on my phone? I have Superuser installed and A2SDGUI is given permission. Kindly help.
Thanks in advance!

Did you configure your SD Card with a FAT32 and an EXT partition?

Yes I did. I have followed all instructions given for LeeDroid's ROM properly. I used GParted Live CD to make the FAT32 partition and a 1gb ext3 partition on my SD card.

Followed guide on Leedroid thread to get A2SD working?

You know a2sdGUI only works with Dark Tremor a2sd scripts? I dont think leedroid uses Dark Tremor.

@Matdroid
Before installing LeeDroid I had created the ext3 partition. I presume A2SD is working because my apps are installed to the ext3 partition and not in the internal memory. Do I have to do anything else?
@rootsu
Then A2SDGUI wont work on my phone?

sarkar_007 said:
Then A2SDGUI wont work on my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not right now. Not without the Dark Tremor a2sd+ Solution in place.

If you followed leedroid guide for A2SD+, you don't need A2SDGUI.
SwiftKeyed from CyanogenMod with Transparent XDA App

The only reason I was looking for the A2SDGUI was to try to move the dalvik cache to ext partition. Or is it already in the ext partition in LeeDroid ROM? I dont know.
Also inspite of having a ext partition my internal memory is getting reduced bit by bit with every app that I install. I thought I had got rid of the 'lack of internal memory to install apps' problem by having an ext partition. What data is occupying the internal memory now?

sarkar_007 said:
The only reason I was looking for the A2SDGUI was to try to move the dalvik cache to ext partition. Or is it already in the ext partition in LeeDroid ROM? I dont know.
Also inspite of having a ext partition my internal memory is getting reduced bit by bit with every app that I install. I thought I had got rid of the 'lack of internal memory to install apps' problem by having an ext partition. What data is occupying the internal memory now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apps still take up the space on Internal memory. Thats the way it is.
You have to flash the dalvik cache script in the leedroid thread, post 1
Like Mat said, if you read the thread, you would know the answer.

I have downloaded the 'move dalvik to sd.zip' file from LeeDroid's thread. I read somewhere that A2SDGUI also does the job so I wanted to try it out. I guess I will just flash the zip now. Thanks for your replies.

sarkar_007 said:
I have downloaded the 'move dalvik to sd.zip' file from LeeDroid's thread. I read somewhere that A2SDGUI also does the job so I wanted to try it out. I guess I will just flash the zip now. Thanks for your replies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As stated many times, A2SDGUI does the work... with DarkTremor's script, but Leedroid's ROM does not have it.

This place can be so much hard work sometimes
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

Appreciate all you guys taking the trouble of answering my questions. I really have very little knowledge of rooting and stuff. Just venturing in this field. So far I have managed to read the guides posted here and root and install a custom ROM. Now trying to understand dalvik cache and stuff.
Thanks once again.

[Q] Restore SD Ext on new rom?

Hi, I recently partitioned my SD card and moved all my apps to it.
Now I want to flash a new rom, but when I boot the new rom and use link2sd, my apps aren't there.
They are on the SD EXT partition and link2sd shows their MBs.
How can I restore my SDEXT to my new rom without wiping SDEXT and restoring and relinking from TiBu?
Thanks.

xNotta said:
Hi, I recently partitioned my SD card and moved all my apps to it.
Now I want to flash a new rom, but when I boot the new rom and use link2sd, my apps aren't there.
They are on the SD EXT partition and link2sd shows their MBs.
How can I restore my SDEXT to my new rom without wiping SDEXT and restoring and relinking from TiBu?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure the Rom you have installed has app2sd installed and you have the right ext for your Rom version

new rom must support a2sd. if it does but isnt pre installed you may have to flash dt's a3sd when you load the rom... then after you flash the new rom open terminal emulator and type: su(enter) a2sd reinstall(enter) you will see a2sd do its thing and then your phone will reboot. you will need to also use tibackup and do a batch restore of your apps and data. This is how i do it. You may also want to download from the market, apps2sd gui. its really not that hard or time consuming.
when you partitioned did you upgrade your sdext2 partition to sdext3?

dbenney said:
new rom must support a2sd. if it does but isnt pre installed you may have to flash dt's a3sd when you load the rom... then after you flash the new rom open terminal emulator and type: su(enter) a2sd reinstall(enter) you will see a2sd do its thing and then your phone will reboot. you will need to also use tibackup and do a batch restore of your apps and data. This is how i do it. You may also want to download from the market, apps2sd gui. its really not that hard or time consuming.
when you partitioned did you upgrade your sdext2 partition to sdext3?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for explaining that one further it is hard to type a lot on this little keyboard with fat fingers

dbenney said:
new rom must support a2sd. if it does but isnt pre installed you may have to flash dt's a3sd when you load the rom... then after you flash the new rom open terminal emulator and type: su(enter) a2sd reinstall(enter) you will see a2sd do its thing and then your phone will reboot. you will need to also use tibackup and do a batch restore of your apps and data. This is how i do it. You may also want to download from the market, apps2sd gui. its really not that hard or time consuming.
when you partitioned did you upgrade your sdext2 partition to sdext3?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply.
My partition is Ext2, I have not upgraded it.
I have been using the app Link2sd ( http://anonym.to/?https://market.android.com/details?id=com.buak.Link2SD )
Any idea on how to restore with that?

sorry bro. no clue. i recommend darktremors a2sd. most roms support it and have it preinstalled just incase here is the link to it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=715938

[Q] a2sd problems on ICS

Hey,
I've been using ICS (beta 0.4.2.1 now, beta 0.3.9 previously) and none of the a2sd scripts seem to be working. I tried to use the one you have to activate through adb, and today when I updated to 0.4.2.1 I chose another one from the installer. My phone still reports 148 MB of internal storage...
I've had a thorough search of similar threads, but you know how difficult it is to find any meaningful information on this forum; can someone please point me in the right direction? Thank you!

I flashed ICS and installed the bundled a2sd script and it worked like the script on Insertcoin. That is the system still displayed the data partition size of my hboot but the SD ext4 partition was utilised for apps. If you have titanium backup you can see the data usage on the home screen.
I also flashed amarullz script. This script did change the reported internal memory to my SD card partition size. I did not use it long so I can't comment on how it runs on s class 4 SD card.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA

You did not understand how A2SD works. It moves all apps (with A2SD+ also dalvik-cache) you install automatically to an EXT-partition (some of their data still remain in internal memory). But it does not increase / decrease the size of internal memory.
If you want to change the size of internal memory, you have to use a script which moves the whole /data-partition to an EXT-partition. The size of this partition is then the size of your internal memory. The name of this scripts is DATA2SD / DATA2EXT.
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

Please use the Q&A Forum for questions &
Read the Forum Rules Ref Posting
Moving to Q&A

Did you ever get a fix for your problem?
I have something similar. Was running 0.3.9. and decided for a couple days ago to upgrade to a newer edition. Wiped data/factory reset, wiped cached and dalvik-cache, and installed the new version.
Used stock everything, activated a2sd and tried to start and install some apps from google play. Got a message that it was not sufficient space.
Did get titanium installed, and that reports the different "drives" correctly, but I still don't get it to work as it should. If I try to install from play, it says not sufficient space, even if I try to restore from titanium, still no luck.
Anyone got any ideas?

Start Terminal. Type:
su
a2sd install
yes (move dalvik-cache)
no (don't move appdata) (yes will make device slower)
yes (restart)
After reboot you have more space, but don't see it.
Start terminal
su
a2sd diskspace
gives the size of your sd-ext and how much is used

arsvendg said:
If I try to install from play, it says not sufficient space, even if I try to restore from titanium, still no luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same problem here. I tried to wipe caches and even recreated the partitions but still no luck with the stock a2sd.

robla1000 said:
Start Terminal. Type:
su
a2sd install
yes (move dalvik-cache)
no (don't move appdata) (yes will make device slower)
yes (restart)
After reboot you have more space, but don't see it.
Start terminal
su
a2sd diskspace
gives the size of your sd-ext and how much is used
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wondering. Isn't the whole idea with the as2d to move the appdata to the sd-card?

arsvendg said:
Just wondering. Isn't the whole idea with the as2d to move the appdata to the sd-card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
App and appdata are different things:
The App it's the "core" and are loaded in the RAM when you start them, so if you move them to sdcard you get a slowdown only on the boot of the app itself
The Appdata it's the data created and used by the program to run, likes databases and so; if you move it to the sdcard you get a slowdown 'cause the program continuosly try to access it.
someone correct me if I'm wrong, i'm still learning the stuff
Long story short: normal A2SD+ methods (like DarkTremor or m2sd) only move a part of /data, linking the files; you will NOT see the increased space but your Apps will occupy less memory.
Data2sd method like data2sd or Amarullz A2SDX will "swap" the ext space with the internal data memory, giving you a visible increase in your internal space.
TL;DR if you have a fast SD card you can go for the latter, else stick to m2sd wich is a new and good method to move application!
For partitioning, I suggest you to use 4ext touch recovery, you can install it on your phone from 4ext.net and flash your new recovery directly from your phone (you need to have S-OFF!); after you have your new recovery flashed:
make a backup of your SD card data (you have to format it)
Reboot in recovery
Go to "Tools"
"partition sd card ->"
"Remove all partitions and start from scratch"
Now you have to set, in order, you primary ext dimension, your secondary ext dimension and the swap dimension
I usually go for - 1st ext: 1024 -2nd ext: 0 - swap: 0
Select ext4 for your first ext partition
Now you are ready to use wathever a2sd method you want.
Hope this will help you!
Regards,
Ryther

Ahh I'm just going to leave this here.
All the ICS Devs have done a great job - Kudos to them.
But if you want a bugfree ROM which works well, for now - GIVE UP on ICS.
Go back to CM7 - it'll do you good.

Don't give up on ICS because SOME people have issues. I've ran an ICS build with a2sd working just fine no bugs whatsoever. I have not tried a data2ext script on an ICS build though so I don't know about that.