Develop Bugs

How to check if Apps2SD has been installed correctly...

The following information is for those who are still unsure of whether Apps2SD has been installed and if it is working correctly after root.
Open a Terminal Editor on your phone (I currently use ConnectBot, which is available for download via the Android Marketplace, comes with hotkeys, and it's free, link <here>).
When you have the client open, type "su" to gain super user access, and then hit enter. Now type "ls -l /data" and hit enter. You should see a few lines, a couple of which should read on the far right column:
dalvik-cache -> /system/sd/dalvik-cache
app-private -> /system/sd/app-private
app -> /system/sd/app
Notice the -> indicating symlinks and the 'sd'
You can also run: busybox df -h to check the /system/sd that the folder is being used
If this output is visible to you, then Apps2SD is working properly and you have installed it correctly. You will notice that by checking Menu > Settings > SD & phone storage, there is still some internal memory going down due to cache, other data, etc, but the main apps all go on the SD card given the above result. I currently have 29 apps installed (including Google Earth, which is 22.1 MB in size itself) and my internal memory currently shows 119MB of available space.
You can perform more extensive checks by executing the following command:
ls /system/sd/app (this will list all the apps which you have installed to the SD card)
If you prefer to run it from a PC with your phone connected, then this can also be checked via ADB by installing the relevant Android SDK for your OS. Downloads for SDK versions, link <here>.
Alternatively, you can use the script (written by theboxman from MoDaCo.com), which you can run via GScript Lite to test if Apps2SD is working correctly, link <here>.

how about unlock?
thank you for the info. btw, i havent seen in the forum if there a way to unlock the Desire form a certain network. any idea? sorry i know its the wrong place to ask and post this.

Hi Mastoid,
Could you tell me how exactly to run this from PC?
I've got the whole SDK installed but no idea what i have to do...open a prompt or something? Please inform as i'd really like to check.

You need to download the Android SDK and also Java.
http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/widget/jdk6.jsp
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Then open a command prompt in Windows, plug in your Desire (your phone does not need to be in hboot/fastboot to access adb shell).
1) Open a command prompt on your computer and cd to your adb tools directory (it will be wherever you extracted the sdk; ie, c:\android-sdk_r04-windows\android-sdk-windows\tools
2) In that window enter the following commands:
adb shell
su
ls -l /data
this should list the top 2 items as:
lrwxrwxrwx root root 2010-04-28 22:54 app-private -> /system/sd/app-private
lrwxrwxrwx root root 2010-04-28 22:54 app -> /system/sd/app
ls -l /system/sd/app (will list apps on installed to your SD Card)
Now, for final proof, type:
busybox df -h

iom_jack said:
thank you for the info. btw, i havent seen in the forum if there a way to unlock the Desire form a certain network. any idea? sorry i know its the wrong place to ask and post this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mean to have it sim-unlocked?
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100328154024AA1abkl

Great!
That worked, though the items you mention are not at the top but a couple of rows down. Busybox did show the apps installed on the SD.....ah, peace of mind
thx for the instructions!

no problem bud, glad it worked out for you
Sent from my HTC Desire using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk

Question about APP2SD.....if anyone can answer
can it stop working halfway? i mean at first it really looked like apps were on SD but now it takes the flash memory instead....
i have 38m left with APP2SD

totorip said:
can it stop working halfway? i mean at first it really looked like apps were on SD but now it takes the flash memory instead....
i have 38m left with APP2SD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I posted a thread recently showing how to check if Apps2SD has been installed correctly and is working:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=677073

How to setup App2SD?
Anyone got a clear, easy guide on getting it working? Can you install it on the standard rooted ROM from MoDaCo? Do you need to have it cooked into a ROM?
A video or something would help but I'm interested in getting it setup incase I need to get a load of apps

î did your think i i use better terminal pro
app => system/sd/app
dalvik cache => /system/sd/dalvik cache
app private => /system/sd/ app private
so how can i have around 40mb left only?

Re: Question about APP2SD.....if anyone can answer
How many apps have you installed?
How have you partitioned your sd card? i.e. swap size?, ext2 size?
Have you applied the Apps2SD update zip?
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App

ive got maybe 40/50apps
i partitionned , 66 cache 1280m EXT 2=> EXT3
and no update....i dont need with the latest modaco R2 custom rom do i?
im afraid to reboot everything again, spent the whole day to isntall everything
30mb left :x

Re: Question about APP2SD.....if anyone can answer
I would suggest that you apply the dalvik-cache update zip and that should hopefully fix it. Note that you should only allocate 512MB to 1024MB (max) for the ext2 size and, you do not require a swap of 66MB, it is not recommended. I have my swap set to 0MB, ext2 set to 512MB which is more than enough space for apps, and rest to FAT32.
Search google for the "Apps2SD mini guide" (found via MoDaCo website) click the link and scroll down to the bottom of page one, the update zip file is available there.
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App

is it bad? (64 swap)
i calculated, i installed 170m worth of app. And i have "43" left (started at 138)
so , somewhere, APP2SD is working...but not verry effective

Re: Question about APP2SD.....if anyone can answer
I think it is working, run the command (ls /system/sd/app) in terminal editor in the link i posted earlier and check what apps are stored to the sd card. Also, download and install "cachecleaner" from the marketplace (free) to free up some cache space.
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App

Re: Question about APP2SD.....if anyone can answer
You have something wrong. I have also this Rom with about 53 apps and have still 134MB free.
Sent from my HTC Desire

i installed the update.zip
i went from 38 to 53mb
then i use cache cleaner , i now have 60....
and still 170m worth of app...
so is my app2sd working in half?

Re: Question about APP2SD.....if anyone can answer
I ran the command in Su, and only the 2 app ones said sd, my dalvic cache didn't say SD card. I ran the suggested update fix but had bootloop, do I need to wipe anything first? I'm using evil 1. 0 Rom and thought it came pre app2sd. . .
Id like to get dalvic moved. . .
Thanks
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App

Lol since thazt update zip i have no more wifi....cant start wifi it says. Great

Market App not downloading

I have been having an issue with not being able to update the Maps app (insuficient space error) in another thread but after trying a few options have now managed to kill the market !
After trying to clear data cache etc I reflashed the ROM (Redux 1.2) to no avail.
I read about a possible cure through terminal monitor of moving the market cache to SD via terminal which I followed using :-
mount -o remount,rw /
rmdir /cache
mkdir -p /mnt/sdcard/cache
ln -sf /mnt/sdcard/cache
mount -o remount,ro /
This failed ( I didnt note the error message unfortunately) & now when accessing the market Downloading an app fails midway through the process.
Does anyone know how I can reverse this process ?

I don't know if this will help at all, but I was having a problem with the Market as well. I had just installed a new rom, but was getting error messages saying there wasn't enough space to install. I just ended up backing up my SD card, formatting it, and starting over. That solved my problem, I don't know if it'll help you with yours.
Sent from my HTC Desire CDMA using XDA App

Try downloading marketfix from the Android market. Had the same problem, this fixed it.
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda premium

A solution similar to your attempt:
http://forums.miuiandroid.com/showt...e-to-install-large-apps-like-MAPS-from-market
I know it's for MIUI, but it works for other roms as well.

Android Market Download disapperas and doesnt install

Ive had this prob now for a while and its driving me crazy! I have searched for queries
here but cant find the exact problem or working solution.
Problem:
I want to install a program from the Market. I click to install, but as soon as I hit the
button it throws me back to the main Market page. The download starts in
top Android bar. It downloads to 100% (Ive checked the data usage and it does download all)
but then disappears! No error message, nothing installed.
The funny thing is that if I 'open' the download icon on the top bar. I can see the green
download bar. If I click this there is no option to cancel the download(!) instead clikcing on it
it opens up another app on Android Market! Weird!
Same happens with wifi or on 3G. I have about 30mb free at moment.
I tried emptying all possible caches on all apps can think of
***Rebooted
***Unmounted SD card - tried download and install with or without SD card
***Taken SIM card out nad battery
***Cant downgrade Market, its 2.3.4 version
***Tried different apps, big and small. Nothing is installing now...
Nothing seems to help!

Depending on your Rom and hboot your /cache partition might be full, so you could try to reboot into recovery and wipe the cache-partition. If I recall correctly, that's where market usually (i.e. this depends on the rom you are using - some use the sd-card to cache market downloads to allow hboots with small /cache partion) downloads and stores the apps prior installation.
Also deleting market data and cache might be worth a try. Actually, try this first. ^^
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda premium

Hi Tillus. Thanks for quick reply!
Im on 'stock' rom. Gingerbread 2.3.3 the official one from HTC. Can I still go to the recovery mode?
I have emptied the Market data and cache dozens of times. I went even to android-secure folder deleting all the old unused stuff. Nothing seems to help... its weird: Market starts to download but it just vanishes after 100%!

hmm, I don't think, you can wipe the cache-partition when using stock-setup and I don't think /cache is the culprit, because in stock-setup the /cache-partition is quite large.
But you can still check: Download a terminal-app and check the output of 'df -h'. There is a line saying Filesystem: '\dev\block\mtdblock04' and Mounted on: \cache and the size, used and available space on this partition.
Edith Says: Download a terminal-app...
Can you install apks without using the play store?

Hi
Ive got a terminal app. How do I check the output df -h? Sorry im bit novice using it.
I typed in \dev\block\mtdblock04 but it says permission denied. Mind let me know what to type exactly?
Many thanks!

just type df -h . Let's see, if it works, without root-permissions.
Sry, my last post was confusing

Doesn't seem to work on my phone...
I tried:
df -h
No such file or directory
df-h
Permission denied
'df-h'
Permission denied
More ideas love to hear!

Hmm, I'm out. Sorry I couldn't help. :/

Code:
busybox df -h

Tillus said:
There is a line saying Filesystem: '\dev\block\mtdblock04' and Mounted on: \cache and the size,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jannen said:
Hi
I typed in \dev\block\mtdblock04 but it says permission denied.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android is based on Linux. You dont use a backslash on Linux.

Hi
I tried that busybox df -h, but it says:
Busybox: permission denied
Is this because of stock Rom, or because a fault?
Atm I can't download and install any more apps from Market...

Menu>Settings>Applications>Market>Clear data
And try again after a restart.

This exact path doesnt exist: Menu>Settings>Applications>Market>Clear data
The following does: Menu-Settings-Applications-Manage Applications-All-Market->Clear data
This one I have done dozens of times now, as well as claering the Market Updater and Download Manager. Restarted, taken off battery, SIM, SD card.. nothing seems to help.
Im gutted...

Storage issues with Link2SD

I've rooted my phone about a week ago and have been fiddling around with all the different things i can do with the phone, but my main reason for doing it was to help with the crap internal storage it has. So i got Link2SD setup and partitioned my SD card with a second ex2 partition, and for a while it will work well, i will have around 70-80mb listed as free on my internal but that won't really change much even when adding and linking new files with l2sd, but lately i've been running into a problem where it will drop down to 10-20 mb and just stay there. I've already tried formatting and doing a clean install which will fix it for a day or so, but it keeps dropping low and staying there even when i delete things to clean up space. I've clean installed 4 times already with the same effect, and now it's getting annoying since i started fresh yesterday and had the issue come up almost instantly, wiped again and now i'm already back at the same spot.. is there some folder that is filling up that i'm unaware of? I'm just very confused about this issue now hah, any help would be greatly appreciated

Link2sd doesn't prevent your phone from thinking that internal storage is full, I think.
I'd recommend trying s2e instead.
-----------
"You can overclock as much as you want, your phone will always seem too slow."

hmm, s2e won't run on stock rom will it? i think i've read that it will only run on cm7/9

Hmm. When I was new to link 2 sd I had same problem. Don't worry I got a fix. ^_^
1.Uninstall stupid system apps you don't use. We need to make space in system partition.
2. Download titanium backup and when u open it. Go to options select integrate davlic cache into rom. It'll take few minutes, when it's complete reboot.
3. Make sure all files are linked.
4. Clear cache occasionally.
5. If you still are low on space you may use this command as the last option.
Warning: you may have to reboot phone after installing a new app to run it for first time.
Go to terminal
Type 'su'
Accept superuser request.
Type 'a2sd cachesd'
Phone will reboot and may take some time to start.
6. That should be it. I'm running cm9 with link 2 sd and I have more than 100 apps still I got 75 mb free.
Sent from my Wildfire S A510e using xda app-developers app

When you flash a new rom, make sure first thing you do is installation of Link2SD.
Tick auto link on it, and then install whatever you want.
It's how I solved that problem.
Now I have 107 apps installed with Link2SD, and around ~40mb of free internal space.
Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using xda premium

Try deleting files in /data/tombstones (if there is any), using a file explorer.

Many apps will save their data in your internal memory, even if they're linked to your SD. There are some programs (like S2E) that can move all your data to your SD but you may loose performance if you don't have a fast SD. One alternative is using Titanium Backup to move to SD data of individual apps, this way you can keep in your internal memory the data you want to access quickly (ie your contacts) and you move to SD all the other data. The process is reversible and if you think it slows down too much a specifc app you can move back its data to internal memory.
To do dat you have to go to "Copy/Restore" in Titanium Backup, long-press one app and scroll down until you find the option "Move app data to SD".
This way I've been able to save about 60 MB of additional internal memory and I haven't noticed any change in performance.
An additional advantage is that this Titanium Backup feature is available in the free version; the Dalvik cache integration proposed in a previous post is locked if you don't have PRO version.

Linking /data/data app files for free?
Ferri64 said:
To do dat you have to go to "Copy/Restore" in Titanium Backup, long-press one app and scroll down until you find the option "Move app data to SD".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Can anyone confirm if this is still true. I've just installed Titanium Backup Free v5.5.2 and in the "Backup/Restore" screen I follow the instructions above and see a 'Move to SD card' option, but no 'Move app data to SD' option. Choosing the 'Move to SD card' option does not move the app data. Is it still available in the free app?
I'm very happy with link2sd with my stock rom HTC Wildfire S except that it doesn't offer me the ability to selectively link /data/data application files. Perhaps there's another linking app that does a more complete job? I've seen this thread mention simple2ext but that seems to require Cyanogenmod.
Cheers,
Mark

marky1124 said:
Hi,
Can anyone confirm if this is still true. I've just installed Titanium Backup Free v5.5.2 and in the "Backup/Restore" screen I follow the instructions above and see a 'Move to SD card' option, but no 'Move app data to SD' option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can provide an answer to my own question here. It turns out that the 'Move app data to sd card' option only appears if Titanium Backup sees a valid mount point, as per this documentation: http://www.titaniumtrack.com/kb/titanium-backup-kb/titanium-backup-technical-faq.html#requirements-for-using-move-app-data-to-sd
If you have a phone like mine (Wildfire S, stock rom v2.3.5) then you don't have one of the TB supported mount points so you have to create it yourself using Terminal Emulator and Busybox
e.g.
Code:
$ su
# ln -s /data/sdext2 /data/sd
# mkdir /data/sdext2/app
Also I've now discovered that for the functionality to work properly the second partition must be a unix filesystem type like ext2, ext3 or ext4, but not vfat (FAT32) since that doesn't allow TB to create symbolic links.
There's more discussion of this and gory details on this thread
Cheers,
Mark

Help
sukhjit321 said:
Hmm. When I was new to link 2 sd I had same problem. Don't worry I got a fix. ^_^
5. If you still are low on space you may use this command as the last option.
Warning: you may have to reboot phone after installing a new app to run it for first time.
Go to terminal
Type 'su'
Accept superuser request.
Type 'a2sd cachesd'
Phone will reboot and may take some time to start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Brother u are a life saver, I just followed your syntax and it worked like charm. I am now having 98 mb of internal memory from 38mb.
But have Couple of question for u....
1. Can u tell me if I have to run this command again and again after installing new apps or will it work on its own if once executed?
2. I have link2sd installed before this command and have linked all the files to 2nd partion of my sd card.
Is it safe to uninstall link2sd app now?

Rahul2929 said:
Brother u are a life saver, I just followed your syntax and it worked like charm. I am now having 98 mb of internal memory from 38mb.
But have Couple of question for u....
1. Can u tell me if I have to run this command again and again after installing new apps or will it work on its own if once executed?
2. I have link2sd installed before this command and have linked all the files to 2nd partion of my sd card.
Is it safe to uninstall link2sd app now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. You only need this command again when the memory runs way too low. Don't try it again coz it reduces performance too.
2. I guess you can/ I've never tried it tough.

I ran into problem with your command...it force closes some of my apps which I noticed later ....
Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using xda premium

I had the same problem a while ago that i had to reflash the rom because apps were force closing all the time
The reason this happened was because i downloaded several apps at the same time, so Link2SD didnt had enough time to link all files
and the internal memory became full and went crazy
the only solution for me was deleting all apps and reinstalling them
so my recommendation would be not to download more than 1 app at the same time, wait for Link2SD to link files, and then download the next one

Actually I did that I did a factory reset and then ran the command..bt after that my internal apps was also force closing like playstore,etc
Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using xda premium

I think Link2sd and DTa2sd can't run at the same time. You'll be get FC everytime install new apps.
Sent from MARVEL JellyScream

stupid but effective method
ocnDaNN said:
I've rooted my phone about a week ago and have been fiddling around with all the different things i can do with the phone, but my main reason for doing it was to help with the crap internal storage it has. So i got Link2SD setup and partitioned my SD card with a second ex2 partition, and for a while it will work well, i will have around 70-80mb listed as free on my internal but that won't really change much even when adding and linking new files with l2sd, but lately i've been running into a problem where it will drop down to 10-20 mb and just stay there. I've already tried formatting and doing a clean install which will fix it for a day or so, but it keeps dropping low and staying there even when i delete things to clean up space. I've clean installed 4 times already with the same effect, and now it's getting annoying since i started fresh yesterday and had the issue come up almost instantly, wiped again and now i'm already back at the same spot.. is there some folder that is filling up that i'm unaware of? I'm just very confused about this issue now hah, any help would be greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have the same problem and the solution (2 steps) is a bit stupid but here it is:
1 - go into (manage applications) in settings and wait till it calculate the storage of every app (under every app's name), where you will find that the memore increased usually from 12 mb to abou 20 mb.
2 - you have to go into link2sd app and do one of these 3 things:
1. link library files
2. link dalvic cache files
3. clear cache (not clear dalvic cache)
one of these options or more will do the track. now check storage and you will find more 30 or 40 mb
if anyone know a good application that links data too, i'l be very thankful

I am using link2sd with ext3 partition created through cwm recovery after re booting some apps disappear and i have to install them again
Any fix?
Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using xda app-developers app

[Q] Getting Gapps on [JUNE 17][4.2.2] PARANOIDANDROID v3.60 | HALO

A first post here, please be gentle with me, and huge thanks to everyone who has made posting here unnecessary until now.
After a long time using CynogenMod 7.1 on my Desire, when I came to switching SIMs on it, I decided to look for a new ROM too because I was having a problem with shortage of app space and I was missing a few features I have become used to on JellyBean.
A look at the options found the one in the title by WoH (development forum link). It separates out the ROM and the Google Apps. I can install the ROM, and I like it a lot. I can't get the Google Apps to install.
Tried: flashing the zip file at http://woh-roms.weebly.com/gapps.html via the recovery menu, and installing a2sd. It has the right MD5 and appears to go OK, but the apps don't appear when the phone is rebooted, or appear in the list of things moved by a2sd. I have made repeated attempts, both with wiping user data before and afterwards, and doing it before rebooting after installing the ROM and after an initial boot with it, all without success.
Tried: reading the instructions there. However I don't have adb installed and because I don't have Google Play, I can't install a file manager that unzips files (the one in the ROM doesn't appear to - no unzip option is given).
Tried: installing the ROM mentioned in the development subforum thread by timvdlinde which does have Google Play. That works, but I am not so keen on the ROM itself. This may be incredibly shallow, but I liked WoH's use of the Nexus boot animation, and the timvdlinde ROM has the Nova launcher which I am not interested in.
The phone: an unlocked, rooted, AMOLED GSM Desire. The recovery is the Clockworkmod ROM Manager one. I don't remember ever changing the hboot settings. There is a sizeable ext4 partition on the SD card and it is being used by a2sd.

lovingboth said:
A first post here, please be gentle with me, and huge thanks to everyone who has made posting here unnecessary until now.
After a long time using CynogenMod 7.1 on my Desire, when I came to switching SIMs on it, I decided to look for a new ROM too because I was having a problem with shortage of app space and I was missing a few features I have become used to on JellyBean.
A look at the options found the one in the title by WoH (development forum link). It separates out the ROM and the Google Apps. I can install the ROM, and I like it a lot. I can't get the Google Apps to install.
Tried: flashing the zip file at http://woh-roms.weebly.com/gapps.html via the recovery menu, and installing a2sd. It has the right MD5 and appears to go OK, but the apps don't appear when the phone is rebooted, or appear in the list of things moved by a2sd. I have made repeated attempts, both with wiping user data before and afterwards, and doing it before rebooting after installing the ROM and after an initial boot with it, all without success.
Tried: reading the instructions there. However I don't have adb installed and because I don't have Google Play, I can't install a file manager that unzips files (the one in the ROM doesn't appear to - no unzip option is given).
Tried: installing the ROM mentioned in the development subforum thread by timvdlinde which does have Google Play. That works, but I am not so keen on the ROM itself. This may be incredibly shallow, but I liked WoH's use of the Nexus boot animation, and the timvdlinde ROM has the Nova launcher which I am not interested in.
The phone: an unlocked, rooted, AMOLED GSM Desire. The recovery is the Clockworkmod ROM Manager one. I don't remember ever changing the hboot settings. There is a sizeable ext4 partition on the SD card and it is being used by a2sd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Repartition your sd-card by using the partitioning guide in my sig.

onknope what
abaaaabbbb63 said:
Repartition your sd-card by using the partitioning guide in my sig.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but I did that before starting this. I used gparted, ending up with a large FAT32 partition, followed by a smaller ext4 and finally a small swap.

lovingboth said:
Thanks, but I did that before starting this. I used gparted, ending up with a large FAT32 partition, followed by a smaller ext4 and finally a small swap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Theres no need for a swap partition. If you are using PA it will just act as a waste of space, since the rom doesnt utilize it in any way.
Try doing a full wipe and reflash the rom. Then flash these gapps. I can guarantee those work, as i use the same rom with those gapps and everything is fine. After flashing run the a2sd script through terminal.

chromium96 said:
Try doing a full wipe and reflash the rom. Then flash these gapps. I can guarantee those work, as i use the same rom with those gapps and everything is fine. After flashing run the a2sd script through terminal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To quote Napoleon Wilson, you can't argue with a confident man even if that's the file I've been trying - same source, same MD5
OK, I'm about to give it another go.
(And apologies if you don't identify as a man!)

lovingboth said:
To quote Napoleon Wilson, you can't argue with a confident man even if that's the file I've been trying - same source, same MD5
OK, I'm about to give it another go.
(And apologies if you don't identify as a man!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, weird. Im on the same rom and used the same gapps. Everything worked fine.

chromium96 said:
Lol, weird. Im on the same rom and used the same gapps. Everything worked fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not for me. I took some photos of the process, which I can put somewhere, but it was...
Repartition the SD card
Boot into recovery
Wipe data
Wipe cache
Install ROM.zip (using the one downloaded from the right place, no reported problems)
Install Gapps.zip (ditto)
Reboot
Notice that the Google apps aren't there
Do the su / mount / a2sd install anyway
Reboot (through saying yes to the third question)
Notice that the progress of the move to the ext4 partition says its moving 59 items, none of which are Google apps
Confirm that the Google apps still aren't there
I'm about to try again with another SD card on the basis of 'why not'

lovingboth said:
Not for me. I took some photos of the process, which I can put somewhere, but it was...
Repartition the SD card
Boot into recovery
Wipe data
Wipe cache
Install ROM.zip (using the one downloaded from the right place, no reported problems)
Install Gapps.zip (ditto)
Reboot
Notice that the Google apps aren't there
Do the su / mount / a2sd install anyway
Reboot (through saying yes to the third question)
Notice that the progress of the move to the ext4 partition says its moving 59 items, none of which are Google apps
Confirm that the Google apps still aren't there
I'm about to try again with another SD card on the basis of 'why not'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to system/app. Are the google apps installed? What permissions do they have?

abaaaabbbb63 said:
Go to system/app. Are the google apps installed? What permissions do they have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, no they're not.
About sixty are, owned by root, with rw (owner) and r (group and global) permissions.
I am being tempted to bite the bullet, install the ADK on something and try the adb method.

What about /sd-ext/gapps/system/app. Anything there?

chromium96 said:
What about /sd-ext/gapps/system/app. Anything there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, they are there, with what I presume are the right permissions: as above, owned by root, rw-r-r.

Doing some more nosing around, and looking at the alternative installation instructions on woh-roms.weebly.com/gapps.html
$ adb shell ls /sd-ext/gapps/system
app etc framework lib usr
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, doing
ls /sd-ext/gapps/system
produces that.
# enable extgapps (quotes needed)
$ adb shell "echo x > /sd-ext/gapps/.extgapps"
# gapps dir should look like this (if .extgapps doesnt exist the init script wont run)
$ adb shell ls -a /sd-ext/gapps/
.extgapps system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, doing
ls -a /sd-ext/gapps/
produces that.
.extgapps is a zero byte file, rather than one byte containing 'x' as there, but the root explorer instructions would produce a zero byte file, so presumably a) there's no touch command and b) it's the presence of the file that's important, not what it contains.
BUT...

... if I do
logcat -C
(after doing logcat -c, going oops, rebooting, and getting it right )
then the lines that are supposed to be there aren't.
I'll get the email working, email the output to myself and stick it in a pastebin or similar.

pastebin.com/Qtrps3A8 has the whole thing.
At the start, various links are possibly not set up:
I/run-parts( 75): ln: /system/etc/permissions/com.google.android.maps.xml: Out of memory
I/extgapps( 155): Created /system/etc/permissions/com.google.android.maps.xml
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is just one example, then later
D/AlarmScheduler( 1300): No events found starting within 1 week.
I/Goo Parser( 839): GAPPS: No file, skipping item 0
I/Goo Parser( 839): GAPPS URL: http://goo.im/devs/paranoidandroid/roms/gapps/pa_gapps-full-4.2-20130702-signed.zip
I/AlarmReceiver( 839): gooVer: 3601
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.. so what file is it looking for, and is this down to trying to do things with the card before it is ready?

What has changed:
The search 'app' has gone from the list - I can see from the logs that it is supposed to be replaced, but here it's just missing.
The browser is now very like Chrome... and I don't remember that being the case.