Develop Bugs

Is Apps2sd really worth the trouble?

Besides the obvious free up of local space on the EVO, what are other advantages of setting up apps2sd? I am running MIUI and would like to give it a shot if worth it. Thanks in advance.
PS. My name is HondaCop and I approve this message.

I ran it for a while, had my card partitioned and everything, the zipalign bonus is fantastic but that's about it, I formatted my card recently and haven't looked back to set it back up
if you has class 10 then go for it, my class 6i didn't notice much improvement, class 2 dont bother

NewZJ said:
I ran it for a while, had my card partitioned and everything, the zipalign bonus is fantastic but that's about it, I formatted my card recently and haven't looked back to set it back up
if you has class 10 then go for it, my class 6i didn't notice much improvement, class 2 dont bother
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got an 8GB Class 6 card. I think I will not mess with it for now, seeing that performance wise there isn't much to be gained. Thanks for your response, buddy.
PS. My name is HondaCop and I approve this message.

Which applications to sdcard?
I tried both. I'm now with a2sd from darktremore.
It has many nice features, like zip align and cache relocate.
I had my apps2sd (file based) continuously loose the symlink pointers. May be fixed now ?
I tried it a2sd on my hero and haven't looked back. I do run a class 10 sdcard. For power consumption . Class 4 would probably have been adequate. Good luck in which ever you choose.

willy900wonka said:
Which applications to sdcard?
I tried both. I'm now with a2sd from darktremore.
It has many nice features, like zip align and cache relocate.
I had my apps2sd (file based) continuously loose the symlink pointers. May be fixed now ?
I tried it a2sd on my hero and haven't looked back. I do run a class 10 sdcard. For power consumption . Class 4 would probably have been adequate. Good luck in which ever you choose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, I prefer a2sd from darktremor as well for its nice features. I'm just wondering what are the advantages performance wise by having all apps and dalvik cache on the sdcard other than the obvious gain of space on the phone.
PS. My name is HondaCop and I approve this message.

I think that it's just for space. Some say it's better to leave the dalvick on the phone but I really need the space so I move it anyway and it seems to work OK even on class 4.
What I'm not sure about is how Titanium backup treats the apps that have been moved... do they back up correctly or not? Right now I'm having problems with apps that I restored using Titanium backup (they won't update); but that's after moving to a different ROM than the one I used previously.
I'm also not sure why some programs still appear with the option to "Move to SD card" under manage applications. Shouldn't have they already been moved automatically by app2sdext?

Wayno-san said:
I think that it's just for space. Some say it's better to leave the dalvick on the phone but I really need the space so I move it anyway and it seems to work OK even on class 4.
What I'm not sure about is how Titanium backup treats the apps that have been moved... do they back up correctly or not? Right now I'm having problems with apps that I restored using Titanium backup (they won't update); but that's after moving to a different ROM than the one I used previously.
I'm also not sure why some programs still appear with the option to "Move to SD card" under manage applications. Shouldn't have they already been moved automatically by app2sdext?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I'm not mistaken, dt app2sdext works by fooling android that the ext partition is in fact the phone storage itself, hence why some apps show the option move to sd, android believes the apps are on main memory...
hope this helps!

Wayno-san said:
I think that it's just for space. Some say it's better to leave the dalvick on the phone but I really need the space so I move it anyway and it seems to work OK even on class 4.
What I'm not sure about is how Titanium backup treats the apps that have been moved... do they back up correctly or not? Right now I'm having problems with apps that I restored using Titanium backup (they won't update); but that's after moving to a different ROM than the one I used previously.
I'm also not sure why some programs still appear with the option to "Move to SD card" under manage applications. Shouldn't have they already been moved automatically by app2sdext?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DTa2sd uses symlinks, so there is no ill effect on TB whatsoever. I have been running DTa2sd for a few months and I have nothing but good to say about it. I had one issue and it turned out to be user error (me being that user LOL.)
And for Honda, I can't quantify any impact on performance, but I unquestionably noticed a snappier performance and stability improvement after moving my dalvik to my cache partition, not to mention having almost 300 apps and still a ton of free space. As for being worth the trouble, I guess I would ask what trouble? The process was simple as can be, so yes, definitely it is worth the effort.
Also I disagree with the second post, I have a15GB class 2 and I'm still seeing benefits. Of course when I use the SD test app, it almost always shows up as a class 4 or 6. That could be a product of a2sd or MIUI as the same test shows class 2 on Evio2. YMMV
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Just_s said:
And for Honda, I can't quantify any impact on performance, but I unquestionably noticed a snappier performance and stability improvement after moving my dalvik to my cache partition, not to mention having almost 300 apps and still a ton of free space. As for being worth the trouble, I guess I would ask what trouble? The process was simple as can be, so yes, definitely it is worth the effort.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you have a cache partition plus an ext partition on your Sd Card? If so, how big does the cache partition have to be for dalvik to fit?
I saw a number of comments NOT to create a cache partition on the SD card for done reason so I did not.
I re-flashed MikFroyo 4.5 AFTER setting up the EXT partition and it looks like everything got setup automatically this time around. It's been running great! The nice thing is that it doesn't screw up widgets like Froyo app2sd.

on miui all you have to do is format the sd card properly. The rom has the rest built in.

Will Apps2SD allow one to wipe and install a new ROM and not have to use Ti backup to reinstall all of the apps?

More than likely not, since many ROMS do not support dta2sd. I would just stick with TB since you can specifically restore the apps you need/want

It was my understanding that if under settings/applications, you don't 'move to sd' any apps, then by default dt a2sd will automatically install/move all apps to the ext3 partition (sd).
Conversely, if you restore an app using TI that was not originally moved to sd (using standard froyo apps2sd function), and if dt a2sd is still installed and configured for all apps to go to sd, then that app will be restored back to the dt a2sd on the ext3 partition.
Please read above carefully before responding.

So you have a cache partition plus an ext partition on your Sd Card? If so, how big does the cache partition have to be for dalvik to fit?
I saw a number of comments NOT to create a cache partition on the SD card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, have small swap and 960mb ext3. Once a2sd is on, use one of the dalvik move commands.
I know people are always recommending this or that on here (don't use havs, don't use sbc, clockwork is not thorough, don't move dalvik, blah, blah, blah). My stance is: nandroid and give it a go, but that's just me.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App

Whether it's worth it or not is up to the individual. Everybody's gonna be a little different in how they use their phone. The sacrifice you're making is that reading from SD is slower than reading from internal memory. How much slower in real world situations? I honestly couldn't tell you, as I haven't actually tried it. I've found if I'm even getting close to running out of internal memory for apps, it means I've become an "app pack rat". So I simply clean house of all the stuff I downloaded cuz it seemed cool, but never actually used. Then again, I also don't have a ton of games, which are some of the largest apps. With a class 6 or 10 card, I'd imagine the difference would be minimal though, so if you need the room, and are willing to give up a little bit of speed, try it. You can always go back.

live2ride96 said:
Whether it's worth it or not is up to the individual. Everybody's gonna be a little different in how they use their phone. The sacrifice you're making is that reading from SD is slower than reading from internal memory. How much slower in real world situations? I honestly couldn't tell you, as I haven't actually tried it. I've found if I'm even getting close to running out of internal memory for apps, it means I've become an "app pack rat". So I simply clean house of all the stuff I downloaded cuz it seemed cool, but never actually used. Then again, I also don't have a ton of games, which are some of the largest apps. With a class 6 or 10 card, I'd imagine the difference would be minimal though, so if you need the room, and are willing to give up a little bit of speed, try it. You can always go back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent commentary, a lot of common sense

[Q] Root Memory Savings

First time rooter, planning to get this done in the next few days. The biggest complaint I'd have about the slide is the lack of internal memory and how it's impossible to utilize new apps with the phone.
How much internal memory can I expect will be saved by going vanilla Android?

MT3G Slide said:
First time rooter, planning to get this done in the next few days. The biggest complaint I'd have about the slide is the lack of internal memory and how it's impossible to utilize new apps with the phone.
How much internal memory can I expect will be saved by going vanilla Android?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you root and you use a slimmed down rom like the xm rom, you'll save some space but you won't get as much till you use a script that puts the dalvik cache into your sd card. If you use a cm7 mod, like xm, you can use the app s2e that does it rather easily. https://market.android.com/details?id=ru.krikun.s2e
I also found that even using s2e, moving apps 2 sd (which cyanogen will let you move even more than stock) gives you even more space.

Sorry, I don't know a direct answer to your question, so hope this helps. Before my flex ribbon went bad on my slide, I was running XMv1.1 with darktremor apps2sd ( apps & dalvik moved to SD ), along with custom partition tables, and I had about 250MB-300MB of total internal memory available.
Then again, moving dalvik to SD frees up enough space for I think anyone besides me, lol. I had about 300 applications installed according to Titanium ( I'm guessing that's including system apps ), and I had about 150MB free of internal memory still with my setup.

there's always a2ext/data2ext if you're feeling frisky...

Questions on best practice and most stable ROMS

So far I have always been running rooted stock ROMS. From what I read they tent to be very stable, the battery last longer, and do not lose some features (4G, HDMI) etc.
However lately, probably because of the apps I have installed, the phone is pretty slow, the memory on the phone is running out and does not work properly.
It is time for a complete wipe. However I am not the kind the person that change rom once a week. I would like something for the long term.
I have a few questions (feel free to answer to a subset of them):
1) I can I maximize the free space on the phone? On stock you can update a stock app (ex flash, acrobat reader, etc) but you cannot uninstalled. I was wondering if after the update, I have now the app taking twice as much space that is supposed to.
2) What is the best way to backup all the apps on the phone and restore them quickly, being able to chose what and what not? I am using Titanium Backup but it is not clear what is an installed app and what is system app. How do I guarantee that I do not lose the app data? I am trying to find a way that once I update the ROM I can configure/restore the apps that I want without having to spend hours on it. What I am afraid is to install/restore something that it is not going to work but it takes spaces on the phone. One of the thing I really want to keep is the email configuration (3 gmails account, 1 hotmail and the link with Facebook accounts).
3) I am using App 2 SD Free but there are some large apps that cannot be moved on the SD (gmail, facebook, qik, flash, maps, twitter, Google Music, G+, etc). Does any work around exist to save precious space on the phone?
4) Regarding stability, not bloated, and full features available on OTA (4G, Bluetooth, HDMI, etc) What is the best ROM? I was looking into Fresh Evo (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=20101297), Swagged Out (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1258932), Sprint Updated 2.0 (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1321340), Clean Rom 1.0 (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1351890). I am leaning toward Fresh Evo because the author have been updating for a long time). Any suggestions?
Best,
Camicia

Camicia said:
So far I have always been running rooted stock ROMS. From what I read they tent to be very stable, the battery last longer, and do not lose some features (4G, HDMI) etc.
However lately, probably because of the apps I have installed, the phone is pretty slow, the memory on the phone is running out and does not work properly.
It is time for a complete wipe. However I am not the kind the person that change rom once a week. I would like something for the long term.
I have a few questions (feel free to answer to a subset of them):
1) I can I maximize the free space on the phone? On stock you can update a stock app (ex flash, acrobat reader, etc) but you cannot uninstalled. I was wondering if after the update, I have now the app taking twice as much space that is supposed to.
Use A2SD, in terminal type:
SU
a2sd cachesd
Moves your Dalvik Cache to the SD Card. Free'd up about 200+MB on mine
2) What is the best way to backup all the apps on the phone and restore them quickly, being able to chose what and what not? I am using Titanium Backup but it is not clear what is an installed app and what is system app. How do I guarantee that I do not lose the app data? I am trying to find a way that once I update the ROM I can configure/restore the apps that I want without having to spend hours on it. What I am afraid is to install/restore something that it is not going to work but it takes spaces on the phone. One of the thing I really want to keep is the email configuration (3 gmails account, 1 hotmail and the link with Facebook accounts).
It's actually very easy to tell which are user apps with TB. They're the ones in white text
3) I am using App 2 SD Free but there are some large apps that cannot be moved on the SD (gmail, facebook, qik, flash, maps, twitter, Google Music, G+, etc). Does any work around exist to save precious space on the phone?
4) Regarding stability, not bloated, and full features available on OTA (4G, Bluetooth, HDMI, etc) What is the best ROM? I was looking into Fresh Evo (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=20101297), Swagged Out (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1258932), Sprint Updated 2.0 (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1321340), Clean Rom 1.0 (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1351890). I am leaning toward Fresh Evo because the author have been updating for a long time). Any suggestions?
MIUI, as long as you don't need 4G, everything else works and it's extremely stable. Other than a few times trying other ROMs, I've been using it as a Daily since June
Best,
Camicia
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
see the bold text!

Thank you for your answers. I have some follow up questions:
1)
Use A2SD, in terminal type:
SU
a2sd cachesd
Moves your Dalvik Cache to the SD Card. Free'd up about 200+MB on mine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is the quickest way to use terminal? Do I need the dev tools on my computer and put the phone in debug mode?
Where is the Dalvik Cache normally stored? I thought it was on RAM. Since it is a cache, I would expect that it changes often. Is it not going to wear out the sd card quickly?
2) The point is that I want to save also some system settings (ex: remembered password of wifis, browser history, sync settings, etc). Last backup save 203 items. It is going to be a pain to go thought one by one.
4) I looked at MIUI but I ruled it out because it does not support 4G. I use it every now and then.

Like you I was having some problems with my rooted stock (low phone memory, slow and some other performance issues).
I downloaded ROM Manager and then made a backup of my rooted stock. You can also do it manually by booting into recovery but ROM Manager is easier though some people will say is more prone to errors. Also download Titanium Backup or something similar and save all of the apps (both download and system apps).
Once I backed up my rooted stock ROM I then downloaded and installed the latest Cyanogenmod. As this does not have HTC Sense or bloatware I immediately got a significant amount of free space that handles all that I load.
One thing with Cyanogenmod 7.1, some people like myself will have freezing issues if you have less than 130 MB of free space on the phone. This is not a problem for me as I have more than that available. I chose Cyanogoenmod ROM over MIUI ROM as Cyanogenmod allows for 4G. Take a look though at all of the ROMs out there and decide for yourself.
I find that everything is running faster now and I no longer have the Bloat that Sprint put on the phone. You can also move more apps over to the SD Card freeing up more internal memory.
Apps like Flash and Adobe Reader can be downloaded from the Market and are updated just like any other app.
Good luck

Uhh, no to ROM Manager. It's known to cause problems.
The Terminal is an app. You use it on your phone.
AS for system settings, only a very few can be successfully moved from ROM to ROM. The only thing I backup is my Alarms. You don't have to do them one at a time, you know. Hit Menu, Batch and then you can do them en masse

Depending on how many apps you load on your phone you may want to re-partition your SD card if you have the space and create a 1-2 gig ext2 or ext3 partition to use for apps2sd. The main reason I rooted my EVO was because I constantly kept running out of space on my phone. I'm an app addict though and have been known to have up to 200+ apps on my phone before I re-flash it with another rom. With a 1.5 gig partition and apps2d, I have never run out of space for apps on my phone though If you do decide to re-partition your SD card you will need to completely backup your SD card to your PC first as it will wipe all data on the card. I have a 16 gig class 10card in my EVO and the speed is pretty good.

i would give energy sensation a go, i was using that rom as my daily it is really staple, great battery life and improves the video recording to 1080p HD as well as plenty of other little tweaks here and there....I am running ics-decks-pre-alpha7 which i am really liking only thing is you would have to be willing to give up your camera til a stable alpha or beta is released. I hope this helps...

I have been running the Sprint Updated 2.0 Final for a few weeks (see http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=20631581 ). I also re-partition my SD card with 1.5Gb (if I remember well). So far everything is good except:
1) I have 99Mb free on the phone. I think the main reason is that I disinstall some of the Sprint Bloatware and haven't reinstall all the apps. However I started having problems when I had 60Mb available before the upgrade to this new ROM. So I am afraid that I am getting close :-/
2) Wifi Tether has problems. I am experience the problem here: http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/issues/detail?id=1288 .
The workaround with Barnacle alleviate the problem but beside being annoying that I have to start Bernacle first and then the Wi-Fi tether, it sometimes stop working (I think it is when I I use the 4G and the 4g connection is lost) and I have to go though the cycle again :-/
Best,
Camicia

Best ROM is probably team nocturnal's shooter, but everyone likes different stuff.
I sure my backup root to back up and restore apps
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I use my backup root I meant lol
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I think that one ROM that's 2.3.7 but they managed to get the ics launcher on it. My ***** runs it, so I forgot the name. Sorry I use a ns4g
Edit: it's by chadthegreat.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

Your *****?? nice.... <sarcasm>

Yes my *****. Because I think I could do better.
HipKat said:
Your *****?? nice.... <sarcasm>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

Im on Mikg v3.0 w. Less freedom kernel and its extremely stable smooth and complete im not sure if it has 4g (im on metro so only got 3g) i do reflash like crazy but this ROM has me pretty satisfied i havent flashed in a while u might lose a thing or two but nothing u cant live w. Out.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

If u want AOSP evo-deck-(gingerbread 2.3.7) only takes up 13mb of internal on initial boot 19mb after flashing gapps and its really stable too u might have to fix gps but thats the only issue i ran into (which is just a flashable zip if you do have to) and you can move the majority of apps to sd like CM it has a allow move to external option.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

[Q] Any Threads For Troubleshooting/Improving System Speed?

I'm running a stock, rooted Sense ROM (2.3.3) with Go Launcher (Sense kept re-launching every time I closed an app).
I have close to 140 apps installed, including the stock EVO apps, and 21 megs free. The low storage space alert is always in the notification bar.
My phone runs pretty slow: screen updates, opening apps, etc. Often, if I try to switch screens or go into settings, I have to wait... and wait.
This has been going on for months, and is constant - it never runs fast anymore.
I'm guessing it has to do with only having 21 megs available for apps? As far as what might be running in the background, in typical android fashion, if I open a task manager it will usually show eight to ten apps running. Apps I haven't used in days or weeks! Who knows why these apps are open.
Does anyone know of a thread or source for tracking down what might make these phones run so slow? Am I not allowed to have that many apps installed?

Well you say that you are rooted. So the first thing I would do is download Titanium backup from the market and "freeze" or uninstall all the sprint apps that you don't use. This will free up some space and help. Then go and find out about "V6 Supercharger". It is a script that will speed up your phone and stop the home screen from having to load every time. It's awesome.
Now if you are fully rooted, I would recomment flashing a new ROM. This will solve all of your problems at once. You can use titanium backup to backup all your apps and data then flash a ROM. Restore your apps, and use the V6 supercharger. It will be very zippy. I would recommend MikG for ya.

leebo said:
I'm running a stock, rooted Sense ROM (2.3.3) with Go Launcher (Sense kept re-launching every time I closed an app).
I have close to 140 apps installed, including the stock EVO apps, and 21 megs free. The low storage space alert is always in the notification bar.
My phone runs pretty slow: screen updates, opening apps, etc. Often, if I try to switch screens or go into settings, I have to wait... and wait.
This has been going on for months, and is constant - it never runs fast anymore.
I'm guessing it has to do with only having 21 megs available for apps? As far as what might be running in the background, in typical android fashion, if I open a task manager it will usually show eight to ten apps running. Apps I haven't used in days or weeks! Who knows why these apps are open.
Does anyone know of a thread or source for tracking down what might make these phones run so slow? Am I not allowed to have that many apps installed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This should help you out.... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1386911

Thanks.
Rocket, I forgot to mention that I already had Titanium BU installed and had removed many of the Sprint bloatware (been using TBU ever since I rooted over a year ago).
Will check out V6 Supercharger, however, I still don't know if remaining storage space is related to a phone's system speed.
Diablo, I saw that thread a few days ago. I didn't read it in detail though, just skimmed it.
I guess I will read it in detail and try out all those suggestions. My main desire is to have 4G, wireless tether, and the camera all work. That prevents me from using some of the ROM's out there that break those features. Oh, and having it respond quickly.
Getting rid of those annoying "Low on storage space" messages would also be great, but I guess I'll have to wait till my next phone for that!

Have you tries partitionong your sd card and using darktremora apps2sd I have 140 apps installed and over 200 megs of internal memory left

tha23kidd said:
Have you tries partitionong your sd card and using darktremora apps2sd I have 140 apps installed and over 200 megs of internal memory left
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed Brads updated Sprint V3 beta 4 last week. It has DT baked in I think.
I have yet to partition, but now I have about 80 Meg's free and the system speed is back!
I guess internal free space does indeed affect system speed.

leebo said:
I installed Brads updated Sprint V3 beta 4 last week. It has DT baked in I think.
I have yet to partition, but now I have about 80 Meg's free and the system speed is back!
I guess internal free space does indeed affect system speed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your best bet is to hit that thread and partition your sd card,its essential fo newer roms trust me and leave at least 32MB of swap when doing a partition.

Fast Rom

Hello guys,
My phone seems a bit slower than it was before. Opening app takes time and so on. There are 1.6GB FREE on phone storage and 15GB on internal (SD) storage available.
Any suggestions what could i do to speed it up? Tried different roms, sense and now on aosp. Phone by itself works great but when i try to open for example camera360 it lags.
There are bunch of files left of some apps, empty folders and stuff in SD card, maybe that is the case?
Any ways to speed phone up? ROM suggestions please?

LagFix (free) worked for me

redh4t said:
Hello guys,
My phone seems a bit slower than it was before. Opening app takes time and so on. There are 1.6GB FREE on phone storage and 15GB on internal (SD) storage available.
Any suggestions what could i do to speed it up? Tried different roms, sense and now on aosp. Phone by itself works great but when i try to open for example camera360 it lags.
There are bunch of files left of some apps, empty folders and stuff in SD card, maybe that is the case?
Any ways to speed phone up? ROM suggestions please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi!
Well, I had some problems with lag in many roms!
I recommend you to use Blade Elite 1.3.1, but this is just my personal opinion!
Of course, each rom has it's own features, depending on the user. Just chek it
Remember that HTC One x is a powerful quadcore smartphone, so, lags are not so commom, maybe your kernel or something like this..
Best regards! :good:

Lag on the OneX, if it has been in use for some time, can be the result of the very poor flash controller.
Try the above mentioned LagFix (fstrim). It's on the Play Store.