keep my sdcard neat - Nexus One Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

ok, so maybe I'm a little obsessive compulsive but wow
is it just me or do most applications just spit folders and data all over your sdcard?
i just uninstalled an app i found that i dont use and found two separate folders in the root of the sdcard still remaining.
looks like there were only two apps that had created/used a folder named data inside of the sdcard, seesmic and flixster

I fully agree with you all the apps just create folders on the root of the sd and when i plug it in the computer it's a mess.
Developers really need to use the folder Data, i don't care what's in the app folder but it's not nice to see them all on the root

I agree. It's called lazy programming.

I agree!
At the very least, applications should be forced to only write to a specific directory. I.E. .data, .app_data, etc. When cleaning my SD Card, it so hard to tell what's needed and what's not

I completely agree. It is a giant mess, and it's annoying scrolling through all that garbage to get to the few folders I actually use.

Related

Deleted pics remain cache!

Woops! I thought I had deleted some incriminating pictures from the gallery and with astro file manager BUT while looking through the SD card , I found old deleted pics!
How can I really delete pictures without them showing up in some cache directory?
I heard that in-order to do so you needed to email them to someone totally random. I can give you a totally random email address for this purpose if you like ;-)
I think there are Cache clearing apps on the market, last i remember anyways.
LOL...
Thats no good. It should delete without any apps...damn.
all it does is super compress them so they can be overwritten...
As you'll no doubt aware, most disks/SSDs, memory sticks, microSDs still contain most old "deleted" files, even if they aren't obvious, until where the data was has been overwritten by something else..
Couple of useful bits of code, TestDisk & PhotoRec can help recover lost stuff (or stuff someone thought they'd deleted (!!!!) )..
get them here..
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
NB Both these bits of software can completely screw machines/PCs/Laptops. whatever so BE CAREFULL!!!!!
I'm just about to try PhotoRec on the N1 and see what she finds... & will report...
My mate dodgy Rob found fascinating deleted SMS messages on his wife's (non-Android) 'phone.... the story of what he did about it is even funnier...
Cheers!
Lodger
Yup, Photorec can recover deleted stuff - .jpegs, .mov, .mpegs.. at least it did from my N1... - you have been warned ...
Running Ubuntu (Linux) & looking at the microSD card it reports 907 items on the microSD
Photorec recovered 3,724 items (!).. on the microSD and kindly copied them all to my Laptop..
If you really really need to feel confident something has gone then (I'm not an expert mind...) i understand you need to either..
a) (quick 'n dirty method ..) Fill up the apparently " empty" bit of the SD with garbage - eg some other .jpegs... or
b) To be really certain, re-format her: Several times... probably with several different file systems (FAT32, NTFS, EXT3...) , and don't chose the "quick" options...
Cheers!
Lodger
mine disappear after a soft reset
Damn.....not good. How am I suppose to receive rated r pics from girls and not have my gf find out!
iag48 said:
Damn.....not good. How am I suppose to receive rated r pics from girls and not have my gf find out!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
youre a horrible man
cymru said:
I heard that in-order to do so you needed to email them to someone totally random. I can give you a totally random email address for this purpose if you like ;-)
I think there are Cache clearing apps on the market, last i remember anyways.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I developed CacheMate for clearing cache. It would not work for this purpose. There are a few places where the images would be stored. When in the DCIM directory in /sdcard using Astro, make sure you are viewing hidden file and directories. You can do this by check the "Show Hidden Files" checkbox in Menu > Preferences > Look and Feel. You need to delete the pics from the .thumbnails directory too. If you really want, you can always cue them up in the gallery and delete them that way (long pressing on the pictures brings up the multiple select checkbox). Hope this helps a little.
Thanks for the help.
Re: get pics back from sd card
Actually, the easy way to recover deleted photos from sd card or hard disk is to use a photo software. You can google it and you will get many photo recovery softwares. But they are mostly not free. I have come across the same thing like you. Finally, I get my pics back with Yesterdata.
Kind Tips:
Don't save the recovered data on your memory card again. Find another place for it like on your computer or other external disk, for safety's sake.
iag48 said:
Woops! I thought I had deleted some incriminating pictures from the gallery and with astro file manager BUT while looking through the SD card , I found old deleted pics!
How can I really delete pictures without them showing up in some cache directory?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This should not happen as deleted pictures remains on the phone. But there are nexus photo recovery tool that helps to undelete photos on nexus phones. See this article: recover deleted photos on nexus phone
hope this helps.

how you manage your file system there?

well, have a free system like android is very cool. but I surely hope I shouldn't see folders that I have no idea why they are there.. Apps create a lot of folders under root folder with name such as ".BlueFTP_thumbnails" or ".bookmark_thumb1". some I know it's from apps I have used or am using now, but others, who know why they show up there.
I have completely no idea how to manage those folders. why not have something that create folders for apps just under a big folder (somthing like App-data) and I don't need to see those ugly-named folders every time i turn on the usb.
any suggestion or ideas?
mysaturdayself said:
well, have a free system like android is very cool. but I surely hope I shouldn't see folders that I have no idea why they are there.. Apps create a lot of folders under root folder with name such as ".BlueFTP_thumbnails" or ".bookmark_thumb1". some I know it's from apps I have used or am using now, but others, who know why they show up there.
I have completely no idea how to manage those folders. why not have something that create folders for apps just under a big folder (somthing like App-data) and I don't need to see those ugly-named folders every time i turn on the usb.
any suggestion or ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
android has that..its called the data folder in the sdcard
app devs refuse to use it though

[Q] Change application external write locations

I have been wondering if it is possible to modify where programs store their external data on the SD card, but have not been able to find an answer yet.
Example...
I have the program "FolderOrganizer" and it stores it's backup data to /mnt/sdcard/FolderOrganizer. Now what I would like to do is to clean up my SD card a bit by moving all my program saves to the /mnt/sdcard/Android/xxxxx folders. This way I know where all my backups, skins and etc are located at while keeping my file structure clean.
I have been using Root Explorer to poke around and see if I can find any indication of where these programs set their external save directories at (xml files etc), but I have not been able to figure it out yet.
I bet it is something easy that I am just missing. Can anyone help out or point me in the right direction?
djstaid said:
I have been wondering if it is possible to modify where programs store their external data on the SD card, but have not been able to find an answer yet.
Example...
I have the program "FolderOrganizer" and it stores it's backup data to /mnt/sdcard/FolderOrganizer. Now what I would like to do is to clean up my SD card a bit by moving all my program saves to the /mnt/sdcard/Android/xxxxx folders. This way I know where all my backups, skins and etc are located at while keeping my file structure clean.
I have been using Root Explorer to poke around and see if I can find any indication of where these programs set their external save directories at (xml files etc), but I have not been able to figure it out yet.
I bet it is something easy that I am just missing. Can anyone help out or point me in the right direction?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No... it's not something you're just missing... there is no standard and as a result it's almost impossible to achieve what you're aiming for. I too wish for the same, everything simply under <sdcard>/android/ ...
Some apps are hard coded in their code, some allow the user to select, some store in /data/data/xxx/shared_prefs/ - it's a lottery.
djmcnz said:
No... it's not something you're just missing... there is no standard and as a result it's almost impossible to achieve what you're aiming for. I too wish for the same, everything simply under <sdcard>/android/ ...
Some apps are hard coded in their code, some allow the user to select, some store in /data/data/xxx/shared_prefs/ - it's a lottery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. That is a bummer though, I was really hoping to be able to tell everything where to write to. I currently have a ext4 partition on my SD and that is where all my apps install to... if I can't tell the apps where to save on my SD partition, it would be nice to at least move it all to the ext4 partition.
There is crap all over on my SD card and my OCD is starting to kick in!
Yeah, I know the SD card can get messy... it's really stupid and annoying... Unfortunately, there is no SD card data saving guidelines for developers... and writing to an ext partition is completely out of scope for market apps because not all users have ext partitions... it would be nice, though, to have apps save data under one common folder... say /sdcard/data or /sdcard/Android... maybe we need to petition developers or Google!!
I agree with the saving to and ext partition. I just think it is silly that you can't at least specify a directory to save external data. I know some apps allow this, but I guess that if Google forced a change then everyone would have to change their code.
I wonder what would happen if you took out your SD and tried running those apps. Where would they write to then?
djstaid said:
I agree with the saving to and ext partition. I just think it is silly that you can't at least specify a directory to save external data. I know some apps allow this, but I guess that if Google forced a change then everyone would have to change their code.
I wonder what would happen if you took out your SD and tried running those apps. Where would they write to then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apps that require the sdcard for storage will usually either give an error when run without an sdcard or just not work at all.
I am also pretty anal about my storage and neatness, and I have given up on my sdcard being organized. What I have done is create folders with capital first letters to bring them to the top of the listing when browsing by default sort, at least I can find what I want easily without sifting through all the data folders..
That is pretty much what I have done. I guess it it better than nothing. If I knew more about programming I would try and build something to look for and modify those paths. I just never really understood/got into the whole programming thing... that is why I ended up in Infrastructure. lol
djstaid said:
That is pretty much what I have done. I guess it it better than nothing. If I knew more about programming I would try and build something to look for and modify those paths. I just never really understood/got into the whole programming thing... that is why I ended up in Infrastructure. lol
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Click to collapse
I'm with you there, long time (20+ years) building and repairing pcs, 0- years programming.
As far as building something to modify the paths used by programs accessing the sdcard in Android, that seems a nearly impossible feat. Each program would have to be modified, requiring reverse-coding (baksmali) each one individually, modifying the code, and recompiling (smali). This would also require re-signing and reinstalling each application, making updating from the market impossible, and would take a lot of work.
Due to the fact that applications are "sandboxed" (so to speak) in Android, I wouldn't think there was a global %externaldata% path variable that can be modified from /mnt/sdcard to /mnt/sdcard/Android, I am pretty sure that path is set in each application.
Though, I could be wrong. However, it is worth noting that if it is a global variable, changing it would result in applications that are already properly coded to use /mnt/sdcard/Android/%appname% or /mnt/sdcard/data%appname% to instead attempt to write the data to /mnt/sdcard/Android/mnt/sdcard/Android/%appname% as they would append their string to the global variable.
I believe, all we can do is petition developers to use a more structured data path in their programs, and learn to live with disorder!
daveid said:
I believe, all we can do is petition developers to use a more structured data path in their programs, and learn to live with disorder!
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Click to collapse
lmao!
this is true though... at least I know that I am not alone. haha
I am definitely with you all on this. I found this post after having the same epiphany just now. There needs to be more structure to the use of external storage. These little things are what set our OS apart from say, the "forbidden" iphone...
I have actually tried digging into different apps to see where the store locations are set at and have had no luck. I guess if I knew how to program or at least modify that one part of the app I would have more luck.
Problem with that is if I modify something in an app and it gets updated, I would have to do it all over again. I guess that is the gift and curse of having such an open OS. I will post back here if I figure something out though. I have been digging into the Android OS a little more, but I am still having problems understanding how it all works underneath.

Strange file system issues

My file system is totally confused. When I browse to EMMC from a file manager it goes to my SD Card. If I browse to SD Card it actually goes to the internal drive.
I've had my rooted Nook Color for about 5 weeks now (CM7 booted from a SD card). Everything was working great until I tried installing some different launchers. I tried GoLauncher, Zeam, ICS, Honeycomb and maybe one more. The default was ADW. Maybe I confused the system by constantly switching from one to the next but at some point the system crashed and I rebooted.
Once rebooted I noticed that many of the games I installed told me I needed to redownload their data files. I looked on my card, through my Mac, but the original files were still there. Turns out the Nook now installs apps on the internal drive rather than the card as it had been before.
Wouldn't be so bad but, as mentioned earlier, the file system is confused. When i need to manage files I've loaded on my SD card I have to browse to EMMC and vice versa. Makes my head spin.
Is there a way to fix it without starting from scratch? I'm using CM7.2.0.
Thanks for your help
That's not a bug, it's a feature. Anyway, what you likely did is Settings -> Cyanogenmod Settings -> Application Settings -> Use internal storage (checked). If you do this, then it swaps the mount points for the SD and the internal memory, so the SD card is mounted at "/emmc" and the internal memory is mounted at "/sdcard". See the first post in the thread in my sig for more information about this.
If you really want to return it to the original way, wasting 5G of internal storage space, then you can uncheck that box in the settings and it'll go back to normal.
Thanks for pointing that out and glad to see there's an easy fix. Seems a bit confusing though, like it's renaming your hard drives or something. I had been using the internal drive for storing media files, video, music, comics. Does it matter where apps or files are stored?
false1 said:
Thanks for pointing that out and glad to see there's an easy fix. Seems a bit confusing though, like it's renaming your hard drives or something. I had been using the internal drive for storing media files, video, music, comics. Does it matter where apps or files are stored?
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Click to collapse
Well, the "fix", IMHO, is to leave it with them swapped.
Yes, it matters where apps are stored and it matters what is mounted at /sdcard. Apps use space on the /sdcard partition for settings, temp storage, downloads, etc. Mounting that 5G partition at /sdcard instead of /emmc allows these apps to use that space rather than cluttering your actual SD card. And apps are going to wind up on your 1G partition, not on either the /sdcard or /emmc mountpoint.
You can go read up in my guide on my recommendation on how to best use this space. The normal way is inefficient and wasteful of internal memory, IMHO. But you know, maybe you like it that way
mr72 said:
You can go read up in my guide on my recommendation on how to best use this space. The normal way is inefficient and wasteful of internal memory, IMHO. But you know, maybe you like it that way
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think efficiency is more in how you choose to utilise the spaces rather than fundamentally in which switch option you use. For example, I choose to completely fill the 5GB of internal with sound and picture media as they get included in the normal app scanning process. Leaving the SD card to hold yet more media, app data and back ups.
It's still good to have the choice offered by the switch.

deleting unnecessary stuff out of system folder - Android 11

greetings community,
i have tried to search it, but being pro newbie, I found nothing. Is it possible to make this folder little bit lighter it takes 22gb of space, and my poor phone has only 64gb
I have rooted devices
thank you in advance
You can delete some apps using root file manager. I've use root explorer and have for years but nowadays there are times where it will not allow me to delete some apps (YouTube, chrome are a few this has happened to me on..) that my phone will NOT allow me to. And yes I have magisk and root explorer pro has root permission when this has happened. One way to get these apps off when this has happened to me is use another root file manager. Amaze file manager did the trick. I was able to delete apps I could not with root explorer. I'm BIG on not having useless bloatware on my phone so disabling apps is NOT my style. I usually save a copy by making backup and throw the backed up apks on my laptop or a USB thumb drive and delete whatever in case I end up deleting something that messes with my phone...Far as what can be deleted and what can't you can just discover for yourself. That's what I've done. I'm currently on a custom rom and I normally don't do much deleting unless I'm using the Google stock rom. If and when I do wipe more off stock I'll return and give you a list of what I did clear out. Just look in /system/app, /system/priv-app, product/app, /vendor/app with a root app and go to town. That's what I've always done. I believe TWRP for Android 11, the test build that bigbiff dropped about a month ago works now to make backups so that would be something to maybe do before hand in case you end up needing to restore your rom. On a few other devices I've owned people would sometimes make a thread on here for apps that can be removed and all and then list what they took off and what not to. I believe this Is what you are talking about.. If so hopefully it helps
Far as making system folder smaller and not meaning apps I believe it's possible but I think maybe you would have to repartition your device to do that and although it's possible it's dangerous. One wrong move and you have a paper weight doing that. I messed up my original Pixel XL because power went out while I was doing it before I was done and it was a goner. If anything I say here isn't right or there is more information about this please someone share who has more knowledge of this sort of thing. I would love to know as well. Good day/night to all. Cheers.
100kaa said:
greetings community,
i have tried to search it, but being pro newbie, I found nothing. Is it possible to make this folder little bit lighter it takes 22gb of space, and my poor phone has only 64gb
I have rooted devices
thank you in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@100kaa
You would be better off deleting excess files, trash, and photos that are already backed up. The system partition can be mounted and some files removed, but for the most part it is a minefield. Google has a fantastic new tool (since changing Photos retention rules) called "Takeout" that allows you to back up the contents of many parts of your phone and allows you do d/l it in compressed format directly to your PC. Check it out. OTHERWISE- If you simply must carry large files like movies, music database, pictures etc. then consider getting a USB-C OTG drive.
https://takeout.google.com/
This is why you get a phone with an SD card slot.
You then use the SD card as your data drive.
Only the apps and temporary folders go on the internal memory.
Next best thing is a flash stick or use cloud based storage which has downsides to it. Even if your internal storage is huge you don't want to store critical data there. I use about 64 of my 500gb of internal vs 340 of 500gb on the data drive.
If a large data base is on a large internal memory a data restore takes... forever. Most times the SD card is spared in OS crash and burns. Plus it can be used to restore the OS drive apps and settings.
Much of the above doesn't help you now but it could with future devices. All my PCs even my laptop are configured as dual drives. I learned a long time ago it works well, saves sweat and data.

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