Database Develop

post app2sd question

I have Cyanogen ROM 4.2.5 installed with auto app2sd set up but I've become a little confused. I have a root file manager and am able to see where my apps are going, but where are the files for my apps being installed? I have Aldiko, but I cannot find where it is downloading the e-books to.
Pre-app2sd they were downloaded to /sdcard/, but now as far as I can tell no apps download any files to the main SD card partition. I assume they are all going to the ext partition. Can anyone help me out here?
Also, the gallery isn't working (in the sense that it never has pictures in it, and it cant find pictures). I think this might be related to the problem I'm having with themes (When I install theme's they never install the wallpapers), which might have all been caused by my app2sd installation.
Anyone have any ideas?
When I set up app2sd I used Amon-Ra Recovery v1.3.2. I partitioned the drive, established an ext3 partition, then reflashed Cyanogen's 4.2.5 ROM. Following that I put on the Minus Theme.
Thanks in advance. Hopefully I didnt do something completely retarded. (and yes I used the search tool first)

The ebooks may be in a separate folder on the sd card. updates to the program may change the directory
Maybe there is something wrong with the SDcard itself. it is possible it did not partition correctly. If so, back up all the data on the SD + Ext and repartition

Apps2SD noobish help

Sprint HTC Hero (Non-Google Branded)
Fresh Rom 1.0 with De-Fresh and Nexus One Boot screen
Recovery 1.5.2
16GB SD Card
So this is what i know.
1) I already know that Fresh 1.0 has A2SD support built within it.
2) I know to go to Recovery and use the format SD (I used these settings)
Swap:516, Ext3:516, Fat32: Rest ammount
3) Did this once before and it seemed that all my apps were on SD card (when i took it out and reboot, all my apps were gone. When i put it back in then reboot they all back on phone)
What i need to know.
1) How do i choose which apps/games to transfer over to SD card.
2) Where are they on my SD card? (Could not see it when i checked the SD card)
3) When you do this are all of the apps off of the phone memory? or are the apps still able to stay on phone.
What i essentially want to do.
1) i just want to be able to easily use A2SD to backup and easily transfer my apps/games back and fourth if i need to.
Any usable help would be greatly appreciated ^^ thanks.

frostrunner said:
Sprint HTC Hero (Non-Google Branded)
Fresh Rom 1.0 with De-Fresh and Nexus One Boot screen
Recovery 1.5.2
16GB SD Card
So this is what i know.
1) I already know that Fresh 1.0 has A2SD support built within it.
2) I know to go to Recovery and use the format SD (I used these settings)
Swap:516, Ext3:516, Fat32: Rest ammount
3) Did this once before and it seemed that all my apps were on SD card (when i took it out and reboot, all my apps were gone. When i put it back in then reboot they all back on phone)
What i need to know.
1) How do i choose which apps/games to transfer over to SD card.
2) Where are they on my SD card? (Could not see it when i checked the SD card)
3) When you do this are all of the apps off of the phone memory? or are the apps still able to stay on phone.
What i essentially want to do.
1) i just want to be able to easily use A2SD to backup and easily transfer my apps/games back and fourth if i need to.
Any usable help would be greatly appreciated ^^ thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If someone has better info please correct me if I'm wrong
1. When you install a ROM with apps2sd, as long as you have your SD card formated properly everything except for stock roms are transfered. If they were not, uninstall and install in the market and should go to SD card.
2. On fresh rom I noticed (atleast for me) that the app and app-private folders were in /system/sd/
3. All of your downloaded apps will be on your SD card. Stock apps (sprint apps and what came with the phone etc.) will still be on the phone's memory.
I use ES File Explorer and just copy the app and app-private folders when i want to backup all my downloaded apps. Pretty easy app to use and supports root.

frostrunner said:
1) How do i choose which apps/games to transfer over to SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't. If it's in /data, it gets moved. This means that applications that come with the phone, which are in /system, do not get moved. The symlink solution means that you cannot easily choose applications to leave on the phone.
2) Where are they on my SD card? (Could not see it when i checked the SD card)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. They are on the EXT partition you created, oddly enough just like the documentation says. You cannot see this partition. If you are so inclined, you can adb into the phone and see it mounted on /system/sd.
3) When you do this are all of the apps off of the phone memory? or are the apps still able to stay on phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Applications shipped with the phone stay on the phone. Data directories created by downloaded applications stay on the phone. You will still see space on the phone being used.
What i essentially want to do.
1) i just want to be able to easily use A2SD to backup and easily transfer my apps/games back and fourth if i need to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A2SD has nothing to do with a backup solution and is not necessary for you to back anything up. Pick one of the umpteen backup applications available in the Market and go to town.

A2SD questions help please

I a rooted running Fresh 2.0d. I am now interested in running A2SD, but have a few questions. In reading thru several posts I found the below steps if you are running Fresh.
Back up sd card
Boot into recovery
Choose partition SD Fat32,EXT2,Swap
Reboot phone
Reload files onto SD card
When it says reload onto sd card, what is meant here.
I backed up the card, ran the partition and moved the data back to the card. Now what do I do, how do you get all of the apps from the phone to now run on the card.
Also, is there a big benefit to this, is it really going to make a big difference?
Final question, I have a 16gb Kingston MicroSD. I have no idea what class of card this is, All I know is that it is 16gb. What type of card do I need for this to work properly?

reload to sd, just means copy all the files from the FAT partion pack to the drive. The FAT partion being the stuff you can see in windows....more than likely Pictures, "Lost", Rosie. Few other apps that put folders there too.
EDIT:
Let me reword this.
You copied all the files off your SD card. DCIM and stuff like that. More than likely to your Windows Desktop.
Plug your phone into USB, Mount as a Drive. Copy the files you copied off initially back to the SD Card drive. (it is probably smaller now than it was before so everything might not fit if it was full)
Edit 2:
Class 6 FTW - But I used to run on a Class 2 and it was fine.
Big Benefit = More Apps/On phone storage space - HOWEVER sometimes it is just a PITA to deal with. Especially if you switch roms alot.

Did you titanium backup or something similar to back up your apps? If not start downloading your apps again. The big benefit to apps2sd is you can download many more apps since your not limit to the internal storage space. Also on some roms you can upgrade without reinstalling your apps (if your lucky)

xxwckdxx said:
Did you titanium backup or something similar to back up your apps? If not start downloading your apps again. The big benefit to apps2sd is you can download many more apps since your not limit to the internal storage space. Also on some roms you can upgrade without reinstalling your apps (if your lucky)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so let me get this straight, A2SD is for market place apps that I have downloaded? I was under the impression that it was for system apps as well. I am a noob so just want to make sure my info is correct. I have mybackup pro which backups aps. Will I have to uninstall the apps and then reinstall on card? Could you please give me the proper steps on this?

jj4201998 said:
Ok, so let me get this straight, A2SD is for market place apps that I have downloaded? I was under the impression that it was for system apps as well. I am a noob so just want to make sure my info is correct. I have mybackup pro which backups aps. Will I have to uninstall the apps and then reinstall on card? Could you please give me the proper steps on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You won't have to Uninstall/Reinstall anything. As I recall the move is made automagically on boot up if it detects an EXT partition. And system programs like Rosie do not get moved to the sd card TMK.

Kcarpenter said:
You won't have to Uninstall/Reinstall anything. As I recall the move is made automagically on boot up if it detects an EXT partition. And system programs like Rosie do not get moved to the sd card TMK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before I do this, do I have to have a card with a certain speed, or does it not matter?

jj4201998 said:
Ok, so let me get this straight, A2SD is for market place apps that I have downloaded? I was under the impression that it was for system apps as well. I am a noob so just want to make sure my info is correct. I have mybackup pro which backups aps. Will I have to uninstall the apps and then reinstall on card? Could you please give me the proper steps on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To my understanding just the apps you download are installed on it, i could be wrong. As for the steps....
1. Backup your apps
2. Nandroid backup
3. Paritition
4. Install a2sd
5. Boot up
6. Restore apps

jj4201998 said:
Before I do this, do I have to have a card with a certain speed, or does it not matter?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speed doesn't really matter a whole lot. If you have a 16gb card its likly a class 4+ card. I have never seen a class 2 16gig before at least. It would kind of defeat the purpose.
Class 6 is the standard for someone who would want to buy a new one, and they have a class 10 lurking around some sites. But you'll be fine on what you have. Again, I was on a class 2 for a while...racing thunder was the biggest issue, it was laggy from the SD card. haven't tried it with the new one.
Edit:
I stand corrected, it could be a class 2.
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-microSDHC-Memory-SDSDQ-016G-Packaging/dp/B001L1H0SC

jj4201998 said:
Ok, so let me get this straight, A2SD is for market place apps that I have downloaded? I was under the impression that it was for system apps as well. I am a noob so just want to make sure my info is correct. I have mybackup pro which backups aps. Will I have to uninstall the apps and then reinstall on card? Could you please give me the proper steps on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you download apps from the marketplace (free or paid), Android will put it in one of two locations: /data/app or /data/app-private. Both of those locations are on the phone itself. The problem you run into is running out of free space on the internal storage space of the phone. A2SD, in its basic form, moves the data in /data/app and /data/app-private, to matching directories on your ext partition of your secure digital card. It also creates a symlink where /data/app and /data/app-private are located. These symlinks are nothing more than shortcuts to the directories on your SD card. Android still thinks it is storing apps in /data/app and /data/app-private, but it really is storing it on the SD card.
When the instructions say to backup the SD card, what it is talking about is the FAT32 part of the SD card. As someone said earlier, it is the part that Windows can actually see. You take all the data off of your SD card and put it on your computer. The reason you need to do this is that, when you add the ext2/ext3 and swap partition, you will repartition the entire SD card, which means you will lose your data on your FAT32 partition.
When you are restoring to SD, you are taking the contents you had previously on the Fat32 part of the SD card and putting it back onto the Far32 card.
As far as apps are concerned, the A2SD will automatically move them for you...but it is always a good idea to do a nandroid backup first to make sure that you have a way to restore an image in case something goes wrong.

tkirton said:
When you download apps from the marketplace (free or paid), Android will put it in one of two locations: /data/app or /data/app-private. Both of those locations are on the phone itself. The problem you run into is running out of free space on the internal storage space of the phone. A2SD, in its basic form, moves the data in /data/app and /data/app-private, to matching directories on your ext partition of your secure digital card. It also creates a symlink where /data/app and /data/app-private are located. These symlinks are nothing more than shortcuts to the directories on your SD card. Android still thinks it is storing apps in /data/app and /data/app-private, but it really is storing it on the SD card.
When the instructions say to backup the SD card, what it is talking about is the FAT32 part of the SD card. As someone said earlier, it is the part that Windows can actually see. You take all the data off of your SD card and put it on your computer. The reason you need to do this is that, when you add the ext2/ext3 and swap partition, you will repartition the entire SD card, which means you will lose your data on your FAT32 partition.
When you are restoring to SD, you are taking the contents you had previously on the Fat32 part of the SD card and putting it back onto the Far32 card.
As far as apps are concerned, the A2SD will automatically move them for you...but it is always a good idea to do a nandroid backup first to make sure that you have a way to restore an image in case something goes wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am running Fresh 2.0d. Someone mentioned to install A2SD, thought on Fresh it as already installed, am I missing somthing?

xxwckdxx said:
To my understanding just the apps you download are installed on it, i could be wrong. As for the steps....
1. Backup your apps
2. Nandroid backup
3. Paritition
4. Install a2sd
5. Boot up
6. Restore apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am on Fresh 2.0d I thought on this Rom it was already installed. I formatted the sd card as told. However, I don't think it is working. ON the Recovery menu there is a place that says transfer apps to sd & delvik. Am I supposed to use that?

jj4201998 said:
I am running Fresh 2.0d. Someone mentioned to install A2SD, thought on Fresh it as already installed, am I missing somthing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. You're not missing something. Fresh 2.0d has a Cyanogen version of A2SD. It's originally in the 1.5 Roms that are for the Hero.
Two other people, TrevE and myself, makes a variant of the original that is in Fresh 2.0d. TrevE works with ROM developers to put his in while I update mine in the distribution channels.
Whoever told you to install A2SD probably meant to go download the Darktremor A2SD 2.5 or 2.6.1 and flash it to your phone.
That part is optional, as Fresh 2.0d already has an A2SD installed.

jj4201998 said:
I am on Fresh 2.0d I thought on this Rom it was already installed. I formatted the sd card as told. However, I don't think it is working. ON the Recovery menu there is a place that says transfer apps to sd & delvik. Am I supposed to use that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does it automatically.
What makes you think it isn't working? Since you rooted, I presume you have ADB. If so, enter a console session on the phone by typing adb shell
Once you have done that, type the following:
cd /data/app
pwd
If pwd returns /data/app, it isn't working.
If pwd returns /system/sd/app, A2SD is working normally.
Do the same for app-private:
cd /data/app-private
pwd
If pwd returns /data/app-private, it isn't working
if pwd returns /system/sd/app, A2SD is working normally.

tkirton said:
No. You're not missing something. Fresh 2.0d has a Cyanogen version of A2SD. It's originally in the 1.5 Roms that are for the Hero.
Two other people, TrevE and myself, makes a variant of the original that is in Fresh 2.0d. TrevE works with ROM developers to put his in while I update mine in the distribution channels.
Whoever told you to install A2SD probably meant to go download the Darktremor A2SD 2.5 or 2.6.1 and flash it to your phone.
That part is optional, as Fresh 2.0d already has an A2SD installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could not figure out how to get the version on Fresh d to work. I downloeaded the 2.5 version and it is working fine for me. This minor change has made all of the difference on the phone. I have asked on several posts how to speed up the hero and this truley made the difference. Thanks for the help.

[Q] Problem with paid apps with Apps2SD

Hello!
I have used Apps2SD Script included with G.O.T Recovery to partition and set up Apps2SD on my Milestone. Upon reboot everything works fine except that I can't launch two paid apps, namely: Got To Do and MountUSB. They were installed from Market but in place of the icon and name I get default icon (Droid's head on white background) and com.slamjibe.... and upon launching it I get FC. Can anyone help me?

contact the developper of these apps ask them support for apps2sd , many dev havent updated there apps for it ...

Hmm, I'm having this problem as well with apps not installing correctly.
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App

Which Apps2SD option did you guys use from the G.O.T. menu? I am using the "Symlink Edition" and it is working fine so far.

dsixda said:
Which Apps2SD option did you guys use from the G.O.T. menu? I am using the "Symlink Edition" and it is working fine so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi dsixda, I used just the plain and simple App2SD install I couldn't find a clear explination of the differences between just app2sd and the symlink version, if you have the chance, of if you are willing to could you please try to install Horoscope and Tarot by horoscope.com I know bad example app but its one that I remember off the top of my head. (GF just wont get off my tip about this one....)
~PsyCl0ne

PsyCl0ne said:
hi dsixda, I used just the plain and simple App2SD install I couldn't find a clear explination of the differences between just app2sd and the symlink version, if you have the chance, of if you are willing to could you please try to install Horoscope and Tarot by horoscope.com I know bad example app but its one that I remember off the top of my head. (GF just wont get off my tip about this one....)
~PsyCl0ne
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that horoscope app runs fine for me! Basically the "symlink edition" of Apps2SD just changes the location of the /data/app and /data/app-private folders to the EXT2 partition on the SD card.

dsixda said:
Yeah that horoscope app runs fine for me! Basically the "symlink edition" of Apps2SD just changes the location of the /data/app and /data/app-private folders to the EXT2 partition on the SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sh*t is there anyway I can go from app2sd to the symlink with out having to reset my phone?
~PsyCl0ne

PsyCl0ne said:
Sh*t is there anyway I can go from app2sd to the symlink with out having to reset my phone?
~PsyCl0ne
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just do a Titanium Backup of all your current data, do a Nandroid backup, then reflash the ROM without apps2sd.
Then, restore with Titanium, make sure all your apps are on your device, and then finally apply the symlink edition of Apps2sd... It will move them all.

Kk so instead of doing a titanium back up, I did a full wipe, replashed, re nandroid'ed, re formatted my sd card, and installed the syslink or symlink app2sd and everything works perfectly now
Thanks you guys
~PsyCl0ne
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App

Hi, I had also root my phone and did a nandroid backup with GOT open recovery, and i install app2sd hack on the symlink edition, how do i know that it had been sucessfully installed on my sd?

botakbotak said:
Hi, I had also root my phone and did a nandroid backup with GOT open recovery, and i install app2sd hack on the symlink edition, how do i know that it had been sucessfully installed on my sd?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check the available memory in the Settings menu, it should be higher now. Or just use adb, go into /data and do an "ls -l". The app folder should point to another folder. Also, in Root Explorer the app folder should now show the size remaining proportional to your ext2 partition.
I have actually modified an existing script so that now even the /data/dalvik-cache is moved to sd. I have freed up over 30MB more now. I can attach it later.

Apps2SD script
Here's a script that takes your apps to the SD card, and also links the /data/dalvik-cache there. With a newly flashed Milestone you should see at least 190MB free.
Just unzip this under /sdcard/OpenRecovey/scripts. Launch it from OpenRecovery, using the menu option Miscellaneous-->Run script-->install_apps2sh.sh..
NOTE: Make sure your /system/bin/mot_boot_mode is either the stock one or the one that GOT's OpenRecovery added. Otherwise the script will not work.
My script is based on another APPS2SD script, but I changed it so that it doesn't overwrite the modified mot_boot_mode file that GOT's OpenRecovery had added when you do overclocking, memhack, etc. (if it's not there then it will add it).

dsixda said:
Here's a script that takes your apps to the SD card, and also links the /data/dalvik-cache there. With a newly flashed Milestone you should see at least 190MB free.
Just unzip this under /sdcard/OpenRecovey/scripts. Launch it from OpenRecovery, using the menu option Miscellaneous-->Run script-->install_apps2sh.sh..
NOTE: Make sure your /system/bin/mot_boot_mode is either the stock one or the one that GOT's OpenRecovery added. Otherwise the script will not work.
My script is based on another APPS2SD script, but I changed it so that it doesn't overwrite the modified mot_boot_mode file that GOT's OpenRecovery had added when you do overclocking, memhack, etc. (if it's not there then it will add it).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi , thanks for the response, just to clarify, after rooting with got's open recovery and flashed v2a roms, i splited my sd card thru the got's open recovery program and install the symlik edition of app2sd, indeed my memory from 16x became 194, but when i install some program, some space were taken up i think, it appear to be 189 now, i installed launcherpro and a few stuff, so i can assume that my app2sd is working and it is just because some program cant support to install to sd right? Sorry for my bad english.

botakbotak said:
Hi , thanks for the response, just to clarify, after rooting with got's open recovery and flashed v2a roms, i splited my sd card thru the got's open recovery program and install the symlik edition of app2sd, indeed my memory from 16x became 194, but when i install some program, some space were taken up i think, it appear to be 189 now, i installed launcherpro and a few stuff, so i can assume that my app2sd is working and it is just because some program cant support to install to sd right? Sorry for my bad english.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's probably because of the stuff stored under /data/data (application data, not the apps themselves). I have the same issue too. You can try to make a symlink to move them your sd card, but it actually slows down your apps when u run them, even with a high-speed / Class 6 SD card.

dsixda said:
It's probably because of the stuff stored under /data/data (application data, not the apps themselves). I have the same issue too. You can try to make a symlink to move them your sd card, but it actually slows down your apps when u run them, even with a high-speed / Class 6 SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So i should go and install again ? o.o , the moment i load the roms i split the sd and install already, not sure should i install again or not .

botakbotak said:
So i should go and install again ? o.o , the moment i load the roms i split the sd and install already, not sure should i install again or not .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NO.... It's application DATA that's taking up space, not the apps themselves. Not much you can do about it. It's normal. The symlink method would have moved your apps to the SD card automatically.

dsixda said:
NO.... It's application DATA that's taking up space, not the apps themselves. Not much you can do about it. It's normal. The symlink method would have moved your apps to the SD card automatically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thank you very much, solved my doubts, Thanks to all who helped.

[Q] Directory for apps stored on SD Card

I am about to undertake the task of factory restoring my Moto Droid (for reasons I won't bore you with). I'm rooted, and have Rom Manager for Nandroid backups (so I flashed a new recovery), but other than that I'm running stock.
I don't want to redownload all of my apps, so I want to copy them over to my PC and push them back to the phone later using adb. My issue is, I cannot find the apps I have moved to the SD card. What is their file pathway?
I've used Astro and Terminal Emulater (with the ls command) to try to find the pathway, but I'm at a complete loss.
Before you say anything, I know Astro can backup apps; however, it does not back up apps that are stored on the SD card. And I have too many apps to move them all to internal storage to back them up with Astro.
I really need to find the file pathway so I can copy the .apk's. Any help will be much appreciated.
Thanks.

the easy way, try titanium backup
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App

I ended up just playing 'musical chairs' with the apps on the SD card to put them on the internal storage to back them up with Astro. It worked pretty well, though was unnecessarily time consuming.
And a lot of the best features in Titanium cost; I know it's supporting the dev, but I'm an eternal cheap skate when it comes to apps...