Unable to install an app because of not enough memory. When I started to correct the problem (clearing caches, moving to SD card etc.) I realized I have only 196MB of internal memory. Not the 512MB the phone supposedly contains. A third party file manager confirms this. This is storage memory and not Rom. I am using about 131MB and have about 65MB free. where is the rest of my memory and how can I access it or clear it?
You can't. 512MB is total memory your phone has, out of it there's 200MB reserved for DATA partition, this is what you have. The other space is divided between other partitions - SYSTEM (holding your firmware), RADIO, etc. Nothing is missing, this is how it works.
Can this memory be expanded? I bookmarked one webpage (my daughters school lunch menu) and it took up 80MB. I couldn't even receive a text until I cleared it.
No, it can't be expanded - but the apps from it can be moved to SD by various methods, both Froyo official method and Apps2SD+, which leaves all of this partition for application data only. The effect is the same - lots of free internal storage.
Related
It seems to me that the memory layout on the Captivate isn't in line with other Android devices.
Looking at the specs of the Captivate on www.google.com/phone I am seeing:
RAM: 512 MB
Internal Storage: 16000 MB
Yet in looking at "SD card and phone storage" in settings I see.
Internal phone storage, Available space: 1.60 GB
Internal SD card: 13.03 GB
It seems to me that the 16000 MB is partitioned so here are my questions.
1) Where is the 512 MB and what is it for?
2) Why is it if I install some app that is supposed to show me external SD usage it always instead shows that 13 GB internal flash volume?
And in a broader sense...
3) What is the general memory model for Android? I see RAM, Internal, External. What are they all for?
I'm not sure, but of that internal 16gb of storage space, is it merely partitioning a section of that away for the OS?
That is my question. I don't understand the memory model.
This might not be accurate since I don't own an android phone but i'm bored
1) Where is the 512 MB and what is it for?
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System Ram, used by the OS and apps as volatile memory.
2) Why is it if I install some app that is supposed to show me external SD usage it always instead shows that 13 GB internal flash volume?
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Because the 13gb volume is the "general" volume where you can personally store whatever you want, it functions just like an external Sd card would.
3) What is the general memory model for Android? I see RAM, Internal, External. What are they all for?
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Click to collapse
Ram - It is for the OS and apps, they need that as volatile storage to function, nothing is really stored there in the long term, the OS manages that so don't worry about it.
Internal memory - This used for many things, app install and to store files like music, pictures, etc. Internal memory is usually partitioned so that you only have a set amount (probalby that 1.60 you see ) for apps install and the rest if for whatever you want(the 13gb).
External memory - That is just an SD card you can use to expand your internal memory, right now (Android 2.1) it only works to add more space for files(music, photos, docs,) but with with froyo (android 2.2) you'll be able to move installed apps to this external (and the internal 13gb) drive.
Ok here's how it's laid out.
Yes, we have 512MB of RAM. However we as the end user will only see around 300MB of that, give or take 20MB. That's because some of it used by the OS and the GPU for different tasks.
That 16GB of internal storage you see, is partitioned off. We actually get around 13GB to use for ourselves. That 1.6GB you also see starts off as around 2GB (I would assume), and the rest used by the system for the OS, apps, cache, etc...
It's just like a hard drive on a computer in that respect. Sure you but a 1TB hard drive, but you actually only get to use around 850GB of it due to formatting and whatnot.
My problem is that I cant install apps in the 13gb partition, I dont know why..
I tried with:
adb shell pm setInstallLocation 0 this is Auto mode but.. installs in 1.8 partition
..........................................1 this install on the 1.8 partition
..........................................2 this install on the sd card
..........................................3 doesent exist xD but i tried..
so does exist any way to install apps for default in the 13.3 internal SD card partition, or any way to errase the partition??..
Try using "apps2sd" from market. It should be app2sd or apps2sd.
But I don't understand the need to do this, given that Captivate has one of the best memory amounts allocated for system.
Also note that, the apps on SD won't be available during the times when apps like "media scanner" are running.
As I know the total internal space on Nexus is 512Mb. Why I am always getting 196MB AVAILABLE SPACE (with or without APP2SD)? Where I lose 316Mb internal memories?
Well, if you wanted to delete android off your phone, you could have all of that space, but you wouldn't have much of a phone would you?
Android itself has to be stored somewhere, and it's not going to be on the sdcard.
As n1 users the internal memory is one thing that has always plagued us. ~200mb is not much.
XSafire said:
Well, if you wanted to delete android off your phone, you could have all of that space, but you wouldn't have much of a phone would you?
Android itself has to be stored somewhere, and it's not going to be on the sdcard.
As n1 users the internal memory is one thing that has always plagued us. ~200mb is not much.
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ok thanks for the answer but why on my Magic I am getting 188MG availble space exactly as its internal memory? where is the android on my Magic? Why I can increase that 188Mb by using A2SD?
On my Nexus is always 196MB availble space...
They may have advertised the Magic as having XXXMB space to install apps, where the N1 was advertised as having 512MB of internal space. That internal space is divied up between your system (where android is installed), cache (where all temporary files are downloaded - like the apks for market apps before they get installed), and data (where all your apps are installed to and all your settings saved).
And you can't "increase" the space of the magic by using a2sd. What you can do is fake the phone into thinking that your sdext partition is internal memory, so that apps can be installed to it and thus frees up your actual internal storage for the data for those apps. The two most popular ways to do this are DarkTremor's a2sd and S2E. Both require partitioning your sdcard and both require you to have root access on your phone (S2E is advertised as CM7 only, although it may work on CM7-based ROMs).
If you use the built-in app2sd that comes with any Android version 2.2 and up will not utilize the sdext partition on the card. It will just store files on the sdcard in a protected folder. This isn't as thorough as the above methods, as you can't store any apps on the sdcard that contain widgets or tie into the system (like facebook).
what would cause this odd error when i still have so much free?
found this answer on an other droid forum is it true?
"There is a bug that causes this error, but since 3 big companies are involved, none of them are going to fix it any time soon. Basically, app space is limited to some arbitrary amount and is not equal to the space available on your phone."
I suspect you may be low in system memory. Scroll down to the very bottom of the SD card & phone storage settings. How much available System memory do you have?
system memory is alway around 100Mb even with the space notification.
when I uninstall enough apps it does go away.
stopping open apps or services does not help.
You may want to reset your device. I had a similar problem once with my Atrix. 100mb is a low amount of system memory. I have over 400mb still available on my Thrill.
I have over 650mb left in system memory and its says I have insufficient space whenever I try to download any game around 40mb. I cleared the cache and it worked for one game.
Sent from my LG-P925 using xda premium
think i got it...
using ES task manager
memory T:442MB A:96MB =ram?
internal storage T:.98GB A:117MB =system nand or partition of internal sd?
sd card T:5.57GB A:3.92GB =internal sd card?
I have a 32GB external sd card.
I thought "system memory" under "SD card & phone storage settings" was RAM
but is seems to be what "ES task manager" reports as "internal storage"
why the hell is the android set up this way?
seems so ass backwards,
/ = system memory (root dir? is this a partition or seperate physical memory from the internal sd)
/sdcard/ = internal sd
/sdcard/_ExternalSD = external sdcard
What is being referred to as internal storage (or system memory) is where the apps are installed by default. You could try moving some apps to SD and it should help. However, I had a problem like this with my Atrix and I never could figure out what was using all the space, so I just did a factory reset. Of course, I used Titanium Backup first.
I've noticed that the thrill thinks the 4gb internal is an SD card and the actual SD card is labeled as "External" when you explore the files. I was thinking of doing a factory reset so I moved all my apps to SD, when I looked in file manager at my SD there was nothing there. I found them all in a folder called "SDCard" on my internal memory. This may have something to do with your issue.
TylDurden said:
I've noticed that the thrill thinks the 4gb internal is an SD card and the actual SD card is labeled as "External" when you explore the files. I was thinking of doing a factory reset so I moved all my apps to SD, when I looked in file manager at my SD there was nothing there. I found them all in a folder called "SDCard" on my internal memory. This may have something to do with your issue.
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Click to collapse
You have 3 types of memory in the phone. There's your external SD (labeled as _External SD), Internal Phone Memory (internal SD), and System Memory (where by default apps are stored). You can move your apps to the internal SD if you desire and that's why it's showing a folder there with the apps in it.
Gr8Danes said:
You have 3 types of memory in the phone. There's your external SD (labeled as _External SD), Internal Phone Memory (internal SD), and System Memory (where by default apps are stored). You can move your apps to the internal SD if you desire and that's why it's showing a folder there with the apps in it.
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So what good does it do to put Apps on the internal SD?
TylDurden said:
So what good does it do to put Apps on the internal SD?
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So that it doesn't take up your system memory. If your system memory gets low, it won't let you install additional apps and may also slow down your phone.
Some people are saying that it is reporting wrong? No there actually is an SD card inside the phone and the one outside under the back plate.
To keep things straight:
System= Actual memory on the phone where apps are installed by default, moving to SD and uninstalling apps can create more space.
Internal= SDcard inside the phone where Apps are moved to when choosing move to SD also Alps will store data here and most downloads go here by default
External= The SDcard under backplate which you can access and change. A lot of apps will put backups here and if you choose SD storage in camera where your pics and vids will be. Usually this is set aside for actual personal storage of media and what not.
^ Is there a way to make the external SD card the default data storage? After installing some Gameloft games, my internal storage is already full (5.6 GBs is pathetic LG) but I still still have 2 more games (Dungeon Defenders and Spectral Souls) I want to install which take up about 2GB.
Killer Bee said:
^ Is there a way to make the external SD card the default data storage? After installing some Gameloft games, my internal storage is already full (5.6 GBs is pathetic LG) but I still still have 2 more games (Dungeon Defenders and Spectral Souls) I want to install which take up about 2GB.
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Click to collapse
Not that I'm aware.
Urabewe said:
Some people are saying that it is reporting wrong? No there actually is an SD card inside the phone and the one outside under the back plate.
To keep things straight:
System= Actual memory on the phone where apps are installed by default, moving to SD and uninstalling apps can create more space.
Internal= SDcard inside the phone where Apps are moved to when choosing move to SD also Alps will store data here and most downloads go here by default
External= The SDcard under backplate which you can access and change. A lot of apps will put backups here and if you choose SD storage in camera where your pics and vids will be. Usually this is set aside for actual personal storage of media and what not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Close. System is where the OS and the system apps, the ones that come preinstalled are stored. The data partition is where market apps are stored. Installing apps from the market has no effect on the system partition. System apps cannot be moved to the sdcard, internal or otherwise. Its the apps on the /data partition that can be moves to the sdcard/internal storage.
Here's the breakdown:
System=619Mb (OS+system apps)
Internal (data)=1Gb (downloaded apps)
Internal SD=6gb (storage,a2sd)
External SD=8Gb (with included card).
LG claims 8gb internal space. All the above adds up to a little over 7.6gb. Leaving 60mb which is most likely the Cache partition.
Sent from my LG-P925 using Tapatalk
I all, I do have all my apps installed in ext partition (and I'm sure of it, since I'm able to wipe weverything but the ext, apply new roms and find my apps already there).
I expected almost free internal memory, but I get the low memory warning (20MB and under...). I suspect that moving apps to ext doesn't clean internal memory. Is this correct? If so, how can I free some space? Should I delete apks manually from data?
Try entering this in Terminal Emulator:
su
lib2ext 1
Then reboot
Ok, I got 126MB of free space by moving libs. Thanks for the hint.
Anyway, when I try to move apps from sd to internal I got an Insufficient space error. I'll try uninstalling and reinstalling thos apps
How big is your ext partition? At least 512 MB is necessary. But the latest CM10 builds appear to require more than 768 MB, I'm using 1 GB in my ext partition.
I have 1GB ext partition on my card and had no problem with it.
I have a second partition on my SD card and have used Link2SD to move most apps to it. Still I'm running very low on internal space. Some apps hang on updating, is it because the update must be installed to the internal storage first? Any idea how to find out what's taking up all the space? I ran CCleaner and it said my hidden cache is almost 2 GB. What's a hidden cache?
Best way would be to look through your files in a file manager, and checking under "Storage" in settings to see what's taking up space. Some apps may not be linking properly so it's worth checking that too
Did you try clearing your app cache? It's possible that even though your apps are installed on a different partition they are still storing cached files on your primary.