Develop Bugs

Official Froyo A2sd vs A2sd+

Hey guys
Im on holiday now so cannot really check myself the differences, but just wanted some quick info on the A2SD, with the official froyo i was hoping everybody will start using it, but somehow people still using the old method, whys that?
thanks

Froyo A2SD is completely reliant on app developers. If the devs doesn't allow it in their app then it can't be moved to the SD card. This is really only a problem because Froyo is still new.
Old A2SD you can dump everything on the SD
However, I'd be interested in seeing if there is a way to force an app onto the nand using A2SD+. Would work better for things like widgets, home replacements etc, as they'd run quicker for people with slow sd cards.

Probably because the FroYo one sucks !
Why ? Well, mostly because devs have to rewrite their apps so they can use FroYo's app2sd function...
With the "old-fashioned" a2sd, there is no need to do anything, just sit and enjoy the free space

APP2SD allows you to move certain apps to your SD card and run them from there BUT as these are placed on the normal root of the SD when you mount the SD, via USB for example, you loose access to these apps until you remount SD. This means you cant install widgets to the SD and such like.
APP2SD+ on the other hand uses an ext3 partition (or ext4 on newer versions) which then installs all apps & widgets to that partition and when the SD is mounted you dont lose any apps or widgets as is located in a seperate partition.
Hope that helps.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

wow! thats quick thanks for you input guys think you explained everything i wanted to know really
Id want to use the offical a2sd as i think using ext3 partitioned sd card have already slightly damaged the card cuz it keeps giving me errors everytime i connect it to a pc

mrwookie6379 said:
APP2SD allows you to move certain apps to your SD card and run them from there BUT as these are placed on the normal root of the SD when you mount the SD, via USB for example, you loose access to these apps until you remount SD. This means you cant install widgets to the SD and such like.
APP2SD+ on the other hand uses an ext3 partition (or ext4 on newer versions) which then installs all apps & widgets to that partition and when the SD is mounted you dont lose any apps or widgets as is located in a seperate partition.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So let me understand the names:
APPS2SD = Froyo Original (comes with official Froyo release)
APPS2SD+ = Hacked version which has been out since FRF50 leak?
EDIT: But if APPS2SD+ is so much better (keeps apps on ext3 partition), why to people keep using the original APPS2SD on their ROMs?

Check this explaination. Quoted from neoKushan from yesterdays thread.
neoKushan said:
Ok, so here's the deal, in a very longwinded way that should hopefully explain everything and answer ALL questions.
You have an SD card in your phone and, a bit like normal PC Hard Drives, you can "partition" them (split them into two or more sections of different filesystems). Normally, your SD card is just one big FAT32 partition, which is fine for storing your pics, messages, emails, etc.
Now, other then your Phone's SD card, your phone will have its own internal flash memory (or "NAND") storage. Tradditionally with Android, you could only install applications to this NAND storage, you cannot install them onto your SD card. So if you have an empty 32GB SD card, but only 5Mb of internal phone storage, you still wont be able to install many apps, if any at all.
This was done to protect the apps from things like piracy - it's not easy to access the location where apps are installed on your phone's internal storage (normally impossible without root), so you can't for example buy an app, copy it, refund it, then install it again.
Still, this is no good for those of us who like to install lots and lots of apps, legitimately, as we run out of internal storage very quickly.
So Google came up with a way to install apps to the SD card. A folder is created called something like .android_secure and this stores (I believe) encrypted versions of applications, but there's a few catches:
1) Apps aren't automatically stored here, you have to manually "move" them
2) Not all apps are capable of being moved, in fact most apps aren't, the developer needs to update their app and allow it. Some apps aren't and wont be updated and some developers may not want to allow it for whatever reason.
3) Not all app data is moved, most of it is but some data is left on your phone so many people still run out of internal storage quickly.
4) You can force ALL apps to be moved to this area by default, but it breaks incompatible ones - such as Widgets, which are unable to load due to the SD card not being "prepared".
So that's Froyo's version. Before Froyo existed, some very clever people came up with a thing called "Apps2SD". Remember I said that your SD card normally is one big FAT32 partition? Well, Apps2SD works by having your SD card patitioned into TWO filesystems. A normal FAT32 partition for your usual stuff and a secondary "EXT" partition. EXT is just a filesystem, like FAT32 or NTFS, but it's the filesystem used by Android internally. The SD card is normally FAT32 because it's a "universal" filesystem, that just about any machine will be able to read, whereas EXT filesystems are generally Linux only, but I digress.
EXT has several different versions. The most common one you'll see is ext3. The main difference between ext2 and ext3 is "journaling", which is just a fancy way of saying that should an operation (such as copying, writing or reading) be interrupted unexpectedly (say, by you turning your phone off), then no data should be lost or corrupted. You know how when you turn your phone on, it says "preparing SD card"? It takes a few minutes, but what it's actually doing is checking that the FAT32 partition hasn't been damaged, because FAT does NOT have journaling. If you used a computer back in the Windows 98 days, you may remember that lovely blue "Scandisk" screen that had to run every time you didn't shut your computer down correctly - that's the same thing. But then Windows 2000/XP came along with NTFS, which also has journaling, meaning you had less chance of loosing data. But I digress once more.
So you have your SD card partitioned into EXT and FAT32. Generally it doesn't matter if it's ext3 or ext4, but you don't get any real advantage with ext4 over ext3 in this instance. Apps2SD then runs a special script on your phone which "symbolically links" the folder from your phone's internal storage where your apps are normally stored, to the ext partition on your SD card. A symbolic link is a bit like a shortcut for folders, except it's transparent to the OS: In other words, Android doesn't know that when it's installing it's apps to the internal phone storage, it's actually being stored on the SD card. This effectively boosts your internal phone memory from the previous 5mb that you had in my example above, up to whatever size you made the ext partition on your SD card (often 512Mb or 1Gb, but it depends on how many apps you install).
Plus, because it's "journaled", it doesn't need to be "prepared", meaning it's ready to go as soon as the phone starts - so your widgets and apps work immediately (unlike "forced" Froyo Apps2SD, where widgets disappear).
The catch with Apps2SD is that whatever space the ext partition takes up is taken away from the SD card. So if you have a 4Gb card (with something like 3.5Gb of actual storage) and you make a 512Mb ext partition, your SD card will "shrink" to 3Gb. The space isn't actually lost, it's just being used by the ext partition. If you reformat your card, you'll get it back.
Finally, there's a difference between "Apps2SD" and "Apps2SD+". Remember I said that your apps are stored on a special folder inside your Phone's NAND storage? Well, that was a bit of a lie. It's actually stored in TWO places. There's a second area which is called the Davlik Cache. You don't really need to worry about what this is for (Hint: IT's to do with the Java runetime your phone uses to run apps), all you need to know is that apps use it to store data, which also eats up internal phone memory. Apps2SD+ moves davlik cache to the ext partition on your SD card as well, freeing up even more space. Some people believe that this may come at the cost of performance, as the internal NAND memory should be faster than your SD card (Which is why you also get people arguing over which "class" SD card is better for Apps2SD - the logic being that a faster SD card means less impact from this move), but the truth of the matter is that your applications will be running from your Phone's RAM anyway, so performance isn't really impacted at all. Since most apps are only a few hundred Kb's in size, or a couple of MB at the most, it's a non-issue.
Finally, any recent version of Apps2SD/Apps2SD+ should work with an SD card that is or isn't formatted with an ext partition. It'll check for this partition when your phone first boots and if it's not there, just use internal phone storage.
Having an ext partition WITHOUT Apps2SD+ shouldn't cause any issues, either, so you can format your SD card whenever you're ready.
So in summary:
Apps2SD "fakes" your phone's internal memory and puts it all on a hidden section of your SD card.
Apps2SD+ pushes even more content to the SD card, freeing up even more space on the phone itself.
"Froyo" Apps2SD has various limitations that "old" apps2SD does not, but is much easier to handle as it doesn't involve any kind of "partitioning".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

That's a great summary, thanks for that!
But... how can I create an ext3 partition on a new SD card? I don't want to use ROM Manager because that has a maximum of 512Mb for ext3, I want to make 1gb or more.
Also, what size should I make swap partition?

Vice83 said:
That's a great summary, thanks for that!
But... how can I create an ext3 partition on a new SD card? I don't want to use ROM Manager because that has a maximum of 512Mb for ext3, I want to make 1gb or more.
Also, what size should I make swap partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do that thru recovery-windows.bat by going thru recovery mode by volume down + power, go to recovery then when the red exclamation point appears just run the recovery-windows.bat by double clicking on it. You can get these files from r5-desire-root-alt from the rooting process files (search the forums for this if you don't have it). But be cautious cause when you partition your sd card, all your files will be wiped so make sure to backup everything you need. Cheers!
Edit:
Actually this summary about the ap2sd and ap2sd+ and froyo ap2sd should be stickyed for everyone, so it would not be ask over and over again.

Couple of extra ways to partition:
1) Flash AmonRA's Recovery to your phone (I used Unrevoked to do it)
2) Use GParted on a Linux LiveCD (e.g Slax) to partition your card exactly how you want it

Vice83 said:
That's a great summary, thanks for that!
But... how can I create an ext3 partition on a new SD card? I don't want to use ROM Manager because that has a maximum of 512Mb for ext3, I want to make 1gb or more.
Also, what size should I make swap partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ROM Manager is probably the easiest way to do it, but I was stuck with EXACTLY the same problem when I rooted. I chose to flash AMON Ra recovery (don't have the link, but you can google it up), and then used that to create a 1024MB ext partition. Then used AMON Ra again to convert the ext partition to ext3. Hope that helps.
However, one question I have regarding neoKushan's explanation is that if I did create a 1024MB ext3 partition, then the same capacity should be visible in the phone's internal memory. However, after I rooted and restored my apps, I could only see about 100+ MB of free internal memory. Can anyone help me with this please? Am using the Opendesire Official Froyo 1.0c ROM that has A2SD built in

deepdevil said:
ROM Manager is probably the easiest way to do it, but I was stuck with EXACTLY the same problem when I rooted. I chose to flash AMON Ra recovery (don't have the link, but you can google it up), and then used that to create a 1024MB ext partition. Then used AMON Ra again to convert the ext partition to ext3. Hope that helps.
However, one question I have regarding neoKushan's explanation is that if I did create a 1024MB ext3 partition, then the same capacity should be visible in the phone's internal memory. However, after I rooted and restored my apps, I could only see about 100+ MB of free internal memory. Can anyone help me with this please? Am using the Opendesire Official Froyo 1.0c ROM that has A2SD built in
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure about what exact capacity for the internal memory after partitioning to ext3 but when I was on Opendesire before for the eclair 2.1 after I'm done flashing the rom and setting up the whole ap2sd+ my internal memory was 410mb. I used:
swap=0
ext=1024
fat32 is for the rest of the card
Then after upgrading to froyo rooted ROM, I'm only getting 140mb tops. I dunno... I'm too lazy now to get into it right now... maybe soon I'll play around with it again so I can get back my 410mb internal space with the ap2sd+

Stewge said:
Froyo A2SD is completely reliant on app developers. If the devs doesn't allow it in their app then it can't be moved to the SD card. This is really only a problem because Froyo is still new.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not 100% true, because you can change the default install location to SD card (via ADB if stock, and an app if rooted) and then you can have the vast majority of your apps on SD card even if they've not been updated for Froyo.
Regards,
Dave

I always thought the main negative with A2SD+ was that the cache was moved to the sdcard, which of course would wear out the sdcard (slightly) quicker.

Vice83 said:
So let me understand the names:
APPS2SD = Froyo Original (comes with official Froyo release)
APPS2SD+ = Hacked version which has been out since FRF50 leak?
EDIT: But if APPS2SD+ is so much better (keeps apps on ext3 partition), why to people keep using the original APPS2SD on their ROMs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not exactly!
Prior to Froyo, there were principally two versions of Apps2SD:
1. APPS2SD (or A2SD )
2. APPS2SD+ (or A2SD+)
The first would move your apps to the EXT partition, and the second would move your apps and the Dalvik cache to the EXT partition (see here for an explanation of the Dalvik cache).
Now we have Froyo, we have "native", or "Froyo" apps2sd as well, which does much the same as (1) above except that there is no EXT partition and the apps are on the FAT32 partition of your SD card.
Regards,
Dave

sparksalot said:
I always thought the main negative with A2SD+ was that the cache was moved to the sdcard, which of course would wear out the sdcard (slightly) quicker.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dalvik cache is only actually updated when a new app is installed or and old app is updated, so whilst it will incur more writes to SD card, it probably isn't anywhere near as much as the apps write themselves to the FAT32 partition.
Regards,
Dave

Great summary, but can I format my 8 GB SD card as EXT3 and just forget about the FAT partition? I'm using Ubuntu on my laptop and my EXT4 /home partition is just fine for storing images, movies etc. I really don't get this ado about having an EXT and a FAT partition. Or am I wrong here?

quick question, if i move to another bigger sd card, can i copy my card and transfer it to the new one without losing the EXT, and the apps on it? would i need to make a image of the card? thanx for any advice.

make a backup of them first on your pc and copy them to the newly partitioned sdcard....ext to ext and fat to fat

So there is 3 versions?
1. Froyo A2sd = fat32 only = apps installed to sd
2. A2sd = fat32 + ext = apps installed to sd in ext partition
3. A2sd+ = fat32 + ext = apps installed and Dalvik cache moved to sd in ext partition
Is there any more variants? lol
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

Too many a2sd a2sd+ app2sd, really confused...

I'm really confused, first with all the different a2sd variants and ones that are made by Darktremor or other people or the FroYo version. This is as much as I know for this app.
Secondly, I really couldn't find any information on doing partitions manually or setting ALL partitions to ext since I have a linux box, I really don't care to use windows to copy over files or whatever. I have a VMware box to do that on my windows machine anyways.
Third, the ClockworkMod recovery has NO options to do the partition following Darktremor's faq, and I don't know if I should install another recovery after flashing my hboot to 0.93 S-OFF (Alpha)
Mind you I only had my android for about 6 days and this is my first one, so learning curve is hard.
Please help

1) the names can be confusing but old apps2sd is an ext partition on your SD card that appears to the system as internal storage. Froyo apps2sd is using Froyo to transfer mapps to the fat32 partition (normal partition) of your SD card. You just need to use context because people tend to use apps2sd for both.
2) you can use gepart to partition. You need a fat32 partition for apps to write to and for any personal data because Android looks to that partition for that kind of data. I have my SD card as 5 gb fat32 and 3 gb ext3. Fat32 goes first.
3) go to ROM manager. Partition SD card. Choose size....there is only 3 sizes though.
If anything I wrote is wrong I'm sure I'll be corrected.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but since this is related to a2sd in general I might as well ask it here. What's the effect of having a2sd+ on your battery? Would it lower battery life due to cache and apps being stored mainly on SD instead of internal memory? I observed that this was often the case when I store always-on apps on SD back on my old Windows device.

So no way of not using a fat32 eh?
It still seems I don't have much space left after using the Rom manager way. I have 120meg free on internal mem.
Could I just format using linux mkfs? I want to make the apps partition about 2GB to hold more apps. Though it seems some widgets can't take putting on SD card, it dissipates.

BriEE said:
So no way of not using a fat32 eh?
It still seems I don't have much space left after using the Rom manager way. I have 120meg free on internal mem.
Could I just format using linux mkfs? I want to make the apps partition about 2GB to hold more apps. Though it seems some widgets can't take putting on SD card, it dissipates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Widgets must be installed on internal storage, or they wont work.

If you want an easy method to make a ext 3 partition use ROM manager premium from the Market. It will make you automatically an ext3 partition with a maximum of 512 mb which is enough (put swap to 0). Just keep in mind that first inside ROM Manager you need to select the option Flash ClockworkMod Recovery, and after that go to the SD partition option otherwise it wont work. And also remember you need to have the PREMIUM version otherwise it might not work
Now if you want to have more than a 512 mb you can use gparted. It is a livecd which means that can work on linux, mac or windows just reboot with the cd inside and is quite straightforward to use. Hope this helps.

Hello guys, any thought about that issue maybe?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=816098

[Q] App2SD

Hi. I was just wondering what are the steps in order to install applications on the SD card. I know it's something about "App2SD" or "App2SD+". I tried searching the forum for answers, but the search returned an overwhelming amount of threads since almost every thread has a little something about App2SD =/. And what's the difference between App2SD and App2SD+; I think I read somewhere it's about the dalvik-cache. Also, what IS dalvik-cache and how it differs from "cache". Also, I know we format the memory card into Fat32 + EXT; so the applications are installed in the EXT partition?
Edit: And while we're at it, what is Data2SD or Data2Anywhere?

Go into the Desire Android Development forum and have a look around there. Just go through it till you find something and read on it.
As far as I understand, App2SD+ moves the Dalvik cache, I think. I have no idea what it is but it's a cache so pretty selfexplanatory. Apps do get installed on the ext partition. Data2SD moves a lot more data to the SD card, a lot more in fact.
I can't give you a definate answer because I personally don't like it. I have tried to get it to work but it's a pain in the arse to do so I gave in. Like I said, have a look around the Desire Android Development forum because there are quite a few topics. Just to get you started.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=859419
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=719151
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=867049

apps2sd is pretty much the same as apps2sd+, as far as I read...
All it does is move the dalvik cache to the SD card = frees up memory on the internal phone so it'll run faster, and leave more room for the apps that cannot be installed on SD.
You are correct. The bulk of your SD card will be fat32. This is where your music, porn, and pictures will go (tee hee lol). The EXT2/3/or 4 partition is where the apps will be installed to. Typically it's recommended to have between 256MB to 512MB. To do partition this, you can do a semi-complicated procedure through GParted on a computer, or you can just go to the Market, download "Rom Manager" and once installed, it can partition it for you in a matter of about 1 minute. After it's partitioned, you can go ahead and install any ROM that supports APPS2SD/+ and enjoy it's feature(s).
Please note that there is still a massive amount of applications that cannot be installed/author hasn't coded it to be installed on the SD.
EDIT: Data2SD = Each application will grow in size the more you use it. For example, the more you use internet explorer, the more random little cache data will be stored. Thus, the 2MB (I don't know the actual size of the app., this is just for example's sake) internet app. will balloon into a 20MB app. So Data2SD will keep the applications on the phone's internal memory, but will move their data (or cache, etc) to the SDCard. This is another method of saving that ever-precious internal memory, but comes with a speed disadvantage when compared to Apps2SD, so I've read.
Cheers!

True for the most part, except that all downloaded are moved to the ext partition regardless if they are froyo a2sd compatible. If a app supports froyo a2sd usually a bigger part of the app can be moved but all apps are moved. Also you don't want to move the apps to the sd via manager applications because that basically moves them from ext to fat.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

GoogleJelly said:
Go into the Desire Android Development forum and have a look around there. Just go through it till you find something and read on it.
As far as I understand, App2SD+ moves the Dalvik cache, I think. I have no idea what it is but it's a cache so pretty selfexplanatory. Apps do get installed on the ext partition. Data2SD moves a lot more data to the SD card, a lot more in fact.
I can't give you a definate answer because I personally don't like it. I have tried to get it to work but it's a pain in the arse to do so I gave in. Like I said, have a look around the Desire Android Development forum because there are quite a few topics. Just to get you started.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=859419
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=719151
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=867049
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those are very detailed threads man, I've got a lot of reading to do =).
buckshotjr said:
apps2sd is pretty much the same as apps2sd+, as far as I read...
All it does is move the dalvik cache to the SD card = frees up memory on the internal phone so it'll run faster, and leave more room for the apps that cannot be installed on SD.
You are correct. The bulk of your SD card will be fat32. This is where your music, porn, and pictures will go (tee hee lol). The EXT2/3/or 4 partition is where the apps will be installed to. Typically it's recommended to have between 256MB to 512MB. To do partition this, you can do a semi-complicated procedure through GParted on a computer, or you can just go to the Market, download "Rom Manager" and once installed, it can partition it for you in a matter of about 1 minute. After it's partitioned, you can go ahead and install any ROM that supports APPS2SD/+ and enjoy it's feature(s).
Please note that there is still a massive amount of applications that cannot be installed/author hasn't coded it to be installed on the SD.
EDIT: Data2SD = Each application will grow in size the more you use it. For example, the more you use internet explorer, the more random little cache data will be stored. Thus, the 2MB (I don't know the actual size of the app., this is just for example's sake) internet app. will balloon into a 20MB app. So Data2SD will keep the applications on the phone's internal memory, but will move their data (or cache, etc) to the SDCard. This is another method of saving that ever-precious internal memory, but comes with a speed disadvantage when compared to Apps2SD, so I've read.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya I've had my fair share with GParted... Data2SD sounds pretty good, but I guess I'll go with App2SD+ for the time being.
TheGhost1233 said:
True for the most part, except that all downloaded are moved to the ext partition regardless if they are froyo a2sd compatible. If a app supports froyo a2sd usually a bigger part of the app can be moved but all apps are moved. Also you don't want to move the apps to the sd via manager applications because that basically moves them from ext to fat.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Manager applications? Like what? AppBrain for instance?

a2sd+ works performance wise much better for me than data2sd / data2ext
titanium backup can manage that too iirc

I meant the manage applications from within the normal settings menu (settings-applications-manage applications). There you have the option to move them to the sd or to the phone on if they are already on the sd. In this menu they need to be on the phone.

TheGhost1233 said:
I meant the manage applications from within the normal settings menu (settings-applications-manage applications). There you have the option to move them to the sd or to the phone on if they are already on the sd. In this menu they need to be on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh oh, ya ok. I never tried moving them using the Manage Applications and I guess I'll never will =/.

Just be careful not to force any app. over to SD. There are those apps that are meant to stay on the internal partition. If you do some reading and find, "Oh, wicked, Titanium Backup can force all apps to SD" - DON'T force apps over that aren't meant to be forced, otherwise they will not work. Figured that out myself hehe
Good luck!

buckshotjr said:
Just be careful not to force any app. over to SD. There are those apps that are meant to stay on the internal partition. If you do some reading and find, "Oh, wicked, Titanium Backup can force all apps to SD" - DON'T force apps over that aren't meant to be forced, otherwise they will not work. Figured that out myself hehe
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll keep that mind.
I'm sorry but, after all this information, um, how do I actually USE App2SD+? How do I choose whether to install the apps to the SD-EXT or to the internal memory?
Edit: Ok so from what I've gathered after a bit of searching, the custom ROM I'm running on (which should support App2SD+) should automatically move apps to SD? So how can I view the list of apps installed on the SD? And, if it is possible, how can I move them back?

Yep the ROM will manage what goes where. When picking a ROM just take note of what it uses whether it be a2sd/a2sd+/d2ext etc as this is what you'll be using. The data2xx ones are a little more experimental and probably not recommended at this point if you still need to ask these questions (no offence meant, I avoid them too lol).
There's no definitive list of what's on SD, much like you can't move them around because the app will actually be spread between NAND and EXT depending on exactly what it needs. You don't need to ever move them around though TBH.
If moving between ROM's a simple titanium backup will cover your apps and the new ROM will manage where they go.

Problem loading widget
mattman83 said:
Yep the ROM will manage what goes where. When picking a ROM just take note of what it uses whether it be a2sd/a2sd+/d2ext etc as this is what you'll be using. The data2xx ones are a little more experimental and probably not recommended at this point if you still need to ask these questions (no offence meant, I avoid them too lol).
There's no definitive list of what's on SD, much like you can't move them around because the app will actually be spread between NAND and EXT depending on exactly what it needs. You don't need to ever move them around though TBH.
If moving between ROM's a simple titanium backup will cover your apps and the new ROM will manage where they go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None taken =). But I just like to know about most features even if I'm not going to use them =).
Anyway, the reason I ask for a way to move them around is because now my widgets are not loading, they give me the "Problem loading widget" error after rebooting the phone... I guess this error appears because they're installed on the SD...that's why I wanna move them back to the internal phone. I can even uninstall the widgets then reinstall them making sure they're on the internal memory, but I don't know how to do that either =/.

[Q] Freeing Up Internal Memory

I keep getting a message about storage space running low.
I have installed Apps2SD so all my apps that can be moved have been moved.
My contacts folder seems large at 18Mb
QuickOffice is 5Mb but I never use it.
Am I missiing something here?
Is there a way to free up memory easily?

If you have an a2sd+ script (most custom roms have), the apk files of your apps will be moved to the ext2/3/4 partition on the sd card, but there still remains the dalvik cache on the /data partition which uses up memory. There are scripts to move this dalvik cache to the sd card as well, but they require you have a class 4 or faster card. The best thing to do is search the thread of your rom, since it's probably been asked about it there.
If you're using google's a2sd (because you're not using a custom rom with such a script), not all apps can be moved to the sd card, since the developer has to specifically state the app can be moved, and for some reason, a lot of people don't do that. You can download a program called SDMove or App2sd from the market which will tell you which apps can be moved (and give you an option to move them), but there isn't very much you can do about getting more space. That is, if you don't want to get a new rom or install a a2sd+ script.

Cheers for the feedback.
Iam not sure if LeeDroid has the APPS2SD in the rom, I have Rom Manager and I THINK i now have ext2 and swap file but yet to confirm that with the new sd card as I am unable to copy the files from the old to the new, (thats another story)
So are you saying that APPS2SD on the ROM is better than APPS2SD from the market? I liked the market one so much I actually paid for to pro version.
Some of the apps will not move which is annoying, esp if what you say is that its all down to the lazy developers.
Can I reduce the phone book size? Text Messages etc to alleviate this issue?
I have no qualms in installing a new ROM if that will give me more space.

As many Desire users, I had the same issue.
Oxygen ROM is the best thing that had happened to Desire.
First do S-OFF, put Bravo Oxygen HBOOT patch (see alpharev.nl for more info), and then flash Oxygen ROM. And you will never have to worry about space again. I don't even move my apps to SD anymore, since there is no need.

Porcupine00 said:
As many Desire users, I had the same issue.
Oxygen ROM is the best thing that had happened to Desire.
First do S-OFF, put Bravo Oxygen HBOOT patch (see alpharev.nl for more info), and then flash Oxygen ROM. And you will never have to worry about space again. I don't even move my apps to SD anymore, since there is no need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I said that around in other posts and other members were moaning at me because "not everyone can do that". Anyway, yes flashing a hboot will give you more data to work with (depending on which template you get).
Using A2SD(+) is a workaround if you don't want to S-Off you Desire. However, A2SD(+) still uses /data partition unless you get a Data2SD script or at least a script to move the Dalvik cache. I think a lot of people fail to realise this.

Flashing Hboots? Sounds like Gary Glitters footwear!
What is S-OFF?
So is A2SD (+), different from A2SD?
Does this require a degree in Linux like so many of the other things?

If your contacts app is too large ...
http://androidforums.com/htc-desire/127440-internal-memory-again.html

for me, data2sd was the only solution to consider when it comes to internal memory issues

uktotty said:
Flashing Hboots? Sounds like Gary Glitters footwear!
What is S-OFF?
So is A2SD (+), different from A2SD?
Does this require a degree in Linux like so many of the other things?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly, HBOOT is the partition table in your phone. By default it has 147 MB for the /data partition (that's where your apps go) and 250 MB for the /system (where your ROM is installed).
Secondly, HTC implemented a security flag in our phones that protect this HBOOT from being changed and denies writing to /system when using the phone.
Now, this security flag can be disabled (S-OFF = security off), which will allow you to change the layout of your partition table. What @Porcupine00 was saying is a lot of people do the procedure to S-OFF their devices, flash the Oxygen HBOOT (which gives 300+ MB of /data storage), because Oxygen ROM is very small (about 90 MB) and doesn't need that much space in /system, so this space is made available in /data. However, messing with partitions is quite dangerous and you should read all the guides carefully before trying, because it can really brick your device. Must I add is voids you warranty?!
Now, to clear up the confusion about a2sd. There is the a2sd system implemented by Google and available in FroYo and higher which can only move the apps meant to be moved. There is the app on the market which is called App 2 SD which shows the apps installed on your phone that can use this system. And there are a2sd+ scripts which move all apps to the ext partition on your sd card.
Data2SD is another kind of script for moving apps to ext partition, along with their other data, but it requires a fast sd card (I think a class-6 or higher is recommended, whereas my stock Desire sd card is a class-2).
I advice you read through the Desire Android Development forum and find out about all these methods and make sure you know what you are doing before flashing.
Good luck!

thank you sir, very informative and non patronising
I still need to work out how to get the date from my old 4gb to my new 16Gb card as everyhing I have tried has failed, then I can get some larger partitions and the ext's

What is the problem you are having? When I rooted my phone, I swapped my 4-GB with an 8-GB one and the only thing I did is just copy all the contents from the former to the latter. I had no issues with apps, media files whatsoever.
However, I only had a FAT partition back then, so if you are talking about moving the apk's on the ext partition, you'll need to use a Linux operating system (because Windows doesn't read ext, and also doesn't mount anything else than the first partition on an external drive, which happenes to be the FAT one in our case). There are live cd's from several linux distributions that are available for free download, which you can use to copy the content from your ext partition to your pc, then back to the new card.

The problem is as follows.
Titanium back up all apps and data to 4gb card
Copy contents to windows desktop, folder properties 3.6gb
Change card to 16gb in phone, connect etc
Copy contents of 3.6gb file to new card
800mb on new card.
It seems to be copying FOLDERS but not the contents of those folders.
I am using standard USB mount
I have tried Droid Explorer
I also have ABD installed and stuff but it confuses me!
I have also got various versions of linux and a VM but not tried any of that as 20 years of windows experience probably wont help me
Only thing missing is a card reader currently so doing all of this via usb cable with card in phone

Maybe it has something to do with your Windows system? Could you try on another computer? Also, have you tried reformatting the new card before copying the files?

good point, dont have any other pcs to try here and works laptop is pgp encrypted.
I have used partionmanager to format the car, partition the card etc and it shows healthy partitions.
Just cant seem to copy and paste the files!

OK so I copy 3.6 gb from android to desktop, do the reverse and droid explorer says
"Copying 439Mb"

Can you try to open up your card using Windows Explorer and look at what size it shows? I'm thinking it's not actually the '439 MB' that's wrong, but the '3.6 GB'. I remember my Sense nandroid backup had about 400 MB as well, and also, how could you possibly fit 3.6 GB of apps in a Desire's 147-MB /data partition?
After you copy, try looking at some random files and cross-check the size it says on the phone (use Astro or some other fille manager), then chech the size on the card shown on your PC, and the size of the copied file. Maybe there is no copying error at all, but just a size-showing one, so maybe you've nothing to worry about

Sorry not the data partion the MicroSD Card
I am moving from a 4gb card which will hold around 4gb to a 16gb card which will allow me ext, swap parttions etc

Sorry, my bad, I meant 'Titanium Backup' and not 'nandroid backup'. I was saying the Titanium backup alone is fine if it's about 400 MB. So you can't copy your files like music, wallpapers and stuff? I wonder where the problem is

Trying something now, which is bot into recovery mode and mount the USB, copy to the new card via that method, no error messages yet

Guys
Thanks for the feedback
We have a result!!
Copy files from old CD Card to PC (3.6Gb)
Change cards in phone
reboot into recovery and mount usb
Copy files back (3.6Gb)
Woo Hoo
Phone runs quicker now, will see what we can do about internal memory after new rom

[Q] Desire have not enough space

Hi everybody!
I've a Desire with stock rom 2.3 (and no root yet) and it worked fine until last week.
If I try to install a new app I receive an error about free memory space. I've already try to move all apps to sd but nothing, I can't install anything.
I've try also to do an hard reset and fully wipe/factory reset (from recovery) and for a while it seems to works, but if I install some apps the problem come back.
Why? What can I do?
A friend suggest that maybe there are some directory in filesystem from older app (now unistalled) and, since I haven't root permession, I can't remove them. With root permission can I fix it?
Thanks!

I flashed a custom rom on my desire which used the sd card as internal storage. Problem solved.
Verstuurd van mijn GT-I9505 met Tapatalk

Read this guide to s-off, and install a custom recovery
Use this guide to create a 1gb ext4 partition on your sd card. No swap.
Download a custom rom from the htc desire dev section and flash it. I would recommend milwilds redux rom. It will automatically install apps to the parittion and you will have space.

thanks for reply!
I'd like to fix this problem without flash new rom, eventually with root only. It's possible?
When I bought this there was space enough, why now I haven't? Factory reset does not erase all partition and sistems directories?
Thanks!

Also, before you flash the Rom, best to flash recommended hboot if necessary, read the first post or search each thread.
This way you use your internal memory more efficiently.

deshex said:
thanks for reply!
I'd like to fix this problem without flash new rom, eventually with root only. It's possible?
When I bought this there was space enough, why now I haven't? Factory reset does not erase all partition and sistems directories?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Factory reset only deletes user data.
When you bought it, you didn't have apps installed, and probably apps were smaller back then.
What are you trying to say? That you want to flash a stock rooted ROM?

abaaaabbbb63 said:
Factory reset only deletes user data.
When you bought it, you didn't have apps installed, and probably apps were smaller back then.
What are you trying to say? That you want to flash a stock rooted ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope.
All my apps were installed somewhere in filesystem (maybe in /system?). My question is: when I do a factory reset, what I'm going to erase? Only user data in user directories, or all content of every system directory? (of course, not system files).
I'm only trying to understand why when I bought the phone I've a "lot" of space for my app and now, after a factory reset, I've not enough free space to install more then 2/3.
Example: I wipe/fr, reboot and config the phone; then I try to install Ruzzle (16Mb),Whatsapp (9Mb) and FB(18Mb). Now if I try to install any other apps I get the alert message of free space. Same error if I try to record a video or take a photo.
I think there is something wrong..
I hope that you can read and understand what I'm writing, my english is a little rusty

deshex said:
Nope.
All my apps were installed somewhere in filesystem (maybe in /system?). My question is: when I do a factory reset, what I'm going to erase? Only user data in user directories, or all content of every system directory? (of course, not system files).
I'm only trying to understand why when I bought the phone I've a "lot" of space for my app and now, after a factory reset, I've not enough free space to install more then 2/3.
Example: I wipe/fr, reboot and config the phone; then I try to install Ruzzle (16Mb),Whatsapp (9Mb) and FB(18Mb). Now if I try to install any other apps I get the alert message of free space. Same error if I try to record a video or take a photo.
I think there is something wrong..
I hope that you can read and understand what I'm writing, my english is a little rusty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A factory reset will wipe /data, dalvik cache and /cache.
When did you buy your phone? I remember that, when I first bought my Desire, facebook was only 8mbin size, and moved to sd, it only took 2 mb of internal memory. Plus, large apps require large dalvik cache. That's why your memory gets filled so easily.

You can resolve easily and keeping your stock ROM (but you'll need a FAST microSD card, my 32GB is class 10):
1) Root and s-off your device
2) Format your microSD with an EXT2, EXT3 or EXT4 partition of 1GB, then the rest as FAT32 (you can do it directly from phone using the 4ext recovery, or you can format the card from PC using a tool for partitioning which supports linux formats... I don't know if I can mention names in this thread).
3) Install INT2EXT or INT2EXT+ from recovery.
4) You'll have 1GB internal memory with no out-of-space problems.
That's all

Stock kernel doesn't support ext4 nor ext3, use only ext2 if u want to keep it.
Anyway, I believe that supernova ROM would be a much better option, it's basically stock GB made by HTC with some tweaks and script for more space.

Thanks for replies!
I still do not understand why I've no memory for apps after a factory reset; if I wipe all data, I restore all space, like when I bought the phone. Ok, apps are bigger than 2 years ago, but not so bigger that with 3 apps I occupy all space!
Anyway I'm considering to upgrade to a newer version; if I must give root permission, install tools, repartition sdcard and so on, I might as well to flash a newer version.
Curiosity: are there filesystem directories that are not intrested from a wipe? Differently, which directories will not wiped during a factory reset?
Thank you very much!

deshex said:
Thanks for replies!
I still do not understand why I've no memory for apps after a factory reset; if I wipe all data, I restore all space, like when I bought the phone. Ok, apps are bigger than 2 years ago, but not so bigger that with 3 apps I occupy all space!
Anyway I'm considering to upgrade to a newer version; if I must give root permission, install tools, repartition sdcard and so on, I might as well to flash a newer version.
Curiosity: are there filesystem directories that are not intrested from a wipe? Differently, which directories will not wiped during a factory reset?
Thank you very much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes what your seeing is caused by the apps being a lot bigger now. Facebook is a lot bigger.
And its impossible for your apps to be going to system. You'll have to root and use a2sd
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda app-developers app

dethrat said:
yes what your seeing is caused by the apps being a lot bigger now. Facebook is a lot bigger.
And its impossible for your apps to be going to system. You'll have to root and use a2sd
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've install over 40 apps until this problem, including big app like FB.. strange things...
So, how much memory I have?
Rom 4.x for desire has a different partitions? If I just flash a new rom (like 4.0/4.1), will I fix this problem?
Thanks!

deshex said:
I've install over 40 apps until this problem, including big app like FB.. strange things...
So, how much memory I have?
Rom 4.x for desire has a different partitions? If I just flash a new rom (like 4.0/4.1), will I fix this problem?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need a rom with an a2sd script, regardless of it being GB, ICS or JB.

Good, I will search in subforum for a new rom.
Maybe it's a bit OT, but JB rom are stable enough for daily use? Can you suggest me a JB rom with a2sd script? (or even ICS, if JB is not stable enough).
Thank you!

I use jb as a daily driver. The ROM in my sig is the most stable jb ROM I've tried. It has very few soft reboots and has decent speed. It also has a2sd. (Activated through terminal after flashing rom)
However if you really need stability, speed and reliability I would highly recommend using gingerbread. Mildwilds ROMs are great and most of them have an a2sd script as well, which is automatically activated. Try the one based on redux.
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda app-developers app

I have a similar problem to this. I own a HTC Desire that is rooted, with Clockworkmod recovery environment, and I got it running Cyanogen mod 7.2.0.1.
So I was reading around this problem, and there are several solutions. It seems the most foolproof way is to format your SD card and partition it so that you have an EXT3 partition, and a FAT32 partition as has already been suggested here.. This way you can use an app to fool your phone into thinking that it has the EXT3 partition of the SD card to use for internal storage as well as the 150MB of internal storage it comes with. I had an 8GB SD card so I did a split of 2GB for the EXT3 partition, and 6GB for storage of music, photos, etc. etc. I followed this handy guide to do it, and it worked a treat: (sorry, have been unable to post an external link as I'm a new user.. maybe I can post this later).
When I rebooted my phone, sure enough, it showed 2GB+ of internal storage, and I can install all the apps I want. However, I'm experiencing apps hanging and crashing all the time, and I know it was caused by this most recent change. Prior to this, Cyanogenmod was running just fine! I've read a bit more into since doing this, and a lot of people reckon you shouldn't use more than a 512MB SD card partition, as anything over this causes performance issues. Others disagree, and think that anything 2GB or below should be fine. Presumably the apps hanging/crashing is because there is fragmentation of data between the SD card EXT3 partition and the actual 150MB internal storage.
It's frustrating, as other than this the phone is still a very decent handset despite it's age... it's really the storage letting it down. Before I try factory resetting (again!) and going back and trying a 512MB partition, (or just going back to having only 2 apps installed!), has any one else had experience of this?
Any help very much appreciated.

kmanpilkers said:
I have a similar problem to this. I own a HTC Desire that is rooted, with Clockworkmod recovery environment, and I got it running Cyanogen mod 7.2.0.1.
So I was reading around this problem, and there are several solutions. It seems the most foolproof way is to format your SD card and partition it so that you have an EXT3 partition, and a FAT32 partition as has already been suggested here.. This way you can use an app to fool your phone into thinking that it has the EXT3 partition of the SD card to use for internal storage as well as the 150MB of internal storage it comes with. I had an 8GB SD card so I did a split of 2GB for the EXT3 partition, and 6GB for storage of music, photos, etc. etc. I followed this handy guide to do it, and it worked a treat: (sorry, have been unable to post an external link as I'm a new user.. maybe I can post this later).
When I rebooted my phone, sure enough, it showed 2GB+ of internal storage, and I can install all the apps I want. However, I'm experiencing apps hanging and crashing all the time, and I know it was caused by this most recent change. Prior to this, Cyanogenmod was running just fine! I've read a bit more into since doing this, and a lot of people reckon you shouldn't use more than a 512MB SD card partition, as anything over this causes performance issues. Others disagree, and think that anything 2GB or below should be fine. Presumably the apps hanging/crashing is because there is fragmentation of data between the SD card EXT3 partition and the actual 150MB internal storage.
It's frustrating, as other than this the phone is still a very decent handset despite it's age... it's really the storage letting it down. Before I try factory resetting (again!) and going back and trying a 512MB partition, (or just going back to having only 2 apps installed!), has any one else had experience of this?
Any help very much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well,I don't use gingerbread anymore.but I can say that you can't experience a good performance to use both internal and external (sd-ext) partitions to use and install your apps. better choice is to use one of them.use default a2sd of rom,or use another script to install apps only in sd-ext partition. I have used and tested a lot of roms (GB-ICS-JB) and I can say in my experiences, that you don't have problem to use an sd-ext partition with about 1.5 - 2 gb size.you can see the recommendation of devs in first post of topics, and they tell us what is the minimum-maximum size for the best performance. sorry,i can't search and give you the links,but I just had a really good smoothness and speed with some scripts that you can try them: like mounts2sd, ad2sdx,... you can find link of them with search. and you can use cm7 int2sd version...but it has a bigger size than normal cm7. here is this topic : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1357257

@kmanpilkers
Which guide did you use to partition, should be done with gparted or 4ext recovery.
-Ext4 should also be slightly faster than ext3.
-Anything up to 2gb is sufficient. Don't know where you read about limiting it to 512mb. The whole idea is to be able to install more apps on the partition, 512mb will fill up a lot quicker than 2gb...
-you can use space more efficiently by s-off and changing hboot, so you have more than 150 MB of internal. You are currently on stock hboot and have a lot of free wasted space on your /system partition
-depending on your Rom, stick with a single a2sd script, it may be built in or need to be activated, read the Rom thread. Then let it do it's job to move apps to the partition

chromium96 said:
Read this guide to s-off, and install a custom recovery
Use this guide to create a 1gb ext4 partition on your sd card. No swap.
Download a custom rom from the htc desire dev section and flash it. I would recommend milwilds redux rom. It will automatically install apps to the parittion and you will have space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. I've been searching for some time