Root Internal Memory Questions (Apps2SD+ etc...)

[Deleted User]

Hey, now I know there are a lot of threads about the internal memory on the Desire and things to do to increase it but I have read through loads of them and other stuff on the internet but I want to know what the best options are and other people's thoughts.

So here goes... I have GingerVillain 2.3 on my Desire which of course has Apps2SD+, however now I am starting to get lots of apps and my internal memory is getting quite low again. I have already been through them all, deleting the ones I don't want, I have moved the dalvik cache to the SD card and I regularly clean my caches using "Cache Cleaner NG".

My question is, what other options have I got for increasing my internal memory in my Desire? I am fine to do anything that involves root and that sort of thing.
I have heard about things like S-OFF Changing partition sizes, Data2SD and all those things but I want to know if they are worth doing and what all your experiences and opinions are with those.

Please advise me on the best ways to get more internal memory. Thank you!

 

[SUroot]

When I was on GV, I did custom MTD partitions along with a2sd+. You would have no issues with this. This needs s-off, and although I think its the best solution, for a start you may be better doing an alpharev pre-set partition layout.

You have to s-off for both of these procedures.

AlphaRev 1.8

Once you have s-off, you can fastboot flash (see adb and fastboot faq in my sig under the guides and faq's link) one of the alternative hboots

If you scroll to the bottom of the page, theres a table with all the partition tables available.

GV flashes at about 145MB I think so system must be bigger than that.

I would probably go for Bravo Data++ which is 180MB system, 5MB cache and 252MB for data. Its not perfect as you're still wasting space in system.

If you get a small cache partition like in Bravo data++, you need the mountdl script so if cache is too small to handle a market download, it will use data instead. You will have to keep an eye on /data/local/download and clear it out for a while.

This script is part of the scripts.zip liked in the useful downloads page (also in sig)

Hope this helps.

 

[Hadron]

I've never tried Data2SD, but S-Off works well. The procedure is fairly straightforward, and while I've read of a lot of nerve-wracking experiences I couldn't find a report of someone actually destroying their phone - so I figured that if the worst came to the worst I'd at least achieve some distinction . I did temporarily flash a (rooted) stock ROM for the operation, then restored my normal one after it was done.

I've only made the most modest change to my memory partitions, flashing the alpharev bravo-sense table (partition sizes in my sig), but that's worth another 70MB in /data and no extra effort when I reflash the ROM. So right now I've 110 apps installed (I've reduced it a bit) and 145 MB free.

If you strip the ROM down a bit before flashing you could use a table with a smaller /system, but you won't get GV into the Oxygen table!

Something I'm becoming curious about is the Data++ table. The miniscule /cache partition there is a serious limitation, but there's a script in CM and Redux, which can be found in the dropbox, which allows market downloads to use /data instead, and SUroot reports that with this a small cache works fine. I'm already using that script with GV, and haven't had any of the occasional "download failed" problems from the market since adding it, so if I get bored I might give this a go (don't need it, but sooner or later curiosity will get the better of me).

If you are prepared to put a little more work in, you can make a custom mtd and tailor it precisely to your needs. Does mean a couple more steps when you flash a ROM, but I think that's about it as far as drawbacks go. SU or Rasta will be able to say more.

Bottom line: if you are using AOSP ROMs, and don't need 250 MB for system, there's definately scope to extend your internal memory using S-Off. And apart from the actual S-Offing itself (which was a tense couple of minutes, but actually a painless procedure) it's very trouble-free: I just followed the short recipe on the alpharev site to flash a new table, after which my phone simply has more data space.

 

[SUroot]

I'd definitely go with an alpharev as your first try. Then in time, and when you're more confident modifying and patching things... Maybe go custom.

If youre flashing an update to a rom and you know it will fit in your custom sized /system partition, its just one extra zip to flash.

If a new rom doesn't fit, you're pretty much doing the whole process all over again and it is a bit more lengthy.

As I rarely chop and change (I usually find something I am happy with and stick with it for a while) this isn't a big deal for me.

 

[Deleted User]

OK thanks for all that useful advice guys! I think that sounds like a good thing to do. Thanks again

 

[Deleted User]

One question... Will I have to flash the layout and/or the mountdl script everytime I flash a GV ROM update?

 

[SUroot]

The alpharev layout (if thats what you're refering to) is a replacement hboot, so once its there, its there.

You will need to flash the 06mountdl script everytime you update your rom though. Like a kernel.

I have a folder on my SD card called AFlash (so it appears first in the list in cwm - folders with more capitol letters appear first hence capitol F too).

In there I have all my flashes in order like:

a_kernel
b_scripts
c_blackedoutmarket

etc etc

 

[Deleted User]

Ahh right I get ya. cheers

 

[Deleted User]

One more question SUroot, If you don't mind... How do I get to: /data/local/download - Do I use root explorer or something? Also how do clear it out?

 

[SUroot]

I use root explorer to delete manually. Just go into the download folder and delete the contents

I also started using "Script manager" (as pointed out to me by porter_james) to run a script when i want to to do it.

Script contains command "rm /data/local/download/*"

You can also do it via terminal emulator with the same command.

With script manager you can run the script at boot. Just like you can with init.d

 

[Deleted User]

Oh ok that makes sense, cheers. I am just finishing flashing the Custom layout.

 

[Deleted User]

Ok it's all done! - I decided to do the Bravo Sense layout as that seems like a good enough Data partition for me, and I have 120MB free now so im happy. I did that as I don't know much about scripts at the moment so I will keep it like this for a bit, research some more on the net about the scripts and partitions then I will switch to Bravo Data++ when I feel ready. But once again, thanks for all your help

 

[SUroot]

Here is a very mini crash course in scripts. Info you need to understand but you dont really need to know more at this point.

There is a folder in most custom roms called /system/etc/init.d/

This is where a2sd scripts etc go. Init.d means that scripts will run at boot up (or INITialisation )

What you have to remember though is if you have custom scripts that you flash there yourself, when you flash a new rom /system partition is completely overwritten so you have to flash the scripts every time.

The scripts in here run in order, starting with the lowest filename first (numerical) so for example 06mountdl will run before 10apps2sd.

The script I mentioned earlier (06mountsdl) checks if /cache/download is big enough for whatever you are trying to download. if it is not, it swaps the location of the download to /data/local/download.

This means with a 5MB /cache partition, you can still download apps that are bigger than 5MB. It now depends on how much free "internal storage" (or /data partition) space you have.

This is why you may want another script to delete /data/local/download* (where star just means any file) to keep data space as free as possible.

I haven't yet found a way to schedule a script, but that would be great.

 

[Deleted User]

Thanks for that, that was really helpful. Where can I find that script for if and when I need it?

 

[SUroot]

I have the 06mountdl linked in the scripts section of the downloads link in my sig. Its already flashable. You just have to delete the other scripts in there (which you dont need).

For the other script to delete stuff, I recommend creating a script in "script manager".

You can open the app, run the script and it cleans the directory. But thats still quite manual so maybe root explorer if you have it already is just as good.

 

[Usta]

This is why you may want another script to delete /data/local/download* (where star just means any file) to keep data space as free as possible.

I haven't yet found a way to schedule a script, but that would be great.

Perhaps, this can be done by Tasker?
For example, delete the content of the folder every day at 6am.

 

[Deleted User]

I have the 06mountdl linked in the scripts section of the downloads link in my sig. Its already flashable. You just have to delete the other scripts in there (which you dont need).

For the other script to delete stuff, I recommend creating a script in "script manager".

You can open the app, run the script and it cleans the directory. But thats still quite manual so maybe root explorer if you have it already is just as good.

Ok will do - Also I have already done what you mentioned in the first paragraph

 

[SUroot]

Perhaps, this can be done by Tasker?
For example, delete the content of the folder every day at 6am.

I had already tried that as I have tasker deleting other files, but it cannot see the /data partition. Only /sdcard

 

[Hadron]

I have the 06mountdl linked in the scripts section of the downloads link in my sig. Its already flashable. Y

Has anyone else tried this script in GV yet?

I thought I should try the Data++ table, since the theory sounded good, and anyway if we're advising people this should work it seemed an idea to try it myself. And I was bored

Anyway, long story short, the mountdl script didn't work: I couldn't download any sizeable apps, and there was no sign of a /data/local/download directory either.

I think I know the reason: the script includes the line

CACHESIZE=$(df -k /cache | tail -n1 | tr -s ' ' | cut -d ' ' -f2)

but when I try to type the df command in a terminal emulator it doesn't recognise the "-k" argument, or indeed -anything. I've also tried this under different shells, and it doesn't change anything. Of course if "df -k" fails then it's not going to recognise the CACHESIZE as too small and so won't use /data instead.

Obviously I can work around this by changing the script to do the mount without checking the /cache size. But it seems kinda odd: the same script is in CM7 (I've checked it's identical), which GV is derived from. So I just wondered whether anyone else had tried it with GV and whether it worked for them?

 

[SUroot]

Interesting. Please keep us updated