Root how to know whether apps2sd is working or not

[parthzzzz]

how to know whether apps2sd is working or not

 

[fangorn]

hi,

use terminal to check the content of /system/sd/app and /system/sd/app-private,
if it has folder with names of apps that you install then its working.

regards

 

[parthzzzz]

hi,

use terminal to check the content of /system/sd/app and /system/sd/app-private,
if it has folder with names of apps that you install then its working.

regards

i cant see on my pc when i go in sd card. how to use terminal

 

[Xyro]

i cant see on my pc when i go in sd card. how to use terminal

Apps2sd stores apps in a part of the card invisible to windows, so you won't see them on there. The terminal is an app from the market.

 

[Drazil]

Is there any way to see how much of that ext partition is being used up? or which apps are still on the phone memory? I think there are a lot of apps that just don't work with apps2sd my phone is showing only 22MB free and I have a 1GB ext partition.

 

[james]

Is there any way to see how much of that ext partition is being used up? or which apps are still on the phone memory? I think there are a lot of apps that just don't work with apps2sd my phone is showing only 22MB free and I have a 1GB ext partition.

An app called 'Quick System Info' will tell you how much space is being used by Apps2sd and how much is available.

 

[Xyro]

Is there any way to see how much of that ext partition is being used up? or which apps are still on the phone memory? I think there are a lot of apps that just don't work with apps2sd my phone is showing only 22MB free and I have a 1GB ext partition.

It's possible you're using a version of apps2sd where the Dalvik-Cache stays on the phone memory. Move that over and you'd get a lot more back.

 

[Drazil]

An app called 'Quick System Info' will tell you how much space is being used by Apps2sd and how much is available.

Thanks I'll check that out!

It's possible you're using a version of apps2sd where the Dalvik-Cache stays on the phone memory. Move that over and you'd get a lot more back.

How do I go about moving it? I noticed that I had around 70 MB free right after flashing to villain and reinstalling all my apps i had before. I was so excited I started to install a bunch more then noticed I only had 22 MB left

 

[Xyro]

You can just flash another .zip on top of villain. Lemme find it....

EDIT: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=6107584#post6107584

Try this. I can't like to the one I used, since it's part of the donator only kitchen, but that one sounds like it works.

Do a nandroid + ext backup first of course.

 

[Drazil]

Thanks for the link. I applied the patch, but nothing changed. I did manage to install Quick System Info Pro and it is saying my A2SD storage is 0.89GB with 753MB free, so I guess things are going there. My Internal storage is 166MB with 30.63MB free.

I also read the sticky thread about rooting and the part about A2SD had a GScript script which I guess is supposed to do a check of A2SD. When I run that script I get:

/data/app is a symlink..................ok
/data/app-private is a symlink.......ok

APPS2SD is working without dalvik-cache!

I hope dalvik-cache isn't that important

 

[bluenova]

/data/app is a symlink..................ok
/data/app-private is a symlink.......ok

APPS2SD is working without dalvik-cache!

I hope dalvik-cache isn't that important

No, only that it is still taking up space on your phone. I had a lot of difficulties getting Dalvik over to SD on Villain 5.4, with SenseROM the A2SD addon also moves Dalvik. Very easy.

 

[fredphoesh]

No, only that it is still taking up space on your phone. I had a lot of difficulties getting Dalvik over to SD on Villain 5.4, with SenseROM the A2SD addon also moves Dalvik. Very easy.

hi bluenova,
do you know if this a2sd addon works with SuperHero 1.1.0?
I have the exact same problem of "APPS2SD is working without dalvik-cache!"

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Xyro]

hi bluenova,
do you know if this a2sd addon works with SuperHero 1.1.0?
I have the exact same problem of "APPS2SD is working without dalvik-cache!"

Thanks,
Mark

The one on Stickman's upate page, a2sd-2.5-signed.zip, looks like the same file I use, which can be flashed on top of any ROM you want. So go for it

Do a nandroid backup first, of course, like you would for anything you flash.

 

[fredphoesh]

WOOO HOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
my internal memory went up from 42mb to 135mb by flashing a2sd-2.5-signed.zip...
well recommended!
tx
Mark.

 

[daveybaby]

WOOO HOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
my internal memory went up from 42mb to 135mb by flashing a2sd-2.5-signed.zip...

That's great and everything. But how is it useful to have lots of space on the phone's internal data partition now that you store your apps on the sd card?

 

[fredphoesh]

That's great and everything. But how is it useful to have lots of space on the phone's internal data partition now that you store your apps on the sd card?

The internal memory is VERY small, so if you want any large apps, or even lots of small ones, you will run out of space quickly. If you only have a few apps, and no big games or maps or stuff like that, then there is no advantage.

The other thing is that when you flash your phone and install a new ROM, your apps are already there and they get installed automatically when you first boot your phone, saving HOURS of time.

Mark.

 

[daveybaby]

@fredphoesh: i'm familiar with the benefits of running apps2sd, i'm just wondering why you were excited about the amount of free internal storage you have left afterwards. AFAICT that 135mb is pretty much just dead space now, or am i missing something cool you can do with it (e.g. repartition internal storage to allow more space in the system partition and thus install a larger sized OS?).

FYI: moving the dalvik cache to the SD card has actually *reduced* the space you have available for installing apps, as they now have to share the apps2sd partition with the cache, whereas before they had it all to themselves and the cache had all of the internal data partition to itself.

I'm wondering if in fact it's more efficient to leave the dalvik cache in internal memory, and just have the apps themselves stored on the sd card. At least that way the space is being used for something. Has anyone out there actually seen any noticable performance benefit from running apps2sd+ over regular apps2sd?

 

[Xyro]

The problem is apps2sd without the DC moved still runs out of space faster than with the DC moved. Yes, both the apps and the cache are in the same place again, but Ext partitions can be waaaay larger than the internal memory. So you're still gaining far more space.

 

[fredphoesh]

@fredphoesh: i'm familiar with the benefits of running apps2sd, i'm just wondering why you were excited about the amount of free internal storage you have left afterwards. AFAICT that 135mb is pretty much just dead space now, or am i missing something cool you can do with it (e.g. repartition internal storage to allow more space in the system partition and thus install a larger sized OS?).

FYI: moving the dalvik cache to the SD card has actually *reduced* the space you have available for installing apps, as they now have to share the apps2sd partition with the cache, whereas before they had it all to themselves and the cache had all of the internal data partition to itself.

I'm wondering if in fact it's more efficient to leave the dalvik cache in internal memory, and just have the apps themselves stored on the sd card. At least that way the space is being used for something. Has anyone out there actually seen any noticable performance benefit from running apps2sd+ over regular apps2sd?

I did not say I was exited about more space on my internal memory. I was excited that the apps2sd was working, the extra space was a sign of that.

I now have about 4.5gb of space for any applications I want to install, so have FAR more space than I had before... Im not sure how you figure I have less space. 4.5gb is a tad more than 42mb, right?

Memory runs faster when it is not full, so when my internal memory is not getting cramped, I would imagine things are likely to run smoother in one way, and perhaps slower in another if the internal memory is faster than my class 6 memory card.

Mark.

 

[daveybaby]

I have the exact same problem of "APPS2SD is working without dalvik-cache!"

Sorry, I assumed from this post you were trying to get the dalvik cache onto the SD card. You already had apps2sd working. Moving the dalvik cache over as well leaves you with less space for apps than you had before you moved it.

Admittedly, if youve allocated a 4.5GB (!) partition for apps thats not going to be a problem for the forseeable future.

What i'm trying to figure out is why everyone is suddenly desperate to move the dalvik cache onto SD. What exactly is this supposed to achieve? What's so important about freeing up internal memory if youre not storing your apps there any more?

Xtiro? Bluenova? Can anyone who knows about this stuff tell me what i'm missing?

 

[Drazil]

Because eventually the dalvik cache eats up all the internal memory. I don't really have that many apps installed, and my internal memory is down to 22MB, meanwhile over 90% of my ext partition is still free. This is fine for now since I don't have any apps i want to add, but once I come across something new, I'd be faced with 1) move dalvik to ext, 2) uninstall some apps.

What i'm trying to figure out is why everyone is suddenly desperate to move the dalvik cache onto SD. What exactly is this supposed to achieve? What's so important about freeing up internal memory if youre not storing your apps there any more?

 

[fredphoesh]

What i'm trying to figure out is why everyone is suddenly desperate to move the dalvik cache onto SD. What exactly is this supposed to achieve? What's so important about freeing up internal memory if youre not storing your apps there any more?

Well, space aside, at this point I am not so sure moving my apps to SD was a good idea either. In the few hours since I managed to do that, I have noticed a marked reduction of speed of my phone. Perhaps I do not have a class 6 card, I will check.

Is the Dalvik Cache a bit like the Paging file in windows? It seems to contain parts of apps, almost as though they were stored there for faster access or something. Do you know?

Mark.

 

[Drazil]

I thought dalvik stored some pre-compiled version of the app, or at least part of it so that it didnt have to go to the apk all the time when loading. So I guess if that's the case and your sd is a lot slower than internal then moving the dalvik would have caused a performance hit. Once the app is running though it should be the same speed I would think.

Is the Dalvik Cache a bit like the Paging file in windows? It seems to contain parts of apps, almost as though they were stored there for faster access or something. Do you know?

Mark.

 

[daveybaby]

@fredphoesh: a class 6 card should be plenty fast enough. Read speeds for sd cards are blindingly fast regardless of class, and write speeds for a class 6 card should be as fast (if not even faster) than the internal storage.

re: the dalvik cache, my understanding is: Android apps are written in java, but android doesnt actually run java bytecode, it runs dalvik bytecode, which is far more efficient on platforms with (relatively) poor cpu and memory, i.e. mobile phones. So, before running an app for the first time, it has to be converted from java into dalvik code. The dalvik cache contains this converted code. IIRC the reason apps arent pre-compiled into dalvik code before you download them from the market is that this code is highly optimised based on your specific phone's capabilities.

I'd originally thought that this cache was temporary and of a limited size, (that being what a cache usually is), but i've been having a look around the files on my machine and it appears that there's a dalvik .dex file for every app i've got installed, so it appears that the cached data is kept permanently (or at least as long as the app remains installed). So, maybe there is a benefit in moving the cache onto the sd card after all.

FWIW: android 2.2 will include a JIT compiler which will pre-compile apps into native ARM machine code, so all of this stuff is probably going to be getting even more complicated pretty soon.

 

[daveybaby]

Well, space aside, at this point I am not so sure moving my apps to SD was a good idea either. In the few hours since I managed to do that, I have noticed a marked reduction of speed of my phone. Perhaps I do not have a class 6 card, I will check.

Hmmm... just read something where somebody states that having your apps2sd partition too large (i.e. much more than 500mb) can affect performance.

If this is true then your 4.5GB partition may be the cause of this. Might be worth resizing it and see if that helps.

Having said that my apps2sd partition is 1GB (ext3 format) and i dont have any speed problems.