Where's my memory... and what's that?

Javarod · Nov 29, 2014

Ok, i'm sure this has been asked in some way before, but a quick search hasn't turned up any clear answers.

Device
Samsung GT-P3113
Android 4.2.2

Long story short, tablet is constantly running out of memory. Simple solution would be an SD, and maybe less apps, right? Not so simple, take a look:

Doesn't look like things add up. Where things get interesting is that i brought up MyFiles earlier to see if stuff i was saving to the SD card was actually being saved, and found this:

The two directories on the SD card are empty, in fact the SD card appears to be completely empty with everything saved to /emulated. So does that mean my missing memory is a reserved or used space for /emulated, and that nothing is actually on the SD card? And is there a way to fix this? I'm get tired of running out of space, especially the failed software updates it causes.

xdrc45 · Nov 30, 2014

Hello Jabarod and welcome to AF

Looking at your /Settings/Storage/
Your device only has 8.0GB of internal available device storage.
3.41GB of System/OS
3.78GB of Used space
2.45GB of Used cache
That right there is maxing out your available storage available on the device.

While your cache data is quite high... 2.45GB, Mine is only 148mg of data. Huge difference!

Couple questions just to see what your setup is -
Are you rooted?
Are you running a custom Kernel?
Are you running a custom ROM
Or are you just running stock everything?
Sorry, I need to do some research my self to see if these are even possible with your device.

The 3.41GB is the Systems OS and that you can't do anything about since it's the system image/firmware.

First thing, I would make sure that you backup your devices/pics,vids,music, documents...etc. with either a cloud based app like Helium, titanium backup a PC or a nandroid backup if your rooted.

I would definitely clear my cache by either booting in to, recovery and wiping cache and maybe even dalvik cache. (If you have a custom recovery)
Or you can do it through /Setting/Apps/All/ (long peocess) and then scroll through and find the apps thahave large amounts of data, click on the app and clear the cache and or clead data. Wiping Data can lose app information like game data and so forth for that app
Either way this can free you up to 2.0GB of storage quickly and easily.
1.60GB of apps... Which is not really a lot. Athouht you could possibly delete some of your downloaded apps that you may not use much to save a little space.

There might also be a safe bloatwear/carrier apps that maybe be safe to remove without causing any damage or issues to your device... Like boot loops, Force closes or crashes.
Need to research this as well.

Also you should be able to go to /Settings/Storage/ and then long press on "Used Space" and it will bring up a list of files, folders misc data..etc, stored here and find out what is using up the storage space there. Then if possible safely back it up and remove it from the device or delete it. You can do the same for d
Pictures, audio and the download folders storage space isn't very high..
On the other hand using "My Files" application is very limited in its capabilities... To even be able to access certain folders or even hidden folders, Especially without root access.

If your rooted use an app like Root Browser. This will give you full system access to all the system directories and subdirectories folders with read and write access to these directories/folder's and files on the device.
Even double check in
/SDcard/download/ there might be hidden files in there that are not detectable or accessible with "MY Files"
Again you have to be careful and know what tour doing when altering, moving or deleting system files and even system/carrier apps as well... These can cause the same damage as I mentioned above.

Hope this helps! If you need any help or have any question's feel free to ask!
In the meantime I'll do some researchand see what I can come up with.

xdrc45 · Nov 30, 2014

Thread move to Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 forum for better exposure and user help and suggestions!

Javarod · Nov 30, 2014

xdrc45 said:
Hello Jabarod and welcome to AF
Looking at your /Settings/Storage/
Your device only has 8.0GB of internal available device storage.
3.41GB of System/OS
3.78GB of Used space
2.45GB of Used cache
That right there is maxing out your available storage available on the device.

True, except for one interesting thing, the second screen shot is what you get when you click on 'Used Space' which doesn't add up to the amount that the first screen shows. That's why i included the third screen shot, it seems curious where stuff i download to the SD card seems to be, and makes me wonder if emulated has a reserved storage section.

While your cache data is quite high... 2.45GB, Mine is only 148mg of data. Huge difference!

I agree about that, is there any way to change that on a stock set up?

Couple questions just to see what your setup is -
Are you rooted?
Are you running a custom Kernel?
Are you running a custom ROM
Or are you just running stock everything?
Sorry, I need to do some research my self to see if these are even possible with your device.

Nope
Nope
Nope
... and just stock

First thing, I would make sure that you backup your devices/pics,vids,music, documents...etc. with either a cloud based app like Helium, titanium backup a PC or a nandroid backup if your rooted.

No vids, little to no music, and few pics, most of which i pull off of the device (web downloads) once or twice a week.

I would definitely clear my cache by either booting in to, recovery and wiping cache and maybe even dalvik cache. (If you have a custom recovery)
Or you can do it through /Setting/Apps/All/ (long peocess) and then scroll through and find the apps thahave large amounts of data, click on the app and clear the cache and or clead data. Wiping Data can lose app information like game data and so forth for that app
Either way this can free you up to 2.0GB of storage quickly and easily.
1.60GB of apps... Which is not really a lot. Athouht you could possibly delete some of your downloaded apps that you may not use much to save a little space.

Nods, "I run a fairly lean, boring stock set up, which is why this annoys me. My phone (Galaxy Rugby Pro) has less memory, as many or more programs downloaded, and yet has plenty of room available. And it too is stock. I've downloaded a cache cleaning program or two, but they seem to be ineffectual, i'd love a simple way to limit how much its using. I don't really understand some of that stuff that you mentioned."

There might also be a safe bloatwear/carrier apps that maybe be safe to remove without causing any damage or issues to your device... Like boot loops, Force closes or crashes.
Need to research this as well.

No carrier, this is just a basic Wi-Fi version, i feed it internet from my phone while out and about.

Also you should be able to go to /Settings/Storage/ and then long press on "Used Space" and it will bring up a list of files, folders misc data..etc, stored here and find out what is using up the storage space there. Then if possible safely back it up and remove it from the device or delete it. You can do the same for d
Pictures, audio and the download folders storage space isn't very high..
On the other hand using "My Files" application is very limited in its capabilities... To even be able to access certain folders or even hidden folders, Especially without root access.[\QUOTE]

Actually it just takes a tap, see the second screen shot, unless a long click will give a more detailed list than just a quick tap.

If your rooted use an app like Root Browser. This will give you full system access to all the system directories and subdirectories folders with read and write access to these directories/folder's and files on the device.
Even double check in
/SDcard/download/ there might be hidden files in there that are not detectable or accessible with "MY Files"
Again you have to be careful and know what tour doing when altering, moving or deleting system files and even system/carrier apps as well... These can cause the same damage as I mentioned above.

Hope this helps! If you need any help or have any question's feel free to ask!
In the meantime I'll do some researchand see what I can come up with.

Click to expand...

Nods, "My Files was simply what was available to look in there without downloading something else. What's the worst i could do if i delete the wrong thing? Having to reboot/restore/recover doesn't really bother me, there's nothing valuable on there, at least nothing i can't back up to my computer first."
Smiles, "Not really, not yet, but then i wasn't really expecting to get a perfect solution on the first shot, rather figured it'd take a bit of discussion, some research if someone can point me in the right direction, and time. So, this is more of a first step, hopefully the journey will be a successful one."

AnciusD · Nov 30, 2014

I have the same stock Tab 2 7" except I'm still on 4.1.1.

Instead of Emulated, mine says "sdcard0", just new terminology I guess. Nothing listed as Cached Data - another new term?
My available space is 713Mb, probably about near the practical limit for me, so maybe you are just under a usable threshold.

What kind of files do you see under Emulated? Have you changed the settings,e.g., under Camera, to use the extsdcard? If you added the card later you might still be defaulting to Emulated/sdcard0.

txrose72 · Nov 30, 2014

I see you have 4.2.2 which has, at least mine has, the Move To SD Card function. I use that on all apps larger than 10 MB that allow storing a portion of the app on the SD card. Not all apps allow being split between internal memory and the external SD Card. Some apps only Store some of their Data on the SD card, the Amazon Kindle reader being on of those. In all cases taping on the app in the Application Manager under Downloaded will show if the app can be Moved to the SD Card. It also shows the amount of app and Data stored in internal memory and after being moved the split between internal and SD memory. The total memory after the move is more than before but there is less, sometimes much less in internal memory. The storage area on the SD card for this is generally hidden when using a File Manager on the Tab like ES Explorer. It can be seen on a SD card reader connected to a PC.

My Tab has less than 200 MB of Cached storage and about 730 MB of free space so it is full. Most is shown under Apps, 5.4 MB (which is not possible) but there is only 3.9 GB shown used by apps in the Application Manager. I can't resolve the numbers but they provide information about how memory is being used.

I doubt this helps but it does seem that the cached storage is out of line to some other Tabs. Taping on the Cached Data under Storage on my Tab gives the option to delete all of it at once. My understanding is that deleting Cached Data should not effect operation

Javarod · Dec 3, 2014

txrose72 said:
I see you have 4.2.2 which has, at least mine has, the Move To SD Card function. I use that on all apps larger than 10 MB that allow storing a portion of the app on the SD card.

I doubt this helps but it does seem that the cached storage is out of line to some other Tabs. Taping on the Cached Data under Storage on my Tab gives the option to delete all of it at once. My understanding is that deleting Cached Data should not effect operation

Yep, already doing that. The ability to delete the cache will be a good thing if it'll allow it, thanks.

AnciusD said:
I have the same stock Tab 2 7" except I'm still on 4.1.1.

Instead of Emulated, mine says "sdcard0", just new terminology I guess. Nothing listed as Cached Data - another new term?
My available space is 713Mb, probably about near the practical limit for me, so maybe you are just under a usable threshold.

What kind of files do you see under Emulated? Have you changed the settings,e.g., under Camera, to use the extsdcard? If you added the card later you might still be defaulting to Emulated/sdcard0.

I only glanced at what MyFiles showed, but it seemed everything i'd downloaded to it. The two directories MyFiles shows on the card are empty, but after pulling the card out i found its definitely holding stuff, more than i can see through Kies. I rarely use the Tab's camera as my phone makes a good camera and is easier to carry and use.

Javarod · Dec 7, 2014

txrose72 said:
I doubt this helps but it does seem that the cached storage is out of line to some other Tabs. Taping on the Cached Data under Storage on my Tab gives the option to delete all of it at once. My understanding is that deleting Cached Data should not effect operation

And it helped greatly, thanks. Clearing the cache freed up 2G worth of space, solving the issues i was having. Its rather funny to see an old issue come back in a new system, but when you run short on space, the system starts malfunctioning as there's no room for temp files, downloads and such. I do wonder why it develops such a big cache though. Oh, and for how easy it was to fix, considering what it takes to activate developer options on this thing, there's no such thing as obvious in Android, is there?

Where's my memory... and what's that?

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