"Insufficient storage available" error during Update

I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 running JB 4.1.2, NOT rooted. All of a sudden, if I try to update even a tiny app in Google Play, I get an "Insufficient storage available" error, an error I've never had before. CPU-Z reports the following status:

Total RAM = 825MB
Available RAM = 153MB (18%)
Internal Storage = 1.97GB
Available Storage = 0.23GB (11%)

I have Googled this problem till my fingers ache, and I've tried all kinds of solutions, including downloading Java's JDK and Android SDK, then going through the command prompt, but nothing has worked so far. Many of the sites I Googled seemed to have old information, or else were forum discussions where the problem apparently wasn't solved.

If anyone smarter than I am about Android (which is probably most of the known world) knows of a straightforward way to fix this problem, I'd be most grateful.

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

 

Thanks for your post, but I don't understand. My largest app is Firefox at 136MB, with the next being only 43MB and most being well under 10MB, so none of them should trigger an "Insufficient storage available" error, particularly the 2.52MB app I was trying to update when it occurred. Why should 2.52MB be a problem when there is 230MB available?

I have done as you and Jefboyardee suggested, moving 69.4MB of photos and 158MB of music to my SD card, along with the very few apps which hadn't already been moved there. I can now update even my largest app, Firefox, with no error message, so that problem is (at least temporarily) solved. However, I still don't understand why, with 230MB of space available on the phone, I couldn't update the 2.52MB app. That makes no sense to me.

Also, CPU-Z now reports as follows:
Total RAM = 825MB
Available RAM = 328MB (39%)
Internal Storage = 1.97GB
Available Storage = 0.27GB (13%)

If I had .23GB available storage before, then moved .227GB of photos and music (plus a few miscellaneous apps) to the SD card, should I not now have a total of at least .23 + .227 = .457GB of available storage? I'm sorry if I'm missing something obvious, but why didn't my available storage increase by the amount of data I transferred from the phone to the SD card?

I don't know if the answer may lie in this next information, but would appreciate any thoughts on it:

When I go into Application Manager and select an app, it shows me Storage figures such as:
Total = 14.57MB
Application = 1.67MB
USB storage app = 12.22MB
Data = 696KB
SD card = 0.00B

I understand Total, and assume that the Application refers to the space taken by the actual app itself. My understanding is that Data refers to space taken up by data stored by that app as I use it. My questions are:

What does "USB storage app" refer to, where is this data stored, and is it necessary to keep it, or can it be reduced or deleted entirely, and if the latter, how?

The app in question, along with all other movable apps, exists on my SD card, yet the Storage info shows 0.00B for the SD card. What am I missing here?

Thanks for any and all help.

 

Nicole, you're an angel! I did as you suggested and my RAM jumped from 107MB to 398MB, while my Available Storage jumped from 0.27GB to 1.20GV - nearly a full GB!

That is absolutely amazing. Based on Google searches of this problem, I had downloaded probably about 2GB of Java's JDK and Android's SDK, spent who knows how many hours mucking about trying to make all that rubbish work, only to be able to solve it within 30 seconds by following your advice. Now I have to go through my computer and get rid of all that useless rubbish I just downloaded, but at least I'll have a smile on my face as I do it.

I had thought something funny was going on because when I had my phone connected to my W7 PC, Windows Explorer showed that both the phone and the card had heaps of free space left for storage, yet my phone was reporting that I was nearly full, which made no sense at all.

All I can say is, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

 

Thanks for the link, Slug, and also for the fast response. This forum has some very helpful members and I really appreciate it.

My only remaining question is why this build-up of useless rubbish occurs and if there's any way to prevent it from happening in the first place. Still, if it ever happens again, at least I'll know how to nail it right away.

I've had this phone about 18 months, so I'm wondering: If there isn't any way to prevent it, perhaps it might be a good idea for users to create a calendar entry which repeats every 6 months as a reminder to dump this rubbish, thus keeping the available storage space "clean" and available for use.