Root Link2sd vs sdcard hack

[redchigh]

Which is better, and why?

I ask because 'move data to SD card' style hacks seem to wear out SD cards fast for me.

On my old Optimus V, there was a script, "toucanscrypt" that worked wonders by just moving cache and 'temporary downloads' to the SD card and combined with Link2sd to give pretty much unlimited apps. I've been trying to get it to work (with the creator's blessing) but no dice.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/op...hacks/375959-toucanscrypt-unlimited-apps.html

Spoiler: toucanscrypt

Cache is moved to sd-ext, and thus the internal cache partition is empty.
App libraries are moved to /intextra which is the renamed empty cache partition. This frees space on the data partition to install larger apps(although total app size is limited only by the size of the sd-ext partition, individual apps still install internally before being linked, and thus apps larger than about 100 MB won't install). With a new script add-on, data partition size is no longer an issue!
Dalvik-cache is moved to sd-ext along with playstore temp downloads!
As space on the system partition is precious, /system/media, /system/tts, and /system/app are moved to /intextra as well. Thus, system apps still run off the internal, but they have some extra space. Future work to be done to allow /system/app to be temp moved to SD to allow the install of system apps which can be changed to user apps to save space.
A log of the script's actions with it's links and bind-mounts is created in /data/local entitled "linknlog" . Please send a copy of this log's contents with any support requests.

Should we continue trying to get it to work, or is there no advantage over the sdhack?
Does link2sd save the same amount of space as the hack?

 

[Member1766058]

Does link2sd save the same amount of space as the hack?

After reading a bit on what toucanscrypt does it seems to only have a few extra features over Link2SD (the moving of the "/system/media/", "/system/tts/", etc. and the moving of the temporary download cache to the sd card. You should know either hacks wear down the life of your sd more compared to not using them, but neither hacks should kill the usability of an sd card in less than 5ish years unless you are constantly moving large amounts of data 24/7.

Anyway, the paid version of Link2SD does wonders now ever since the developer has been able to fix a bug involving moving the data parts of an app over to the sd card (it used to crash if an app had its data moved and more data had to be written onto the moved section; a weird side effect of the crash was that the app had to be redownloaded from the app store...). I don't use many apps, but here is a screenshot of what parts of an app can be moved with Link2SD (paid) and what my Android partition spaces looks like with Link2SD.

Please note that with Reddit, the "Data (Ext.)" and "Cache (Ext.)" has been moved into the FAT32 sd card partition, while the rest has been moved into the Ext3 partition; you can still swap them around, or move them back into your phone anytime you want. As for my "Internal" storage space, I do not use Link2SD an all my apps so that is why I still have some space taken up on "Internal." You actually can't get all 1.27GB of "Internal" space free with Link2SD and I'm not really sure why (maybe "Internal" and "System" actually are the same physical partition and they get separated logically), but if I moved all apps I download off the Playstore into my sd card I can get about 1GB of "Internal" to become free.

If all you are worried about is how much apps can you install from the Playstore using Link2SD, it seems like the amount of space you allow Link2SD to use for moved apps is your limit and mine is set to approx. 1GB. I hope you found this useful.

Edit: It seems I never actually answered your question of "Does link2SD save the same amount of space as the hack?" IIRC from the last time I used the popular sd card hack that gets posted on this forum, it actually gives you only marginally more space than what Link2SD (paid) can along with a few extra features/weird side effects. Both methods rely on how much space you're willing to give up on your sd card, both will wear down your sd card more because they require writing files into the sd card, both allow you to theoretically install more apps, but if you aren't going to pay for Link2SD then use the hack as free Link2SD can only do so much; however, if you are willing to pay for Link2SD then it does nearly everything the sd card hack can do.

 

[Intrepid]

If all you are worried about is how much apps can you install from the Playstore using Link2SD, it seems like the amount of space you allow Link2SD to use for moved apps is your limit and mine is set to approx. 1GB. I hope you found this useful.

Huh... I gave my Link2SD (paid version) 4 GB but the playstore still says that I have insufficient space.

 

[Member1766058]

Huh... I gave my Link2SD (paid version) 4 GB but the playstore still says that I have insufficient space.

That's strange. Did you set Link2Sd to automatically link an app when you download it off the playstore? I know Link2Sd sometimes doesn't do it automatically and you have to still manually transfer the app + data, so also make sure all the apps you wanted to link are linked properly. You can check by seeing if the app has a full orange circle (fully linked to the sd card), or a fully/partially white circle (some or all of the app is still on the phone).

Edit: It seems like Link2SD may cause problems now. I've just tried increasing my ext3 partition size and now I too am getting an "Insufficient Storage" error with or without Link2SD. I'm going to do a full reboot on my phone and I'll see if it still happens

Edit 2: I rebooted my phone and tried downloading huge games and got a message "Insufficient External Storage Space" or something like that even though I had "6GB" free. I guess another advantage the sd card hack has over Link2SD is the ability to replace the "Internal" storage. It appears Link2SD does not really replace it (Link2SD uses the "Internal" as cache before moving the app+data over to your sd card; that means you can't download apps that require more space than you have available in "Internal" with Link2SD only)

A workaround is to get the apk offline, install it, then hope the app doesn't complain about the tiny "Internal" space. Doing this one app at a time allowed me to install the "Batman: Arkham Origins" app (about 830MB) and the "Injustice: Gods Among Us" app (about 1.03GB), but Mortal Kombat X (about 1.31GB) would complain.

The workaround seems to defeat the purpose of Link2SD so if you're a user like me who does not download huge apps then you're safe to use Link2SD alone (you also get to use your "Internal" storage along with your sd card as extra storage if you want with Link2SD), but if you like to download a lot of huge games (a bit over 1GB) then use the sd card hack or any other derivative of it you find. It will completely replace your phone's "Internal" space with the sdcard, but that also means you'll never get to use your phone's "Internal" space simultaneously with your sdcard.

 

[xixion]

If google would just let us go back to "install to SD" none of this would be a problem