• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Manually updated to 4.4, but lost half my storage?

systemofadown

systemofadown

Android Enthusiast
I'll try to keep it simple if possible. I've been running 4.2 stock rooted on my N7 (2012) (16gb) for some time. Got the urge to update to 4.4 today, couldn't wait another min for the ping from Google :p I updated the nexus toolkit - loaded 4.3 & rooted - then moved on to 4.4 & rooted. Somewhere I lost half my storage ( N7 say's I have a bit over 6gb total - with 5.34 available). I wiped & Factory reset both times. Any ideas guy's?? Theirs barely anything on my N7 as I like to keep it clean (ocd much :D )
 
I have the 32 gb N7. FreeSpace reports:

Cache: 436 MB, 428.71MB available
Internal/data: 28,236 MB, 26,442 MB available
System: 639 MB, 41.15 MB available

Everything was wiped (lost everything, including sdcard) when I manually updated. I used the factory image.

Clean Master might recover some space for you. It freed up 2 gb from uninstalled apps on my wife's N7. Ultimately you'll probably have to flash the factory image.
 
I DL'd the stock 4.4 image from Google and used WUGS, but it failed due to it expecting a different version of the bootloader. The stock 4.3 image also gave me this error. Bear in mind, I had a custom 4.3 rom installed before this so it's possible my bootloader was old because I skipped the OTA's. Ultimately flashing the 4.2.2 (3rd most recent) image was successful. I took the OTA to 4.3, then when kitkat still wasn't available as an OTA, I flashed manually via WUGS to 4.4 and rooted again via WUGS.

I'd backup anything you need (via WUGS if you want everything), then try flashing 4.4 via WUGS. If it fails, try older versions like I did. When done, you can restore your sdcard backup.

Manually flashing 4.4 via WUGS WILL wipe everything tho. I was expecting my scard (and nandroids and TIBU backups) to still be there-wrong, but it's NBD. Now I'm considering selling it, but doubt it's worth more than $125 with the leather case and screen protector. I often buy them at that price, thinking their a good deal. :D
 
I'll give it a try, I've been backtracking all morning FR & wiped all caches to no avail. I think I must have partitioned the 16gb when I tried to load the SDK onto my laptop - I must have sent it to my N7 :confused: EDIT my bootloader was outdated also so I forced the update...... Another edit.. I'm sure I sent that info SDK to my N7, that's where my lost GB's went
 
I finally got the 4.4 factory image via Wugs toolkit just now, my bootloader had been updated so it went smoothly enough. Still showing 6gb total storage though.... I really screwed this thing up.......:(
Can't find the rest or my 16gb anywhere - like it does not exist
 
I just formatted Internal storage with TWRP then used the tool kit to reload 4.4 -- still showing 6gb total.............

Edit.... Locking then subsequently Unlocking the Bootloader Fixed the problem :) Every time I flashed 4.4's factory image I got 6gb internal storage, so I locked then unlocked & got my 13 free GB's back Why I didn't think of that before...... :confused:
 
You need some kind of app or command line to list all your partition sizes and see if there's free space.
 
jhawkkw said:
That's good to hear, I'll have to remember this in case it pops up again.
Click to expand...

My apologies, I had amended the solution onto a earlier post above..
I should have made a new post instead..

It seems my N7 thought it was an 8gb version instead of a 16gb model - I say this because no matter what app or program I used the missing storage never showed as dead space or a partition... Very strange to say the least. Factory resets, wipes & formatting had no effect, nor did flashing other factory images i.e. 4.3 & 4.2.2..

I also hope this helps (God Forbid) if someone else ever encounters this problem..
 
The Truth? A mix of Pure luck, trial & error, desperation & searching the topic all I could - but oddly no one seemed to have tried this (locking then unlocking the bootloader) in any of the couple similar situations. I flashed 4.3 & 4.4 at least 20 times & saw 6gb still so I thought why not lock then unlock as a last ditch attempt at a full wipe.... It worked on 4.3 so I rooted & then flashed 4.4 + unroot via the toolkit which went smoothly - checked my storage - the usual 6gb.. Locked the bootloader then unlocked & I had 4.4 with 13.25GB internal storage showing.. Not sure why formatting the internal storage didn't work.. I'm still not dead sure how it happened to be honest..... I learned a lot though, softbricked a few times & almost used the N7 as an N-frisbee a couple times :D


Thank God it's over :) I'm running 4.4 rooted w/ the GoogleHome.apk installed & couldn't be happier.....
Well at least until the next advancement in Android.........:smokingsomb:
 
Some of the greatest works and inventions of mankind came from someone who probably screwed it up the first time around but simply refused to accept failure. All that matters in the end is they persevered by buckling down and kept trying things again until it worked.

I should note that is also the definition of insanity by Albert Einstein.

:p

Glad you figured out the issue and it's out here in the open for others to try that may have the same issue in the future.

I wonder if it worked because of how the Nexus devices are coded to hardware wipe it's entire memory when unlocked, Whatever had the missing storage locked up is obviously below the internal mechanic that wipes the memory for security reasons.

Its actually kinda reassuring knowing how thorough the wipe is in the case you buy a used rooted device, lock n stock it to be sure nothing of old is left behind once you unlock it on your terms.
 
Hi Guys,

I am using Nexus 4 and facing internal memory issue. I did format, installed lollipop version. also tried solution given above about relocking and unlocking of phone. But I did not get my rest of memory back :( . Please help me .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom