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

[Solved] Android storage: What's normal partitioning?

S

Stephen304

Lurker
So first of all, I'm not really a newbie to Android or computers or anything. The only problem is how many carriers and manufacturers are doing things differently, which makes things very confusing.

I currently have a SGS2 on US Cellular. The way they partitioned the internal storage (when I say internal, I mean non-removable) has been confusing. It was advertised as 11 or 12 GB. The settings lists "Internal Storage" as 2GB, then there is another partition of 11.5GB that (when on stock) was labeled SD, although it's obviously just a partition on the internal storage.

Now that I am on CM10, they are both labeled as internal. Despite this, I can only install apps on the 2GB partition while only downloads and pictures (and etc files) goes on the 11.5 GB, which has caused a lot of problems as I've had to wipe my phone twice because I used up all the space on the @GB partition with apps and it locked then boot-looped.

Now my actual question:

I'm shopping for a new phone on a different carrier (US Cellular coverage sucks and when you complain they say your phone is broken). I have mostly decided on the HTC One, for battery, looks, and front facing speakers.

The page I am looking at for it lists 32GB ROM and 2GB RAM. I am assuming the 32GB ROM will be the full "Internal Storage", but what are the chances that it's partitioned into 2GB for apps and 30GB for photos/music/downloads?

Is a partitioning like my current phone a common one or will the HTC One likely be different?
 
Im guessing it will be partitioned in a more modern way like my s3 where there will be a certain amount reserved for /system and the rest will be one big partition for apps, media, whatever :thumbup:
 
You can have apps and media on the same partition??? 0_o My phone has been pretty strict about not letting me use the move to SD card function and I can't access the apps partition without using a root explorer.
 
Yeah mate. (I think) thats how it works now. Like my 16gb internal storage has around 4gb partitioned off for rom and system apps and i could fill the rest with video if i wanted or with apps. Its a better way of doing things imo. Down side is that apps cant be run from the external sd but im not a gamer so thats cool with me. Titanium says i have 330 apps installed lol! Im lazy at housekeeping. I have 1.5gb internal free but i have a lot of rom zips etc in there that im too lazy to delete :beer:
 
Stephen304 said:
The page I am looking at for it lists 32GB ROM and 2GB RAM. I am assuming the 32GB ROM will be the full "Internal Storage", but what are the chances that it's partitioned into 2GB for apps and 30GB for photos/music/downloads?

Is a partitioning like my current phone a common one or will the HTC One likely be different?
Click to expand...
I've got a One, so can tell you that it is not like your old S2. You get one big partition which you can use for media, apps, whatever, plus smaller ones for the ROM etc (which you have on all devices, though may not have noticed them). You should have about 25.5 GB usable, though that might vary a little with carrier.

The thing with your S2 is that it started life as a Gingerbread device. GB didn't support the combined apps+media partition model: apps and their data went in /data and media to /sdcard, and originally /sdcard really was that (so you needed a card for media storage). So when phones started getting significant internal storage the manufacturers partitioned that into an app area (/data) and media area (which they called /sdcard for compatibility, so it would work if you did not buy a separate card). This then required extra kludges for mounting a real sd card in addition (the "external sd card"). Samsung assumed that people would want to use most of this space for media (possibly never buying a sd card) and that 2GB would be fine for apps and data (it was more than most android phones had had previously) and partitioned accordingly. Of course a decision aimed (perhaps accurately) at the typical customer does not suit everyone, as you've found.

Now with ICS and JB you don't have to use that type of partitioning. But to change that to an unified partition would also wipe both existing partitions, so Samsung's updates for this phone have not changed that (imagine the average user's response to an update which erased their apps, data, music, pictures, etc!). Hence the S2 still has this legacy scheme.

However, no modern phone will have that. You will still see a /data and a /sdcard, for backward compatibility, but they both point to the same 25+GB partition, and you can use the whole lot for apps if that's what you want.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom