Strange problem with installing apps on sd card

[Freezak]

Hi, im new here and i hope you can help me. I have very strange problem with installing apps on my Vodafone Smart II. Attachment will explain all.

As you can see, apps are installed on sd card. but really? if i delete X app ('installed on sd card") , then my internal storage is freeing. but why? now im trying to download more apps, and it says that i cant because there is no space left (internal). i have tried many solutions, e.g. downloading sdk, jdk and typing commands adb shell etc.. i have tried apps like app2sd etc... still everything is installing on my internal storage... sorry for my english but i hope you understand and you can help me. Thanks.

 

[Hadron]

Hi Freezak, and welcome to AF

The main thing you need to understand is that there are several elements to an app. When you move an app to SD you move some elements, but others remain in internal memory. And application data always remain in the internal storage. Hence an app that is "on sd" still uses some internal space, just less than it would if "on phone", and so uninstalling the app will still free up internal space.

Those apps are definitely on SD - I know a couple of them, and they would take a lot more space if you moved them to the phone!

It's also normal for apps to download to internal storage, and for you to move them to sd after installation, which can be awkward if you are short of internal space. There is a trick with adb shell to change the default install location to sd, but that still doesn't mean that it will take no internal space. If you really are down to 1MB, as the image shows, then you are going to have a problem no matter what your default install location is (and remember that widgets don't work if you move the app to sd).

I think that your options are to either remove some apps or investigate rooting the phone. There are tricks you can use to gain more space, by using a partition on the sd card to store some of the stuff that would be in internal storage, but they need root to work. However, rooting is phone-specific and I don't know what root/ROM support there is for that handset. It also voids your warranty, so do your research before jumping in.

 

[Freezak]

Hi Hadron, i'm glad that you replied for me. At first: i have rooted phone with roeddie's custom ROM. You said "just less than it would if "on phone" but it looks like all app's files are on internal storage. You said also something about partition. Can you explain me what do you mean? Thank you in advance.

 

[Hadron]

No, really, your apps are on sd. For example, your picture shows Adobe Reader using 888kB of internal space. On my phone it uses slightly more - 1.08 MB (of which 0.94MB is app, the rest is data). But when I move that app to the phone it uses 11.30MB of internal space! So I don't think there's any doubt at all that you have it on SD (and Angry Birds, next in your list, is even larger).

My phone model also suffers from limited internal storage, and many ROMs for it support moving apps (specifically the apks and dalvik cache) to an extra partition on the sd card. What you do is create a second partition with a linux file format (ext3 or ext4 - I recommend GParted for partitioning, which is a linux tool). Then a script moves these app elements from internal to the partition, and puts a pointer in the internal memory to where these things have been moved. This way these bits of the app appear to the OS to still be on the phone, but actually are on the card. If you've moved most stuff to sd then moving apks won't really save you much (except that you can move all apps this way), but moving the dalvik cache will.

That does require support from the ROM, though you may be able to install a script such as DarkTremor if such support is not built in. However, another option is an app called Link2sd, which can be found in the Play Store. That does the same job. It still requires a second partition, but may be easier to set up. It also claims it can work with a fat32 format second partition, but I've never tried this. The description of the app explains what it's about in more detail than I can fit here

 

[Freezak]

Thank you, i will try this partitioning, but i have another small question: Do i need usb card reader for this? or can i just connect phone to pc?

 

[Hadron]

You can do this by connecting the phone to a computer via usb.

Back up everything on the card to the computer before partitioning, as this is likely to wipe the card. Make sure you get "hidden" files and folders too (names start with ".") - in particular the apps you've moved to sd are in a folder called .android_secure, so make sure you copy that.

 

[Freezak]

Thank you very very much, i will try to do this, can i follow this guide?

@edit: this guide says also "Put the card reader in usb with the SD inserted." It is really necessary? you said that no, but everywhere i see this in requirement, i dont get it...

@edit2: i have found microsd adapter, which should be ok for this

 

[Freezak]

Hi, i did this. Now i'm getting another problem when i run Link2SD, i choose ext4, and:

Mount script error
Mount script cannot be created.
mount: No such device

 

[Hadron]

Sorry, was busy recently.

Don't know why someone you say you need a card reader. It's a little simpler, but you can do it over usb with the card in the phone.

I'd never recommend minitool if you are making an ext format partition. GParted (a linux-based tool) will do it much better. I don't know whether that is the cause of your problem. I tried Link2SD briefly on my phone and had to reboot before it could mount the card, but it told me to do that. It may be that your ROM is not compatible with it - a shame if so as I'd hoped that would be simpler than adding a script or changing ROM. But that may not be it either. The only answer the Link2SD FAQ gives for this refers to HTC devices - I don't know whether there is a similar thing in the Smart.