[Q] Is the internal memory completely erased with reset? - Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]

Hello,
most apps leave some rubbish on the internal memory when being erased.
Is this rubbish gone when reseting the phone and thereby is the internal memory deleted with reset?

Do you mean the SDcard? or the internal storage (that is usually mounted on /data)
I guess this is complicated by a few phones that have soldered-on-the-motherboard storage that mimics a SDcard (I think the Droid Incredible does that?)
Short answer is yes if you're talking about /data, and no if you're talking about the SDCard (Removable storage is your responsibility to clean up)

Related

[Q] Internal SD undelete tool?

First post- I did search but found nothing.
Is there a tool to undelete files on the internal SD memory after a full reset?
I thought I'm safe to factory reset the phone (Samsung Captivate) after backing up to internal SD with MyBackup pro, but the SD looks to be reformated. I know the files are still there, because actual deleting of few GB of info takes quite a while, so it's just the directory that got reset. A full scan will find the files. If I could remove the internal storage, there are tools to perform this operation on a Linux computer, but what about internal storage that's accessible only through USB?

Android Noob question about Int/Ex Storage management

Just a question about how Android handles Internal and SD card storage on the G2x. I've never had to think about Internal vs External before, and I'm not overly familiar with Android... so I thought I'd ask.
G2x
Internal is a 8g SD
External I have an 8g SD card.
I noticed in settings the options for Phone Memory. I assume this is the internal 8g storage. I see settings for total space, available space, unmount phone memory and format phone memory. then a setting for internal phone memory.
I assume the Phone memory is a 8g card that is partitioned or something,
The SD card settings has the similar settings.
I assume if I unmount, the format option becomes available. Being and external card with nothing running from it, formatting this card is no big deal.
What about the Phone Memory. If I unmount and format...what does that do the device? I assume that apps are installed to the storage portion of this internal memory. Data is stored there ...again I assume. If this is formatted, will the device still work?
Basically I want to put the device back into the condition it was in when I turned it on the first time.
Is there a way, non Root, to insure most data storage is to the External card? Already figured out how to get picture storage to external...how about other apps?
TIA
well i know alot of the apps let u pick sdcard or phone storage some dont tho, u have to go into settings , then applications then, manage applications. whatever app u want moved click on it then choose move to sdcard....if it has that option, like i said sometimes some apps wont let u so that option u wont be able to choose...also dont u se that space for custom roms? or do u have internal recov flashed? which i dont see why since u have an sdcard an 8gig at that
There are also some apps that let you choose where they download stuff to, internal or external. I know the LG camera app lets you choose internal or external storage for where it saves photos. As far as I know it depends on the app tho.

[Q] What is USB Storage?

Hi everyone,
My Galaxy Ace Plus is my first Android phone, and since I bought it several months ago I was confused because I found 3 memory locations on my device: the Internal Storage, USB Storage, and the External Memory card that I added.
I can't really understand what the USB Storage is?
In fact I made a factory reset few days ago as the device was freezing a lot, and it asked me whether I want to format the USB storage or not, stating that if I chose to format it I will lose all my music and pictures and other files. So I became more confused because all my media files, ebooks, etc. are placed in the External Memory card! so why it would consume space of both storage locations!!
can anyone explain that please?
Also what will I lose if I formated the USB Storage only? would it improve the device performance anyway?
Thanks!
- Ramy
Internal storage , Usb storage & SD storage
internal storage is the one reserved for system, i.e 1.5 GB on Note, or in another words it is the flash memory of the device. It stores the components of ROM or the ANDROID OS. Applications get installed on this memory.
USB storage is the rest of the original storage on Note (i.e around 9.5 GB). In common language an Internal Memory where all your files are saved by default. This memory is used by most of the applications for storage of their data.
Most of the move2sd apps move apps from internal to SD Storage which means the USB Storage.
external SD Card storage, on the other hand, is the storage which relies on another SD Card put into the phone, e.g....external SD Card.
That's before you put external SD card..
If you put another SD Card in the phone, it will read as external SD Card. In the file system, it is known as external_sd.
Now, the answer to your next question.. Formatting the USB Storage of the phone is simply formatting your internal memory. It has nothing to do with PERFORMANCE. it just makes space available on your device's internal memory. :good:
Thanks a lot!
mht.msr said:
internal storage is the one reserved for system, i.e 1.5 GB on Note, or in another words it is the flash memory of the device. It stores the components of ROM or the ANDROID OS. Applications get installed on this memory.
USB storage is the rest of the original storage on Note (i.e around 9.5 GB). In common language an Internal Memory where all your files are saved by default. This memory is used by most of the applications for storage of their data.
Most of the move2sd apps move apps from internal to SD Storage which means the USB Storage.
external SD Card storage, on the other hand, is the storage which relies on another SD Card put into the phone, e.g....external SD Card.
That's before you put external SD card..
If you put another SD Card in the phone, it will read as external SD Card. In the file system, it is known as external_sd.
Now, the answer to your next question.. Formatting the USB Storage of the phone is simply formatting your internal memory. It has nothing to do with PERFORMANCE. it just makes space available on your device's internal memory. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! now I got it :good:

Format as internal storage in Nougat?

I have searched for this but not really found any good answers. Most answers relate to marshmallow...
I bought a used phone and installed a memory card that came with it. Seems like it was formatted as internal. Shared internal storage shows up in settings but I'm not sure if that is the sd card or the actual internal storage.
Also in many apps and file managers either the internal storage doesn't show up or I'm not even sure which is which. In SD bench the SD card gets much faster result than internal memory which indicates that is the internal memory.
All of this doesn't really matter perhaps but it's still annoying since I used to be able to know what was stored where. If someone could tell me more about this I would be grateful. Here are some questions...
It says in some guide about formatting as internal storage that the sd card then replaces the actual internal storage. Is that the same in nougat and what happens to the internal storage and is it even used? Apps can't be moved but they still seem to take up space in both storages.
It said in guides relating to marshmallow that the SD card becomes encrypted when formatted as internal storage. Does that happen after migrate data is chosen or before? I have not done that yet.
When flashing ROMs can files be read on the encrypted SD card from recovery? What happens after flashing and restoring to factory settings? If the SD card is encrypted and can't be read from recovery that would be a serious problem. So where should backup be stored and what SD card used when flashing?
I'm sorry if these are stupid questions but I'm new to formatting as internal storage. The card also was formatted that way when I got it and since then I've installed apps.
I found this info on a page.
If you try to remove it, things go haywire. Your phone will throw errors until you are forced to factory reset it and you can't read the data on the SD card with any other device or the original phone once it's been factory reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://www.google.com/search?q=and...le+manager&client=ms-opera-mobile&channel=new
What happens if the phone is flashed with a new ROM if the SD card is acting as internal storage? Then if the phone is factory reset the sd card wouldn't be able to be accessed?
How can I convert the card back to normal storage and is that possible without losing apps or factory reset?
Many questions and again I'm sorry if they're stupid. Is this posted in the wrong section I also kindly ask any moderator to move the thread to an appropriate section.
I would still like to have answers to these questions.
I tried to format sd card as portable storage instead. After that I noticed it wasn't possible at all to use the sd card to install apps.
Moving apps to SD card isn't possible. So now there are only two options. Either format as internal storage or not being able to use the sd card to install apps.
But there are apparently downsides to using the sd card as internal storage. The phone uses the SD card more which puts more strain on it.
I'd also really like to know what happens after a new rom is flashed or after a reset from recovery? What apps are restored? Only what was in the internal storage? But what if the apps were on the shared internal memory?
I made a backup in TWRP. Then I formatted as internal storage again. Everything was working like it should...
Then I migrated data to SD card under storage in settings. Then I got problems. Apparently some files related to TWRP was moved from the internal storage to the sd card. At least the backup I made in recovery was.
When I entered recovery the language had first been changed to Chinese. Also the backup couldn't be found. When I tried to backup to the SD card it said "memory full" or something and couldn't be completed. It seems the sd card can't be accessed from recovery at all any longer.
Also when reboot the phone it first says shortly "sd card not found". So something has indeed changed. Seems like the SD card is only fully adopted after data is migrated. But how can I move it back to internal storage if I have to reformat the sd card again? Seems like the only accessible storage now is the card.
So what should I do? Couldn't anyone please help me to answer at least some of my latest questions?
How are flashing of roms and backups handled if adoptive storage is used? I guessed there could be problems and apparently there was. A thread offers solutions but that should only be necessary in marshmallow from what I've read.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-e/general/trick-switching-roms-loosing-adopted-sd-t3314647
Come on! Doesn't anyone know anything about this? I would be highly grateful for any clarification regarding these matters.
Lots of people probably have questions about this but I've found few answers on the internet.
Having been through the same BS, all I can say is I have wasted time like yourself trying to understand why google have botched the handling of storage so bad in nougat.
From what I can make out all apps need to use a new api for permission to access external SD when used as portable storage, even though mines formatted as ext4, the native android FS.
Best work around I've found so far is the xposed module xinternalsd.
I still can't get it to properly use both as sperate drives.
There is a thread on here from the dev of the module
I'm going to wade through it to see if it's possible to not just redirect all data to the external SD but select different locations for different apps reliably.( when I've had both usable to apps, MTP can't access the files on external sd)
Update: this now works reliably with latest 4.8.
The packages.XML edits didn't seem to work either.
First non removable battery's, now they want to get rid of SD cards and headphone jacks so you buy the more expensive phone with less features.
Yeah, we need to slow down your phone because of the battery and stuff.
A post I found while searching about this issue on reddit is worth a laugh.(I'm glad it's not just me)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/496sn3/lets_clear_up_the_confusion_regarding_storage_in/
External SD permissions lineage 14
From searching around this is a common problem that was driving me nuts.
Even with xinternalsd it was still crap.
Mtp couldn't do anything with them unless used from recovery.
What was odd is it would work for days then all of a sudden, you need to delete or copy something, access denied.

Help Understanding Android's Storage Expansion (SDCard Formatted As Internal)

Hi there,
I've been using android for some years now and with time android has allowed users not only to expand the phone storage capability but also format said SDcard as internal so the user can save apps directly on the SDcard.
What I never understood is why we can't we move individual files from internal storage to the now encrypted and formatted as internal SDcard? Is this possible?
The cellphone (running android 8.0) has 32GB internal storage. I installed & expanded the total storage capability with a 64GB A1 SDcard formatted as internal. All working find.
The issue I'm having is that I listen to podcasts & I have a massive selection of songs stored locally on my phone. This has filled up my phone to the point of nagging. Why can't we, after formatting the SDcard as internal, not able to move or at least tell the system (be it via file manger, etc) to store/move X,Z files to the SDcard? We can move apps back and forth so why are we not able to move audio and image files back and forth? So much for the convenience of formatting as internal. No widgets, not able to move files to and fro other than apps.
I've basically 60GB free and the phone wont access it unless it is to install apps. I find this to be an useless behavior. For those of us who would like to have a 100% encrypted phone/storage, this is useless as keeping the SDcard as external storage is the one way of fully taking advantage of it.
Thanks

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