[Help] Modifying AOSP internal/external sd default storage - Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III

I am using SOKP latest.
I don't for the life of me understand the way the AOSP roms I've used handle their storage. It's like they throw folders all over the place. I check both internal and external and just about every app puts folders on both as well as the root/data directory. It's so messy after doing a full clean install, installing apps, and trying to find where each app puts it's data. And the most frustrating thing is some apps suddenly change default directory and start storing data somewhere new! Keepsafe, for instance, put folders on both sd's and when I moved my backup keepsafe folder to the internal folder THAT IT JUST MADE, it didn't see them like it normally would in TW and instead switched to external and rebuilt a new file system there. When I moved the backups to the new one, it said "nope" and picked yet an entirely new location, which I can't find anywhere...
Short story
TL/DR: I want my AOSP rom to handle app data storage the same way it does in TW. I want apps to build their directories on the internal and not external.

Related

[Q] What are the files inside .android_secure?

i seem to have over 1 GB of wasted space in that folder .android_secure
any 1 got a clue if those are safe to delete?
I've never found that deleting anything on my SD card caused major problems for the phone, including .android_secure. Of course, that folder has never been 1 GB in size for me, either, so I suppose your results may vary. Really, though, all the system stuff is in the protected internal storage, so I doubt you'll do much worse than delete media files or whatever apps you've moved to the SD card, if that. I say give it a shot and see what happens. Of course, I take no responsibility for anything that does go wrong if you do. >.>
apparently those are Apps settings or something along the lines
i flashed SuperAOS and during the wiping process it showed it was deleting .android_secure
App2sd
This is where the operating system stores a portion of the apps. Anytime you install a new app and choose to install it to the SD card, it puts a large portion of the app into this folder. Deleting the contents would delete your apps.
If you move an app to the SD card via the official (2.2+) method, this is where (most of it) goes.
Hi,
I recently flashed a new ROM and had to do a full wipe including factory reset. I copied some apps to SD, and indeed I see that the .android_secure folder has a lot in it, taking up space. I installed all apps again from market on the new ROM install, and they all say they can be copied to SD again, so they don't take information from the previously installed bits on the SD card. Is it safe to delete everything in this folder?
EDIT: I have an HTC Hero, but only noticed when I posted this that this is a Samsung Nexus S thread. I'm guessing that this is not that big a deal?
mikebel3 said:
This is where the operating system stores a portion of the apps. Anytime you install a new app and choose to install it to the SD card, it puts a large portion of the app into this folder. Deleting the contents would delete your apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry to revive this thread after so long, but does this folder also store the app data? In other words, for games like plants vs zombies or angry birds etc, if I copy the corresponding files over to my new phone (after installing PVZ/AB on the new phone of course), does it also copy over my progress?
(recently swapped my EVO 4G to EVO 3D and trying to figure out how to copy the game progress over - esp for PVZ)
jj14 said:
(recently swapped my EVO 4G to EVO 3D and trying to figure out how to copy the game progress over - esp for PVZ)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Titanium Backup?
suksit said:
Titanium Backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't that only for rooted phones?

[Q] How did my sdcard get "wiped" when I installed the newest AOKP ROM?

OK, so I'm using wiped in quotes because according to my available free space, it appears my data is still there somewhere. It's just that it's really not and I don't understand why (or where it may be hiding). I've done this many times and never had this problem, so I don't think I did anything wrong, but here are the steps I took: I made a TWRP backup. I wiped my cache, then my Dalvik cache, and then did a factory reset. I installed the new AOKP ROM (aokp_d2vzw_jb-mr1_build-3), installed Gapps, and installed the flashable zip for Titanium Backup. I then booted into Android with no problem, went through the setup process, and rebooted into TWRP. At that point, I was going to install the flashable update.zip I created from Titanium Backup, but I couldn't find it or any of my normal files or folders. I booted back into Android and checked again with a file explorer and sure enough – it's only showing the basic folders you start with and none of my content is there. Like I said, it appears my data is still there somewhere according to my available free space, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere. When I was in TWRP, I hit the button to restore and it showed me my two Nandroid backups, so I feel like the files have to be hiding somewhere.
I'm not really sure what caused it, but I know the files were still there after the wiping and the factory reset, or else I wouldn't have had the zip files to then flash. Therefore, I feel like it had to be during the AOKP or the Gapps install where my sdcard got erased (I forgot to mention my Titanium Backup somehow never got installed). Oh, and just to be clear, I'm talking about the internal (emulated) sdcard, so I can't simply pull it out and put it in my PC to search the contents.
Does anyone have any idea how this happened or where my files are? I'm tempted to do a restore to see if get everything back so I can then make more backups and store them somewhere else.
On your internal SD, do you have a /0 folder? methinks all your stuff's in there....
It's an artifact of flashing 4.2.1 and it's "multiple user accounts" feature
letinsh said:
On your internal SD, do you have a /0 folder? methinks all your stuff's in there....
It's an artifact of flashing 4.2.1 and it's "multiple user accounts" feature
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I don't have a /0 folder on my sdcard. I did find a /0 folder somewhere in my root, but it only mirrored what's currently on the sdcard.
I found it! It's not on my card, but in the root, under data/media. There is a /0 folder in there as well and it links to the sdcard folder. To be safe, I'm going to first copy everything to my real external sdcard before trying to put it back.
/data/media is the real path for your internal sd card. All the other paths (/mnt/sdcard0, /sdcard, /storage/sdcard0, etc) are just pointers that look at the /data/media location. If you were looking in any of those other locations, the 0 folder should have been seen...
Either way, I'm glad you found your data!
letinsh said:
/data/media is the real path for your internal sd card. All the other paths (/mnt/sdcard0, /sdcard, /storage/sdcard0, etc) are just pointers that look at the /data/media location. If you were looking in any of those other locations, the 0 folder should have been seen...
Either way, I'm glad you found your data!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, that makes sense, but I assure you it isn't showing. The only thing that's showing is the contents of the /0 folder which is inside the data/media folder.
In other words, it appears the system created a /0 folder in my internal sdcard and decided that new folder would now be my internal sdcard. So if I'm trying to browse the internal sdcard, I have no way of going up a level and getting to my old content; the system considers that part of the root. Luckily, I can use FX File Explorer to get in there and access the files.
JerseyMike4 said:
Well, that makes sense, but I assure you it isn't showing. The only thing that's showing is the contents of the /0 folder which is inside the data/media folder.
In other words, it appears the system created a /0 folder in my internal sdcard and decided that new folder would now be my internal sdcard. So if I'm trying to browse the internal sdcard, I have no way of going up a level and getting to my old content; the system considers that part of the root. Luckily, I can use FX File Explorer to get in there and access the files.
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Click to collapse
It's like that because of Android profiles you can create now on 4.2, so basically I'd you were to make another profile it'd be /1 and so on.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
GoonAssJuan said:
It's like that because of Android profiles you can create now on 4.2, so basically I'd you were to make another profile it'd be /1 and so on.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That makes sense. But it would have been nice if the system "moved" my data automatically when I upgraded.

sdcard/0/0 issue

So i just moved from Jelly Beans build 14 to Liquidsmooth 2.2, which totally wrecked the way my sd card is set up. I didn't like what was happening on smooth, so I tried going back to my CM backup, which could not be found. I then noticed that I had new folders, which I assume were created due to the multi user thing on 4.2.
Now I cannot restore my backup, nor do my titanium backups show up when i try to restore all my apps. Is there a fix or this or am I **** out of luck?
Just cut everything from you farthest /0 folder and paste in on the root directory. You nandroids and titanium backups will return. If u want to get rid of the /0 folders all together you'll have to wipe the internal memory. Beware to back up anything not on your external SD. I recommend to make future backups to external SD if u use 4.2x roms.. Or use twrp
Sent from my MIUI powered S3 thanks to StrumerJohn
If you flash a 4.2.2 ROM, TWRP only reads the files on sdcard/0/ so if you have files on sdcard/ it will not be able to see them as it only accesses the emulated storage.
Use a root file browser to get to the area you want to change.

Restored nandroid, what's with the sdcard?

Hey guys,
a nandroid backup is a really convenient method to backup your complete phone and restore everything or partially data. All partitions (/system, /data, /cache) were being backed up.
But what happens with the sdcard?
Before I flash/install a new rom, I always format my sdcard with my PC, hence I make sure, that it’s clean and has no remains from older roms.
On first boot, the android system creates a lot of folders contaning data, which both are modified during the daily use. For example the folder “DCIM” contains all the taken pictures and videos.
But what’s about these?
- .android_secure
- .dta
- .estrong
- and especially “Android” and subfolders
What happens, if I make a full nandroid of my phone, format my sdcard, so that all the folders and data, which were created while using the rom, were deleted. After that I restore the complete backup and boot up the phone.
My question is, how the restored system will react, if it notices, that these folders and their contents were not available?
- will they be recreated?
- does the system not boot
- after booting it will show some error messages?
- something else?
Thanks in advance!
@@RON
Hi
Greeting
Nandroid only backups phone memory
It does not backup sdcard
And their is no need to format sd card everytime before flashing Rom (i haven't formated my sd card even once ) every thing works f9
Even if u remove all the file from sdcard which u mentaion then the phone recreate these file againg and causes no problem
Basically a Rom has to do nothing with the sdcard the phone runs completely even without sdcard . Sd card is just an expansion of memory to phones
And you do whatever with it , it does not affect the way your Rom runs
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio Z715e using xda premium
@@RON said:
Hey guys,
a nandroid backup is a really convenient method to backup your complete phone and restore everything or partially data. All partitions (/system, /data, /cache) were being backed up.
But what happens with the sdcard?
Before I flash/install a new rom, I always format my sdcard with my PC, hence I make sure, that it’s clean and has no remains from older roms.
On first boot, the android system creates a lot of folders contaning data, which both are modified during the daily use. For example the folder “DCIM” contains all the taken pictures and videos.
But what’s about these?
- .android_secure
- .dta
- .estrong
- and especially “Android” and subfolders
What happens, if I make a full nandroid of my phone, format my sdcard, so that all the folders and data, which were created while using the rom, were deleted. After that I restore the complete backup and boot up the phone.
My question is, how the restored system will react, if it notices, that these folders and their contents were not available?
- will they be recreated?
- does the system not boot
- after booting it will show some error messages?
- something else?
Thanks in advance!
@@RON
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When making a nandroid backup, system, data, boot and cache partitions are saved. Also, the android_secure from the SDcard is saved. As for the other folders, they are not kept. EStrongs is the guys who make ES File Explorer, and I believe this folder has something to do with the app. I don't know about the other folders, but they are not required for running the ROM. If they are missing, they will be recreated.
I believe I answered some of your questions above, but I'll answer the rest here:
-As I said, the restore won't create the folders, but the ROM might create them. At least one of the folders you listed is of an app, and there are many more apps that create folders on your SDCard, that's just cache or some data, which is not a problem to restore.
-The system will boot. That's the idea of a nandroid backup (if those folders were required, they would have been backed up)
-It will not show error messages, it will resume just like when you made the backuo.
-Something Else? You name it. There is no need to format your SDCard every time you flash a ROM, as usually it doesn't create problems. It can get a bit messy, but besides that, it's fine to keep it the way it is.
astar26 said:
When making a nandroid backup, system, data, boot and cache partitions are saved. Also, the android_secure from the SDcard is saved. As for the other folders, they are not kept. EStrongs is the guys who make ES File Explorer, and I believe this folder has something to do with the app. I don't know about the other folders, but they are not required for running the ROM. If they are missing, they will be recreated.
I believe I answered some of your questions above, but I'll answer the rest here:
-As I said, the restore won't create the folders, but the ROM might create them. At least one of the folders you listed is of an app, and there are many more apps that create folders on your SDCard, that's just cache or some data, which is not a problem to restore.
-The system will boot. That's the idea of a nandroid backup (if those folders were required, they would have been backed up)
-It will not show error messages, it will resume just like when you made the backuo.
-Something Else? You name it. There is no need to format your SDCard every time you flash a ROM, as usually it doesn't create problems. It can get a bit messy, but besides that, it's fine to keep it the way it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, you're right!
I clicked through the folders on my sdcard and the most directories are named "cache" etc. Only some exceptions for e.g. whatsapp message database or downloaded maps for htc locations ...etc.
So it seems, that the android system and the installed apps create folders for their use. If a nandroid will be created, the last mentioned folder should be backed up, too ... but manually. Thus the first mentioned folders (.data ...) are unnecessary.
You said, that there is no need to format the sdcard everytime a new rom will be flashed. I think it is, because every new rom deserves a clean sdcard, which has no remains from older roms. So the rom can expand themself and have a great feeling
No joke, in my opinion it will be the better way, if there are no possible complications with older existing files.
@@RON said:
Yeah, you're right!
I clicked through the folders on my sdcard and the most directories are named "cache" etc. Only some exceptions for e.g. whatsapp message database or downloaded maps for htc locations ...etc.
So it seems, that the android system and the installed apps create folders for their use. If a nandroid will be created, the last mentioned folder should be backed up, too ... but manually. Thus the first mentioned folders (.data ...) are unnecessary.
You said, that there is no need to format the sdcard everytime a new rom will be flashed. I think it is, because every new rom deserves a clean sdcard, which has no remains from older roms. So the rom can expand themself and have a great feeling
No joke, in my opinion it will be the better way, if there are no possible complications with older existing files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What needs to be cleaned is cleaned when you wipe the phone. Anyway, formatting the SDCard is your choice. Files of apps that are not installed just won't be used. I like your idea of starting fresh, but it's quite a hassle to format and rearrange the SD every time I flash a ROM.
It's nice to have it clean without many directories (Imust say that I managed to reach such a situation with my own documents, with directories I created myself and have no idea what they are for. But I guess that's what you get when you don't clean your "room" for a couple of years.

[Q] TitaniumBackup making wrong folder?

First of all, Im using a nexus 4 and this issue occurs when i install Titanium no matter what rom i am using.
When i install TB, the app works and everything but it doesn't create the Backup folder in /sdcard where all other stuff is like (the music folder, where you put your movies, roms etc etc)
Here is a screenshot of where it creates the backup folder --------> http://imgur.com/Vybd6sY <------ Also i might add, if i delete that folder, it wipes my sd card.
Here is where it creates the backup folder inside "storage" (which doesn't exist until i install TB) http://i.imgur.com/kawfvWb.png inside that folder is http://i.imgur.com/pALplDk.jpg and inside that is http://i.imgur.com/HbvTLc5.jpg
Or am i stupid and this is supposed to happen?
Depending in the Rom this is normal. Different roms set up the built in storage differently. Some do storage some do legacy/storage. This is so you can still use the device while connected to a pc
I'm coming.

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