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Hi!
Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, I'm a noob... Well, sort of actually coz even if it's my first public message I've been roaming this forum for quite a while. And thanks to you guys I understood how to root, how to flash a CD Rom and so on. Without disturbing anyone, ain't it nice?:good:
But now I have a question, I couldn't find the answer anywhere on the web hence this post.
I'm rooted on both my Galaxy Mini and my Galaxy Tab P6210 and I noticed that some apks leave files like webview.db, googlestats etc. on the data/data/whateverapk/databases folders.
On the Mini I found how to prevent those annoying files from polluting my system(yep, I don't like cookies and similar spying stuff) by changing the databases folder's perms to --x --- ---, or even sometimes -- --- ---. For the most stubborn apks I rwx --- --- the databases folder, then I erase all the text in the unwanted file and finally I lock the file's perms to --- --- ---. It works with most apks including Dolphin Mini and Opera Mini, cool. Only one or two resist and FC if I attempt to modify too much the perms but it's OK, I don't use then that often and I don't mind to delete the trash manually.
The problem is that on the Galaxy Tab it doesn't work on most apks, it makes them FC. I've tried all the possible perms combinations but nope, FC.
I guess, since the concerned apks are the same on my Mini and on my Tab, that it has to do with the OS, Gingerbread for the Mini, Honeycomb for the Tab. I noticed as well that some of the files on the Tab are different, on the Mini it's mostly googleanalytics.db, webview.db and webviewCache.db files, whereas on the Tab I have, apart from the above mentioned ones, some webview.db-shm, webview.db-wal, webcookieschromium.db and webcookieschromiumprivate.db files.
I guess .db has something to do with dropbox, but I don't use any dropbox, and I even deleted the (empty by the way) folder in my system. When I open those files I can see that they have something to do as well with sqlite, but I don't have any built in sqlite. I have one that has been installed by an apk in the /xbin folder but I erased it and it didn't change anything (don't worry, I put the sqlite back afterwards). It's very annoying, those files spy on us guys, they record all the web sites we visited, the email(s) or facebook accounts we use etc.
For now I have put bookmarks on my home screen and I delete manually the troublesome files just after I opened the relevant apk but hey, it's not very convenient!
Anyone knows how I can prevent them from coming back everytime I use an apk?
Thanks a lot for your help, and sorry for the long post:angel:
Already 3 days and over 50 views but no answer yet, what's wrong?
Is it that my question is of absolute no interest?
Or that the way I explained my problem was not clear?
Or that no one knows how to do it?
Or a bit of the 3?
It seems that you want to remove unnecessary garbage files that have been left out by some applications. I recommend that you use SD Maid, free is good enough, but of course PRO is better.
Anyway, SD Maid can clean File Corpses and clean the system files like the ff:
/data/log
/data/tombstones
/data/system/dropbox
/cache
Temporary Files
Log Files
Gallery Thumbnails(This one can really build up even with just the same files. I'm not exactly sure as to why it adds again and again but it saves me a lot. Like 300~600MB)
Empty Directories
LOST.DIR Directories
It can also optimize DBs. All of these are available on the free version.
As for cookies in browser, you can uncheck "accept cookies" but this might cause some websites to malfunction or not work.
Other things like cache you can use History Eraser, One Tap Cleaner and etc.
Hope I helped.
I think most don't want to delete them because they are normal caches and cookies, also some apps' settings are stored on those database files. I don't see any advantages in deleting those files (apart from saving couple of MBs storage space...) They aren't any "bad" or "spying" files.
By the way, the .db means database, not dropbox.
Sent from my GT-P6210
miksumortti said:
I think most don't want to delete them because they are normal caches and cookies, also some apps' settings are stored on those database files. I don't see any advantages in deleting those files (apart from saving couple of MBs storage space...) They aren't any "bad" or "spying" files.
By the way, the .db means database, not dropbox.
Sent from my GT-P6210
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct me If I'm wrong but it is necessary to clean caches and cookies once in a while because it can hog the device. Sometimes old caches are stored even if they are of no use anymore. It's like the principle of filling up your internal storage too much that you can see a dramatic decrease in performance. These kind of files updates a lot and does not seem to overwrite existing files or at least delete those that are unnecessary. It is not needed however to clean it every after use. Just once or twice a week is good enough.
Thanks for your answer but it's not what I was meaning, let me explain more clearly.
Take any app, say a mp3 cutter. It doesn t need any internet connection to work but when one downloads it one sees that it requires internet access permission. One thinks it s ok and one downloads it. But then in the mp3 cutter databases one finds those webview.db files, and this is why I say that it spies on us coz why this mp3 cutter needs such databases? The same with offline dictionaries, or one tap cleaner (a very bad one by the way, put it through privacy blocker and you ll be amazed of all the infos it takes from you), or mp3 players etc. On browsers like dolphin it s the same story, and when one views those files one sees that they record all the sites one has been through although the apk doesn t need it (I know it for sure coz I delete the files before my browsing cession and it still works). Disabling the cookies doesn t help, it just prevents you from accessing web sites that need cookies like gmail, yahoo and the like. Apps like LBE or privacy blocker show partly what those apks do in our back, taking our IMEI number, our contacts, reading our sms and sending everything to who knows where and for who knows what purpose. But they don t show the databases leaks...
As I said in my first post another parameter is that for a same apk, with the same version, let s say dolphin 2.3, on my Galaxy Mini running GB I managed to block the perms and thus to prevent those files to pollute my system but on my Tab running HC it doesn t work and FC the apks. Plus the files are not the same, there are more of them and with different extensions on HC (again using the same apk on both GB and HC).
So the answer lies somewhere in the OS but I couldn t find where due to my limited knowledge and that s why I m here
Any hint or idea on how to eradicate those files from their source? Of course one can delete them manually and that s what I do but it would be so nice not to have to do it all the time. It s not about saving space, those files weight next to nothing, it s about privacy.
By the way I deleted most google apks and this is already a big relief. Other setting I did include blocking all the perms of the usagestats folder, of the throttle folder (well I just left r--, ---, --- otherwise it bootloops). Download testlogging and you will see for exemple of many spying stuff the google apks put on your tablet...
Anyway, back to the topic:
how can I permanently block those files? Many people on this forum and elsewhere are very concerned with their privacy, to the extend that some create privacy watching apks, but to my knowledge nobody ever bothered about those databases files although they represent a big privacy hole in our systems...
Thanks a lot for your help!
Send from my barebone Galaxy Tab P6210, 34 system apks left and counting down
Apart for some real serious stuff, apps need some way to persist information. If you prevent them to, you should expect fc when they try, no?
That's too much paranoia for me.
Enviado de meu MB525 usando o Tapatalk 2
Graffiti Exploit said:
Correct me If I'm wrong but it is necessary to clean caches and cookies once in a while because it can hog the device. Sometimes old caches are stored even if they are of no use anymore. It's like the principle of filling up your internal storage too much that you can see a dramatic decrease in performance. These kind of files updates a lot and does not seem to overwrite existing files or at least delete those that are unnecessary. It is not needed however to clean it every after use. Just once or twice a week is good enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the caches can get bloated if the app doesn't remove unnecessary things automatically. In that case a clean is ok.
Sent from my GT-P6210
@unclefab
If the mp3 cutter that you mentioned in your example has ads it needs the internet permission for them, and some ad providers make the database files automatically. They just contain some ad web address cache and only "personal" information saved is your language setting, at least from my experience.
And blocking the apps saving the information doesn't help with privacy really much because they can still access the info, they just can't save it in the databases. A malicious app can send the info without saving it too.
Sent from my GT-P6210
leodfs said:
Apart for some real serious stuff, apps need some way to persist information. If you prevent them to, you should expect fc when they try, no?
That's too much paranoia for me.
Enviado de meu MB525 usando o Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree with this one. Messing up with permissions can cause issues to certain applications and it really seems that he is paranoid.
If your concerned about such privacy, you shouldn't download the app on the first place. Although some developers get rid of such permissions because of some people's concern, this is unlikely to happen to every application. HC is a different platform from Gingerbread and so such issues that you have mentioned may occur.
Have you tried firewalls like DroidWall? I'm not sure if it really works, but it might lessen your burden from manually deleting files or privacy concerns like your data being accessed/used. Again, not sure.
Don t worry, I m not paranoid, my Tab is well protected, I have rather intricated settings between Privacy Blocker, LBE (by the way and FYI, LBE conflicts with Droidwall, both can t work together) Rom Tool Box, Logging Test and Permissions denied, so I don t think that any apk can steal any info from me!!!
Actually it s more a matter of principle, why apks like let s say Dolphin or Opera record all the sites I ve surfed, eventhough they don t need to do so (coz they still work after I deleted those files manually). And about the exemple given above, why apks which don t display adds need to have an internet permission and to put such webview.db files in the databases? Of course I m not obliged to download them, and actually I ve already erased many such apks, but for some I don t have any choice, specially for dictionaries (I travel a lot and need such stuff).
Plus it s a matter of curiosity, where the heck lies the source of those files? And why can I block those files easily on GB but not on HC? Yes, it s because the OS is different, I know, but how does it work? I don t know so much about Android OS but I like it and I want to learn more.
So back to the question, how can I tweak my system in order to prevent those files from appearing everytime use an apk? There are enough experts on thsi forum so hopefully someone knows the answer.
And BTW, when I see the difference between GB and HC, I mean more spying from the Google/Android OS, then I feel less eager to upgrade to ICS coz for sure it will get even worse, not to mention JB...
You're not saving passwords in your browsers/webview-based-apps, right?...
Do you mind explaining why webview.db databases have you concerned?
Thanks.
They are saving information from him, that's why. Nothing can save his information, I think that is the point.
Dude relax, there are spy apps, there loggers, but you are blacklisting all webview based ones.
And as some guy told before, if they want to spy you, they don't need to save anything.
But seriously, you don't need to study much on Android OS to known why what you are doing are causing fc. Take any app in any platform that have internal Conf and db files. Corrupt them and mess with permissions, you should get something similar.
Enviado de meu MB525 usando o Tapatalk 2
Thank you for explaining me why they Fc but I had understood it by myself from the very begining, I m what you call a noob but I m not brain dead:silly:
All what I want to know is what generates those files in the OS, and how to prevent it from happening, provided that it s possible.
Apart from that it s ok for me if other people don t mind having files in their databases which record their web activity, and if they don t feel uneasy to know that the more advanced the Android OS the more files there is and the more difficult it is to block them (I said already 2 times that on Ginger Bread I block all those files and that the apks don t FC, which prove that the files are not required by the apks to work normally).
Thanks
I am not calling you noob buddy, but you were trying to solve a problem with no elegance at all.
Contact developers and ask why they are using webview and that you are not comfortable with files it creates. But if you use a program that uses it you have to accept those files, simple.
A lot of details of stuff like webview are API specific so changes version to version. So access of those files may changes on each version of android, as well as file location, name or how to handle errors. So the fact that what you did worked on gb, helps you with no conclusions.
Enviado de meu MB525 usando o Tapatalk 2
I didn t mean thay you (tu) called me a noob but that you in general (vos) call newbies noobs. Sorry for the misunderstanding, it s one of the many limitations of english compated to latin or germanic languages
So it sounds like what I was asking about is impossible to do, well, well, I will see what I can do with apktool, maybe I can change something in the manifest or ressources or I don t know where. Just for info, here s what s insideone of those files when it s newly created and before it starts spying:
SQLite format 3@
-� g
�� �k �6 � ` � ��" �tablepasswordpassword CREATE TABLE password (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, host TEXT, username TEXT, password TEXT, UNIQUE (host, username) ON CONFLICT REPLACE)/
C indexsqlite_autoindex_password_1password �+ �)tablehttpauthhttpauth CREATE TABLE httpauth (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, host TEXT, realm TEXT, username TEXT, password TEXT, UNIQUE (host, realm) ON CONFLICT REPLACE)/C indexsqlite_autoindex_httpauth_1httpauth
�" �tableformdataformdataCREATE TABLE formdata (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, urlid INTEGER, name TEXT, value TEXT, UNIQUE (urlid, name, value) ON CONFLICT IGNORE)/C indexsqlite_autoindex_formdata_1formdataR}tableformurlformurlCREATE TABLE formurl (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, url TEXT)J%cindexcookiesIndexcookiesCREATE INDEX cookiesIndex ON cookies (path)�� tablecookiescookiesCREATE TABLE cookies (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT, value TEXT, domain TEXT, path TEXT, expires INTEGER, secure INTEGER)W--ctableandroid_metadataandroid_metadataCREATE TABLE android_metadata (locale TEXT) ��en_GB
@unclefab
Even if the webview.db has always all the fields it doesn't mean they need to have a value or string. For example the "password" field is almost always emtpy.
Sent from my GT-P6210
A little old, but worth the reading:
forensicsferret.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/android-browser-forensics/
Sent from my GT-P6210 using Tapatalk 2
Why would I use such apks?
I said it already, it s because I need them. I deleted some and replaced them by similar apks more privacy friendly, but for some I don t have any choice. For exemple browser. I managed to lock the perms on opera mini and it still works but you know opera mini, on some sites it doesn t display correctly so I have to use dolphin whose perms can t be locked. Talking about it I will try boat browser, it s not as good as dolphin but if it doesn t have those files it could be a solution...
Same stories with dictionaries. I m a language teacher who lives in asia and I need far eastern languages dictionaries. Try to find a thai english or thai indonesian dictionary which can work without those files... BTW if you are interested I found a good english chinese which works without any .db garbage;-)
Thanks for the links, interesting article, some food for thoughts...
As you may know there is a spyware linked to the my Xperia App that seems to be affected alot of Xperia Z3 users (Maybe all of us). It's creating a baidu folder and it seems that no matter what you do is coming back, worst, it's sending info to a server in China.
There is currently another thread in the Z3 Compact Forum, but I'm posting this here for all of us that never goes over there , http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3-compact/general/spyware-preloaded-z3-phones-baidu-t2921634/post56366715#post56366715.
I've been following the instructions over there but as you will see, it's not working as expected for me, it's even mentioned that it may be linked to ES File Explorer (I do have that installed) but I've also removed ES and still doesn't work.
Please check your Z3s and see if you have the baidu folder, if you do, you're also infected.
erasat said:
As you may know there is a spyware linked to the my Xperia App that seems to be affected alot of Xperia Z3 users (Maybe all of us). It's creating a baidu folder and it seems that no matter what you do is coming back, worst, it's sending info to a server in China.
There is currently another thread in the Z3 Compact Forum, but I'm posting this here for all of us that never goes over there , http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3-compact/general/spyware-preloaded-z3-phones-baidu-t2921634/post56366715#post56366715.
I've been following the instructions over there but as you will see, it's not working as expected for me, it's even mentioned that it may be linked to ES File Explorer (I do have that installed) but I've also removed ES and still doesn't work.
Please check your Z3s and see if you have the baidu folder, if you do, you're also infected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There seems to be very little information about what is responsible for the folder creation, and what, if any, malware is on the phones. All I see is breathless speculation about "infecting" and "sending data to china". If true then Sony has something to answer for, but I've not seen anything approaching a sensible analysis of what data is being sent, what app is producing it etc. But by all means, delete the empty folder if you like!
poldie said:
There seems to be very little information about what is responsible for the folder creation, and what, if any, malware is on the phones. All I see is breathless speculation about "infecting" and "sending data to china". If true then Sony has something to answer for, but I've not seen anything approaching a sensible analysis of what data is being sent, what app is producing it etc. But by all means, delete the empty folder if you like!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not an empty folder, it has data and when you look at it they are databases, it may look as paranoid but given that the only information we have right now is that it's sending data to China servers, I don't feel too comfortable just working with the phone as I was before knowing that.
Most of us have mostly replaced our Computers and Laptops with our Smartphones, that means that every connection I do to check and do Financial stuff have been done over my smartphone for quite some time now. Even worst, I have lastpass installed with all my personal and office passwords on it (it's encrypted both ways) because as a System manager I need to deal with a couple of dozens Office passwords and information plus my personal ones and at 42, that's not a possible task anymore without any help.
For those of you interested in block this, it seems that the instructions that you can find in the link works, my problem was that I had the my Xperia app activated as a Device Administrator, that was preventing everything from work.
Hi all.
I'm after quite specific need but would like to know more general answer / solution if possible at all.
I know that wihtout being rooted there's not much one can do with system folders, but still, there are some ways and tricks to get to them, one of them being Backup option provided by android, using ADB shell.
I'm after specific file, that is /data/data/com.android.mms/shared_prefs/com.android.mms.categoryInfo.xml
Using Htc One M8, stock rom, I've tried to do adb backup of com.android.mms application, but all I got was 1kb (actually 41 bytes) sized file, which contains nothing.
I wonder, is there any other way to get to the specific system app folder, if you're NOT rooted?
Any help would be highly appreciated.
Additional info: I'm after that file because it has stored Secure message box password in Plain text. My phone is about to go to the service due to several issues, including battery getting way overheated when used, and not charging over 25% at all, and the only thing left to make a backup is the secure box storage, which I used as an "Other inbox" folder in order to have the main Inbox a bit more "clean", and I know I've set it to something stupid and short, and I've accessed them not long ago, but for the f's sake I can't get in the folder anymore (and I'm highly betting that after several attempts even the real password is no longer accepted, and that being the reason I can't figure out the pass by trying, but there's nowhere info it thats true, and if so, how long to wait before real one would be accepted etc...)
Big thanks if anyone could help out, if not - not gonna be the end of the world. But would kinda like to store some of the messages that are newer than my latest backup...
Cheers!
cucolino said:
Hi all.
I'm after quite specific need but would like to know more general answer / solution if possible at all.
I know that wihtout being rooted there's not much one can do with system folders, but still, there are some ways and tricks to get to them, one of them being Backup option provided by android, using ADB shell.
I'm after specific file, that is /data/data/com.android.mms/shared_prefs/com.android.mms.categoryInfo.xml
Using Htc One M8, stock rom, I've tried to do adb backup of com.android.mms application, but all I got was 1kb (actually 41 bytes) sized file, which contains nothing.
I wonder, is there any other way to get to the specific system app folder, if you're NOT rooted?
Any help would be highly appreciated.
Additional info: I'm after that file because it has stored Secure message box password in Plain text. My phone is about to go to the service due to several issues, including battery getting way overheated when used, and not charging over 25% at all, and the only thing left to make a backup is the secure box storage, which I used as an "Other inbox" folder in order to have the main Inbox a bit more "clean", and I know I've set it to something stupid and short, and I've accessed them not long ago, but for the f's sake I can't get in the folder anymore (and I'm highly betting that after several attempts even the real password is no longer accepted, and that being the reason I can't figure out the pass by trying, but there's nowhere info it thats true, and if so, how long to wait before real one would be accepted etc...)
Big thanks if anyone could help out, if not - not gonna be the end of the world. But would kinda like to store some of the messages that are newer than my latest backup...
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes and not.
if you don't have root access, you can not copy an application from the system folder, to make this the ADB would need root permissions. but....
You can download the stock rom, and copy/extract/edit the app you need it.
xdedeone said:
Yes and not.
if you don't have root access, you can not copy an application from the system folder, to make this the ADB would need root permissions. but....
You can download the stock rom, and copy/extract/edit the app you need it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually no, if the file is user specific, as in my case, the help of stock rom's file is not gonna help.
Anyway, SOLVED now.
As per this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2054401
The backup of the app was made and got the file. I've done the same thing without success, because on HTC, the messaging app is com.htc.sense.mms and NOT com.android.mms.
Therefore creating backup of the com.htc.sense.mms did result kin getting exactly what I needed.
In the extraction of the tar .ab archive using dd in linux, I got folder app, within there is a folder com.htc.sense.mms, wihtin there's a folder sp, and there is com.htc.sense.mms.categoryInfo.xml which has the secure box password stored in plaintext.
Voila! )
I have enabled Work Profile on my Samsung phone using Shelter app.
Recently, I noticed that there is a folder called Chamber (see attachment) in the Work Profile, and I'm unable to delete it. I have tried deleting it in Safe Mode too, but it refuses to get deleted.
I can't delete it from my PC because this is inside the Work Profile, which is inaccessible using a PC.
I don't have this folder on my other devices where I have enabled Work Profile using the same Shelter app.
Does anyone know which app this folder is associated with and how to force delete it?
TheMystic said:
I have enabled Work Profile on my Samsung phone using Shelter app.
Recently, I noticed that there is a folder called Chamber (see attachment) in the Work Profile, and I'm unable to delete it. I have tried deleting it in Safe Mode too, but it refuses to get deleted.
I can't delete it from my PC because this is inside the Work Profile, which is inaccessible using a PC.
I don't have this folder on my other devices where I have enabled Work Profile using the same Shelter app.
Does anyone know which app this folder is associated with and how to force delete it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it is associated to an app, deleting the folder is pointless unless you uninstall/disable the app that it is associated to, otherwise, it will just keep recreating the folder.
Droidriven said:
If it is associated to an app, deleting the folder is pointless unless you uninstall/disable the app that it is associated to, otherwise, it will just keep recreating the folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's true. But it doesn't seem to be associated with any app, or let's say I haven't figured it out yet. I have uninstalled many of the suspected apps in Work Profile, but it continues to remain intact. The folder seems to have been created around the time I installed the Work Profile, and most of the apps that are currently installed were installed much later.
TheMystic said:
That's true. But it doesn't seem to be associated with any app, or let's say I haven't figured it out yet. I have uninstalled many of the suspected apps in Work Profile, but it continues to remain intact. The folder seems to have been created around the time I installed the Work Profile, and most of the apps that are currently installed were installed much later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The it might be part of Work Profile itself.
Droidriven said:
The it might be part of Work Profile itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it is not. I have Work Profile enabled in two other phones (both running on Android 13), and this folder isn't present in those devices.
TheMystic said:
No, it is not. I have Work Profile enabled in two other phones (both running on Android 13), and this folder isn't present in those devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it isn't part of Work Profile and isn't associated to the apps installed in work profile, that only leaves the possibility that it is part of something not installed in Work Profile. You seem to have eliminated all other options, that is all that remains.
The other devices may have the same Android version installed but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are all equal, different devices do different things, even with the same Android version because each manufacturer and carrier puts their own stuff on top of stock android, yeilding different results from one device to the next. It could be something device specific that caused the folder to be created when Work Profile was installed/enabled. Something device specific that doesn't apply to the other devices, if those devices are different than the device you are dealing with.
Droidriven said:
If it isn't part of Work Profile and isn't associated to the apps installed in work profile, that only leaves the possibility that it is part of something not installed in Work Profile. You seem to have eliminated all other options, that is all that remains.
The other devices may have the same Android version installed but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are all equal, different devices do different things, even with the same Android version because each manufacturer and carrier puts their own stuff on top of stock android, yeilding different results from one device to the next. It could be something device specific that caused the folder to be created when Work Profile was installed/enabled. Something device specific that doesn't apply to the other devices, if those devices are different than the device you are dealing with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have another Samsung phone (with Work Profile enabled) to confirm. The other two devices are OnePlus and iQOO. It is not there on Redmi K50i either.
The name of the folder is quite unique. Let's hope someone can confirm if this is indeed a Samsung OneUI thing.
TheMystic said:
I don't have another Samsung phone (with Work Profile enabled) to confirm. The other two devices are OnePlus and iQOO. It is not there on Redmi K50i either.
The name of the folder is quite unique. Let's hope someone can confirm if this is indeed a Samsung OneUI thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did various searches pertaining to "chamber" folder, I didn't find a single search result that even mentions a folder by that name or what app or stock feature it may or may not be associated to.
It might be some kind of Samsung security feature to create a separate, secure partition when you installed/enabled Work Profile. Or it may be because of how Samsung handles that kind of app. I could very easily be completely wrong, without familiarity with Work Profile and without finding definitive information or having the device in my own hands to investigate deeper, I can only guess or go with gut instincts tugging at the back of my mind of potential causes
Droidriven said:
I did various searches pertaining to "chamber" folder, I didn't find a single search result that even mentions a folder by that name or what app or stock feature it may or may not be associated to.
It might be some kind of Samsung security feature to create a separate, secure partition when you installed/enabled Work Profile. Or it may be because of how Samsung handles that kind of app. I could very easily be completely wrong, without familiarity with Work Profile and without finding definitive information or having the device in my own hands to investigate deeper, I can only guess or go with gut instincts tugging at the back of my mind of potential causes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no such folder in the Main Profile, so one can safely rule out an association with any system app that automatically got installed in the Work Profile.
There is no such folder inside the Secure Folder too, which is actually very secure. So a security related aspect can be ruled out in my opinion.
.
There is no system app by that name either. At this point, it is a dead end to tracing the source of this (empty) folder.
TheMystic said:
There is no such folder in the Main Profile, so one can safely rule out an association with any system app that automatically got installed in the Work Profile.
There is no such folder inside the Secure Folder too, which is actually very secure. So a security related aspect can be ruled out in my opinion.
.
There is no system app by that name either. At this point, it is a dead end to tracing the source of this (empty) folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know, this still feels like it has something to do with Samsung's secure folder feature, whether in the secure folder or not or maybe Knox. Without giving anything away, what is in your secure folder. The fact that it is doing this on your Samsung but not the others is speaking to me. It just feels like something Samsung would do
Droidriven said:
I don't know, this still feels like it has something to do with Samsung's secure folder feature, whether in the secure folder or not or maybe Knox. Without giving anything away, what is in your secure folder. The fact that it is doing this on your Samsung but not the others is speaking to me. It just feels like something Samsung would do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Secure Folder on Samsung Galaxy devices is basically a separate user profile (multiple users) with advanced Knox security. I have my banking apps, password manager, authenticators, and other apps installed in it. It is also where I save some important/ private files.
The benefit of Secure Folder (on Samsung Galaxy devices) and Work Profile (on all devices) over other 'multiple users' is the ease of accessing apps in them. Secure Folder and Work Profile are just a special type of multiuser whose apps can be easily launched from the main profile itself. Notifications for apps in these profiles are accessible from the main profile too.
But with all other multiusers, one has to 'exit' the main profile to get into the mulitiuser environment, which takes a few extra seconds. Notifications from the main profile are not accessible in multiuser, and vice-versa.
The Work Profile is a very convenient 'multiuser', which is why I enable it on all my devices. Samsung OneUI has disabled the 'multiuser' feature of Android, so this is another reason why I enabled the Work Profile. On stock Android and also most OEM Android versions, user can setup a maximum of 5 multiusers, in addition to the main profile.
But on Samsung Galaxy devices, user can only have the main profile, Secure Folder and Work Profile (max 3 users). Not sure why Samsung has removed this useful feature. They allowed multiusers in Samsung OneUI 5 Beta, but removed it from the Stable builds for some unknown reasons.
As already lined out in this Post I have a big problem with my storage. I can not find what is taking up so much space. It is really becoming a problem now that HALF of my storage is taken by this. I rooted my phone now to dig deeper, but no success so far. I tried using adb shell with
Code:
du -hd 1 -H . 2> /dev/null | sort -n -r
(but somehow it does not sort correctly by size??). I appended screenshot of the /data folder. The 58GB ./media is my legit data, so thats fine. But what are the 44GB combined from ./user ./data ./user_de? Inside there are just folders named "10" or some other numbers. At the bottom of it just lots of android folders (second screenshot)
I just dont know what to do any more. Please help and/or direct me to someone who can help here.
p.S.: Completely wiping the phone will probably work, but I want to avoid that. Also this will happen again if I dont find the root cause of this issue.
Have you enabled system logs or system tracing under Developer Options? Disable logs as the 1st step. If you have a folder called OnePlus on your internal storage, look for what's there inside it, and delete it.
User 10, 11, 12.... are either dual apps, work profile or multiple users, if you have enabled any.
Thx for helping!
I did not find any folder called oneplus located in the root directory "/". Or is it located somwhere deeper? When I connect my phone and opening the "internal storage" via mtp there is also no oneplus folder. I am on lineage os btw, maybe that changes things
I do have a workprofile, so that makes sense
My phone is german so its hard to find settings described in english. The only options I found (loosley translated) are "Logging-buffersize" set to 256000, "permanently save loging data on device" set to disabled, under Autofill "loginglevel" set to disabled
I also found "activate detailed logging" vie settings search but when I click on it, it just puts me to the developeroptions without highlighting anything. This option is not existing there. Strange. This seems like exactly what would cause the most logging I guess
asko32 said:
Thx for helping!
I did not find any folder called oneplus located in the root directory "/". Or is it located somwhere deeper? When I connect my phone and opening the "internal storage" via mtp there is also no oneplus folder. I am on lineage os btw, maybe that changes things
I do have a workprofile, so that makes sense
My phone is german so its hard to find settings described in english. The only options I found (loosley translated) are "Logging-buffersize" set to 256000, "permanently save loging data on device" set to disabled, under Autofill "loginglevel" set to disabled
I also found "activate detailed logging" vie settings search but when I click on it, it just puts me to the developeroptions without highlighting anything. This option is not existing there. Strange. This seems like exactly what would cause the most logging I guess
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
System size increasing and occupying pretty much the entire internal storage is a known problem on OnePlus phones. The reason for it is almost always logs. User somehow enables logging by mistake and it ends up eating into all available free space.
It's been a while since I played around with these things, so unable to tell you very specific info on how to disable it. But if you search on the internet, there are quite a few posts on how to disable logging (there is some combination of dialer codes that will disable logging).
See if these posts help:
OnePlus Community
Introducing our new OnePlus Community experience, with a completely revamped structure, built from the ground-up.
community.oneplus.com
OnePlus Community
Introducing our new OnePlus Community experience, with a completely revamped structure, built from the ground-up.
community.oneplus.com
https://www.reddit.com/r/oneplus/comments/mgy7br
Thx for sharing this.
I think this worked at least a little. Down from >50GB system data to 35.1GB. But I deleted some appdata simultaniously so I dont know if it can come from that.
The 800 dial thingy isnt working for me since I am on LineageOS (MMI-Code not found) which has all the oneplus logging disabled. At least the packages are not existent on my phone.
To summarize I've got myself some breathingroom again storagewise. But I am not really satisfied and think its not solved in the long term. I wonder which systemdata size would be normal for a new OP6.
Marking this as solved as my problem at least got better.
Thx a lot for helping!