Good Day Folks.
I'm a Noob in need of help and i'm hoping the more experienced among us might be able to assist. I have an issue with disappearing phone storage. Over the course of a week I realized that I was losing about 1MB a day. My phone would basically be dormant and I would still see my storage space dropping by this amount everyday.
Cache cleaning didn't work. Later I realized that Android creates a bunch of log files in Data/System/Dropbox that was responsible for the disappearing phone storage trick I've been seeing for a while now.
I know now that Google has incorporated into Android as of the 2.2 iteration, a DropBox Manager that's responsible for logging all of the events that take place during the course of a running Android session. Everything from what took place at boot to force close details.
I understand that this is used for debugging purposes but I'm no developer . So my question is.... Can this DropBox Manager be disabled....somehow.
I really don't need all these files (and its A LOT OF THEM) being created as they serve no practical purpose for me. Not sure if anyone else might have noticed this but I'm hoping to receive some help. Even if it means pointing me in the right direction so I can work on it myself.
I really don't have a clue on how to start. Any help will be appreciated....Seriously...
Currently using G1 with CM6 Magpie running on EZTERRY's 2.6.34.7 kernel.
Its perfect except for this annoying problem.......
Hm what happens if you rename the directory. It might throw some errors in the logger, but probably won't create anymore files.
I just deleted the content of my dropbox folder, the DropboxManagerService was throwing some errors that he could not open files, but the phone was fine, no FCs or anything.
Renaming the directory just results in a random reboot. My guess is that when Android tries to create a new log, its unable to find the directory and then it just freezes and after a while it reboots. Once restarted it just reappears... I've tried that too.
And its true.. Its ok to delete the files. Its what I do currently. All of those files in Data/System/Dropbox as well as the ones located in Data/Tombstones are ok to delete. As I said, its just used for debugging purposes. Whats really annoying though is that, no matter how many times you delete anything, they just get repopulated just as fast as they're deleted. I'm ok with micro-managing my memory and phone storage (its a G1 after all) but this is ridiculous. It just creates too many of these log files too quickly.
If there was a way to turn the DropBoxManager service off then that would be the end of it all.
What's unusual about it too is that in my particular case, the contents of these text files just have two things listed in them. Pertaining to my online accounts associated with the phone: My Google account and My Whatsapp account...
It just repeats the same thing over and over again. I'm starting to think that the event data might actually be synchronization data or at least synchronization attempts made at regular intervals. But ultimately i'm guessing....
I really don't have a clue... Have you ever heard of anything like this on XDA......possible resolutions of this issue?
epolaris said:
I really don't have a clue... Have you ever heard of anything like this on XDA......possible resolutions of this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not yet .
What about replacing the folder by a symlink to /dev/null ?
You could also try to change permission on the folder.
Ok... I'm a real Noob but I'll take a shot.. When you say symlink what do you mean.
I'm not really familiar with Android at that level yet its really just flashing and such.
But I know a symlink is really just a reference to a location that the OS would interpret and follow (like a pointer i think). So, is it that you're suggesting some sort of redirection where the Data/System/Dropbox directory is pointed to another arbitrary location. Kind of like a creating a dead link that Android is unable to follow up on. Or maybe, redirecting the folder to an entirely new location that Android would then follow. I'm not sure... How do you perform a symlink in Android... I'm willing to try.
You can do it with a console on the phone it self or using adb shell. You need root of course.
You could make a link to another location where you have more space?
Or you change to permissions of that directory to write only.
Or you can mount a different file system to that directory that is read only.
On how to do that just google a bit for linux tutorials on that topic.
I have just googled a bit and it seems you can't symlink directories to /dev/null.
If all that doesnt help post again, there might be an option to make an app delete the files automaticly, first time they get created.
If that would be an option too let me know, im in the mood to program something intresting .
Disabling Android 2.2 DropboxManager [RESOLVED]
I took your advice and did the research you suggested and it worked.
The first thing I tried was changing the permissions on the "Data/System/Dropbox" directory and it worked. But I didn't use CHMOD and console command line to do it.
I have a program called Root Explorer that allows me to permanently change the permissions on any file or folder I select. I set all of the offending folders to read only and the log files stopped being written to those folders.
These are the directories I set to read only:
1. "Data/System/Dropbox"
2. "Data/System/UsageStats"
3. "Data/Tombstones"
Since changing the permissions on these folders my phone storage has stopped dwindling out of control. No additional programming necessary
Disabling the DropBoxMangerService itself is not necessary which is good.
I'm going to take your advice and read up some more on Linux commands (specifically Ubuntu as its what I currently use).
You have been very helpful, thanks for the advice. If you have any ideas about Froyo ROMS (Maybe even Gingerbread ) I should try let me know.
Thanks again....
I have also found these files. They can take MUCH space in memory and nothing seems to delete them. I made the dropbox system folder RO but I think this is a bug. It should be reported to the dropbox team. Is there a bug report form somewhere? I did not find it... Just found the forum, QA,...
[edit]I reported it in the forum... Just see http://forums.dropbox.com/topic.php?id=41227 [/edit]
vax said:
I have also found these files. They can take MUCH space in memory and nothing seems to delete them. I made the dropbox system folder RO but I think this is a bug. It should be reported to the dropbox team. Is there a bug report form somewhere? I did not find it... Just found the forum, QA,...
[edit]I reported it in the forum... Just see http://forums.dropbox.com/topic.php?id=41227 [/edit]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are mistaken: /data/system/dropbox, has NOTHING todo with www.dropbox.com !
See http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/DropBoxManager.html
Dark3n said:
You are mistaken: /data/system/dropbox, has NOTHING todo with www.dropbox.com !
See http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/DropBoxManager.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, just looked at your SD Maid app (looks cool).
So what do you know about /data/system/dropbox? I just read that htc uses the dir to store phone events which is then sent to the htc cloud of spying-on-your-ass. But since non-htc phones have this dir, is htc merely misusing the directory and it has other legit uses, or is this a directory we should try to keep cleaned out?
(I like the idea of changing perms so nothing writes to it if that's the case.)
600 MB additional free storage
Hi all
Just found a smart way to increase your Dropbox account with 600 MB:
1 Sign into your existing Dropbox account (or create a new account)
2 Goto https://www.dropbox.com/free
3 Follow instructions ... and voila 600 MB additional free storage
Mittaa said:
Hi all
Just found a smart way to increase your Dropbox account with 600 MB:
1 Sign into your existing Dropbox account (or create a new account)
2 Goto https://www.dropbox.com/free
3 Follow instructions ... and voila 600 MB additional free storage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yay, nice to see you didn't read the thread at all.
This has nothing todo with dropbox.com
Yea other day I got the SD Maid, and the Pro version after I saw how handy it was. I too on my G1 (with 2.2) see that dropbox folder.. and lately Ive been thinking its causing my G1 to constantly reboot. When I look, it has 300+ files in it. So I clear that folder and seems to stop rebooting for a lil while.
Not sure what the deal is here however, been trying to find out. HOWEVER it only seems to reboot once its connected to the internet, so I am wondering if this is where it tries to upload and so. Not really sure. That and its hard to tell in logcat whats going on before it reboots.
Thanks
Excellent information. This works on my Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro MK16a, Rooted. Thank you so much. My best regards.
Try to change the permisions of the folder, I'm not sure if it would work but you could try ^^
Sent from my GT-I9001 using xda premium
All is ok
All was fine. The permissions :laugh:changed with root explorer. Thank you so much
Note completely disabled but only 1 file in the /data/system/dropbox folder with these Android shell commands (or use Sqlite3 editor):
content insert --uri content://settings/secure --bind name:s:dropbox_max_files --bind value:i:1
Or for Android 4.2+
content insert --uri content://settings/global --bind name:s:dropbox_max_files --bind value:i:1
settings put global dropbox_max_files 1
Reboot.
more dropboxmanager settings:
dropbox_age_seconds
dropbox_max_files
dropbox_quota_kb
dropbox_quota_percent
dropbox_reserve_percent
I've been using the advice from this thread to control this "dropbox" data collection directory for several years now until I updated to 9.0 and found that the folder and default permissions were restored after every reboot. Was irritating bc I can use root to modify /system but no longer have control over my own data partition Something is over-riding my root-user!!!
I tried different apps, TWRP's FM, adb, and almost gave up when init.d scripts wouldn't work either. init.d will work tho. A simple script to run
Code:
#!/system/xbin/sh
busybox rm -f /data/system/dropbox
at boot. You can probably chown and chmod if you want but I just deleted it. Just put it in your init.d folder and make sure you give it the correct permissions (root:shell -755), then immediately perform a soft reboot. Use hardware keys if you have to. You want the phone to go immediately OFF, no spinny wheels or "powering off" notifications. That's the only way I could get rid of the damn thing.
Anyway, I came across this thread while searching for a solution and thought I would add this in case any other paranoids like me are concerned about this mysterious "dropbox" directory. This will probably break any ability for google to troubleshoot your phone but I don't think that's real anyway. It's just spyware as far as I'm concerned.
p.s. (off-topic) Thanks @Dark3n I'm also a frequent SD Maid user btw and in case you happen to read this, I thought I might mention I intended to send a donation via your app the other day (i like to show love when ppl share badass works) but balked at the only available option for "pizza," not bc I don't appreciate it that much but I can afford a little every now and then. If you add a smaller option, "coffee" or beer or whatever, maybe even an outside of googlePlay option, BTC perhaps. I'd be happy to shoot a few dollars at you.
I have installed an Android Application which was developed by the friend of mine. It had installed on my Android phone (HTC G2, with Android 2.2). I need to locate the application forlders, and especially SQLite database which was created along with the application, because I need to copy it to my PC. I did seach on SD card but I did not found it, so I assume it must be on the device RAM, but I really don't know the structure and how the apps are organized. I might suspect the SQLites data filename, but that all I know at the moment.
Can somebody pint me to some utility which will allow to find the database, and the application path, and most of all to copy it to the PC ???
Thanks - Arthur
The database and any other "data" used by the app will be located in /data/data/ then inside a directory that corresponds to the app's package name. If we use the Kindle app as an example, the path to it's data would be: /data/data/com.amazon.kindle
unfortunately I checked this foldeor on RAM as well as SD and couldn't find it. device /data folder is empty, and SD gas some other stuff bot not this App.
aklisiewicz said:
unfortunately I checked this foldeor on RAM as well as SD and couldn't find it. device /data folder is empty, and SD gas some other stuff bot not this App.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I should have also said, you need to be rooted in order to see the contents of the /data directory. Without root access, it will be shown as empty because you do not have permission to view or modify. If your phone is rooted, you can use Root Explorer, Terminal Emulator, or adb to access /data and copy, modify, create, or delete files there.
Thank you for your time. That would explain why I do not see it.
OK, I have HTC G2 from T-Mobile, I think it has Android 2.2
Nothing was changed or updated on this phone since I bough it last fall. I'm not with T-Mobile anymore so I do not wat to mess up with the phone unless I'm really sure what am I doing. The only nice thing is that the phone is unlocked now. The reason I ask those questions is because I am working on some tool, which is a desktop program wchich supposed to sync SQLite data from device to the PC.
What I want to do is to connect the device through USB cable, then have it mapped is it normally does (i.e. drive H. Then access the SQLite file from the desktop application by opening the database through that link and syncing the records. Not sure but I hope this approach would work. If it cannot work that way then eventually I want to copy the SQLite dB file to the PC sync database and then copy it back to the device. I already have a desktop App which work on SQLite localy so now I want to access the device, having the same dB file residing on my android phone instead on my local HD.
What could be the reason that the installed APP doesn't want to move to SD ???
I would appreciate any suggestions...
What is required to root the phone? I've herd there are some risks. Besides I probably have to find some other solutions as none of the App users would want to root their devices (or have a knowledge how to do it).
aklisiewicz said:
Thank you for your time. That would explain why I do not see it.
OK, I have HTC G2 from T-Mobile, I think it has Android 2.2
Nothing was changed or updated on this phone since I bough it last fall. I'm not with T-Mobile anymore so I do not wat to mess up with the phone unless I'm really sure what am I doing. The only nice thing is that the phone is unlocked now. The reason I ask those questions is because I am working on some tool, which is a desktop program wchich supposed to sync SQLite data from device to the PC.
What I want to do is to connect the device through USB cable, then have it mapped is it normally does (i.e. drive H. Then access the SQLite file from the desktop application by opening the database through that link and syncing the records. Not sure but I hope this approach would work. If it cannot work that way then eventually I want to copy the SQLite dB file to the PC sync database and then copy it back to the device. I already have a desktop App which work on SQLite localy so now I want to access the device, having the same dB file residing on my android phone instead on my local HD.
What could be the reason that the installed APP doesn't want to move to SD ???
I would appreciate any suggestions...
What is required to root the phone? I've herd there are some risks. Besides I probably have to find some other solutions as none of the App users would want to root their devices (or have a knowledge how to do it).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Took me a bit to get back to you but figure better late than never...
Here is a good FAQ on rooting among other things specific to the G2(the US variant of the Desire Z). In order to root your G2, this guide looks to be good as he's simplified and automated a good bit of the process, should be safe, and seems to work. You'll need to install the two apps he mentions in step 1 and download the zip file he mentions in step 2 which is attached at the bottom of the post then just follow the instructions.
As for the database stuff, if you end up needing to access the /data directory you'll have to be rooted. Also, moving the app to the sdcard won't really help you with having access to the app's files. Froyo built-in App2SD just moves the apk file to a hidden directory on /sdcard (.android_secure) but the app data, cache and all that stuff will still be on internal memory. But to answer why the app won't move to the sd card, I'm guessing it's because the app itself must allow for it to be moved since by default, an app doesn't have this enabled unless the app dev gives it that ability.
To communicate with the phone, even with root access, you'll probably have to do so through adb commands or use an adb shell to be able to run shell commands on the phone. This would require adb be set up on the user's computer. If you want to play around with adb, there's a nice guide called ADB for Noobs that goes through setting it up and starting out using it. I can't say I've really done anything with SQLite databases on Android and certainly not then syncing it to a computer so I could be off-base or overlooking a workaround.
Thank you for your valuable information. You guys are really great help, and I appreciate your time. I will study the links provided.
In the meantime my main concern is to access SQLite database, as I need to get to the records, or at least be able to copy it back and forth between device an PC. I guess the database file would be something like MyDatabase.db , but I have no cule how to find it and copy it. As you have said it might be in some system protected directory. The main issue is that I will ne a solution which would work on every standard device (no the rooted one), so I need something very easy for the user to setup and follow. I have seen a utility that allow to manipulate SQLite records directly on device, but again thsi tools requires to root the phone (which I'm reluctant to do) because ot the above reasons. If you could help my to resove this I would be very graceful!
Arthur
aklisiewicz said:
Thank you for your valuable information. You guys are really great help, and I appreciate your time. I will study the links provided.
In the meantime my main concern is to access SQLite database, as I need to get to the records, or at least be able to copy it back and forth between device an PC. I guess the database file would be something like MyDatabase.db , but I have no cule how to find it and copy it. As you have said it might be in some system protected directory. The main issue is that I will ne a solution which would work on every standard device (no the rooted one), so I need something very easy for the user to setup and follow. I have seen a utility that allow to manipulate SQLite records directly on device, but again thsi tools requires to root the phone (which I'm reluctant to do) because ot the above reasons. If you could help my to resove this I would be very graceful!
Arthur
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless there is some trick I don't know about you are going to have to be rooted to get access to the database. I found a couple links discussing this: here and here. The second link does mention that the app with the database you want to access could be written to store the database on the sdcard where it would then be accessible but that would be unsecure since anything could read/modify it there.
Thanks, looks like I have to do more research on my own. It is hard to believe for me that Google would not allow to access the same database from different Apps. I've seen there is a Java class ContentProvider which seems to allow that, so I will study this, perhaps it will help. Thank for you help.
Arthur
I wanted to share this app with fellow transformer users since I believe it is a great idea and would really help anybody that owns both an android tablet and phone. I believe the main idea behind this app is to keep your application data in sync between android devices (i.e. Angry Birds progress), but also will sync any files you want. The app is designed sync data from a specific folder location up to dropbox and down to any other device to the same folder location (and vice versa). One of the issues with syncing app data is that you have to know what files are necessary to keep the data in sync. Also, I’m pretty sure both devices will need to be rooted in order to read/write from the data partition. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get it to work both ways between devices, as you can see my comments in the thread. I could get it to upload from my TF to dropbox, and download to my phone, but any changes on my phone would not make it back to the TF, and then my phone would eventually get overwritten with the old data on my tablet. There is definitely a lot of room for improvement. I’m hoping to get more people interested in it, and more people testing it out. Let me know if anyone here can get it to work successfully.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1148612
So, Im trying to address a battery readout issue with the Droid X. The system defaults the owner and group of /pds/public/battd to "mot_accy" (as well as /data/battd). This is causing the daemon to not be able to access the offset data and such, resulting in incorrect battery readouts across the scale.
I wanted to try manually adding the owner and group "mot_accy" to my build and setting root privileges to them, but after much searching, I have not been able to find out how.
Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.
~Spz0
I have an old lg pad 7 running cyanogen 12 that I use to mess around. I have two user accounts; both have root through SuperSu.
I recently discovered that even though both user storage directory mount points are accessible in terminal from both user accounts, this is no longer the case after running su due to the FUSE kernel module.
What I don't understand is that only emulated/0 (the primary user directory) is available with su no matter what account I use to run the terminal. In other words, when I run su from the terminal in the secondary user account, emulated/11 disappears as though I am still using the primary account.
I assume this is a quirk of android multiuser as it was never really intended to be used like this. I'm still curious about what's actually going on and if there is a way to override it. If anyone could explain the issue in greater detail it would definitely be appreciated.