Low Storage Space after Lollipop Update

[erehwon13]

I have just installed the HTC Lollipop update (5.0.1 - 4.16.401.10) on my M8 and it seemed to go fine. Now, a few days later, I keep getting notified that I'm low on space. I don't have much installed on the internal memory (photos, music etc on external card) so I'm confused as to what has happened. I've even wiped my cache partition to make sure it wasn't that.

Settings -> Storage tells me the following:
Apps 11.6GB
Music 42MB
Photos 271MB
Downloads 16MB
Other 3.7GB
Free 345MB

If I use a tool like Memory Map tells me the following about the top level folders:
Android 2.3GB (21.9% of disk)
My Movies Pro (app) 74MB
DCIM 25MB
Free 345MB
Smaller areas that are no more that 100MB in total

My other way of checking is to use SD Card Analyst in ES File Explorer. It tells me:
Total: 10.58
Used: 10.24
Avail: 345MB
But the analysis of each folder only shows 2.3GB for Android, 75MB for My Movies Pro etc, ie the same as Memory Map.

So where is the rest of the 10GB? And can anyone confirm that the ROM takes up about 6GB and I therefore should have about 10GB of user space free to use?

Do I need to do a factory reset to solve this? I don't really want to but will if it is the only answer... (I'll be busy for a while installing all those apps again!)

Any ideas?
Cheers!

 

[Rukbat]

Free 345MB

Which is about the minimum the phone will allow you to get to, because the system uses that amount for itself to store things.

So where is the rest of the 10GB?

Linux. Other things that don't show in mapping. Android, including Linux, can use (depending on the manufacturer and phone) as much as 7 or 8GB all by itself.

And can anyone confirm that the ROM takes up about 6GB and I therefore should have about 10GB of user space free to use?

A 6GB .tar.gz file of the ROM is a compressed file that takes a lot more space when it's uncompressed and installed.

Do I need to do a factory reset to solve this? I don't really want to but will if it is the only answer... (I'll be busy for a while installing all those apps again!)

Back them (and their data) up with Helium and you can reinstall everything in one shot.

Any ideas?

You're not talking about free space on the SD card, are you? The phone doesn't care about that. The only free space that matters is internal space for the system partition and for the user partition (Apps and data).

 

[erehwon13]

Thanks Rukbat. Much appreciated.

Yes, I do mean the internal 'SD card'. So there is 16GB storage in total. As you say, I'd expect Android to take up about 8-10GB, leaving 6-8GB free for user data. It looks like I only have about 2.5GB of user data, so between 3.5-5.5GB is 'lost'.

Do you think a factory reset is worth a go to try and resolve this?

Ta

 

[erehwon13]

Thanks Rukbat. Much appreciated.

Yes, I do mean the internal 'sd card'. Assuming, like you said, that Android takes about 8GB of the 16GB internal storage, then I should have 8GB free for user data. The various tools say I have used about 2.5GB of space for apps etc so about 5.5GB has been 'lost' somewhere. So is the only thing left to try a factory reset to see if that will free the space?

I'll backup with Helium as you suggested. A great tool for people like me!

Ta

My post didn't appear so I rewrote it. Oops!

 

[whitelunchbag]

Settings -> Storage tells me the following:
Apps11.6GB

That's a lot of apps

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Deathunter-M8]

Use an app called Storage Analyser to get detailed info.

Sent from my HTC One M8

 

[Deathunter-M8]

That's a lot of apps

Posted via the Android Central App

Not necessarily, let's take an app like Whatsapp for example, the app size is only around 15MB, however, with time you will see that Whatsapp takes more than 1GB from your storage, as all the photos and videos you send/receive through it are stored on its folder on the device memory.

Sent from my HTC One M8

 

[whitelunchbag]

Well the OP asked where the other 10gb is, so I found it

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[erehwon13]

I don't think the 11.6GB for apps is accurate. Looking at the internal storage with the other apps, it only shows about 2.5GB in the Android folder and not much elsewhere. I think the rest has been lost somehow during the upgrade, so the system has allocated more space to apps, but it isn't really being used. Does that sound feasible?

I'll install Storage Analyzer and see what that says, though I'm having difficulty installing new apps as there isn't enough room! :-(

 

[Deathunter-M8]

I also recommend for you to use Clean Master to remove all unnecessary temporary files from your M8

Just install it, use the JUNK FILES option, it will scan your M8, once the scan is finished it will give a result with the size of junk found and can be removed, tap the CLEAN JUNK button, and it will remove it.

It also has an advance cleaning option, in which it shows you list of the big-size files on your M8, but be aware that it will show files from both the internal and external storages on the same list.

Sent from my HTC One M8

 

[erehwon13]

Clean Master cleaned about 500MB of junk, mostly cache files I think.

Storage Analyzer gave an interesting result. On the normal screen, at the bottom, it says that the internal storage (/emulated/0) has 2.6GB used and 7.9GB free, which is what I think it should be. But... clicking on the pie button on the bottom left, to show the list of partitions, it shows that /emulated/0 is 10.5GB in size and only 700MB free.

It does seem that there is something in that partition maybe in the lost+found folder? Is there any way to see this folder without rooting? The built in File Manager app doesn't show anything.

 

[Deathunter-M8]

If you tap the Pie it will open up for you with details of the content of each pie-partition, you can even get further info. by double tapping a pie-partition.

Side Note:-
The directory emulated/0 is the main page of the internal memory, the built-in File Manager doesn't show directories, that's why it is not clear. If you use something like ES File Explorer it will show you directories and make it more clear.

Sent from my HTC One M8

 

[erehwon13]

Yes, Storage Analyser shows the breakdown of the partition, and shows the size on the Android, DCIM folders etc. It shows 2.5GB used but not where the other data has gone.

The File Manager shows only the /emulated/0 partition but that is where the problem is. I'm coming to the conclusion that I'll need to reformat this. :-(

 

[whitelunchbag]

Go to settings>Storage>make more space>apps and see which apps are taking up all that space

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Ed Briggs]

This is a common problem. You need to reboot into recovery mode and clear the cache.

 

[Deathunter-M8]

Yes, Storage Analyser shows the breakdown of the partition, and shows the size on the Android, DCIM folders etc. It shows 2.5GB used but not where the other data has gone.

The File Manager shows only the /emulated/0 partition but that is where the problem is. I'm coming to the conclusion that I'll need to reformat this. :-(

Android creates 1 or 2 files in the DCIM folder, the files names starts with (thumbnailsdata) and they can reach up to 3GB each, but the space they take are from the partition that can't be used by the user, if you delete them no problems will happen, but you will not get any useable space either, actually, the system will recreate them, so there is no point in deleting them to begin with.

Sent from my HTC One M8

 

[erehwon13]

This is a common problem. You need to reboot into recovery mode and clear the cache.

Hmm. Tried that (twice) and still no luck. Just backing up now...

 

[erehwon13]

Sorry - I've been away and I forgot to close this one out. Just for anyone who gets the same problem.

I did end up factory resetting my phone and I managed to get my lost space back. I've reinstalled my apps (with the help of Helium) and now have 4GB free. IIRC Lollipop took about 8GB of the 16GB available.

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[Murhaf Diab]

Sorry - I've been away and I forgot to close this one out. Just for anyone who gets the same problem.

I did end up factory resetting my phone and I managed to get my lost space back. I've reinstalled my apps (with the help of Helium) and now have 4GB free. IIRC Lollipop took about 8GB of the 16GB available.

Thanks for everyone's help.

i have same problem in my device htc one x, is there any way to delet the others data?, i can,t download any app or update anything

 

[JoshuaRRV Rivera Vanegas]

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