Various problems and.7.0 Motorola G4plus

[Android Central Question]

Here's all details I can provide. I have restarted various times..

Memory: Average use 1.2Gb (64%) / Total mem 1.8Gb / Free 671Mb
Storage: 40Gb total used of 45.7Gb / AndroidOS / internal shared 7.58 of 10.82Gb / SanDisc SD card 27.35 used of 29.7Gb

Issues:
Whatsapp.. can send and receive text only, but not...
send pic; Sorry, this media file doesn't exist on your SD card
record voice message; Can't set up the recorder now, please try again later.
view photos & view status pics.. Download failed The download was unable to complete. Please try again later.

Camera: error when trying to..
take photo: Camera error Please restart camera
make video; Cannot start video capture

Screenshot: (Android system warning).. Couldn't capture screenshot. Can't save screenshot due to limited storage space.

Instagram: App keeps closing (seems to have stopped after reinstall).

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central!

For the WhatsApp issues:
Is the photo saved to an external SD card or Internal Storage? Does the problem still happen if you use Internal Storage?
Have you checked to make sure WhatsApp has permission to use the Microphone, as well as Storage?
Have you already tried clearing the app cache and data for WhatsApp, then opening it again and logging back in?

For the camera issues:
Does this persist after are reboot? Or in Safe Mode? https://www.motorola-support.com/in-en/?page=device/motorola/moto-g-4th-gen/topic/reset/safe-mode/1

For the screenshot issue:
If your phone is set to save things to the SD card by default, it may be that the card is too full (even though it claims to have 2 GB free). Does the same thing happen if you insert a new SD card?

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

Your phone sounds very full. Usually a device needs at least 10% storage space for files to open and work properly

 

[gnishere]

I joined and thanku for the great advice..
I think you and Kizzy Catwoman are both correct in pointing to a full phone.

Your phone sounds very full. Usually a device needs at least 10% storage space for files to open and work properly

WApp issues.. All was working perfectly up until my first issue which was 'Instagram keeps stoppoing' [to the best of me recollection]. Images are saved to the external storage card I believe. Id like to try using internal storage but I don't know how to switch. Permissions should be fine as it was all functioning fine before. Yes I've tried clearing the cache and data but not opening again and logging back in. I will but before that I'd like to free up some space.
Cam issues.. issues persist after reboot and in safe mode.
Sshot issues.. Yes it seems to be saving all issues to sd card. I don't have a new sd card but can probably get one but before that I'd like to try deleting files from the sd card but i can't.

I've tried various ways to delete files from the sd card but i can't. Via google photos, via downloads/sdcardname/folder/file/delete, via file manager and via cable to 'Android file transfer' on mbp laptop. In each case the file appears to delete but then comes back again inside 10secs thereabouts. (Actually file manager allows me to select the file but pressing delete has no effect). It's rather infuriating. I try every which way and sometimes I think I've found a way t last and I start deleting videos or a large file called zoom.apk for example and every time, that file/s return. Please help me beat this problem! Thanku in advance, Graham.

 

[B. Diddy]

Do you recall if you formatted the SD card as Portable Storage or Internal Storage? Show us a screenshot of the Settings>Storage menu: http://forums.androidcentral.com/ge...ide-how-post-screenshots-android-central.html

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

It does sound as if that sd card is failing if you can't delete files from it as well. It is at least unreliable.

If you did format it as internal storage thus would be the main reason we don't advise it as sd cards can fail and if it is internal storage it messes up the whole system and means the phone needs a total factory reset to repair. If it is external storage then you would need a new sd card and try and copy to move your data to that new card via your PC.

Either way I think your current sd card is toast.

 

[gnishere]

ok, ta muchly.. so I'm researching how to find out if it's formatted as portable or internal.
I remember reading a fair bit on which formatting option I should choose but it's a few years back and I've forgotten.
I'll be interested to find out what I chose.

 

[gnishere]

I don't recall bdiddy. Can't successfully do a screenshot but is this what you wanted to see?

 

[B. Diddy]

I can't quite tell from that screenshot if the SD card was formatted as Internal Storage. What do you see if you tap the SD card option there?

 

[gnishere]

It shows the kinds of media and their tallies.
The menu options shown in the pic would indicate it's formatted as internal?

 

[B. Diddy]

Yes, you're right -- the card is formatted as Internal Storage. As previously mentioned by Kizzy Catwoman, this may very well be why you're seeing these problems. In addition to issues that can arise due to SD cards failing or becoming corrupt, I recall that Moto phones never seemed to implement Adoptable Storage (i.e., the ability to format a card as Internal Storage) very smoothly.

Unfortunately, you're in a bit of a bind, because I'm not sure what will happen to all of your apps if you reformat the card as Portable Storage. If apps are currently installed to the card, that would probably cause them to crash or get uninstalled, with corresponding loss of data. And since your Internal Storage is already relatively full, you may not have much more room to reinstall all of your apps there.

 

[gnishere]

Grim news amigo. Moto never.. even now?
I'm going to try to stay calm.. breath, and move forward with caution.
The last screenshot shows 0 space devoted to app storage.
From that can I assume the sdcard has no apps on it?
If it has no apps, before reformatting I'd imagine I should connect it to my laptop and try to copy across all images and videos.
images and videos are going to be the only really important things right?
And after I have a copy of that stuff I can try a reformat.
Does that sound like a reasonable plan?

 

[Javier P]

Welcome to the forums. Wait. There's a big chance your card was set as external/portable storage. Your settings discriminate internal vs card storage and let you eject the card, these things are not possible if it was formatted as internal/adoptable.

First thing I would go through the individual settings in all your messaging and social media apps. These apps accumulate lots of media files and can take a big chunk of your storage. Do this from each app settings and not from the phone general settings. See how much storage you can free with this.

 

[gnishere]

Thanks Javier, so for example go into wa and then enter a conversation and the start deleting media? especially videos and voice messages.

 

[Javier P]

Thanks Javier, so for example go into wa and then enter a conversation and the start deleting media? especially videos and voice messages.

In WhatsApp, for example, tap the three dots top right, Settings, Storage & Data, Manage Storage and see which chats are first on that list. Select one of them and you can sort files by size and select anything you want to delete (or even all).

 

[gnishere]

Thanks Javier, I'll try it.
Just out of interest, what happens if I eject?

 

[Javier P]

Thanks Javier, I'll try it.
Just out of interest, what happens if I eject?

I wouldn't do that for now, just in case

First I'd try to free as much storage as possible and then see what happens.

 

[gnishere]

This will take more time than vaccinating the planet. Joking. Any chance I could just transfer the files on my sd card to my laptop, buy a new bigger card, format as removable and then copy the files back to my card?

 

[gnishere]

Moto phones never seemed to implement Adoptable Storage (i.e., the ability to format a card as Internal Storage) very smoothly.

What about the current range.. have they got it sorted now? Despite this problem I'm a bit of a moto fan now and intend to buy a new phone in the near future.

 

[Javier P]

What about the current range.. have they got it sorted now? Despite this problem I'm a bit of a moto fan now and intend to buy a new phone in the near future.

In recent devices they have removed the option to set the card as adoptable/internal storage. Finally! You can only use it as portable/external storage, a much safer option.

I've used different Moto G models (OG, 3, 5GS+, 7+) and I've been always happy with their performance. My wife and son still use their G devices and are quite happy with them.