Low on Space message

[parfu]

Saw a related post which had the tip of clearing cache on apps and browser. I started going through my apps and clearing cache and data for little used apps. Also opted for moving internet cache to SD card.

In middle of process the low space alert went away and my Gmail finally pushed through after 2-3 days of inablility.

Fingers crossed it sticks.

 

[crdolan13]

I have been having the same problem. I deleted all of my text messages (I had a lot) and the message went away. Im hoping that this works.

 

[SubMatrix]

The low space error comes from a special partition located at /data/data. This is separate from the normal partition that you can write to, and is the reason why you can get this low space message even when you check your phone storage and it says you still have a lot of space remaining.

If you are rooted, download Root Explorer (basically like Astro but with root privileges) and navigate to /data/data. Notice that the size of this partition is like ~115 MB. If the available space remaining in this partition drops below 15MB, you get the low space warning. I believe if it drops below 10MB, you get the out of space warning.

The problem is you cannot directly use Root Explorer to determine which app is writing huge amounts of data to /data/data. Thus, I use a program called aCCleaner, which can quickly tell you what the culprit app is. I believe you want to check what is in the "Data" field under each app. From here, you can then clear the data on this app directly I think.

 

[RoninPaz]

Low space solution

Not sure if anyone has answered this yet, but I had the same problem and the solution is actually simple. Even thought the prompt takes you to app manager, it has nothing to do with that. Its your text messages. Clear you texts and memory issue goes away. I went through mass amount of head ache to figure that out. I even deleted half of my favorite apps. I wish I would have figured it out sooner.

 

[crdolan13]

I deleted my text messages but the message came back a few hours later. However, my roommate helped me figure out the problem. Look at your apps (Especially Facebook) and check the size. If they are over about 5 MB try selecting the app and then select clear data. My Facebook app was at about 44 MB but now it is back down to a normal level. I havent seen the message in about a week. This works!

 

[bobarry]

Memory low - there is no sure fix!! I give up1

I've read everything I can and tried everything and cannot find a solution.

I have read about using root privileges and looking at a data/data partition. However I haven't read what files to delete in that partition, if I do the root thing. Is that the ONLY way that always works??

I looked at my DI connected to my Ubuntu Linux computer, thinking I could at least see the drive/partition with the data/data partition - but had no luck.

Here's my memory setup (today). SD card 1.86GB, 279MB available. Internal memory 6.6GB, 6.13GB available. Phone memory 748MB, 514MB free. 192 apps installed. (I've seen reports some have over 200 apps with no problems)

1. Seeing my buddy's DI, with more space available on the SD, and a lot less in internal memory, and 450MB free in phone memory - I moved a lot of the programs from the SD to internal. NO FIX.
2. I tried two of the CACHE cleaners and they worked temporarily sometimes. NO FIX.
3. I deleted the history in the internet browser and it helped for a bit. NO FIX.
4. I looked at the running SERVICES, and stopped some, including Skype. NO FIX
5. I cleaned out the Facebook data/cache and it fixed for a while only. NO FIX.
6. I did de-frag the SD card which needed it bad. Maybe I picked up a bit of speed, but that's all.
7. I don't have any excessively large data or cache files anywhere.

Has anyone been able to get any 'words of wisdom' from the HTC idiots that can't design a computer properly?

Has anyone come up with a way that actually works all the time. OTHER THAN A COMPLETE RESET, RE-INSTALL?

I wouldn't mind doing the reset thing if I could make it painlessly. I have the MyBackupPro app and it goofed up a bit when I tried to restore some files. It may work OK for a complete restore though.

In the meantime, I'm just ignoring the low memory icon.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. I still love my incredibleDroid despite its quirk.

Bo

 

[SM.Redneck]

It has been 12 days since I installed Android Assistant error free, so far. I think the app may clear the cache on it's own, 'cause Facebook and K9 Mail cache's have stayed small. When I first installed and ran the cleaner Facebook was over 40mb and k9 was at just over 10mb. When i check them now, neither has shown above 2mb's. Will keep you posted as time goes on, as to how this progresses.

 

[bobarry]

The low space error comes from a special partition located at /data/data. This is separate from the normal partition that you can write to, and is the reason why you can get this low space message even when you check your phone storage and it says you still have a lot of space remaining.

If you are rooted, download Root Explorer (basically like Astro but with root privileges) and navigate to /data/data. Notice that the size of this partition is like ~115 MB. If the available space remaining in this partition drops below 15MB, you get the low space warning. I believe if it drops below 10MB, you get the out of space warning.

The problem is you cannot directly use Root Explorer to determine which app is writing huge amounts of data to /data/data. Thus, I use a program called aCCleaner, which can quickly tell you what the culprit app is. I believe you want to check what is in the "Data" field under each app. From here, you can then clear the data on this app directly I think.

It sounds like you may have found a solution, but you didn't sound like you had actually done it and succeeded. How about your results and maybe some more details and I'll try it.

Thanks
Bo

 

[bobarry]

It has been 12 days since I installed Android Assistant error free, so far. I think the app may clear the cache on it's own, 'cause Facebook and K9 Mail cache's have stayed small. When I first installed and ran the cleaner Facebook was over 40mb and k9 was at just over 10mb. When i check them now, neither has shown above 2mb's. Will keep you posted as time goes on, as to how this progresses.

It looks like a slick app but didn't find much to clean out for me.
Bo

 

[CannibalAngel]

Just checking back. I still have not found a solution to this issue. Everything I try seems to work for a few minutes then it's back to low on space. I have, however, not gotten the low on space message since I re-rooted my phone. Interesting...

 

[SubMatrix]

The low space error comes from a special partition located at /data/data. This is separate from the normal partition that you can write to, and is the reason why you can get this low space message even when you check your phone storage and it says you still have a lot of space remaining.

If you are rooted, download Root Explorer (basically like Astro but with root privileges) and navigate to /data/data. Notice that the size of this partition is like ~115 MB. If the available space remaining in this partition drops below 15MB, you get the low space warning. I believe if it drops below 10MB, you get the out of space warning.

The problem is you cannot directly use Root Explorer to determine which app is writing huge amounts of data to /data/data. Thus, I use a program called aCCleaner, which can quickly tell you what the culprit app is. I believe you want to check what is in the "Data" field under each app. From here, you can then clear the data on this app directly I think.

It sounds like you may have found a solution, but you didn't sound like you had actually done it and succeeded. How about your results and maybe some more details and I'll try it.

Thanks
Bo

In fact I have done exactly as I described to fix this problem 2-3 times. Usually the culprit, in my specific case, is Dolphin. aCCleaner tells me this. I then simply go into Dolphin's settings and clear the data.

The suggestions I gave for using Root Explorer are simply to see why the low space message comes up. It's so people understand why the phone is giving you that message. It thinks it is running out of space on its /data/data partition, and it is. People just get confused because they'll check their total storage space and it'll look like they have tons of space left.

 

[bobarry]

Thanks a lot for the explanation! I thought there was a way to clean up IN THE DATA/DATA partition as root. But the solution is to delete DATA in the apps, using 1TapCacheCleaner or similar.

Knowing which data to kill is the secret! I've killed my contacts and browser links by mistake so far. But killing the data in other programs has fixed things for a while each time.

It's a shame our "incredible" has to live with this poor partitioning error. Why my browsing links, for example, have to remain in live program memory all the time instead of the big 6GB space is beyond me.

Thanks for all the info/tips/etc.

Bo

 

[SubMatrix]

yeah I'm not really sure what is actually causing Dolphin's data to balloon. Are you suggesting its the browsing history? This is quite possible.

 

[parfu]

Read some related posts (Dreaded Low Space Message & Possible Solutions to Low Space Message). Many suggest drastic changes that I'm not ready to do yet. I still think it's a system glitch so I just made a couple of tweeks:

1) I went into menu, settings, accounts & sync and opted out of Background data as well as changing manage accounts settings to turn off those I'm not as interested in (though I actually did it in reverse order so I think the opt out would have turned off all the accounts).

2) also went to menu, settings, applications, manage applications and moved my Dolphin Browser to my SD card. I guess I had only moved the Cache last time I was in there.

As usual, since I did 2 different changes I'm not sure which one made the message go away this time. I'll alert if it comes back.

 

[parfu]

the low space msg came back the other day. I did reactivate the background data option but it was several days before the msg came back. Today I can't even get my Gmail to refresh on my phone.

I stopped at the local VZW store to look at upgrade choices and asked the dude about this problem. He said that EVERY phone he's seen with this msg problem has been running Lookout. He suggested uninstalling it. I can't recall if he said I'd also need to do a hard reset but I'm not sure I want to deal with that part. I may go ahead and uninstall Lookout and see what happens. Maybe that is where the glitch comes from and not VZW. Maybe.