35
votes
How can I view the Android internal partition table?
I usually use a combination of the following 4 commands and correlate them, since each of these commands gives a piece of the information that might be needed.
Summarily:
Using df lists the ...
- 1,033
30
votes
Accepted
Which filesystem does Android attach to the root directory?
There is no singularly defined "Android" filesystem, so this can vary between devices. Any FS that the kernel can load drivers for is basically fair game.
By and large, you'll almost certainly find ...
- 36.5k
25
votes
Where Android apps store data?
Some major changes occurred to storage in Android 4.4 (see Android's Storage Journey). So the following is generally true for Android 4.4+ and particularly 6+.
This is from my detailed answer to How ...
- 17.7k
21
votes
Accepted
Some folders and files not showing up on PC when connected via USB
This is a known issue. Go to app manager and find 'external storage' and 'media storage' and clear data and cache for them, then reboot, and wait up to 10 minutes and then connect to PC via USB.
...
- 1,702
19
votes
Best file system for an external SD card
The answer to your question is built into your phone's OS.
1. Put the SD card in your phone
2. Reformat the SD card with your phone(Settings --> Storage/Storage & USB)
3. The file system on the ...
- 606
18
votes
Accepted
adb push not working on /system, read only
The sequence of commands that worked for me was
adb root
adb disable-verity
adb reboot
adb root
adb remount
If I don't reboot, remount does not succeed.
- 381
13
votes
How to share files between regular account and work account?
It might not always be possible to transfer data between multiple users/profiles. It depends on the Device/Work Policy Controller app, installed by you or your IT admin.
Android device can be managed ...
- 17.7k
12
votes
Accepted
How to disable dm-verity on Android with "user" build type ROM?
I'm going to give a general overview of how dm-verity and related things work on Android according to my limited knowledge. Situation might differ on different devices and ROMs.
HOW IS DM-VERITY ...
- 17.7k
11
votes
Accepted
How apps write data into file-system on non-rooted device?
The Android system does not have the conventional /etc/passwd storage for users and groups. In android, user and groups are used to isolate processes and grant permissions. The Android system creates ...
- 811
10
votes
Where on the file system are SMS messages stored?
Looks like it moved to data/User_DE/0/com.android.providers.telephony/databases with Nougat.
At least, this is where it can be found on my Nexus 6. Hope this helps.
- 101
9
votes
What's the Android equivalent of /etc/fstab?
I realize that this is an old topic, but some of the answers here actually hindered my efforts to learn about fstab and Android because they so strongly imply that the fstab situation in Android is ...
- 191
9
votes
How to decrypt the corrupt SD card formatted as internal storage?
Even it does not fully answer the question, here's a guide to decrypt the external storage formatted as internal. You do need to be root on your phone, however.
The gist is that we search for strings ...
- 361
9
votes
Why my DCIM folder is empty seen in the computer but not empty in the phone
For accessing your Android device via USB in "File Transfer" mode your computer uses the MTP protocol. This protocol allows to list and read/write the files from/to your device.
What most ...
- 15.8k
9
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to change file permissions on Android's internal storage?
On all operating systems based on Linux kernel - like Android is - it's possible to set permissions on files (including directories) provided that filesystem supports UNIX permissions (uid, gid, mode)....
- 17.7k
8
votes
How can I view the Android internal partition table?
Old thread but found something nobody else has mentioned... just in case anyone finds it useful.
ls -la /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name
The directory contains named symlinks to all the partitons.
8
votes
How to find out which file system is used by my device?
DiskInfo displays this information (among other things) when you select a partition to view its details. Works with the internal partitions on my Nexus 5, but should also support external SD cards and ...
- 36.5k
8
votes
Cannot find where Google Play Music stores downloaded files (different from similar posts)
In the settings of Google Play Music, if you have it set to cache on the external SD card, your cache location will be /external_sd/Android/data/com.google.android.music/files/music/.
If you have it ...
- 22.5k
8
votes
Why is there no option to choose size in TWRP's resize partition feature?
First to clarify, Resize Partition is different than Resize File System, TWRP provides latter option. It resizes the ext2/3/4 filesystem to the size of partition it's created on. Filesystem size can ...
- 17.7k
8
votes
Accepted
How can I enable last_kmsg?
Back in 2012, /proc/last_kmsg (1) used to be a dump of kernel console messages, exported after reboots by Android's ram_console functionality (CONFIG_ANDROID_RAM_CONSOLE), which used persistent_ram (...
- 17.7k
8
votes
Accepted
How can I know if fstrim was run when I put my phone on charging over night?
A charging, idle device over night is not the only way to run fstrim, there are other ways too.
What this old article quotes about scheduled fstrim on Android:
The Android framework will send out ...
- 17.7k
7
votes
Disable USB charging
I just tried and found that you need to modify a file:
sys/class/power_supply/usb/device/charge
its default content is '1' which means 'enable charging'
you need to set it to '0' to 'disable charging'...
- 71
7
votes
How to find out which file system is used by my device?
Alternatively, one can use a Terminal Emulator app which requires no usage of adb.
Download a Terminal Emulator of your choice from Play Store here.
Open that app and issue the command mount. You can ...
- 23.5k
7
votes
How to change the modified date of a file without root?
SHORT ANSWER:
You can simply touch the file or provide any time and date in past or future:
~$ touch /sdcard/test_file
~# debugfs -R 'stat media/0/test_file' /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata | ...
- 17.7k
7
votes
Accepted
If I reset my phone, will it also TRIM the fragmented eMMC?
Android supports fstrim but it only works if the phone is idle for a long time while charging
It's not so. On newer versions, Android runs fstrim with a daily schedule, provided that the conditions ...
- 17.7k
6
votes
How can I view the Android internal partition table?
You can use fdisk via busybox on a droid. So, assuming you have the busybox binary on your rom, and it's on your path, the command would simply be:
busybox fdisk [the various fdisk options...]
...
- 161
6
votes
Accepted
How to download a phrasebook from google translate
If you are logged into your Google account, your Phrasebook will synchronize across devices and you can also access it from the web interface of Google Translate. Furthermore, after importing to Anki ...
6
votes
Accepted
Folder that automatically uploads to phone
FolderSync could come in handy here. Define a "folder pair" (i.e. which directory on your Android device to sync with which directory on your computer), using any of the available protocols (SFTP, ...
Izzy♦
- 89.1k
6
votes
Accepted
What does the /data/system folder store and its significance?
data/system folder contains system configuration files critical to maintaining device's state. Access to the directory is restricted by the system apps only, so if the device is not rooted the folder ...
- 178
6
votes
Is there a way to access the phone filesystem from computer, wireless?
According to the mentioned requirements, more powerful tool to use is Sambadroid. SambaDroid is a native port for Android of the popular Samba for Linux. This application allows you to share/manage ...
- 9,662
6
votes
Accepted
Is there a way to access the phone filesystem from computer, wireless?
This solution works even over a hotspot. Simply enable Portable Hotspot on your mobile device, then connect your laptop to the Hotspot WiFi network.
Tip: If you want to prevent the laptop from using ...
- 220
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible