New to CM7

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d.casper.b

Senior Member
Jan 7, 2009
857
451
37
Cape Town
Xiaomi Poco F1
Hi all,

So last night I decided to give Cyanogenmod7 a try. I came from MIUI.us 2.1.20 - I just love MIUI, but it's a bit too demanding for the Milestone. So I have CM7 up and running, and it is a lot more snappy. But now, I'm having trouble installing some apps.
I tried installing my bank's banking app, but it didn't install - checked the market and it doesn't appear. Same thing with WhatsApp!! If it were working, I might just become a CM7 user..but it's not working.

Am I missing something? I installed after doing a full wipe, after which I installed DT A2SD scripts and then gapps-20111216 (although didn't see gmail or market etc after gapps, so installed those via apk).

What's the deal here?

Thanks.

Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
 

[E]Xtreme

Member
Jan 9, 2012
23
1
Shanghai
googleservicesframework.apk and vending.apk are all you need for using market. Try to reinstall them. May you success.
 
Last edited:

d.casper.b

Senior Member
Jan 7, 2009
857
451
37
Cape Town
Xiaomi Poco F1
Ok, so now my problem is A2SD. It's not working! A2SDGUI refuses to go in, and when I do a check, I get a segmentation fault...I've never had this issue before. I've tried reinstalling DT A2SD from withing recovery and still, nothing. Please assist, I just need to get set up properly now.

Regards

Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
 

kabaldan

Inactive Recognized Developer
Dec 15, 2009
1,640
3,926
Prague
android.doshaska.net
d.casper.b: CM7 for Milestone already comes with its own ap2ext scripts that are automatically used if there is ext partition present on your sdcard.

You should not install any 3rd party app2ext scripts as they are very likely to be conflicting with the scripts that are already there.
 

d.casper.b

Senior Member
Jan 7, 2009
857
451
37
Cape Town
Xiaomi Poco F1
Thanks kabaldan.

I'll check it out.
I was even going so far as trying to use Link2SD from the market..

How'd I know if it's working? By monitoring the available internal storage?

Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:

shalom06

Senior Member
Feb 25, 2011
477
140
Mumbai
Thanks kabaldan.

I'll check it out.
I was even going so far as trying to use Link2SD from the market..

How'd I know if it's working? By monitoring the available internal storage?

Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk

when you will enable app2ext you will see the total space in your storage rise to 197 mb
 

d.casper.b

Senior Member
Jan 7, 2009
857
451
37
Cape Town
Xiaomi Poco F1
I am not winning. I did a factory reset and flashed cm7 and gapps (not dt a2sd).
I did a test, internal storage was at 191mb, then I installed opera mobile and it went down to 182mb. Then uninstalled it again. Went into cyanogenmod settings and set install location to external. Installed opera again, but it was no different. Moving it to sd under 'manage applications' increased the internal memory again, but that's just moving the app to the FAT32 partition of the sd card.

So it's not seeming to work for me for some reason.

Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk


EDIT: I really don't want to be a nuisance, but now, looking at the available storage using "Quick System Info", I noticed after uninstalling "Opera Mobile", 9mb was freed on internal storage & 13mb on the ext partition.

So, perhaps it is working, and since the dalvik cache is (I assume) on internal storage, the storage is still decreasing. Am I correct? If so, is there a way to also move dalvik cache to the ext partition - I had it like this on MIUI & never looked at available memory ever again.
 
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cronot

Senior Member
Jul 1, 2008
224
465
Campinas
First of all, have you really partitioned your SD card? Make sure you followed the 3rd step on this guide: http://www.mrmuh.com/2012/01/update-a-motorola-milestone-from-motorola-firmware-to-cyanogenmod-7/ . You should have your SD Card partitioned with two partitions, the first should be FAT32 that's used normally on Android, and the second EXT3 or EXT4. Obviously, make sure you have a backup of your FAT32 partition before partitioning.

Second, you should understand how the apps2ext scripts on CM7 work. Application installs that would be stored on internal memory are rerouted to the EXT3/4 partition on the SDCard. This happens at the underlying system (linux) level, Android (that runs on top of linux) is not aware of this rerouting, so, as far as Android "knows", apps that are rerouted to the EXT partition are on the phone's internal memory. That means that you should make sure that apps you need installed on the EXT partition of the SD card are shown in "Applications > Manage applications" list to be installed on the internal memory. Yep, it's confusing, but once you understand how it works and why it works that way, it makes sense.

Third, the fact that apps are rerouted to the EXT partition doesn't mean that everything about the app will live on the ext partition: it means only the main application package will live on the ext partition, application data is still stored on the internal memory. For most apps, the amount of data used for application data are much smaller than the application package, but in some apps the amount of application data from the app may often surpass the size of the app itself - for example, in my phone, Tweekdeck stores about 9Mb of data, which is about 10 times the size of the application itself (820kb) - presumably this amount of data is cached tweets, pictures, etc. But that case is usually the exception, not the rule, I've just mentioned it so you understand that using apps2ext doesn't mean your internal memory will always stay unused, it just means it will be used (way) less.

Finally, regarding the CyanogenMod Settings location setting, if you understood what I said above, you should now understand that it should actually be set to always install to "Internal", rather than external. However, there's a bug in this that you should be advised, that not all apps will respect this setting: some apps will install to external regardless of how you've configured that setting (meaning the app will use Froyo/Gingerbread native Apps2SD, hence being installed to the FAT partition of the SDCard). So, when you install a new app, check on app management if it didn't get installed to the SDCard, and move it to the internal memory if that's the case. For these kind of apps, you'll have to do it every time you update the app too.
 

d.casper.b

Senior Member
Jan 7, 2009
857
451
37
Cape Town
Xiaomi Poco F1
Thanks, I edited my previos post..

I actually have 3 partitions, a FAT32, an ext2 (maybe it's ext3, but doubt it - partitioned some months ago, so my memory's hazy), and a SWAP - which I should get rid of, but am too lazy.

I understand entirely what you've said, I know that internal is really ext if working, and sd is FAT32 partition.

You see, I'm just new to this rom and have to trial and error until I understand, with miui you just flashed the rom and the a2sd scripts and didn't bother again (maybe only to move an app that installed to FAT partition). But it seems CM7 is simply just to flash the rom and you're good to go. But as I was pondering in my previous post...is there any way to move dalvik cache to ext?


Thanks for putting up with me..I'm almost there.

Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
 

shalom06

Senior Member
Feb 25, 2011
477
140
Mumbai
Thanks, I edited my previos post..

I actually have 3 partitions, a FAT32, an ext2 (maybe it's ext3, but doubt it - partitioned some months ago, so my memory's hazy), and a SWAP - which I should get rid of, but am too lazy.

I understand entirely what you've said, I know that internal is really ext if working, and sd is FAT32 partition.

You see, I'm just new to this rom and have to trial and error until I understand, with miui you just flashed the rom and the a2sd scripts and didn't bother again (maybe only to move an app that installed to FAT partition). But it seems CM7 is simply just to flash the rom and you're good to go. But as I was pondering in my previous post...is there any way to move dalvik cache to ext?


Thanks for putting up with me..I'm almost there.

Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk

in the market you will find an app called s2e which moves app data, davlik cache to sd
 

kabaldan

Inactive Recognized Developer
Dec 15, 2009
1,640
3,926
Prague
android.doshaska.net
please don't install such things to CM7 for Milestone unless you know what you are doing and you are able to resolve conflicts with the existing scripts

dalvik-cache is already moved automatically
if you want to free more space in /data, enable lib2ext to move native libraries to ext - it's mentioned in the changelog for 7.1.2 release
app data itself should not be moved as it can cause instability
 
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cronot

Senior Member
Jul 1, 2008
224
465
Campinas
Thanks, I edited my previos post..
I actually have 3 partitions, a FAT32, an ext2 (maybe it's ext3, but doubt it - partitioned some months ago, so my memory's hazy), and a SWAP - which I should get rid of, but am too lazy.

Yeah, get rid of swap, there won't be any use for it (for now anyway) and it's best for you at this point to have a known working structure (two partitions, 1st FAT, 2nd ext3/4) for your SD as you're troubleshooting your problems/questions, it'll make it easier for us too as this will eliminate potential points of failure or inconsistencies. And you should really consider upgrading to a journaled filesystem, either ext3 or ext4. Using ext2 is unreliable because Android doesn't umount the ext partition cleanly on reboot or shutdown, so you may have problems with apps disappearing or misbehaving every other reboot. Using ext3/4 with journal elimitates this problem since the journal is just replayed for the uncleanly umounted partition and the filesystems behaves more consistently.

You see, I'm just new to this rom and have to trial and error until I understand, with miui you just flashed the rom and the a2sd scripts and didn't bother again (maybe only to move an app that installed to FAT partition). But it seems CM7 is simply just to flash the rom and you're good to go. But as I was pondering in my previous post...is there any way to move dalvik cache to ext?

The apps2ext script built on CM7 should do this by default - you probably already have your dalvik-cache on the ext partition. To check this, go into OR, enter the console and type: "ls /sddata/dalvik-cache" . If it returns a list of files, you've already got the dalvik-cache on your ext partition. Another option is setting the option dalvik.vm.dexopt-cache-only to 1 in the file /system/build.prop . This will put all dalvik-caches (both from user apps and system apps) on the phone's internal cache partition, thus still freeing space on the internal memory but without using the ext partition, but that's not recommended if you install too many apps because the cache partition may run out space and that will spawn all kinds of weird behavior on Android. The safer route is just using the default configuration anyway (user apps dalvik-cache on sd-ext).

Another option to further reduce internal memory use is using lib2ext, that will move user apps native libraries to the ext partition, but the memory gain in this case is dependent on which apps you use and how big their native libraries (if they even have one) are. To activate it, just go into the Terminal app (with Android booted) and type:
$ su
# lib2ext

And reboot. The libraries will be moved to the ext partition during boot. Make sure you have a big enough ext partition to hold everything (apps, dalvik-cache and apps libs) - the size to recommend is very dependent on how many apps you use and how big they are, but I'd say 512Mb would be the bare minimum.

in the market you will find an app called s2e which moves app data, davlik cache to sd
also link2sd also free's up more space and makes cm7 snappier

DON'T! JUST DON'T! These third-party apps will cause all kinds of problems with CM7 builtin apps2ext.

EDIT: Oh well, Kabaldan already put all my rambling much more succintly than I could... I'm way too talky :p
 
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shalom06

Senior Member
Feb 25, 2011
477
140
Mumbai
well i was jus trying to help.. .anyway guys thanks i guess i won't be needing those apps anymore ...sorry for my noobness
 

d.casper.b

Senior Member
Jan 7, 2009
857
451
37
Cape Town
Xiaomi Poco F1
Thank you so much guys!

It seems like it's working. I will check out lib2ext & the other suggestions tonight or over the weekend (on my way to work now).

I must say, I thought the move to CM7 would be a temporary one, but the speed gain is just what I needed, & the tweaks I thought I'd miss I am finding hidden in the settings :) .
Just wondering on the battery now - but I've been fiddling non-stop.

So let me play a bit more the weekend & I'll merge my ext2 and SWAP partition into one ext3 partition.

Thanks all, and kabaldan for your hard work on this rom.


Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
 

d.casper.b

Senior Member
Jan 7, 2009
857
451
37
Cape Town
Xiaomi Poco F1
Just as I was on my way...

Everything's running fine, A2SD works. But now, I partitioned my SD card with a 2nd partition (ext3, it was ext2), but now widgets are not loading. Checked the apps install location, and it's 'internal', ie. ext3. I never had this before. I think maybe it's due to the filesystem now?

EDIT: Ok, ext2 is doing the same. I can't keep starting from scratch the whole time guys. :(

EDIT2: It's now suddenly working! Just have a Fat32 and an Ext3 partition. But I don't understand because it's been setup like this twice before with no success. I'll hold thumbs!
PS, CyanogenMod is quite up my alley now, speed is awesome and I'm happy. ;)

Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
 
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    First of all, have you really partitioned your SD card? Make sure you followed the 3rd step on this guide: http://www.mrmuh.com/2012/01/update-a-motorola-milestone-from-motorola-firmware-to-cyanogenmod-7/ . You should have your SD Card partitioned with two partitions, the first should be FAT32 that's used normally on Android, and the second EXT3 or EXT4. Obviously, make sure you have a backup of your FAT32 partition before partitioning.

    Second, you should understand how the apps2ext scripts on CM7 work. Application installs that would be stored on internal memory are rerouted to the EXT3/4 partition on the SDCard. This happens at the underlying system (linux) level, Android (that runs on top of linux) is not aware of this rerouting, so, as far as Android "knows", apps that are rerouted to the EXT partition are on the phone's internal memory. That means that you should make sure that apps you need installed on the EXT partition of the SD card are shown in "Applications > Manage applications" list to be installed on the internal memory. Yep, it's confusing, but once you understand how it works and why it works that way, it makes sense.

    Third, the fact that apps are rerouted to the EXT partition doesn't mean that everything about the app will live on the ext partition: it means only the main application package will live on the ext partition, application data is still stored on the internal memory. For most apps, the amount of data used for application data are much smaller than the application package, but in some apps the amount of application data from the app may often surpass the size of the app itself - for example, in my phone, Tweekdeck stores about 9Mb of data, which is about 10 times the size of the application itself (820kb) - presumably this amount of data is cached tweets, pictures, etc. But that case is usually the exception, not the rule, I've just mentioned it so you understand that using apps2ext doesn't mean your internal memory will always stay unused, it just means it will be used (way) less.

    Finally, regarding the CyanogenMod Settings location setting, if you understood what I said above, you should now understand that it should actually be set to always install to "Internal", rather than external. However, there's a bug in this that you should be advised, that not all apps will respect this setting: some apps will install to external regardless of how you've configured that setting (meaning the app will use Froyo/Gingerbread native Apps2SD, hence being installed to the FAT partition of the SDCard). So, when you install a new app, check on app management if it didn't get installed to the SDCard, and move it to the internal memory if that's the case. For these kind of apps, you'll have to do it every time you update the app too.
    1
    please don't install such things to CM7 for Milestone unless you know what you are doing and you are able to resolve conflicts with the existing scripts

    dalvik-cache is already moved automatically
    if you want to free more space in /data, enable lib2ext to move native libraries to ext - it's mentioned in the changelog for 7.1.2 release
    app data itself should not be moved as it can cause instability
    1
    Thanks, I edited my previos post..
    I actually have 3 partitions, a FAT32, an ext2 (maybe it's ext3, but doubt it - partitioned some months ago, so my memory's hazy), and a SWAP - which I should get rid of, but am too lazy.

    Yeah, get rid of swap, there won't be any use for it (for now anyway) and it's best for you at this point to have a known working structure (two partitions, 1st FAT, 2nd ext3/4) for your SD as you're troubleshooting your problems/questions, it'll make it easier for us too as this will eliminate potential points of failure or inconsistencies. And you should really consider upgrading to a journaled filesystem, either ext3 or ext4. Using ext2 is unreliable because Android doesn't umount the ext partition cleanly on reboot or shutdown, so you may have problems with apps disappearing or misbehaving every other reboot. Using ext3/4 with journal elimitates this problem since the journal is just replayed for the uncleanly umounted partition and the filesystems behaves more consistently.

    You see, I'm just new to this rom and have to trial and error until I understand, with miui you just flashed the rom and the a2sd scripts and didn't bother again (maybe only to move an app that installed to FAT partition). But it seems CM7 is simply just to flash the rom and you're good to go. But as I was pondering in my previous post...is there any way to move dalvik cache to ext?

    The apps2ext script built on CM7 should do this by default - you probably already have your dalvik-cache on the ext partition. To check this, go into OR, enter the console and type: "ls /sddata/dalvik-cache" . If it returns a list of files, you've already got the dalvik-cache on your ext partition. Another option is setting the option dalvik.vm.dexopt-cache-only to 1 in the file /system/build.prop . This will put all dalvik-caches (both from user apps and system apps) on the phone's internal cache partition, thus still freeing space on the internal memory but without using the ext partition, but that's not recommended if you install too many apps because the cache partition may run out space and that will spawn all kinds of weird behavior on Android. The safer route is just using the default configuration anyway (user apps dalvik-cache on sd-ext).

    Another option to further reduce internal memory use is using lib2ext, that will move user apps native libraries to the ext partition, but the memory gain in this case is dependent on which apps you use and how big their native libraries (if they even have one) are. To activate it, just go into the Terminal app (with Android booted) and type:
    $ su
    # lib2ext

    And reboot. The libraries will be moved to the ext partition during boot. Make sure you have a big enough ext partition to hold everything (apps, dalvik-cache and apps libs) - the size to recommend is very dependent on how many apps you use and how big they are, but I'd say 512Mb would be the bare minimum.

    in the market you will find an app called s2e which moves app data, davlik cache to sd
    also link2sd also free's up more space and makes cm7 snappier

    DON'T! JUST DON'T! These third-party apps will cause all kinds of problems with CM7 builtin apps2ext.

    EDIT: Oh well, Kabaldan already put all my rambling much more succintly than I could... I'm way too talky :p