Memory does not get erased - less internal memory space!

[Ludi7]

Who knows the solution?

Under settings>memory the phone tells me I have 280MB memory space free. But if I add all of the used memory space from all apps and so on I should have over 1000MB free. 

and here it comes: even the graphic picture shows me that there is more than 1000MB free. But the phone for some reason does not set it free! Why?

Mike 

[_alexdon_]

Settings-storage and settings-apps.Post screenshots from there.

[TalkingHead]

The 'memory' you are looking at in settings->storage is NAND/flash(storage) memory.

This is limited to approx 1.8GB of user accessiable storage.

The rest of the 4GB(approx 2GB)  of storage/NAND memory is allocated to the system partitions and the Android OS.

The Xperia M has 1GB of RAM (system memory) for system/active/service applications.

The approx 2GB of user NAND/storage gets used up pretty quick with the likes of WhatsApp media, Camera photo thumb nails and general application data, pictures, music and etc.

There is a settings->storage->Transfer Data to SD Card option that'll free a bit of space, but it's restricted to pictures,videos and music files. 

Both the 4GB of NAND memory (storage) and 1GB of RAM on the Xperia M do add up if you dig into the system internals.

[Ludi7]

Here is the screenshot where you can see that there is over half of the 2GB free (the grey field), but it says right underneath it: only 261MB free memory. 

Why is the 1GB not free?

thanks for your help!

Mike

[Ludi7]

And here is they requested one from the settings-apps. It shows that there is not much space used for aps. It is only 517MB. Here it says 324MB free, but it should be over 1000MB. What blockes it?

[_alexdon_]

In activ(running),there are apps active at the moment which will take up RAM memory not internal memory.Probably you have some files from old apps that weren't removed.I need a screenshot from settings-apps-downloaded.

[TalkingHead]

The Xperia M has the following.

1GB of RAM (Random Access Memory)

4GB of flash memory used for file storage space. Think of this as a built in solid state disk (SSD) on your phone

Of the 4GB of flash memory(storage) 2GB is allocated to the operating system to store the OS files and 2GB is allocated as user storage for you to use for file/application storage.

The Storage display panel in settings is just that. It's file storage and NOT RAM.

You can not compare 2GB of file storage flash memory and  1GB RAM and think you can make any sense of it.

Not all of the applications you have downloaded into flash memory (storage) will be running(active) in RAM and thus the difference between the actively used memory (RAM) and the file space taken up in flash memory (storage) to store them.

Also remember approx half your memory (RAM) is used for system applications and dependancies.

The colored bar graph shown at the top of the file storage allocation is more an indication than a rule.

This takes no consideration of symbolic links and paths to the external SDcard or other storage locations and etc

Otherwise, someone would have to explain to me why I have 1.62GB of free file storage and yet I have 0.99GB of applications all in a fixed 2GB storage allocation. [I know the answer. :smileysmileywink:]

I have Link2SD and FolderMount and that's why the settings->storage graph really means nothing.

 You are asking the right questions, however I fear the answer may end up being a lesson in computer science.

This is one of the big problems with the Xperia M, in that it only has 2GB of user storage and you have to continually move files and etc off the 2GB  flash (storage) memory onto your external SDcard.

If you configure root access and use Link2SD and FolderMount the problem all goes away(only for the brave)... or Sony could upgrade to Android 4.4 with native Internal to external memory (storage) offload.

Otherwise, it's just manage file storage on your internal memory (storage) as best you can.

Be aware that the Camera creates thumbnails of your camera photos and these can take up quite a bit of space over time.

[ThePedro1874]

Hi Zeke,

Thanks for your explanations.  You say "If you configure root access and use Link2SD and FolderMount the problem all goes away(only for the brave)... or Sony could upgrade to Android 4.4 with native Internal to external memory (storage) offload."

Would you please explain this in detail and in layman's terms please!  Perhaps you could give "the brave" a step by step guide to achieving a Sony Experia M nirvana!

[Ludi7]

Hi Alexdon,

here is the requested screenshot:

(Thanks to Zeke for the explanations, I didn't quite understand why it shows different memory space, but i will read it several times and try again!)

[_alexdon_]

You have 275MB free.Remember that apps like facebook,chrome etc store some more data than you actually see.All the apps you download are stored in internal(downloaded),even those downloaded via browser.