Free space left on MotoG3 after e install

Hi All,

I have e (version .13-xxx, osprey) installed on a MotoG3. Storage shows 4.29 GB of 7.45 GB used. Yet the phone is a 32 GB phone. Any idea why I don’t have the full storage space on the phone.

My Nexus 5 (.13.xx hammerhead) shows 4.15 GB of 29.8 GB used. I know hammerhead is a smaller built but I don’t think the MotoG3 should have so little space left.

Any ideas out there? TIA

Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/ the unGoogled mobile OS and online servicesphone

Hi @Jets,

At first, I’ll try a df -h from an adb shell (USB debugging activated).

Sylvain,

So you mean my first thing to try is the above command? If so when I am home from work will give it a go.

I’m comfortable with abd… after my first few phones. Will let you know how it goes. Thanks for your help as always :slight_smile:

Yes, the df command will output sizes for all mounted filesystems.
Si it’s a good start to diagnose your problem :slight_smile:
The most interesting will be something with “data” or “sdcard” in mount path.
Please post back the entire output.

I am not at home but when I first configured the phone yes there was something I did with an SD card… must have done something wrong. I was trying to use SD card as phone internal not external if I recall.

Will let you know output when done.

You can also use the “Local terminal” from developer options (no need to activate USB debugging), and post back a landscape sreenshot :slight_smile:
For example :


(Please fold the keyboard before taking the screenshot :wink: )

Where are the developer options, can’t find them on either of my phones, I searched settings

You can check the instruction here

1 Like

Sorry for the newbie stuff but I can’t attach or paste the screen shot to this message. i don’t see an attach option when composing this message?

Never mind found upload.

Well, you made it :+1:

Unfortunately, as I expected the filesystem of your data partition (in mmcblk0p42) is clearly undersized :frowning:

But there is hope : partition size may still be okay, so it could just be the filesystem inside not using all the space …

If you’re willing to dig further, here is a method to check partition size (it’s safe if you follow instructions carefully, please let us know if you need more details) :

  1. make sure you have a working TWRP on phone, and a working adb on PC (should be, as you installed /e/ :wink: )
  2. get partition tools binaries to your PC (grab the AARCH64) : https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/how-to-boot-from-sd-card-successfully-on-qmobile-z8-with-bricked-dead-emmc.3712171/ , unpack them in a easy path (use 7Zip if you can’t open the file)
  3. reboot your device to TWRP recovery, plug it to PC using a good USB cable
  4. on PC, go to adb folder within a shell, launch adb devices (should answer with random ID and “recovery” keyword)
  5. put partition tools on phone using (replace <path to tool> with it’s full path where you extracted it, for example c:\adb\tools\fdisk, keep the “” ) :
    1. adb push "<path to fdisk>" /sbin
    2. adb push "<path to gdisk>" /sbin
    3. adb push "<path to parted>" /sbin
  6. issue an adb shell command, prompt will change as you are now executing commands on your phone
  7. issue
    1. fdisk -l /dev/block/mmcblk0
    2. gdisk -l /dev/block/mmcblk0
    3. parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 print
  8. exit adb shell with … exit :smiley:
  9. get your phone back to duty using adb reboot system, don’t close your PC shell
  10. copy and post back the outputs of commands (hint : use “Preformatted text” style, symbol </> above)

Note 1 : partition tools won’t stay on your phone, you’ll have to push them at every boot in TWRP
Note 2 : it’s okay if you find that too complicated, hopefully others will come with a easier way :wink:

Can I just re-install e fresh making sure I properly format existing disk space before I install e?

If not I will attempt the above method. In the above method at note 1, does that mean I need to keep the partition tool on the phone to maintain the space?

This phone is my back up so I have no problem starting over.

The purpose of the tools in previous post is just to gather intel, they won’t modify anything if used as instructed :wink:
It’s not an easy way, but you can try it safely if you wish.
The note #1 was just informational, in case you’ll have to restart.

The goal was to verify that the partition (see it as a container) is big enough, so we could try to resize the filesystem in it.

Anyway if you can start over with installing, I suggest you first blindly try the “Resize” TWRP option, and the “Format” if the “Resize” does nothing.

I’m not aware of MotoG3, but if your phone is encrypted I suggest the following steps before re-install :

  • of course, remove any SDCard
  • disable screen lock or pattern, remove fingerprint, reboot once to system
  • before installing, regardless of above Resize result, format (not wipe) the data partition using TWRP

smu44,

I owe you an apology, I have been a bit embarrassed. The phone is actually 8GB not 32GB, sorry for being careless and wasting your time. In future I will be more careful. I had confused the 32GB SD card I used in it at one point.

Sincerely . JETS

Hi @Jets,

Not a problem, sometime the best engineers make mistakes too :wink:
I’m afraid we can’t do anything for your phone, but it was not a waste of time as this thread could help others !

If this device is still a backup, we could also build an /e/ image with reduced apps set.
See “build options” here.
Unfortunately this will disable the OTA update.

Best regards,