[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by mukul32

The low internal storage issue is a common one among budget MediaTek devices, and the storage swapping method is a straightforward one to help it- you simply take out memory from the internal storage (the part of the storage that is open to you to store or downloads, media or other files) and allocate it to the system srorage (the part that contains apps, OS files, extra data for large games, etc). ... ... ...

I browsed through a thread on changing partition sizes with partedit, on the Mi site only a couple of days ago. The idea fills me with fear and terror! In fact, that sort of thing fillled me with terror when I was a Unix systems manager, needing, occasionally, to dig deeper than that. A day with fsdb (file system debug) anybody?

It fills me with terror because I am just not very good at numbers. If I have a list which is supposed to come to a certain total, it won't, and I have a list of things like file partitions, there are bound to be gaps or overlaps.

OK, I'd get there in the end. Probably. But I wouldn't enjoy it.

[praveen789]

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

A relative of mine wants to ditch the Nexus5 and move to a new Android phone. Display issues have plagued his mobile hampering its usability.

He is now looking at a 1+2. Can fellow members help me out with some other good suggestions as well. I am thinking he can go till 30K for the phone. Ruled out iPhone point blank. So the choice is in Android.

Is 5x a upgrade or maybe even the 6?

5x is not really that great (and reviews confirm that). 6P are also reporting lot of issues (latest one is microphone problems that even Google has accepted - check gsmarena). I would suggest to have a look at the 16 GB Moto X Style. My wife and brother both are using it and are happy. Since it has expandable storage, you can add a 32 GB Class 10 card for INR 750. It also got the Marshmallow update and is working well.

PS: My brother earlier had a 1+1. Its lying with the service centre since 3 weeks after its motherboard randomly got spoilt. Horrible service and they are stating they do not have stock and hence no timeline when they can repair it.

[deepclutch]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I used this procedure to root my phone.

It is a pain that almost all instructions assume that the user has Windows. And, of course, all the graphic tools are written for Windows.

I notice the the Mi fastboot images come with scripts for both Windows and Linux, though (,bat and .sh).

I guess I'm late in replying. I'm trying to update stock firmware in a Gionee M3 (MediaTek 6582) from KitKat to Lollipop in Debian Linux. The update is obtained from xda forum which is a .zip file containing scatter file and firmware (like system.img,boot.img,recovery.img etc) . I tried SP Flash Tool Linux version, which is not working although adb settings recognizes the device. I was wondering whether it is possible to manually update the device to the latest update using Fastboot.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by deepclutch

... I was wondering whether it is possible to manually update the device to the latest update using Fastboot.

I do not know the difference between ROMs meant for fastboot flash and ROMs meant for recovery flash, but I know there is one. All I did was to follow the procedure found by someone else.

There is also an app called Flashify, which does not need any computer. I used that to install TWRP. Could it be useful to you?

[Gansan]

What are all the apps we can safely uninstall in a Moto G 4G LTE, if we are not using it? A friend says if it has an uninstall button, it can be uninstalled. Is that so?

[deepclutch]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I do not know the difference between ROMs meant for fastboot flash and ROMs meant for recovery flash, but I know there is one. All I did was to follow the procedure found by someone else.

There is also an app called Flashify, which does not need any computer. I used that to install TWRP. Could it be useful to you?

I think these are system dumps made using unofficial tools like "SP Flash Tool" , "MTK Droid Tool" etc. The output contains a lot of .img files apart from scatter file which IINM works like a script with the custom flashing tool. I expected to flash it using fastboot but how to automate using scatter file is beyond my knowledge.

For e.g. this is the contents of Firmware update for Gionee M3 when extracted from compressed format. This dump may be made using SP Flash Tool:

[SchumiFan]

Originally Posted by praveen789

5x is not really that great (and reviews confirm that). 6P are also reporting lot of issues (latest one is microphone problems that even Google has accepted - check gsmarena). I would suggest to have a look at the 16 GB Moto X Style. My wife and brother both are using it and are happy. Since it has expandable storage, you can add a 32 GB Class 10 card for INR 750. It also got the Marshmallow update and is working well.

PS: My brother earlier had a 1+1. Its lying with the service centre since 3 weeks after its motherboard randomly got spoilt. Horrible service and they are stating they do not have stock and hence no timeline when they can repair it.

Thank you for replying. So 5X is definitely out. While 6P has some problems that need addressing.

Was also thinking of Nexus 6 along with the Moto X. Told him both the choices and showed your post as well.

Hopefully he goes for one of the above mentioned phones.
Shocking though to hear about 1+1 especially with their iffy invite model.

Thank you!

[rohan_iitr]

I have recently upgraded my wife's Android One phone to Lollipop.

After the upgrade, I was given the option to use the SD card as internal memory or as external memory. (As of now, I am using it as external memory)

Can someone explain (in a layman's language) what are the pros and cons of these 2 approaches.

Android One phones have only 4GB of internal memory. If we use SD card as internal memory, does it solve the low internal memory problem ?

Also, can I partition the SD card to use a portion as internal memory and remaining as external memory ?

Rohan

[Dry Ice]

My Mi3 screen cracked today morning after a fall. It's not registering any touch inputs. It was all of 16 months old.

I am in a dilemma, whether to get it repaired or get a new phone? Spoke to the Mi3 service center guys and they quoted 8k minimum (can go up if other components are damaged, can only be confirmed once they take the phone in for repair).

Any experience of the Mi service centers?

[RaguHolla]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

My Mi3 screen cracked today morning after a fall. It's not registering any touch inputs. It was all of 16 months old.

I am in a dilemma, whether to get it repaired or get a new phone? Spoke to the Mi3 service center guys and they quoted 8k minimum (can go up if other components are damaged, can only be confirmed once they take the phone in for repair).

Any experience of the Mi service centers?

Mi3 screen cost 4000 + 250 + service tax together comes to 4315. I got this done in first week of this month. It was costing 6.3K in June, now its been reduced by Xioami. If any mi service center states otherwise, write to Xioami, either in their forum (found out its very effective) or on their facebook page.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by RaguHolla

Mi3 screen cost 4000 + 250 + service tax together comes to 4315. I got this done in first week of this month. It was costing 6.3K in June, now its been reduced by Xioami. If any mi service center states otherwise, write to Xioami, either in their forum (found out its very effective) or on their facebook page.

Wow! Thanks for sharing, will pay them a visit and get it evaluated first hand.

[hellmet]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

I have recently upgraded my wife's Android One phone to Lollipop.

After the upgrade, I was given the option to use the SD card as internal memory or as external memory. (As of now, I am using it as external memory)

Can someone explain (in a layman's language) what are the pros and cons of these 2 approaches.

Android One phones have only 4GB of internal memory. If we use SD card as internal memory, does it solve the low internal memory problem ?

Also, can I partition the SD card to use a portion as internal memory and remaining as external memory ?

Rohan

You mean you updated to Marshmallow, right? I've an Android One too, so I can answer this question. If you choose to use the SD card as internal-storage, then you cannot use the micro-SD card on any other device. If you plug it into your computer/laptop, Windows will refuse to recognize it.

However, this is a very useful feature on Android M for such low internal storage devices as you can move your user-apps to internal storage and free up the main storage up for default apps. In fact, the only reason I updated to Android M is because I was struggling to keep my main storage free. Even trying to update an app from the Play Store was complaining of "low space".

Be aware, that when you choose to use the SD card as internal storage, Android will format all data on the card.

[Oxy]

So how does the Note 3 compare against the Oneplus One? Currently both are available to the same price point.

[ToyotaFan]

Originally Posted by Oxy

So how does the Note 3 compare against the Oneplus One? Currently both are available to the same price point.

The major difference is the lack of 4g support in India for the note 3. Another reason you might want the one plus one is the OS updates. I don't think note 3 touchwiz will get the marshmallow update anytime soon but CM on 1+1 is already running 6.0. Unless you can't live without the S pen or a better camera the oneplus one should be a better bet.

[superbhikari]

Originally Posted by Oxy

So how does the Note 3 compare against the Oneplus One? Currently both are available to the same price point.

I have both Note 3 and OPO at home. Note 3 still runs on Kitkat and performance is no where close to OPO. Buy OPO for performance. Note 3 for better resale and service support.