Galaxy Y Duos

Just got hold of a Samsung Galaxy Y Duos B5512 to replace my haywire Samsung Galaxy Pro B7510. This is so I have a phone to use while getting the latter fixed, which incidentally is still under warranty.

Turned the Y Duos on and it shows 160MB of free space.  After setting up the first account and sync, the free space dropped to 153mb. This will probably mean I cannot install all the apps that I like.  Will be sticking to the essentials:  Evernote, Keepassdroid,  Dropbox, and HandcentSMS.

Will work on getting it rooted as well so I can run additional programs that can move the apps to SD card to free up the phone's onboard memory.

Partitioning sdcard on Android without Cynanogen

After having problems with running out of internal memory on the LG Optimus One, I started researching on solutions for this problem.  Mind you that not all programs come in with APP2SD support so one cannot move them to the sdcard.

The articles that I've found included booting into recovery mode and installing Cynanogen.  But after several tries and not sure if I'm doing it correctly, I looked for other solutions.  Having read a number of articles on booting into recovery mode, I understood that its possible to partition the sdcard and "install" a program that will move the app to the card.  This should free up space on your phone's internal memory.

Since I am not able to go into recovery mode, my problem now is how to paritition the sdcard.  Tried it under windows but there is no option to partition it.  Tried mounting the card under linux and doing fdisk on it but somehow the partition appears to be incorrect and could not format it.

Rooting the LG Optimus One

Coming from using the Nokia N900, where I am able to open a terminal and explore the files on the unit, I just had to do that same with this unit.   Perhaps its curiosity or  just an inherent itch that I would want to install, that for me are, basic softwares in the phone. Some of those includes know the wifi keys entered into the phone or using secure shell to access the phone internals or being able to expand the phone's limited internal memory.

In order to do that, one needs to root the phone.

Sites I've found on the Internet showed rooting the LG Optimus One P500 using z4root.  But further readings showed that it only worked with the older software version.  My unit came with Android version 2.2.1 and software version says its V10e-NOV-30-2010.  I searched for other root programs and found Gingerbreak

Since I already have Dropbox installed on the phone, I just placed the file into my dropbox share directory and downloaded it into the LG.  Run it and the unit is rooted.

Now that the phone is rooted, the next step is expanding the internal memory by using the sdcard as an expanded internal memory to hold the files.

LG Optimus One from Suncellular

You may notice that sudden increase in the number of my posts to Twitter and/or Facebook.  This is due to my getting an LG Optimus One from Suncellular.  The phone came with the Call and Surf Plan which gives you unlimited calls and surfing.

The LG Optimus One comes with the Android OS and a number of apps that I am just starting to experiment with.  Have also been installing the different software packages available from the Android market until I hit a snag.  Apparently he unit comes with a small internal memory of around 170mb.  Once you fill that up, you can't install anymore programs even if you have installed a 16gb sdcard.

After a few days, I am unable to receive any more text messages even when I still have 20mb of internal memory left.  I read somewhere that it will not accept anymore messages when  you have less than 10% of internal memory left.  Will need to do something about this.

However, one good thing that came with this unit is that I now have a better signal even when I'm inside the house or the office.  I used to tell people that I don't have a signal because there is no sun in my room.