Free up rootfs space

2010-02-17T01:47:37Z

97.93.201.170: ioquake3 is a genuine problem, don't remove it

<div style="border: 1px solid red; background-color: #faa; padding: 20px;"><div style="text-align:center;">'''Some instructions here may cause problems. When unsure, see [[General precautions]]'''</div>

<br>'''Backing up your data is recommended.''' In case of trouble you might need to [[Updating the tablet firmware|re-flash your device]].</div>

Here's a simple howto for those suffering from lack of space in rootfs. The first suggestion is more of a temporary matter, for example to get enough space to install an update, but it's also the fastest and easiest. The suggestions are in order of potential threat to operating system. Least dangerous first and the most dangerous last.

The rest are more permanent (and thus more useful), but they require [[root access]].

=== Disable Extras-testing, Extras-devel and/or any other third party repositories===

Simply check the disabled box and save in the Application Manager's catalogues menu. wait for app manger to update the lists.
Of course this only helps if you actually had these repositories enabled.

Disabling extras-testing and extras-devel will (currently) give you an extra 11.5Mb in rootfs

=== Clear apt-cache ===

Run following command as [[root]] (after you have disabled extras-testing&extras-devel)
apt-get clean

And reboot after that.

=== Use apt cache outside of rootfs ===

If you run into a problem while using apt-get you can temporarily have the apt cache outside rootfs to be able to download larger deb files.

Create a download folder on the eMMC to be used for the downloaded packages instead of the defalut apt archive folder.

$ mkdir -p /home/user/MyDocs/apt-archive-cache/archives/partial

Now execute apt-get with the -o option as [[root]]:

apt-get -o dir::cache=/home/user/MyDocs/apt-archive-cache dist-upgrade

=== Optify python ===

If you have installed python or a python program before python was optified, you can optify it with this method:
first [[open a console]], then type the following commands as [[root]]:

apt-get install pymaemo-optify
apt-get clean

When the program is installed, type df -h in the xterm to see if it worked.
The output should now contain these lines at the end:

/opt/pymaemo/usr/lib/python2.5
2064208 471712 1487640 24% /usr/lib/python2.5
/opt/pymaemo/usr/share/pyshared
2064208 471712 1487640 24% /usr/share/pyshared
/opt/pymaemo/usr/lib/pyshared
2064208 471712 1487640 24% /usr/lib/pyshared
/opt/pymaemo/usr/share/python-support
2064208 471712 1487640 24% /usr/share/python-support
/opt/pymaemo/usr/lib/python-support
2064208 471712 1487640 24% /usr/lib/python-support

=== Remove non-optified packages ===

If you have installed programs from extras-testing, extras-devel or third party repositories, the programs might not be properly optified. Removing these might help with rootfs space.

You can free space by uninstalling applications that you do not need. A problem is if you do not know how these applications are called. To find it out:
* [[open a console]]
* start the application that you do not need
* in the console, type
ps -ef
You get a listing of all running processes, including the application you just started. To find out what package an application belongs to, enter
dpkg --search $(which ''processname'')

source:http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=468063&postcount=1

=== Remove ioquake3 ===
The ioquake3 application prevents firmware upgrading no matter how much free space you have on your device. Uninstall it prior to upgrading then reinstall once the upgrade is complete.

=== Script to move stuff to /home/opt/ ===

This script will move some files to /home/opt/ allowing rootfs space to be freed:

First, create a file, move-to-opt.sh for example, containing this script:

#!/bin/sh
# Script for moving stuff from / to /home/opt to get more rootfs space on Nokia N900 Maemo 5
# ignoring errors when creating dirs that may already exist

# Moving themes to /home/opt
mkdir -p /home/opt/usr/share/themes 2> /dev/null
cp -r /usr/share/themes/* /home/opt/usr/share/themes
rm -r /usr/share/themes
ln -s /home/opt/usr/share/themes /usr/share/themes

# Moving icons to /home/opt
mkdir -p /home/opt/usr/share/icons 2> /dev/null
cp -r /usr/share/icons/* /home/opt/usr/share/icons
rm -r /usr/share/icons
ln -s /home/opt/usr/share/icons /usr/share/icons

# Moving boot video to /home/opt
mkdir -p /home/opt/usr/share/hildon-welcome 2> /dev/null
cp -r /usr/share/hildon-welcome/* /home/opt/usr/share/hildon-welcome
rm -r /usr/share/hildon-welcome
ln -s /home/opt/usr/share/hildon-welcome /usr/share/hildon-welcome

# ??
mkdir -p /home/opt/usr/share/pixmaps 2> /dev/null
cp -r /usr/share/pixmaps/* /home/opt/usr/share/pixmaps
rm -r /usr/share/pixmaps
ln -s /home/opt/usr/share/pixmaps /usr/share/pixmaps

# Moving apt cache to /home/opt
mkdir -p /home/opt/var/cache/apt 2> /dev/null
cp -r /var/cache/apt/* /home/opt/var/cache/apt
rm -r /var/cache/apt
ln -s /home/opt/var/cache/apt /var/cache/apt

Set the script's permission for executable:
chmod +x move-to-opt.sh

Run the script as [[root]]:
./move-to-opt.sh

=== Move some of the pre-installed applications into /opt ===
Some applications like Nokia Maps and the microb-engine are placed in /usr/share taking up valuable root space, moving these files will not affect the apps.
Moving Nokia Maps (has to be done as [[root]]):
mv /usr/share/nokia-maps /home/opt/
ln -s /home/opt/nokia-maps /usr/share/nokia-maps
Moving the microb-engine (has to be done as [[root]]):
mv /usr/share/microb-engine /home/opt
ln -s /home/opt/microb-engine /usr/share/microb-engine
Moving the "Getting started" app/tutorial (has to be done as [[root]]):
mv /usr/share/tutorial-home-applet /home/opt
ln -s /home/opt/tutorial-home-applet /usr/share/tutorial-home-applet
[[Category:Power users]]
[[Category:N900]]

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Free up rootfs space