Device memory full in xperia L

[PietuJ]

Hi.

I have a problem with my xperia L. Device memory gets full with normal usage after a couple of weeks. After it gets full, the phone is almost impossible to use; album doesn't work, new updates will not install, phone resets itself, cannot install new programs.. ETC. The only way out is, in my opinion, to make a "factory reset". But this is not how it should go with a mobile phone..

I am completely sure that this is somekind of a software bug, because my work mate is having exactly same symptoms with his phone and some other users have complained this in this forum with other words. For example:

http://talk.sonymobile.com/thread/140571

http://talk.sonymobile.com/thread/144006

http://talk.sonymobile.com/thread/141173

Somebody explained that this is because the album app is somehow broken, other explanation would be that the phone doesn't know how to refresh the temp files...

Now I have some questions for Sony:

1. Do you recognize this problem?

2. How are you going to tackle it and what is the schedule?

3. Also, when tackling this problem, will you repair the camera software too?

Then, I would like to know if there are other users having the same problem.. By the way, the system version is 15.0.A.1.31

[swaminathan]

after 1 week after factory reset, memory leakage started ..of about 55mb, when I used camera in hdr mode..

Sony,are u going to take this matter into consideration or not? already about 40 people have this problem..

guys, better buy other brands instead of this .

really disappointed!

[pavvy]

You're right swaminathan! My story is more disappointing- 12 hours after factory reset, around 60mb disappeared! And I am sure remaining will exhaust gradually. The firmware update has only extended the leakage duration from days to weeks.

And this is becoming annoying each passing day. Too bad Sony hasn't recognized this as a major bug in this phone. Customers aren't getting a proper fix either. Looks like Sony is just busy buying their products.

And I don't think only around 40 people are facing this issue. There maybe many more. This is a real disappointment

Sony, Its time to wake up and take some concrete step. otherwise, you'll lose customers for good.

Hope this will be sorted out soon!

[Once-Oregano]

I'm also having this problem. Like many other posters to this thread, I would really like to see more people "Me too"-ing the thread's initial post, but perhaps people don't bother doing this once they discover they need to first register on XperiaCare.

I've had the XPR L right since its release in Europe in late May this year. Here's my sad story.

After clean-installing build 15.0.2.A.17 three times in an effort to resolve this, I've determined that I can prevent the issue by not installing/using the Spotify application. This is a pain as I've been using Spotify as my main source for music entertainment. The fact that you can download vast quantities of tracks for offline listening is a huge selling point. I was having the problem too when my phone was on & 15.0.A.1.36. I don't recall encountering the issue when on 15.0.A.1.31 but judging by the posts here, I probably did.

On installing and using Spotify, Available Device Memory more or less immediately starts to decrease. After around a week, the Available memory reaches almost 0 mb and error notifications commence about storage space running out and saying that some functions may not work. Space shortage messages follow from various apps, e.g. Dolphin Browser. There are then messages too about various processes stopping.

Following a third clean install of 15.0.2.A.17 in an effort to solve this problem, the phone is functioning okay now and memory is remaining more or less constant (without Spotify installed) at around 0.97gb. In a few days, after just a bit more of the wait-and-see approach I intend installing Spotify once more, and if the memory guzzling then re-commences, I will contact Spotify Support. They will probably suggest another factory reset or clean install, which I may carry out, but I will not be hopeful for a positive outcome.

Thanks.

[proterra]

Hey Guys,

While I've rooted my phone, and have solved this issue somewhat, despite requiring manual intervention, I've been keeping an eye on the thread to see what's happening.  I see a lot of people are still speculating about what is cause of the issue, I can absolutley confirm, that whatever it is that is stored in Data/Core is causing the issue.  I have tried to search to find out what the purpose of that particular directory is, but can't find an answer that isn't directed at developers, which I certainly am not!

As you can see, the phone keeps creating these files, which are massive in terms of the small amount of memory that is available...  Sony must know what this is all about, as I have had several Android devices both phones and tablets and this is the only Android device I have ever had such issues with!

Out of interest, I just check my Huawei G300 which is running Cyanogen Mod ROM rather than the stock ROM, and it dosen't even have a Data/Core directory!!!

*Edited to remove advert from screenshot!

[fuddylint74]

Very interesting. Have you tried deleting any of these files proterra?

[proterra]

Yes, I delete these files on a weekly basis, sometimes more often if I get a warning.  I delete all those that were there earlier, and another one has appeared.  I have no idea why!

This is available memory with one of the files, as you can see, the two amounts don't add up to the actual amount of memory, like everyone who has this issue.

 

Here is the file that appeared after I deleted the ones from the screenshot earlier...

Everything back to normal with that file deleted...

 

While this might not help anyone without a rooted phone, it proves that this directory is causing the problem, not every Android device has the directory, and this is where Sony need to look to fix it!

*Changed pictures to jpg's as they might not have been displaying correctly...

[pavvy]

Hi proterra, is there any harm in rooting the device?

And how often do you need to clear those catche files?

[proterra]

I have rooted every Android device I have had, and I have never had any problems personally, however people have bricked their phones/devices completley by rooting them. 

It might also invalidate your warranty.  This is a strange one, because Sony actually have an official method for you to root your phone, so I am unsure how it "may" invalidte your warranty.  It either will or won't.

It's a risk yes, but one I was prepared to take given that this is a brilliant phone but suffers a stupid problem which can be very easily fixed if Sony were at all bothered about it. 

I normally check that directory once a week, and there's always more than 5 files in there so I just delete them all, however sometimes I can delete them one day, and I get memory low warnings the next day!  There's no rhyme or reason to it!

What I will do tomorrow is, stop ll running applications on the phone, delete all the files, then open apps one by one, checking that directory after each app is opened to see if it is an app that's causing the problem.  It's a total stab in the dark, but I don't know anything else I can do!

EDIT:  Just done this, and cannot make a file appear in that directory.  Closed everything, opened them all again, made a phone call, phoned myself, took pictures and videos, edited pictures turned wi fi/mobile data/bluetooth on and off, reboted the phone, everything I can think of...I've also pluged the phone into my computer (something I never do anyway) and plugged it into the charger etc. all to no avail.  The only thing I haven't tested, is what happens when the battery stamina mode kicks in.  That's in process though, I've turned everything on to try and run the battery out!  Next time a file appears, I'll try and open it in the text editor and see if I can read something that gives a clue as to what's going on! 

I know it's not being caused by installing/removing apps, as I haven't done that this evening, and I got a new file in there at around 7PM.

[Pakillo73]

I agree with Once Oregano. In my case, Spotify makes the memory leak go faster. I've tried a week without Spotify and lost around 100 MB. After installing Spotify,  250MB in two days. That does not mean that Spotify is the problem.

By the way, I tried the solution of Feri Reza and that has not worked: memory lost does not return, and if I do a factory restet obviously I recover all the memory, but using the phone the leak start again.

[proterra]

I have just done some manic Googling on this, and it appears that thew data/core directory is used for "Core Dumps" which are created when some applications crash, however not all applications do this, most use "Tombstones". 

As I said, I'm not a developer, and have a limited understanding of this however it's making a lot of sense! 

Perhaps we could all look at our available memory, and keep a note of it.  When something crashes, check your memory again and see if it has changed...  It may  actually require a full crash, IE when the phone reboots itself.  I know my phone has done this a few times over the lst few days because I've been trying to get it to do everything all at once.  As I have deleted the files, I can't open them to read what application is causing it on my phone, but given that  have the same apps on all my Android devices, I'm going to guess that it's a Sony app, or some sort of crash handler that Sony have instaled that's creating the files, however again I'm by no means an expert, just going by my research on Google...

I am also convinced that it's not Spotify, and can assure you that it's the contents of the data/core folder.  I have Spotify, and after deleting the files contained in data/core which returned my memory to normal, all my offline playlists are intact.  While writing this reply, I have played some songs on Spotify and downloaded two playlists which has made no difference whatsoever to my memory.  Perhaps however if/when Spotify crashes, it's creating one of those files... 

The files that are being created in the core/dump directory are between 114-170MB in size if that helps you monitor this any...