Storage question - Sony Tablet S

DanD

Member
Dec 7, 2011
2
0
I just got the Sony Tablet, my first mobile device. I was working with Evernote and found myself unable to sync. After contacting their support, I was told that I was running out of internal storage. Checking the "Storage" option on my device, I can see that I have 22 GB of "USB storage" and 3.57 GB of "Internal storage" left. My question is really this: what is the difference between "USB storage" and "Internal storage"? Do each perform different functions? Does it make sense to say that I'm running out of storage when I seem to have quite a bit of both internal and USB? Finally, should I be deleting or moving files out of internal storage to USB storage?

Thanks in advance for help with what is probably some pretty basic information!

Dan
 

J515OP

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jan 6, 2011
5,172
899
I'm not positive about the Sony setup but most tablets have partitioning that allows the system access to some of the storage and the user access to some of the storage. The other possibility is that one is the internal storage and the other is the SD card. If there is no SD card inserted it is option 1.

The system storage is most likely the one labled "Internal storage" and this is where installed app are going to download and their data is going to be stored. The more apps you download the smaller this storage will become. Most apps only write their data to system storage though some can write to an SD card or other partition. So it is possible that Evernote wants to write to the system storage but doesn't have enough room. This seems highly unlikely if you have 3.57GB of free Internal storage showing though. It is possible a rouge app is somehow preventing the space from being used. Try rebooting and see if that helps. If not you can go into Settings>Applications>Manage applications and see if any of the apps seem to be running wild and then kill that app.

The user storage "USB storage" is probably the portion of the device memory set aside for user content. This is most likely where any files, photos, music or movies will be saved when you transfer files via USB. So you have quite a bit of room to add your own content. With the amount of space showing as free this should not be causing the error. If you have apps that you can choose where to install or where they write their data to and you are concerned about running out of Internal storage (downloading lots of app for example) then you might want to direct the apps that you can to go to USB storage instead.

In either case your current numbers should be plenty and you shouldn't have to delete or move anything at this time.

JP
 

Pamster

Senior Member
Nov 14, 2011
393
35
Hi DanD,

Welcome to the board, glad you could join us and I think you've come to the right place to get those answers. The great people here with more experience then I have as a new user will surely be able to help you with those questions. Congratulations on the Sony Tablet, I bet it's a sweet device. :)

Edited to add: Looks like JP and I were posting at the same time! Thanks for the great information JP! :D
 

DanD

Member
Dec 7, 2011
2
0
Thanks JP! Very informative. Since I don't have an SD card inserted, it is definitely option 1. I'll check to see if any rogue apps are running. I may also uninstall and then reinstall Evernote to see if this helps. Thanks again!
Dan
 

jbenham

Official ATF App Tester
Oct 25, 2011
2,064
131
Good response JP! I do not use Evernote (but have it on my Sony S) but one thing you might try, Dan is to check the reviews at the AppStore and see if there are any comments that might relate to your situation.
 
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