Notices

Firstly this question is concerning the N900 but thought this would be a better place for the thread.

Where do the apps install to on the N900 in terms of "drive space"? I mean do they install to the 32Gb of internal storage completely or are there elements that have to install elsewhere? I just want to check before downloading loads of apps and getting "run out of disc space" errors

Sorry if this is simple question but I am just learning about the whole Linux/Maemo thing.

There is a 2GB partition where all the sofware will go.

There are 3 partitions on the device root, opt and MyDocs.

root is 256MB, applications can install there but it is not recommended and any app you get from extras and probably ovi will not install to root.
Opt is 2GB and is the recommended place to install apps so most will install there.
MyDocs is around 28GB and it's unlikely that any apps will install there. Although technically an app could install there but it's not a good idea as MyDocs is not guaranteed that this will be available as it is what can unmounted when connected to a PC.

The N900 has 256MB of flash where the system boots from. There is an additional 1GB partition taken from the 32GB of space on which the greater part of all programs installed will reside.

You will essentially be running off of the 256MB partition, but the programs will install on the 1GB. Also I'm sure that 1GB can be expanded to as much as you need.

**EDIT**
Matrim sorry posted at the same time...
Do you have the N900? does it come with a 2GB opt partition? I read that 1 and 2 GB... I Do not own one btw.

I don't have one so I'm not too sure. I remember reading somewhere that opt was 2GB but after checking the developer guide again it says 1GB. See here

Can someone with a device confirm if opt is 1 or 2 GB?

Wikipedia says:

• 2GB as ext3 mounted to /home
• 768MiB as swap
• the remainder as VFAT mounted to /home/user/MyDocs with about 25GB of free space.
  
• The 256 MB NAND is formatted as UBIFS and contains the bootloader, kernel and root directory "/" with about 100MB of free space.
  

All --> thanks for your input. If someone with a N900 could confirm whether opt is 2GB or 1 that would be good as we seem to have conflicting data from a number of sources.

Also as a further question on this, how much space will the average app take up? I realise its one of those "how long is a piece of string" questions because all apps will vary, I am just trying to get a feel for how many apps can be installed.

And further if we do run out of space, is here anyway of increasing the size without losing the data installed on it, or are we better off increasing it when its first out the box.

Thanks for eveyones input on this, just trying to cover all bases once I actually get my hands on the device!

Well running my n800 off my SDHC card, I allocated 4 GBs for the operating system (I use to run easy Debian on so I wanted the extra room). With the games and applications I currently have installed I use up 1.54 GBs (including the operating system) and have 2.46 GBs left.

As for is there anyway to increase the size without losing data.. sort of. You could extend it to the microSD card but then that would mean you couldn't run the operating system without the card being in it. So I would say change it when you get the device if you want to be sure. I'm planning on making it around 3-4 GBs myself since I don't use up the entire 32 GBs I have in my n800 anyway.

opt is 2GB on my shiny new n900

i've had a quick browse through the apps and they range from a few k to 15mb. whilst i suspect 32gb will be plenty of space for as many apps as you'd ever want, if you pack it with music and videos you'll soon find yourself approaching the limit. but then there is a slot for mini flash memory card!

/opt and /etc/fstab
http://pixelpipe.com/item/fff2ae32-6...0-a2720a8f30ad
http://pixelpipe.com/item/40841057-0...e-0217aa472463