Help with Android 2.3 system structure

[Spilgrim]

Hi was just wondering if anyone can give me a definition of the system folders in android 2.3(gingerbread) and what each one contains etc for those who aren't familiar here are all the folders (excludes subfolders in the root directory):

• acct
  cache
  config
  d
  data
  dbdata
  dev
  efs
  etc
  lib
  mnt
  proc
  res
  sbin
  sdcard
  sys
  system
  tmp
  vendor

PS: phone model is samsung gti9000 (also in addition google has not given me a answer to this question so thanks in advance )

 

[Leeky]

Take a look here: http://www.kandroid.org/online-pdk/guide/intro_source_code.html

Others, such as:

/sdcard -- self explanatory, SD card or storage mediums.
/tmp -- is just a temporary process folder where applications can write temporary data to.
/vendor -- I believe is for the phone makers specific software and processes.

Android is based on Linux. Read up on the Linux Filesystem structure to gain further understanding of the more Linux-specific directories and their usage.

I recommend looking here: http://www.comptechdoc.org/os/linux/commands/linux_crfilest.html
Also here: http://www.tuxfiles.org/linuxhelp/linuxdir.html

 

[Spilgrim]

Thanks

Hi leeky i am well that android is based on linux(i only have a basic understanding of the linux file system and terminal commands though)it should be noted though that android does differ in some areas like every other linux variant though, i did however find the following site which may help both of us.

thanks again

 

[Leeky]

I'm not sure why you feel I need help, my understanding is perfectly sound -- I was answering your query after all, not the other way around.

As a general rule of thumb, Linux filesystems do not differ much between distributions. The whole point being that each distro follows certain predetermined directory guidelines in order to maintain compatibility between other Linux releases and package releases.

In order to understand Android file directories you must first understand Linux file directories. While Android might use a slightly different arrangement in some respects, the core of the OS and configuration files tend to adhere to *nix principals that have been long established.

I have removed the link in your post above as it gives the impression you are linking a personal site in a bid to gain more traffic. It offered nothing in the way of furthering the discussion you are having and reading about the owners interests has nothing to do with your thread.

You could of course grab hold of the source code for Gingerbread 2.3 Android and then investigate each directory yourself, if you prefer: http://source.android.com/index.html

 

[Spilgrim]

Sorry if i have offended just simply trying to pass around gained knowledge as for the link i was not aware that i would give such a impression and it certainly wasn't my intention to try and do once again i was simply trying to pass on what i would consider to be some slightly considerable information(even if it considered "useless" by yourself or others")

As said before i have a somewhat basic(but also progressing) knowledge of unix/linux systems but will definitely look at the source code you referenced due to it large volume of information

thanks again

 

[Leeky]

You didn't offend me.

To be fair, that link served no purpose at all. It was simply a website displaying a persons "about me" page with a misleading URL, which is why I removed it.

Other than that, the website in question did have some decent content from what I saw, it just wasn't related to this thread.

Aye, if you really want to know about Android it would be wise to compile and build your own Android release, then you can dissect it at your leisure. The links I gave in my first reply are enough to answer your original questions though.

 

[Spilgrim]

Thanks again unfortunately i myself am quite terrible at writing programs and have almost no interest in programming but you too make a good point though and answered my question quite well (PS:my main interest is general Network Management so compiling my own build of android isn't exactly my thing)

thanks again and good luck

 

[EC2901]

Can I ask a question regarding the below list...are all of these normal folders that should be there? Specifically, what is the "d" folder?

acct
cache
config
d
data
dbdata
dev
efs
etc
lib
mnt
proc
res
sbin
sdcard
sys
system
tmp
vendor

 

[tipstir]

Yes depending on the ROM builder. Each Smartphone or Tablet contains different ROM listings not all are the same. Always. They should be but I found a lot are not.