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Mysterious 200MB of "other" on my iPhone

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bollweevil

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 1, 2008
410
1
Why does my iPhone have 200 MB of "other" on it?

Details:
My iPhone used to have 7.27 GB of "capacity", which I could fill with music, photos, videos, or special stuff like notes, bookmarks, calendars, and contacts. I assume all of that stuff is what iTunes refers to as "other". I used to have very little "other", but immediately after installing the 2.0 firmware I had 200MB more "other" than I had before. The "capacity" also went down from 7.27 to 7.08.

Now I understand that 2.0 is bigger than 1.x, but should any of it qualify as "other"? However big the firmware is, they should subtract it from the "capacity". That is why "capacity" is only 7.08 GB. Also, all of these figures are from BEFORE installing any apps, I am not stupid. I am not complaining or anything, and I know there isn't anything wrong with the phone, I am just wondering what the 200MB of extra "other" is, and why it exists.
 
N

NiroshanMan

macrumors 6502
Jun 25, 2007
348
0
The capacity is and always will be 7.27 even with out any Firmware, this is because the manufacturers of the hard drive format it less than what is actually. The 2.0 firmware is probably considered other so don't worry about it its only 200 megs, then again you only give so much but still live with it. or downgrade
 
B

bollweevil

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 1, 2008
410
1
NiroshanMan said:
The capacity is and always will be 7.27 even with out any Firmware, this is because the manufacturers of the hard drive format it less than what is actually. The 2.0 firmware is probably considered other so don't worry about it its only 200 megs, then again you only give so much but still live with it. or downgrade
Click to expand...

Either this is incorrect or my iPhone is broken... and I doubt that my iPhone is broken. The "capacity" of my iPhone went down from 7.27 GB to 7.08 GB, so the "capacity" (as stated by iTunes, not the actually number of bits of Flash memory in the whole phone) clearly does change when you change the firmware.

Also, my total amount of "other" was so small before the upgrade that it could not possibly have been counting the iPhone's software.

Interestingly, I just plugged in my iPhone to make sure I wasn't lying about the "capacity" being only 7.08 GB. I was not lying, and to my surprise my total amount of "other" is 1.2 MB more than it was 18 minutes ago, when I first noticed this. What the heck happened in the past 18 minutes? I unplugged my iPhone, it sat in my pocket, then I plugged it in again. How is that equivalent to 1.2 MB of "other"? WHERE DID THAT COME FROM!

jjppp6 said:
The OS is the 'other'.

Jesus. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

If the OS is "other", then only part of the OS is "other". I won't believe that explanation until someone knowledgeable can explain to me why that would possibly be the case.
 
N

NiroshanMan

macrumors 6502
Jun 25, 2007
348
0
bollweevil said:
Either this is incorrect or my iPhone is broken... and I doubt that my iPhone is broken. The "capacity" of my iPhone went down from 7.27 GB to 7.08 GB, so the "capacity" (as stated by iTunes, not the actually number of bits of Flash memory in the whole phone) clearly does change when you change the firmware.

Also, my total amount of "other" was so small before the upgrade that it could not possibly have been counting the iPhone's software.

Interestingly, I just plugged in my iPhone to make sure I wasn't lying about the "capacity" being only 7.08 GB. I was not lying, and to my surprise my total amount of "other" is 1.2 MB more than it was 18 minutes ago, when I first noticed this. What the heck happened in the past 18 minutes? I unplugged my iPhone, it sat in my pocket, then I plugged it in again. How is that equivalent to 1.2 MB of "other"? WHERE DID THAT COME FROM!
Click to expand...

Just restore it.
 
J

jjppp6

macrumors member
Jul 8, 2008
38
1
bollweevil said:
If the OS is "other", then only part of the OS is "other". I won't believe that explanation until someone knowledgeable can explain to me why that would possibly be the case.
Click to expand...

It is.

I'm a developer for the iPhone firmware.
 
B

bollweevil

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 1, 2008
410
1
Upon searching the internet, I have found a lot of people discussing the "other", but nobody has an explanation that I believe. Explanations include:

1. "Other" is the OS. (Many people claim this is untrue, and I agree that it cannot be true)

2. "Other" is currupted files.

3. "Other" is junk left over from Jailbreaking the iPhone. (This is clearly not always true because many people with "other" haven't Jailbroken their phones, like me)

4. "Other" is stuff that has been deleted or invalidated.

5. "Other" is a result of iTunes misreading something and misrepresenting the contents of the iPhone. It is a glitch.

Multiple sources say that I will be able to fill the "other" with music if I just try to sync a sufficient quantity of music. I am performing the experiment as I type this. Songs are syncing at this very moment.

I will report the outcome as soon as I know it.

Yay, science!

[Twiddles thumbs]

jjppp6 said:
It is.

I'm a developer for the iPhone firmware.
Click to expand...

So you are saying that only part of the firmware is "other", or are you saying that the firmware is only about 200 MB in total (all of which is "other")?

"Other" fluctuates within a ~1.5 MB range as the songs get synced. Sometimes it increases, sometimes it decreases. There is still a bunch of "free space", so the science is still in progress...
 
X

Xenoxide

macrumors member
Jul 14, 2008
65
0
Yes, "other" is the OS.

8,000,000,000 Bytes is the unformatted capacity of the iPhone, which is actually 7.45GB.

A tiny amount of this is used up by formatting information (ie. the MBR).

The latest iPhone firmware (5A347) is 225MB in size.
 
B

bollweevil

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 1, 2008
410
1
Xenoxide said:
Yes, "other" is the OS.

8,000,000,000 Bytes is the unformatted capacity of the iPhone, which is actually 7.45GB.

A tiny amount of this is used up by formatting information (ie. the MBR).

The latest iPhone firmware (5A347) is 225MB in size.
Click to expand...

Liar!

First of all, how do you explain that the "capacity" changes when you change the OS? It changed from 7.27 to 7.08, for me.

Second, the iPhone blissfully accepted 7,513,432,880 bytes (6.997 GB) of music. (That is the size of the music on my hard disc) iTunes claimed there was not enough free space for that much music. When I added all that music, the size of "other" shrank down to 76.9 MB. I now have 7.00 GB of music, plus 0.08 GB of "other", and that equals 7.08 GB, the alleged capacity of my iPhone.

"Free space" was listed as "zero KB" toward the end of syncing, but the iPhone continued to accept more songs. I would add 50 MB more songs, hit sync, and the songs would add. "Other" would simultaneously decrease in size by approximately 50 MB (oddly enough, it was off by up to 2 MB).

EDIT: I editted the post because at first I had accidentally left one playlist synced that I didn't mean to. It caused my numbers to be wrong. The numbers are right now.
 
B

bollweevil

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 1, 2008
410
1
Does anyone have any idea? What were those 200 MB of "other"? Where did they go? Why do they appear and disappear like that?
 
T

tdevers

macrumors regular
Apr 21, 2008
116
0
Its witchcraft.

Its also not nice to call other people names when you ask for their help.
 
GfPQqmcRKUvP

GfPQqmcRKUvP

macrumors 68040
Sep 29, 2005
3,272
514
Terminus
It represents the current bio-sustainability of the mini-hamsters powering the phone. You see, as you increase how much music is on there, you are decreasing the amount of resources allocated to "other", and thus reducing the life supportive functions for the mini-hamsters.
 
B

bollweevil

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 1, 2008
410
1
Badandy said:
It represents the current bio-sustainability of the mini-hamsters powering the phone. You see, as you increase how much music is on there, you are decreasing the amount of resources allocated to "other", and thus reducing the life supportive functions for the mini-hamsters.
Click to expand...

You know what, I think you are right. When I upgraded, the reason "other" increased in size is because I got extra mini-hamsters along with the 2.0 firmware. I mean, it makes sense that you need extra mini-hamsters running in their mini-wheels to power all those new apps and features.
 
GfPQqmcRKUvP

GfPQqmcRKUvP

macrumors 68040
Sep 29, 2005
3,272
514
Terminus
bollweevil said:
You know what, I think you are right. When I upgraded, the reason "other" increased in size is because I got extra mini-hamsters along with the 2.0 firmware. I mean, it makes sense that you need extra mini-hamsters running in their mini-wheels to power all those new apps and features.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 
DamFu

DamFu

macrumors regular
Jul 13, 2007
198
154
The advertised size of the device, in your case 8GB, is just an estimated total. The actual total comes from the physical make up of the drive/flash space. The "other" comes from the size of the firmware and a small amount of information stored in the MBR. Plane and simple. Nobody is out to get you, the wool is not being pulled over your eyes.
 
diamond.g

diamond.g

macrumors G4
Mar 20, 2007
11,114
2,444
OBX
Isn't the other for apps, email, cover art, and anything else that doesn't fall under music or
videos?

I will say the OP is correct in saying the 1.1.4 8GB iPhones have 7.27GB of free space available after a fresh restore. The 2.0 8GB iPhones only have 7.08GB.
 
C

cbong69

macrumors newbie
Jul 16, 2008
6
0
I also have the same problem. My iPhone is original BL3.9 1.1.1 upgraded to 1.1.4 and jailbroken and unlocked with ZiPhone. I have 200MB shown as 'others' but my friends' phone does not have the 'others'. My suspects are :

1. his phone is 1.1.2 upgraded to 1.1.4. I heard there's a directory structure change from 1.1.1 to 1.1.2 so I believe 'others' are junk files from 1.1.1. This is especially so as I chose the 'backup' option during restore to 1.1.4. But when I try to browse through all the directories on my phone I'm still unable to find those junk files.

2. I sync my outlook calendar ( meeting invites ) to my iPhone, and my meeting invites contains a lot of attachments. But again those attachments are not sync to iPhone as the filename is only shown as <<filename>>

3. firmware ( but why all my friends' phone don't have the 'others' 200MB'???????????)
 
nickspohn

nickspohn

macrumors 68040
Jun 9, 2007
3,592
0
Xenoxide said:
Yes, "other" is the OS.

8,000,000,000 Bytes is the unformatted capacity of the iPhone, which is actually 7.45GB.

A tiny amount of this is used up by formatting information (ie. the MBR).

The latest iPhone firmware (5A347) is 225MB in size.
Click to expand...



This guy hit it head on.


Seriously, stop trying to prove nothing. 8GB of a flash drive doesn't mean you get every single of those 8,000 megabytes.

If you ever reformatted a computer, that's why it's slightly less than your hard drive size when you haven't even installed an OS yet.
 
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