topic Re: Apps storage space issue in TV

Apps storage space issue

Tony47 — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 17:10:27 GMT

TV: UE55 NU7500

I'm not sure whether this is a general Samsung issue or just to do with my TV, but the amount of space allocated to the Smart Hub apps seems to be seriously lacking.

As this is a new TV I thought I'd explore some of the available apps, but when I went into the Apps area I got a message saying that there was insufficient space to update apps. This was before I had downloaded anything, so it would purely apply to the pre-installed apps.

I checked settings and the used space was 751MB with 64MB available, i.e. 7%. This seems absurd as these apps can't be deleted and are built into the system. The available space doesn't even allow them to be updated. I then tried resetting Smart Hub. This has helped to an extent as the available space is now 13%. However, it's still far too low and whenever I try and download a new app I get a warning about available space.

I can't believe that the pre-installed apps are taking around 700MB of space, and it seems crazy that Samsung would design the system this way. Presumably I will have to install an SD card to provide more space for the apps?

Any tips welcome as this is my first Samsung TV.

Re: Apps storage space issue

lu1508 — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 10:44:59 GMT

Same problem for me. Talk to Customer service and they say to me to connect an usb drive, but it doesn´t work at all. I will return the tv to the store, it´s ridiculous, i need 101 Mb to update apps and only 88 available.

Re: Apps storage space issue

Tony47 — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 17:08:36 GMT

Hi, I'm glad it's not just me! What model is your TV?

This raises the question - is it a random issue with Samsungs or a design flaw on certain models? I'm not going to accept having to use external media to allow for updating the built in apps, never mind installing additional apps. Thankfully I'm covered by John Lewis.

Do any seasoned Samsung TV owners have any insight on this issue?

Re: Apps storage space issue

lu1508 — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 17:14:45 GMT

Model nu7475

Re: Apps storage space issue

Tony47 — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 21:58:45 GMT

Thanks. I can't find much reference on Google to this app storage issue so I hope it's a random manufacturing fault. I'll attempt to contact Samsung support for their view, and assuming they'll be no help whatsoever I'll return the TV to John Lewis and perhaps get another model. I'll post my progress here.

Re: Apps storage space issue

Tony47 — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 13:46:14 GMT

I can update on this after contacting John Lewis and Samsung yesterday. Unfortunately JL wouldn't help as I was past the 30-day exchange period. They said that the defect would be covered under the manufacturer's warranty, and insisted that they connect me to Samsung. I explained that I'd already contacted Samsung last week and they'd been unable to help. Nevertheless, JL spoke to them and then handed me over.

At first Samsung said that this was not a defect and they would not exchange the TV. They said that I had to connect a USB drive which could then be used by the apps if necessary. What they were suggesting was at best a workaround, so I insisted on speaking to a supervisor (re-reading the earlier post in this thread it looks like the USB solution doesn't work anyway).

The supervisor gave me a whole different story and was much more honest. She said that this is a known issue which has appeared randomly across the whole current TV range. She admitted that the USB drive suggestion was a temporary workaround until they could resolve the issue permanently. They had no timescale as they didn't know what was causing it. She said that she would contact me within three days with an update.

Currently I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place - JL won't help, but Samsung also won't exchange the TV as they're working on a solution which is seemingly open-ended. I must say I'm disappointed with JL and wonder what the value is of their 5-year guarantee if they're just going to fob you off to the manufacturer.

I'll tackle them again in a week if there's been no resolution from Samsung, as they've essentially now admitted that there is a defect.

Re: Apps storage space issue

lu1508 — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 23:12:51 GMT

Hi tv-problem mate... lol

1 weeks ago, special Customer Service from samsung for "El Corte Ingles" customers call me.

They fix the app update problem by remote access to tv. But now the software, not apps, update opens every time i turn on the tv, even auto update is off, always search for an update and always need to close update menu, it´s tedious....

I will call to C.S. again, since Samsung s4 phone (too much time ago) i said i will never buy a Samsung device, i tried samsung again and i feel cheated again...

Re: Apps storage space issue

Tony47 — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 13:52:12 GMT

Hi, it's interesting that they've fixed the original problem, even if they've created another one haha.

I had a text from Samsung Support this morning, quote:

"Please be advised that we are still waiting for the new software version to be released to resolve the issue on your Samsung TV."

I may as well wait a couple of weeks and see if a firmware update solves the problem. From what you say it sounds like they're halfway there. If it drags on much longer I'll go back to JL. Given that Samsung have now acknowledged that this is a known issue it should be easier to persuade JL to exchange the TV.

I've discussed this issue on the AV Forum in the UK (avforums.com). Someone there who has an NU8000 says that with all apps loaded the space taken is 1GB, with 2GB still free. That's much better, so as the price of that model has come down I'll probably get it if I do exchange the TV, as it has other improvements as well.

Current app storage:

Used 743MB

Available 73MB (8%)

This would imply that the system thinks the total storage is 1GB (allowing for formatting) which is ridiculous. I assume there's actually more space but it's being misread by the operating system. As 120MB are required for the built-in apps to update (as previously notified) it will obviously fail.

Regarding your issues with Samsung, I tend to expect quality control issues across the board, along with poor customer support by manufacturers. Sadly it just seems to be the business model.

Re: Apps storage space issue

Wonka70 — Wed, 02 Jan 2019 23:32:08 GMT

An engineer is coming to me and said he will replace motherboard. Yay or nay?

Re: Apps storage space issue

bIOforger — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 01:19:59 GMT

Same issue here 2018 NU7400, any news?

Re: Apps storage space issue

Tony47 — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 09:27:23 GMT

No. I've been communicating with the guy above on another forum and he cancelled the engineer, who admitted that he had no solution.

There was a recent firmware update but that hasn't helped. The concensus on the other forum is that this issue only affects TVs in the 2018 NU7xxx range and is likely to be hardware based. That makes it more awkward to rectify and Samsung still haven't come up with an answer.

I'm going to tackle John Lewis again, now that this is a known issue and Samsung are fully aware. I aim to exchange my TV for an NU8000 as that seems to be free of the issue and is a much higher spec TV for only about £70 more than I paid for the NU7500. When I bought my TV the price gap was a lot more, otherwise I'd have gone for the 8000 in the first place. I'll post an update here after I've contacted JL.

Re: Apps storage space issue

bIOforger — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 11:01:28 GMT

Mmm not sure about it being a hardware issue as I've only seen this message popup this last week or so, I.e when I got the TV just before Christmas it was fine. The only other app I have installed is plex. It feels like a software issue to me with certain models.

Re: Apps storage space issue

Tony47 — Sat, 12 Jan 2019 10:39:16 GMT

The auto update only happens every month, which is why you didn't see the pop up until now. The reason for suspecting that it's a hardware issue was that if it was software then surely all TVs with that software woud have the same issue?

Currently it's random across the entire NU7xxx range, which may point to a batch of faulty drives. However, this is all guesswork and nobody knows the answer yet, including Samsung.

Re: Apps storage space issue

bIOforger — Sat, 12 Jan 2019 13:53:39 GMT

ah yea fair point, mmm not good is it. For me its not such a huge issue as it has all the apps i would need and they all work currently, but the fact that it cant update them is a bit worrying for the future.

Re: Apps storage space issue

AQuALoRd — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 13:49:47 GMT

This is weird. I had the same issue today. I restored my TV to fabric configuration. After entering in Apps it says that 84MB are requested and I don't have enough to storage. But when I go to configuration it says I have 112 free MB!! So it is not only that it is not able to read the free space...

Re: Apps storage space issue

Tony47 — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 09:41:00 GMT

I'm not sure what you mean. When you say 'configuration', where is that in the menu, and what did it say exactly?

Re: Apps storage space issue

AQuALoRd — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 12:36:21 GMT

I do not have the TV in front of me right now but I referred to the option inside APPS aplication.

If you enter to APPS , after watching the error of "no enough free storage for updating..." you have some options at the right-above corner. If I remember well, one is to change your Samsung account and the other one is a wheel (which I called configuration) in which you can do some operations with the installed apps (Move/Block/Unblock/Uninstall/Details...). In that window there is a status bar at the top indicating which percentage of the available storage is used.

That information matches the one prompted by the error in free MBs. The difference is that before restoring the error showed 85Mb free and I needed 100Mb to update. After restoring I need ~90Mb for the update and I have ~110Mb free.. so I guess freeing more space would not do nothing.

I think that, as someone else is saying, that the OS is not able to read ok the free space.

Re: Apps storage space issue

AQuALoRd — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 12:37:43 GMT

I can upload some captures in the night so you can see what I am saying.

Re: Apps storage space issue

Tony47 — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 12:51:59 GMT

That's ok, I understand perfectly what you've described above. That type of thing happened to me and others. The amount of reported used and free space varies and you might find that if you go into the settings tonight it will be different again. It's always on the low side and seems to imply that the OS 'thinks' that there's a maximum of 1GB on the drive. With the NU8000 for instance, there's 3GB available.

Re: Apps storage space issue

AQuALoRd — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 13:49:12 GMT

Hi Tony47. I read the full thread and also the one you opened in avforums.com , and the behavior is just what you say in your last message and what it was happening to me before doing the restore. I had 700MB allocated and only ~80MB free, according to the OS. The update needed ~100MB and it couldn't be done because 80<100.

However, after restoring I posted my comment because what I saw is something that nobody reported before (correct me if I am wrong). Now I have more free space that the system would need for the update. Not only real free space, but also free space detected by the OS. The Apps alert says that I need ~80MB for the update, but I have 112 free MB. So not only the OS is badly checking for the free space, but also something is wrong in the logic of the update, because 112>80.