Category Archives: Life

Things related to our personal life.

How to deal with Android install problems

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It’s true.  Things don’t always go the way we planned.  A wave of horrified shock may wash over your body as happened to Cosmo in this picture.  (How do cone mechanics work?!)

When it comes to buying and installing Android apps this is especially true.

I’ve been collecting tips and tricks that I can give to users having install problems (99% of the Android tech support email I get is “It won’t install”, before the game has even run) and I figured posting them would be a good idea.

The first line of defense – more space:

  • Try deleting some stuff so you have at least 3X the .apk size, this seems to help.

If that fails and you have Android 2.2 or newer:

  • Unmount your SD card (Settings->SD card & phone storage->Unmount SD card)
  • Install game (it will install to your main memory, not the SD card)
  • Remount SD card  (Settings->SD card & phone storage->Mount SD card)
  • Optional : Move to SD card (Settings->Applications->Manage Application->(choose game name)->Move to SD card

Using Cyanogen?

Getting the infamous “error -18”?

  • Hook your phone up to your computer and browse to “.android_secure” and delete the file “smdl2tmp1.asec”.  This should fix the problem.

If you still can’t get your new RTsoft game to install (or run, or any other reason, for that matter) properly:

  • Let me know and I’ll be happy to promptly issue you a refund. (don’t worry about the new market 15 minute refund limit, that doesn’t apply to me!)  If you don’t get a reply it’s because either my spam filter or yours is acting up, just email again.

Note about install problems:

The download and install process is 100% handled by Google and the Android OS – install errors occur before the game is actually run – unfortunately this isn’t something we can fix on our side other than possibly making the initial download smaller.

Don’t give up

If Dink Smallwood HD, Dungeon Scroll, or Mind Wall refuses to install, please try again after updating to the new Android Market, it seems to have fixed some issues.  New Android OS updates  may also help.