Related
WARNING: Proceed at your own risk, this may damage your phone and/or make it unstable. This is for advanced users only and should only be attempted by those who understand the risks of the following changes
Original post: http://www.androidin.net/thread-1099-1-1.html
AS usual, this is for those WITH ROOT ONLY
Preparation:
1. Installed JF RC30 V1.2 (only if you are using JF RC30 1.2 , this is not compatible with RC8)
2. Make a NANDROID backup (you may get everything back to normal if the phone screw up)
3. A MICRO-SD card with 2 partitions divided : (1) a fat-32 partition, (2) a ext2, you need a linux/mac to format the sdcard with ext2 partition
* the fat 32 will be mounted as sdcard and the ext2 will be mounted as /sd for application data, make your own decision for the size*
4. insert the sdcard with 2 partition on the phone
5. set the phone to aeroplane mode for safe
Procedure:
1. adb pull /system/etc/mountd.conf /*somewhere you may want to back it up*
2. rm -f /system/etc/mountd.conf
3. using the modified mountd.conf, adb push /*the path of modified mount.conf */mount.conf /system/etc/mountd.conf
4. adb pull /system/init.rc /*somewhere you may want to back it up*
5. rm -f /system/init.rc
6. using the modified init.rc, adb push /*the path of modified init.rc*/init.rc /system/init.rc
7. reboot
8. busybox cp -a /data/app /sd/
9. rm -r /data/app
10. ln -s /sd/app /data/app
11. reboot
Now, the phone will install and run everyone on /sd, still mounting /sdcard as usual. It is possible that to mount or unmount /sdcard by usb without everything screwed up. Beware that your sdcard will be used as part of system, removing the sdcard may freeze the phone. If the phone get freeze because of removing the sdcard, plug the sdcard again and soft reset.
It is also possible that copy the application data to another card. If you want to change the sdcard, switch the phone off, mounting the sdcard to computer directory, copy the /sd partition to another sdcard with ext2 partition
Back to normal:
1. rm -f /system/etc/mountd.conf
2. adb push /*the backup of mountd.conf* /system/etc/mountd.conf
3. rm -f /system/init.rc
4. adb push /*the backup of init.rc* /system/init.rc
5. busybox cp -a /sd/ /data/app
6. rm -r /sd/
Change of mountd.conf:
changing /dev/block/mmcblk0 to /dev/block/mmcblk0p1
change of init.rc:
adding
insmod /system/modules/2.6.25-01843-gfea26b0/kernel/fs/ext2/ext2.ko
mknod /dev/mmcblk0p2 b 179 2 1000
mount ext2 /dev/mmcblk0p2 /sd noatime nodiratime
Any chance of this being simplified into the actual commands necessary for this!?
I'm a semi-noob at *nix stuff... I can format my SD card into 2 partitions, but I'm lost at step 4... What do we need to edit??
Changed step 4...just adb pull the mount.conf for editing..open the file in text editor..find "mmcblk0" and change it "mmcblk0p1" ..save the .conf...del the original one..push the new one to the original directory..
Yay. Now hopefully we can get this in an update.zip to flash
Yeah, I'm putting off doing this until someone makes an update.zip which I definitely know how to apply and get rid of if I screw anything up
REPLACES the internal memory...?
So the internal memory isnt used?
kinda the same trick as the browser cache and market cache, just a bit more complex as its an entire filesystem your moving, which wouldnt let the sys see the internal, mem, please correct me if im reading it wrong, Im not a total noob at linux but no guru dev either...
bhang
The internal memory is still used, just not for /data/app
19.rm -r /data/app
20.ln -s /sd/app /data/app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should probably be /sdcard/app. In any case, this is a fairly complex mod that is not suited for Linux newbies. I would advise against folks considering this mod unless they understand and can test each step before attempting.
I agree and added a warning to the first post
Ummm yea, so what happens when you mount your sdcard for storage? I expect the phone goes crazy?
This tutorial, if you could call it that,(no offense) is really badly written and this process seems too risky for what you gain considering that if we are patient google will come out with this themselves.
Stericson
Stericson said:
Ummm yea, so what happens when you mount your sdcard for storage? I expect the phone goes crazy?
This tutorial, if you could call it that,(no offense) is really badly written and this process seems too risky for what you gain considering that if we are patient google will come out with this themselves.
Stericson
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The procedure calls for two partitions on the microsd, one FAT32, other EXT. Theoretically it should work with mounting for mass storage. However, I agree that it's a rather sloppy hack.
There is talk about a similar strategy being officially implemented by the Android team. Instead of two partitions, it would be loopback mounted to a file in the FAT32. That would also provide some encryption security. See here. It's just talk though. Won't be a reality for at least a few months.
Well talk is certainly better than nothing...thanks for the info....
Stericson
I post a method withtout compiling the ramdisk.img but that do not force mounting the sd ext2 drive under rootfs but still workable...probably when i back to work I can compile 1 to flash
Am I the only one that thinks there are a few things that are getting 'lost in translation' here?
I'm not getting /sd mounted properly upon reboot...there's no way I'm going to continue attempting this till I see a better (no offense) tutorial or do a little more research on the command lines.
I would really shy away from this if you're an average user or don't know what mountd and init.rc files are used for....this could flat out wreck your phone.
TheDudeOfLife said:
Am I the only one that thinks there are a few things that are getting 'lost in translation' here?
I'm not getting /sd mounted properly upon reboot...there's no way I'm going to continue attempting this till I see a better (no offense) tutorial or do a little more research on the command lines.
I would really shy away from this if you're an average user or don't know what mountd and init.rc files are used for....this could flat out wreck your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/sd is /sdcard (mount point for the micro sd card's partition)
I'm getting stuck right here:
8. busybox cp -a /data/app /sd/
9. rm -r /data/app
10. ln -s /sd/app /data/app
11. reboot
It's saying read only system blah blah, even though I have indeed mounted it is rw
pershoot said:
/sd is /sdcard (mount point for the micro sd card's partition)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No....no it is not.
/sd is a mount of the ext2 partition used for the 'copy' of /data/app (one of the things i disagreed with is picking /sd as a mount point for the second partition.)
/sdcard is the fat32 mount point...used as usual for mounting files.
IzzeLing said:
I'm getting stuck right here:
8. busybox cp -a /data/app /sd/
9. rm -r /data/app
10. ln -s /sd/app /data/app
11. reboot
It's saying read only system blah blah, even though I have indeed mounted it is rw
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Type mount in adb shell and see if /sd is even mounted. I wasn't seeing it in my list. I don't think his mount command in the init.rc is correct, but I'm too busy with holiday stuff.
Don't rm -r /data/app if you have not 100% verified the copy works.
This line looks mangled (need flags in the args):
Edit: nevermind, looks like it should work in the init.rc
TheDudeOfLife said:
No....no it is not.
/sd is a mount of the ext2 partition used for the 'copy' of /data/app (one of the things i disagreed with is picking /sd as a mount point for the second partition.)
/sdcard is the fat32 mount point...used as usual for mounting files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ahh yea. i just re-glanced over the instructions.
cool.
TheDudeOfLife said:
Type mount in adb shell and see if /sd is even mounted. I wasn't seeing it in my list. I don't think his mount command in the init.rc is correct, but I'm too busy with holiday stuff.
Don't rm -r /data/app if you have not 100% verified the copy works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, don't see it. Hm.
All props go to Jonnythan who gave the steps in another post. Mods may want to sticky this....
1. As always: Nandroid backup
2. reboot phone
3. adb shell into the phone
4. mkdir /sdcard/backup/
mkdir /sdcard/backup/app
mkdir /sdcard/backup/app-private
cp -r /data/app/* /sdcard/backup/app/
cp -r /data/app-private/* /sdcard/backup/app-private/
5. copy sd card to pc
6. Shut off phone and remove old sdcard and insert new sdcard
7. Start in recovery mode and partition new sdcard (fat32, ext2, swap)
8. Enable usb mode, copy data from old sdcard to newly partitioned sdcard
9. reboot and ignore force closings
10. Plug in USB and enable USB mode
From PC ADB shell into phone and type the following (enter after each line):
rm -r /data/app/*
rm -r /data/app-private/*
[chances are those directories are empty already, but you never know]
cp -r /sdcard/backup/app/* /data/app/
cp -r /sdcard/backup/app-private/* /data/app-private
reboot recovery
11. Restore most recent nandroid
12. reboot and enjoy
All thanks again to Jonnythan
Tweaks:
Between 5 and 6, shut off phone. Then start step 7 by specifying to start into recovery mode to partition the card. Then specify that you need to plug in the usb and adb shell for step 10. End step 10 by typing in "reboot recovery" which will reboot you right into the recovery partition.
Thanks for writing it up! Now I don't have to
Ok, I must be doing something wrong here... Does this require a custom ROM or anything? Im on the sprint Hero, stock ROM and I do have root. Everytime I get to step 4, at the cp -r /data/app/* /sdcard/backup/app/ command i get an error. It cant find the directory. Also, if i check the folder properties through Astro or linda file manager, it says 0 files, 0 folders, and also shows that it is not taking up any space. Just as a test to see if I was somehow blocked, I made a nandroid backup and deleted the /data folder, and upon reboot nothing had changed. Still have all of my apps on the phone...
I think the stock ROM doesn't include the cp command.
jonnythan said:
I think the stock ROM doesn't include the cp command.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait, when i get my sd card I have to do all this? I can't just reformat using the utility and drag and drop everything back into the sd card?
runsoverfrogs said:
Wait, when i get my sd card I have to do all this? I can't just reformat using the utility and drag and drop everything back into the sd card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not if you're using AppsToSD.
If you're not using A2SD then just make a backup of the old card, unmount it, put the new one in, and copy everything back. If you are using A2SD, the process is more complex.
Cp = Copy. Works on any rom. Like he said since you're on the stock rom, I doubt you're using Apps2SD so no you don't have to do all this.
If only people would actually read the thread title....
"How to swap SD cards w/ Apps2SD."
Don't have Apps2SD? Then this isn't the thread for you.
Exactly what I was thinking.
jonnythan said:
If only people would actually read the thread title....
"How to swap SD cards w/ Apps2SD."
Don't have Apps2SD? Then this isn't the thread for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using the modaco 1.1, i should've mentioned that. Doesnt that come with Apps2SD built in?
Only if you partitioned your sd card before you flashed.
After step 6, how do you boot into recovery mode to partition the new card if you dont have the recovery image on the new card? Did I miss a step where I added the recovery image to the new card?
chalan30 said:
After step 6, how do you boot into recovery mode to partition the new card if you dont have the recovery image on the new card? Did I miss a step where I added the recovery image to the new card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The recovery partition is installed on the phone itself, not the card.
thanks I dont know why the first time I tried i didn't get back into the recovery screen but the second time I booted into it just fine... oh well thanks for all your hard work!!!
Partitioning links
To partition the new card, you might want to include links to sdparted and this page for people who want to do it manually.
I have a question about how to make the swap. I have moved /data/dalvik-cache/ to my sd card and freed up about 25 meg of space on internal memory. Is there anything I need to do in addition to your instructions or would it be better to just do a wipe and start from scratch. I am using MoCaDo 1.2 Rom using apps2sd and ext3 partition. I have a 16 gig card coming. By moving the cache I now have 143 meg of internal memory with about 65 apps installed counting some of the stock apps. I have removed several of those as well. 34 apps from the market or handmark.
esoteric1311 said:
All props go to Jonnythan who gave the steps in another post. Mods may want to sticky this....
1. As always: Nandroid backup
2. reboot phone
3. adb shell into the phone
4. mkdir /sdcard/backup/
mkdir /sdcard/backup/app
mkdir /sdcard/backup/app-private
cp -r /data/app/* /sdcard/backup/app/
cp -r /data/app-private/* /sdcard/backup/app-private/
5. copy sd card to pc
6. Shut off phone and remove old sdcard and insert new sdcard
7. Start in recovery mode and partition new sdcard (fat32, ext2, swap)
8. Enable usb mode, copy data from old sdcard to newly partitioned sdcard
9. reboot and ignore force closings
10. Plug in USB and enable USB mode
From PC ADB shell into phone and type the following (enter after each line):
rm -r /data/app/*
rm -r /data/app-private/*
[chances are those directories are empty already, but you never know]
cp -r /sdcard/backup/app/* /data/app/
cp -r /sdcard/backup/app-private/* /data/app-private
reboot recovery
11. Restore most recent nandroid
12. reboot and enjoy
All thanks again to Jonnythan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see some possible problems with this method... what happens if you're copying the sdcard onto a windows machine to backup? You'll lose symlinks, uid, and the like.
Also, what if /app and /app-private don't get put back onto the new sdcard? You'll end up with symlinks that point to nothing.
How 'bout this method? (just a little tweak).
Boot into recover (adb shell reboot recovery)
when recovery comes up, go to the shell (adb shell)
Then, issue these commands (this assumes your ext partition is ext3, and that you're using Amon-Ra's recovery so you have BusyBox 1.13.2 or later):
mkdir /sdcard/extback
mount -o ro -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 /system/sd
cp -a /system/sd/. /sdcard/extback/
Now, back up the sdcard to a linux machine... keeping uid's and everything the same.
Turn the phone off, swap the cards, reboot into recovery (manually), format, partition, and convert ext2->ext3 the sdcard, put all the stuff back onto the card... and in the shell (within recovery
mount -o rw -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 /system/sd
cp -a /sdcard/extback/. /system/sd/
reboot
Now, it should all come up with the same attributes, no force close, and everything...
Basically, this method would swap sd cards outside of the normal OS (in recovery), but would keep all the attributes, symlinks, and uids the same for the main OS.
I think if you're using a windows box to backup the card, then we may want to look into making a tarball of the ext partition. I'm not sure if Amon-Ra's recovery supports this or not.
jmanley69 said:
I see some possible problems with this method... what happens if you're copying the sdcard onto a windows machine to backup? You'll lose symlinks, uid, and the like.
Also, what if /app and /app-private don't get put back onto the new sdcard? You'll end up with symlinks that point to nothing.
How 'bout this method? (just a little tweak).
Boot into recover (adb shell reboot recovery)
when recovery comes up, go to the shell (adb shell)
Then, issue these commands (this assumes your ext partition is ext3, and that you're using Amon-Ra's recovery so you have BusyBox 1.13.2 or later):
mkdir /sdcard/extback
mount -o ro -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 /system/sd
cp -a /system/sd/. /sdcard/extback/
Now, back up the sdcard to a linux machine... keeping uid's and everything the same.
Turn the phone off, swap the cards, reboot into recovery (manually), format, partition, and convert ext2->ext3 the sdcard, put all the stuff back onto the card... and in the shell (within recovery
mount -o rw -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 /system/sd
cp -a /sdcard/extback/. /system/sd/
reboot
Now, it should all come up with the same attributes, no force close, and everything...
Basically, this method would swap sd cards outside of the normal OS (in recovery), but would keep all the attributes, symlinks, and uids the same for the main OS.
I think if you're using a windows box to backup the card, then we may want to look into making a tarball of the ext partition. I'm not sure if Amon-Ra's recovery supports this or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I'm confused don't take much.
I tried reading the ext2 partition using ubuntu and loading it temp on my windows 7 PC. It would not let me open that partition so I could not copy anything to it.
I guess the easiest way is to just wipe the phone back to factory, booting to recovery with the new card in and create the fat32-ext2-swap partition, re-flash the MoDaCo or any Rom that uses Apps2Sd and install all my apps again. I am assuming this would work as well.
jmanley69 said:
I see some possible problems with this method... what happens if you're copying the sdcard onto a windows machine to backup? You'll lose symlinks, uid, and the like.
Also, what if /app and /app-private don't get put back onto the new sdcard? You'll end up with symlinks that point to nothing.
How 'bout this method? (just a little tweak).
Boot into recover (adb shell reboot recovery)
when recovery comes up, go to the shell (adb shell)
Then, issue these commands (this assumes your ext partition is ext3, and that you're using Amon-Ra's recovery so you have BusyBox 1.13.2 or later):
mkdir /sdcard/extback
mount -o ro -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 /system/sd
cp -a /system/sd/. /sdcard/extback/
Now, back up the sdcard to a linux machine... keeping uid's and everything the same.
Turn the phone off, swap the cards, reboot into recovery (manually), format, partition, and convert ext2->ext3 the sdcard, put all the stuff back onto the card... and in the shell (within recovery
mount -o rw -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 /system/sd
cp -a /sdcard/extback/. /system/sd/
reboot
Now, it should all come up with the same attributes, no force close, and everything...
Basically, this method would swap sd cards outside of the normal OS (in recovery), but would keep all the attributes, symlinks, and uids the same for the main OS.
I think if you're using a windows box to backup the card, then we may want to look into making a tarball of the ext partition. I'm not sure if Amon-Ra's recovery supports this or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, for one thing your method requires a linux machine
But what would you even have symlinks on the SD card for? Symlinks, uids, and attributes on SD card files simply aren't an issue at all for most people.
And truthfully if you are already doing that kind of stuff, you don't need this guide.
jonnythan said:
Well, for one thing your method requires a linux machine
But what would you even have symlinks on the SD card for? Symlinks, uids, and attributes on SD card files simply aren't an issue at all for most people.
And truthfully if you are already doing that kind of stuff, you don't need this guide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as Linux... get VMWare player for free and download ubuntu and you're set real fast. Also if you notice what I said about doing a tar instead id using Linux.
As far as symlinks. You're right there "shouldn't" be any... but if you're backing up something why not do it right just in case? We have no idea what future versions of apps2ad sill do. It may happen that a file MUST reside on internal memory and therefore you'd need a symlink.
As far as the rest...
Actualy... each app gets its own user id and mismatches in those can cause problems with some apps. And each file in Linux gets attributes to tell the OS who is allowed ti read/write/execute it. If those get messed up it can cause problems.
So... we have a responsibility aa educators to give the best instructions possible. And not give instructions that ultimately would result in a backup that is missing vital information and would lead to a complete reload to fix the problems.
There are many reasons why Google decided to restrict apps to internal memory and we will never know all of them... this may very well be one of the problems they saw happening.
Like ghosting a HDD to another, I wanted to know if there's an app that can do this?
I think my 8GB LG branded MicroSD is failing as Windows keeps reporting that the drive needs to be scanned when I mount it via USB from my Desire so I'd like to just get a new Sandisk 8GB card and clone the old to new one to avoid having to go through restoring backups and so on.
If anyone has any ideas that would be grand!
check winimage.
That app can make image and recover it to drives!
Doesnt matter if disk is bigger than previous ( NB! may need to resize to get total space if its bigger, cannot remember)
I've always used it for vmware ESXi embedded sticks, made a million of them and the app works!
also linux routers.
Hope this helps.
vmware ESXi runs linux so it supports EXT!
No need for a program, copy data from fat partitions vis pc and use this ( from cyanogen wiki page) Used it three times now and no problems
Upgrading SD / Moving data to new SD
If you are using RA recovery, this is all done for you by making a BART backup. The following is if you're wanting to do it from the command line.
1. First, backup your ext partition on to your fat32 partition. Note, you will need enough free space to hold all of your apps.
* In Terminal Emulator or recovery console:
mount -a [enter]
tar cvf /sdcard/ext.tar /system/sd [enter]
Note that you must have root access for Terminal Emulator. If you get "permission denied" after entering the above command, then try entering the command "su". "sudo" will not work. After entering "su" try the above command again.
* Or, Using ADB shell from your PC:
adb shell
mount -a [enter]
tar cvf /sdcard/ext.tar /system/sd [enter]
2. Next, mount your SD card and download/backup everything on your fat32 partition. Make sure to get the ext.tar file that you just created in the previous step.
3. Change cards/repartion, or do whatever it is you planned to do here. For instructions on creating new partitions see the installation instructions above.
4. If you're not already, reboot into your recovery. Restore your backup files to your fat32 partition. Don't boot into CM yet!
5. Either go to console or ADB shell and type:
*
mount -a [enter]
*
tar xvf /sdcard/ext.tar [enter]
6. Double check that your directories are moved with:
ls /system/sd [enter]
7. Now you can reboot into CM!
8. Run fix permissions to fix any corrupted permissions.
9. Enjoy your new card!
If you have Amon Ra's recovery on your android phone you can do a bart backup with your old sd card, partition the new sd card as required, copy the bart backup to new sd card and then do a bart restore. It is what i did when i upgraded from my 2gb to 8gb, worked a treat.
Since I created this thread a few great things have happened, EXT4 support in unrevoked permanent flashed AmonRA recovery being the main one so now I am sorted thanks!
I use Gparted just copy paste
I installed the ubuntu dual boot and now want to get rid if the ubuntu partitions it created.
Anyone know how to do this?
Well, how about opening a terminal under android (terminal emulator by jack pavelich should be fine) and typing "mount" for checking mount points.
Then you could mount the partitions (e.g. "mount -o remount,rw /dev/sda2 /Volumes/useless)
---> This would mount the partition "sda2" as read-write on "/Volumes/useless/" in your android root directory.
Then delete all files on that dir. And google somewhat for further information on how to delete partitions.
Hope this helps.
NVFlashing over everything is probably the easiest
I fixed this by nvflashing the stock rom.
I saw a few guides to make an ext4 formated MicroSD mount able, but most of them
look a bit complicated and playstore apps often didn't work for me. Specially under 4.4.
So what I did is this:
1) Format the MicroSD to ext4, using a linux system (ubuntu)
2) Mount the sdcard and change the permissions for sdcard and subfolders:
3) Running in Terminal: “sudo chown -R root:root /media/<user>/<sdcard_name>”
(Somehow sometimes i need to run this command twice)
After step 3) your perms should look like this:
Now my MicroSD works flawless on various devices in read and write mode.
To copy files on your card you must use a tablet/phone as a cardreader.
If anyone knows the necessary terminal commands for android to do this, please tell me.
For anyone who wants to optimize the MicroSD a bit (for me max +10%) you should look here.