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How to back up the ext2 partion on sd card?

Hi,
I have sucessfully moved my apps and caches to my 1.6gb ext2 partiton on my 8gb sd card.
I would like to back up the ext2 partition in case my sdcard fails.
How do I do this in windows xp?
Thanks

I'd love to find out how to do something similar. I just got an 8 GB card that I'd like to replace my 2 GB card with, basically, I'd like to clone the whole thing over.
Anyone have any ideas? I can do XP or Linux, just curious what software would be able to do the best job of replicating the card from one to the other.

Attach the card to your computer with an adapter (not the phone as it will be mounted by android). Download and install ext2ifs from here. You will now be able to see the files on the ext2 partition and can copy/paste them to where ever you would like.

Thanks, but I've had no luck with ext2ifs and memory cards. They even address it in their troubleshooting section:
I have a device with a removable media, for example a USB memory stick, a Compact Flash Card, a magneto-optical drive etc., which has a partitioned format and has more than one partition. When I insert that media, a drive letter appears for the first partition, but not for all the remaining partitions of the media. When I open "IFS Drives" of the control panel, the considered device appears as a hard disk drive, but there is no partitioning scheme shown for it. How can I create drive letters for the remaining partitions of that removable media? (USB hard disk drives are not affected.)
There is an unsatisfactory answer only: it is not possible.
Windows creates (and deletes) all the drive letters for pure removable devices or removable medias itself. Because the Ext2 IFS software need not to create them, it intentionally does not show any partition scheme for that drive.
Windows creates a drive letter for the first partition of the considered media, but not for the remaining ones. (Windows NT4, 2000 and even XP behave the same way in that regard).
You will run into the same problem if you have a removable media partitioned with two partitions of the FAT type on a computer, which has not installed the Ext2 IFS software! So there is one straight advice only: do not use removable media with more than one partition with Windows.

I'm guessing (someone else could correct if wrong) that if I were to just do the basic copy from one card to another - that would suffice?
If I just took the card, created two partitions (FAT32 and EXT2FS) on the larger card, then copied over all the files in both - that would work just fine?

Strange, I've never experienced any issues with ext2ifs, but yes a simple copy paste of both partitions has been all i needed. Just make sure to copy any hidden files as well.

Can we back it up using Ubuntu Live CD and just upload them to a new sd cards ext2 partition?

yes, but you would need multiple card readers.

andonnguyen said:
yes, but you would need multiple card readers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why can't you save it to the hard drive, replace the sd card, access the ext2 partition and upload the files that you backed up?
Although I'm not very familiar with Ubuntu, when I tried it last time it didn't even allow me to have access to the app and app-private folders within the partition.
What do I need to do to be able to back it up to the hard drive so I can try to upload it to another SD?

Hi,
Thanks for the suggestion.
But when I installed the driver, I can still see just the fat32 partition not the ext2 partition.
I am using a sdhc usb card reader so it is not connected to the g1.
It is like the ext2 partition does not exist through windows xp.
But when I put the card back in the g1 the files are taking up space through ternminal emulator. So the ext2 partiton does exist but still not accessable through windows.
Any other ideas?
jsunkist146 said:
Attach the card to your computer with an adapter (not the phone as it will be mounted by android). Download and install ext2ifs from here. You will now be able to see the files on the ext2 partition and can copy/paste them to where ever you would like.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

bestwebs said:
Hi,
Thanks for the suggestion.
But when I installed the driver, I can still see just the fat32 partition not the ext2 partition.
I am using a sdhc usb card reader so it is not connected to the g1.
It is like the ext2 partition does not exist through windows xp.
But when I put the card back in the g1 the files are taking up space through ternminal emulator. So the ext2 partiton does exist but still not accessable through windows.
Any other ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what comes up when you use
"busybox df -h" in the terminal emulator?
make sure you see something like "/dev/mmcblk0p2 (partition size) (used) (available) (used %) "/system/sd"
If not then that's the problem.

Hi,
In my phone , I do have that ext2 line /dev/mmcblk0p2
size 1.4gb - used 49 meg - free 1.3 gb
sdcard line /dev/mmcblk0p1
size 6.2 gb - used 5.2gb - free 981 meg
Thanks for the reply.
Binary100100 said:
what comes up when you use
"busybox df -h" in the terminal emulator?
make sure you see something like "/dev/mmcblk0p2 (partition size) (used) (available) (used %) "/system/sd"
If not then that's the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

If you're on Linux it is trivial to get the files off, if you'd like to make an exact image you can use the dd command. I suggest grabbing a live CD, as it will be a much easier process than making windows see ext partitions.

crater said:
If you're on Linux it is trivial to get the files off, if you'd like to make an exact image you can use the dd command. I suggest grabbing a live CD, as it will be a much easier process than making windows see ext partitions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Live CD, but can you elaborate on the "dd command" exactly. I'm a Linux noob and wouldn't mind backing up the partition. Last time I tried, I couldn't even get permissions to open the files no less copy them.
Thanks.

Insert the two SD cards into USB SDHC card readers. Launch the free MiniTool Partition Wizard program. Copy the ext2 partition you want to transfer on the first SD card to an unallocated area on the second SD card. MiniTool Partition Wizard under Windows does "see" multiple partitions on a USB drive even though Windows doesn't assign letters to those drives and they are invisible in Windows Explorer.
To increase the size of the ext2 partition on either SD card, use the Linux program GParted. Boot up with the GParted Live CD/USB iso file. Run GParted to resize the ext2 partition. (MiniTool Partition Wizard can move but not resize an ext2 partition.)

Broken SD Card?

For the last 5 hours I have had hell with my sd card I redid my phone with JF new build and wiped out my 8gb class 6 a-data sd card but all of a sudeen it been acting weird
one thing is in paragon it shows the partitions still there (ext2) which takes up the whole card and should not, while windows shows its fat32, and i can access it in windows but it wont show up in in partition program nor delete
while when i mount it into the g1 (where it ask to mount or dont mount when plug it into pc) it instantly unmounts and i click mount again but just makes a noise and unmounts also saying its blank
now my 2gb chip seems to work fine (sometimes well if i unstall the drivers and let them re install then it works for a great amount of time), but this 8 gb,...well
what do you guys think? is it fixable? I can record video of it all (errors and stuff included) if u want
idk if its my chip, my phone or my pc can anyone help?

i think this has something to do with the way windows handles sd cards with no partition table. i assume you formatted the whole card to fat32 using a third party utility? that will totally confuse the system, because it cached a version of the partition table and now there's nowhere to find the new one. a quick solution is to use the build-in format tool to format your sdcard (right click on sdcard's icon and select format...). this should force the system to recalculate the size of the partition. then you have to unplug the card reader and plug it back in. now paragon should work.

billc.cn said:
i think this has something to do with the way windows handles sd cards with no partition table. i assume you formatted the whole card to fat32 using a third party utility? that will totally confuse the system, because it cached a version of the partition table and now there's nowhere to find the new one. a quick solution is to use the build-in format tool to format your sdcard (right click on sdcard's icon and select format...). this should force the system to recalculate the size of the partition. then you have to unplug the card reader and plug it back in. now paragon should work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
after a long while, finally got windows to format the whole thing to fat32, but yet still acting weird

what kind of card reader are you using? certain card readers has their own controller and do not allow you to partition properly.
but i am sure mountd in android will allow you full access to the sdcard when it's mounted.
also how much total space do you have in that fat partition after format? a full 8gb sd should have approx. 7.45GB actually space. if your partition table is correct, windows should only format the fat partition and give you a size smaller than 7.45G.
I strongly suggest you try again under Linux using the phone as reader. any livecd with a partition manager will perform much better than windows.

Well i try it both on my phone and a mem card reader, but once I put it on my phone it does not detect a sd card (my 8gb im trying to fix) while detects my fat32 2 gb chip
on my laptop and pc cant format nor delete that ext2 8gb sd card
BUT that 8gb ext2 card im trying to fix loads perfeclty and can access it on ubuntu so im guessing its not physically broken

tanner2007 said:
but once I put it on my phone it does not detect a sd card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by "it", the GUI. How about doing an ls on /dev/block from the terminal on the phone to see what linux sees?
tanner2007 said:
on my laptop and pc cant format nor delete that ext2 8gb sd card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, what do you mean by delete the card? You can delete a partition, but not a card: I'm not sure makes sense.
tanner2007 said:
BUT that 8gb ext2 card im trying to fix loads perfeclty and can access it on ubuntu so im guessing its not physically broken
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You say ext2, but yet above you claim to have reformatted as FAT. What does your ubuntu machine think it is? One way to tell is to mount it and try to set permissions on a file, if you can, it is not FAT.
What is your objective, do you want a FAT partition, an EXT2 partition, both?

Well I got it working guys, I dont know what was happening as I said before different programs where detecting different file systems, but soon as I found out how to do it ubuntu I saw it was working and erased the whole card (all partitions and everything)
and now it works again thanks guys ur tips helped

File size limitation

What are the chances someone will write a rom that has a different format for the file system on the internal storage of the Transformer? The reason I ask is because I have a lot of blue ray rips that I can not watch on my Transformer due to the file system limitations. Nothing over 2GB can be transferred to the device and I can not seem to get ah external SD card formatted to a different spec that will allow the full file sizes.
I know on my phone the dev reformatted the file system to something else for his from to allow the full file sizes. What are the chances of that happening with the Transformer? I have this big pretty screen I would love to take full advantage of. Watching my DVD rips is only so great

NTFS should be your friend, right? That's how I got my external hd to accept files larger than 4 gb. For the SD card ofc, dunno how to get the pad's file system there.
Or use the Linux ext2/3/4 systems!
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App

How about formatting the external SD card with the Linux ext3 file system, maybe with a Ubuntu Live CD, if someone only has a Windows PC.
That should work, shouldn't it?

Aymara said:
How about formatting the external SD card with the Linux ext3 file system, maybe with a Ubuntu Live CD, if someone only has a Windows PC.
That should work, shouldn't it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That will work. ext2/3/4 depending on what you want. I'd go ext2 as it lacks journalling, theoretically extending the life of your SD (correct me if I'm wrong).
The best option to do this would be to download the gparted live CD, booting into it, inserting your sd into your pc and then formatting it (it's fairly simple).
Only thing is, I don't think Honeycomb will automatically mount the ext SD card when inserted. You would have to do it via mount command in a terminal emulator on your TF. Maybe a custom ROM automatically mounts ext.

poltak11 said:
Only thing is, I don't think Honeycomb will automatically mount the ext SD card when inserted.
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Click to collapse
Why? Doesn't Android itself use ext4?

Aymara said:
Why? Doesn't Android itself use ext4?
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Click to collapse
Yeah pretty sure it uses some kind of ext, but by default I'm pretty sure it only automatically mounts FAT formatted microSD. I tried this myself with Prime!1.5 a few days ago, with an ext4 Class 2 microSD and it wouldn't mount automatically, although it did recognise the device. Simple mount command in terminal should do the trick.
Although now I'm not sure if OP is talking about SD (via dock) or microSD (via tablet)... as the terms are used rather ambiguously on these forums...

poltak11 said:
... it wouldn't mount automatically, ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unbelievable, but true ... I found this problem confirmed in a german Android forum.

Aymara said:
Unbelievable, but true ... I found this problem confirmed in a german Android forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unbelievable indeed. It really doesn't make sense why non-FAT formatted microSDs aren't liked by Android.

i dont understand it either! Im glad i dont have that issue !

[Q] How can I know that which kind of partition I have (ext 2,3,4)?

Can anyone please tell me how I can get to know which partition I am using.. I partitioned using ClockworkMod Recovery 5.0.2.8... So thats why I have no idea..! :S

I think that recovery will make an ext2 partition, but not 100% sure. Easiest way to check is probably to connect your micro SD card to your computer (in a card reader, I don't think it will work in the phone, although I'm not completely sure) and run a partition manager like MiniTool Partition Wizard (http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html). It should show all drives connected to your computer, and within each drive, all the partitions, along with their format etc. Find the drive corresponding to your SD card (probably the only one with an ext partition) and look at the format of the ext partition.
This assumes you run Windows. If you run Linux, it should natively detect both partitions on the card, although depending on your distro it may or may not automatically mount them. I can't really help too much with that aspect of things, but I'd say if you are the sort to run Linux, you'll have a fair idea where to go from there.

SifJar said:
I think that recovery will make an ext2 partition, but not 100% sure. Easiest way to check is probably to connect your micro SD card to your computer (in a card reader, I don't think it will work in the phone, although I'm not completely sure) and run a partition manager like MiniTool Partition Wizard (http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html). It should show all drives connected to your computer, and within each drive, all the partitions, along with their format etc. Find the drive corresponding to your SD card (probably the only one with an ext partition) and look at the format of the ext partition.
This assumes you run Windows. If you run Linux, it should natively detect both partitions on the card, although depending on your distro it may or may not automatically mount them. I can't really help too much with that aspect of things, but I'd say if you are the sort to run Linux, you'll have a fair idea where to go from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay thanks...
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda app-developers app

[Q] Is fat32 the only filesystem supported for microsd?

I tried formatting to ext4 and the phone did not recognize the card. Just wondered if anyone else had sucessfully tried any other filesystems?
Right now 64GB microsd's seem to be the best deal and name brand versions can be found as cheap as $20-25 where 128gb cards will still cost you $70+ and usually involve rebates at the lower end prices.

Exfat and fat32. I have mine formatted to fat32.
Sent from my Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 using Tapatalk

Applications that can write to SD card can only write to a SD card format to FAT 32. The system file manager can write to Exfat, but that's it.

Still not all apps will have permissions. I can't get Utorrent to save to the ext sd for anything
Sent from my 6045I using XDA Free mobile app

jvs60 said:
Still not all apps will have permissions. I can't get Utorrent to save to the ext sd for anything
Sent from my 6045I using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Syncthing is the same way...you should still be able to use the kitkat workaround though which is to save your files to a folder under the android\data\<appname> folder on the sdcard since each app has access to it's own data area.

I never knew about this workaround. So i create the folders on my ext sd card?
Sent from my 6045I using XDA Free mobile app

jvs60 said:
I never knew about this workaround. So i create the folders on my ext sd card?
Sent from my 6045I using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-bypass-Android-44-KitKat-external-SD-write-/

damn... i'll try that
how come the sdcard can't be used for anything
camera 360 can't use it to save, there's no option to choose applications installation on sdcard ect.
had to use link2sd to move almost all my apps without error
seriously now...

keyra74 said:
damn... i'll try that
how come the sdcard can't be used for anything
camera 360 can't use it to save, there's no option to choose applications installation on sdcard ect.
had to use link2sd to move almost all my apps without error
seriously now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It can be used if you are rooted...requires adding a line to platform.xml. If you find the thread about what camera software to use I posted some instructions on how to fix it where 3rd party's can use the external sd...or you can google on "platform.xml android external sd".
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=62100041&postcount=37

famewolf said:
It can be used if you are rooted...requires adding a line to platform.xml. If you find the thread about what camera software to use I posted some instructions on how to fix it where 3rd party's can use the external sd...or you can google on "platform.xml android external sd".
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=62100041&postcount=37
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thx i used the goold old sdfix app. it's normally for kitkat and we have to use some trick like that on lollipop bad alcatel bad

keyra74 said:
thx i used the goold old sdfix app. it's normally for kitkat and we have to use some trick like that on lollipop bad alcatel bad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blame google, not Alcatel. The external sd card issue is due to Lollipop..
That app makes the same change...you can uninstall it after it modifies the file. Simpler for me to just edit the file and push the change.

I'm on exfat on a 64gb. Works fine.

The 200gb I had in my g3 worked just fine.
Just realized the card cost more than this phone...

scatoclysm said:
I'm on exfat on a 64gb. Works fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1

My 32 gb HDSC card came formatted with FAT32. I preferred ExFAT, so I reformatted the card using Disk Utility on my Mac. The Icon 3 didn't recognize it until I reformatted back to FAT32. Maybe I should have tried formatting it on a Windows machine. I may try a 64 GB HDXC card that probably comes formatted with ExFAT.

maigre said:
My 32 gb HDSC card came formatted with FAT32. I preferred ExFAT, so I reformatted the card using Disk Utility on my Mac. The Icon 3 didn't recognize it until I reformatted back to FAT32. Maybe I should have tried formatting it on a Windows machine. I may try a 64 GB HDXC card that probably comes formatted with ExFAT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really not much of a benefit to exfat over fat32...especially if you set cluster size when formatting. I also read about some folks having permission issues writing to the exfat till they reformatted. The samsung 128GB I put in my idol3 worked like a champ.

NooB....Thank Google lollypop for sdcard problems. U can write to sdcard with some apps not all if the code is written for this.

It seems TWRP doesn't recognise exfat partitions if the sdcard doesn't contain a partition table (GPT works, I haven't tried old-style msdos partition table).
This could be partly explained by the fact that, without a partition table, the external sdcard is called /dev/block/mmcblk1 instead of /dev/block/mmcblk1p1
To put it another way, if you want your sd card to be both readable when the phone is normally booted AND when it's booted into TWRP, you have to make a GPT table on the sdcard, and create an exfat partition inside.
=> In windows, it just fell into place after messing around with it for a bit. Your mileage will vary, depending on if you had an msdos partition table, a pre-existing GPT partition table (easiest) or no partition table at all. I gave up trying to figure it out.
=> Under TWRP adb shell, using the image containing gdisk, I did it this way (data-destructive operation !) :
- Use gdisk to create a new GPT table on /dev/block/mmcblk1 (or /dev/sdX outside from adb shell)
- Also with gdisk, create a new partition (types 8300 or 0700 should do) on the device targeted previously
- Then, exit gdisk and use "mkfs.exfat -n extsd /dev/block/mmcblk1p1" (or /dev/sdX1 if you didn't do it from TWRP adb shell) to reformat the partition created previously to exfat format.
However => do NOT use mkfs.exfat command on the /dev/block/mmcblk1 device (or /dev/sdX), else you'll have to redo step 1 again
Also, under adb shell, make sure you don't accidentally wipe /dev/block/mmcblk0 device, else you'll brick your phone !
I hope this helps a few people

DarkZell666 said:
It seems TWRP doesn't recognise exfat partitions if the sdcard doesn't contain a partition table (GPT works, I haven't tried old-style msdos partition table).
This could be partly explained by the fact that, without a partition table, the external sdcard is called /dev/block/mmcblk1 instead of /dev/block/mmcblk1p1
To put it another way, if you want your sd card to be both readable when the phone is normally booted AND when it's booted into TWRP, you have to make a GPT table on the sdcard, and create an exfat partition inside.
=> In windows, it just fell into place after messing around with it for a bit. Your mileage will vary, depending on if you had an msdos partition table, a pre-existing GPT partition table (easiest) or no partition table at all. I gave up trying to figure it out.
=> Under TWRP adb shell, using the image containing gdisk, I did it this way (data-destructive operation !) :
- Use gdisk to create a new GPT table on /dev/block/mmcblk1 (or /dev/sdX outside from adb shell)
- Also with gdisk, create a new partition (types 8300 or 0700 should do) on the device targeted previously
- Then, exit gdisk and use "mkfs.exfat -n extsd /dev/block/mmcblk1p1" (or /dev/sdX1 if you didn't do it from TWRP adb shell) to reformat the partition created previously to exfat format.
However => do NOT use mkfs.exfat command on the /dev/block/mmcblk1 device (or /dev/sdX), else you'll have to redo step 1 again
Also, under adb shell, make sure you don't accidentally wipe /dev/block/mmcblk0 device, else you'll brick your phone !
I hope this helps a few people
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or just keep it formatted as fat32 and skip the above which was my choice.

Just my two cents - why would you want to format SD to ext4? Journaling filesystems don't work very well with flash drives, cells die much quicker.