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[Q] Create sd-ext parttition.

Hi,
Do anyone knows if there is a real advantage in creating a partition in the phone sd card, [sd-ext]?
I read that it solves this error: E:can't mount /dev/block/mmcblk1p2
(File Exists).
But, does the phone has a real gain when you format and create a new sd-ext partition?
Thanks,

If you have a ROM that has data2ext or app2ext then you'll notice a speed increase as well as a drop in usage on your phone's internal memory. I have a MT3GS and with data2ext I went from an 1100 in quadrant to a 1600

dbzfanatic said:
If you have a ROM that has data2ext or app2ext then you'll notice a speed increase as well as a drop in usage on your phone's internal memory. I have a MT3GS and with data2ext I went from an 1100 in quadrant to a 1600
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick reply,
When you say, data2ext or app2ext, are you saying app's that can be installed in the ex-sd card?
Can I do that in cwm or there is a better way?
Cheers,

Data2ext and app2ext are ROM add-ons that enable you to either move the entire data partition to your sd-ext or just all of your installed apps. If you use data2ext your apps are automatically moved since they're stored in the data partition. You would flash them the same way you flash a ROM if the mods are available for your phone. Just search the forum for your phone if you want to know if you have those options.

Thanks mate,
I installed move2sd enabler.
So I can to move all the apps to the sd-ext partition I created?
I'm going to search for that.

I honestly haven't used move2sd so I'm not sure how that works. It should be a separate script like I mentioned before.

I created a new partition in clockworkmod 512mg 32mg swap.
The phone restarts, all seems ok, but when I restart again in CWM and select format sd-ext partition, it says that I don't have one.
I'm trying to find a way to fix this issue but until now nothing...

Check if you have a blocksize of 4096 (there's a command, don't know it offhand) and make sure it's actually an ext partition, it might be a different type or may be the wrong type of ext, such as ext2 when it needs ext3 or vice versa.

Already did the check,
su
sf
And there's no new partition created.
CWM erased all the data inside my card but did not create a new partition.
Do you thing it's because I have lagfix on with ext4 part type?

Honestly I have no idea. I used the parted script/command from adb to do my partitioning. Maybe try that or try converting to ext2?

Thanks,
I'm going to try and take a look in to that.
I see a lot of posts that say to use RA-Recovery with sdk adb but does it works with an SGS?

I don't know honestly, you'll need to look in the SGS forum and see if a Ra recovery is posted there. Parted works with adb and can be added to any ROM regardless of recovery menu.

From what I saw Ra-recovery is not for sgs's.
I still didn't saw any posts that explains how to do a sd-ext new partition for a Samsung Galaxy S, only for HTC's and other phones.
If you happen to find anything that explains how to do this for a SGS be a friend and tell me ok?
Thanks

A friend of mine has an SGS so I'll ask him and see what he's done with his. I know he rooted and flashed CM to it but i'm not sure if he did anything else like data2ext or anything like that.

Thanks mate,
I'll be waiting for your reply...

[Q] What are the benefits of formating the sd to ext/swap etc?

I'm a Linux user so I know what swap, ext2, ext3 etc technically means. What I don't understand is what are the *actual* benefits of formating my SD Card to these formats. I've run into a lot of guides and how-tos but no one cares to explain why to do it.
So to sum up:
Does the Android System actually cares if I create these formats?
If it does, will I notice actual increase in performance?
What about apps2SD?
What kind of format do you recomend?
I have an HTC Desire and I'm using CyanogenMod, Oxygen and MIUI in rotation (means I replace one with another every couple months).
Thanks in advance!

aventinus said:
I'm a Linux user so I know what swap, ext2, ext3 etc technically means. What I don't understand is what are the *actual* benefits of formating my SD Card to these formats. I've run into a lot of guides and how-tos but no one cares to explain why to do it.
So to sum up:
Does the Android System actually cares if I create these formats?
If it does, will I notice actual increase in performance?
What about apps2SD?
What kind of format do you recomend?
I have an HTC Desire and I'm using CyanogenMod, Oxygen and MIUI in rotation (means I replace one with another every couple months).
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Faster SD Card speeds for app2sd, thats mainly it. If you don't use A2SD there isnt much point to it, but if you do it can be very useful. What some people do though are format their System and Data partitions to EXT2 or EXT4 so then the whole system is faster all around and is a large improvement over stock rfs.

fowenati said:
Faster SD Card speeds for app2sd, thats mainly it. If you don't use A2SD there isnt much point to it, but if you do it can be very useful. What some people do though are format their System and Data partitions to EXT2 or EXT4 so then the whole system is faster all around and is a large improvement over stock rfs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok so if make an ext partition, the apps that are stored in this partition will run faster. That sounds fair. Should I have both ext and FAT partions? And if I do, how does Android know where to put the apps? Also how about swap?

aventinus said:
Ok so if make an ext partition, the apps that are stored in this partition will run faster. That sounds fair. Should I have both ext and FAT partions? And if I do, how does Android know where to put the apps? Also how about swap?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need for swap, and yes EXT is automatically recognized by android for a2sd, but make sure your ROM supports it. You would have an EXT partition between 256mb-2gb max, and then the rest would be FAT.

fowenati said:
No need for swap, and yes EXT is automatically recognized by android for a2sd, but make sure your ROM supports it. You would have an EXT partition between 256mb-2gb max, and then the rest would be FAT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok! That was really eye-opening! Thank you so much!

no problem!

G2x sd configuration thread

Yes, I have searched; don't give me the whole guilt crap
I would like to know a couple of things...
1. Internal phone storage & phone memory, what is the difference and is there any mods people are doing with them as far as combining or something?
2. SD partitioning... are people still doing this and if so what are you recommending?
3. Swap... probably a thing of the past, but just would like to know.
Class 4 32gb
Running Weapon G2X
Faux stock kernels
Clockwork EXT4

alright lets make this world a better place, i'll tell you what i know
internal storage, is basically yours to use, add your music pics or whatever, just like how u use an sd card, phone memory aka application memory is reserved for apps only, no way of combining them, dont need to anyways, sd partitioning i never tried but i think its says it all, dividing your sd card into two or more partitions..make seem like you have two or more, u can reserve one just for music or pics or roms
and what do u mean by swap??
ooh yah if i helped a little hit the thxs button, imma collect now too lol

I came from from the G1 where it was standard practice to partition into fat32/ext/swap. Since moving to the G2x I have not needed it. Phone is super fast without swap and more than enough space for apps.
As for combining internal and external SD cards, I don't think I've seen that yet...
Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk

I've never seen them combined but don't know if you can because if you remove the microsd, it would get all screwy.
I don't even use internal unless the rom does. I have a collection of apks/walls/music and my titanium files on my SD... everything else is expendable.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

player911 said:
I've never seen them combined but don't know if you can because if you remove the microsd, it would get all screwy.
I don't even use internal unless the rom does. I have a collection of apks/walls/music and my titanium files on my SD... everything else is expendable.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and with those on the SD are you using them just anywhere on the SD or do you have an EXT 4 partition?

dylyxcore said:
Yes, I have searched; don't give me the whole guilt crap
I would like to know a couple of things...
1. Internal phone storage & phone memory, what is the difference and is there any mods people are doing with them as far as combining or something?
2. SD partitioning... are people still doing this and if so what are you recommending?
3. Swap... probably a thing of the past, but just would like to know.
Class 4 32gb
Running Weapon G2X
Faux stock kernels
Clockwork EXT4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Internal phone storage is where your system files are stored. It is also where apps from the market are installed. Phone memory is utilized by the stock roms as the default "sdcard". By default this is where your photos, music, documents, etc are stored. There is also an external slot for a physical sdcard. This is actually mounted to /sdcard/_ExternalSD with a stock rom.
There is no need to partition the external sdcard. There is enough space on the phone by default and it probably wouldn't be worth the hassle to make it work.
I don't think you need swap with this phone.

phburks said:
Internal phone storage is where your system files are stored. It is also where apps from the market are installed. Phone memory is utilized by the stock roms as the default "sdcard". By default this is where your photos, music, documents, etc are stored. There is also an external slot for a physical sdcard. This is actually mounted to /sdcard/_ExternalSD with a stock rom.
There is no need to partition the external sdcard. There is enough space on the phone by default and it probably wouldn't be worth the hassle to make it work.
I don't think you need swap with this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for clearing this up, so in clockwork recovery why does it support EXT 4? Is that just the format it saves a back-up in?

dylyxcore said:
Thank you for clearing this up, so in clockwork recovery why does it support EXT 4? Is that just the format it saves a back-up in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Ext4 is a type of filesystem used commonly in Linux, just like FAT and NTFS are used with Windows setups. There are some roms that will mount your system as, or even fully format your system into a ext4 filesystem. Clockwork supports that filesystem, meaning it can be used to install ext4 roms.

phburks said:
No. Ext4 is a type of filesystem used commonly in Linux, just like FAT and NTFS are used with Windows setups. There are some roms that will mount your system as, or even fully format your system into a ext4 filesystem. Clockwork supports that filesystem, meaning it can be used to install ext4 roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your help, one last thing... to run these do you need an EXT 4 partition, or is that completely different? What makes the ROM to be EXT 4?

dylyxcore said:
Thank you for your help, one last thing... to run these do you need an EXT 4 partition, or is that completely different? What makes the ROM to be EXT 4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you simply flash like you would any other rom. If the rom actually formats your drives to ext4 i beleive you will have convert back to ext3 in order to flash an ext3 rom. There is a conversion utility somewhere on here if you search around. Someone else wanna chime in to verify about the need to convert back to ext3?

phburks said:
No you simply flash like you would any other rom. If the rom actually formats your drives to ext4 i beleive you will have convert back to ext3 in order to flash an ext3 rom. There is a conversion utility somewhere on here if you search around. Someone else wanna chime in to verify about the need to convert back to ext3?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I read about the EXT 3 to EXT 4 dilemma on here via CM7 when it was upgraded from an overnight build or something... I think it had to do with restoring apps or data? Really appreciate your information, this finally clears up the confusion
p.s. thanks'ed all your replies

enable a2sd on cm9

I previously used a2sd on kryllios's froyo 9.5 rom. Now cm9 does not show partition. Do I have to format my sdcard? Is there any other way without doing it?

Vaibhavs800 said:
I previously used a2sd on kryllios's froyo 9.5 rom. Now cm9 does not show partition. Do I have to format my sdcard? Is there any other way without doing it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
on CM9 its not possible right now....its still under development and pretty alpha stage....but i this you can try the ICS26 by arakmar kernel and get ur ext working....ive tried multibooting with it and its possible in ICS ...done that with MIUI....

Then can I reclaim that partition without wiping or backing up my data.
Thanks for the quick reply

Problem isnt solved. Can anyone help me?

If you load up your SD card in a Linux partition program such as gParted (there may be a Windows equivalent that will see it as well) you should be able to delete the ext4 partition and extend your FAT32 partition. This still carries a Data Loss risk but it is unlikely.

[Q] SD-EXT on SGS4G with CM9?

I'm currently running bhundven's herring CM9 with no kernel modifications and CWM 6. I find that the internal storage for this phone is very low and only holds a small amount of applications, especially since many apps seem to not want to install at all (about 3/4 of the time I try to install things, I get either "Package invalid" or "Insufficient space available", which is extremely annoying and might be a separate problem).
Is there any way that I can get sd-ext to work on this phone with this setup? I'd rather not switch kernels (I'd love to get TWRP recovery but the flashable doesn't work for me and I don't want to switch kernels).

cpkelley94 said:
I'm currently running bhundven's herring CM9 with no kernel modifications and CWM 6. I find that the internal storage for this phone is very low and only holds a small amount of applications, especially since many apps seem to not want to install at all (about 3/4 of the time I try to install things, I get either "Package invalid" or "Insufficient space available", which is extremely annoying and might be a separate problem).
Is there any way that I can get sd-ext to work on this phone with this setup? I'd rather not switch kernels (I'd love to get TWRP recovery but the flashable doesn't work for me and I don't want to switch kernels).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't used it but this app should do the trick.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.codlab.int2ext
Let me know if it works.

I prefer Mounts2SD, which lets you completely configure things. I was running PACman with cache and dalvik offloaded which worked quite well. And free is a good price.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spazedog.mounts2sd

That seems like it just switches the internal and external storage, not making an ext partition on the SD card. But can things like this really be done through an app? I thought these things had to be done through init.d or build.prop scripts.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda app-developers app

The app creates an init file. Or so it appears. Like I said I don't use it. It seems that raze does and I'd defer to him here. Either his app or the one I linked should work fine.

Thanks (given) to both of you. And any ideas on what else might be causing the invalid packages when downloading from the play store? It happens even though I have much more free app space than I would need (eg. I had 119 MB of free space and a 30 MB app download failed).
EDIT: Just tried using Mounts2SD, but it couldn't find the sd-ext partition. Do I need to create that manually, and how?
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda app-developers app

Titanium backup had a feature to integrate app updates into the Rom.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I547 using xda app-developers app

Another way is to create ext4 partition (about 1G is usually enough) on you SD card with free MiniTool Partition Wizard and then use Link2SD to link apps/dalvik to this partition. I've been using it like this for a long time and it works fine. There are plenty of guides on the Web how to do that.

I used CWM or TWRP to create the sd-ext partition. You need to create that first somehow... if MiniTool Partition Wizard will do it without wiping the sdcard, that's better than recovery though.
My method was boot to recovery, mount sdcard, copy everything to computer HD, unmount sdcard, partition sdcard with 2 GB sd-ext (because I wanted lots of space, but I'd probably cut it down to 1 GB next time), mount sdcard, copy everything back from computer HD, unmount sdcard, reboot to system. Then launch Mounts2SD, pick what format you want the sd-ext in (FAT or ext2 are the fastest, but you can take ext3 or ext4 if you're not going to just disable the safety features) and what stuff you want moved over.
Edit: Just found this link, which I haven't used but which explains how to do the sd-ext with MiniTool... apparently MiniTool DOES still wipe the partitions though, so you may as well just use CWM/TWRP and make your life easier.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wik...#using_MiniTool_Partition_Wizard_Home_Edition

Theraze said:
I used CWM or TWRP to create the sd-ext partition. You need to create that first somehow... if MiniTool Partition Wizard will do it without wiping the sdcard, that's better than recovery though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MiniTool will wipe the sd card to create the new partition as well. I wish there was a way to do it without wiping the card but there is not. So back that stuff up first.

Madein Cyberspace said:
MiniTool will wipe the sd card to create the new partition as well. I wish there was a way to do it without wiping the card but there is not. So back that stuff up first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used GParted to partition my SD card. NO WIPING. Move, resize, add partitions.

nevkuril said:
Another way is to create ext4 partition (about 1G is usually enough) on you SD card with free MiniTool Partition Wizard and then use Link2SD to link apps/dalvik to this partition. I've been using it like this for a long time and it works fine. There are plenty of guides on the Web how to do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but our herring kernel does not support EXT4 partition, I tried it myself
and it didn't work. I had to create EXT3 which is supported by almost all kernels.

Eh, my results varied. Worked fine for me with ext4. And worked fine for my wife as well.

Rebel_X said:
Yes, but our herring kernel does not support EXT4 partition, I tried it myself
and it didn't work. I had to create EXT3 which is supported by almost all kernels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The OP says he's running CM9. That's what I'm running but I use Proton kernel as CM9 kernel has a video bug, and ext4 partition works just fine for me. Strange if Bryan really removed ext4 support, it's just a line in the config file.

Successfully made the partitions last night but my phone won't mount the SD card anymore. Was trying ext3, I'll try ext2 and ext4.
EDIT: Fixed the problem, changed my partition to ext2 and set both partitions to "Primary" (not sure which one did the trick).

cpkelley94 said:
Successfully made the partitions last night but my phone won't mount the SD card anymore. Was trying ext3, I'll try ext2 and ext4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure that you make the first partition Primary/FAT32. This will be your normal SD card. Just take about 1GB of space from it at the end. Then make second partition Primary/ext4 with size to the end of the card. You can try ext2/3 but I don't think it is really necessary.

MiniTool will NOT wipe your partition if you do it right.
dsexton had a guide posted on how to do it.

Is it worth making a swap partition? If I remember correctly it significantly degrades the life of the SD card (and microSD's are delicate as it is), and I don't know if it would significantly increase performance.

cpkelley94 said:
Is it worth making a swap partition? If I remember correctly it significantly degrades the life of the SD card (and microSD's are delicate as it is), and I don't know if it would significantly increase performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also created 128MB swap partition, not supported too and not mounted.
I tried to used swapper2 app from the market, but it says not supported by
kernel. Now I lost that space till I feel motivated to format or repartition the SD
card again.
I am using hefe kernel btw on AOKP milestone 6-5.

No swap.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda app-developers app