I have a few questions related to smartphones. Searched and couldn't find anything like I was looking for.
I am vary familiar with PC's and would like to compare in my mind where things reside on a smartphone.
On a smartphone, where does the operating system reside? Is it in the ROM(I know is Read-only-memory)? Or is the ROM similar to the BIOS on a PC and contains the basic instructions to interact with the between software and hardware?
Just having a little problem comparing what is where.
i think its in ROM memory, but there is additonal memory for system/internal apps too.
In my XPlay I have 512mb+400mb.
There isn't anyth like bios but u can flash recovery
From what I know, everything is stored in NAND flash. There is a boot partition which contains the kernel, and a system partition which contains the OS (firmware) itself. Those essentially double as ROM. Technically it's not read-only memory but its contents won't change unless you root your phone and change them yourself.
Also, I don't think an embedded system such as a smartphone would benefit much from having a full-blown BIOS. Hardware initialization, I believe, is done during the boot sequence, not prior to it. Look up "Board support package".
If someone knows more about this subject, feel free to correct me and provide additional information.
I'm quite interested in embedded systems myself, but only have had the opportunity to work with simple microcontrollers.
So basically everything inside is more like a solid state hard drive? Just partitioned for different tasks? I figured the rom was not really a rom. Usually you have to build an interface and cut traces on the board in order to flash a rom.
Are we able to browse the rom? Like with root explorer? Or is that partition "hidden"?
Also, what are the caches for. I am familiar with caches like in ie. But the davlik seems to be persistent. Thanks for the answers so far guys.
Usually when you load a new os, the cache is usually wiped. But with phones, a step is to wipe the caches. Confusing when trying to grasp with the knowledge I have of older electronics. Lol I just called pc's old.
I wish there was some guide already making the comparison but Google can't find it!
Yes, you can browse those partitions in Root Explorer. It will allow you to mount even the /system partition r/w so you can modify the contents.
As for the caches, I'm not sure what exactly gets stored on the /cache partition, but the reason you have to wipe/format it when you flash a new ROM, is because it's separate from the /system partition. That's probably what you meant by "persistent".
It's actually convenient when you think about it. If you want to flash an update of the ROM you are currently using, you probably don't want the cache to be wiped as well. On the other hand, sometimes you may want to wipe just the cache. Same goes for the /data partition, when you are doing a factory reset, for example.
I would also assume that since /system partition normally isn't written to, and /cache and /data are, keeping them separate helps in case the filesystem gets corrupted.
Now you are confusing me.
/system is a folder. Not a partition. It may be in a folder but it is not a partition afaik. There is a root partition which is basically everything you see when you open file explorer that includes the system folder, then any other partitions are mounted under /mnt. Those include /asec /obb /sdcard and /secure. (using what I see in my kf for this example)
So when we flash the "rom" we are really only flashing one partition of a rom that has several partitions. That would be the basic partition containing the system files? We are not flashing the entire rom. Does that sound correct?
In Linux partitions are mounted under directories. So /cache, /data and /system are really just mount points for those partitions. It's understandable that this would confuse you if you haven't had experience with Linux. Windows handles partitions somewhat differently.
When you flash a ROM, you are actually flashing only the system partition. Kernel is flashed to the boot partition, and others (cache, data, sdcard, etc.) are used by the system itself.
DeVelox said:
In Linux partitions are mounted under directories. So /cache, /data and /system are really just mount points for those partitions. It's understandable that this would confuse you if you haven't had experience with Linux. Windows handles partitions somewhat differently.
When you flash a ROM, you are actually flashing only the system partition. Kernel is flashed to the boot partition, and others (cache, data, sdcard, etc.) are used by the system itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes i have a little knowledge, albeit very little, of Linux. But if it is an actual partition it will also show under /mnt after you mount it, correct? That is how you tell if it is an actual partition. I do realize that the others partitions like /sdcard are being automatically mounted. And you can browse them through the /sdcard folder or /mnt/scard.
/cache is no where under /mnt or any subs of any partitions that are mounted so that tells me the /cache folder that shows under root is actually only a folder. Well there is a cache subdirectory underone of the partitions under /mnt but the contents are different than the contents of the cache folder running off of root.
Sorry bout all of the questions. I have done a lot to my phone and kf. I just like to know what it's being affected when when I do what I am doing. And why I am doing what I am doing.
Like i said before, the term rom confused me as when i was flashing roms on other devices I was having to build a hardware interface and cut traces on the board, sometimes install jumpers across traces. All of that to flash "roms". This was on xboxes and satellite receivers mainly.
No, /mnt is just a directory like any other. In fact, it is rarely used for mounting purposes in modern Linux distributions.
When you open /cache, /data or /system in Root Explorer, please check the "x MB used, y MB free" line at the top. You will notice that it shows different values for each of those directories. That should be enough to convince you that they are indeed partitions, and not ordinary directories.
You will also notice that, for example, /etc shows the same used/free info as /system. That is because /etc is actually a symlink to /system/etc.
You should read up more on Linux, or just take my word for it.
P.S. If you have Terminal Emulator app installed, try the "df -h" command. It will list all the partitions, their mount points, and used/free space info. Mind you, only entries starting with "/dev/block" are actual partitions, tmpfs is something else.
I see said the blind man. I also found this as an example of the partitions on my kf.
Scrolling down I see all of the active partitions.
http://kindlefirenews.org/expand-app-storage-on-the-kindle-fire/
Thanks for the explanations. But I will say that ROM it's a misnomer!
Open a console on your android and type "df".
You will see the partitions.
Related
Attempting to partition sd card with ext4 -a process I completed multiple times successfully on a Nexus One, the process appeared to complete but now the phone will not mount the sd card. I've tried a wipe/reset, to no avail. I can still access and partition the sd card through adb, but the phone cannot mount it to format/partition, restore from recovery, partition sd-card from within ClockWork Recovery, nothing. I've re-partitioned the sd card through adb, which indicated a successful completion, but the phone still refuses to mount the sd card. If this weren't a Nexus S with it's cursed internal sd-card I would simply swap out the sd card with another or format it externally like all the google topics I pull up on the subject suggest.
Is this fixable or has the fused sd-card scenario become a liability?
Common Error messages:
Can't mount /sdcard
Can't mount /sdcard/.android_secure
Phone: Nexus S (US, T-Mobile, manufactured Dec. '10)
Recovery Img: ClockworkMod Recovery 3.0.2.4
Rom: CM 7.0.3 (now wiped, cannot put back on since sd card won't mount)
fstab:
/dev/block/mtdblock4 /cache yaffs2 rw
/dev/block/platform/s3c-sdhci.0/by-name/userdata /data ext4 rw
/dev/block/platform/s3c-sdhci.0/by-name/system /system ext4 rw
/dev/block/platform/s3c-sdhci.0/by-name/media /sdcard vfat rw
Can mount everything except the last one, /sdcard.
I've tried all the recommended procedures garnered from the first 10 or so pages in google, xda, cyanogem forum, etc:
Restore from nandroid: Not possible, can't mount the SD,
Wipe/Reset: can't wipe /media as sd card won't mount,
partition sd card from within Clockwork: indicates success but does nothing,
format from within clockwork: unable to mount,
repartition using adb: works, parted can see them, I can move files to from, but the phone will not mount,
clearing fstab: no effect,
Fastboot works, but I don't have the proper images. ADB works, as do the installed utilities. Have not tried ODIN as again, I don't have the proper images. Should I attempt to compile my own images from source?
Update: SOLVED, Microsoft Windows. To whom it may concern: I was able to mount the /dev/block/platform/s3c-sdhci.0/by-name/media from two different laptops running OSX and Fedora/Ubuntu then successfully been able to partition them with fat32 as the ClockworkMod (and maybe Cyanogen?) expect with 0 progress. Then I pulled out an old Windows machine, installed the JDK/ADK's +tools and performed the same procedure and that time it worked. I'm uncertain as to what particular quality a 'genuine' Windows formatting provides, but either this phone or the particular software combination I'm running require it. I was able to mount & re-partition the /sdcard in Clockwork, then manually remove rebuild them and upgrade to ext4 using tune2fs as usual. In the interim for work and such, I had to find a surrogate (for the SIM) and could only find and old k750i (which still had a full charge and worked flawlessly all day, btw). Wow phones used to be small.
I think I was missing something about the way ClockworkMod handles fstab, because everytime I would modify it specifically to the specs I passed to parted while creating the partitions with mkpartfs, it would either ignore or overwrite them. So be careful messing with the sd-card, the S's aren't like the One's in the sense that if you screw it (the sd-card) up or it goes bad you can't just take it out and format it in another machine/phone, you have to appeal to ClockworkMod. ODIN $ucks by the way, I found fastboot to be much more effective.
If you format the sd partition ext4, then you should change the fstab too.
from
Code:
/dev/block/platform/s3c-sdhci.0/by-name/media /sdcard vfat rw
to from
Code:
/dev/block/platform/s3c-sdhci.0/by-name/media /sdcard ext4 rw
or from
Code:
/dev/block/platform/s3c-sdhci.0/by-name/media /sdcard auto rw
The 2nd last entry there is the file system type.
Likely, this would have solved your problem.
Of course, I don't know, whether the recovery has the vfat type in fstab. You might have to change it there too. On my linux box auto works very well in fstab.
Of course, if you partition your sd partition ext4, you won't be able to use it as usb memory from windows. (At least I am pretty sure you can't, haven't tried)
Well of course I couldn't let it die, I went back and started tinkering again now that I have a way back. I can't change the fstab it seems, whatever I change it to gets over written everytime either Clockwork or the Rom starts. It's weird, I know I'm missing something and I don't know much about CWMod. (had Amon_Ra on the N1, which had the nifty fsupgrade script)
The 2nd last entry there is the file system type.
Likely, this would have solved your problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm quite familiar with unix style fs and fstab, it's the stubbornness I'm not used to. I'm also spoiled by vi and nano. CW has some nice scripts built in as well though.
I'm wanting to write some edify code to wipe data, dalvik and cache. I think i've got the right idea for data and dalvik, but I'm not certain on cache.
Here's my following code for data and dalvik wipe. Is this the standard for wiping data? Do i need to delete everything from data and not just in the app directory?
Code:
mount("ext4", "EMMC", "/dev/block/mmcblk0p37", "/data");
delete_recursive("/data/app");
delete_recursive("/data/dalvik-cache");
unmount("/data");
Also, i'm going to assume i can mount the cache, but i didn't know the block to mount it.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Edit: Thanks to this post, i was able to figure out the block i needed for cache. I would still like to know if this is the proper way of "wiping" the data, cache or dalvik-cache. Should i be formatting instead?
I'm not very familiar with edify, so I may be wrong, however I'll try to help by pointing some issues you may find when investigating this subject.
First look on the code above ... In general, it seems to be ok. Btw I can see that you are not trying to wipe /data but /data/app only...
To fully wipe data partition you shall run delete_recursive("/data"); and after that no additional dalvik-cache wipe will be necessary, as it lies on data so it will be deleted along with it.
Instead of recursive files deletion you may try format command or even some variation of mke2fs... it will create completely new filesystem instead of performing large amounts of delete i/o operations on the old one, along with not deleting filesystem stats, etc.
Hovewer, you have to know that running delete_recursive("/data"); or even format("/data") or something similiar seems to be not the best idea - be aware that real location of files from /sdcard is /data/media which is then bound with FUSE driver to /sdcard during the boot, so it acts like an sd memory BUT it still lies along with all your "regular" data files on /data partition. Doing such a recursive deletion will result in losing not only files from /data, but also from /data/media = /sdcard, which is probably not the thing we want to happen ;]
You may want to figure out how to avoid this, as you may lose the data which you didn't want to lose (for example: nandroid backups, if you keep them on /sdcard)! I personally don't know the exact solution and don't have time and possibility to figure it out at the moment
Also, please be aware that Android has the "wipe" command built-in, put "wipe" in terminal emulator to find out the syntax. I am not sure but it may avoid the sdcard when wiping automatically, as it is native android tool and it may be adapted for Android's file stricture.
Last but not least, you can find out device-partition pairs by inputting such a command via terminal or adb shell (seeking for a device name which is mounted as /cache in example below):
Code:
cat /proc/mounts | grep cache
esgie said:
I'm not very familiar with edify, so I may be wrong, however I'll try to help by pointing some issues you may find when investigating this subject.
First look on the code above ... In general, it seems to be ok. Btw I can see that you are not trying to wipe /data but /data/app only...
To fully wipe data partition you shall run delete_recursive("/data"); and after that no additional dalvik-cache wipe will be necessary, as it lies on data so it will be deleted along with it.
Instead of recursive files deletion you may try format command or even some variation of mke2fs... it will create completely new filesystem instead of performing large amounts of delete i/o operations on the old one, along with not deleting filesystem stats, etc.
Hovewer, you have to know that running delete_recursive("/data"); or even format("/data") or something similiar seems to be not the best idea - be aware that real location of files from /sdcard is /data/media which is then bound with FUSE driver to /sdcard during the boot, so it acts like an sd memory BUT it still lies along with all your "regular" data files on /data partition. Doing such a recursive deletion will result in losing not only files from /data, but also from /data/media = /sdcard, which is probably not the thing we want to happen ;]
You may want to figure out how to avoid this, as you may lose the data which you didn't want to lose (for example: nandroid backups, if you keep them on /sdcard)! I personally don't know the exact solution and don't have time and possibility to figure it out at the moment
Also, please be aware that Android has the "wipe" command built-in, put "wipe" in terminal emulator to find out the syntax. I am not sure but it may avoid the sdcard when wiping automatically, as it is native android tool and it may be adapted for Android's file stricture.
Last but not least, you can find out device-partition pairs by inputting such a command via terminal or adb shell (seeking for a device name which is mounted as /cache in example below):
Code:
cat /proc/mounts | grep cache
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a bunch! I didn't even think about the sdcard getting wiped...
=Death259;48255914]Thanks a bunch! I didn't even think about the sdcard getting wiped...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you can do is extract and call a bash script and recursively remove all content from /data excliding the media folder (sdcard)
Also dalvik is in /data already so wiping data automatically wipes dalvik
I just got my first Android Device (Moto E) and tried to get around the small internal memory by using the sdcard instead of the internal memory for /data. As the KitKat mounting procedure does not seem to be based on vold.fstab anymore, the usual guides to doing that don't apply.
So my idea was to format the sdcard with ext4 and modify the /fstab.qcom file to mount the sdcard as /data instead of the internal data partition. But here's where I don't know how to proceed, as adb shell don't seem to have access to the proper partition during flashboot (though having mounted the rootfs parition which should contain those files?) and is unable to write to the file once the system is running.
I'd appreciate if anyone can point me in the right direction on how to do that.
lunaticat said:
I just got my first Android Device (Moto E) and tried to get around the small internal memory by using the sdcard instead of the internal memory for /data. As the KitKat mounting procedure does not seem to be based on vold.fstab anymore, the usual guides to doing that don't apply.
So my idea was to format the sdcard with ext4 and modify the /fstab.qcom file to mount the sdcard as /data instead of the internal data partition. But here's where I don't know how to proceed, as adb shell don't seem to have access to the proper partition during flashboot (though having mounted the rootfs parition which should contain those files?) and is unable to write to the file once the system is running.
I'd appreciate if anyone can point me in the right direction on how to do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A little late in the game (I am trying to do the same), but I come across this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=443994
boot partition populates the rootfs. So hack the boot.img (unpack to analyze), and you may find your answer. Hope this helps.
I will give it a shot in the next week.
I have a Galaxy GIO, which is a fairly old low-end phone. On factory reset, I have about 100MB memory free for apps, and the phone seems to start complaining as soon as I hit the 50MB mark; that's about one or 2 installed applications.
Because I would like to actually be able to, well, use my phone for anything else than calling, I want to move the /data partition to my SD card. I know this'll be slow, but slow still is better than not working at all.
I have done a bit of research, and came around plenty of scripts which claim to mount the second partition of the sd card as /data; none of these scripts work. I have tried 'INT2EXT', 'D2EXT', and I've heard about something called 'A2SD' but I have yet to find a copy of it . To install these scripts I've extracted them, and copied the scripts to '/system/etc/init.d/', after mounting '/system', using ADB.
I for an instant thought maybe my second partition isn't formatted properly, but using adb I am able to successfully mount the ext2 partition as /sd-ext, so I don't see why mounting them as /data should be a problem.
I have also tried to symbollicly link /data to /sd-ext/data and automatically mount my /sd-ext on boot. Obviously this didn't work, because the symbolic link isn't actually saved to disk.
How would I go about moving my data partition to my sd card? I am not affraid of doing some dirty work manually. I am running Cyanogenmod 11.
Binero said:
I have a Galaxy GIO, which is a fairly old low-end phone. On factory reset, I have about 100MB memory free for apps, and the phone seems to start complaining as soon as I hit the 50MB mark; that's about one or 2 installed applications.
Because I would like to actually be able to, well, use my phone for anything else than calling, I want to move the /data partition to my SD card. I know this'll be slow, but slow still is better than not working at all.
I have done a bit of research, and came around plenty of scripts which claim to mount the second partition of the sd card as /data; none of these scripts work. I have tried 'INT2EXT', 'D2EXT', and I've heard about something called 'A2SD' but I have yet to find a copy of it . To install these scripts I've extracted them, and copied the scripts to '/system/etc/init.d/', after mounting '/system', using ADB.
I for an instant thought maybe my second partition isn't formatted properly, but using adb I am able to successfully mount the ext2 partition as /sd-ext, so I don't see why mounting them as /data should be a problem.
I have also tried to symbollicly link /data to /sd-ext/data and automatically mount my /sd-ext on boot. Obviously this didn't work, because the symbolic link isn't actually saved to disk.
How would I go about moving my data partition to my sd card? I am not affraid of doing some dirty work manually. I am running Cyanogenmod 11.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will introduce how to COPY(NOT MOVING) /data partition to /sdcard.
1. You should ROOT First.
2. Use Rootexplorer to Copy /data to /sdcard (WARNING:If your sdcard emulated with /data, Data WON'T copy to SDCARD --You need external Sdcard!)
2-1. if you don't want to use RootExplorer, you can use Android Debugging Bridge(adb)
(Youshould download Android sdks from developer.android.com)
--Command : adb shell su -C cp /data /sdcard/data
3. That's all.
Jason Hyunwoo said:
I will introduce how to COPY(NOT MOVING) /data partition to /sdcard.
1. You should ROOT First.
2. Use Rootexplorer to Copy /data to /sdcard (WARNING:If your sdcard emulated with /data, Data WON'T copy to SDCARD --You need external Sdcard!)
2-1. if you don't want to use RootExplorer, you can use Android Debugging Bridge(adb)
(Youshould download Android sdks from developer.android.com)
--Command : adb shell su -C cp /data /sdcard/data
3. That's all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but that's not entirely what I meant. I can manage to move my data to the SD card no problem, but I want my phone to actually use my second partition on my sd card, as the /data partition.
Binero said:
Thanks, but that's not entirely what I meant. I can manage to move my data to the SD card no problem, but I want my phone to actually use my second partition on my sd card, as the /data partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oops.. Sorry about that!
First, I am not sure that will work or not, maybe you should try to edit init.*.rc. Which is from boot.mg. I think, maybe mounting sdcard as data is impossible, but you may try editing init.rc(or init.*.rc, * is manufacture). You could unpack your boot img, and you could edit mounting point which is from init.rc!
I hope this thing will help you..
Jason Hyunwoo said:
Oops.. Sorry about that!
First, I am not sure that will work or not, maybe you should try to edit init.*.rc. Which is from boot.mg. I think, maybe mounting sdcard as data is impossible, but you may try editing init.rc(or init.*.rc, * is manufacture). You could unpack your boot img, and you could edit mounting point which is from init.rc!
I hope this thing will help you..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have looked into init.rc, but that only seemed to create the /data mountpoint, but not actually mount to it. I've no idea how to edit the boot image, or what that even is. Is that the filesystem that is built into the kernel?
Binero said:
I have looked into init.rc, but that only seemed to create the /data mountpoint, but not actually mount to it. I've no idea how to edit the boot image, or what that even is. Is that the filesystem that is built into the kernel?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Umm.. You should download unpackbootimg or dsixda's Android Kitchen to edit boot.mg. You cannot edit init.rc on Root explore. Use unpack boot.img menu which is from Android Kitchen!
Jason Hyunwoo said:
Umm.. You should download unpackbootimg or dsixda's Android Kitchen to edit boot.mg. You cannot edit init.rc on Root explore. Use unpack boot.img menu which is from Android Kitchen!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try that out. Still not sure where to look though. As I said, init.rc does not contain any commands mounting /data.
Binero said:
I'll try that out. Still not sure where to look though. As I said, init.rc does not contain any commands mounting /data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
or you could edit look at other *.rc files!
Isn't this what you're looking for?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/themes-apps/tool-directorybind-data-to-externalsd-t1410262
sndsnd said:
Isn't this what you're looking for?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/themes-apps/tool-directorybind-data-to-externalsd-t1410262
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to mount my sd card to my /data. That simply creates a symbolic link.
Jason Hyunwoo said:
or you could edit look at other *.rc files!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is only 2 rc files, and one of them is specific to my recovery image.
you can now use REPIT to increase the size of the /system partition on the Nook HD/HD+ to 1 GiB to support the newest roms with gapps. while you do this, you can optionally also add 0.5 GiB of free space to /data. the extra space is repurposed from partitions that go unused in custom roms.
see the details here:
https://github.com/Lanchon/REPIT/issues/59
full doc for REPIT is here, please read it:
https://github.com/Lanchon/REPIT
additionally, this note can be interesting for users and rom developers alike:
https://github.com/Lanchon/REPIT/issues/56
this is for Nook HD+ only, but HD owners can request a port of REPIT by following the instruction in the doc page.
UPDATE: a port request was submitted by BultoPaco and now REPIT supports the Nook HD too.
thanks!
Lanchon said:
you can now use REPIT to increase the size of the /system partition on the Nook HD+ to 1 GiB to support the newest roms with gapps. while you do this, you can optionally also add 0.5 GiB of free space to /data. the extra space is repurposed from partitions that go unused in custom roms.
see the details here:
https://github.com/Lanchon/REPIT/issues/59
full doc for REPIT is here, please read it:
https://github.com/Lanchon/REPIT
additionally, this note can be interesting for users and rom developers alike:
https://github.com/Lanchon/REPIT/issues/56
this is for Nook HD+ only, but HD owners can request a port of REPIT by following the instruction in the doc page.
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is great. Would also be helpful if you included information on how to go to stock partition layout, but big thanks indeed.
ajislav said:
This is great. Would also be helpful if you included information on how to go to stock partition layout, but big thanks indeed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
added to the github note.
Following the guide \https://github.com/Lanchon/REPIT/issues/59 to increase /data,
"you can also add approximately 0.5 GiB to /data"
Does it make difference if the Ovation is 16gb or 32gb model
king200 said:
Following the guide \https://github.com/Lanchon/REPIT/issues/59 to increase /data,
"you can also add approximately 0.5 GiB to /data"
Does it make difference if the Ovation is 16gb or 32gb model
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this was made and tested with the 16GB version. in all other devices REPIT has been smart enough to adapt to these differences automatically. it should work with the 32GB version. but if there's anything strange or too different, REPIT will bail instead of messing up your device.
Ext4 only?
Mine returns an error not able to read superblock on data even if I am only trying to expand system. my data and cache are f2fs. Is that the problem? I'll cut/paste the log here when I'm back on my ovation.
This with the 3.0.2 twrp currently in experimental folder
Update: OK, went back and reread the general instructions. Looks like doesn't work for f2fs. I did convert cache to ext4 and set data=same, but still returned error.
Using Android 7 and latest TWRP on Nook HD+. Downloaded repit file zip, renamed as per instructions & downloaded delete stock rom zip. Flashed delete stock rom in twrp w/o problems. Flashed renamed repit file and Got error 1 after flashing. Told to reboot and flash from tmp folder and also got error 1. The error related to unable to reload partition table and unable to mount all partitions. Info from file manager shows using 5.11 GB out of 27.01 GB of internal storage
Any ideas???.
I just did this today.
I tried to flash lanchon-repit-XXXXXXXX-factory=same-system=1G-cache=112M+wipe-data=same-ovation.zip using twrp, but it gave me errors. I tried to follow the instructions to flash the file from the /tmp folder that it has copied, but it still gave me errors about /emmc partition not able to be umounted. I tried this a few times according to instructions posted on github but still no-go.
This is how I got around the issue:
I went into TWRP's Advanced menu and open up Terminal. Then I did
umount -a
There will be some errors that some partition cannot be umounted (eg. /tmp). I ignored that.
Now, I flashed the REPIT script again from /tmp folder. This will now run the script, but at the end, it will fail with the error about not being able to write /etc/fstab file. I ignored that (Android's file is /fstab.ovation).
Then I went ahead and flashed a cm13 build as usual. After rebooting into cm13, I opened up terminal and then did a df. I could see that /system partition had then expanded to 1034136 1-K blocks, which was roughly 1GB. Hoping that the partition will stay, I then flashed a gapps package, and it went through. On rebooting, I found that about 73% of the /system partition was used (it was around 55% without gapps). So, everything seems to look good.
Hope that helps.
tsoheq said:
I just did this today.
I tried to flash lanchon-repit-XXXXXXXX-factory=same-system=1G-cache=112M+wipe-data=same-ovation.zip using twrp, but it gave me errors. I tried to follow the instructions to flash the file from the /tmp folder that it has copied, but it still gave me errors about /emmc partition not able to be umounted. I tried this a few times according to instructions posted on github but still no-go.
This is how I got around the issue:
I went into TWRP's Advanced menu and open up Terminal. Then I did
umount -a
There will be some errors that some partition cannot be umounted (eg. /tmp). I ignored that.
Now, I flashed the REPIT script again from /tmp folder. This will now run the script, but at the end, it will fail with the error about not being able to write /etc/fstab file. I ignored that (Android's file is /fstab.ovation).
Then I went ahead and flashed a cm13 build as usual. After rebooting into cm13, I opened up terminal and then did a df. I could see that /system partition had then expanded to 1034136 1-K blocks, which was roughly 1GB. Hoping that the partition will stay, I then flashed a gapps package, and it went through. On rebooting, I found that about 73% of the /system partition was used (it was around 55% without gapps). So, everything seems to look good.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried following this unsuccessfully - any chance of an idiot's walkthrough?
I got as far as running the report file from tmp with no errors but when trying to flash Pico gapps I'm told it runs out of space. so close and yet I'm too thick to know what I'm doing wrong
gascomm said:
I tried following this unsuccessfully - any chance of an idiot's walkthrough?
I got as far as running the report file from tmp with no errors but when trying to flash Pico gapps I'm told it runs out of space. so close and yet I'm too thick to know what I'm doing wrong
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What was the partition size when you do a "df" in a terminal? If it did expand, then the df command should show you the expanded /system partition size.
prsa01 said:
Mine returns an error not able to read superblock on data even if I am only trying to expand system. my data and cache are f2fs. Is that the problem? I'll cut/paste the log here when I'm back on my ovation.
This with the 3.0.2 twrp currently in experimental folder
Update: OK, went back and reread the general instructions. Looks like doesn't work for f2fs. I did convert cache to ext4 and set data=same, but still returned error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
f2fs partitions cannot be resized without wiping on planet earth. if there exists an f2fs resize tool, only aliens have it.
you can can wipe data (not recommended) or you can flash the standard repit to simply grow /system with /cache if you want. /data will not be enlarged of course.
f2fs on /cache is stupid, don't ever do it!!! only /data should be f2fs.
acr123 said:
Using Android 7 and latest TWRP on Nook HD+. Downloaded repit file zip, renamed as per instructions & downloaded delete stock rom zip. Flashed delete stock rom in twrp w/o problems. Flashed renamed repit file and Got error 1 after flashing. Told to reboot and flash from tmp folder and also got error 1. The error related to unable to reload partition table and unable to mount all partitions. Info from file manager shows using 5.11 GB out of 27.01 GB of internal storage
Any ideas???.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this has been explained to death now, read the REPIT docs for the solution. create a github issue WITH THE REQUIRED INFO (as detailed in the docs) if you need official support.
tsoheq said:
I just did this today.
I tried to flash lanchon-repit-XXXXXXXX-factory=same-system=1G-cache=112M+wipe-data=same-ovation.zip using twrp, but it gave me errors. I tried to follow the instructions to flash the file from the /tmp folder that it has copied, but it still gave me errors about /emmc partition not able to be umounted. I tried this a few times according to instructions posted on github but still no-go.
This is how I got around the issue:
I went into TWRP's Advanced menu and open up Terminal. Then I did
umount -a
There will be some errors that some partition cannot be umounted (eg. /tmp). I ignored that.
Now, I flashed the REPIT script again from /tmp folder. This will now run the script, but at the end, it will fail with the error about not being able to write /etc/fstab file. I ignored that (Android's file is /fstab.ovation).
Then I went ahead and flashed a cm13 build as usual. After rebooting into cm13, I opened up terminal and then did a df. I could see that /system partition had then expanded to 1034136 1-K blocks, which was roughly 1GB. Hoping that the partition will stay, I then flashed a gapps package, and it went through. On rebooting, I found that about 73% of the /system partition was used (it was around 55% without gapps). So, everything seems to look good.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you didn't need to reflash system of course, REPIT keeps the data as explained in the docs. glad it worked.
btw, it is enough to follow the docs about unmounting partitions using the TWRP UI.
gascomm said:
I tried following this unsuccessfully - any chance of an idiot's walkthrough?
I got as far as running the report file from tmp with no errors but when trying to flash Pico gapps I'm told it runs out of space. so close and yet I'm too thick to know what I'm doing wrong
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
read the docs, everything is there. you can't be helped if you don't provide the REPIT log. (that is also stated in the docs, btw.)
Can confirm this works on 32gb ovation. Just finished after a bit of fighting. As always, YMMV but this was the process I followed:
Ran the delete file. Success.
Ran the resize file, errors.
Ran the resize file from tmp, errors.
Ran "umount -a" from terminal then reran resize from tmp, errors.
I found both my data and cache partitions were f2fs. Formatted both back to ext4 since f2fs cannot be resized. This was easy for me as I had all the important stuff backed up but be sure to back your data up before doing this, it will wipe the partition.
After the wipe I loaded one file on to the data drive, the renamed resize file.
Tried running the resize file. Unmount errors and the run from tmp message.
Went into terminal, ran "umount -a" 3 times. The first I got several errors, the second and third only one.
Went into tmp and ran the file. After realizing the process was working and was going to take a while, I plugged up the charger (wall, not pc) and let it set overnight.
Came back this morning to one error, the fstab error. No unmount errors though.
Remounted the drives in twrp and ran "df" in terminal. 1gb system.
Rebooted and ran through the setup
Reloaded my roms/gapps folder manually via USB
Rebooted to TWRP and ran opengapps pico. Completed succesfully.
Rebooted and had play store in apps. Logged into gapps.
Thank you Lanchon, this helps bring life back to an old love.
asksmity said:
Can confirm this works on 32gb ovation. Just finished after a bit of fighting. As always, YMMV but this was the process I followed:
Ran the delete file. Success.
Ran the resize file, errors.
Ran the resize file from tmp, errors.
Ran "umount -a" from terminal then reran resize from tmp, errors.
I found both my data and cache partitions were f2fs. Formatted both back to ext4 since f2fs cannot be resized. This was easy for me as I had all the important stuff backed up but be sure to back your data up before doing this, it will wipe the partition.
After the wipe I loaded one file on to the data drive, the renamed resize file.
Tried running the resize file. Unmount errors and the run from tmp message.
Went into terminal, ran "umount -a" 3 times. The first I got several errors, the second and third only one.
Went into tmp and ran the file. After realizing the process was working and was going to take a while, I plugged up the charger (wall, not pc) and let it set overnight.
Came back this morning to one error, the fstab error. No unmount errors though.
Remounted the drives in twrp and ran "df" in terminal. 1gb system.
Rebooted and ran through the setup
Reloaded my roms/gapps folder manually via USB
Rebooted to TWRP and ran opengapps pico. Completed succesfully.
Rebooted and had play store in apps. Logged into gapps.
Thank you Lanchon, this helps bring life back to an old love.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you are welcome!
lol! why not read the docs???
if you wanted to change the file system in /data to ext4 all you needed was to change:
-cache=32M+wipe-data=max
to:
-cache=32M+wipe-data=max+wipe
which is the same as:
-cache=32M+wipe+ext4-data=max+wipe+ext4
given that ext4 is the default fs for /data and /cache.
using -data=max+wipe would have been so much faster than moving a huge empty partition around!!! it would have finished the operation in around a minute. not to mention adding less wear and tear to the emmc of your aging device.
the file system in /cache was never a problem, you did not need to change it back to ext4. you were using -cache=32M+wipe which means that REPIT would resize/move the partition without keeping its contents (wiping) and without regard for the previous file system type and state (ie, whether it had errors, etc).
if you wanted to enlarge /data AND ALSO KEEP /DATA AS F2FS, all you needed was to change:
-cache=32M+wipe-data=max
to:
-cache=32M+wipe-data=max+wipe+f2fs
f2fs cannot be resized, but it can be moved/resized while wiping. (ie, the partition can be recreated from scratch with the new size, if data retention is not required.) this is all explained in the docs, seriously lol...
https://github.com/Lanchon/REPIT#partition-types
using an f2fs /cache partition is dumb and completely useless. all who have f2fs /cache are adviced to change /cache back to ext4 and leave it that way.
regarding the umount stuff, maybe your TWRP has an issue, but i'm willing to bet that if you followed instructions to the letter, you wouldn't have needed all that. the guy that requested the ovation port of repit (look for the github issue (closed now)) and first ran the test version did not have any of this issues. the TWRP he used is documented in the port request.
anyway, thank you very much for documenting what worked for you!
Lanchon said:
you are welcome!
lol! why not read the docs???
if you wanted to change the file system in /data to ext4 all you needed was to change:
-cache=32M+wipe-data=max
to:
-cache=32M+wipe-data=max+wipe
which is the same as:
-cache=32M+wipe+ext4-data=max+wipe+ext4
given that ext4 is the default fs for /data and /cache.
using -data=max+wipe would have been so much faster than moving a huge empty partition around!!! it would have finished the operation in around a minute. not to mention adding less wear and tear you the emmc of your aging device.
the file system in /cache was never a problem, you did not need to change it back to ext4. you were using -cache=32M+wipe which means that REPIT would resize/move the partition without keeping its contents (wiping) and without regard for the previous file system type and state (ie, whether it had errors, etc).
if you wanted to enlarge /data AND ALSO KEEP /DATA AS F2FS, all you needed was to change:
-cache=32M+wipe-data=max
to:
-cache=32M+wipe-data=max+wipe+f2fs
f2fs cannot be resized, but it can be moved/resized while wiping. (ie, the partition can be recreated from scratch with the new size, if data retention is not required.) this is all explained in the docs, seriously lol...
https://github.com/Lanchon/REPIT#partition-types
using an f2fs /cache partition is dumb and completely useless. all who have f2fs /cache are adviced to change /cache back to ext4 and leave it that way.
regarding the umount stuff, maybe your TWRP has an issue, but i'm willing to bet that if you followed instructions to the letter, you wouldn't have needed all that. the guy that requested the ovation port of repit (look for the github issue (closed now)) and first ran the test version did not have any of this issues. the TWRP he used is documented in the port request.
anyway, thank you very much for documenting what worked for you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very good info above!
I could have done that as well, and probably should have. But there was conformation in the thread that the options I renamed to worked. So for me being a "part timer" I wanted to make sure that I was not the reason for the issue (ie: fat fingering an extra letter in one of the options or misplacing an option). I have a bad habit of screwing things up.
As a recommendation, it might be a good idea to include some of these sample options in you main thread and explain what they do. I know I know, docs docs docs but it helps us roughians and would probably keep the issue posts down.
Thanks again for the tool and the feedback!
I read all the docs and used Lanchon's tip above to wipe /data and retain f2fs file structure. Got an error running it from my SD card but, when I ran it from the internal tmp folder (as instructed), it worked perfectly. Thank you @Lanchon! I'm going to request a Hummingbird version so I can have both of my Nooks optimized?
Sent from my Nook HD using Tapatalk
Is this supposed to provide more space for Gapps? I ran this and it worked with no errors, but I can't install any different sized gapps than nano.
EDIT: nano is still too big too.
Jazviper said:
Is this supposed to provide more space for Gapps? I ran this and it worked with no errors, but I can't install any different sized gapps than nano.
EDIT: nano is still too big too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
read:
https://github.com/Lanchon/REPIT/issues/56
tl;dr: you can fix this by pressing the resize partition button on twrp.