Database Info

[HOW TO] format sd card with paragon partiton manager

So I decided to make this small guide, on how to partitioning your sd card with paragon partition manager… There is many different ways, including a script an xda forum member created, and ubuntu as well.. But I assume paragon partition manager might be the best for all people who don’t know how to use Linux very much..
i wrote it on my blog, if is considered spam than illtry to put the images content directly in the post
http://nitropr.us/web/2009/05/08/format-sd-card-with-paragon-partition-manager/
hope it helps some one.. i know i know there is MANY ways for this.. but well sicne paragon question keep popping up and did not see a small how to with images for new users so hope it helps least 1 person

Thanks! That will be useful for many... this should be sticky along with the sapphire/magic port (after someone starts a new thread for the newer builds. 600 pages!) Or at least a wrap stick (a thread that contains many highly used threads like in the developement and hacking section under the main thread) would be useful.

i think this is the easiest way. I did this to my card and took only a few min. def the way to go.

its a good guide, but i have a question everytime i try to format this way in paragon it says cannot create partition because all primary slots are taken, it says this when i try to resize or create new. any ideas?

Ok I resized my card using paragon my fat32 is 5gb and my EXT2 is 1.5gb. I went and tried to follow these instructions http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=Haykuro_Apps_to_SD and for some reason I am not seeing the system/xbin/busybox folder.

Screenshot of my sdcard

jak33 said:
its a good guide, but i have a question everytime i try to format this way in paragon it says cannot create partition because all primary slots are taken, it says this when i try to resize or create new. any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how many partitiosn it list for the sdcard? sometimes when you use the usb cable then tend to mess up.. try creatign the FAT32 formatign it and than rezise and make teh ext2

chief2842 said:
Ok I resized my card using paragon my fat32 is 5gb and my EXT2 is 1.5gb. I went and tried to follow these instructions http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=Haykuro_Apps_to_SD and for some reason I am not seeing the system/xbin/busybox folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am still using JF build haven't tried Haykuro builds... sicne my phone is smooth im kinda of lazy to be recofniguring not sure how that works mayeb some oen else can help you.

Nitro212 said:
how many partitiosn it list for the sdcard? sometimes when you use the usb cable then tend to mess up.. try creatign the FAT32 formatign it and than rezise and make teh ext2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
funny ting, my pc never reads my sd card unless its through the phone. Ive tried the card on multiple systems, and i get the same results. so im forced to modify the card while its in the phone.

chief2842 said:
Ok I resized my card using paragon my fat32 is 5gb and my EXT2 is 1.5gb. I went and tried to follow these instructions http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=Haykuro_Apps_to_SD and for some reason I am not seeing the system/xbin/busybox folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A few things here:
1. Unless you're planning on downloading every app ever made, you're never going to need a ext2 partition larger than 500mb, and even that is a LOT. I tried to fill my partition and managed to squeeze over 300 apps on there before I ran out of room...then I had to painfully uninstall them all cause I didnt feel like reformatting/reflashing/restoring.
2. Make sure you're using the right version of apps-to-sd. Haykuro's latest builds can be found here. The apps-to-sd versions are linked at the very top of the page.
3. The directories you're looking for are NOT on the sd card. They are only visible on the phone through adb. If you're not familiar with adb, do a quick forum search on how to set it up.

question.com said:
funny ting, my pc never reads my sd card unless its through the phone. Ive tried the card on multiple systems, and i get the same results. so im forced to modify the card while its in the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when uiu partition via usb cable the partition tend to mess up.. and not moutn o n the phone..
what you can do is, insert the sdcard check min my computer under management and assign a letter to th sdcard so the pc will read it mount it

Thanks will look into the adb issues but I am using the 5.0.2Hr apps to sd build.

Help
I been trying to format the ext2 in my SDcard with Paragon Partition Manager but it saids I can use a demo version but it will not allow me to do the ext2 it saids I have to buy the full version. could someone tell me where to get the software that will work? thanks

vicmanf said:
I been trying to format the ext2 in my SDcard with Paragon Partition Manager but it saids I can use a demo version but it will not allow me to do the ext2 it saids I have to buy the full version. could someone tell me where to get the software that will work? thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Merry Christmas, get your software here.

My first post here, but I have been visiting these forums for a long time.
I will try this approach and let's see how I do.
Thanks for posting!

[Q] Mount sd-ext on the TB?

Probably the wrong place to ask this, but can't post to the TB Dev forum just yet. I'm trying to figure out how to mount sd-ext on my TB, but currently haven't figured out where to go to figure it out. I saw there was the script that Firerat had made for CM5, and I'm not sure if that will help create my own script possibly, but figured I would ask here first to see if anyone has already created a solution for this.
Thanks!

DeTard said:
Probably the wrong place to ask this, but can't post to the TB Dev forum just yet. I'm trying to figure out how to mount sd-ext on my TB,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At a minimum, you should say which ROM you're running, and how you've partitioned your SD card.

Sorry about that. Okay, currently using das-BAMF 1.6.2 with the included kernel. I have partitioned it with 512MB ext and 32MB swap.

DeTard said:
can't post to the TB Dev forum just yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel your pain.
I can’t answer your question. But how did you partition your SD card: manually, rom manager, or with software such as minitool partition wizard?

I partitioned it from Recovery. Doing it from ROM Manager caused it to hang. It would reboot into Recovery and try to start the partition process but nothing happened. First time I ever tried I had NO idea how long I should have expected it to run, but I figured out after 3 hours that this was abnormal. lol.
Doing it from Recovery though even has more options for sizes, and only will take about 4-5 min on the microSDHC that comes with it. I just found it odd that partitioning it from Recovery directly resulted differently since that's where ROM Manager tries to partition as well. Clearly the process from ROM Manager =/= the process from Recovery.

[Q] SD only recognizes sd-ext partition!

My SD card may be nearing EOL. Yesterday my Shift all of a sudden stopped recognizing it, would tell me my SD was safe to unmount and wouldn't mount it. When put into the PC it gave me an error saying something about "being unable to mount dev super block" and wouldn't read or format it. Luckily CWM still worked to partition it.
Now again this morning I'm having the same problem. (Yay, Mondays right?) Anyone have any thoughts other than buy a new SD? Or course I'd like to but money's tight so I'd like to delay that. Plus, this one's only 6 months old.
Also, anyone know how to create an sd-ext partition bigger than 4gb without a PC? (I'll be away from mine while at work and am very impatient) If nothing else I may just partition the whole 16gb as sd-ext and deal with figuring out how to make apps save data to the internal partition (I think there're mods for that somewhere).
Any help or insight is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!

jesusice said:
My SD card may be nearing EOL. Yesterday my Shift all of a sudden stopped recognizing it, would tell me my SD was safe to unmount and wouldn't mount it. When put into the PC it gave me an error saying something about "being unable to mount dev super block" and wouldn't read or format it. Luckily CWM still worked to partition it.
Now again this morning I'm having the same problem. (Yay, Mondays right?) Anyone have any thoughts other than buy a new SD? Or course I'd like to but money's tight so I'd like to delay that. Plus, this one's only 6 months old.
Also, anyone know how to create an sd-ext partition bigger than 4gb without a PC? (I'll be away from mine while at work and am very impatient) If nothing else I may just partition the whole 16gb as sd-ext and deal with figuring out how to make apps save data to the internal partition (I think there're mods for that somewhere).
Any help or insight is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like your card might be done . But you can try SD Formatter , it's worked a couple of times for me on cards that were supposedly done. As for the sd-ext Partition, I think you might be able to do one that big with TWRP. I know when I was messing around trying to decide on mine I took the optional setting why past 2GB. I settled on just over a 1GB of partition .

prboy1969 said:
Sounds like your card might be done . But you can try SD Formatter , it's worked a couple of times for me on cards that were supposedly done. As for the sd-ext Partition, I think you might be able to do one that big with TWRP. I know when I was messing around trying to decide on mine I took the optional setting why past 2GB. I settled on just over a 1GB of partition .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip! And I can now confirm that TWRP does allow the sd-ext partition to be as large as one wants. I'll probably try that program you linked.

Glad I could help

[Q] S3 Locked in Boot Following CRT Down zip

This is one heck of a way to introduce myself. I am embarrassed and frantic about what has happened. I've been using the guidance in these forums for years, never had any problems, but I usually made a backup. Because of the size of the S3 backups, I didn't have one this time.
I have a Verizon S3 on stock ROM, rooted, CWM Touch Recovery installed, bootloader locked. I flashed the CRT Down - ODEX.zip (attached) from the thread below. Everything seemed to go well, but on reboot the phone gets stuck in the boot animation. I have also contacted Scott over Scott's ROMS since this was where the file came from, but have not heard back. My first preference is to undo the changes to the modded files. Second choice is to flash the latest stock ROM (Stock Root - VRALHE - ODEX.zip) that I have downloaded, BUT I cannot get it on the phone since the phone won't boot, and for some reason CWM does not see any files on the external SD card. My last choice is to do a wipe/restore from stock, and I think I know how to do this, but it will be very painful.
Anyone in a helping mood? I don't know where to go from here. This is just terrible.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1841802&highlight=crt

CWM won't read your SD card because it's not formatted to the correct file system. You could take your card and backup the data, format it to Fat32 then transfer the ROM over to your phone that way. I've long since lost the link to the simple format tool that I used to format my card but if you search for it you should find it in I think the General Forum...

SD card already FAT32, formatted by PC and then reformatted in phone. Thanks anyway.

undrgnd1 said:
SD card already FAT32, formatted by PC and then reformatted in phone. Thanks anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you reformated in phone you formatted it back to extFAT.

You are absolutely correct sir. Your assessment was dead on. Thank you very much. I can now make a backup to the external card. Unfortunately, I had to restore the phone (-#*@"*). I found that two other 64GB cards I was having problems with had the same issue. Wow! Twenty five years around computers and I just figured out how to format volumes larger than 32GB in FAT32. Thanks again. This thread is done.

SD cards: exFAT Fat32 file sizes

Just wanted to check peoples thoughts on this. Had a 32GB Sandisk card corrupt (i think) on me the other day. Woke the phone and seen the SD card icon in the task bar as if it had just mounted the SD but it had unmounted it and said that there wasn't one inserted. Have yet to try it in a PC to see what (if any) files I can recover.
The previous night I had made a nandroid backup (Philz touch), there was something not quite right with the file sizes not showing on screen but it seemed to work the second time around. Can't recall if the card was formatted as FAT32 or exFAT, but if FAT32 could one of the nandroid files caused issues if it was over 4GB? Anyway going to see what I can possibly recover and if it can be reformatted again before possibly purchasing a 16GB Samsung card here: (http://www.7dayshop.com/samsung-plus-microsdhc-uhs-1-16gb-memory-card-class-10). Dont mind the smaller size if its more reliable.

gsmyth said:
Just wanted to check peoples thoughts on this. Had a 32GB Sandisk card corrupt (i think) on me the other day. Woke the phone and seen the SD card icon in the task bar as if it had just mounted the SD but it had unmounted it and said that there wasn't one inserted. Have yet to try it in a PC to see what (if any) files I can recover.
The previous night I had made a nandroid backup (Philz touch), there was something not quite right with the file sizes not showing on screen but it seemed to work the second time around. Can't recall if the card was formatted as FAT32 or exFAT, but if FAT32 could one of the nandroid files caused issues if it was over 4GB? Anyway going to see what I can possibly recover and if it can be reformatted again before possibly purchasing a 16GB Samsung card here: (http://www.7dayshop.com/samsung-plus-microsdhc-uhs-1-16gb-memory-card-class-10). Dont mind the smaller size if its more reliable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I quite highly doubt a Samsung SD card will be more reliable. Don't know what's the fuss about SanDisk corrupted but I myself or anyone in my friend/colleague circle have yet to face a problem with SanDisk!
And the first thing you should do is format your card to exFAT, I really don't know how and why people uses FAT32

jujuburi said:
I quite highly doubt a Samsung SD card will be more reliable. Don't know what's the fuss about SanDisk corrupted but I myself or anyone in my friend/colleague circle have yet to face a problem with SanDisk!
And the first thing you should do is format your card to exFAT, I really don't know how and why people uses FAT32
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the first problem I've had with it to be honest, had it or over a year and was using it in my HTC Sensation previously. I'm trying to remember if it was exFAT or FAT32, I remember a ROM (Google Edition S4 ROM) not being compatible with exFAT and checking mine out of curiosity, but just can't recall what it was and never flashed the ROM. I didn't reformat it coming from my Sensation so it hadn't changed in anyway.
Luckily all my photos were backed up to dropbox so nothing lost of too much importance. Need to get a microSD card reader to see if its completely borked or if files can be retrieved.

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure that Nandriod breaks the files down smaller than 4GB if you're running on Fat32 so I doubt that'll be your problem. Mostly because the FAT32 architecture just won't accept a file that big unless the Linux kernel of Android ignores the limitations. I would HIGHLY recommend NOT restoring a nandroid backup if you think the sizes are off or if you're attempting to recover the data without and MD5 checksum. That's all sorts of bad juju.
As for Sandisk vs Samsung, I have both, I've never had a problem with either. My sammy card is in my TF201 and my Sandisk is in my I337 as it's a faster card from my benchmarks. But like I said, no problems with either.
As for data recovery, go check out Recuva, it's supposed to be pretty good especially for being free. Since I'm IT I have professional grade software for data recovery and don't have tons experience with Recuva. A couple tips about data recovery. Once you determine you want to recover data, DO NOT WRITE TO OR FORMAT THE CARD, that'll prove to make the entire process more difficult. it's going to take a good long time, at least an hour for the initial scan. Do all the work on the card from a computer and not through a connection to your phone. Anyway if you have any questions or possibly want some help shoot me a PM, I'm happy to impart my knowledge.

Theoriginalgiga said:
Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure that Nandriod breaks the files down smaller than 4GB if you're running on Fat32 so I doubt that'll be your problem. Mostly because the FAT32 architecture just won't accept a file that big unless the Linux kernel of Android ignores the limitations. I would HIGHLY recommend NOT restoring a nandroid backup if you think the sizes are off or if you're attempting to recover the data without and MD5 checksum. That's all sorts of bad juju.
As for Sandisk vs Samsung, I have both, I've never had a problem with either. My sammy card is in my TF201 and my Sandisk is in my I337 as it's a faster card from my benchmarks. But like I said, no problems with either.
As for data recovery, go check out Recuva, it's supposed to be pretty good especially for being free. Since I'm IT I have professional grade software for data recovery and don't have tons experience with Recuva. A couple tips about data recovery. Once you determine you want to recover data, DO NOT WRITE TO OR FORMAT THE CARD, that'll prove to make the entire process more difficult. it's going to take a good long time, at least an hour for the initial scan. Do all the work on the card from a computer and not through a connection to your phone. Anyway if you have any questions or possibly want some help shoot me a PM, I'm happy to impart my knowledge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought it should break them down, it was just the /data partition that includes the apps and app cache, if it could be over 4GB stored as a .tar file would that still be broken down as such? Won't be attempting to restore the nandroid (if its even still recoverable) as I have flashed a pre-rooted stock odin firmware and its actually really smooth (maybe thats due to the sd card not being inserted). Although I seem to be having an issue flashing a custom ROM, as even after flashing the firmware via odin then trying to flash a ROM via Philz touch its still bootlooping (even with a wipe/factory reset and clean install format). Haven't attempted a different custom ROM but just havent had the time to test that out. Thinking I would have to download the original firmware files and start from scratch with rooting and adding a recovery to see if that solves it, but think I'm going to sit tight for the moment.
Thanks for the recommendation and the support, much appreciated.

gsmyth said:
I thought it should break them down, it was just the /data partition that includes the apps and app cache, if it could be over 4GB stored as a .tar file would that still be broken down as such? Won't be attempting to restore the nandroid (if its even still recoverable) as I have flashed a pre-rooted stock odin firmware and its actually really smooth (maybe thats due to the sd card not being inserted). Although I seem to be having an issue flashing a custom ROM, as even after flashing the firmware via odin then trying to flash a ROM via Philz touch its still bootlooping (even with a wipe/factory reset and clean install format). Haven't attempted a different custom ROM but just havent had the time to test that out. Thinking I would have to download the original firmware files and start from scratch with rooting and adding a recovery to see if that solves it, but think I'm going to sit tight for the moment.
Thanks for the recommendation and the support, much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well in general in windows when a FAT32 structure is asked to write a file larger than 4GB it'll flat out deny it (usually saying something like disk is full). If you're writing to a FAT32 structure using something that increments the file as it writes it, when it hits the 4GB file size limit, it'll usually say again disk is full and the file will go corrupt (which can lead to the file being undetectable). I do believe that Nandriod is smart enough to realize when it gets to that 4GB limit it'll break the tar into multiple files or else the linux OS would probably kick back an error. As for your ROM bootloops and things like that, I'd see about another ROM, maaaaybe it could just be that the ROM you flashed doesn't like your phone (I have an i717 that does that with a ROM). If that still doesn't solve it, like you said. Start at the beginning completely clean and just work through the entire process.

Theoriginalgiga said:
Well in general in windows when a FAT32 structure is asked to write a file larger than 4GB it'll flat out deny it (usually saying something like disk is full). If you're writing to a FAT32 structure using something that increments the file as it writes it, when it hits the 4GB file size limit, it'll usually say again disk is full and the file will go corrupt (which can lead to the file being undetectable). I do believe that Nandriod is smart enough to realize when it gets to that 4GB limit it'll break the tar into multiple files or else the linux OS would probably kick back an error. As for your ROM bootloops and things like that, I'd see about another ROM, maaaaybe it could just be that the ROM you flashed doesn't like your phone (I have an i717 that does that with a ROM). If that still doesn't solve it, like you said. Start at the beginning completely clean and just work through the entire process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers, I had re-downloaded the previous version of the ROM which I was on before hand and made sure to check the md5s but it still wouldn't boot which was annoying, but a full install from scratch may be the way to go. Never had bootloops before and was just worried after I had wiped and started a fresh and it still happened. I think the real lesson is to make sure to backup ANYTHING that is of value to you!
Luckily I had just happened to use the auto backup for photos to dropbox so got off lightly this time!

I have had the EXACT same issue 2 weeks ago.
I bought 2 x 32gig microSD cards (Sandisk)
1 for my phone and 1 for my digital camera.
Recently the 32gig one in my phone just DIED for no reason at all. Lost all my files, music, everything.
I contacted Sandisk, had it repalced. In the meanwhile i purchased a 64gig Samsung one.
I am yet to have an issue with the Samsung 64gig, but only time will tell.
On a plus note, Sandisk sent me a replacement 32gig card very quickly (infact too quick, i purchased the 64gig Samsung one on the idea that the Sandisk replacement was going to take months... in fact it only took 6 days...)
Cheers

How did you contact Sandisk, did you need to give a serial number or provide proof of purchase?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

jujuburi said:
And the first thing you should do is format your card to exFAT, I really don't know how and why people uses FAT32
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always use Fat32 on SD-cards. Why? It works on every Rom, with every kernel, every recovery, on every device, every camera, every computer, all the time.
When not in need of files greater than 4GB Fat32 simply is the way to go, compatibilty-wise.

gsmyth said:
How did you contact Sandisk, did you need to give a serial number or provide proof of purchase?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried the card in a reader connected to my laptop but nothing. I've emailed Sandisk support so will see what they say.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app