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[REF] manual partition of sdcard w/parted,goto ext3/4 from adb. no liveCD req'd

i needed a way to format my sdcard & install swap capable rom with no card reader...grrr...my gray hair is your gain!
READ THIS FIRST: i wrote a script that automagically partitions the sdcard. get it here.
if you still want to partition manually, read on.
i did this with a BLANK 8gb card and a fresh rom install, so i had no data to lose..be careful. i take no responsibility for what happens to your phone, sdcard, data, sanity, etc if you follow these instructions. remember to backup your sdcard to your pc before you begin.
technically, you don't need adb for this, as you can partition your card in the recovery console on the g1(...not the terminal app) using the commands in this post. however, once you wipe your sdcard, you may want some way of getting a new rom onto the phone. ;p
these instructions apply to both, the windows command prompt and the mac terminal.
just about any size and/or class of sdcard will work, but you will want to use a class 6 cause it's wicked fast. 16gb transcend sdcards seem to be giving some people trouble and throwing "ERROR: input/output error during write on /dev/block/mmcblk0" when trying to partition. use them at your own peril.
the example in this thread is for MY sdcard...YOUR sdcard will be different and the partition sizes may vary. apply ur information(sdcard size, partition size) when appropriate. following the instructions in this post will erase ALL DATA on the sdcard before creating new partitions.
read the ENTIRE post VERY carefully BEFORE proceeding or asking questions...
#####
note #1: all typed commands are in bold. adb/console commands in black. windows prompt commands in green.
note #2: if all else fails...remove all partitions and create new. this seems to solve 99.9% of non-hardware related problems.
note #3: if note #2 fails...try 'mklabel msdos'. see below for more info.
note to ext3/ext4 fs users: parted does NOT support CREATING ext3/ext4 partitions..you MUST create with ext2 and upgrade. also, parted CAN RESIZE ext3 partitions, but with restrictions. check out the table on the features page, of their website. i will NOT go into resizing partitions in this post as there are many variations...
#####
need to backup your ext partition?
note: these backup commands must be run while phone is booted, not recovery.
to backup your ext partition to your current directory: adb pull /system/sd/ %CD%\sdbackup
to restore back to sdcard: adb push %CD%\sdbackup /system/sd
#####
having issues? please post the following when asking for help:
output from the following commands
parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 print
parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 check 1, if any.
parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 check 2, if any.
parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 check 3, if any.
what rom are you using?
what brand/size/class sdcard?
can you see fat32 partition on the phone? ie. through andExplorer or similar..
#####
materials:
g1 with cm-recovery-1.4
sdcard <--class 6 recommended(adata makes good ones...they max out the g1 hw in terms of speed)
rooted rom with ext3/4 support & swap capability <--recommend CyanogenMod
adb
fingas(or toes if you're this guy)​
part i - prepare the sdcard:
boot your g1 into recovery (using home + power)
drop to console (alt + x)
open windows command prompt and enter:
adb shell
now at the # prompt enter:
parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
you are now in parted...hopefully. if not, check your typing, start over, do more research, or give up.
to find out the size of your sdcard & the partitions that it contains, enter:
print
you may receive a message from the program:
Code:
"No Implementation: Partition 1 isn't aligned to cylinder boundaries. This is
still unsupported."
the error says it all.. ;P
not sure what this means exactly(besides our partitions being out of alignment), but it is not good for our purposes.
also, if your "Partition Table" is reported as being "loop", i suggest repairing with the following procedure as well since it seems to be causing some problems too.
to fix, type:
mklabel msdos
it may give you some guff about:
Code:
Warning: The existing disk label on /dev/block/mmcblk0 will be destroyed and all data on
this disk will be lost. Do you want to continue?
parted: invalid token: msdos
answer y to the 'yes/no'..
and then:
Code:
New disk label type?
confirm with: msdos
re-enter: print​
you should get something like:
Code:
print
print
Model: Unknown (unknown)
Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 7969MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 512B 7469MB 7469MB primary fat32 lba
2 7469MB 7969MB 500MB primary ext2
or, if your sdcard is new/empty you'll get:
Code:
print
print
Model: Unknown (unknown)
Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 7969MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
if no numbered partitions come up, move onto next step. if not, delete ALL partitions that you see with the rm command. it has the format: rm <partition number>.
in this case:
rm 1
rm 2
the fourth line in the 'print' command output shows you the total size of sdcard in MB(or GB if you card is large)..mine says: Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 7969MB
use this number(XXXXMB) and do some simple math to get the size of your partitions.
7969MB - 32MB linux-swap = 7937MB
7937MB - 500MB ext2 = 7437MB fat32​
32MB seems to be alright size for swap, though it can be lower depending on your sdcard size.
500 MB is a good round number for the ext2 partition...no need for more.
that leaves us with 7437MB for fat32 storage.​
part ii - create partitions:
for a2sd & swap to work properly, partitions MUST be created in this order: fat32, ext2, linux-swap
the command to create partitions is mkpartfs...command format is:
mkpartfs <partition type> <fs type> <start> <end>
note#1: the <start>/<end> numbers in the following section correspond to the italicized numbers above. your partition information will most likely be different.
note#2: by default parted assumes ur using MB as the units in commands. say you have a card that is LARGE(like 16GB) and want a partition of 12GB...all you do is use the proper units(ie. mkpartfs primary fat32 0 12GB) and parted will oblige. you can use decimals as well...if you want a similar setup to my calculations above, you would have a fat32 partition of 15.4GB(ie. mkpartfs primary fat32 0 15.4GB), 500MB ext2, and 32MB swap
now we create the partitions:
mkpartfs primary fat32 0 7437
mkpartfs primary ext2 7437 7937
mkpartfs primary linux-swap 7937 7969
to check out our handy work, enter:
print
output should be similar to:
Code:
print
print
Model: Unknown (unknown)
Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 7969MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 512B 7437MB 7437MB primary fat32 lba
2 7437MB 7937MB 500MB primary ext2
3 7937MB 7969MB 32.2MB primary linux-swap(v1)
to exit parted type:
quit
after quitting you may receive a message containing:
Code:
Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.
no need to worry. fyi, fstab is a file that keeps track of disks & partitions in *nix. more info on fstab can be found here.​
part iii - convert ext2 to ext3/ext4:
parted will not create ext3/ext4 partitions...see beginning of post
to upgrade, enter:
upgrade_fs
you now have journaling(aka ext3)! if ext3 is all you want, skip next two commands.
you want ext4?
enter:
tune2fs -O extents,uninit_bg,dir_index /dev/block/mmcblk0p2
e2fsck -fpDC0 /dev/block/mmcblk0p2​
part iv - copy rom to sdcard and install, enable swap:
open another win cmd prompt, enter:
adb shell mount /sdcard
adb push /update-path/update.zip /sdcard
exit
in original cmd prompt, enter:
reboot recovery
after reboot:
wipe data (alt + w) <--this one is optional, but i like fresh installs
install rom (alt + s)
to enable swap, see this page.
note: you do not need to enable swap if your rom does it automagically.​
#####
all told, i end up with:
~7.5GB fat32
~500MB ext4
~32MB swap
cyanogen-v3.6.8.1 running faster than ever!
hope this wasn't too painful.
btw, you could use a live cd, but i think this is easier and maybe a little more fun!

very nice guide! I will have to test it out later on! Thanks! .

does this damage the sd card in anyway? i was running jac hero with swapper and it killed my sd card...but nice tut..might try it

wow... I never knew you were allowed to partition straight from terminal or I wouldn't have wasted a CD on g-parted... =/ nice guide, next time I need to partition, I'll use this method.
jay22are, partitioning the card will not damage it, but if you use it for swap you will always run the risk of corrupting your card, however, I read that someone calculated that it would still take 2yrs for your card to start having problems using swapper. So good luck.

Is their a noticeable increase in speed when running a non hero rom with swapper?

marixsmith said:
Is their a noticeable increase in speed when running a non hero rom with swapper?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
extremely noticeable. apps run & transition much smoother than without the swap partition. although, i must say that most of the speed & stability in my setup is cyanogen's rom...it's awesome.
now i have a question...
does anyone know if there are speed/reliability differences between using the swapfile(like with the swapper app) and the swap partition? i did the partition b/c that's how i've always configured linux installs and it let's me mount the sdcard w/o issues.

when i'm trying to do the commands I run into this:
(parted) mkpartfs fat32 0 7584
mkpartfs fat32 0 7584
mkpartfs fat32 0 7584
parted: invalid token: fat32
Partition type? primary/extended?
doesn't seem like the guide covers all of the steps.

same problem as engaged...

Was wondering when someone would write this guide!
h.nocturna said:
wow... I never knew you were allowed to partition straight from terminal or I wouldn't have wasted a CD on g-parted... =/ nice guide, next time I need to partition, I'll use this method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just built and included Parted on the new recovery image (1.3.1). I was just waiting for someone to do a writeup about it because I'm lazy
engagedtosmile said:
when i'm trying to do the commands I run into this:
(parted) mkpartfs fat32 0 7584
mkpartfs fat32 0 7584
mkpartfs fat32 0 7584
parted: invalid token: fat32
Partition type? primary/extended?
doesn't seem like the guide covers all of the steps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should be "mkpartfs primary fat32 0 7584".
Parted can also resize your existing partitions without erasing data.

cyanogen said:
Parted can also resize your existing partitions without erasing data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm gonna try when I get home always wanted to resize my partition without apps and data being loss

cyanogen said:
Parted can also resize your existing partitions without erasing data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm gonna try when I get home always wanted to resize my partition without apps and data being loss. By the way great job with the roms, recovery's, and all the rest of the hard work you guys do. You guys are genious

cyanogen said:
Was wondering when someone would write this guide!
I just built and included Parted on the new recovery image (1.3.1). I was just waiting for someone to do a writeup about it because I'm lazy
Should be "mkpartfs primary fat32 0 7584".
Parted can also resize your existing partitions without erasing data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@engage & others: fixed my mistake in original post
thanks cyanogen!
guess that's what i get for typing too fast... ;p

what am i doing wrong?
Im using a 2gb card.
following the guide after i use the print command it tells me my card is 2033MB in size
and it lists my start point at 32.3kB
i typed: mkpartfs primary fat32 32.3kB 1458MB
it states it cant make the partition and the closest it can do is 31.7kb to 31.7.
is it something im doing?

CC CEO said:
Im using a 2gb card.
following the guide after i use the print command it tells me my card is 2033MB in size
and it lists my start point at 32.3kB
i typed: mkpartfs primary fat32 32.3kB 1458MB
it states it cant make the partition and the closest it can do is 31.7kb to 31.7.
is it something im doing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i believe the reason it is not exactly 0 is because it needs room for the partition information. mine was similar...i believe 31.9kb.
you don't need to use the 'kb' / 'mb'...i just use whole numbers and the prg figures out the hard stuff..
hmm...maybe remove all partitions (using the rm command) and start from scratch.
check out this site
can you paste/link to the console output to the forum?

What about ext4
I got brave and decided to "resize" my ext4 partition down 32MB to create a swap space.
First, I backed up everything using windoze after mounting.
But then it occured to me perhaps I should do a complete backup of my sd card first, including my ext4. But HOW?
Also, cyanogen said parted will resize with no data loss, so I assume you just use the "resize part# start stop" ??
Anyway, when I did my print command, it listed my FAT32 and an ext3. When I try and do anything to ext3, I get a "Error: File system has an incompatible feature enabled" message. I am guessing this is the ext4 stuff?
Will just sit tight for now, before I blow my entire SD card and have to start from scratch till someone can tell me safest way to backup sd card to pc completely and what to do about the ext4 errors.
Thanks in advance for the help!

very cool, I feel like such a dork doing it this way and it feels good! When i put in my command for the partition I got this error:
Warning: You requested a partition from 0.00B to 7216MB.
The closest location we can manage is 512B to 31.7kB. Is this still acceptable
to you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not sure why I think its because the disk already had partitions. I couldn't remove them because parted said the disc was mounted. So I still couldn't avoid booting to the live cd and reformating though :*(
edit: actually rebooting the phone allowed me to use the rm command and remove my partitions and follow your instructions. Worked great thank you! this is going to save me loads of hassle in the future
edit2: spoke too soon when I run upgrade_fs I get this message
e2fsck 1.41.6 (30-May-2009)
/sbin/e2fsck: Superblock invalid, trying backup blocks...
/sbin/e2fsck: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/block/mm
cblk0p2
The superblock could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2
filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2
filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock
is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
e2fsck -b 8193 <device>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so i use the repair ext filesystems on the recovery image and it says
Checking filesystems. Error checking filesystem! Run e2fsck manually from console.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any help?
edit3: deleted the partitions and did it again, worked this time

This is exactly what i was looking for, thank you so much for this!

51dusty said:
extremely noticeable. apps run & transition much smoother than without the swap partition. although, i must say that most of the speed & stability in my setup is cyanogen's rom...it's awesome.
now i have a question...
does anyone know if there are speed/reliability differences between using the swapfile(like with the swapper app) and the swap partition? i did the partition b/c that's how i've always configured linux installs and it let's me mount the sdcard w/o issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first, IMHO and research, the swap partition does nothing to cyanogen's roms because of his magic touch, however, it does work wonders with the browser, and with all other builds besides cyan's
second, The swap file is placed on your fat32 partition, when you mount your sd card to your pc, the swap file disappears and your rom crashes...
stick with a linux-swap partition. you shouldn't go over 32mb tho, it gets glitchy after that.

yes you DO HAVE remove pre-existing partitions with rm command... obviously if you don't want to resize them.
genez

jklong03 said:
I got brave and decided to "resize" my ext4 partition down 32MB to create a swap space.
First, I backed up everything using windoze after mounting.
But then it occured to me perhaps I should do a complete backup of my sd card first, including my ext4. But HOW?
Also, cyanogen said parted will resize with no data loss, so I assume you just use the "resize part# start stop" ??
Anyway, when I did my print command, it listed my FAT32 and an ext3. When I try and do anything to ext3, I get a "Error: File system has an incompatible feature enabled" message. I am guessing this is the ext4 stuff?
Will just sit tight for now, before I blow my entire SD card and have to start from scratch till someone can tell me safest way to backup sd card to pc completely and what to do about the ext4 errors.
Thanks in advance for the help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to backup ext partition just cp /system/sd it has the apps dirs and dalvik-cache
this ver of parted does not handle ext3/4...that's why you have to upgrade after partitioning. as far as resizing goes...i would imagine it can't do that to ext3/4 either.
maybe cyanogen can provide complete explanation of ext3/4 support...?
my advice would be to delete all and start fresh..i'm not a huge fan of resizing partitions...it seems to let gremlins into the fs. ;p

[Q] Link2sd can't create mount script with Ext partition - Help!

Hello!
My problem basically is that i can't use Link2sd - i'm currently running the latest CronosX mod - because it can't create the mount scripts. I keep getting the following error:
mount: mounting /dev/block/vold/179:2 on /data/sdext2 failed: device or resource busy
i have a trascend class 10 8gb SD, i have a 6,5 gb Fat partition and the rest is EXT2 (now). I formatted it with minitool partition magic.
I have googled the problem for days now, seems i found nothing useful..
so far i tried:
ext3, ext4 -- then still couldn't create mount scripts, but i also had the following error msg in OR:
"can't mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 (invalid argument)"
although in SD utilities when checking the ext partition it recognised as EXT4 or EXT3..
with ext2 it seems working as of i don't see that msg..
still no link2sd. I read in the mod's forum that the app is supported, so it can't be the problem.. or is it?

Same issue, resoved by using FAT32
I had the exact same issue you're having. I tried using EXT2,EXT3, and EXT4 but couldn't get it to work. I finally got it working by using a FAT32 partition.

I know this may sound a bit dumb (like myself in android technicals) but
1. Do you have the specific kernel modules loaded to recognize these filesystems?
2. Are the devices attached to the PC with memory card access? [should not be].
3. Maybe you should try partitioning with a linux distro or some specific tool (might want to check out some instructions.
I am operating Link2SD with a fat16/32 partition (I don't know which )

I have same problem does someone solved it ?

i had no solutions whatsoever.. currently i'm using the mod's built in app2ext
i made an ext2 partition which i transformed into ext3 with openrecovery.. now i have an app folder which is automatically used to store my apps.
no link2sd for me anymore :\
although i have some other issues for i'm about to open a new thread

I found the solution : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1713478

linksd mount solved
with the phone plugged in to pc/mass storage i formatted the ext2 partition again. in link2sd mount in ext4.

cwkhong said:
with the phone plugged in to pc/mass storage i formatted the ext2 partition again. in link2sd mount in ext4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mount as ext4 is not a problem. It should work.
Sent from my XT720 using xda app-developers app

how you can solve this problem, is to make the second partition a active partitons with MiniTool Partition.
When de second disk is a active partition it wil boot before the boot of the system.

reply post ext 4
bSptya said:
Hello!
My problem basically is that i can't use Link2sd - i'm currently running the latest CronosX mod - because it can't create the mount scripts. I keep getting the following error:
mount: mounting /dev/block/vold/179:2 on /data/sdext2 failed: device or resource busy
i have a trascend class 10 8gb SD, i have a 6,5 gb Fat partition and the rest is EXT2 (now). I formatted it with minitool partition magic.
I have googled the problem for days now, seems i found nothing useful..
so far i tried:
ext3, ext4 -- then still couldn't create mount scripts, but i also had the following error msg in OR:
"can't mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 (invalid argument)"
although in SD utilities when checking the ext partition it recognised as EXT4 or EXT3..
with ext2 it seems working as of i don't see that msg..
still no link2sd. I read in the mod's forum that the app is supported, so it can't be the problem.. or is it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you must re-partition your sd card, BUT, just do it for your sd-ext only:
with Partition magic
1. delete your sd-ext partition (JUST YOUR SD-EXT PARTITION)
2. create partition
3. set as Primary
4. and CHOOSE ext4!!,
5. ok and then,
6. Apply
I hope this will help you..:good:

bSptya said:
Hello!
My problem basically is that i can't use Link2sd - i'm currently running the latest CronosX mod - because it can't create the mount scripts. I keep getting the following error:
mount: mounting /dev/block/vold/179:2 on /data/sdext2 failed: device or resource busy
i have a trascend class 10 8gb SD, i have a 6,5 gb Fat partition and the rest is EXT2 (now). I formatted it with minitool partition magic.
I have googled the problem for days now, seems i found nothing useful..
so far i tried:
ext3, ext4 -- then still couldn't create mount scripts, but i also had the following error msg in OR:
"can't mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 (invalid argument)"
although in SD utilities when checking the ext partition it recognised as EXT4 or EXT3..
with ext2 it seems working as of i don't see that msg..
still no link2sd. I read in the mod's forum that the app is supported, so it can't be the problem.. or is it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the seem problem and I solved creating 3 partitions. The first is not utilized but it must be create because as the Link2Sd as the AndroidOS search the data partition in the second (or last for AndroidOS) partition. I have created the first more small as Linux Swap, the second in ext2 fot Link2SD and the third in Fat32 for SD-Ext Data.
So the App works fine.
Sorry for my English.

Much Appreciated
thenotec said:
I had the seem problem and I solved creating 3 partitions. The first is not utilized but it must be create because as the Link2Sd as the AndroidOS search the data partition in the second (or last for AndroidOS) partition. I have created the first more small as Linux Swap, the second in ext2 fot Link2SD and the third in Fat32 for SD-Ext Data.
So the App works fine.
Sorry for my English.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No apologies necessary, i believe you were clear enough, well what do you know i must say inverting the order does seem to work
1. swap 2. Ext and 3. Fat/ Fat32

yabubonnah said:
No apologies necessary, i believe you were clear enough, well what do you know i must say inverting the order does seem to work
1. swap 2. Ext and 3. Fat/ Fat32
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if i do that then i cant connect my usb storage to my PC, cuz if you create partitions with minitool, only the first partition is read as usb storage, so if you make the first part e.g. a swap file, then PC wont see your usb storage when plugged in via usb... and in minitool i see all partitions without drive letters, just .* sign after i format and create partitions.... and nothing helped me with mount script error either...

link2sd mount script error resolved
cwkhong said:
with the phone plugged in to pc/mass storage i formatted the ext2 partition again. in link2sd mount in ext4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sir tnx for this info... error already resolved... thanks again so much...

Connect Phone to PC in Mass Storage Mode
Open MiniPartition Tool
Format the 2nd Parition as EXT4
Disconnect the Phone
Open Link2SD and you will see acript created and mounted already (for apps in SD card)

easy solution work for me ;D
after create partition ext 3 , just go to root file manager and change system file from read only RO to read write RW and recreate mount script on link2sd . hope it works happy new year!

NaraRockingMyAce said:
you must re-partition your sd card, BUT, just do it for your sd-ext only:
with Partition magic
1. delete your sd-ext partition (JUST YOUR SD-EXT PARTITION)
2. create partition
3. set as Primary
4. and CHOOSE ext4!!,
5. ok and then,
6. Apply
I hope this will help you..:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem and had been looking for a solution until I found your help. Just want to thank you for this. It helped a lot! Fixed my problem :good:

Hi, I have a same problem.
But before I repartition the ext2 how can I save the content? My previlus installed apps will not work, I think in this case.

final solution
backup your sdcard and format it
recreat 2nd partition ex4
congratulation :good:

Solved!
Zachary57 said:
I found the solution : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1713478
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Zachary had the solution for me! Just convert link2sd to system app (function of link2sd, after that my phone crashed and restarted) and clear the ext3 or ext4 partition (or reformat). I used Minitool Partition Wizard under windows. Don't forget to select primary partition!

Huawei Ascend G330 U8825-1 resize internal partitions to gain space for apps

the g330 comes with a reasonable storage. But there is not enough space for apps on /data. The internal sd-card got a lot of space. resizing /data (part. 18) may be critical and requires another recovery image. So my idea is to log in the phone, start fdisk /dev/block/mmcblk0, delete internal sd-card partition (19), then create a e.g. 1 GB partition with ext4, which I will mount on /data/app, and give the rest to a new partition 20 for internal sd-card.
I think this approach is more fail-save and can be done quite fast. I have to change just init.rc to add one mount and vold.fstab. Has somebody tried this?
yes, i know, the dalvik-cache and /data/data will still load the /data partition, and app2sd would save the same space from /data. But app2sd needs one mount for each app (at least in GB), so booting takes very long time and I have to wait until I can launch an app.
I read sometimes, the kernel get the offsets of the partitions of flash as parameters when booted - so some offsets would be wrong when I change the partion table. This would cause to fail mount /data/app - what about this?

rregn said:
the g330 comes with a reasonable storage. But there is not enough space for apps on /data. The internal sd-card got a lot of space. resizing /data (part. 18) may be critical and requires another recovery image. So my idea is to log in the phone, start fdisk /dev/block/mmcblk0, delete internal sd-card partition (19), then create a e.g. 1 GB partition with ext4, which I will mount on /data/app, and give the rest to a new partition 20 for internal sd-card.
I think this approach is more fail-save and can be done quite fast. I have to change just init.rc to add one mount and vold.fstab. Has somebody tried this?
yes, i know, the dalvik-cache and /data/data will still load the /data partition, and app2sd would save the same space from /data. But app2sd needs one mount for each app (at least in GB), so booting takes very long time and I have to wait until I can launch an app.
I read sometimes, the kernel get the offsets of the partitions of flash as parameters when booted - so some offsets would be wrong when I change the partion table. This would cause to fail mount /data/app - what about this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried this and it works
its for g300 but it works on g330
http://www.htcmania.com/showthread.php?t=428466
sorry, its in spanish haha use the google tranlator

xals1997 said:
I tried this and it works
its for g300 but it works on g330
http://www.htcmania.com/showthread.php?t=428466
sorry, its in spanish haha use the google tranlator
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did i get the idea? You use link2SD (from Bülent Akpinar) , but instead of using a 2nd partition of the external SD-card with ext2, you use the internal SD-card for link2SD?
But i heard that link2SD need a ext2/3 partition? Also, in my version of link2SD there is:
mount -t ext2 -o rw /dev/block/vold/179:2 ...
btw. how is /system/etc/install-recovery.sh triggered

[GUIDE] Convert /data to f2fs with TWRP 2.8.+ [TF700T]

Prerequisites:
You need to be on the 10.6.1.14.10 bootloader
You need to know how to flash a recovery
Some background reading on f2fs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F2FS
Step 1:
Backup all your data off the tablet because it will get wiped!!
Step 2:
Install a recovery that supports conversion to the f2fs file system
You can use the official TWRP 2.8.x from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/tra...overy-kang-twrp-tf700t-2-8-x-xarea51-t3049395
Do not use TWRP 2.8.5 - it has a bug with the f2fs conversion - or 2.8.6 for that matter. It has another bug: won't reboot to anything from recovery...
For Transformer users I would highly recommend to install @lj50036 TWRP Kang version from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/tra...overy-kang-twrp-tf700t-2-8-x-xarea51-t3049395
His Kang TWRP allows you to format/convert/backup external partitions or entire cards which will come in very handy for data2sd or rom2sd users.
It even supports the dock SD!
Step 3
Flash your chosen recovery in fastboot and reboot.
Optional but recommened
Since you are at it anyway I would recommend you format your /data partition before you convert to f2fs. The TWRP build-in "Format data" option does a "a secure erase" which trims and wipes every single block. A great way to start with a fresh and clean data partition. This process takes time - could be upwards of 60 minutes - do not interrupt it!!! You find the option under the Wipe menu
Step 4:
Enter TWRP, choose Wipe > Advanced Wipe
To Convert INTERNAL /data to f2fs
Check the box for "data"
Tap "change or repair file system"
Tap "Change file system"
Tap "F2FS"
Swipe the button
DATA2SD/ROM2SD users only:
To Convert EXTERNAL /data to f2fs (with lj's Kang TWRP TF700T only - official TWRP does not support this)
Check the box for Ext/data
Proceed as above
Step 5
Go back to TWRP Home screen, and reflash your ROM - which you have stored somewhere you did NOT wipe with the preceding steps!! Like: your microSD
Notes:
With /data on f2fs you need to run your ROM with a kernel that supports that file system. Read the OP of your ROM thread
Convert ONLY /data to f2fs. Do NOT convert /system (or anything else for that matter)
If you forma /data back to ext4 for any reason it will take up to 90 minutes. Do not interrupt it!!!
DATA2SD/ROM2SD ONLY
If you have the official TWRP installed and do not want to flash lj's Kang TWRP, you can - as always - use the data2sd1.zip/rom2sd1zip to have TWRP act on your external partitions.

MINE ......

Cool!

berndblb said:
Convert EXTERNAL /data to f2fs (lj's Kang TWRP TF700T only)
Check the box for Ext/data
Proceed as above
5. Step
Go back to TWRP Home screen, and reflash your ROM - which you have stored somewhere you did NOT wipe with the preceding steps!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Convert EXTERNAL /data to f2fs
-- > ??? Is this a folder or a partition as stated in " post #2 Using GParted to setup a micro SD for ROM2SD or DATA2SD support"
reflash your ROM - which you have stored somewhere you did NOT wipe with the preceding steps!!
--> ??? It must be on external, I presume?
Where could it be located? If on external i suppose it is on:
--> ??? 14. FAT 32 : Size 16GB – this will be /dev/sdc1 in gparted and will be your sdcard for storage in Android

eRPeeX said:
Convert EXTERNAL /data to f2fs
-- > ??? Is this a folder or a partition as stated in " post #2 Using GParted to setup a micro SD for ROM2SD or DATA2SD support"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the second partition if you are running data2sd/rom2sd
data2sd:
1. partition fat32 = your microSD storage
2. partition f2fs (or ext4) = /data
rom2sd
1. partition fat32 = microSD storage
2. partition f2fs or ext4 = /data
3. partition ext4 = /system
[*]reflash your ROM - which you have stored somewhere you did NOT wipe with the preceding steps!!
--> ??? It must be on external, I presume?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The fat32 partition on the microSD (or just plain microSD if you don't run data2sd/rom2sd) is probably the safest place, yes.
Where could it be located? If on external i suppose it is on:
--> ??? 14. FAT 32 : Size 16GB – this will be /dev/sdc1 in gparted and will be your sdcard for storage in Android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes

berndblb said:
It's the second partition if you are running data2sd/rom2sd
data2sd:
1. partition fat32 = your microSD storage
2. partition f2fs (or ext4) = /data
rom2sd
1. partition fat32 = microSD storage
2. partition f2fs or ext4 = /data
3. partition ext4 = /system
The fat32 partition on the microSD (or just plain microSD if you don't run data2sd/rom2sd) is probably the safest place, yes.
Yes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So for f2fs you always need a Gparted formatted SD.
f2fs only on internal /Data is not possible?

Sure it is. Read step 4

I just only converted Internal /data to f2fs.
Flashed beta 4.
Seems to be possible to have f2fs only on internal.

eRPeeX said:
f2fs only on internal /Data is not possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
berndblb said:
Sure it is. Read step 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
eRPeeX said:
I just only converted Internal /data to f2fs.
Flashed beta 4.
Seems to be possible to have f2fs only on internal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where does it say you can't????????????????
Edit: Ahhh! I see where your thinking went off track. You thought you had to convert both internal and external data for f2fs to work, right?
Nope - external data only concerns data2sd/rom2sd users. Edited OP to make that clear - I hope.

berndblb said:
Where does it say you can't????????????????
Edit: Ahhh! I see where your thinking went off track. You thought you had to convert both internal and external data for f2fs to work, right?
Nope - external data only concerns data2sd/rom2sd users. Edited OP to make that clear - I hope.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you could read my mind.

Just thought I'd share my experience, in case someone else makes the same mistake I did ...
I put the card into my computer and ran gparted to create the partitions. I fiddled with it for a while, resizing partitions while trying to decide how much space to allocate to each and what format to use for /data. I ended up with what graphically looked like the right layout:
I---sdcard---II--------------data--------------II---system---I
The rom2sd install seemed to go fine (Crombi-kk at the time). However I couldn't get it to boot.
Turns out in my fiddling I managed to get the second two partition table entries switched - partition 1 was fine, partition 2 pointed to the rightmost block graphically, parition 3 pointed to the middle block. I don't really know whether it was the installer or TWRP that got confused, or if it installed ok but the boot got confused.
In any case, deleting the partitions and re-creating them in order worked.

I have Zombi-X on a TF700T. I picked the F2FS option during install but didn't realize I had to have the /data partition formatted to F2FS first. So I'd like to minimize my update time. Can you tell me if this is how to proceed?
I have TWRP 2.8.4.0 already installed,
When you say backup data do you mean do a TWRP backup of the system/data/boot or just the /data section?
Or do you mean copy files to an SD card or PC?
I would then do the "optional" format of the /data partition using the existing data format ext4.
Then choose Wipe > Advanced Wipe
Check the box for "data"
Tap "change or repair file system"
Tap "Change file system"
Tap "F2FS"
Swipe the button
"Go back to TWRP Home screen, and reflash your ROM"
Do I have to do this? I don't want to change anything, the original install had F2FS enabled?
If I do have to do it, do you mean TWRP "restore" the ROM backup (system/boot/data) or actually TWRP
"install" the ROM zip file?
Then I would TWRP "restore" the /data backup and the tablet would work like it did before the reformat or would I have to reinstall apps, photos etc.?
Thanks for your help.

The easiest would be if you nandroid system/boot/data to your microSD. You gotta have it off internal storage. Nothing in internal /data will survive a format.
Then do the formatting and convert to f2fs
Restore your nandroid
You may get a warning from TWRP that the nandroid is off a different file system but you can safely ignore it.
Now, I do not quite remember where in Aroma the f2fs option was, but I think it's on that page about data journaling... So I'm not sure what selecting that option in Aroma actually does and if it gets implemented when the preinit script finds an ext4 partition instead.
But you can try it. Just restore the nandroid, pay attention during boot and read the script under the penguins.
If then your nandroid doesn't run as expected, reflash the rom with the same options, then restore only data from the nandroid you made earlier (during restore just uncheck boot and system). That also would give you an identical installation to what you have now.

berndblb said:
The easiest would be if you nandroid system/boot/data to your microSD. You gotta have it off internal storage. Nothing in internal /data will survive a format.
Then do the formatting and convert to f2fs
Restore your nandroid
You may get a warning from TWRP that the nandroid is off a different file system but you can safely ignore it.
Now, I do not quite remember where in Aroma the f2fs option was, but I think it's on that page about data journaling... So I'm not sure what selecting that option in Aroma actually does and if it gets implemented when the preinit script finds an ext4 partition instead.
But you can try it. Just restore the nandroid, pay attention during boot and read the script under the penguins.
If then your nandroid doesn't run as expected, reflash the rom with the same options, then restore only data from the nandroid you made earlier (during restore just uncheck boot and system). That also would give you an identical installation to what you have now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perfect, thanks. I will let you know my results. Might be a few days away.

IIRC the option is to turn on/off data journaling (one or two "l"s?) on ext2/3/4 partitions, with a final option of "f2fs user" where journalling is unnecessary. But it will not automatically format to f2fs in any case.

Hello. Yesterday I rebuilt my TF700 from the ground up. My intent was to get to Zombi-Rom with data2sd, to get a performant system. Here's what I did:
- started with twrp 2.8.6.x and Zombi-Rom beta 6, internal data, nice but laggy
- created two partitions on my samsung class 10 microSD card using gparted: 1. FAT32 at approx 4GB, 2. F2FS at approx 24GB
- flashed lj's kang twrp 2.8.6.1 recovery to replace 'standard' twrp 2.8.6.x
- formatted internal data using the kang twrp to f2fs (but it only took a second?) (I think this step was unnecessary, I meant to go to data2sd...)
- i *think* i formatted the new f2fs partition on the ext sdcard again using kang twrp, but don't recall. Rem: it was formatted f2fs by gparted already...I may have assumed I didn't need to do it again.
- flashed Zombi-Pop Android 5.1 beta 6, choosing the only kernel which has _that in the name
-- choosing f2fs
-- choosging data2sd (the ultimate goal of the exercise - get rid of TF700's awful lags/freezes)
-- choosing overclock (said it was required since _that kernel is selected)
-- choosing rest of default options
However I find performance is worse? I am sure I have done something wrong.
I have no data to protect or worry about tryig to restore. Before I do it all over again, do the steps above look correct, or am I making a mistake somewhere?
Thanks in advance.

Some people - me among them - have reported that data2sd doesn't work that well with ZOMBi-POP anymore. I do not get any performance improvement out of it with the same card that did well on other roms.
Could also be just your specific card - hard to tell.
I see no mistakes in your procedure but did you at any point do the secure erase the "Format Data" option provides? Read the "Optional but recommended" section in the OP.
Try different kernels. I like the Omni kernel best so far.
So my advice is: format internal data, then convert it to f2fs again, flash the rom with the omni kernel and all tweaks.
My TF700 runs very well with those options but it's still slower than my TF701 or my HTC M8 (there's actually no comparison to the latter..) and it always will be.
This is a what - almost 3 year old device now. These roms improve it by 300% but nothing will turn the TF700 into a smooth-as-silk-under-any-circumstances device....

berndblb said:
Some people - me among them - have reported that data2sd doesn't work that well with ZOMBi-POP anymore. I do not get any performance improvement out of it with the same card that did well on other roms.
Could also be just your specific card - hard to tell.
I see no mistakes in your procedure but did you at any point do the secure erase the "Format Data" option provides? Read the "Optional but recommended" section in the OP.
Try different kernels. I like the Omni kernel best so far.
So my advice is: format internal data, then convert it to f2fs again, flash the rom with the omni kernel and all tweaks.
My TF700 runs very well with those options but it's still slower than my TF701 or my HTC M8 (there's actually no comparison to the latter..) and it always will be.
This is a what - almost 3 year old device now. These roms improve it by 300% but nothing will turn the TF700 into a smooth-as-silk-under-any-circumstances device....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here Bernd - I see no improvements with data2sd anymore on zombi-pop.
I think we got internal running as sweet as can be

Bernd and dags,
thanks for the input, and again for all the great work to get it running the way you and your teammates have. Wish I had your know-how. At any rate I re-built it as originally posted and it's now working well. Backed that up and am trying it on internal today.

One more, maybe trivial question - the version of Nova Launcher says 'mod'. I can't install any other wallpaper with it. (I use Nova all the time, never seen this before.) Do you know if there something in the mod that makes it the default zombi-rom wallpaper or nothing?

Unable to create second partition on SD card

I've been trying to partition my SD card, but all steps I take to try and diagnose why I am unable to partition the card is getting me nowhere.
Initially, I used gparted on my laptop to partition the SD card with a v-fat partition and a f2fs partition, both primary partitiond. This was when I found out that no matter what I do the second partition on the SD card, it doesn't seem like the format actually takes. Whatever tool I use complete the partitioning and formatting steps successfully by all appearances but it doesn't seem like the partition is ever actually formatted. What I mean by that is that no matter what the second partition is it never mounts. I get an invalid argument error or bad super blocks and so forth. I can make the first partition anything I want: fat, v-fat, f2fs, ext4 and so forth and that will mount in my terminal without issue, but no matter what I do the 2nd partition always fails to mount. I've also noticed that blkid never has any fs info for the second partition. It gives me the partition UUID and that's all, while the first partition has both part UUID & fs UUID.
I've even gone so far as to just recently get a brand new SD card thinking that perhaps the first SD card was corrupted but I'm still getting the exact same behavior. Also of note is that in gparted when I try to create a secondary partition, I'm unable to mount the second partition so I don't think it has anything to do with my device. I've tried using fdisk, gdisk, parted in the terminal and I've tried using extended partitions and logical partitions and only primary partitions. I've done this before in the past so I know that it is possible.
It almost seems like the SD cards that I have are simply not capable of being partitioned in any way but it's strange that I now have two 512 GB SD cards and they're both giving the exact same behavior so I'm thinking that I'm missing something obvious. Any help anyone could provide as far as trying to figure this out or debug what's going on what I'm doing wrong would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Ryan

only the first partition is mounted from vold. that is normal behaviour on every device. if you want have all partitions mounted automatically install LineageOS.
furthermore, although sdcardfs supports ext4, f2fs, for file transfer via USB MTP afaik fat32, exfat or ntfs is required.
what do you need f2fs partition for? maybe I can point you to workaround.

aIecxs said:
only the first partition is mounted from vold. that is normal behaviour on every device. if you want have all partitions mounted automatically install LineageOS.
furthermore, although sdcardfs supports ext4, f2fs, for file transfer via USB MTP afaik fat32, exfat or ntfs is required.
what do you need f2fs partition for? maybe I can point you to workaround.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't need anything to mount automatically. I'm saying I can't manually mount these partitions. I also don't need f2fs, that was just an example. I've tried multiple partitions that are just fat, ext4 and many other combinations. Under no partition scheme can I get anything other than the first partition to mount--using the mount command as root.

can you please try gdisk binary from here
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...-on-qmobile-z8-with-bricked-dead-emmc.3712171
please post the result of partitioning and formatting.
if you're interested in alternative solution, you can actually format the whole MicroSD card as exfat, and create ext4 partition image on top as regular file. I have done that for my mothers Huawei for Link2SD because it doesn't support adoptable storage.

aIecxs said:
can you please try gdisk binary from here
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...-on-qmobile-z8-with-bricked-dead-emmc.3712171
please post the result of partitioning and formatting.
if you're interested in alternative solution, you can actually format the whole MicroSD card as exfat, and create ext4 partition image on top as regular file. I have done that for my mothers Huawei for Link2SD because it doesn't support adoptable storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried with gdisk but I can try with that specific version and report back. I understand we can create imaged file systems, but one of the main reasons I do this is that I find fat partitions are fickle and can easily be corrupted where the whole partition requires wiped. By having a non fat partition I use that as a better backup option where I find it's easier to recover data in case of corruption or other issues. For such use, being tied to the fat FS would still incur the possibility of data loss so that doesn't work for my purpose.
Thanks and I'll report back,
Ryan

oh I wouldn't rely on f2fs for backups it still has bugs and there are no recovery tools for f2fs
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/4550931
https://android.stackexchange.com/q/250389

alecxs said:
oh I wouldn't rely on f2fs for backups it still has bugs and there are no recovery tools for f2fs
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/4550931
https://android.stackexchange.com/q/250389
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion to use gdisk. I downloaded the version you linked, but I still get the same behavior. I believe it is related to the fact that only the first partition gets a filesystem UUID in blkid. I'm not sure what this means, but it seems clear that the second filesystem isn't being properly created no matter what I do.

that's strange, especially the fact you tried on PC too. on the phone, can you create partitions inside a blank disk image just for double check to rule out kernel issue?

I'll give that a try and report back

alecxs said:
that's strange, especially the fact you tried on PC too. on the phone, can you create partitions inside a blank disk image just for double check to rule out kernel issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I'm able to create an image, partition it into a vfat & ext4, then mount both of those partitions.

can you dd the file into mmcblk1 for testing purposes?

alecxs said:
can you dd the file into mmcblk1 for testing purposes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry this isn't clear to me. What am I using to dd into the partition, and do you mean mmcblk1p1/2? As mmcblk1 is the whole disk.
Thanks,
Ryan

yes, I meant the whole disk you created a test file that contains MBR or GPT and two partitions including UUIDs and file systems? If you dd it into the mmcblk1 it should create 1:1 copy of that disk image with two partitions including partition table.

Well I'll be:
Code:
/dev/block/mmcblk1p2 on /data/data/com.termux/files/home/i2 type ext4 (rw,relatime,seclabel) /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 on /data/data/com.termux/files/home/i2 type vfat (rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
Code:
/dev/block/mmcblk1p2 23M 46K 23M 1% /data/data/com.termux/files/home/i2 /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 4.9M 0 4.9M 0% /data/data/com.termux/files/home/i1
I can possibly use gparted to just resize those! Any thoughts on what was going on, why this method worked? Hrmm looks like resizing fat could be a challenge, but this certainly gets me closer!

there is also parted binary you can use on phone

I have it and I'm playing around with it, thanks for all your help