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[Q] Optimizing ext4 for sd-ext (Samsung EVO MB-MP32D/EU on Xperia Mini Pro)

Goal:
Motivation: As my phone (Sony Ericsson SK17i) has low internal memory, it is essential to have a good MicroSD card with sd-ext and move some parts of /data to /sd-ext.
Problem: I am not satisfied with random I/O performance on ext4.
I, however, don't want to sacrify safety by disabling journaling.
My HW&SW:
My MicroSD: Samsung EVO MB-MP32D/EU, 32GB.
My phone: Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro (SK17i)
ROM: LegacyXperia CM11
Ext4 mount options: noatime,nodiratime,barrier=1
My laptop OS (I ran mkfs.ext4, GParted and fdisk tools there): Ubuntu 12.04, up-to-date
Before making any change, I did a byte-by-byte backup of the original raw data, that is roughly dd if=/dev/sdc bytes=(some size) | compression > output_file. If you are interested in it, you can download the https://public.v6ak.com/samsung-evo-MB-MP32D--EU--32GB/sdc.gz.bz2 (< 1KiB) backup file.
What and why I did:
First, I resized the FAT32 (without reformatting) to 20GiB by GParted,
Second, I determined the sdcard characteristics by flashbench tool using command sudo ./flashbench -a /dev/sdc --blocksize=1024: https://public.v6ak.com/samsung-evo-MB-MP32D--EU--32GB/
There is my conclusion:
Code:
erase_block = 16777216
multi_plane = 16384
page = 8192
So, I took recommendation from https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/SDCard#Solution_2:_Tuned_ext4:
Code:
filesystem_block = min(page, 4096) = 4096 # Values higher than 4096 are not supported, so I had to pick 4096.
stride = multi_plane / page = 2 # Should I use page, or filesystem_block?
stripe_width = erase_block / page = 2048 # Should I use page, or filesystem_block?
# The resulting command:
sudo mkfs.ext4 -E stride=2,stripe-width=2048 -b 4096 /dev/sdc2
Third, I made another partitions in the free space. Now, I am just interested in the /dev/sdc2, which is sd-ext. The start of all the partitions is divisible by 8192, so I hope they are all properly aligned:
Code:
Disk /dev/sdc: 32.0 GB, 32010928128 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 3891 cylinders, total 62521344 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0000cf13
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 8192 41951231 20971520 c W95 FAT32 (LBA) # The original partition
/dev/sdc2 41951232 50339839 4194304 83 Linux # The sd-ext partition
/dev/sdc3 50339840 52436991 1048576 83 Linux # A legacy partition, nothing important
/dev/sdc4 52436992 56631295 2097152 b W95 FAT32 # Titanium Backup partition, not important at the moment
The results:
I used A1 SD Bench to benchmark both FAT32 (i.e. /dev/sdc1) and ext4 (i.e. /dev/sdc2) filesystems. I did just the random I/O test when phone was in airplane mode (=> no noise from network events) and charging:
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I've seen some suggestions it should perform several times better: http://forums.storagereview.com/index.php/topic/36678-samsung-evo-sd-memory-card-review-discussion/?p=287587 (Well, SD and microSD might differ, but I hope it not to differ much.)
There are my questions:
* Why is random write performance on the original FS significantly lower than on the benchmark above?
* Random writes are about twice faster on FAT32 than on ext4. Is it caused just by journaling?
* Why is random read significantly better on FAT32 than on ext4?
* Did I choose the right stripe/stride/blocksize? Should I double them?
* Should I perform another benchmark?
P.S.: Sorry there are no hyperlinks, I am not allowed to post them. I've tried to make the references as friendly as possible.

[Completed] only stocked recovery.img ... (Acer z160 liquid z4)

Hi all,
my problem is on Acer Z160 (liquid z4) :
First nothing for my help on the official site
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Now the situation :
* only original recovery (and screen's boot
*no access for "usb debugging" ; so no access to adb functions from my pc
* and I don't have original rom ... (only this SPFT firmware)
what is the/a solution ?
First I've read (on XDA forum) : "You cannot flash zip files through fastboot. You need to download a twrp image and flash it individually with" so I've tried but it is not possible :
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recovery_twrp_by_rw-Z4.img
sending 'recovery' (6070 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.209s]
writing 'recovery'...
FAILED (remote:
partition 'recovery' not support flash)
finished. total time: 0.224s
Secondly, and after reading in XDA forums , I've tried to update :
a)
Code:
./fastboot devices
mt6572v1_phone fastboot
b) wipe
Code:
./fastboot -w
Creating filesystem with parameters:
Size: 838860800
Block size: 4096
Blocks per group: 32768
Inodes per group: 7328
Inode size: 256
Journal blocks: 3200
Label:
Blocks: 204800
Block groups: 7
Reserved block group size: 55
Created filesystem with 11/51296 inodes and 6651/204800 blocks
Creating filesystem with parameters:
Size: 394264576
Block size: 4096
Blocks per group: 32768
Inodes per group: 8032
Inode size: 256
Journal blocks: 1504
Label:
Blocks: 96256
Block groups: 3
Reserved block group size: 23
Created filesystem with 11/24096 inodes and 3069/96256 blocks
erasing 'userdata'...
but nothing, this action never stop. (problem writing ? permissions ? other ?)
c) update
Code:
./fastboot update update.zip
archive does not contain 'android-info.txt'
error: update package 'update.zip' has no android-info.txt
I'm really disappointed : thanks for your suggestions
hanterdroid
remark : the link for download stock rom for recovery is broken on Acer z4 rom :
I've downloaded SPFT Firmware Acer_AV052_Z160_1.015.00_EMEA_GEN1 (Dual SIM)
but it is not possible for Stock ROM for Recovery

[Resolved]
Acer Z160 <==> processor Mediatek
processor Mediatek <==> SP FlashTool
Thanks to xda forum for the link (SPFT Firmware) ... and for all the tutorials )

Imei Lost, qpst backup and partition too

Well, I have some problems trying to crossflash modem.
I had some problems before, I managed to repair it with qpst, but now I cannot send my backup.
Where I am?
I have a qpst backup, and backup of modem, modemst1 and modemst2.
But when I try to dump it again over it do nothing.
Can someone give me a hand?
I have all phone working exept of movile data of course.
can someone tell me how to restore that partitions from download mode?
the seek and count?
Its an H950 with h950PR firmware
Thanks so much
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well, I have some tests from adb and I cannot understand seek and count commands, so I try some but with no succes from ADB.
when I try to overwrite the partitions the log tell me that
Code:
[email protected]:/ # cd /data/media/0/
[email protected]:/data/media/0 # dd if=mod
modem.img modemst1.img modemst2.img
[email protected]:/data/media/0 # dd if=modem.img skip=1 of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p1
dd: /dev/block/mmcblk0p1: No space left on device
163841+0 records in
163840+0 records out
83886080 bytes transferred in 11.118 secs (7545069 bytes/sec)
1|[email protected]:/data/media/0 # dd if=modem.img bs=512 skip=1 of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p>
dd: /dev/block/mmcblk0p1: No space left on device
163841+0 records in
163840+0 records out
83886080 bytes transferred in 13.969 secs (6005159 bytes/sec)
d if=modemst1.img bs=512 skip=1 of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p23 <
dd: /dev/block/mmcblk0p23: No space left on device
3073+0 records in
3072+0 records out
1572864 bytes transferred in 0.294 secs (5349877 bytes/sec)
1|[email protected]:/data/media/0 # dd if=modemst2.img bs=512 skip=1 of=/dev/block/mmcbl>
dd: /dev/block/mmcblk0p24: No space left on device
3073+0 records in
3072+0 records out
1572864 bytes transferred in 0.179 secs (8786949 bytes/sec)
all backup are 1 record bigger than partitions.
I try with bs=512 skip=1 to avoid it, but without that I have the same problem...
can someone help me?

I can help!
first, use parted, and copy output of this:
./parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 unit s print
If the partition map is same with the H955, you cab backup with this commands:
the full backup of modemst1 and modemst2 size is: 1572864 byte
In download mode, copy backup files to internal storage:
dd if=/data/media/0/modemst1_mmcblk0p23.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0 bs=8192 seek=20480 count=192
dd if=/data/media/0/modemst2_mmcblk0p24.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0 bs=8192 seek=20672 count=192
In normal mode, booted android:
dd if=/data/media/0/modemst1_mmcblk0p23.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p23
dd if=/data/media/0/modemst2_mmcblk0p24.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p24

stars2 said:
I can help!
first, use parted, and copy output of this:
./parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 unit s print
If the partition map is same with the H955, you cab backup with this commands:
the full backup of modemst1 and modemst2 size is: 1572864 byte
In download mode, copy backup files to internal storage:
dd if=/data/media/0/modemst1_mmcblk0p23.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0 bs=8192 seek=20480 count=192
dd if=/data/media/0/modemst2_mmcblk0p24.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0 bs=8192 seek=20672 count=192
In normal mode, booted android:
dd if=/data/media/0/modemst1_mmcblk0p23.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p23
dd if=/data/media/0/modemst2_mmcblk0p24.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p24
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi sr, Thanks for your answer.
The question is the next.
How to calculate seek and count, I understand that count*bs = size of partition, but seek is the blocks skipped, I dont understand how to know, Im on H950, partition table is the same, but sizes arent....
thanks so much

well, I dont know what happends, but my diag mode is useless.
I think my problem was overwritting the first 3 or 4 partitions.
can someone upload me a dump of first I think 100mb of a pr rom?
if was a full rom till system will be awesome.
a h955/950/950PR will work too for me.... I prefer to avoid antirollback roms...
thanks for the help

Your phone is even bootable?
Download parted binary, and execute this: /parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 unit s print
This is the example, how calculate seek and count
Number Start End Size File system Name
23 327680s 330751s 3072s modemst1
1. Calculate SKIP/SEEK
327680 sector * 512 byte (sector size) = 167772160 byte / 8192 (block size in byte) = 20480
2. Calculate Count (By the Partition size in sector)
You can use, the partition size in sector, or end sector - start sector
3072 sector * 512 byte (sector size) = 1572864 byte / 8192 (block size in byte) = 192

stars2 said:
Your phone is even bootable?
Download parted binary, and execute this: /parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 unit s print
This is the example, how calculate seek and count
Number Start End Size File system Name
23 327680s 330751s 3072s modemst1
1. Calculate SKIP/SEEK
327680 sector * 512 byte (sector size) = 167772160 byte / 8192 (block size in byte) = 20480
2. Calculate Count (By the Partition size in sector)
You can use, the partition size in sector, or end sector - start sector
3072 sector * 512 byte (sector size) = 1572864 byte / 8192 (block size in byte) = 192
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes sr, my phone is normally booting...
Ill try in a while and comment here.
thanks for the tips!

pelelademadera said:
yes sr, my phone is normally booting...
Ill try in a while and comment here.
thanks for the tips!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, nothing, my phone works as a tablet...
I cannot restore my imei, all nv items are 000000, when phone is in diag mode I cannot send SPC.
which partition contains NV data?
I dont know how I broke it, I only overwrite modem.img with ATT one.
Do you think that booting with this partition makes that my phone will only work with att rom?
thanks so much for your time and explanation.
The bigger problem is that If I try with att rom, I have no way back

The modemst1 and modemst2 partition contain your imei and all nv data, these partitions is unique.
If this partitions damaged, deleted, your imei is lost and you can't restore, without a working backup...

stars2 said:
The modemst1 and modemst2 partition contain your imei and all nv data, these partitions is unique.
If this partitions damaged, deleted, your imei is lost and you can't restore, without a working backup...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Solved my problem sr.
phone is back...

ZTE v987 cannot mount /system etc. possible eMMC damage

Hello,
I got stuck and I need some help.
The phone is ZTE v987. There was bgcngm's ROM V4.0B0MOD inside.
I pulled-out-&-pushed-in the battery and after boot there was a prompt that my data needed to be erased. (I'm not excatly sure what it was). I freaked out. Turned off and boot into recovery mode (vol up + power). Performed factory reset and tried to restore backup. It didn't work. I got messages:
Can't mount /system!
Can't mount /data!
Can't mount /cache!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I tried to format all of the above. Then I tried to restore individually /system, /data, /cache. All the same.
When I enter the Recovery I get errors like here:
E: Can't mount /cache/recovery/command
E: Can't mount /cache/recovery/log
E: Can't open /cache/recovery/log
E: Can't mount /cache/recovery/last_log
E: Can't open /cache/recovery/last_log
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are mentioned some apps like Heimdall but I couldn't find a version for my device and I'm not exactly sure what I should do.
What's more, I found info about eMMC damage and followed the link to check if my eMMC was good or bad.
I typed the command and the output was empty:
adb shell
~ # dmesg | grep mmc0
dmesg | grep mmc0
~ #
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read somewhere it's possible that I don't have grep installed (maybe because I wiped the data).
So I tried another command to list the eMMC-chip partition info:
~ # fdisk -l /dev/block/mmcblk0
fdisk -l /dev/block/mmcblk0
Warning: ignoring extra data in partition table 5
Warning: ignoring extra data in partition table 5
Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 3853 MB, 3853516800 bytes
1 heads, 16 sectors/track, 470400 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16 * 512 = 8192 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/block/mmcblk0p1 65 64 2147483647+ 5 Extended
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary
/dev/block/mmcblk0p2 1665 2944 10240 83 Linux
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary
/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 2945 4224 10240 83 Linux
Partition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary
/dev/block/mmcblk0p4 5825 6592 6144 83 Linux
Partition 4 does not end on cylinder boundary
/dev/block/mmcblk0p5 8385 91584 665600 83 Linux
/dev/block/mmcblk0p6 238785 64 2145573887+ 83 Linux
~ #
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also tried to mount /system and /data in adb but it failed:
~ # mount /system
mount /system
mount: mounting /[email protected] on /system failed: Invalid argument
~ # mount /data
mount /data
mount: mounting /[email protected] on /data failed: Invalid argument
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've also downloaded the ROM and tried to install from SD.
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I've saved the log and here are bottom lines:
Updating kernel
open emmc partition "boot"
contents of partition "boot" didn't match EMMC:boot:4941824:a63fb5e2f91e9c21ae76325d15d98fd36c50c41b:4941824:a63fb5e2f91e9c21ae76325d15d98fd36c50c41b
file "EMMC:boot:4941824:a63fb5e2f91e9c21ae76325d15d98fd36c50c41b:4941824:a63fb5e2f91e9c21ae76325d15d98fd36c50c41b" doesn't have any of expected sha1 sums; checking cache
failed to stat "/cache/saved.file": No such file or directory
failed to load cache file
Flashing partition: BOOT
script aborted (no error message)
script aborted (no error message)
Installer Error (Status 7)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also I've got recovery.log but it's a long one and can paste here if it is needed.
I didn't try to flash trough SP Flash Tool anything because I didn't want to make things worse.
That's all the info I could gather. I don't know if it is helpful at all but I've run out of clues.
I'd be very grateful for any help.
PS. Right now I'm not able to charge the battery. For one second the red light blinks and then the screen with battery with red strip at the bottom appears and I don't believe it's charging.

Boot is in RAW, can't flash with fastboot[SOLVED]

So, I managed to wipe my filesystem when trying to root (going by the board that happens way too often I noticed).
I posted about it here https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=80579913&postcount=295 first.
But despite the quick and nice suggestions it still won't work.
Going by https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3984875 I also tried to flash boot.img for Fastboot.
Yes, it's the right model ( GM21BA ) for Europe/Global 12gb/256
From make_f2fs.exe I get the following:
PS C:\temp> .\make_f2fs.exe [SERIAL]
F2FS-tools: mkfs.f2fs Ver: 1.9.0 (2017-11-13)
Info: Disable heap-based policy
Info: Debug level = 0
Info: Label =
Info: Trim is enabled
Error: Failed to get device size!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which has me thinking the filesystem is gone.
And then I erased and formated boot twice, and am still left with RAW fs.
PS C:\temp> fastboot format:ext4 boot
Warning: boot type is raw, but ext4 was requested for formating.
Creating filesystem with parameters:
Size: 100663296
Block size: 4096
Blocks per group: 32768
Inodes per group: 6144
Inode size: 256
Journal blocks: 1024
Label:
Blocks: 24576
Block groups: 1
Reserved block group size: 7
Created filesystem with 11/6144 inodes and 1422/24576 blocks
target reported max download size of 805306368 bytes
sending 'boot' (5688 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.021s]
writing 'boot'...
OKAY [ 0.107s]
finished. total time: 0.130s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And then I tried F2FS with Fastboot Format:
PS C:\temp> fastboot format:f2fs boot
Warning: boot type is raw, but f2fs was requested for formating.
Formatting is not supported for filesystem with type 'f2fs'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, as I'm writing this I'm reading up on make_f2fs to have it format a new 'boot' for me to flash unto.
Well, at least I have fastboot even if I can't seem to manage flashing anything, so it could be lot worse...

User MSM tool to restore to factory default. It will ease everything, but you will have a working phone. Follow the directions on the thread located here.

For future reference, I'll write how I did manage to fix this:
I had tried using MSM earlier, but couldn't get the qualcom-drivers installed (as mentioned in the thread linked).
So, I tried having the tool already active (and certificates installed) as I pressed both volume up & down and plugged in the phone.
Now a port reacted and I could (with great excitment and haste) press install:
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As expected it's back to stock.