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Lately, I've been flashing a bunch of different ROMs, and in each one, they require you to have a certain amount of your memory partitioned. I'm not too experienced in this particular area and I've been wondering what is the point of all the partitioning?
Why can't we just have one partition and run things off of that like with a computer running on windows??
What are the differences between ext2 and ext3 and so on?
So far, I've only been able to find out that the swap partition is for memory extension when the phone is currently using all of its ram, it can convert some of the sd card's memory to use for programs. Can anyone provide more insight on this?
I've asked myself the same questions .... hope someone will explain...
hacker01 said:
Lately, I've been flashing a bunch of different ROMs, and in each one, they require you to have a certain amount of your memory partitioned. I'm not too experienced in this particular area and I've been wondering what is the point of all the partitioning?
Why can't we just have one partition and run things off of that like with a computer running on windows??
What are the differences between ext2 and ext3 and so on?
So far, I've only been able to find out that the swap partition is for memory extension when the phone is currently using all of its ram, it can convert some of the sd card's memory to use for programs. Can anyone provide more insight on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would be helpful if you mentioned what phone you're using.
Generally the reason you have a /data and /system partition separately are so that you can either upgrade or reinstall Android without losing your data. If you reflashed whatever ROM you're on right now again, without wiping anything, all of your apps and settings would still be there (although any mods you flashed to modify the ROM itself would need to be flashed again).
System - Holds Android itself and any apps that came with the ROM. Some ROMs (or rather updater scripts inside of ZIP files) will install some apps in the data partition to save space.
Data - Your settings and any applications you installed.
Sometimes you WILL have to wipe everything to go to a different ROM, but for the most part if you're on an official ROM that came with your phone, and your carrier pushes an update, you don't have to.
I'm guessing you have an older phone if you need to make a swap file. A swap file is like RAM in the form of a file; if your phone runs out of usable RAM, it can use the [slower, but useful] swap file, which is like memory you reserve from storage [your MicroSD card]. Windows and other OS's use swap files too, but given how much RAM we have in computers today, we hardly ever use it.
EXT 2 fs - A non-journaling file system. It's quicker than EXT 3 and takes up less space for itself in memory (not for files, just for itself), but it's more susceptible to corruption if you randomly turn off the phone while a file is being accessed.
EXT 3 fs - A journaling file system, which means that it keeps track of any file operations within itself. While it's slower than EXT 2 and takes up more space, it is more reliable and is safer in terms of file integrity.
There's also EXT 4, but only certain phones are compatible with that, mostly Samsung Galaxy S phones.
tl;dr: It keeps everything modular.
Thanks for the explanation. It helped
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App
Hi all,
So last night I decided to give Cyanogenmod7 a try. I came from MIUI.us 2.1.20 - I just love MIUI, but it's a bit too demanding for the Milestone. So I have CM7 up and running, and it is a lot more snappy. But now, I'm having trouble installing some apps.
I tried installing my bank's banking app, but it didn't install - checked the market and it doesn't appear. Same thing with WhatsApp!! If it were working, I might just become a CM7 user..but it's not working.
Am I missing something? I installed after doing a full wipe, after which I installed DT A2SD scripts and then gapps-20111216 (although didn't see gmail or market etc after gapps, so installed those via apk).
What's the deal here?
Thanks.
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
Ok, just wiped again, and reinstalled all. CM7 then gapps then dt a2sd. So far it's working.
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
googleservicesframework.apk and vending.apk are all you need for using market. Try to reinstall them. May you success.
Ok, so now my problem is A2SD. It's not working! A2SDGUI refuses to go in, and when I do a check, I get a segmentation fault...I've never had this issue before. I've tried reinstalling DT A2SD from withing recovery and still, nothing. Please assist, I just need to get set up properly now.
Regards
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
DT scripts dont work ...use an external partition (app2ext)
d.casper.b: CM7 for Milestone already comes with its own ap2ext scripts that are automatically used if there is ext partition present on your sdcard.
You should not install any 3rd party app2ext scripts as they are very likely to be conflicting with the scripts that are already there.
Thanks kabaldan.
I'll check it out.
I was even going so far as trying to use Link2SD from the market..
How'd I know if it's working? By monitoring the available internal storage?
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
d.casper.b said:
Thanks kabaldan.
I'll check it out.
I was even going so far as trying to use Link2SD from the market..
How'd I know if it's working? By monitoring the available internal storage?
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when you will enable app2ext you will see the total space in your storage rise to 197 mb
I am not winning. I did a factory reset and flashed cm7 and gapps (not dt a2sd).
I did a test, internal storage was at 191mb, then I installed opera mobile and it went down to 182mb. Then uninstalled it again. Went into cyanogenmod settings and set install location to external. Installed opera again, but it was no different. Moving it to sd under 'manage applications' increased the internal memory again, but that's just moving the app to the FAT32 partition of the sd card.
So it's not seeming to work for me for some reason.
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
EDIT: I really don't want to be a nuisance, but now, looking at the available storage using "Quick System Info", I noticed after uninstalling "Opera Mobile", 9mb was freed on internal storage & 13mb on the ext partition.
So, perhaps it is working, and since the dalvik cache is (I assume) on internal storage, the storage is still decreasing. Am I correct? If so, is there a way to also move dalvik cache to the ext partition - I had it like this on MIUI & never looked at available memory ever again.
First of all, have you really partitioned your SD card? Make sure you followed the 3rd step on this guide: http://www.mrmuh.com/2012/01/update-a-motorola-milestone-from-motorola-firmware-to-cyanogenmod-7/ . You should have your SD Card partitioned with two partitions, the first should be FAT32 that's used normally on Android, and the second EXT3 or EXT4. Obviously, make sure you have a backup of your FAT32 partition before partitioning.
Second, you should understand how the apps2ext scripts on CM7 work. Application installs that would be stored on internal memory are rerouted to the EXT3/4 partition on the SDCard. This happens at the underlying system (linux) level, Android (that runs on top of linux) is not aware of this rerouting, so, as far as Android "knows", apps that are rerouted to the EXT partition are on the phone's internal memory. That means that you should make sure that apps you need installed on the EXT partition of the SD card are shown in "Applications > Manage applications" list to be installed on the internal memory. Yep, it's confusing, but once you understand how it works and why it works that way, it makes sense.
Third, the fact that apps are rerouted to the EXT partition doesn't mean that everything about the app will live on the ext partition: it means only the main application package will live on the ext partition, application data is still stored on the internal memory. For most apps, the amount of data used for application data are much smaller than the application package, but in some apps the amount of application data from the app may often surpass the size of the app itself - for example, in my phone, Tweekdeck stores about 9Mb of data, which is about 10 times the size of the application itself (820kb) - presumably this amount of data is cached tweets, pictures, etc. But that case is usually the exception, not the rule, I've just mentioned it so you understand that using apps2ext doesn't mean your internal memory will always stay unused, it just means it will be used (way) less.
Finally, regarding the CyanogenMod Settings location setting, if you understood what I said above, you should now understand that it should actually be set to always install to "Internal", rather than external. However, there's a bug in this that you should be advised, that not all apps will respect this setting: some apps will install to external regardless of how you've configured that setting (meaning the app will use Froyo/Gingerbread native Apps2SD, hence being installed to the FAT partition of the SDCard). So, when you install a new app, check on app management if it didn't get installed to the SDCard, and move it to the internal memory if that's the case. For these kind of apps, you'll have to do it every time you update the app too.
Thanks, I edited my previos post..
I actually have 3 partitions, a FAT32, an ext2 (maybe it's ext3, but doubt it - partitioned some months ago, so my memory's hazy), and a SWAP - which I should get rid of, but am too lazy.
I understand entirely what you've said, I know that internal is really ext if working, and sd is FAT32 partition.
You see, I'm just new to this rom and have to trial and error until I understand, with miui you just flashed the rom and the a2sd scripts and didn't bother again (maybe only to move an app that installed to FAT partition). But it seems CM7 is simply just to flash the rom and you're good to go. But as I was pondering in my previous post...is there any way to move dalvik cache to ext?
Thanks for putting up with me..I'm almost there.
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
d.casper.b said:
Thanks, I edited my previos post..
I actually have 3 partitions, a FAT32, an ext2 (maybe it's ext3, but doubt it - partitioned some months ago, so my memory's hazy), and a SWAP - which I should get rid of, but am too lazy.
I understand entirely what you've said, I know that internal is really ext if working, and sd is FAT32 partition.
You see, I'm just new to this rom and have to trial and error until I understand, with miui you just flashed the rom and the a2sd scripts and didn't bother again (maybe only to move an app that installed to FAT partition). But it seems CM7 is simply just to flash the rom and you're good to go. But as I was pondering in my previous post...is there any way to move dalvik cache to ext?
Thanks for putting up with me..I'm almost there.
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in the market you will find an app called s2e which moves app data, davlik cache to sd
also link2sd also free's up more space and makes cm7 snappier
please don't install such things to CM7 for Milestone unless you know what you are doing and you are able to resolve conflicts with the existing scripts
dalvik-cache is already moved automatically
if you want to free more space in /data, enable lib2ext to move native libraries to ext - it's mentioned in the changelog for 7.1.2 release
app data itself should not be moved as it can cause instability
d.casper.b said:
Thanks, I edited my previos post..
I actually have 3 partitions, a FAT32, an ext2 (maybe it's ext3, but doubt it - partitioned some months ago, so my memory's hazy), and a SWAP - which I should get rid of, but am too lazy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, get rid of swap, there won't be any use for it (for now anyway) and it's best for you at this point to have a known working structure (two partitions, 1st FAT, 2nd ext3/4) for your SD as you're troubleshooting your problems/questions, it'll make it easier for us too as this will eliminate potential points of failure or inconsistencies. And you should really consider upgrading to a journaled filesystem, either ext3 or ext4. Using ext2 is unreliable because Android doesn't umount the ext partition cleanly on reboot or shutdown, so you may have problems with apps disappearing or misbehaving every other reboot. Using ext3/4 with journal elimitates this problem since the journal is just replayed for the uncleanly umounted partition and the filesystems behaves more consistently.
d.casper.b said:
You see, I'm just new to this rom and have to trial and error until I understand, with miui you just flashed the rom and the a2sd scripts and didn't bother again (maybe only to move an app that installed to FAT partition). But it seems CM7 is simply just to flash the rom and you're good to go. But as I was pondering in my previous post...is there any way to move dalvik cache to ext?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The apps2ext script built on CM7 should do this by default - you probably already have your dalvik-cache on the ext partition. To check this, go into OR, enter the console and type: "ls /sddata/dalvik-cache" . If it returns a list of files, you've already got the dalvik-cache on your ext partition. Another option is setting the option dalvik.vm.dexopt-cache-only to 1 in the file /system/build.prop . This will put all dalvik-caches (both from user apps and system apps) on the phone's internal cache partition, thus still freeing space on the internal memory but without using the ext partition, but that's not recommended if you install too many apps because the cache partition may run out space and that will spawn all kinds of weird behavior on Android. The safer route is just using the default configuration anyway (user apps dalvik-cache on sd-ext).
Another option to further reduce internal memory use is using lib2ext, that will move user apps native libraries to the ext partition, but the memory gain in this case is dependent on which apps you use and how big their native libraries (if they even have one) are. To activate it, just go into the Terminal app (with Android booted) and type:
$ su
# lib2ext
And reboot. The libraries will be moved to the ext partition during boot. Make sure you have a big enough ext partition to hold everything (apps, dalvik-cache and apps libs) - the size to recommend is very dependent on how many apps you use and how big they are, but I'd say 512Mb would be the bare minimum.
in the market you will find an app called s2e which moves app data, davlik cache to sd
also link2sd also free's up more space and makes cm7 snappier
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DON'T! JUST DON'T! These third-party apps will cause all kinds of problems with CM7 builtin apps2ext.
EDIT: Oh well, Kabaldan already put all my rambling much more succintly than I could... I'm way too talky
well i was jus trying to help.. .anyway guys thanks i guess i won't be needing those apps anymore ...sorry for my noobness
Thank you so much guys!
It seems like it's working. I will check out lib2ext & the other suggestions tonight or over the weekend (on my way to work now).
I must say, I thought the move to CM7 would be a temporary one, but the speed gain is just what I needed, & the tweaks I thought I'd miss I am finding hidden in the settings .
Just wondering on the battery now - but I've been fiddling non-stop.
So let me play a bit more the weekend & I'll merge my ext2 and SWAP partition into one ext3 partition.
Thanks all, and kabaldan for your hard work on this rom.
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
Just as I was on my way...
Everything's running fine, A2SD works. But now, I partitioned my SD card with a 2nd partition (ext3, it was ext2), but now widgets are not loading. Checked the apps install location, and it's 'internal', ie. ext3. I never had this before. I think maybe it's due to the filesystem now?
EDIT: Ok, ext2 is doing the same. I can't keep starting from scratch the whole time guys.
EDIT2: It's now suddenly working! Just have a Fat32 and an Ext3 partition. But I don't understand because it's been setup like this twice before with no success. I'll hold thumbs!
PS, CyanogenMod is quite up my alley now, speed is awesome and I'm happy.
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
Hello,
Just bought new SD-card. According to titanium backup theres 12mb free phone storage and 1gb ext4 partiton (982mb) free space, but still i get Low On space and cant install any apps. What should i do ?
MisterMonitor said:
Hello,
Just bought new SD-card. According to titanium backup theres 12mb free phone storage and 1gb ext4 partiton (982mb) free space, but still i get Low On space and cant install any apps. What should i do ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 12MB phone storage is what's killing you. In 'Manage Apps' under 'Settings', you can click on each individual app and send some of the larger ones to the SD card. You can also try clearing data for the Facebook app, which can hold a lot of data due to contact photos if you use it.
Just for curiosity's sake, what phone are you using?
Im using HTC Desire.
I understood that due to 12mb phone storage i get Low on space, but i made ext 1gb partition, so shouldnt now phone storage expand and became 12mb+1gb ?
All my apps are on sdcard, and no facebook app.
I made 1gb partition why its not helping ?
MisterMonitor said:
Im using HTC Desire.
I understood that due to 12mb phone storage i get Low on space, but i made ext 1gb partition, so shouldnt now phone storage expand and became 12mb+1gb ?
All my apps are on sdcard, and no facebook app.
I made 1gb partition why its not helping ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sounds like you don't have apps2sd installed, or that the ext4 partition isn't recognised properly. I remember it was particularly fussy about whether the ext4 part was the first partition in the table or not, I'm not sure if this is still the case
Sent from my HTC Vivid
With previous SD card, There's 12mb free internal storage and 134mb a2sd free, 238 a2sd occupied.
So i really dont understand now :/. This partition is working but not all space in a2sd are used (134mb) free , but also 238 a2sd occupied. So its working, so why i get Low on space :/ .
On new card I made 1gb partition and 0 occupied.
And i cant run restore in titanium backup, because it shows there's no space, but i adjusted to write everything to external storage in titanium backup settings.
Please help, because now i bought a new card and cant use it :/ .
I see what you're trying to do now
The phone will never show that you've added to phone storage, because you can't. Adding an SD partition won't increase your phone storage at all, it just gives you a place to put all your apps so they don't take up your actual phone storage.
There is something on your phone taking up the ~150MB phone storage. It may be contact photos, it may be SMSs/MMSs, it may be camera pictures and videos (if you haven't set the camera to save to SD by default). You've already moved your apps so it's not those. You need to go through all your apps and see how much each is individually using (in 'manage apps').
Pay particular attention to 'contacts storage', 'calendar storage' etc as they are usually the hogs in my experience, and you can't move them. If you sync your Facebook contacts with your phone, the photos and details can easily use over 200MB.
Thank you very much for helping me ).
I understood about memmory usage. Cleaned almost everything in phone memmory, but still 18mb left.
Its just a new SD card and so many problems. Now apps cant find root access, watahell ? My phone was always rooted .
Please someone help to fix problems, i want to use my new SD card.
1. Something happened to root. Titanium gets root rights. I BusyBox installer shows that my phone is rooted, but when i push install busybox it fails .
In titanium backup i press "Problems?" and it offers to updade superuser. I press Update superuser and imedietly get force close.
I really apreciate if someone help me :/ .
Try rooting again. If you're S-OFF already, SuperOneClick will make mincemeat of your Desire in one click (link in my signature)
As soon as something goes wrong with root, you need to have another try at it. If you get an error, post it here and I will help if I can
I have tried to move apps to sdcard with Link2SD and other similar apps. It fails and says that I can't move them because my device has a primary external storage which is emulated from the internal storage.
Here is a screenshot of the message
Howdy!
as far as I have found out (and been following this problem on and off since I got my plus a few months ago) there is no proper way to move apps to your SD card. Best solution (and the one I am using) is to partition your SD Card then use Link2SD to link apps on your SD. You can set it up to do so automatically for every new app you install. As for partitioning I found this guide the best since I'd never attempted it before but it works really well.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2126363
Good luck and hope this helps a little!
Thanks a lot
lance2355 said:
Howdy!
as far as I have found out (and been following this problem on and off since I got my plus a few months ago) there is no proper way to move apps to your SD card. Best solution (and the one I am using) is to partition your SD Card then use Link2SD to link apps on your SD. You can set it up to do so automatically for every new app you install. As for partitioning I found this guide the best since I'd never attempted it before but it works really well.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2126363
Good luck and hope this helps a little!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do we need to root phone for that?
If yes then what's the point of making partitions.
Sent from my GT-I9105 using xda app-developers app
fayez107 said:
Do we need to root phone for that?
If yes then what's the point of making partitions.
Sent from my GT-I9105 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, my phone was rooted anyway but I think Link2SD needs it. As to why exactly it needs to be partitioned I can only tell you that when my card wasn't partitioned as suggested in the guide I linked then Link2SD wouldn't even offer to link the apps. I am no expert as I pointed out but this was a solution that worked for me. It may well be someone else found something better that doesn't require partitioning. To my knowledge doing things this way requires root AND the partitioned SD card.
lance2355 said:
Well, my phone was rooted anyway but I think Link2SD needs it. As to why exactly it needs to be partitioned I can only tell you that when my card wasn't partitioned as suggested in the guide I linked then Link2SD wouldn't even offer to link the apps. I am no expert as I pointed out but this was a solution that worked for me. It may well be someone else found something better that doesn't require partitioning. To my knowledge doing things this way requires root AND the partitioned SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try Apps to SD? Ill be rooting very soon and see what happens. If none works then last stop would be to make partition.
Okay I did root my phone successfully. Still cant move apps. Now going to do this partition system. Hope it works !
fayez107 said:
Did you try Apps to SD? Ill be rooting very soon and see what happens. If none works then last stop would be to make partition.
Okay I did root my phone successfully. Still cant move apps. Now going to do this partition system. Hope it works !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I tried Apps to SD as well but without success. You get exactly the message as the OP said here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=42863865&postcount=2
Same goes for Link2SD however once you partitioned it at least offers you to link the apps. But like I said that only happened after I did the partitioning. Beforehand it would not even offer that.
I am not entirely sure what or why Samsung did what they did in kinda blocking the moving of apps to an external card but it it really blows considering that you only get a somewhat limited amount of storage to begin with.
lance2355 said:
Yeah, I tried Apps to SD as well but without success. You get exactly the message as the OP said here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=42863865&postcount=2
Same goes for Link2SD however once you partitioned it at least offers you to link the apps. But like I said that only happened after I did the partitioning. Beforehand it would not even offer that.
I am not entirely sure what or why Samsung did what they did in kinda blocking the moving of apps to an external card but it it really blows considering that you only get a somewhat limited amount of storage to begin with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello again brother. Same here. Before partitioning there was not any option to create link even.
I did the partitioning stuff did work. I can successfully transfer my apps into the ext2 partition i created. (Btw which partition format did you go with?)
How ever I believe folder mount is still a better option as it does not require you to create partitions and works directly such as you enter a brand new card without partition and move apps into card and then it links it. But the only drawback is you need to purchase the app :
fayez107 said:
Hello again brother. Same here. Before partitioning there was not any option to create link even.
I did the partitioning stuff did work. I can successfully transfer my apps into the ext2 partition i created. (Btw which partition format did you go with?)
How ever I believe folder mount is still a better option as it does not require you to create partitions and works directly such as you enter a brand new card without partition and move apps into card and then it links it. But the only drawback is you need to purchase the app :
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used ext4 for my partition. And I hadn't heard of Folder Mount until you mentioned it. Will have to check it out. Can you actually move stuff if you use that?
lance2355 said:
I used ext4 for my partition. And I hadn't heard of Folder Mount until you mentioned it. Will have to check it out. Can you actually move stuff if you use that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well ext4 didn't work for me idky though ext2 did and it worked. But creating partitions is pure junk and it would reduce the life and speed of your card (its something i believe) so I deleted the partitions and brought my card into original format.
And yes man Folder Mount is something we need ! It does exactly what both of us want. Simply move all the app data from internal memory to external memory and as soon as you move you have empty space on your internal storage and external storage is occupied. Its simple and very clear and easy to use. Just 3 clicks i believe and its done. And another good stuff is it will show you how much an app is occupying internal space and then moves it into SD card and also doesn't show important system apps to move as moving them creates problem.
There's a free version to try which would allow you to move 3 apps only and if you want more then buy the app for 2 Dollars.
Its developed by @madmack. Do check it out. The sad part for me is I dont have a credit card nor Paypal is available in my country
And i need this app badly !
Hi There
Can someone explain what he\she did to partition SD card, and make all apps get installed on it.
Please note :
1. I don't want to use Titanium backup for this usage. I don't have the paid version and I'm tired of doing this one app at a time.
2. I saw some guides on the net, but they were all for GB.
(partition the microSD on PC using minitool) -can we use ext4 on our MTD ROMs ? What is the 1st partition for ? and the 2nd ?
(install busybox and super user) - Is it still needed ? (MIUI for example has LBE as su).
(install Link2SD) - Is it always in memory ?
(reboot and put partitioned SD card)
(Define Link2SD)
3. I also saw swapper instructions but I can manage with 170MB free RAM memory I get after removing all unnecessary system apps, and I remember ppl saying then that it kills the SDCard very quickly.
If someone has a clear guide or instructions that he knows work, that will be nice.
Thanks in advance.
Step 1. Partition your SD card to have a sd-ext partition. This can definitely be ext2 or FAT16. Anything else depends on your kernel. Most of them do support ext3 and 4, but... start with something fairly basic.
Regarding recoveries:
TWRP has always failed for me on this, so I'd avoid that.
This may be doable in CWM. I've seen reference to that newer versions of CWM removed the partition option, so you might need to flash an ICS ROM with an older kernel, repartition, and then flash back to the one you want.
Also note that if you use CWM to repartition, your SD-card will be wiped. So do a backup first.
Step 2. Install Mounts2SD. Either from XDA or the Play Store. Even if you do take it from the Play Store to get update notifications, I highly suggest grabbing the recovery script from the XDA thread so that you can get back your shifted applications without needing to re-download and install M2SD, since it likes to be on internal which means... shifted off.
Step 3. Open Mounts2SD. Grant SU rights at whatever point it asks for it during step 3. Hit the menu button. Go to Application Settings. Install the Startup Script. Tell it to use the built-in busybox as well, so that you don't need to install anything or worry about it failing. Back out of the Application Settings.
Step 4. Press on the Wrench to go into the actual specific settings. I currently have forced Cache, 1% Storage Threshold, Applications are the only bit moved, the File System Check is on and using the Ext4 Driver, 128KB Deadline for Internal and 4096 with Deadline for External, and Safe Mode is disabled. But decide on what you want yourself, set it, go back to the Eye to see your current info.
Step 5. Reboot.
Step 6. Wait 1-30 minutes for it to finish moving all your stuff around.
Step 7. Unlock your phone, open Mounts2SD, and make sure everything looks pretty on that first 'Eye' info tab. If you like it then close Mounts2SD and keep going on your merry way. If you don't like it or you've done something like offload your data and now your phone is wretchedly slow, go to the Wrench, change your settings, go back to the Eye, and reboot again. Repeat until satisfied.
I thought it would be simplier.
A few more questions:
1. If I partition SD on PC, then I don't need any partitioning on recovery so it should work fine even on TWRP or advanced CWMs. Am I right?
2. Why do I need scripts for? Isn't the app enough?
3. Why should/could it possibly slow down my device? TB 'move to SD' for all doesn't slow my device what so ever.
4. How and where do I see what partition is used for what?
5. How much RAM does the app take?
6. Have you tried other apps link2sd or something CM has built in I think.?
Thanks.
sent from me
New answers to new questions.
1. Skip step 1 if you've done it on your PC. I just suggested recovery as that's easy... if you've made your sd-ext partition on the PC, step 1 is done.
2. No clue on Link2SD. I use Mounts2SD instead since it lets me set things. It probably does the same thing though and sets a init.d script that gets run during startup.
3. True. For some reason though having all your data moved to sd-ext makes our phone go to a crawl. Same if you move off the dalvik.
4. That's in Mounts2SD. No clue how you can see if you're using Link2SD.
5. For Mounts2SD, none while it's being used, since it just runs as a startup script. The app is just to control the script.
6. Not successfully. I had tried 5 or 6 different apps back a year ago or so when I first started playing with sd-ext and Mounts2SD was the best and free, so... never looked back after that. Now you can also do some system-flag tweaking if you want to donate, but the sd-ext stuff is all free.
I was able to successfully partition SD and use mount2sd on 4.3 SlimBean.
however, it was rather slow.
CM 10.1 and CM10.2 by DJL. did not allow me to partition nor did they recognize SlimBean's partition even if I replaced them kernel (to NilTMT).
I'm currently using CM10.1 which is stable as a daily driver and manually swapping apps with TB, I hate it, but this is the best combination I've come so far.
I sold my wife's SGS4G and upgraded her to SGS3 and hopefully in a year I will do the same. it had its moments, but on the bottom line it's a pretty ****ty phone with its lack of internal mem...but hey, it drove so many of us to go deeper and deeper trying to understand and made us more tecnolgical and solution oriented.
Mounts2SD worked for me on CM10.1, so not sure why it failed for you. Ah well.
A few things I have found...
Yes, you can partition on Windows, but you're really asking for trouble. It's not too bad download Ubuntu or the like and you can boot off a USB stick without touching your Windows install.
The TeamAcid kernels that I know of handle ext2/3/4 file systems. All kinds of arguments as to which are better. I personally use ext4 and don't find it obviously "slow" for the way I use my phone.
That said, what the boot scripts (which are part of a flashed "kernel" for the SGS4G) actually do with a "special" partition is another story. In some cases the first stages of booting will look for special partitions and mount them in pre-configured places. For example, the second partition of the removable card might be mounted on /sd-ext/ in many CyanogenMod ROMs. Many (most?) SGS4G ROMs don't have these "special" mount rules defined.
Moving an app to SD using the "native" approach just moves the app and none of its data to the SD card. It won't for example, move 25 MB of mail from /data/data to your microSD
Moving an app to SD (or anywhere else) doesn't keep it from generating its classes in /data/dalvik-cache -- It isn't "free" to have an app on SD as far as internal storage goes, even if it doesn't write any data.
Moving an app to SD will absolutely slow down your boot time. It does it by creating a file that contains a file system that then gets read and mounted at boot time. You can watch the parade of them getting mounted using adb logcat. It can take a minute or two to mount them all. Once mounted, that double layer of file systems shouldn't slow you down too much, since it is basically a read-only kind of thing.
Scripts are required since you need to be able to "fake out" the operating system as to where things are stored for anything (except if you just use the native app to SD method). In most cases you need new partitions mounted before the Android part of the OS starts running.
Some scripts are more robust than others.
TitaniumBackup (paid version) has a way to move data to an external partition. It works like a charm for me (64 GB Sandisk UHS-1 / Class 10 microSD). It was very tweaky for me to get it to recognize the ext4 partition the first time. It can bulk-move app data to the partition. I don't know which, if any, of the other scripts move the data to an external partition.
On my phone, an ext4 file system can be significantly faster than the internal yaffs, especially for write. Alas, it usually seems to be read that is a killer for most things in an well-written app. On my phone, yaffs can be faster than ext4 for short reads. Who knows how this would play out in real-world usage.
Other things that TitaniumBackup can do that help free up internal storage, at least in the paid version, are:
Dalvik cache cleanup
Integrate system Dalvik cache into ROM
Integrate update into ROM
Convert to system app
I can confirm Link2SD works where Mount2SD fails, which is an ext3 partitioned sd-ext on AOKP. it doesn't get any simpler than that.
sent from me