[Fix]: Solution for games not working after binding obbs with Link2SD

[Fix]: Solution for games not working after binding obbs with Link2SD - LG V10 General

OK guys, I had a problem recently with games not being able to find their obb expansion files after linking/binding them to SD card 2nd partition with Link2SD. I could link anything else, like the game's internal data, library files, etc, and they would still work. But after linking the obb file, they stopped working. I remember this working fine on previous phones I've owned, so I figured that this must be an issue with how the stock system deals with interacting with the SD card, creating symbolic links, etc. Or more specifically a faulty 'sdcard' file at /system/bin/sdcard. I never had any issues with this when running unofficial CM12.1 on the v10 as far as games not working when their obbs were linked (except CM kept crashing so I switched back to stock). So I figured that maybe replacing the sdcard file with the one from CM might work. And my hunch was right.
I bought a 200GB SD primarily so I could link games and other big apps, this failure really pissed me off. Especially having spent a decent amount on it and not being able to use it for what I bought it for!
This fix may also work for games not working after binding their obbs with FolderMount, or with the Xposed module Obb On SD (http://repo.xposed.info/module/com.smartmadsoft.xposed.obbonsd). I havent did extensive testing with these, so if anyone wants to try and report back, then feel free.
Why should you trust me? Well, you don't have to. Go ahead and link a game obb with Link2SD, while using the standard sdcard file. Then launch the game. It most likely wont work, will probably say that it couldn't find its' data, need to download files and fail, etc. Then flash the zip I'm providing and try again. Your linked games should now work. Be sure you back up the original sdcard file in case you run into issues. I havent found any yet. Your SD should still be available on boot, and if you have an EXT4-formatted SD in conjunction with the Evil Yummy Gumdrop kernel, it will be available as well. I've only tested with the T-Mobile variant of the v10, but this should work with other variants, as long as you have root access, mount /system as writable, and replace the file. Permissions should be set to 0755. If you don't have a custom recovery then you can also try flashing with FlashFire (http://forum.xda-developers.com/general/paid-software/flashfire-t3075433 and https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.flash&hl=en)
The only caveat I've run into is that X-plore, my favorite file manager, now both shows a "Internal storage" and "/storage/emulated" heading, which both link to the same area (internal/emulated storage). No big deal.
I hope this fix helps some people out. Report back and give thanks.
Edit: I havent tried this with Marshmallow, I doubt it would work, because of how MM handles external SDs. Try at your own risk. This has only been tested on a stock rooted Lollipop 5.1.1 ROM on the T-Mobile LG v10.
Edit#2: I just finished testing this with FolderMount and Obb On SD. They work flawlessly, but didnt before. No major issues yet.

I'm using Marshmallow now, so I cant provide any support for this. This file doesnt work on MM, I'm trying to find a new fix.

Can you provide a solution for marshmallow? I'm facing the problema only on marshmallow

Can I ask you a question. I purchased this phone because is 64GB and that's just about perfect for my green plus games. And I play RPGs which are GB heavy. So why l Iink2sd?

Any news?

I found 2 solutions which work on MM and Lollipop, and they don't involve replacing system files. One is an app, the other needs Xposed. I no longer recommend using Link2SD with MM, since it seems to be incompatible anyway. Some people did manage to get it working, but still no obb linking. Here are 2 superior solutions:
1. XInternalSD:
Download via Xposed Installer, activate module, reboot. Open a root file manager, go to /storage/, look for the folder that goes to your external SD's 1st partition. Open XInternalSD, where it says 'path to internal SD card', make sure it contains the right path to your external. The point is to trick certain apps (mostly games) into thinking your external is the internal storage. Check the box that says "full access to external SD". You can either "enable for all apps", or just certain apps. I recommend only for apps where obb linking doesn't work. Go to /storage/<external path here>, go into Android folder, create obb folder if it doesn't exist. Next, install your games. If you get them from Play Store, you will need to manually move the obbs to the folder above *before* running the app. Make sure you move the obb file itself *and* the folder above it. As an example, the game "Secret of Mana", my path looks like /storage/<external>/Android/obb/com.square_enix.secret/main.201410302.com.square_enix.secret.obb. When you have finished moving, open XInternalSD, tap "enable for apps", put check beside your app, then OK. Then you can run the app, this method should work for most regular apps and games. The downside of this approach is that you can only force an app to store most/all of its' external data on SD. External data is defined as anything that is stored on internal or external storage. All other parts of an app usually go into /data.
2. Apps2SD (search in Play Store):
There are free and paid versions (2nd is called Apps2SD Pro). I think free version has same features as Pro, but with ads. You can deal with them, block ads with the hosts file, or use Lucky Patcher to patch out the ads/create a modded APK with no ads. I recommend you buy pro version, it has so many features, and is way better than Link2SD, and is MM/Nougat-compatible. It's updated often and only costs a few dollars at most. *Please* don't steal from this great developer.
Anyway, for this to work, your SD needs 2 partitions. Apps2SD has a partitioning tool, I tried it, it deleted all my files. You can still use the app's partition tool to create 2 partitions, then copy your personal files back when finished. 1st partition is for personal stuff, 2nd partition is for Link2SD/App2SD (I dont recommend storing other files here, but App2SD shouldnt mess with them). I assume most people use Windows, so backup all your SD files to PC, online, wherever, just in case. Download the free version of MiniTool Partition Wizard, resize the first partition so that it's smaller. 1st partition should either be exFAT or FAT32. Then create 2nd partition, format it as ext4. You can use almost any Linux-based filesystem for 2nd partition, but I recommend ext4. Choose whatever size you want for each. You can also use any other partitioning tool of your choice (I prefer GParted, a Linux software). Then put SD back into phone and install App2SD. Make sure you use v11.4 of the app or newer, this is the version that fixed sdcardfs, which is what causes this problem in the first place, and why I started this topic. Tap "link apps to SD card", select ext4 (if this is what you used) and advanced mount option. I have tried the init.d and su.d methods, but after rebooting I got errors like "root access denied", "soft reboot required", and linked apps missing. Advanced method has something to do with Android's vold, is all I know, but works flawlessly for the v10 MM. Apps2SD is better than XInternalSD because you can link all parts of an app (APK, dex/odex, libraries, internal/external data, and caches), XInternalSD only works for external data and obb files.
For Apps2SD, you also need this file:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3987630&d=1483343643
Unzip the file, force stop Apps2SD, then go to /data/data/in.co.pricealert.apps2sd.pro/app_binary/apps2sd. Delete this file, leave the rest. Then copy the file from the zip into the same folder. For the next part you need to set permissions, I use Total Commander. In TC I hold my finger on the file, select Properties, select RWX, type 777, then Apply. Go to Properties again, select UID, in both fields select the # that says Apps2SD, then Apply again. You can use any root file manager for this, instructions will vary, I just used TC as an example (great and powerful app, BTW). Make sure you do this step. This fix may not be needed in future Apps2SD version, so my advice is dont do this unless obb/external data linking doesnt work or gives an error ("invalid argument"). But this is definitely necessary for v11.4.
If you are still having issues, try these:
In SuperSU, disable mount namespace separation and enable su on boot.
Try setting SELinux to permissive instead of enforcing. For this you can use SELinux Mode Changer, an init.d/su.d script, or you can manually type "su" then "setenforce 0" in a terminal app.
Change your root management app. I used to use SuperSU, but switched to phh's Superuser not too long ago. There is a regular version and a Magisk version, take your pick. I'm loving it and have no intention of going back to SuperSU unless I have serious issues (none so far in the few months I've used it).
XInternalSD only requires Xposed but doesnt need root access, so it may be better for unrooted users. The Xposed framework itself can be installed into system partition with no need for being rooted, but I do believe that the systemless version of Xposed needs SuperSU. The one exception I can think of is the Magisk version of Xposed, which only needs Magisk but not root.
Apps2SD needs root, except maybe for the regular/normal mounting method (haven't tested that). I'm not aware of any solutions for unrooted users, your choices are very limited.
In further testing FolderMount and Obb On SD still do not work with v10 MM. I also dont recommend using adoptable storage for your SD, it's confusing and too much of a headache.

As of v11.5 of Apps2SD Pro, the part about manually replacing the appp2sd binary file is no longer necessary. You only need to do this if you're using v11.4.

Apps2SD v11.5 also supports systemless modification/injection, so that the app can do its' work without modifying the /system partition. But you need SuperSU installed, modifications are installed to /su.

I no longer own the v10, I got sick and tired of the issues I was having with it. I found a good deal on EBay for a new Note 4 still in the factory-sealed box. It does not exhibit any of the linking/obb binding issues I was having. So I can't provide support for this anymore. The last time I had the v10 was a few weeks ago, running stock modded Marshmallow. At that point Apps2SD Pro worked perfectly on it for all my needs, it solves all linking/binding issues without replacing system files, and only needs root. It's only a few $$$ and the dev updates it often. It also has support for SuperSU, Magisk, phh's Superuser, and pretty much any other root solution out there. So that's my final word, this app is your best bet.

Can I do something to undo this, it made both my internal and external storage disappear.

@NguyenDucAnh01: If You made a copy of the original sdcard and vold files, then you can just restore them to /system/bin/. Set permissions to 0777, you can do this from TWRP. If you didn't make a backup then you will have to reflash your firmware.

Thanks man
AnonVendetta said:
@NguyenDucAnh01: If You made a copy of the original sdcard and vold files, then you can just restore them to /system/bin/. Set permissions to 0777, you can do this from TWRP. If you didn't make a backup then you will have to reflash your firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion, but I found a way myself :highfive:
Since the script only replace sdcard file, I take the one from the original rom, replace the file in that .zip with it, then adb sideload it with TWRP
Also that srcipt didn't backup the file, I had to do that way.

@NguyenDucAnh01: I now recommend using Apps2SD instead of Link2SD, it has many more features and is more up to date. You can get it for free in Play Store. With this app it isn't necessary to replace system files at all. And it works on all Android versions up to Oreo, haven't tested with Pie yet.
XInternalSD, Obb On SD, and FolderMount should work too, in most cases. But the first 2 need Xposed.
Oh, one more thing, I no longer own the LG v10, not for a very long time. I'm now using a ZTE Axon 7. The v10 is the worst phone I've ever owned.

Related

[Q] Moving apps to sd without app2sd

Ive been trying to mod the stock rom on my MyTouch 3g Slide so that it automatically uses a folder on the sd card as the data folder for apps using the inherent "everything is a file" rule from linux.
I do have SU permissions on the ADB.
My theory is this:
If I replace the folder "data" with a link to the folder on the sd card, then I should be able to have as many apps as I want, I would just need to get a bigger sd card eventually.
Another benefit of this is it will actually be superior to App2SD as ALL apps will not only be able to be on the SD but they will all work properly (so pandora will let me still use the widget)
I am however not that well versed in linux or in modding a folder to be a link and just look like a folder. Anyone want to help?
I also know that, at first, I would need to ADB pull all the files from the required folders and push them back onto the SD folder. I did it once now if only I could get the link working.
edit: I have noticed that certain changes to the filesystem in the stock rom rewrite themselves on reboot. (ex: I tried to change the permissions on the built in shell to root but when I rebooted it changed them back, worked until then though)
edit: another thing I could do is have multiple sd cards with entirely different roms on them and just switch SDs when I want to change roms. But that's a project for another time.

Xperia X10 is still running 1.6.
Apps2SD is a 2.1 minimum so, somebody started to work on exactly what you want.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=800555

Firerats + Data2ext Complete Installation Guide: Now works with Sense roms!

This thread serves as a guide to install both firerats and data2ext mods on a single rom and have them work simultaneously.
I do not take any credit for the creation of any files mentioned or attached, nor methods for the installation of each individual mod, nor roms, gapps, or otherwise mentioned content. All credit goes to those who created each mod, rom, gapps, and the methods for installing each individually. I only claim responsibility for my own research and the order and hierarchy of steps below that combine these incredible feats of development into a working system of internal storage expansion and space management.
Even though it is impossible to brick your phone using the guide below, I am not responsible if you break your device, because you have willfully chosen on your own to void your warranty by rooting your phone and installing the mods mentioned below.
To make firerats work with data2ext simultaneously, follow these over-detailed instructions EXACTLY. This is written so that anyone who has never held a smartphone in their lives can understand and do this right the first time, so those of you that know what you're doing, sorry about the length, but it should be pretty easy for you.
Note: I've uploaded some pertinent files from the following steps and added all links to all files needed so you don't have to go find them yourself. I did not include any roms, gapps, or the freespace app from the Play Store(just download from your phone, or from the link in step 6d). Links for all necessary files are in their respective steps below. The only links to a rom or gapps are for ICS. Otherwise you'll have to find and use your own downloaded roms and the correct gapps for your rom. If you would rather use the links below to download the files instead of using the ones I provided, be my guest.
I've updated this guide to make installation much easier and work with Sense roms!
Now on to the good stuff!!
Steps 1 through 7a are written for you to collect the files necessary, and to prepare your phone, sd card, and recovery for the correct method of installation of the collected files.
Steps 8 through 10 are to install the mods.
Preparation
1. Be sure to start from scratch!!! This means an UNPARTITIONED, FULLY WIPED sd card, fully wiped and rooted phone, and fully wiped recovery. Fresh file downloads for roms, gapps, and other mods you like wouldn't hurt either. If your phone is not rooted, go here, it's the best and easiest root method I've found.
1a. If you already have a partitioned sd card, insert it into your computer via a microsd adapter or other means(you cannot use your phone for this; it will not recognize that it's partitioned), delete the partitions and wipe the card using partition management software on your computer. I recommend EASEUS Partition Manager 9.1.1 Home Edition(Windows users only). If you use this program, after you delete partitions on your sd card, you will be left with unallocated space. Create a partition that takes up the entire unallocated space and set it as a Primary and FAT32 file system(remember, only do this to your sd card, NOT THE C: DRIVE!!!!).
2. Boot to recovery(hold down home, press and release power, then release home once recovery shows up)
2a. Be sure you have a recovery that supports flashing unsigned .zip files. If your recovery does not support flashing unsigned .zip files, flash a rom and then the corresponding gapps that are signed(cyanogenmod roms and gapps are the easiest way to go), boot into rom, sign in, download rom manager from Market/Play Store, open rom manager, flash clockworkmod recovery, and boot to recovery.
3. Make sure you are using latest 5.5.0.4 recovery, found here.
3a. If you are not already using the 5.5.0.4, flash the 5.5.0.4.zip in your current recovery(or follow the instructions from step 2a if you cannot flash unsigned .zip files) and reboot back into recovery.
4. In your new recovery, make sure you wipe everything, and go to advanced>partition SD card. Choose whatever size you want to have as internal storage(the 'M' means Megabyte, if you didn't already know...). I use 1024M or 2048M(i.e. 1Gb or 2Gb), depending on what mood I'm in, but it works with any of them. Then choose 0M swap size and wait for it to process.
5. Wipe everything once again(just to be safe), including sd-ext, and place your rom and preferred gapps on sd card, along with any other flashable modifications you like to use(I use the sd card speed boost, which can be found here. 2048Kb works best for my card, a 16Gb Class 4).
Note: For ICS users only! I use official, larger ICS gapps, found here(download the one next to 4.0.X, the link will be: '20120429'). The smaller gapps, as well as the current best ICS rom, can be found in whoshotjr2006's thread, here.
6. Make sure you have the latest firerats(1.5.8), which can be found here.
6a. Don't use any of the alphas or betas. Just 1.5.8. Download only the recovery-v1.5.8-CustomMTD_S.zip and boot-v1.5.8-CustomMTD_S.zip and place on sd card. Create a .txt file named 'mtdpartmap' and type 'mtd XXX XX'. These X's represent the size in numbers that you want your /system and /cache partition sizes to be, and therefore will not actually be used. See step 6b or 6c, depending on what rom you'll be using, for information on how to determine the correct partition sizes/numbers to use. DON'T KEEP THE X's IN THE FILE! REPLACE THEM WITH THE NUMBERS YOU WILL USE AFTER YOU DETERMINE WHAT YOUR /SYSTEM AND /CACHE SIZES SHOULD BE!
6b. For ICS users: If you are using the official, larger gapps, type 'mtd 190 60' into the text file and save to sd card. If you are using smaller gapps, type 'mtd 190 30'. Proceed to step 7.
6c. For Non-ICS users: To find out what numbers to replace the X's with in your mtdpartmap.txt, first wipe everything and install only the rom and gapps you'll be using this mod with. Then boot into rom, sign in, and follow step 6d. After you do this, however, you will need to repeat steps 5 and 6a, then proceed to step 7.
6d. You can download 'freespace' from the Play Store, which needs root access, and will show you the total size and space remaining for each of the /system, /data, /cache, /sdcard, and /ext partitions, so you can change the numbers in your mtdpartmap file to what you want the /system and /cache to be that best suits the rom you want to flash. The first number after 'mtd' is for the /system partition, the second number is for /cache. You can't change the /data, because it is dependent on what you set the system and cache sizes to, and will be set to what you partitioned the sd card to anyways. Also, keep at least a 5Mb allowance over what you need for both /system and /cache partitions as you will run into force closing problems if there is no breathing room, especially for the /cache partition.
7. The data2ext thread and .zip file can be found here.
7a. Download the unCoRrUpTeD_data2extV2.2.zip at the bottom of the post and place on sd card. DO NOT FLASH!!!
Summary of what should be accomplished after following steps 1 through 7a: You should now be using CWM Recovery 5.5.0.4, have a partitioned sd card, wiped everything, and placed the boot-v1.5.8-CustomMTD_S.zip, recovery-v1.5.8-CustomMTD_S.zip, unCoRrUpTeD_data2extV2.2.zip, mtdpartmap.txt, the rom and correct gapps, as well as any other mods you want to use onto your sd card. If all of this is true, move to step 8. If not, go back and find what you missed.
The Installation Process
8. Flash recovery-v1.5.8-CustomMTD_S.zip, then under mounts and storage, wipe /system, /cache, and /data in that order.
8a. Reboot to recovery(go to advanced>reboot recovery).
9. Flash rom, gapps, and whatever other mods you have or like, then flash boot-v1.5.8-CustomMTD_S.zip, then unCoRrUpTeD_data2extV2.2.zip, and reboot.
Note: the firerats installation thread for the HeroCDMA says to flash boot-v1.5.8-CustomMTD_S.zip after anything that changes the kernel specifications, but the unCoRrUpTeD_data2extV2.2.zip does not change these. The thread also says that adb is necessary to reboot; it's not. After wiping /system, /cache, and /data, just go to advanced>reboot recovery. It will work just fine, I promise. Newer recoveries don't need to use adb for this step.
10. Reboot immediately after signing in for data2ext to take effect.
That's it! You're all done! Set up your phone the way you want and start installing apps!
Summary of steps 1 through 10: By now, you should be using 5.5.0.4 recovery, have a partitioned sd card, have placed all necessary files, your rom, gapps, and other mods onto your sd card, flashed the correct files in the correct order and rebooted, signed in, and rebooted after signing in. You should now be looking at the home screen(or lockscreen) of your rom, and if you check storage from settings, you should see internal storage showing the size you partitioned the sd card to be in step 4.
Hopefully this wasn't too confusing...good luck!
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to post in this thread!

Thanks, great guide! Wish I had it back when I had my first experience...
Speaking as per my own experience:
I ended up using the latest Firerats (dunno if its an alpha or beta) since I found myself flashing different ROM's and ROM updates quite a bit, for me it didn't require the use of a boot flash, rom works fine for me (spare some thoughts on this?, maybe just not required for the Alpha/Beta as abandoned work)...
Side note:
If you dont want to download an app to flash from the market to find out the space your rom is going to use for /system (at least, and for fresh install only), simply unzip your ROM and GApps to the same directory and right click and view the properties, this is its uncompressed size, and using a 4Mb buffer my self (Id recommend 8Mb just to be safe for most), Its normally right on the money for SOD or Size On Disk...

Hammerfest said:
Thanks, great guide! Wish I had it back when I had my first experience...
Speaking as per my own experience:
I ended up using the latest Firerats (dunno if its an alpha or beta) since I found myself flashing different ROM's and ROM updates quite a bit, for me it didn't require the use of a boot flash, rom works fine for me (spare some thoughts on this?, maybe just not required for the Alpha/Beta as abandoned work)...
Side note:
If you dont want to download an app to flash from the market to find out the space your rom is going to use for /system (at least, and for fresh install only), simply unzip your ROM and GApps to the same directory and right click and view the properties, this is its uncompressed size, and using a 4Mb buffer my self (Id recommend 8Mb just to be safe for most), Its normally right on the money for SOD or Size On Disk...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version of firerats are you using? And I agree with you about the unzip method, and would have included that, but I wanted it to be as easy as possible for people who don't know what they're doing, and usually, 'an app for that' is the best way to go. Not saying it isn't easy to unzip, check the size, and rezip, I just thought an app that checks it for you would have less possibility of confusion. It does make the process a bit longer, yes, but at least people don't have to mess with the file at all.
On my own side note: After the several hours spent writing, rewording, adding, changing, and moving things around in this guide, I'm pleased to say it's 100% complete. No further changes that I can see happening.

goliath714 said:
What version of firerats are you using? And I agree with you about the unzip method, and would have included that, but I wanted it to be as easy as possible for people who don't know what they're doing, and usually, 'an app for that' is the best way to go. Not saying it isn't easy to unzip, check the size, and rezip, I just thought an app that checks it for you would have less possibility of confusion. It does make the process a bit longer, yes, but at least people don't have to mess with the file at all.
On my own side note: After the several hours spent writing, rewording, adding, changing, and moving things around in this guide, I'm pleased to say it's 100% complete. No further changes that I can see happening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think 1.59 alpha... after a system crash a few months ago, i havent had the need to re-bookmark the firerats mediafire folder... I really should, and seeing as most file share hosts are closing down or restricting free access to files I really should re-download and archive them... god knows how many things I have lost because of the MAFIAA fiasco's...

Yeah that might be a good idea. Personally I've never used any alphas or betas so I really don't have any input for them lol
Sent from my HeroC using XDA

Bumping my own thread...lets get some more views for this thing! If you haven't tried it yet, or have questions about it, or simply don't know what it does, send me a message or post on this thread! It's really a very useful mod for those of you that use or like installing lots of apps...

Thanks for the guide to this. The only problem I may seem to have is that when I follow all your steps at 11b this is what I get:
mke2fs 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
/dev/block/mmcblk0p2s apparently in use by the system; will not make a filesystem here!
Is that correct? Or am I doing something wrong?

I see no reason to use both scripts combined. The data2ext you can have 2048mb/2gb That should be more than enough space for all your apps. Although this is a good write up I see a lot of conflict with using both mods together. One or the other should do. I'd recommend data2ext. You can create a 2048 partition and it will run just fine on a class 4 or better sd. Anything lower and you might suffer glitches like screen freezing, apps missing,lock up's and reboots. If you have a stock sd or a higher capacity sd but without a class rating or class 2 then I recommend firerats mod. Also you could very well run both of these mods and have not one problem whatsoever so it just user experience and preference I'm referring to.
#Root-Hack_Mod*Always\=LTE

Hmoobphajej said:
Thanks for the guide to this. The only problem I may seem to have is that when I follow all your steps at 11b this is what I get:
mke2fs 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
/dev/block/mmcblk0p2s apparently in use by the system; will not make a filesystem here!
Is that correct? Or am I doing something wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to unmout the partition first.
#Root-Hack_Mod*Always\=LTE

App2sd
Yea, I got that too, is it not working for you.
If not, add "/system/etc/init.d/40data2ext --enable" That made it work for me. Don't add "".
after reboot and the memory still hasn't change then go back in to terminal manager and add the above line and then reboot, should work then, never got firerats to play nice with the script, so i just use data2sd

laie1472 said:
I see no reason to use both scripts combined. The data2ext you can have 2048mb/2gb That should be more than enough space for all your apps. Although this is a good write up I see a lot of conflict with using both mods together. One or the other should do. I'd recommend data2ext. You can create a 2048 partition and it will run just fine on a class 4 or better sd. Anything lower and you might suffer glitches like screen freezing, apps missing,lock up's and reboots. If you have a stock sd or a higher capacity sd but without a class rating or class 2 then I recommend firerats mod. Also you could very well run both of these mods and have not one problem whatsoever so it just user experience and preference I'm referring to.
#Root-Hack_Mod*Always\=LTE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's all true, but the reason I combined both is to customize the /system and /cache partitions, while still allowing my 2gb data partition to work. This way I have control over what size I want each partition to be.

goliath714 said:
That's all true, but the reason I combined both is to customize the /system and /cache partitions, while still allowing my 2gb data partition to work. This way I have control over what size I want each partition to be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can still achieve that without the combination of both mods.
#Root-Hack_Mod*Always\=LTE

In step 11 you said to reboot into rom immediately after flashing data2ext2-v7.zip and open terminal emulator. But terminal emulator isn't preinstalled in my rom. Is it ok to install it from play store after I flash data2ext2-v7.zip or this is not right?

fforward72 said:
In step 11 you said to reboot into rom immediately after flashing data2ext2-v7.zip and open terminal emulator. But terminal emulator isn't preinstalled in my rom. Is it ok to install it from play store after I flash data2ext2-v7.zip or this is not right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can install from the market
Sent from my HERO200 using xda app-developers app

ajrty33 said:
You can install from the market
Sent from my HERO200 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot!

laie1472 said:
You can still achieve that without the combination of both mods.
#Root-Hack_Mod*Always\=LTE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How? The firerats mod allows you to change the /system and /cache partition sizes, but from what I can find, data2ext only applies the /ext partition to the /data partition to make the phone utilize the /ext partition as /data, and doesn't allow for modification of the /system and /cache partitions.

Updated
Edit: Updated again to fix minor wording issues and make links much prettier!

Can I use twrp recovery on this firerats. Or is it only the provided cwm recovery ?
Sent from my HERO200

So I flashed this data2ext on my desire, the phone recognized my ext partition as internal memory, but, I can't install any apps, I always get the message "application not installed".
Any ideas?

dankdank11 said:
Can I use twrp recovery on this firerats. Or is it only the provided cwm recovery ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firerats has nothing to do with recovery. It's about resizing partitions. Recovery functions on a level above, so whatever you do with firerats won't affect it. TWRP is a great recovery program.
Tux2609 said:
So I flashed this data2ext on my desire, the phone recognized my ext partition as internal memory, but, I can't install any apps, I always get the message "application not installed". Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try again. Go through the instructions verbatim, as outlined. I wouldn't deviate in any way.

SD Card partitioning on MTD ROMs

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

[Q] Lollipop: SD Card Write for Legacy Apps

Hey Guys -
Amongst other devices, I have a rooted Nvidia Shield Tablet which I primarily use for gaming (of course) and love. Recently, I upgraded to Lollipop and soon after even completely reset the tablet by reapplying the recovery image, then upgrading to Lollipop via OTA (since recovery files still haven't yet been updated.)
There's just one main issue I cannot find a solution for: I have many legacy apps / games and for some of them need to have SD Card write access. Take for instance "Star Wars - Jedi Academy." It's a paid app and when downloaded installs a small APK as well as a folder with the Demo version of the PC game's files. The app says if you copy the retail version files to a folder and point it to them, it will play the full game and does - however - these files are 3.5gb therefore I copied to a folder on my SD. When I open the app/game and point it to the SD Card folder (which it sees), it says the target isn't writable.
When Lollipop first came out, I know many apps needed to be upgrade to be able to write to the SD card - due to Storage Access Framework I believe. They must know that some legacy apps probably may never get updated. How are we to use these? I'd think the fix would come in one of the following forms:
- Xposed Add-on (Installer/Framework still not compatible with Lollipop, though )
- Play Store App - Non-official workaround like ones offered for KitKat
- Lucky Patcher modification?
- Some other method which may require root
- A base Android setting I've overlooked
So... does anyone know a method which is currently out and working? Thanks!

I recently wrote a post about this. Tl;dr you need to reformat your card as ntfs to get it to work, and then do some craziness with the Google Storage Access Framework on command.

Wait a second. Can't you write a simple app like SD fix to repair the way the SD card is accessed?

bzowk said:
Hey Guys -
Amongst other devices, I have a rooted Nvidia Shield Tablet which I primarily use for gaming (of course) and love. Recently, I upgraded to Lollipop and soon after even completely reset the tablet by reapplying the recovery image, then upgrading to Lollipop via OTA (since recovery files still haven't yet been updated.)
There's just one main issue I cannot find a solution for: I have many legacy apps / games and for some of them need to have SD Card write access. Take for instance "Star Wars - Jedi Academy." It's a paid app and when downloaded installs a small APK as well as a folder with the Demo version of the PC game's files. The app says if you copy the retail version files to a folder and point it to them, it will play the full game and does - however - these files are 3.5gb therefore I copied to a folder on my SD. When I open the app/game and point it to the SD Card folder (which it sees), it says the target isn't writable.
So... does anyone know a method which is currently out and working? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure it will solve your problem, but when I first upgraded to Lollipop I could not write anything to my sd card. Someone else mentioned that if you install Folder Mount, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.devasque.fmount, upon first launch it would recognize the issue and offer to fix it. I tried it (used Folder Mount on my old Hisense Sero Pro 7 for a long time so I trust it), and sure enough it works great. Then just uninstall it once you've rebooted. End of problem for me...

Easy fix. If you have root use SD Card Fix by NextApp
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nextapp.sdfix
Gives you read write back to your ex SD.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app

this fix did it for me without installing any app:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=44370296#post44370296

Wow - Thanks for all the replies guys! I got it to work!
After reading each, I decided to first try w.0.o.t's suggestion which is a direct but simple edit of a system file instead of installing an app for which I don't know what it does exactly. The example in the link he sent was a bit different as it was for 4.3, so here's what I ended up doing to make it work for 5.0:
1. Opened Root Explorer Pro on my tablet
2. Browsed to the file "/etc/permissions/platform.xml"
3. Copied it to the root of my internal storage (sdcard0) for backup
4. Held down touch on it and choose to Edit in Text Editor. It asked if I wanted to mount volume as RW to which I replied yes
5. Located the section "WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" and made the edits listed in the "EDITS" section below these steps
6. Saved file, held touch on filename again, went to permissions, and verified that it was set to "644" - it was
7. Restarted tablet
EDITS
Original Data in permissions.xml
Code:
<permission name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" >
<group gid="sdcard_r" />
<group gid="sdcard_rw" />
</permission>
Edited Data in permissions.xml What I changed the above values to...
Code:
<permission name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" >
<group gid="sdcard_rw" />
<group gid="sdcard_rw" />
<group gid="media_rw" />
</permission>
Notes when editing:
- Make sure that you change "r" to "rw" on the first listed group - may easily be missed when coming above two
- When typing extra line, my tablet auto-corrected the word "gid" and changed it to "god" without me noticing. After rebooting and it not working, I went back and saw the error, fixed it, rebooted, then it worked
To test, I opened FX File Editor and browsed to a file on my SDCard which I previously could not delete. This time, I was able to delete it without issue
Thanks again guys!

glad you sorted it out.

primetechv2 said:
I recently wrote a post about this. Tl;dr you need to reformat your card as ntfs to get it to work, and then do some craziness with the Google Storage Access Framework on command.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a link to some instructions for that method? And does it require root?

KingDestruct said:
Do you have a link to some instructions for that method? And does it require root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No root is needed.
It requires a computer, and probably for you to eject your SD card from your shield and insert it into the computer in a different way, so it's recognized by Windows Explorer.
So you plug in the SD card as mentioned.
Open it up in Windows Explorer. (This usually comes up when you insert the card, but if it doesn't you can usually open the Start Menu or Start Screen and type Explorer to find it.)
Copy everything you want to save out of the card.
Right click in an empty space, then choose Format...
Format the thing as NTFS. Turning off Quick Format probably won't hurt. Don't bother with any other options.
Cross fingers. Try the card again.

primetechv2 said:
No root is needed.
It requires a computer, and probably for you to eject your SD card from your shield and insert it into the computer in a different way, so it's recognized by Windows Explorer.
So you plug in the SD card as mentioned.
Open it up in Windows Explorer. (This usually comes up when you insert the card, but if it doesn't you can usually open the Start Menu or Start Screen and type Explorer to find it.)
Copy everything you want to save out of the card.
Right click in an empty space, then choose Format...
Format the thing as NTFS. Turning off Quick Format probably won't hurt. Don't bother with any other options.
Cross fingers. Try the card again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry I should have clarified, I know how to and have formatted the SD card, I was referring to the fiddling around with the Google Storage Access Framework on command. Sorry for the confusion.

KingDestruct said:
I'm sorry I should have clarified, I know how to and have formatted the SD card, I was referring to the fiddling around with the Google Storage Access Framework on command. Sorry for the confusion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The GSAF will only pop up on apps that have been wired to support it. Among others I know ES and FX file explorers are now capable. Any luck with those?

primetechv2 said:
The GSAF will only pop up on apps that have been wired to support it. Among others I know ES and FX file explorers are now capable. Any luck with those?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No luck whatsoever. I'm getting the same issue as the original poster. I've tried with both ES File Explorer and FX and Documents crashes as soon as I select the SD Card. The SD card is in NTFS format, would exFAT format make a difference?
---------- Post added at 06:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:19 AM ----------
primetechv2 said:
The GSAF will only pop up on apps that have been wired to support it. Among others I know ES and FX file explorers are now capable. Any luck with those?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried using ES File Explorer on my LG G3 running Android 5.0.1 and I was able to write to the SD card. So at this point its an issue with the tablet, which is immensely infuriating since I can't install games to the SD car properly, which is the main thing this tablet is for isn't it?! I really want to play some Hearthstone on it!

You know, at this point, any change in format might make a difference. I'm scratching my head as to why you need to explicitly provided Storage access to ES File Explorer, maybe it just no longer assumes it has the permissions (stock Samsung apps are okay with writing anywhere and preliminary documentation about OEM installed apps said the same thing).
The good news is that I've never destroyed an SD card by formatting formatting it. Go nuts. Try things other than what I suggested... At this point there's a good chance I'm missing something. And I'm sorry for botching my suggestions.
Here's an idea. Between switching formats and maybe allocation sizes (I'm leaning towards trying the smallest one), try formatting your SD card in the system's Storage settings.
Here's another: try the SD Formatter application available here. Raspberry Pi SD cards are sometimes as cranky as Shield ones.
http://www.raspberrypi.org/help/noobs-setup/

I got it to work! I used the SD Formatter you suggested, although it only let me format it to FAT32. I did see some other threads though that said something about renaming the SD card too, so I decided to rename the volume label to "Shield_SD", and I'm guessing that this is the problem, as I never named the SD card. I noticed also that on my LG G3 that the external SD card had a name that was a bunch of random characters, but I could write to it.

dgjenkins said:
Not sure it will solve your problem, but when I first upgraded to Lollipop I could not write anything to my sd card. Someone else mentioned that if you install Folder Mount, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.devasque.fmount, upon first launch it would recognize the issue and offer to fix it. I tried it (used Folder Mount on my old Hisense Sero Pro 7 for a long time so I trust it), and sure enough it works great. Then just uninstall it once you've rebooted. End of problem for me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After upgrade to lollipop, then downgrade to KK 4.4.4, had a sd card write pb.
This one solved my problem.
Thanks for that, you made my day.
Best regards
Franck

[Q] use external SD as internal?

As the name implies, is there a way I can force the shield tablet to primarily use the external SD card for all day to day IO Activities? It's already a hassle to use Foldermount to move everything in and out using symlinks, sometimes but rarely, the symlinks fail to mount which can be an inconvenience without restarting the system to remount.
I hear it's possible via editing the fstab and what not but I wonder if there's an easier way of doing it. I don't mind if the process softbricks my tablet since I got everything backed up nonethless.

Hey
When I had a jxd 7800b before my shield tab
I flashed a custom ROM on to it that let you do just that have SD as internal
So in theory it could be done to this too

Dashwood Foxe said:
As the name implies, is there a way I can force the shield tablet to primarily use the external SD card for all day to day IO Activities? It's already a hassle to use Foldermount to move everything in and out using symlinks, sometimes but rarely, the symlinks fail to mount which can be an inconvenience without restarting the system to remount.
I hear it's possible via editing the fstab and what not but I wonder if there's an easier way of doing it. I don't mind if the process softbricks my tablet since I got everything backed up nonethless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's an xposed module that does this flawlessly called XInternalSd , all you'd have to do is flash the correct version of the xposed installer for the android version youre running and activate the module and select the Sd card as default storage :good:

Database Info

welcome