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[HELP]Apps/Data on SD: Switching to new SD card

Is it possible if I installed apps/data on SD card to switch to another card and install apps/data on it? I removed my current card and my phone stopped working. I will take help from anyone who has it.

if you want to, you should be able to copy everything to a backup folder and upload to another sd card. you need to do this in linux cause windows does not natively read ext2 partitions. shut down your phone, remove the micro sd card, put in your computer, copy everything to the backup folder, then re-partition your new (hopefully bigger) micro sd card. put back in the phone and boot it up. i have never tried this, but it should work, just as long as you have the ext2 partition the system can read from. good luck.

I agree fully with corp769. In addition, two important things to remember are:
* ext2 must be the second (primary) partition
* you must preserve UNIX access permissions by copying apps and data directories with cp -rp ! That's the reason apps on SD doesn't work without repartitioning.
* you must use a separate card reader, you cannot do this while the card is plugged into your G1. (Unless you can do some fancy mounting/unmounting stuff on the phone, that is. It's certainly easier and safer to use a card reader).
I too have never tried this, but it should work.

creid2352 said:
Is it possible if I installed apps/data on SD card to switch to another card and install apps/data on it? I removed my current card and my phone stopped working. I will take help from anyone who has it.
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Click to collapse
i did this on linux from a 2G card to a new 8G card .. my partitions are named so i utilize naming to distinguish one partition from the other:
make two folders on your linux desktop .. "SDD1" and "SDD2" .. the FAT32(sdd1) can be click-and-drag to the desktop folder .. the EXT2(sdd2) needs to be run inside Terminal to retain the permissions (unless someone know a better way)
ie: sudo cp -a /media/sdd2/* /home/LucidREM/Desktop/SDD2
then switch cards
ie: sudo cp -a /home/LucidREM/Desktop/SDD2/* /media/sdd2
obviously substitute your name for mine unless you call yourself "LucidREM"

In the exact same process when you have an error nfs :
In linux with the card reader
unmount both vfat and ext2 partitions and type :
fsck -p /dev/yourext2partition.
fsck.vfat -p /dev/yourfatpartition
that's how I manage to recover 2 MicroSD card

If you want to go the GUI route - go grab a copy of the GParted Live distribution. Put that on bootable media (whatever your case may be, USB or CD/DVD) then boot into GParted and use the GUI to copy and paste the partitions over. GParted will do a consistency check and fix any errors in both partitions first, then copy over into the new SD card.

Thanks a lot for the help everyone. I will give this a shot when I get home. Appreciate all the quick responses.

no prob man, just let us know if it works for you or not.

If you don't have linux, is there a program for windows or mac I can use to do this? Thanks

legaleye2005 said:
If you don't have linux, is there a program for windows or mac I can use to do this? Thanks
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Click to collapse
Yes download Wubi (which is like Linux in a box, and can be installed in like 10 minutes and ready to use and removed like a normal program) or download Paragon Partition Manager 9 Trial Version, it must be version 9 not 10. I recommend Wubi however, much easier, and who knows, you might fall in love with it like I did.

I tried the LucidREM instructions and it is looping on startup.
Is there a different way to do this?

Simplest Method
Just in case people still want to know how to change SD cards (ext partition and all), which I suspect will happen a lot since the 16GB cards are going to start dropping in price soon, here's the simplest and best way I know how to do it. I have done this a bunch of times without any issues. I've even used this to go from a G1 to a myTouch (with minor compatibility changes, of course). But simply changing/upgrading SD cards is a breeze.
First thing's first. You will need bart.sh which can be found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=562292. If you are using a myTouch or simply don't want to bother typing commands, use Amon_RA's wonderful recovery menus with bart.sh already built in. The Nexus One version can be found here (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=611829) but there are links to the recovery menus for the G1, myTouch, Hero, etc. on that page.
You will need to be familiar with how bart.sh works and this is way beyond this post. There is a ton of information on the bart.sh thread. So here are the steps that need to be done.
1) Run bart.sh, either in recovery console or via recovery menu, to backup your entire ext2/3/4 partition (as well as nandroid for simplicity).
2) Back up the fat32 portion of your SD card as you normally would by mounting your SD card to your computer. Make sure that this includes the new bart.sh backup which should be located in the bart folder in the root of you SD card.
3) Partition your new SD card using the method of your choice. Amon_RA's recovery menus have an easy and painless method for this but you can use parted or any other method you choose. If you use your device to partition your new SD card do NOT boot your phone after you partition the card. You will want to finish Step 4 first. Amon_RA's recovery allows you to mount your SD card from recovery to help you complete Step 4 if you do not have a SD card reader.
4) Using Amon_RA's recovery menu or an SD card reader copy the fat32 partition, which includes your bart.sh backup, from your PC to the fat32 partition of your newly partitioned SD card. From the recovery menu, restore your bart.sh backup.
5) Voila. You now have all of your partitions moved to a new SD card.
This process can be simplified into one sentence. Do a bart.sh backup and restore it to the new SD making sure the SD card has the proper partitions and that you don't forget about the fat32 partition. The above is just a list showing the proper order so that you don't lose any data during the process.

What If I Upgrade My SD Card?

I'm using JacHero 2.7.3 superlite, and I have everything working properly. When I installed everything I had to prepare my SD card as outlined in the main post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=534479 I have the three partitions set up (fat32, ext2, and linux-swap). Currently this is all set up on a 4GB Class 2 MicroSD Card, and I plan on upgrading to a 16GB Class 2 MicroSD Card, so I wanted to know if I have to re-setup everything or not. Will I have to repeat this process? How do I transfer my apps onto the new card? I have a card writer. Thanks!

veesonic said:
I'm using JacHero 2.7.3 superlite, and I have everything working properly. When I installed everything I had to prepare my SD card as outlined in the main post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=534479 I have the three partitions set up (fat32, ext2, and linux-swap). Currently this is all set up on a 4GB Class 2 MicroSD Card, and I plan on upgrading to a 16GB Class 2 MicroSD Card, so I wanted to know if I have to re-setup everything or not. Will I have to repeat this process? How do I transfer my apps onto the new card? I have a card writer. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will have to partition the new card in the same process. Unless your computer can view all three partitions (or at least the apps/fat32 partitions), you'll have to re-install your apps.
Although, for the sake of your system running well, you should just re-install instead of just copying. Makes things run better no matter how much of a pain it is

Yes, you will have to re-partition everything with the new 16GB card, but you can backup all your apps by using adb to do:
adb pull /system/sd/app directory on computer\
then on the new sdcard, type in:
adb push directory on computer\ /system/sd/app
I believe push can be replaced by install to actually install the apks.
One question tho? Is there any reason you're buy a class 2 card vs a class 6 card? The speed increase you will see is really worth the price. For instance, the 16GB Kingston Class 2 card is $55 on amazon, but the A-DATA 16GB Class 6 is $49.95. Just something to think about...
link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_g...class+6+micro+sd+16&sprefix=class+6+micro+sd+
After you've set it up once on your 16GB card you will not have to re-setup everything again if you choose to flash a newer ROM, the partitions will remain.
One more way of backing up all your apps: Download Backup for Root Users from the market and do a backup of all apks, then you will find all your apps under BackupRoot on your sdcard, just mount it, and copy everything. Then when you get your new sdcard, just put the directory back as it was on your old 4GB card and use Backup for Root Users to restore all the apks for you.

Can you use Nanodroid backup/restore to handle all the apps and settings if swapping cards?

h.nocturna said:
Yes, you will have to re-partition everything with the new 16GB card, but you can backup all your apps by using adb to do:
adb pull /system/sd/app directory on computer\
then on the new sdcard, type in:
adb push directory on computer\ /system/sd/app
I believe push can be replaced by install to actually install the apks.
One question tho? Is there any reason you're buy a class 2 card vs a class 6 card? The speed increase you will see is really worth the price. For instance, the 16GB Kingston Class 2 card is $55 on amazon, but the A-DATA 16GB Class 6 is $49.95. Just something to think about...
link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_g...class+6+micro+sd+16&sprefix=class+6+micro+sd+
After you've set it up once on your 16GB card you will not have to re-setup everything again if you choose to flash a newer ROM, the partitions will remain.
One more way of backing up all your apps: Download Backup for Root Users from the market and do a backup of all apks, then you will find all your apps under BackupRoot on your sdcard, just mount it, and copy everything. Then when you get your new sdcard, just put the directory back as it was on your old 4GB card and use Backup for Root Users to restore all the apks for you.
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Click to collapse
I have to agree with this poster. You are taking a step back going from a class 4 to a class 2. You should really upgrade to a class 6.

Moving installed apps to a new and larger microsd card?

I am running Cynogen Mod 4.1.999.
I have 3 partitions on my stock 1GB microsdhc card.
I want to backup everything and move them to a new microsdhc card that I bought.
Is it possible to transfer the data in all the partitions to the new card without losing my installed apps? I have a friend who only transferred the files that he could see in Windows Explorer to the new microsd card but when he loaded it to his phone, all his apps were gone.
So is it possible to retain what I already have but on a new and larger microsd card?
Help is appreciated.

To move apps off of ext:
adb remount
adb pull system/sd/ %CD%\whateveryouwant
(this pulls everything off of the ext including dalvik which you can delete from the folder and puts it in your user directory. *C:\Users*)
to put back:
adb push %CD%\whateveryouwant /system/sd/
sdcard you just mount and put files into a folder and put them back.
it is not necessary to pull the swap partition.
Hope this helps!

make a ubuntu live cd, run it, mount sd, copy ext partition, put new card in make partitions in gparted since you are there and then copy files over, run fix permissions
simple

The easiest way to do what you're asking is to flash to Amon_RA's latest recovery. He's built-in "Backup and Restore Tool", which essentially does what Nandroid originally did and extended it to the ext partition of your SD card.
Run BART to backup your entire phone from the Recovery Console and you can then replace your SD card, partition it the way you want, and then run BART to restore your entire phone as well.

Copying ext2 from one SD Card to another

Here's what I am looking to accomplish. I wanted a backup sd card just in the event mine goes bad. I ran a search with 'SD Card" in the title and read each thread. Here are my roadblocks.... I installed DiskInternals Linux Reader and although it let me copy the ext3 partition files to my pc, it does not allow me to copy them back to the new card. Partition Manager does not have a 64-bit free version. Installed Ext2 IFS for Windows, however, it refused to see my sd card when mounted. I used RA-dream-v1.5.2 recovery to do a Bart + Ext Backup and verified the ext-backup.tar is on my sd card. I was going to install ADB, however, it doesn't say it works on Windows 7 64-bit. I have already partitioned the new card and have everything copied to the Fat32 partion. How now is the easiest way for me to get the ext-backup.tar untarred to my ext3 partition on the new sd card? Please don't flame me as I have been reading threads since 10 this morning. Thanks for any help!

The best thing I've found for managing the Linux partitions is a GParted Live disc. Just download and burn to a bootable CD. Pop it in and reboot your machine and you're free to do pretty much whatever you want with your SD card partitions without having to worry about Windows getting in the way.

Appreciate it. Gonna try it now. Thank you!

Well, I did as instructed. However, it failed to "Buffer I/O error on device sr0, logical block 57107. Any other way to accomplish what I am looking for?

any possibility that your USB port is flakey? Any way to try it on a differenty machine? I've got one PC that has USB problems and has been known to give similar kinds of error messages.

It seems fine for everything. It's a brand new Dell, only 2 months old. It was kinda freaky when I booted from the cd...lines of text scrolling on my screen for a couple minutes, lol. I was like...this better not be wiping my pc out Then at the end it just died on that error... The one thing I notice in reading threads...people keep giving console commands to do things on the phone using adb, however, I tried and it says adb isn't found... Here is an example. I can't believe there isn't an easy way to do this with so many folks rooted, etc.
----------------------------
best thing to do is this while in recovery, use adb and type
Code:
adb shell mount /system/sd/
adb pull /system/sd/ system_sd_backup
turn off phone, change sd card, go back into recovery, then
Code:
adb shell mount /system/sd/
adb push system_sd_backup /system/sd/

ok so I have copied an EXT from one card to another and this is how you do it. You need to be using RA recovery. Go into your console from recovery and type "bart -e -s EXT" that will create a back up of your EXT in a folder called "bart" on the fat32 partition of your SD card. Plug your phone into your PC and copy the bart folder to the PC. Now take the SD card out of your phone and put in the one that you want to restore the EXT to in. Copy the bart folder from your PC to your new cards fat32 partition. Make sure you partition the new card so that it has an EXT partition on it and then go into the recovery console and type "bart -e -r" it will ask you to select which back up to restore. Input the number for the back up that says "EXT" and restore it.

Joe333x said:
ok so I have copied an EXT from one card to another and this is how you do it. You need to be using RA recovery. Go into your console from recovery and type "bart -e -s EXT" that will create a back up of your EXT in a folder called "bart" on the fat32 partition of your SD card. Plug your phone into your PC and copy the bart folder to the PC. Now take the SD card out of your phone and put in the one that you want to restore the EXT to in. Copy the bart folder from your PC to your new cards fat32 partition. Make sure you partition the new card so that it has an EXT partition on it and then go into the recovery console and type "bart -e -r" it will ask you to select which back up to restore. Input the number for the back up that says "EXT" and restore it.
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Click to collapse
Worked flawlesly! Your help coupled with a PM I received from 'shadowch31' made this seamless. Thanks so much!

I tried to run the BART backup via console, but I keep getting an error message as following:
Storing app data...
tar: empty archive
Error occurred during storing of app data...
tar operation failed.
Do you have enough space on the /sdcard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have about 4 times more free space on the SD card then my ext-4 partition is. What could be the problem?

Replacing Old SD card.

[Solved]Okay, I currently have a 2gb (don't even know the brand) MicroSD in my rooted Dream/G1. I am running SuperD 1.10.2. I have Apps2SD setup already. I just bought a PNY 4gb Class 4 MicroSD yesterday and I want to use it. How do i transfer EVERYTHING to it? And will I have to re-install all the apps that were installed on the 2gb card?
Thanks, xKr4zex

Krician said:
Okay, I currently have a 2gb (don't even know the brand) MicroSD in my rooted Dream/G1. I am running SuperD 1.10.2. I have Apps2SD setup already. I just bought a PNY 4gb Class 4 MicroSD yesterday and I want to use it. How do i transfer EVERYTHING to it? And will I have to re-install all the apps that were installed on the 2gb card?
Thanks, xKr4zex
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The possibilities.....
You could do it the hard way or the easy way.
Hard way is by using adb and do
command prompt
adb pull /system/sd /sdbackup/sd
and partition your new card using amon_ra recovery
then
command prompt
adb shell
mount -a
exit
cd c:\sdbackup
adb push sd /system/sd
and that should do it.
Easy way
Make a nandroid backup with ext,
save the contents of you sdcard (especially nandroid folder)
partition your new sdcard with amon_ra recovery with your desired ext partition,
restore your backups from your old card,
place new card in phone,
nandroid restore and reboot.
You should be good.

Thanks for the reply. I also wanted to know, if I already have apps2sd and Linux swap enabled, do I have to disable>power off>new card>restore>re enable apps2sd and Linux?

Krician said:
Thanks for the reply. I also wanted to know, if I already have apps2sd and Linux swap enabled, do I have to disable>power off>new card>restore>re enable apps2sd and Linux?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You shouldn't have to re-do anything once your partitions are in place.
If your card is setup like FAT/SWAP/EXT3 (using EXT3 for example) for card 1 then as long as your partitions are FAT/SWAP/EXT3 for card 2 then everything should work just fine. Even if your swap partition is a different size it should be alright. The only thing is that if card 1 (old card) EXT3 partition is 500mb and if you are using 300mb of that card you need to have 300mb+ on card 2 EXT3 partition so that all of your data can fit on there after you do your nandroid restore.
I did this method personally when I went from a 8gb to a 16gb.
Old card was 8gb composed of ~7gb (FAT)/64mb (swap)/500mb (ext3)
New card is 16gb composed of ~13gb (FAT)/96mb (swap)/1gb (ext3)
I simply performed a nandroid+ext backup
Backed up my entire sdcard onto my desktop (including nandroid directory)
Put the new card in and repartitioned with Amon_RA recovery as posted above.
Restored the data from my backup that was on my desktop
Performed a nandroid+ext restore
Done. Very easy.
Just do it. You'll be amazed how complicated your making this.

I just did this this morning before seeing this thread and i did exactly as it says here. I only encountered one problem...My Music playlists didnt transfer how do i get those? I still have my old sd card with all the stuff in it by the way.

Thanks! Solved.

Krician said:
Thanks! Solved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remember to edit the title of your original post with FIXED or SOLVED

kalpa11 said:
I just did this this morning before seeing this thread and i did exactly as it says here. I only encountered one problem...My Music playlists didnt transfer how do i get those? I still have my old sd card with all the stuff in it by the way.
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Click to collapse
I think there are third party apps that will do that. I'm not sure what file that is exactly.