noob question...
i was wondering if it was possible to exclude an ext2/ext3/ext4 parition and create a fat32 and linux-swap only partitioned sd card and use it without any problems. i am assuming yes and apps would simply be installed to the internal memory.
i've tried searching for an answer, but did not come across anything. any help and/or answer would be appreciated.
I'm pretty sure that would be fine, if there is no ext 2,3,4 then it'll go to the internal storage
Why don't you want an ext partition? I believe the opposite, I thought the default swap config looks on partition 3, so you may have to change some stuff in the config files.
evilkorn said:
Why don't you want an ext partition? I believe the opposite, I thought the default swap config looks on partition 3, so you may have to change some stuff in the config files.
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if that is the case, then maybe i can manually allocate ext2/ext3/ext4 to have 0 mb.
i wanted to exclude the ext partition as i wanted to see performance difference with apps installed on internal memory and keeping the linux swap.
If you use cyanogen's roms then you will have to comment out the lines that activate apps2sd and you will change your userinit.sh and user.conf to look at /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 instead of mmcblk0p3. If you do that all should work out fine.
Related
I have a couple questions about swap.
I am currently running the swap file from my EXT3 partition on JACHERO. It was all running very very smoothly last night after a fresh format of the sd card and most of my apps reinstalled. This morning I put my music back on the card(6 gigs of music). Right after I did that I noticed the phone ran like a slug again.
So my first question is does the amount of data on a SD card slow the access to the swap space?
My second question is, does the Swap space (EXT3) need to be the first partion or the last? Does it make a difference either way?
Ok I lied, I guess I have a "few"questions.
What benifit if any is there to running the swap on a linux-swap partition as opposed to an EXT3? If there is a benifit, how do I tell Swapper to use the linux-swap partition? IE what is its location?
as far as i know the swap file needs to be last
it should be Fat32/EXT2/3
No, the amount of space doesnt matter as long as you have atleast 100mb free on your ext3 partition.
In the swapper settings make sure the location of the swap file is in /system/sd and not in /sdcard
nephron said:
it should be Fat32/EXT2/3
No, the amount of space doesnt matter as long as you have atleast 100mb free on your ext3 partition.
In the swapper settings make sure the location of the swap file is in /system/sd and not in /sdcard
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Ok thanks... I have it set to the last partition already. Swapper is set to /system/sd. I have an 8gig class 6 card. I have tested this twice now though. The moment I put my music on my card the system slows down like crazy, the moment I remove said music it speeds back up....
Anyone have any ideas?
Maybe your ext2 (or ext3) or swap partitions are too big. For ext use 500MB - it's enough. For SWAP don't use more than 32MB.
BolecDST said:
Maybe your ext2 (or ext3) or swap partitions are too big. For ext use 500MB - it's enough. For SWAP don't use more than 32MB.
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Thanks but my ext3 is 512 and the swap size was set to 32...
I just bought a nice MicroSDHC 4GB class 6 card. I think I got it cheaper than what I was supposed to, because the package stated it was a class 4, but the card itself said class 6. Got it at Best Buy incase someone wants to know where to get one. I was currently using a regular 2GB card. I am using JACxRom. It automaticly does APPS2SD. Now I want to use my 4GB SDHC. What do I do so I don't lose all of my apps? Now that I have a fast card, what settings do you guys recommend for swapper? Hero roms were too slow for me with my old card. How much faster would Hero roms be on my new card and would you consider it usable for everyday use? Thanks.
JACxRom Thread
Use Switchrom to backup everything on your phone. Create the new partitions on your new sdcard. Copy the FAT32 portion of your old sdcard to your new sdcard. Switchrom restore. Everything should be fine.
My settings with user.conf (128MB Swap)*
60 swappiness
Not using swapper
CPU overclocked via user.conf
*I would make your mmcblk0p3 (3rd partition) 128MB, but then if you find that you need it to be 64MB or whatever, resize it and leave the rest of it unpartitioned. It'll just be a drop in the bucket for your sdcard.
Well, to avoid some hassle, if I don't use a2sd, then all I have to do is backup the fat 32 partion of my card, right? And the apps will stay on the phone? Is the only purpose of a2sd to be able to install more apps? Also, how do I edit files such as the user.conf?
i have like 15 apps but use apps2sd so i don't have to worry about re-installing them when i wipe. if you don't use apps2sd but want to keep a linux-swap partition then you have to edit the a2sd script and comment out the calls to /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 and you have the change the location of where the userinit.sh and user.conf look for your partition from /dev/block/mmcblk0p3 to /dev/block/mmcblk0p2
i use pspad to edit those files in windows, since it will not change the formatting when saving them.
david1171 said:
i have like 15 apps but use apps2sd so i don't have to worry about re-installing them when i wipe. if you don't use apps2sd but want to keep a linux-swap partition then you have to edit the a2sd script and comment out the calls to /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 and you have the change the location of where the userinit.sh and user.conf look for your partition from /dev/block/mmcblk0p3 to /dev/block/mmcblk0p2
i use pspad to edit those files in windows, since it will not change the formatting when saving them.
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But the a2sd partition doesn't mount when I plug in the G1 to my computer. How do I mount it? Ohh, and about my camera problem: I went to the t-mobile store, and luckily found out my phone still has warranty, so I will get a new phone.
So I have had my memory card get corrupted twice here recently, probably within two weeks. It caused me to have to reformat my SD card entirely. I was wondering if I format the SD card to be Ext3 completely, would I still be able to save everything on it as usual? I know I won't be able to use it on a windows machine, but I don't really care about that. I am just wondering if the phone needs it to be formatted to Fat32. I don't use A2SD, compcache, swap, or anything else. Just storage.
It might work if u make changes in init.rc to specify the file system type when it mounts it on boot up...
craigacgomez said:
It might work if u make changes in init.rc to specify the file system type when it mounts it on boot up...
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Hmm, well I may have to give that a try. Does the int.rc already specify the existing file system (just so I can find it easier, or will I have to create something new)?
I had a spare micro SD card laying around and formatted it to Ext3. None of the apps I had recognized it.
I had an idea this minute
if we are using images with a size of 1,7GB or what else... why aren't we using some tools like resize_reiserfs and so on to repartition the Internal SD and creating a new partition with native yaffs2 or ext4 on it?
I dont't really know where our ext2 images are laying but if this could be possible it should be much faster right?
That's the thing - it won't be faster. The internal SD card is pretty slow. That's why the original lagfix used a repartitioned external SD card..
r3loaded2010 said:
That's the thing - it won't be faster. The internal SD card is pretty slow. That's why the original lagfix used a repartitioned external SD card..
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Actually, it IS faster... That's why the newer lag fix uses an image on the internal SD card
I'm also wondering why nobody's trying to mount the internal SD with ext or yaffs2 instead of rfs...
EDIT : some answers : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=750663
That's right !!!
We are using a mounted image with a filesystem laying on a native filesystem.
The reason why we aren't using the whole internal SD card with yaffs2 or ext4... is we cannot partition the whole internal SD card and copy our files afterwards.
BUT... we are able to compile some tools like "fdisk", "resize_[filesystem]" for ARM to use them direcly on the system for resizing (smaller) -> creating a new one -> and format it with yaffs2 for example.
After that we have the ability to use this partition like the ones in all other lagfixes mounting, symlinking...
That's the Idea
DasLeo said:
That's right !!!
We are using a mounted image with a filesystem laying on a native filesystem.
The reason why we aren't using the whole internal SD card with yaffs2 or ext4... is we cannot partition the whole internal SD card and copy our files afterwards.
BUT... we are able to compile some tools like "fdisk", "resize_[filesystem]" for ARM to use them direcly on the system for resizing (smaller) -> creating a new one -> and format it with yaffs2 for example.
After that we have the ability to use this partition like the ones in all other lagfixes mounting, symlinking...
That's the Idea
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Did you read what's already been written in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=7739573 ??
It's been tried by mimocan already, but didn't give a better result. Please do not start new threads on topics that's already been discussed elsewhere.
okay then close this
Hello, I'm hoping someone can answer a few questions I have regarding the format of the SD Card for the Android system. - Apologies if this has already been explained on this forum, I did a search but didn't find anything too useful that answered my questions.
(I have knowledge of the linux file-system and swap drives, just unsure of the benifits of this for android).
Currently using a 16GB SanDisk Class4 SD Card.
I'm aware that you can format the SD Card to use as a swap-drive and for use of ext2 file-system.
While searching for info on this I found the following xda link which simply explains how to do this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/SD_card_partitioning
My questions are:
1. What are the benifits of having the ext2 file-system? (Would apps stored on SD Card run faster etc?)
2. Do I need to keep a FAT32 partition (as opposed to just having a swap and ext2 partitions without any FAT partition).
3. Does the swap drive greatly improve performance. And is this worth doing on a Class4 SD Card?
Thanks in advance!
Hi.
at the first I must say swat will decrease SD card life.
i recommond you to create EXT3 or EXT4 partition.
1)one of the benefit of EXT partition is your phone storage will not full and its help your phone performance.
2)yes.of course you should have fat32 partition for eg:music-movies...and other files.
3)yes.swap is a very good.and it helps your phone ram.eg:when you play plants vs zombie at the first screen game will exit because of ram and swap will use like ram and its good for gaming.
Thanks for the reply, much apprecaited.
Are you sure I need a FAT32 partition though? Videos, music etc etc can all be saved to ext2/3/4 on a linux OS so I just assumed I could just do away with FAT32 all together?
Is the following just not the same as using an App2SD app?
"1)one of the benefit of EXT partition is your phone storage will not full and its help your phone performance."
Sorry for being a bit fussy but I'd like to fully understand what the Ext/2/3/4 partition is actually used for. Is it just used purely for storage?
Thanks again!
In a short summary (and assuming you are using a Kernel and ROM supporting the features) ...
- "Swap" on a swap partition has its own own "filesystem". The data structures are actually created by "mkswap" and the partition is not directly accessible by the user. If your phone runs low on physical memory unused parts of the memory will be swapped out into the virtual memory to make room for other apps.
Note that this is no "magically increase your RAM" solution. Once swapping occurs it actually slows down the system as the swapped out memory regions need to be copied back into physical memory, sooner or later. It may only help to run "RAM hungry" applications.
- "SD-Ext" is a, most likely, ext2 formatted partition to where Apps you move to the SD (either by Android or App2SD) will go. This increases the amount of apps you can possibly install, but doesn't resolve the problem that apps having widgets or apps that are started during Android boot-up need to reside in the internal phone memory.
- The /sdcard partition where all your user data is being stored should be kept FAT32 (for the simple reason of making a backup of your data by slapping the card into card reader easier - Windows can't read Linux filesystems by default). Some ROMs will allow you to format /sdcard ext3 or ext4 ... the advantage is that ext3/4 (if the mount options are correctly set) may perform a lot better than FAT32, though your mileage may vary.
Roger? ...or do is something still unclear?
Many thanks B.Jay - I'll hit the thanks button after I post this reply! You cleared up all my questions, but just going back to the FAT32 partition;
I use linux as my main OS, so accessing the EXT format partition wouldn't be a problem; Do you know if all ROMs would work without a FAT32 partition and replace it with EXT2/3/4 partition? If you're unsure I can always find out by formatting and loading a rom.
Thanks again, you've been most helpful!
Agenty1609 said:
going back to the FAT32 partition;
I use linux as my main OS, so accessing the EXT format partition wouldn't be a problem; Do you know if all ROMs would work without a FAT32 partition and replace it with EXT2/3/4 partition? If you're unsure I can always find out by formatting and loading a rom.
Thanks again, you've been most helpful!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Linux would, of course, be able to mount a ext partition (even on a SD card put into a card reader).
As for the ROM ... it depends.
The Stock Kernel Modules AddOn of GingerDX introduces ext3 and ext4 modules for the SEMC Stock Kernel, so in theory (I didn't test it!) you should be able to access /sdcard when being formatted ext3/4 - though it could be that you might need to adjust the vold script to properly mount the partition. The modules are mainly for supporting the sd-ext partition for "Apps-to-ext3/4-partition-on-mSD".
There's also alfsamsung's Alfs Kernel which is compatible with GingerDX and some other ROMs. That would be something you could try as well.
Simply look through the ROM threads ... I think MiniCM7 (+nAa's Kernel) should be able to support it, though this could involve some tinkering.
Personally speaking, I only have a ~2GB sd-ext on the SD in my X8 and the rest is a normal FAT32 partition (/sdcard).
yes you need a FAT32 partition.
when you partition your SD card you can move moveable app and games to ext partition.
please dont move app wich they cant move to ext partition.
cause after restart app that you moved to ext will corrupted.
good luck.
Thanks again! I think I'll follow your trend and try the 2GB SD-ext and the rest FAT32.
sd-ext missing!!
hey guys!! I've a small prob, would appreciate some tips. I normally move apps to sd card, if the app is movable by default. if the app is not movable by default, i use this app2sd by droidsail (available in the market) which force moves parts of the app 2 sd card. When I make back ups using xrecovery, i have no problem.
but when I use cwm for back ups, it gives an error saying sd-ext not found and it skips that part of the back up!! so any app I've moved by default or forced moved to sd card doesn't get backed up!! So I presume I have to create a sd-ext partition manually? How do I do it? I do have an sd-ext folder. but its not in sd card. it's in the root. (never had this prob with xrecovery though)
thanks in advance!!
neo_na said:
hey guys!! I've a small prob, would appreciate some tips. I normally move apps to sd card, if the app is movable by default. if the app is not movable by default, i use this app2sd by droidsail (available in the market) which force moves parts of the app 2 sd card. When I make back ups using xrecovery, i have no problem.
but when I use cwm for back ups, it gives an error saying sd-ext not found and it skips that part of the back up!! so any app I've moved by default or forced moved to sd card doesn't get backed up!! So I presume I have to create a sd-ext partition manually? How do I do it? I do have an sd-ext folder. but its not in sd card. it's in the root. (never had this prob with xrecovery though)
thanks in advance!!
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Which version of CWM would that be?
Saipro said:
Which version of CWM would that be?
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It's cwm 4.0.1.5