Related
Firstly, BlaY0 has a great tutorial on how to do this properly, I suggest you do that to learn something.
Secondly, I cannot confirm that this is 100% safe. BlaY0's method should be 99% safe, I don't know about this as it is all automatic. BlaY0's method is tried and tested, this is not. I only used this method as I had a new SD card and I was in a hurry (exams coming up ) and I didn't have time to remind myself of BlaY0's method, and CWM only allows you to create up to 512mb partition. Also, I had a new computer, and I don't have time to set up ADB all over again.
Anyway, this is a method for people who don't want to use ADB to partition their SD card for A2EXT or DATA2EXT (a.k.a. apps2sd, etc etc), and are using Windows. If you're running linux, you could use something like gParted to partition it, not sure about OS X though. This method will allow a Windows user to create an EXT partition on their SD card alongside the FAT partition.
1) Download and install Minitool Partition Wizard, from here.
2) Open the program and delete all partitions from the SD card (which you will have inserted into the computer using an adapter or something). DO NOT DELETE THE PARTITIONS FROM THE HARD DISK! MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DELETING. Oh, and make sure the SD card is backed up
3) Create a FAT32 primary partition. You decide how big you want it, but I'd advise you leave 1024mb (1gb) for the EXT partition.
4) Create an EXT2/EXT3/EXT4 (you decide) primary partition. Use up the rest of the space on the SD card.
5) Click assign/OK/whatever and wait for it to complete
6) You now have your partitioned SD card ready for an A2SD ROM!
7) You need to assign a drive letter to the FAT32 partition. Not sure about the EXT partition. At first I forgot to do this and my card didn't show up in Windows, though Partition Magic can still see it.
Like I said, do yourself a favour and use BlaY0's method here, but if you're lazy or you don't have time or ADB doesn't work anymore, use this.
Nice one m8. You mentioned that CWM doesn't offer adding partitions bigger than 512 MB. Well, you're right but that's why I made a customized version of fake-flash that can do bigger... to 1 GB. It can even add second ext partition for some exotic types of data2ext. On top of that I added auto block alignment which is described in my guide (the manual one) so no more calculations and manual labour
Sent from my HTC Legend
BlaY0 said:
Nice one m8. You mentioned that CWM doesn't offer adding partitions bigger than 512 MB. Well, you're right but that's why I made a customized version of fake-flash that can do bigger... to 1 GB. It can even add second ext partition for some exotic types of data2ext. On top of that I added auto block alignment which is described in my guide (the manual one) so no more calculations and manual labour
Sent from my HTC Legend
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, I didn't know about your customized CWM, I think I'll just use that next time
BlaY0 said:
Nice one m8. You mentioned that CWM doesn't offer adding partitions bigger than 512 MB...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I remember some version had the ext menu up to 4GB
BlaY0 said:
On top of that I added auto block alignment which is described in my guide (the manual one) so no more calculations and manual labour
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't know that, good to know, for those of us still using data2ext, this is important...
Wish this was up earlier, spent an hour repartitioning my card using parted.Couldn't upgrade to EXT3 and ended up using CWM 3.0.2.8 to do it instead lol
What CWM is using under the hood for partitioning is actually parted.
Sent from my HTC Legend
Tried it but it didnt work not sure what the problem is...
formatted my SD to FAT 32 and reserved 1G for EXT3 both as primary partition in the Mini Partition Tool
Plugged it in my phone,
Ran ADB shell
# a2sd --enabled, rebooted
on reboot nothing seemed to have changed... went back to ADB shell
tried a2sd --free it says A2Sd is not active ...
a2sd -- enabled again and it says it is enabled but not active
so im guessing it cant read or recognize the EXT3?!
Any clues... i didnt want to move my Dalvik to SD ... should I try EXT4 or even EXT2?
QkSi1ver said:
Tried it but it didnt work not sure what the problem is...
formatted my SD to FAT 32 and reserved 1G for EXT3 both as primary partition in the Mini Partition Tool
Plugged it in my phone,
Ran ADB shell
# a2sd --enabled, rebooted
on reboot nothing seemed to have changed... went back to ADB shell
tried a2sd --free it says A2Sd is not active ...
a2sd -- enabled again and it says it is enabled but not active
so im guessing it cant read or recognize the EXT3?!
Any clues... i didnt want to move my Dalvik to SD ... should I try EXT4 or even EXT2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take me through what you did, step by step. You say you reserved 1G for EXT3, but did you actually format it as another partition?
QkSi1ver said:
Any clues... i didnt want to move my Dalvik to SD ... should I try EXT4 or even EXT2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has been mentioned here like a gazilion times, boot up your device with logcat and see the first few lines...there is your answer!
Google how to wait for the device with logcat
1) Downloaded and installed Minitool Partition Wizard from your link. I got the free home edition
2) backed up my SD card and Open the program and delete my SD card partition ( which is in a card reader)
3) Created a FAT32 primary partition of 69xx MB and left the rest 1024 MB for the other unallocated space
4) Right click on the Unallocated Space to create an EXT3 as primary partition with the default cluster size.
5) At this point, it showed 2 partition on my SD, one with the drive letter for windows FAT32, and the 2nd one Ext 3 with 1GB and Primary. Clicked OK and Apply and wait for it to complete.
6) once complete , put it in phone, plugged usb and ran adb shell
7) ran a2sd --enable, it said reboot phone.. i made a mistake to reboot by adb the first time but then did the whole process again a 2nd time using reboot from the phone....
Tried logcat using this command "adb -d logcat>mylogfile.txt"
couldnt find the file anywhere ... if i dont redirect to the txt , it goes too fast to read and there's soo much debug messages what do i need to look for?
I thought it would save me time to get it done through windows... but its taking me as much time it w0uld probably get me with the manual way...
i'll give it a try tomorrow...
8) rebooted fine, and i was still low on space.. so went back in adb sheel to check a2sd --free but this is where it says not active..
QkSi1ver said:
1) Downloaded and installed Minitool Partition Wizard from your link. I got the free home edition
2) backed up my SD card and Open the program and delete my SD card partition ( which is in a card reader)
3) Created a FAT32 primary partition of 69xx MB and left the rest 1024 MB for the other unallocated space
4) Right click on the Unallocated Space to create an EXT3 as primary partition with the default cluster size.
5) At this point, it showed 2 partition on my SD, one with the drive letter for windows FAT32, and the 2nd one Ext 3 with 1GB and Primary. Clicked OK and Apply and wait for it to complete.
6) once complete , put it in phone, plugged usb and ran adb shell
7) ran a2sd --enable, it said reboot phone.. i made a mistake to reboot by adb the first time but then did the whole process again a 2nd time using reboot from the phone....
Tried logcat using this command "adb -d logcat>mylogfile.txt"
couldnt find the file anywhere ... if i dont redirect to the txt , it goes too fast to read and there's soo much debug messages what do i need to look for?
I thought it would save me time to get it done through windows... but its taking me as much time it w0uld probably get me with the manual way...
i'll give it a try tomorrow...
8) rebooted fine, and i was still low on space.. so went back in adb sheel to check a2sd --free but this is where it says not active..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tbh I'm really not sure. One thing I forgot to mention in the guide is that you should assign a drive letter to the FAT32 partition or it won't show up in Windows. I didn't assign one to my EXT4 partition though, and DATA2SD is working great for me. Try deleting all partitions from the SD card and start again. It'll only take 10 minutes, and if it still doesn't work just use the manual way.
Sorry.
alexhtclegend said:
Tbh I'm really not sure. One thing I forgot to mention in the guide is that you should assign a drive letter to the FAT32 partition or it won't show up in Windows. I didn't assign one to my EXT4 partition though, and DATA2SD is working great for me. Try deleting all partitions from the SD card and start again. It'll only take 10 minutes, and if it still doesn't work just use the manual way.
Sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah i assigned a drive letter to FAT32...
Also the FAT32 , was my first block allocated partition, the 2nd partition was EXT3... i will redo the whole process and recreate EXT4 instead.
"DATA2SD is working great for me" ... you mean "A2SD working great for me" ... right? unless i'm missing something else that i needed to run..
ps: I recalled, after it was not working, i took out the sd and put it back in the reader to open MiniTool, it showed EXT2 instead of EXT3 ( which i was sure i chose )... and what's weird is it was reporting used space like 41MB... so obvisouly, the ROM wrote something on it...
Formatting it again to EXT3, didnt delete the 41 Used space, but it did convert it back to EXT3 ...probably nothing but mentioning as well
QkSi1ver said:
Yeah i assigned a drive letter to FAT32...
Also the FAT32 , was my first block allocated partition, the 2nd partition was EXT3... i will redo the whole process and recreate EXT4 instead.
"DATA2SD is working great for me" ... you mean "A2SD working great for me" ... right? unless i'm missing something else that i needed to run..
ps: I recalled, after it was not working, i took out the sd and put it back in the reader to open MiniTool, it showed EXT2 instead of EXT3 ( which i was sure i chose )... and what's weird is it was reporting used space like 41MB... so obvisouly, the ROM wrote something on it...
Formatting it again to EXT3, didnt delete the 41 Used space, but it did convert it back to EXT3 ...probably nothing but mentioning as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suggest you start over, something seems to have gone wrong.
A2SD is where the apps are stored on the EXT partition.
DC2SD is where the dalvik cache is also stored on the EXT partition.
DATA2SD is where the entire /data partition on the phone is stored on the EXT partition of the memory card.
Partitioning the SD card with a FAT32 partition and EXT partition is done first, then you decide which one is for you. DATA2SD does have one or two issues, such as the risk of corruption - you'd then have to completely reinstall the ROM. A2SD and DC2SD are fine but I still found myself running out of internal memory.
i gave up and used ROM Manager to create my partition ...i couldnt set it to 1G because 512MB is maximum but it was painless to create.
it asked me to create a swap partition... i've read somewhere that swap partition is useless or barely used in newer android os? do you guys have any swap partition if so how big are they?
Also, did you move Dalvik cache to sd? isnt it slower on SD? i mean shouldnt dalvik cache be on RAM whihc i assume is faster than any external sd?
thanks for your insight
QkSi1ver said:
i gave up and used ROM Manager to create my partition ...i couldnt set it to 1G because 512MB is maximum but it was painless to create.
it asked me to create a swap partition... i've read somewhere that swap partition is useless or barely used in newer android os? do you guys have any swap partition if so how big are they?
Also, did you move Dalvik cache to sd? isnt it slower on SD? i mean shouldnt dalvik cache be on RAM whihc i assume is faster than any external sd?
thanks for your insight
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used the full DATA2SD, which includes Dalvik2SD.
ok so sorry for a double post but im having an issue partitioning.
32 gb card san disk brand new
primary Fat32 10gb
primary Ext2 rest of space
once mini tool is done it sats successful but shows the sd card as Bad disk?!?
is there somthing im doin wrong? is used this guide here http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/SD_card_partitioning
all help deeply appriciated
Acer Iconia Tab A110 rooted, Cwm, 4.1.2
Can you actually have a 22gb ext partition? This might be something to look into to see if you can do it.
Edit: this got me interested so I searched myself, yes you can but apparently it depends on the chosen block size and hardware limitations, so u may have an issue with either.
Sent from my Legend using xda app-developers app
alexhtclegend said:
Firstly, BlaY0 has a great tutorial on how to do this properly, I suggest you do that to learn something.
Secondly, I cannot confirm that this is 100% safe. BlaY0's method should be 99% safe, I don't know about this as it is all automatic. BlaY0's method is tried and tested, this is not. I only used this method as I had a new SD card and I was in a hurry (exams coming up ) and I didn't have time to remind myself of BlaY0's method, and CWM only allows you to create up to 512mb partition. Also, I had a new computer, and I don't have time to set up ADB all over again.
Anyway, this is a method for people who don't want to use ADB to partition their SD card for A2EXT or DATA2EXT (a.k.a. apps2sd, etc etc), and are using Windows. If you're running linux, you could use something like gParted to partition it, not sure about OS X though. This method will allow a Windows user to create an EXT partition on their SD card alongside the FAT partition.
1) Download and install Minitool Partition Wizard, from here.
2) Open the program and delete all partitions from the SD card (which you will have inserted into the computer using an adapter or something). DO NOT DELETE THE PARTITIONS FROM THE HARD DISK! MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DELETING. Oh, and make sure the SD card is backed up
3) Create a FAT32 primary partition. You decide how big you want it, but I'd advise you leave 1024mb (1gb) for the EXT partition.
4) Create an EXT2/EXT3/EXT4 (you decide) primary partition. Use up the rest of the space on the SD card.
5) Click assign/OK/whatever and wait for it to complete
6) You now have your partitioned SD card ready for an A2SD ROM!
7) You need to assign a drive letter to the FAT32 partition. Not sure about the EXT partition. At first I forgot to do this and my card didn't show up in Windows, though Partition Magic can still see it.
Like I said, do yourself a favour and use BlaY0's method here, but if you're lazy or you don't have time or ADB doesn't work anymore, use this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahah! Thanks for you detail guide. It is so helpful for me!
Hi there,
Is there a way to make the add the internal SD card to the main memmory? So that there would not be an internal SD card anymore?
I do not mean swapping the moutpoints around so my External_SD becomes my primary and my internal my second....
I want to get rid of the internal one alltogether (adding it to main memory).
I figure that I'll have to format the storage in a certain way... would that do it?
Can someone tell me step by step what to do?
I do have CW-mod installed.
I did search the forum, but couldnt find anything conclusive. Just hints that it should be possible...
If there already is a thread where all this is explained, please point me to it, because I couldn't find it.
Thanks,
Pfeffa-rah
I don't think this is possible , never heard of someone who did it
I have no idea how to do that. My question is... why would you want to do that?
Having an internal_sd partition adds the benefit of having big app data (such as those in Gameloft games) sit in a very fast partition and still be called "sddata".
Also, it's mountable via PC so everything in there can still be backed up. So it's best of both worlds really.
This was discussed some time ago in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1013575
There were ideas on how to remount the cards at boot. I myself come to the conclusion that since more phones start to behave in this way, app developers will have to start dealing with it. It just sucks they are mostly slow on the uptake. My main problem was the Spotify cache location being hard coded so I resorted to hack the Spotify apk.
PS. salisbury_steak: What is it with people like you that every time someone has a question on how to do something, your immediate response is "But why would you want to do that?!".
sorech said:
PS. salisbury_steak: What is it with people like you that every time someone has a question on how to do something, your immediate response is "But why would you want to do that?!".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was actually an honest question.
I wanted to understand why he wanted to do it. (i.e. What would be the advantages of it.) There was no supposed sarcasm in there.
how about the ability to install 5x more applications?
Having that stupid 5gb partition as sd card and the real sd card as a sub folder is retarded...
My 32GB class 10 cars is a lot faster than the internal one.
The internal 5gb memory is MUCH TOO SMALL!!! Most apps don't allow you to store data on the external card. If you like me and many others install some games that download aditional data + a nav app that downloads maps for europe + some streaming music app like wimp that can cache music for offline play then you are ****ed with LG's setup.
The setup CM7 uses solves the main problem but effectively wastes the 5gb by mounting it at emmc where like 0,0001% of apps are able to access it.
So adding those otherwise wasted 5gb to the main memory would be great. But i have not seen any solution to that yet :-(
Thank you Gensplejs for explaining that to them. I had no idea how to reply to that since it seemed so obvious to me.
This thread was ment to be a question about how to do it and not to discuss the usefullness of it. That is where I lost the way in other threads...
So, thanks for your replys all (realy).
But now, back On-Topic:
How would I do it?
Sent from my LG-P990 using XDA Premium App
Please don't blame me if you tried it and you screwed up your phone.. It's your choice...
Well, I don't know if this would work, but this is how I would do it (accepting the fact that I'd loose almost 2GB of /data's free space):
1. Format your internal sd card to the same file system as your /data partition is (ext3 or ext4)
2. Copy every file from /data 1:1 to your sdcard (cp -R /data/* /sdcard)
3. I don't know when and where the partitions are mounted (maybe init.rc??)...anyways change the target there and let /data point to the internal sd card partition (so it is ensured that it is mounted automatically to the new location)
4. Reboot and keep your fingers crossed
I think i figured how to do it in theory. First we need some free space at our microsd to cp /data. Then we should repartition with fdisk /dev/block/mmcblk0p8 and p9 into one partition and change vold.fstab to mount only externalsd at /sdcard as we do when we swap partitions. In theory it should work but i cant test it right now or make a script since ve gone vacations and i dont have a pc to restore in case of error
I agree.. certain apps wont store to sdcard.. its better to use the whole 8gb as phone storage, and use external sdcard as default sdcard.
Sent from my LG-P990 using XDA App
What ive found till now is that sd swapping is easy. You can do it by tweaking only vold.fstab. But repatriationing is a pain in the ass. Looks like lg has "faulty" partitions or something and to do it you must mesh up with with almost half partitions.
I had to rebuilt boot lgdrm recovery data and sdcard to make em half work. So it probably isnt worth the trouble. Also I think init.rc is built on the boot. So just remounting internal sd to /data wont work either.
sectors is not space
it says 7996, so thats 8GB
i saw it in hurry. the brain sometimes belives whats he want to belive
sorry
New to XDA
Hello everybody,
I'm new to android and i'm trying to find out how to solve the problem posted in this thread.
I see you've got the awnser but i don't know how to do this.
I've been searching google and XDA for ever but i just can't find the awnser.
Could you make a step by step howto or point out to a post how to do this.
I mean converting your external sd to ext4 and change the mounting points.
I'm a complete nood, i didn't get adb to work on my pc, ext4 recovery is not for the p990 2x.
I've read something abbout changing fstap for swapping te mounting points for sdcard and emmc, witch is also ok for me, but formating to ext4... wel i frankly don't know how to do this.
I'm quite stuk on this.
The only partitioning experience i've got is Gparted in Ubuntu or repartitioning in Windows 7.
Thans in andvance!
Greetz,
JMG
http://android.modaco.com/topic/347...-partitions/page__gopid__1821791#entry1821791
check this
you can expand data partition , but there is a limitation of 1.75gb
Thanks davjan
Thanks davjan,
As far i can see it's indeed not worth it.
I wil have to go on and try to find out how to change the filesystem to ext4 and swap the internal and external sd.
That way i get more usable space instead of a big datastorage witch cannot contain program data.
But thanks for the quick reply.
Jean Michel Gaar said:
Thanks davjan,
As far i can see it's indeed not worth it.
I wil have to go on and try to find out how to change the filesystem to ext4 and swap the internal and external sd.
That way i get more usable space instead of a big datastorage witch cannot contain program data.
But thanks for the quick reply.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what rom are you using? is your phone rooted?
swapping internal with internal sd is very easy
and most of the roms here on xda are ext4 , if you instal one of them they autoconvert to ext4
Jean Michel Gaar said:
Thanks davjan,
As far i can see it's indeed not worth it.
I wil have to go on and try to find out how to change the filesystem to ext4 and swap the internal and external sd.
That way i get more usable space instead of a big datastorage witch cannot contain program data.
But thanks for the quick reply.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I you read the link provided you'll see that it makes what you want: grow internal filesystem = lower SDcard usable space. The only thing is that it doesn't seem possible is to use the whole space: system limitation. 75Markus tried high /system and /data values and phone didn't work.
See in his Mediafire Folder, 'Nvflash + guide for changing Partitions:
http://www.mediafire.com/75markus
Ext4 is now common with custom ROMs (in fact all of them).
You should search in sd-ext partition system, which was designed to artificially expand filesystem on older phones using an 'ext' partition. I didn't heard anybody using this on O2X.
If you use CyanogenMod based ROMs, your external card will be mounted ad /sdcard by default.
Switching internal and external SD
Thanks guy's,
I'll check it out.
I've been using cyanogenmod 7.1 stable with vorkkernel 20110208.
But that gave me batterydrains while using maps and nextvid ate the same time (while i'm driving).
Now i'm trying MIUI 1.11.11 with latest swift extreme.
But MIUI is very buggy so i'm thinking of going back to CM.
The only thing is that my phone won't boot with the latest vorkkernel.
I have my phone unlocked and rooted and have used Big Bear's Iconic rom to flash my phone. This completed fine but part of the process after flashing describes flashinf with data2sd ext3 script. When i tried this I realised my sdcard was formatted fat 32 and not ext3. My desktop machine uses ubuntu linux and I wondered if its possible to format the card via terminal or some piece of software and in what proportions should i partition it to extend my salsa's pitiful internal memory. Also when this is done does the script need to be on a particular partition or just somewhere on the card.
If its easier to configure the card via windows I also have a winxp laptop that could do the job.
Any help greatly appreciated.
bean12345 said:
I have my phone unlocked and rooted and have used Big Bear's Iconic rom to flash my phone. This completed fine but part of the process after flashing describes flashinf with data2sd ext3 script. When i tried this I realised my sdcard was formatted fat 32 and not ext3. My desktop machine uses ubuntu linux and I wondered if its possible to format the card via terminal or some piece of software and in what proportions should i partition it to extend my salsa's pitiful internal memory. Also when this is done does the script need to be on a particular partition or just somewhere on the card.
If its easier to configure the card via windows I also have a winxp laptop that could do the job.
Any help greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah it would be easier via windows, i still not found software on Ubuntu to do the partitions lol.
just copy the data2sd-ext3.zip onto your sd card that's all and flash from there. you only need a small 1gb partition max on the sd cad the rest in fat32.
Cool will give that a try tomorrow and let you know how it goes
Worked a charm thanks I do have a couple of question though if i may. Although working with no probs the script mentions preparing the partition with ext2 (I used ext3) and an app called busybox to be installed into system/xbin. What does this app do and is it needed.
Also is this script tailored to the salsa or can it be used on other android devices to achieve more internal memory?. My Desire has the same issue you see.
Thanks in advance for all the help
Yes busybox is requiredlol, otherwise it wouldn't work. We never changed the txt over from ext2 but its still the same and works on both anyway. As for desire....I have no idea, this was based on wildfire s/salsa only, try it out see what happens lol
Busybox is part of the superuser setup without this builtin or added in we wouldn't have root at all. Deleting it would cause issues too.
BigBear is using Xparent Tapatalk Purple
Busybox is part of the superuser setup without this builtin or added in we wouldn't have root at all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So given my phone is rooted (thanks to your help a few weeks ago) I take it I must already have this Busybox installed otherwise the script would have failed correct?
I partitioned my test 1 gig sd card into two equal parts one ext3 and one left fat32, the phone reports equal portions on sd card and internal memory via the Settings----> Storage menu. So I'm assuming all is well.
Yeah busybox will already be there lol. That's all fine on the SD, but just be aware, the lower the class SD your using, I assume its a 2gb, you may have a class 4, which will lag. If you experience lag, reduce the ext3 size to 500mb you will see a difference.
BigBear is using Xparent Tapatalk Purple
Is there any difference between data2sdext3 and data2whatever? If yes which one is better to flash with a custom ROM (I am using Bear's XSeries V11).
(Data2ext3 is causing problems for me. Crashing various apps time to time. Using a class 4 sdcard with 470 MB partition. Found data2whatever on Razer's ROM page)
razasohail said:
Is there any difference between data2sdext3 and data2whatever? If yes which one is better to flash with a custom ROM (I am using Bear's XSeries V11).
(Data2ext3 is causing problems for me. Crashing various apps time to time. Using a class 4 sdcard with 470 MB partition. Found data2whatever on Razer's ROM page)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A big difference between them.data2SD ext3 is designed for non apps2SD roms ie mine, data2whatever is for apps2SD roms only.if you're having force close issues then you didn't install something correctly. Using these scripts on the wrong Rom could have adverse affects in the Rom.
Each Rom made will have the correct script to use in the listing. If you choose to use them the opposite way round then the developer won't help you correct the problems I'm afraid, all I can suggest is redo the Rom of your choice till it works correctly.
If your having problems with mine, post up in the thread as long as your using the setup I gave and I'll help as much as I can.
For force close issues you can always use fix permissions in Rom manager or in recovery advanced section, this normally stops them.if it dont reinstall them Rom. It tends to be a user error when this happens, I'm using my own Rom and never get force close problems.
BigBear is using Xparent Tapatalk Purple
Ok I've gotten a few PMs so I figured I'd make a thread about how to use foldermount with link2sd.
1. download foldermount from google play here.
2. download link2sd from google play here.
3. to use link2sd you'll need to create a 2nd partition (and make it primary. ext4 is recommended) on your sdcard. ***Note I've made my second partition 10gb you can make it smaller according to your taste. this guide shows how to do this nicely.
4. once you've done this you now need to move over all the apk files you can to the sdcard. open link2sd, select menu > multiselect > select all > actions > create link. This will move all the apk files it can to the ext4 partition you just made.
5. now lets focus on the data. this is the biggest culprit of space. open foldermount. click the + sign to create a new entry.
6. name the new entry something you'll recognize. I'll use GTA3 for example. I named my entry GTA3.
7. Select the source destination. This is the folder you wish to move data FROM. using the example of gta3 this translates to /emulated/0/android/obb/com.rockstar.gta3.
8. Now select the destination. This is the folder on the sdcard we wish to move the huge data file to. using the example of GTA3 it translates to: /storage/extSDcard/gta3. press the check mark. it will ask you if you wish to move the files. say yes.
9. select the "pin icon" to the right of the entry you just made. this will activate the mount point for the data. fooling the system into thinking you still have that data on the internal sdcard.
10. That's it. Rinse repeat for all apps or games you have installed. typically huge game data is stored in the /storage/sdcard0/android directory. either the /obb or the /data directories beneath that.
The result? Typically if you haven't implemented this proceedure after the Android OS, Samsung bloatware, sprint bloatware, you'll have about 9gb of free space to use for installing apps. I have full use of my micro sdcard now. I have about 10gb of data used on it and 39gb free on the main partition. I used about 830mb of data moving the apk files to the second partition using link2sd. "internal sdcard" is nearly empty and I retain full use of all my apps and games on my sdcard. Please see my attached screenshot that confirms this.
I hope this helps some people.
*** Warning!!!!! creating a 2nd partition on your sdcard will wipe the contents from it!!!! Please back up the contents of your sdcard prior to doing this!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*** FORCE CLOSE ERRORS
Are you getting force close errors after linking an app to your 2nd partition? I have a solution that worked for me.
When I upgraded to MJA I lost the ability to link apps to my ext4 partition. After linking them they would force close when I tried to open them. Strangely no one else was reporting this problem. I Googled high and low. I found no solutions. I then thought about it and wondered if it would work if I changed the file system from ext4 to something else. Well ext2 didn't work. neither did ext3. So I tried FAT32. Bingo! It worked! So I'm now functioning fully again on MJA.
What could be causing this problem? I'm thinking the custom kernel I use isn't configured to read ext2,3,or 4. I think that's the reason other's aren't reporting this as a problem. They aren't using the kernel I'm using with MJA and link2sd.
In short, if apps are force closing after linking them to your sdcard, then delete your second partition and redefine it with FAT32. It should solve your problem.
NOTE: Please don't PM me for support. (1) It's rude. (2) Posting an issue or problem in this thread allows many users to look at it and offer advice on a possible solution. (3) Sending a PM does not allow other members of XDA to search for whatever problem and/or solution is derived from the post in the thread.
If you PM me for support I will automatically ignore you. Thank you and I hope you understand.
Good guide!
Just a reminder to all that creating a partition will wipe your entire sdcard. ll
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2
mjs2011 said:
Good guide!
Just a reminder to all that creating a partition will wipe your entire sdcard. ll
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in fact I'll add this to the OP so no one misses it.
Nice work
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
Clarification Needed OP
Looking for some advice but let me make sure I understand everything...
So I DLed Zombiewood by Gameloft - 325MB. I run FolderMount and find a data file in /Android/obb for 286.4MB. FolderMount moves that portion of the 325MB successfully to my external SD card on it's own without having to create a separate partition on my external SD card. Basically for that game there is still 38.6MB of data still on my internal memory.
This isn't 100% clear to me but I believe the OP is saying that to also move the 38.6MB to the external sd card in my example above...we must use link2SD...FolderMount wont do it. Am I correct?!?!?
If I am correct, it seems like a lot of work with the partitioning and running link2sd to just save 38.6MB. Seems like I could live with just FolderMount since in my example it migrated 88% of the data to the external SD card...or am I missing something here?
Zhal696 said:
Looking for some advice but let me make sure I understand everything...
So I DLed Zombiewood by Gameloft - 325MB. I run FolderMount and find a data file in /Android/obb for 286.4MB. FolderMount moves that portion of the 325MB successfully to my external SD card on it's own without having to create a separate partition on my external SD card. Basically for that game there is still 38.6MB of data still on my internal memory.
This isn't 100% clear to me but I believe the OP is saying that to also move the 38.6MB to the external sd card in my example above...we must use link2SD...FolderMount wont do it. Am I correct?!?!?
If I am correct, it seems like a lot of work with the partitioning and running link2sd to just save 38.6MB. Seems like I could live with just FolderMount since in my example it migrated 88% of the data to the external SD card...or am I missing something here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can live with it that's fine. however once you set up link2sd it can automagically move the apk files to the sdcard upon install and remove them when you uninstall. It's a set it and forget it type of deal. And you're only saving 38gb if that's the ONLY app you're installing. Which I doubt it is. I have 61 user apps on my phone so far. I'm sure you don't have that many and maybe you don't plan to. But your mileage will certainly vary from everyone else.
And as I noted in my OP I'm up to 830+ mb of data on my 2nd partition. My internal storage is nearly bare. Again it's all about what YOU want with YOUR phone. Many people like myself would love to save as much space as possible.
I'm certainly not forcing anyone to use link2sd. As for it being a lot of work? It literally took me 4 minutes to create that 2nd partition.
One final thing to consider: You only have so many writes and rewrites to your internal storage. While I'm sure you won't see the average life span of 10,000 writes to your internal card, why not write to the SDCARD when you can? If that dies you can buy a new card. If your internal storage dies you're taking it to the sprint store for repair/replacement.
Just_s said:
Nice work
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! :good:
rawintellect said:
If you can live with it that's fine. however once you set up link2sd it can automagically move the apk files to the sdcard upon install and remove them when you uninstall. It's a set it and forget it type of deal. And you're only saving 38gb if that's the ONLY app you're installing. Which I doubt it is. I have 61 user apps on my phone so far. I'm sure you don't have that many and maybe you don't plan to. But your mileage will certainly vary from everyone else.
And as I noted in my OP I'm up to 830+ mb of data on my 2nd partition. My internal storage is nearly bare. Again it's all about what YOU want with YOUR phone. Many people like myself would love to save as much space as possible.
I'm certainly not forcing anyone to use link2sd. As for it being a lot of work? It literally took me 4 minutes to create that 2nd partition.
One final thing to consider: You only have so many writes and rewrites to your internal storage. While I'm sure you won't see the average life span of 10,000 writes to your internal card, why not write to the SDCARD when you can? If that dies you can buy a new card. If your internal storage dies you're taking it to the sprint store for repair/replacement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. Appreciate you figuring this out and posting for the community!
Doenst make things run slower on Ext SD comparing to internal sd
btemtd said:
Doenst make things run slower on Ext SD comparing to internal sd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Incorrect sir. There is no noticable lag associated with it. SSD storage is SSD storage. whether it's coming from your internal card or your external card.
I play GTA3, the dark night rises and the bard's tale with no lag whatsoever. if you have doubts benchmark your internal card with android tuner. (yes you can do this with android tuner) and note the difference.
EDIT: I added screenshots of my internal vs external transfer rates. Note the external is more than DOUBLE the internal transfer rate. So I highly doubt you'll see any lag. Granted I have a class 10 64gb and your milage may vary but I sincerely doubt you'll see any lag. This mod isn't anything new. I'm sure someone would have complained if they noticed any lag by now.
2 quick questions:
My foldermount app does not show the size of files just keeps saying "calculating..." whats up with that? is that the same for everyone?
Also lets say i have all of this data on my sd card. what happens when i want to change rom... am i able to link back to the destination directory? and not loose the game data so i wont have to download game again or what is the correct process?
Thanks!
Tfast500 said:
2 quick questions:
My foldermount app does not show the size of files just keeps saying "calculating..." whats up with that? is that the same for everyone?
Also lets say i have all of this data on my sd card. what happens when i want to change rom... am i able to link back to the destination directory? and not loose the game data so i wont have to download game again or what is the correct process?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) I'm not having this issue. So I'm not sure what the problem is. What exactly are you doing to display the size?
2) Yes exactly that. You should be able to relink those files with no problem. The game just verifies whether the files are there or not. If not it redownloads them. The game should not know the difference when you link them again.
The only tool that has made Link2SD work again
Link2SD got broken for one reason for another. Foldermount solved this in two reboots. Plus following your method, there is some additional space saved as well.
Thanks for the guide. I'm having a bit of a problem with my AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4. I'm using a 64GB card. I made the first partition about 40GB and the ext2 partition about 20GB. When I open Link2SD, after I select the appropriate file system type, it just sits there saying "Please Wait" for a long time with a circle going round and round to the point where I feel the need to stop it. Is this normal? Is my ext2 partition too big? Should it be ext3 or ext4? Please help!! Thanks!!
EDIT:
I reduced the 20GB ext2 partition to a 10GB partition, and I made it ext4 instead of ext2, and all seems to be working fine now.
mrtopdog2000 said:
Thanks for the guide. I'm having a bit of a problem with my AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4. I'm using a 64GB card. I made the first partition about 40GB and the ext2 partition about 20GB. When I open Link2SD, after I select the appropriate file system type, it just sits there saying "Please Wait" for a long time with a circle going round and round to the point where I feel the need to stop it. Is this normal? Is my ext2 partition too big? Should it be ext3 or ext4? Please help!! Thanks!!
EDIT:
I reduced the 20GB ext2 partition to a 10GB partition, and I made it ext4 instead of ext2, and all seems to be working fine now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep I had the same issue with ext2. I used ext4 also and it works fine. I didn't want to put it in the OP as I wanted you guys to have a choice. I'm pretty sure it was that causing the issue and not the actual size of your pattition.
Good news!!!! There has been an update to foldermount to correct the size calculation problems you spoke of. Try and update the app and see if this fixes the problem!
Thank you OP! Tried this out and it works perfectly! I followed your instruction of making the extX partition a decent size unlike the tutorial which only sets it at 512 MB. I set mine at around 5GB and working pretty well.
My main concern was with the game Horn which is both very large and encrypted (according to link2SD). Even with the considerable size (around 3GB) from the SD card, it runs pretty well and smoothly.
thehelios said:
Thank you OP! Tried this out and it works perfectly! I followed your instruction of making the extX partition a decent size unlike the tutorial which only sets it at 512 MB. I set mine at around 5GB and working pretty well.
My main concern was with the game Horn which is both very large and encrypted (according to link2SD). Even with the considerable size (around 3GB) from the SD card, it runs pretty well and smoothly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome sir!
Hello,
I am wanting to try this, so, I got the link2sd and foldermount apps.
I am rooted via the excellent CF Auto Root method.
Just poking around right now, link2sd app comes up no errors.
FolderMount app comes up with the following error:
FolderMount has detected a faulty module in your Samsung Galaxy phone
FolderMount will NOT work properly with it.
Would you like me to attempt to repair that fault?
(You must reboot your device after I am done to complete the repair)
Cancel OK
Anyone else seen this?
buggz2k said:
Hello,
I am wanting to try this, so, I got the link2sd and foldermount apps.
I am rooted via the excellent CF Auto Root method.
Just poking around right now, link2sd app comes up no errors.
FolderMount app comes up with the following error:
FolderMount has detected a faulty module in your Samsung Galaxy phone
FolderMount will NOT work properly with it.
Would you like me to attempt to repair that fault?
(You must reboot your device after I am done to complete the repair)
Cancel OK
Anyone else seen this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Click ok. It's fine.
I have successfully created the partitions as ext3 but no matter what I do I just cant get my tmobile Note 4 to recognize it or mountit. I have a fat32 partition that it reads just fine...Ive tried stickmount and other apps meant to mount these file systems but none have succeeded, Ive searched everywhere I can think of and cant'find anything especially specific to the Note 4 any help would be appreciated
Put your SD card inside of your phone and reformat it there.
Settings-> General -> Storage -> Scroll down and you'll see "reformat SD card."
Sent from my Note 4 [Powered by: FireKat V20X]
neofreek01 said:
I have successfully created the partitions as ext3 but no matter what I do I just cant get my tmobile Note 4 to recognize it or mountit. I have a fat32 partition that it reads just fine...Ive tried stickmount and other apps meant to mount these file systems but none have succeeded, Ive searched everywhere I can think of and cant'find anything especially specific to the Note 4 any help would be appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He's not trying to format his card, he's trying to get it to recognize the extra partition on it, probably for apps.
@op
Try the app link2sd on playstore and see if that works, report back.
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
Link2sd may work in its own respects but i guess i could have been a little more thorough expkaining my situation...im trying to run linux in a chroot enviornment and i can get it working but with limited space for my linux image. I need the support for larger files that the ext filesystems are capable of. So although link2 sd may be able to link the partition im not sure its going to do mr anygood unless after i run link 2 sd it makes tge partion visible and useable outside of tbe app
Oic so why not just format it as exfat which has no file limitation and use a proper kernel which supports it. I myself use exfat on my 128gb SanDisk.
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