Develop Bugs

partitioning SD card ext4

Hi guys
I just bought a new 16gb class 6 Adata SDHC card and need help partitioning it in this way [Fat + 1GB Ext4 + 0.3GB Ext4 + 0.1GB Swap] as this is required for RCSMixHD rom which i want to flash...currently i am on leedroid 2.2c app2sd+ and a 4gb class 4 card....tried googling but couldnt find anything that worked for me....also how do some guys keep changing roms ? this task seems so tedious

BTW i have tried ubuntu method, had a ubuntu 9.04 disc - booted with it and opened gparted, but gparted doesnt detect my SD at all...ubuntu detects it though

You only need one its much faster with it anyway I've done a couple of random reboot and all is super fast and stable
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

ohh...i dint know, but dev of RCSmixHD suggests those partitions, also please suggest how to partition the memory card
Thank you

Just did it via GParted method. I alredy had an ext3, so i did not have to format the fat32 - just upgrade to ext4! I can tell it fast
Also if you use the data2ext, then it is better to have more partitions.
There is a post in RCSMixHD how to use GParted.

create a gparted boot disc [ i used magiciso] then turn off your pc. restart your pc and get into the boot mennu [its f2 for me] set your cd drive higher in the list then your hdd. save changes. restart with disc in drive. it will load linux. while it is still loading, atach your phone in disk storage mode. i found if i hooked in my phone whengparted was completely loaded, it owuldnt recognuze my phone but if i had my phone loaded and ready when gparted finally fished loading, it would recognize it right of the bat. creating partitions is easy to do. and i recommend rc mix hd. i use it myself and its the best all around hd rom i could find and the only 1 i havent tried yet is cool hd v2a.

gparted live disk worked...thank you guys

I have been trying gparted on my sd card for the whole day, it goes on well, but CWM say can't find ext partition?? What to do??

I am getting this error while D2ext rom in CWM recovery
"Can't mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p2
invalid argument
Error mounting SDEXT:! "
Any idea what to do??

hei shakeebkazia
take contact I can help you with those "normal" upload sits.
[email protected]

[Q] Repartitioning

I've already partitioned my SD Card with Fat 32 and 512mb Ext 3.
The problem I have now is some of the ROM's I like suggest having a 1gb Ext3 or 4 partition. How easy is it to repartition? How do I back up what's on the Ext 3 partition (I'm guessing though that I can't without a Linux OS on my PC)?

xybadog said:
I've already partitioned my SD Card with Fat 32 and 512mb Ext 3.
The problem I have now is some of the ROM's I like suggest having a 1gb Ext3 or 4 partition. How easy is it to repartition? How do I back up what's on the Ext 3 partition (I'm guessing though that I can't without a Linux OS on my PC)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in order to repartition you would have to use some other recovery (AmonRA or newer clockworkmod perhaps) that has the option to make 1GB ext partition.
regarding backup - NANDROID backups SD-EXT, and every recovery has an option of restoring some partos of bacup only (like only sd-ext but i think you dont need that since you want to change ROM) other option is to use a linux os, dont worry you dont have to install it on PC, generally you can run linux from a CD and make changes on EXT as you wish (again i dont know what would you like to do there)
if you dont want to / cant update recovery, download program Gparted LiveCD, and burn it to a CD. it will be bootable, boot it on your PC, then plug phone while in recovery with USB Mass storage enabled, choose the SD card in gparted, and expand your 512mb ext to 1gb ext3/4 partiton (still after the FAT32)

http://www.partitionwizard.com/download.html I'd reccommend using a partition tool from your PC, more reliable in my opinion ^_^
Vid on how to use it:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6vVLbtXJdg

Actually partitioning to EXT under windows cause only problems.
Use gParted or recovery from my signature.

k3lcior said:
Actually partitioning to EXT under windows cause only problems.
Use gParted or recovery from my signature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, we learn something new everyday

k3lcior said:
Actually partitioning to EXT under windows cause only problems.
Use gParted or recovery from my signature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well... aint I the lucky one then.
Partitioned 30 times under windows, with MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition, and never had any problems. And I have flashed A LOT!
So that aint all true!!!

Jakedude2011 said:
Well... aint I the lucky one then.
Partitioned 30 times under windows, with MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition, and never had any problems. And I have flashed A LOT!
So that aint all true!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just read forums more often, you'll find numerous people having a bootloop after partitioning under windows.

SD Card cloning issues

I have been trying to clone my 4gb class 4 sd card to the new 8gb class 6, but failed.
I am using Cyanogenmod 7 nightly and app2sd with data moved to sd. My computer OS is linux and I have android tools installed.
1. I partitioned new card with newest clockworkmod, which unfortunately results in ext2, not ext4 so I reformated ext2 to 4 using some partitioning software.
2. Copied content of fat32 partition from the old card, including recent nandroid backup.
3. Booted to recovery and tried restoring sd-ext several times, but I either get 'MD5 sum mismatch', or it starts fine but at some point it stops with error.
I then tried again but this time without reformatting ext2 to ext4 but the result was the same.
I also tried just copying sd-ext directly with 'sudo' but the phone acts just like the new installation then and even 'Fix Permissions' doesn't help.
Help!

I just recently did this myself two different ways, the first was to use acronis disk manager to clone the sd from a 8gb to 16gb. This worked fine but took an extremely long time.
I then upgraded from 4gib to 8 and created the partitions manually and copied over the data from one mount to another. Works fine here.
Did you try restarting your phone and double checking the partitions / types?

Plug both sdcards in the PC then use gparted to copy the two partitions across then grow the fat partition to fill the space if needed.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

mercianary said:
Plug both sdcards in the PC then use gparted to copy the two partitions across then grow the fat partition to fill the space if needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have only one card reader in my laptop and connecting the card inside the phone makes the ext partition invisible for gparted. This makes copying partitions between two cards impossible.

impactor said:
I have only one card reader in my laptop and connecting the card inside the phone makes the ext partition invisible for gparted. This makes copying partitions between two cards impossible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Put the phone in recovery, then mount USB, it works for me using amonra recovery.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

mercianary said:
Put the phone in recovery, then mount USB, it works for me using amonra recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using newest ClockWork recovery and all I can see in gparted is the FAT partition. Not even empty space where EXT should be.

and thats definitely mounting USB mass storage not mount SD card?
Theres definitely FS issues on the new card if you're getting MD5 sum errors.
Firstly dont use anything other than gparted to partition (see signature).
Flatten the new card completely. Format any partitions that may be there out and start again, from scratch.

rootSU said:
and thats definitely mounting USB mass storage not mount SD card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the only option in recovery menu. I think if I used something else, I wouldn't even see FAT partition. The ext is ext4, btw.
And we are talking the original card here, not the new one. The new one is in the reader.

impactor said:
This is the only option in recovery menu. I think if I used something else, I wouldn't even see FAT partition. The ext is ext4, btw.
And we are talking the original card here, not the new one. The new one is in the reader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which is the only option? What recovery?

If I boot into recovery and go to 'mount and storage', 'Mount USB storage' is the only option that actually makes the phone visible to the computer. There are pleny of mount/unmount (eg: mount /data) options above this one, but they're supposed to work internally.

Is it Amon-Ra / RMD? Does the size of the FAT partition tally with the total size of the card? did you say had a card reader? just use that if you have

ClockworkMod Recovery 5.0.2.0
If I switch cards, then the one in the phone will still be invisible and I need both at the same time to copy partitions.

Forget copying partitions. Your instinct with nandroid restore was right, however you need to get the fs on the new card sorted
Also I have noticed on ubuntu that the data copy remaining is inaccurate. I leave it for several minutes after it appears to have completed to ensure data is written before ummount
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

rootSU said:
Forget copying partitions. Your instinct with nandroid restore was right, however you need to get the fs on the new card sorted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except this doesn't get me anywhere. I tried with ext2, ext4, created in recovery or by gparted and every time got stuck on the same stage.

Then theres a serious issue that needs fixing. Best not to work around. The nandroid is the best option.
Have you a Windows machine? H2testw.exe is a great sd testing app
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

Created partitions are not visible in Gparted if the card is in the phone, contrary to empty space. It took me many attempts in different configurations but I got it done, eventually, using gparted partition copying for EXT and regular copy for the FAT partition content

Partition questions and sd specs.

Please direct me to an idiots guide to SD partitioning...
I have been flashing my desire since the summer. And well i forgot how i initially setup my SD card.
I wanted to treat my self to a new CLASS 10 SD card. But when it came to partitioning the card i got lost.
Is it as simple as using clockworkmod to set partition size to 1-2Gigs? and swap to 0?
With reference to Ext2,ext3 and ext4 are these all multiple partitions? None of these where options within clockwork or rom manager
Anyway i did my partitions using clockwork and installed a new rom i had never used before runnymede. I found performance extremely sluggish and slow. Of course i did 3 new things at once. new card,new partition and new rom... could be one or all these causing me headaches..
Sorry to ramble on. Bottom line:
- Could i be kindly directed to a SD partitioning guide?
- Is the Desire compatible with 2,4, and 10?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1016084
[Video Tutorial] Noob Proof Everything Desire Guide UPDATED [04/04/11][Video Tut]
hope it helps.

The class 10 SD card should be OK with your desire.
The people in the know mostly recommend not using ROM Manager to partition SD cards. I would suggest try using GParted.
In terms of ext2, 3, 4 - I would recommend ext 3 for your SD card partition - it is safer than ext 2 partitions.
I would suggest an ext 3 partition size of 1024mb or even 2048mb (that should cover you for most present roms and most future roms).
I am not as knowledgeable as some of the other guys here but I will give you an useful link:
http://www.techcredo.com/android/tu...-for-a2sd-with-gparted-on-a-windows-pc-ext234
I usually create a bootable GParted USB drive and use to partition my SD cards.
I hope that helps,
KKH

I have been trying to create an ext4 partition using GParted. I did all necessary steps - will quickly run thru, just so you know:
1. Burnt ISO and accessed thru boot menu (running XP/SP3, btw)
2. Deleted existing allocation.
3. Created new primary partition as FAT32
4. Allocated "free space following" as 1024
5. Specified the unallocated memory (1024) as ext4.
There was no error in the operation.
However... When I tried to load stuff to the SD card, Windows prompted me to format the card before using. It made no sense but I couldn't do anything. And by formatting it, I lost everything that GPL had done in the first place.
I went over the process again, to no avail.
Does anyone know where I've possibly gone wrong? Please help.

Which recovery are you using?

I had the same issue, vista kept asking me to format SD card before use.
I fixed this by making my first partition in GParted the fat32 and the second partition ext3.
I think windows accesses the first partition by default and is happy with fat32.
If your ext4 was the first partition, windows would ask to format that ext4 in to fat32 before use.
I hope that helps.

thanks i should be good to go now..

TKG26 said:
thanks i should be good to go now..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you install 4EXT Recovery, you won't ever need a bootable disk to partition your SD card. You'll be able to do it straight from recovery I suggest you to give it a try!

My recovery is 4ext and I used this recovery to make partitions of my class10 sd card.
I also use this recovery to align my partitions.
You can also use the freeware "minitool partition wizard" under win xp instead of gparted.
Good luck.

harm007 said:
You can also use the freeware "minitool partition wizard" under win xp instead of gparted.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the OP uses this tool, he needs more than good luck. It's like rootSU says in his sig: "Don't be lazy and make GParted your first choice...". So please do not trust in windows software which wants to handle linux partitions.

Use rom manager. Simple as that
Sent from my Full Android on Bravo using XDA App

4ext recovery and have not gone back. Does all the dirty work for me.
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

[Q] SD Card Not Detected

Hi,
I have just bought a 32GB SD Card from Amazon. Komputerbay Class 10.
I have been running Sandvold's ICS ROM for the last month and all was fine, but I wanted a faster SD card.
I used Easeus Partition Manager using Windows XP and I created a 1GB ext2 partition after a FAT32 Partition.
However, I made it logical and wasn't able to change it to Primary, so I created another ext2 partition, this time Primary.
So, FAT32 partition of 28GB ish Primary, ext2 of 1GB Primary then ext3 of 1GB logical.
However, although my PC can see the FAT32 partition, my Desire cannot.
It can however see it in recovery which allowed me to flash the ROM etc.
Any ideas please?
Cheers

do NOT use any windows programs... try gparted live cd or 4ext recovery
and ONE more thing-both partition need to be PRIMARY

kotag82 said:
do NOT use any windows programs... try gparted live cd or 4ext recovery
and ONE more thing-both partition need to be PRIMARY
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are both primary, it's the extra one that is logical.
I may well try running Linux on my laptop alongside Windows to try that.

just boot it from cd or usb or virtual machine

kotag82 said:
just boot it from cd or usb or virtual machine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try that.
Do you know if I can use Damn Small Linux please?
Cheers

Hi,
I partitioned my SDcard with Partition Wizard Home Edition 7.1
Just make sure all partitions are PRIMARY and there is NO (free) space before or between partitions. If you made the FAT32 first as a logical partition and later switched it to primary, there might be a small free space before it.....
Just wipe the whol card and repartition it with first the FAT32 PRIMARY and then the EXT partition PRIMARY. This should work.

As they told use linux from cd.
It's easy e fast
Create fat32 primary first, then ext2,3,4 primary.
I'll do it a lot of time and always work

GPart Live worked a treat.
Easy too with You Tube to help.
The drivers on the laptop I was using rendered the screen almost unseeable, but I managed to get it done and it was clear as day at home.