Device internal partitions as EXT4 - Desire HD Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi,
I'm seeing more and more ROMs coming out with EXT4 partitioned system but this is a question that I haven't managed to find the answer to...
I was wondering if it is completely safe to use EXT4 with the Desire HD's hardware due to EXT4 being faster than EXT3?
I know that since Gingerbread Android officially supports EXT4 and that the Nexus S is using it, but the Desire HD is a bit older than Nexus S and I just wanted to be sure that it's hardware and memory chip can take EXT4 pounding with no risk of shortening it's life. Oh, and I mean all this about the internal storage chip of the device, not about creating an EXT4 partition on the SD card.
Anyone?
Thanks

Related

Ext3 vs ext4

Hello to all.
I have a question:what is the differences between the two file system in object of this thread?
I read that some Roms support ext4 and now I have ext3.
I need to change this?is better for performance?
Thanks
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=ext3+vs+ext4&aq=0&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=ext3+vs+&gs_rfai=&fp=f4657a9573528472
I would like to know this also
Ext4 is the newer Linux file system. Much like Windows 95 moved to Fat32, Vista moved to the NT file system. Linux is now moving to version 4 of their file system. The new file system is more efficient, has journaling and is more secure. It really will not have any noticeable affect on operation.
It must be noted though that native Linux file systems are a lot faster than Fat Windows file systems, however they are not accessible when you put your SD card into a Windows computer. This is why only part of the card is partitioned to Ext3/4 along with the benefit of not having to unmount a file system with your apps on it.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
I ve read a post with a very good explanation a week ago .
I will search !
Edit : hum sorry its about a2sd+ , but a little about ext3 and ext4
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7458565&postcount=8
So it's not really important to make the upgrade to ext4 for me?it's only a problem about security and not affect the performance?
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
i think it doesnt matter on a sd card which ext you use
sdcards are too slow
Check out this article for extensive info.
It is increased journalisation, and better handling of bigger volumes/files.
All the above is absolutely right, but totally wrong. The technical aspects are not important here. For the HTC Desire user the main difference between those filesystems is simple: stock kernel and recovery does not support ext4. That's it.
If you never plan to use stock kernel and/or recovery or skiled enough to enable ext4 support for them, then go ahead and read all those technical articles and do (or do not) change the FS type. If the words "stock kernel" and "stock recovery" mean nothing to you at the moment, you better stick to ext3.
P.S. in theory, ext4 gives you better write performance (and slightly longer SD card life) only if you frequently write the data to the ext partition. But this is not the case for A2SD partition, where the apps are installed occasionally. Unless you plan to give the Desire or the SD card to your grandchildren after many-many years.

[Q] Convert ext4 to ext3 without repartitioning?

Alright, I'm running darktremor a2sd with an ext4 partition in decks 1.2 and loving it. I'm thinking about messing with synergy and know that I would need an ext3 not ext4 partition to run dta2sd. In amon ra you can upgrade from ext2 to ext3 and 3 to 4. Is there a way to "downgrade" to ext3 without wiping and repartitioning?
Thank you in advance for any help.
Not in any recovery that we have available. I thought I read at one point that you can set SD partitions in Linux, but I don't know if you downgrade in that either.
ok, thanks, thats kind of what i thought.
another question for you or those in the know......i'm pretty sure since i converted my ext3 to ext4 and resetup dta2sd that my temperatures have been getting considerably hotter than before. people suggest that that ext4 isn't the best for the life of an sd card because of extra writing going on.....could this extra work also be contributing to higher temps?
I've got my SD partitioned to ext4 on CM7 with s2e and I've haven't noticed a temperature change, but it sounds possible.

[Q] Pros and Cons of sd-ext?

Hi!
Just would like to know the pros and cons of formatting into ext4 on my SD.
As far as I can find :
Pros : Supports files larger than 4GB as Fat32 cannot
That's about it I think...
Cons : Windows cannot natively detect such a partition
Why I ask this is I just saw a this post
blahbl4hblah said:
Having sd-ext partition on your sdcard will always be benefical, the phone will run so much better believe me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm ready to go ext4 if there's any performance gain, who wouldn't? But what gain is there, and what would I lose in return?
ArmedandDangerous said:
Hi!
Just would like to know the pros and cons of formatting into ext4 on my SD.
As far as I can find :
Pros : Supports files larger than 4GB as Fat32 cannot
That's about it I think...
Cons : Windows cannot natively detect such a partition
Why I ask this is I just saw a this post
I'm ready to go ext4 if there's any performance gain, who wouldn't? But what gain is there, and what would I lose in return?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're mixing things up here a bit I think. Sd-ext referrs to having a partition on your sdcard to allow support for Apps2SD (basically being able to move apps to your SD card and run them from there in order to free up space); you'd basically repartition the card so that there's an ext3/4 partition for apps and a FAT32 partition for data.
As for the ext4 filesystem, it does allow for larger file sizes and is also a bit faster but you're correct in the fact that you won't be able to natively mount it on a Windows system.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
OriginalGabriel said:
You're mixing things up here a bit I think. Sd-ext referrs to having a partition on your sdcard to allow support for Apps2SD (basically being able to move apps to your SD card and run them from there in order to free up space); you'd basically repartition the card so that there's an ext3/4 partition for apps and a FAT32 partition for data.
As for the ext4 filesystem, it does allow for larger file sizes and is also a bit faster but you're correct in the fact that you won't be able to natively mount it on a Windows system.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But don't we already have Apps2SD in GB, + all the apps that do it for you. How is this different, apart from some apps that can't natively be moved? And why is it faster? Internal memory should always load faster, should it not?
ArmedandDangerous said:
But don't we already have Apps2SD in GB, + all the apps that do it for you. How is this different, apart from some apps that can't natively be moved? And why is it faster? Internal memory should always load faster, should it not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GB has the ability to do Apps2SD but it requires the partitioning as, I believe, a symlink is set up so that partition on the sdcard acts as a part of the devices internal storage.
As for speed, just moving apps to your sdcard won't speed up your phone; what that poster you quoted was talking about (most likely, I'd have to see the original thread) was converting your devices partitions (/system, /data, /cache, etc.) from ext3 to ext4. ext4 is a bit faster however some ROMs do not fully support it.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Ok, let's clear this up. GB has Apps2FAT32 (a2sd) natively. A2EXT is completely different but none of that is the point of the OP's question.
When it comes to our phones - there is almost no notable performance gain when using EXT4 over any other EXT format. Our phones don't utilize FAT32 internally - just on the sdcard. EXT4 is designed for use with massive file systems. A couple Gigs really doesn't access it's full potential.
While the question is interesting, I'm not really sure what you're planning on doing. Don't format your sdcard entirely in EXT format, and don't attempt to format your phones partitions as FAT32. The result would be... just don't do it.
Just read this on the portal
http://www.xda-developers.com/andro...hd2-data-successfully-moved-to-ext-partition/
This has two main advantages: larger sized data partition and more speed as EXT is inherently faster for I/O purposes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I go about formatting a section of my SD into ext4, with existing SD data intact.
And how do I move apps that area already in my phone's internal memory to the ext4 partition? I know there's an option in ROM Manager and CWM, but just don't want to mess anything up
ArmedandDangerous said:
Just read this on the portal
http://www.xda-developers.com/andro...hd2-data-successfully-moved-to-ext-partition/
How do I go about formatting a section of my SD into ext4, with existing SD data intact.
And how do I move apps that area already in my phone's internal memory to the ext4 partition? I know there's an option in ROM Manager and CWM, but just don't want to mess anything up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, only two ROMs actually support the real A2SD: PyroMod and MexDroid. It's recommended you format the EXT partition to EXT4 before you actually flash either of those ROMs, and you have to rename MexDroid in order to get A2SD working.
blackknightavalon said:
As far as I know, only two ROMs actually support the real A2SD: PyroMod and MexDroid. It's recommended you format the EXT partition to EXT4 before you actually flash either of those ROMs, and you have to rename MexDroid in order to get A2SD working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thankfully I am already using meXdroid~ Guess I'll just wait for the new version in the next few days to do the formatting. Can I backup all my apps with Titanium Backup, flash ROM (wipe data/cache and dalvik cache), restore with Titanium.
Or would I have to reinstall every app again so that it goes into the ext4 partition?
blackknightavalon said:
As far as I know, only two ROMs actually support the real A2SD: PyroMod and MexDroid. It's recommended you format the EXT partition to EXT4 before you actually flash either of those ROMs, and you have to rename MexDroid in order to get A2SD working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a script to accomplish this on pretty much any ROM. It *should* work on current ROMs too. It's called 'darktremor a2sd'. Still find it amazing people forget about that one when this question comes up because it's one oldest methods of obtaining a2sd.
I'm still not understanding the OP's question. Are you wanting to do this for an IO performance gain or for space? I can understand doing it for space if you have a ton of apps but if you're doing it for performance it's a waste of your time. You're internal partitions should already be in EXT4 format (use 4EXT Recovery if they're not).
KCRic said:
There's a script to accomplish this on pretty much any ROM. It *should* work on current ROMs too. It's called 'darktremor a2sd'. Still find it amazing people forget about that one when this question comes up because it's one oldest methods of obtaining a2sd.
I'm still not understanding the OP's question. Are you wanting to do this for an IO performance gain or for space? I can understand doing it for space if you have a ton of apps but if you're doing it for performance it's a waste of your time. You're internal partitions should already be in EXT4 format (use 4EXT Recovery if they're not).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm doing it for the performance. Have been using 4EXT for a few days and loving it. Already converted internal memory to ext4 from ext3. If further partitioning my SD card for performance is really not noticeable, then I guess I've got nothing to worry about

CM 7.2 - ext2 vs ext4 on SD?

I have been reading up on the differences between ext2 and ext4. Apparently ext2 is faster and causes lesser wear on the SD card. Can I use an ext2 SD partition instead of ext4 without issues on CM 7.2?
Or is it really better to format ext4 on SD since CM uses it on internal memory?
Sent from my GT-S5660 using Tapatalk
hey fish,
if you want to use cyanogenmod 7 ( 7.1 / 7.2 ) u'll have to format your second partition to ext 4 format, another formats are not accepted.
Strange.
I've used an ext2 partition on CM 7.1 and currently using ext3 on CM7.2 dt app2sd is enabled and works...
Don't know about the speed and the wear (wear????) on the SD. Speed seems fine, I find apss load a bit faster from SD than phone memory. But then i have a class 10 card.
Hmm, I thought one of the reasons ext4 was developed was to make it faster than ext3, and ext3 is faster than ext2...
im using CM7.2 and my sdcard partition was ext2, and it doesnt matter
i can install darktremor, and anything,,
anybody experienced read/only 2nd ext4 partition?

SD Partition on 32 GB card?

Hey guys,
I've searched around a lot but haven't found anything explicit to a 32 GB card's ideal partition table. I've read somewhere that the ext3 shouldn't be larger than 2 GB, is this really the case? Or is it device specific? And if thats the case, can the MT3G3 handle a larger than 2GB partition? Also, is there a point to having a swap partition? I know on Linux systems it helps with memory and the XDA SD partition guide mentions that we can have one if we wanted .. but is there a point to it?
My second question is ... should I get data2ext or a2ext? Or some other tool? The choice is pretty confusing, esp since it seems that some of them do the same thing?
I'm thinking about making the partitions equal between FAT32 and Ext3 (if swap won't make a difference).
PS - Its a Class 10 Sandisk card.
eMJaaay said:
Hey guys,
I've searched around a lot but haven't found anything explicit to a 32 GB card's ideal partition table. I've read somewhere that the ext3 shouldn't be larger than 2 GB, is this really the case? Or is it device specific? And if thats the case, can the MT3G3 handle a larger than 2GB partition? Also, is there a point to having a swap partition? I know on Linux systems it helps with memory and the XDA SD partition guide mentions that we can have one if we wanted .. but is there a point to it?
My second question is ... should I get data2ext or a2ext? Or some other tool? The choice is pretty confusing, esp since it seems that some of them do the same thing?
I'm thinking about making the partitions equal between FAT32 and Ext3 (if swap won't make a difference).
PS - Its a Class 10 Sandisk card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
don't know what a mt3gs works with, 32 should work but no larger I doubt. as for an ext partition there is no reason to make it smaller than internal memory and 2gb should be more than enough, I have never even used more than 1gb but 1~2gb should be the perfect point.
not sure if any of the roms here support ext4, if they do I would recomend that over ext3, it won't ware the card much fast (the extra journaling does but not much)
personaly kinux swap doesn't help much, not even on the g1 but give it a shot and see if it works for you, will help with multitasking
use apps2ext for sure, not data as it will be slow
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
Thanks so much for the reply
I'll give this a go! I might as well have a swap partition as well since I have so much space should the swap be smaller than the ext3 partition? I'll also look into apps2ext .. but earlier came across int2ext in CronMod .. would that work?
eMJaaay said:
I'll give this a go! I might as well have a swap partition as well since I have so much space should the swap be smaller than the ext3 partition? I'll also look into apps2ext .. but earlier came across int2ext in CronMod .. would that work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure if creating swap on sd is supported on this device (at least, CM7). When I tried to partition SD using Rom Manager the device didn't see my ext partition if I selected swap partition size more than 0.
As for apps for managing ext partition usage, s2e app worked for me all right on CM9 and CM7. If you device is running CM9 you should be extra careful with such software. In example, Link2SD caused much trouble for me - constant app FC and I had to reinstall the system.
And be careful - it seems that s2e wipes ext partition at the first mount.
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using xda app-developers app
If im not mistaken, your kernel has to support using a swap partition.
Look into darktremors apps2sd. A. Lot of folks seemed to like that. It allows you to choose different setups if I remember right. (A2sd, data2sd, etc)
Data2sd would prob work ok since you have a class 10 card.
Also, if you are needing more space and are running a custom rom, look up mtd partitions in development forum.
Another nice trick is bind-mount data to cache.
Mt3gs does not support higher than 32gb. Ext4 support I think is available but only through kernels or scripts.
Hope that helps.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Different ROMs support different a2sd scripts.....you will have to find a script compatible with your ROM.
I use A2SDGUI on my phone.
A swap partition acts a virtual ram for your phone if you run low on ram memory.Not required though.
Sent from my GT-S5570 using xda app-developers app
Thanks for the replies everyone
I'm running CM7.2 which has built in moving to SD but this hardly does anything :/ I've only got around 7 apps half of which I can't even update cos its running low on space :/
Quite a few partition articles / posts, etc mention ext3 no larger than 2 GB and a swap of 0 MB :/ I've got the CM kernel that came with the last stable release (in June this year) .. does that support swap? Is there even a point of adding a swap of 0 MB .. might as well not make a swap partition at all right? I'm partitioning using Gparted on my Linux! I think S2E supports that!
Seriously guys, thank you so so much for all your replies
Update: Link2SD didn't work. S2E worked on S-ON with a 28 ish GB FAT32 Primary Partition and a 2048 MB i.e 2 GB EXT4 partition.

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