[Q] Custom MTD partition sizes? - Xperia Arc Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello!
New Arc S owner here, coming from a HTC Desire.
One nice feature we had available for the Desire was changing the MTD partition sizes, either presets coming with HBOOT images, or custom ones, using a modification of Firerat's patch:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=806321
Now, after removing all SE bloatware from the ROM I flashed, I'm left with over 200MB on /system, and 90MB on /cache, and I'm sure a lot of people are in the same position.
It's a shame seeing all that free space go to waste, if you ask me
So... Does anyone know if / how we could get custom MTD partition sizes on the Arc, as well?
I browsed through the threads in the Development section, but couldn't find anything relevant. I'm afraid I don't have the necessary skills to do this, but maybe some devs will be willing to look into it.
Thanks!

That would be very useful! As you said, 200 MB on system and 90 MB on cache is a very big waste of space.

cezarL said:
Hello!
New Arc S owner here, coming from a HTC Desire.
One nice feature we had available for the Desire was changing the MTD partition sizes, either presets coming with HBOOT images, or custom ones, using a modification of Firerat's patch:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=806321
Now, after removing all SE bloatware from the ROM I flashed, I'm left with over 200MB on /system, and 90MB on /cache, and I'm sure a lot of people are in the same position.
It's a shame seeing all that free space go to waste, if you ask me
So... Does anyone know if / how we could get custom MTD partition sizes on the Arc, as well?
I browsed through the threads in the Development section, but couldn't find anything relevant. I'm afraid I don't have the necessary skills to do this, but maybe some devs will be willing to look into it.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i just tried my g1's customMTD 1.5.9, it acted like it worked, but the partition sizes didn't change.
maybe its cuz we don't have a real recovery partition. arc's ICS cwm is built inside its kernel/boot i think

Related

[ROM] Stock 2.3.4, Sense 2.1 [Rooted][Apps2sd][US Cellular] - Only for marvelc A510c

A cursory warning that this rom has A2sd installed; so, one will definately want to format their sd card [and particularly /sd-ext] correctly. I recommend [for this rom] ext2 on /sd-ext not over 1.5 gigs, no swap, whatevers left or you prefer to set for fat32. Also, though written in, you might want to dl and install A2SDGUI from market; link to guide for it and Links2SD found later in thread.
This is a rebuilt nandroid backup from dsixda's Android Kitchen. Be sure to do a nandroid and do NOT flash this on any other model wildfire s [A510c ONLY]. 2.3.4 as is stock to US Cellular, added everything including busybox, A2SD, and su, If any devs would like to pull it apart and meld your kernel in, go for it. Again, make nandroid. Should have full HTC sense 2.1. Download Link2SD from market for some space savings, and don't say I didn't warn you to nandroid [three times].
Also, as with any new rom installation. I recommend doing the following in your recovery: a factory reset [which wipes your data and cache] and advanced clear dalvik cache. If you do those two things, you usually don't have any transference issues; Superwipe is also a good alternative primer for wiping.
Code:
Android OS version : 2.3.4
Device : marvelc
...
Rooted (Superuser.apk + su) : YES
Rooted (unsecured boot.img) : YES
BusyBox installed : YES
BusyBox run-parts support : YES
Apps2SD (Apps to EXT) enabled : YES
/data/app enabled : NO
Custom boot animation allowed : NO
Nano text editor installed : NO
Bash shell support : YES
/system/framework is deodexed : NO
/system/app is deodexed : NO
radio.img found : NO
ROM will wipe all data : NO
--Download Link--
Changelog:
12-13-11 got contribution of
Oldest nandroid PoGoP had (made shortly after root)
built from that.
Known Issues:
Friendstream only has HTC Twitter - no other choices
This is how it came stock; I tried to fix it, but will have to port another sense to get it right.
Thanks
So many I can't remember them all.
eoghan2t7 - for his work developing s-off [w/o xtc clip]
GotsOJ - for being the first to document his s-off experience (was very helpful).
alquez - for his work on the Unoffical CWM Recovery and port of CyanogenMod [which is where I'll be spending some development time next (kernel editing)]
dsixda - of course for his kitchen
jikantaru - lots of sense development for the Euro-side of this phone
simonsimons34 - for making Superwipe marvelc edition, once supplied w/ idea and src links
PoGoP - for contribution of files and being first tester
Works on Virgin Mobile as well
Although this will have US Cellular branding (and apps). So far everything I've tried works on VM USA too. These guys got HTC FM Radio and WiFi hotspot native and not as gunked up. Still need to test some stuff, but so far its nice. This Rom as my other one does not include radio.img; which, is probably why it works.
Rob
Tested network,sms,mms,fm radio, WiFi (and hotspot)... All working. Amended OP.
insink71 said:
This Rom as my other one does not include radio.img; which, is probably why it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so does this mean that I could potentially use the other custom roms around here and just not include the radio.img file?
on a side note apart from what I just asked, any way to include data2sd with this rom so that you could use one of the sd card partitions for internal storage?? Similar to how [ROM]Wildfire S -JikantaruROM XE™|Sense2.1|DATA2SD|HighQuality & Performance 10-30-11 uses data2sd.
answers
xxcrashxx said:
so does this mean that I could potentially use the other custom roms around here and just not include the radio.img file?
on a side note apart from what I just asked, any way to include data2sd with this rom so that you could use one of the sd card partitions for internal storage?? Similar to how [ROM]Wildfire S -JikantaruROM XE™|Sense2.1|DATA2SD|HighQuality & Performance 10-30-11 uses data2sd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably could. Apps2sd does the same thing for me; Just download a app like Link2sd, let it flash the script [according to the partitioning of your personal sd card], reboot and voila... All apps and dalvik vm can be moved to sdcard.
Most of the other custom roms are written for GSM phones and most marvelc flashers have reported wifi, data, bt, etc not working [major flaws]. You can get calling if you backup your APN info [APN backup & restore - app on market] but no data... you won't keep the rom(s) longer than to test it... no PRL data etc [important for us CDMAers ]. Short answer... not yet. I know of one dev universalizing his rom... but as of this writing, not yet. Only mine and simonsimon's roms work for marvelc as of this writing.
Rob
yea, I'm already using link2sd, but after moving everything possible, or linking everything possible, it still only leaves me with like 20mb of internal storage. with the rom I mentioned earlier, using data2sd, it would basically install the rom directly to the sd card, and use the 2nd partition as the "internal" storage. making the internal storage around 700+mb available.
There's this one gps app that I am dying to try, just to see how good it is myself, but it tells me that theres no room to install the maps This is after the app itself is moved to the sd card, and with about 20mb available. That's part of the reason I would like to have data2sd on this device.
At least that's what I have discovered so far, btw, im still a n00b to android phones. so im not totally up to date on all the diff apps and what they all do, so please correct me if i am at a wrong assumption.
noted
xxcrashxx said:
yea, I'm already using link2sd, but after moving everything possible, or linking everything possible, it still only leaves me with like 20mb of internal storage. with the rom I mentioned earlier, using data2sd, it would basically install the rom directly to the sd card, and use the 2nd partition as the "internal" storage. making the internal storage around 700+mb available.
There's this one gps app that I am dying to try, just to see how good it is myself, but it tells me that theres no room to install the maps This is after the app itself is moved to the sd card, and with about 20mb available. That's part of the reason I would like to have data2sd on this device.
At least that's what I have discovered so far, btw, im still a n00b to android phones. so im not totally up to date on all the diff apps and what they all do, so please correct me if i am at a wrong assumption.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't like Google Maps eh? I have a hard time justifying adding (or even trying) an app over 10mb... Google's apk limit I think is 25mb for the market. That being said, I am working on a custom marvelc rom that I will release with option for Apps2sd or data2sd etc. flashable zip mods and release the rom without them. [this would mean your practice would be full wipe, install rom zip, install [your choice of mod] zip, etc. I might even look into this guy that wrote some roms for the G2 ILWT or something like that... he had a lil text script you could modify...[makes it all one command]. Either way, it will be a new thread when I release the custom rom. Won't be immediate either; I'm 40 and move like a turtle. I am shooting for a release before Christmas though. [looking at everything inc. compiling 2.3.5 kernel and seeing if I can get that running on our cdma's, possible sense porting [true 3.0 if it works], etc.]
The best system file size scenario you will see is with an AOSP rom [like CyanogenMod]. A couple devs are working on those type roms for the marvelc (simon[2] and alquez). I'll assist where I can, but stay out of their way. Alas, I catch myself rambling yet again.
Looked over Data2sd... It basically uses your sd card as your data partition, but most prefer DarkTremor's A2sd still. Just hard to get rolling sometimes. I did post a mini-guide on it over on the VM USA stock rom thread here.
i know this device is sort of "old hat" i have a question, the rom from this OP works well on uscc wildfire s (cdma) one thing i dont understand is how come the rom reflects "virgin mobile" carrier brand on lockscreen, and notification pull down, also in settings/network/operator name...
will someone please explain this to me.
i do not see much uscc support for this device, rightfully so. i have yet to flash a rom for a510c that reflects the uscc official "get your phone back to stock roms" am i missing something?
Well there was a uscc dev early in the game, but to answer your question, the rom probably touched my phone. I know you guys have had an update.. as has vm usa and metro. Unfortunately, going back and updating.. their could be a possibility of ten different hboots (for the three carriers, that I know of [original, htc unlock, update1, [update2-only metropcs]]). Also, the newest ones aren't as easily hackable. For uscc there would be three possible hboots, and these provide a base. If you would like to get back to stock entirely, use football's RUU. I paid for and he agreed to release these for all marvelc carriers. Otherwise, I could do something now without it touching my phone Early on, had no RUU and little way to test otherwise.
Rob
PS Thank you for letting me know. And your post counts toward interest. So far, the guy [Pogop] who shared his nandroid has pm'd me.. but I guaged interest as low; and thus match my priority for uscc specific development. But you've raised it from a 1 to a 2 If it gets to 10 it gets done right then.. but I got a list of tasks. Sadly those under 5, I have not been able to make time for despite my best efforts. If any other uscc users would like Team Blueridge attention, now would be the time to chime in with a +1
Sent from my HTC_A510c using Tapatalk 2
insink71 said:
Well there was a uscc dev early in the game, but to answer your question, the rom probably touched my phone. I know you guys have had an update.. as has vm usa and metro. Unfortunately, going back and updating.. their could be a possibility of ten different hboots (for the three carriers, that I know of [original, htc unlock, update1, [update2-only metropcs]]). Also, the newest ones aren't as easily hackable. For uscc there would be three possible hboots, and these provide a base. If you would like to get back to stock entirely, use football's RUU. I paid for and he agreed to release these for all marvelc carriers. Otherwise, I could do something now without it touching my phone Early on, had no RUU and little way to test otherwise.
Rob
PS Thank you for letting me know. And your post counts toward interest. So far, the guy [Pogop] who shared his nandroid has pm'd me.. but I guaged interest as low; and thus match my priority for uscc specific development. But you've raised it from a 1 to a 2 If it gets to 10 it gets done right then.. but I got a list of tasks. Sadly those under 5, I have not been able to make time for despite my best efforts. If any other uscc users would like Team Blueridge attention, now would be the time to chime in with a +1
Sent from my HTC_A510c using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the reply back :good: i do see that you have other things going on, would like too +1 again... was thinking that perhaps you might be able to not touch the rom? its definitely a uscc rom. nandroid BU would be sweet.
Works with US Cellular A6230 Wildfire S
This ROM is working great on my US Cellular A6230 HTC Wildfire S
Nice to back to fully working ROM.. cannot find any customs that work with my model :/
Thanks very much chap..
errr... hold up....
Hold up a sec... I don't seem to be able to install market apps from Google Play...When I try the phone reboots and I get a Tell HTC notice.. anything I should know? Is there any control over Apps2SD ?
US CELLULAR WILDFIRE S a6230 Marvel C Everyting seems to work great otherwise
Fixed! Was my own fault regarding the market apps, figured it out...
safe to install OTA System Updates?
Hello,
This question refers to this ROM which I installed a week ago...
I have flashed this great, stable Stock Rom to work with my Marvelc Wildfire s, which took me forver to find and I'm very happy with. However, I have now got a notification stuck on the bar telling me there is a System Update available. My first question is; IS IT SAFE TO INSTALL THE OTA UPDATE OVER MY CURRENT ROOTED ROM? If so, is there anything I should know prior to doing that?
My second related question is; If it is not safe to install the update, or uneccessary, unimportant or just a plain nuisance, how do I get rid of the notification that will not clear and prevent them from appearing in the future?
Thanks in advance for your help!
I don't think you can update it, you don't have the original HTC recovery that came on your phone anymore...if you don't want that message to pop up go to settings-->about phone--> and somewhere in there there's an option to turn the update checker off. sorry I don't know the exact menus I've been using cyanogen since august.
Sent from my Marvelc using xda app-developers app
demi_fiend said:
I don't think you can update it, you don't have the original HTC recovery that came on your phone anymore...if you don't want that message to pop up go to settings-->about phone--> and somewhere in there there's an option to turn the update checker off. sorry I don't know the exact menus I've been using cyanogen since august.
Sent from my Marvelc using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmmm... can't find the option to turn off update checker anywhere... like it doesn't exist.... ?? strange isn't it?
it says "check for updates"
Sent from my Marvelc using xda app-developers app
I know this is prob a pita.. But there is an old VM USA thread that answers disabling the updater. Should be same or similar for uscc rom. If you have trouble finding it, I'll look up and link post (in thread)
Rob
demi_fiend said:
it says "check for updates"
Sent from my Marvelc using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
insink71 said:
I know this is prob a pita.. But there is an old VM USA thread that answers disabling the updater. Should be same or similar for uscc rom. If you have trouble finding it, I'll look up and link post (in thread)
Rob
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
demi_friend... I do NOT have that option...
insink71... If you could find that link regarding disabling the updater I would be very grateful, it's the only downside to this ROM I have...
link
gryffon said:
demi_friend... I do NOT have that option...
insink71... If you could find that link regarding disabling the updater I would be very grateful, it's the only downside to this ROM I have...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26340613&postcount=132
Thanks!
insink71 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26340613&postcount=132
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That link did the job great! You know I tried searching for that yesterday using keywords "ota, notices and updates" but never got that result... strange that....
Anyway, thanks Rob, I did what was instructed with no issues, hopefully it prevents those stinky updates. I don't know why I would want to update anything while I have everything just how I like it.
You may want to add "Working with the US Cellular A6230" to your description as I know many folk are looking for a 'working' rom...
Cheers!
no more USC logo on boot...
Hey... I fiddled a bit more with this and got a few apps loaded and working great... still no problems with this ROM...
Fixed OTA Updates as per insink17's instructions...
Have excellent, phone,data,gps,sms,mms etc...
removed or froze much of the remaining sytem apps that were chewing up battery/ram...
added some nice live wallpapers...
and best of all, got rid of the US Cellular bootanimationimage and can now add any boot animation I like! (Have a smart little glowing Droid on startup at present... cool!)
Thumbs Up!

[Q] so i still havent found my answer

ok so im not new to android but im new to the g2
so im testing all the radios - thanks to all the help i got from xda member!
but im still trying to find the best spl
so i gather the desire hboot partitions more ram is this correct?
also what are the mtd partitions for the g2/desirez ?
also are there any opportunities for custom mtd partitions?
if anyone can help me on these i would really appreciate some answers, ive been searching for weeks but just cant get a straight answer. ive pm'd a couple of dev on this but havent gotten a straight answer yet so i figure ill throw this out to the xda public again!
well thanks in advance
demkantor said:
ok so im not new to android but im new to the g2
so im testing all the radios - thanks to all the help i got from xda member!
but im still trying to find the best spl
so i gather the desire hboot partitions more ram is this correct?
also what are the mtd partitions for the g2/desirez ?
also are there any opportunities for custom mtd partitions?
if anyone can help me on these i would really appreciate some answers, ive been searching for weeks but just cant get a straight answer. ive pm'd a couple of dev on this but havent gotten a straight answer yet so i figure ill throw this out to the xda public again!
well thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The DZ hboot allocates more memory to /system than does the G2 hboot. The DZ has the same amount of RAM as the G2. If you've got a G2 and you want to try a Sense ROM you'll need to flash the DZ hboot which you can find here: http://www.virtuousrom.com/2011/06/t-mobile-g2-users-migrating-to-desirez.html
so the only perk may be the having a larger system allocation. that brings me to having the ability to create my own mtd partitions custom to whatever rom i plan on using at the time. i checked through firerats and lbcoders scrips and it seems it is possible for the g2 and this was confirmed to be by another dev.
so has anyone been able to find a way for cmtd?
also what are the mtd partitions for the g2/desirez?
Yeah, that's about the only difference... DZ hboot adds about 130 MB to the /system from /data. I believe it also changes the /cache partition slightly as well. You know, I've never heard of anyone customizing their partitions are on G2/DZ, but I can't speak to whether it's possible... like you, I've read about it being done on other devices, but not ours.
i used to do it all the time on my g1 due to the lack of memory. i loved having the option to customize it (thats what android is all about) id like to do it with my g2 although it is not as necessary but it would be nice. especially if i can move the cache and dalvik cache to my sd card leaving a ton of internal memory.
i hope to find someone who can help point me in the right direction to make this all work out, still waiting for a couple replies to pms so maybe i can get lucky
thanks anyhow
demkantor said:
i used to do it all the time on my g1 due to the lack of memory. i loved having the option to customize it (thats what android is all about) id like to do it with my g2 although it is not as necessary but it would be nice. especially if i can move the cache and dalvik cache to my sd card leaving a ton of internal memory.
i hope to find someone who can help point me in the right direction to make this all work out, still waiting for a couple replies to pms so maybe i can get lucky
thanks anyhow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, no problem. I'm sure another user will have a more thorough answer for you. I can understand how the ability to divide up memory would be really important on a device like the G1. For me, I keep my phone super light, I'm got space to burn. Good luck.
I would imagine that have any cache on your sdcard would slow you down a LOT? Also have you checked out the various swap partition guides out there. Its not exactly what you looking for but it might help? 4ext allows you to reformat your partitions to ext4 but I never looked for anyway to change the size. This might be possible with that? I hope my post was not a waste of time as I don't have an answer for you but hopefully pointed you in the right directions. Good luck let me know how it turns out. I'm curious to know how it will affect performance.
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk
Yeah swap is different, my main reason is to not waste space, I find it more efficient when a rom is let's say 74mb to have the system partion 76mb not 100. This leaves more room for internal memory. Also if the system partition is 100 and the rom is 110 then I can't use it. As for cache on the sd not too worried about this except when you have a cache of 30+ mb then that is unnecessary and could easily leave more room for internal memory. So my goal is to just map my mtd in a way that makes sence.
Thanks for all your responses I hope I can find an answer soon!
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using xda premium

How do you change size of the installed system ROM partition vs Internal partition?

Hi,
I've done a search and apologies I can't find the answer to this one.
I'm running the excellent Android Revolution 6.3.1 ROM.
How do I change the size of the installed System ROM partition versus the Internal partition (the latter is where you install apps that aren't stored on your SD card)?
If the procedure differs depending on ROM just let me know - then I'll be happy to re-post in the Android Revolution Development thread.
I really need to do this. I've plenty of space on the System ROM partition as I've uninstalled system apps I didn't want, such as HTC's weather stuff (prefer Beautiful Widgets for weather). However, I'm running low on my Internal phone's space and microSD card.
It's appreciated I can just convert an app to be stored on the System ROM partition; but doing so means my Titanium backup procedure won't be as efficient. I could explain what I mean but hopefully that's not necessary!
I'll be sure to thank any reply.
Cheers.
I don't think there's a way, and even if there is, it's too dangerous...
very possible, but also not so easy. it has been done and is used on desire and wildfire, and they call it custom mtd partitions. it contains 2 scripts you flash through recovery and requires full phone format except 4 sd. DO NOT FLASH THOSE ON DHD, im pretty sure it will mess something up. the scripts should be modded to work with dhd. i have no idea how to do that
---------- Post added at 08:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:07 PM ----------
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1233340&highlight=custom+mtd
Thank you both.
I'm really surprised this isn't something that's done to the point the clever people have created a tool for the DHD. I mean, everyone who uses custom ROMs tweaks things and will find themselves removing unnecessary system apks.
I'm guessing it's not terribly easy because the partition allocation is perhaps set by the hboot version, and the scripts above maybe mod that. I may throw this question to the Android Revolution thread.
Cheers again, and if anyone has any suggestions please fire away!
maybe because dhd has a pretty large internal storage already...
another thing is that sense roms use up most of system partition and its not worth the hussle to add 100-150 mb to 1.2 gb. a bit different story if you go aosp
It's not impossible. The point is the risk is to big, messing with partitions is one of the easiest ways to brick your phone, and DHD already has quite enough of storage space...
if im not mistaken bricking is unlikely because you dont touch hboot or radio. i was using this on wildfire and it worked great. the risk as far as i can understand is loosing your partition info resulting in complete data loss(internal). could be wrong though...
Remember CWM 3.0.2.6? If you tried to format an sd-ext partition with it, an error in the code made it modify internal partitions and bricked many phones... If something goes wrong you can't reason with your device "don't mess up my hboot, only system and data", they are still on the same memory chip...
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA
not in detail, but i do remember the problem with cwm, but not ehat it was.
i didnt say it is impossible, but unlikely. and maybe im under the influence of all the "bricks" from failed rooting with aahk. a lot of people just doesnt seem to understand what brick means.
and about them being on the same chip, doesnt really matter too much because your not reffering to phisical but logical adresess. if you can explain to me a bit more about those things id be really grateful, cause its allways nice to learn something new.
i do agree that playing with lower level stuff such as this increases the risk of bricking if you dont know exactly what you are doing or make mistakes. thats why i dont mess with it myself.
original thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=7061471
I'm not an expert on this, I'm just posting my opinions based on mine and other people's experience.
Once I made a horrible mistake of using the built-in Windows partitioning tool for some partition resizing. End result: Partitions overlaping, luckily no data loss, but un-mountable/invisible, managed to get my data out with linux, and even that wasn't easy. However, the OP from the thread you posted says that it can't really go wrong, and even if it does, it's fixable with fastboot, can't argue with that, I guess he knows what he's doing. I quite possibly could be wrong, and unfortunately, don't have time right now to research this, but I think that hboot is on the same memory chip as the other partitions, which leads to the partition table being there also, so if you mess up the partition table, you may end up not being able to boot to hboot, therefore bricking your phone.
Once again, this is my understanding of things, if you have time to do some research to confirm it or prove me wrong, please post it here, I'd like to widen mu knowledge too.
Thanks gain everyone for your input. It's a bit disappointing there's been no tool made to do this with our phone or for a particular ROM, but I can't complain since I wouldn't know how to do it myself!
I guess no one saw the need for it, but we got a nice little discussion going on right here. Do some research, jump in, and maybe some day you will make it yourself...
to be honest i didnt read the thread carefully, i only skimmed through since i dont need extra space. what i was saying was only my understanding of things and what o remembered from using it on my wildfire. but, if i remembered correctly, in the thread i posted, op also says that theoretically it should work on multiple devices because the script reads the needed info from the phone. and to clarify on the spot, nobody should try this based on my sometimes inacurate memory. from the learning point of wiew, im interested in learning and thats why i post (or read) here might give it a shot one day when im bored, but first i need to read that thread carefully to better understand how and what it does

[Question] Modding out hboot?

I was wondering has anyone tried decompiling our hboot and tryig to see if we can re size our portion sizes? Other phones such as the nexus one i believe has a modified hboot(blackrose) that allows resizing htc hero has a nice mod as well called firerat. Patches both recovery and boot.img to allow more size to data or system as needed(set by user). If i have the time & money to buy a test monkey i will be trying to decompile it.
Sent from my rooted GameBoy Advance! ^¬^
Decompiling is disassembly generally. Some decompilers can go back to the source code but it's not the original source and usually harder to read. Also, if you do something wrong in HBOOT you will likely brick your phone.
The correct word is partition not portion.
Maybe if you're interested you can ask the devs who did it. It sounds complicated and very risky. I think a safer option would be to create .img files on the emmc or sdcard storage and tell the ramdisk to boot from there. Boot Manager already accomplishes this and can multi boot ROMs but it hasn't been worked on since the ICS days. I think the devs of that project have said that someone could pick up on it and continue. It doesn't work on Jellybean but that's ideally the smartest concept, though the img method seems to be a bit slower.
Another option is LVM which I mentioned a while back and didn't get around to trying out.
This thread talks about it
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=26164523
That above looks interesting but the users will also have to be technical enough to be able to create the LVM partitions themselves and set up their system enough to flash a ROM for it. It requires a modified boot.img and recovery.

Getting rid of constant repacking

Hi guys!
I think the need of repacking and repacked images for every kernel-rom combination is a huge nuisance.
What would be if ROMs would contain their ramdisk on the system partition, and the kernels would just contain a minimal ramdisk that loads the ROMs ramdisk?
One idea:
My first idea would break compatibility with system recovery zips, so a little modified:
There would be a new "ramdisk" directory on system partition, that would containt all the ramdisk files a ROM should have, except the system folder.
So it would contain:
bin
etc
data
...
init.rc
...
and so on.
The init in the actual ramdisk would mount system first, and then make the links:
/bin -> /system/ramdisk/bin
/etc -> /system/ramdisk/etc
/data -> /system/ramdisk/data
...
and then we would include init.rc from /system/ramdisk.
Of course all the ROMs would need to change, but after that, there would be no need for repack. Also for the old ROMs, factory ROM, some could still repack.
That's a nice idea! I thought a little bit about it and here are my thoughts (a novice, please don't laugh at me :silly:
if I understand your idea correctly, your intention is to store the specific ROM's ramdisk in the rootfs, and make a global, generic ramdisk which will be stored in all the kernels.
Upon loading the kernel's ramdisk, it will know to take the ROM's ramdisk from the rootfs (upon mounting it?) and run whatever is in it, thus eliminating the need for repacking.
Do correct me if I'm talking absolute rubbish, but wouldn't this be a security risk?
Currently with S-ON, you actually can't change the kernel's ramdisk, but if the ramdisk will be stored in a writeable filesystem...?
Freezeil said:
That's a nice idea! I thought a little bit about it and here are my thoughts (a novice, please don't laugh at me :silly:
if I understand your idea correctly, your intention is to store the specific ROM's ramdisk in the rootfs, and make a global, generic ramdisk which will be stored in all the kernels.
Upon loading the kernel's ramdisk, it will know to take the ROM's ramdisk from the rootfs (upon mounting it?) and run whatever is in it, thus eliminating the need for repacking.
Do correct me if I'm talking absolute rubbish, but wouldn't this be a security risk?
Currently with S-ON, you actually can't change the kernel's ramdisk, but if the ramdisk will be stored in a writeable filesystem...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On s-off phones ramdisk can be changed on the fly with repacking, and reflashing the kernel if rooted. There is no more security risk in this, than that. And system is ro mostly, so file corruption isn't something to be afraid of either.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Xmister said:
On s-off phones ramdisk can be changed on the fly with repacking, and reflashing the kernel if rooted. There is no more security risk in this, than that. And system is ro mostly, so file corruption isn't something to be afraid of either.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, other than the fact that repacking+reflashing the kernel on S-ON devices can only be done manually, by a person (which is the device owner, most of the time), and most of the One X's out there are S-ON and not S-OFF...
Sure, a malicious coder can write evil code in the kernel, but that's relatively less threatening since most kernels have their sources published.
If the ramdisk will be placed on a rw fs (or a ro, but it matters not because of the user elevation rooted users can achieve easily), we are adding the risk of malicious code accessing and changing that ramdisk, without the user's knowledge.
Still, this seems like a nice programming challenge, so I'm up for the task. Will start reading the init's code and see how to do it
Guys i would like this thread kept with minimal off topic please, i have already deleted three posts here...
thanks
-Lloir, Section mod
Is anyone really seriously responding to this?
What would be the advantages of modifying Android layout for 1 device only, its so annoying to see this stuff here when even a s-off thread is locked.. currently when all the sources are going to a way whereas all the basic files are device independent makin this even more.. timewasting effort and still we have the same issues. You just lock every rom dev to a ramdisk instead of a kernel dev to a ramdisk.
This is only usefull with a locked bootloader. I never implement this, another reason is that i spend more time getting my stuff aligned with the mainline that is giving me more succes then randomly adding stuff the a system partition.
Oh and btw when youre system partition gets messed up or altered or whatever you wish you had a decent ramdisk. Not to forget the huge amount of users ending up like that and flooding the forums with questions.
TripNRaVeR said:
Is anyone really seriously responding to this?
What would be the advantages of modifying Android layout for 1 device only, its so annoying to this stuff here.. when all the sources are going to a way whereas all the basic files are device independent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Adding 1 directory is not an "android layout modification". They are moving there, yet it isn't independent between the ROMS even on the same phone.
This is only usefull with a locked bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what 99% of us have.
Oh and btw when youre system partition gets messed up or altered or whatever you wish you had a decent ramdisk. Not to forget the huge amount of users ending up like that and flooding the forums with questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your system messes up you are probably can't boot android either. What the r=1 user do this time? Goes to recovery, wipe, if that doesn't help, reflash.
Since we have different kernel and ramdisk for recovery, this is not a problem.
Xmister said:
That's what 99% of us have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol 99% of us DOESNT have this, if we did we cant flash custom roms.
Adding 1 directory is changing Android layout, Google doesnt have it, you want it on /system you alter the layout. Plain simple.
Also if anyone, like me, doesnt like to include youre mod users still need to repack between roms who contain that dir and roms who dont have that dir. That repacking also requires the same kernel edits so basicly you just move the repacking arround.
TripNRaVeR said:
Lol 99% of us DOESNT have this, if we did we cant flash custom roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I was reading S-ON in my mind, I don't know why.
But then it's not only useful for locked devices. It helps just in what it says in the title.
Also if anyone, like me, doesnt like to include youre mod users still need to repack between roms who contain that dir and roms who dont have that dir. That repacking also requires the same kernel edits so basicly you just move the repacking arround.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it can only work if there are enough ROMs taking the change.
And right, call it a layout modification. Why is adding 1 directory bad for anything? It won't break compatibility over anything.
Xmister said:
Sorry, I was reading S-ON in my mind, I don't know why.
But then it's not only useful for locked devices. It helps just in what it says in the title.
Yes, it can only work if there are enough ROMs taking the change.
And right, call it a layout modification. Why is adding 1 directory bad for anything? It won't break compatibility over anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont want to call it bad, i just dont think this developer discussion, as we all know, and probably you also, this kinda stuff is only stuff to think about. As long as the whole community isnt adopting this it will never happen.
As you also state, it only works when enough roms are using it.. THAT is my problem here, currently we need to repack because of compat. issues sometimes.
Cool that sucks i know, you come up with this idea, without proper thinking people say cool lets do that.
When building roms, some devs like this and some devs dont like this, that will happen you can count on that. If you have 3 devs that dont use it you could end up doing MORE repacking then we need to do now.. that is what i'm trying to explain..
Therefore i said cant believe this is seriously looked into at a high mod level dev section. Hope i made my point clearer now
TripNRaVeR said:
I dont want to call it bad, i just dont think this developer discussion, as we all know, and probably you also, this kinda stuff is only stuff to think about. As long as the whole community isnt adopting this it will never happen.
As you also state, it only works when enough roms are using it.. THAT is my problem here, currently we need to repack because of compat. issues sometimes.
Cool that sucks i know, you come up with this idea, without proper thinking people say cool lets do that.
When building roms, some devs like this and some devs dont like this, that will happen you can count on that. If you have 3 devs that dont use it you could end up doing MORE repacking then we need to do now.. that is what i'm trying to explain..
Therefore i said cant believe this is seriously looked into at a high mod level dev section. Hope i made my point clearer now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So your point is: "They won't use it anyway"
And why would need more repack? If half of the ROMs would use it, there would be half as much repack needed.
And in the section rules it says even overriding a notification widget should go in this forum. It's not S-OFF forum, it's Dev related forum, such as my idea.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Lets all be honest and say: people (users) are lazy...
So if they CAN, they WILL go for the non-repack option
Now, as I am a normal User I am not sure what the exact mechanics are behind this.
But as far as I understand it would be less work for the kernel devs.
They only have to take the "minimal" ramdisk, and put it in their kernel.
The rom makers will have to do "more" work.
But it is work they already are doing, most roms are released with a specific boot.img/kernel.
Some romdevs already are making their own kernels to get some functions (within the ramdisk) to work!
They will gladly adapt to a new way of using ramdisks...
Now I suggest to X Mister, Go for it!
Make a tutorial for rom devs, make a tutorial for kernel devs, and make a tutorial for users.
Make it easy for everyone to use this method!
Now I get what Trip is saying, when we have S-Off we won't need this..
This is very true, but S-Off is most likely not going to happen any time soon.
So in the mean time, why not try it for this device?
- I know this is not really a dev related post, but nor were the last 8 or so

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