[Q] Converting from ext4 to ext2 - Desire Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Might be a stupid question.
Well here's the deal i partitioned my sd card to ext4 (i think i'm not sure how i can find it out if it is ext3 or ext4). I was reading that ext2 was faster and quite better than ext3 or ext4 so i was thinking is there any easy way to deconvert from ext4 to ext2. What is the best way to do this preferably without loosing any data from sd card or the partition?
And how can i find out easily what partition my sdcard is ext3 or ext4?

Im not sure where you get that information but devs wouldn't recommend EXT4 partition if its gonna slowdown the performance of their roms.
I bet gparted can tell what type of ext partition you have and I bet there are other ways to find out... You can flash 4Ext Recovery and that will show you those information as well.
via xda app

4ext recovery converts partitions but only between ext3 and ext4 without data loss. Al though I am scratching my head, where did you read that ext2 is faster than others?
Ext4 has more features than Ext3 and Ext2, main advantage is journaling which gives improved performance and reliability. The only downside with ext4(also ext3) is that the SD Card wears out faster since it can perform more read/write activities. If I was you I would keep things the way they are.

deadlyboss01 said:
4ext recovery converts partitions but only between ext3 and ext4 without data loss.
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I know but I believe it would be able to tell what type of Ext partition the sd card has
via xda app

I saw something about it on androidforums.com and somewhere else i can't remember where.
There few people said that after going from ext2 to ext3-4 the rom that they had became a little laggy and it said also that some kernel dev said to use ext2 rather than ext3-4.
Also said the same thing you deadlyboss01 said about the sd card wearing out sooner.
Is it maybe silly to use ext2 if i already have ext4?
And if i set up 4ext recovery can i restore nand backups from cwm?

And if i set up 4ext recovery can i restore nand backups from cwm?
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I believe it can since 4ext recovery is based on cwm but better post the question on the 4ext thread to get an accurate answer. Sorry im not that sure.
via xda app

It seem that you are quite adamant. Have you personally experienced these lags?Also, I had the impression that kernel devs focused more on ext3/ext4. Nevermind, CWM is indeed compatible with 4ext recovery as Stankyou said.

No i personally have not had these lags but it seems that i'm just going to stick to 4ext and try to flash the 4ext recovery and check that out

Thanks to this thread(and others), i got some balls and knowledge. And i've installed, 4eXT Touch Recovery and then converted my ext3 partition to ext4 with 4eXT, way to easy. Needless to say, that Recovery is awesome! Thanks People! !
I also read this on ext2 being better and was confused, some guy had a htc incredible s and experienced lag with ext4 and not on ext2.
Well, i also see alot of devs using ext4 and now this thread... think this is quite simple, Use ext4 if the rom supports it.

Related

[Q] How do you create an ext3 and ext4 on your sd card?

I've already partitioned my sd card using rom manager but I'm pretty sure I only have a ext2. So how do you make a ext 3 + ext 4? If this has been posted before please link me the tread that talks about it. Thanks
bho15 said:
I've already partitioned my sd card using rom manager but I'm pretty sure I only have a ext2. So how do you make a ext 3 + ext 4? If this has been posted before please link me the tread that talks about it. Thanks
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i think the latest rom manager make ext 3...
you can test it if you download a partitionsmanger that can handle linux ext partitions
i think the latest rom manager make ext 3...
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And how do you make ext4?
i know amonra recovery can make ext3 to ext4 partition, but there are some roms out there that don't support ext4, so i personally stick to ext3 just to make things a little easier.
how do you know you are using ext3? i created my partition on rom manager about a month ago and thought it was ext2 could it be ext3?
not sure how to do it on the phone. i know if you use gparted on ubuntu, it is possible to tell what type of filesystem your partitions are.
fakts13 said:
i know if you use gparted on ubuntu,
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Wow i dont even speak that language, thats gone way over my head lol thanks for your help though, i'll assume i have an ext2
Thanks man
Using AmonRA recovery

How to tell what filesystem?

Hi all, I just used CW Recovery to make a 1gb extra partition but don't know which version ext it made. Can someone provide me with some code to write in my terminal to line up my sd-card partition. Thanks.
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
Afaik cwm makes ext2 by default, check with 'mount' from terminal, look for sd-ext and if will say ext2/3/4 next to it.
Thanks man.
It seems that the cvm provided in the [Nightly]CM7 thread made ext4 filesystem, atleast that's what I have but it could be the data2ext mod I flashed that converted the ext2 to ext4, I don't know.
More chance that the data2ext mod formated your partition with ext4

[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
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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
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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?
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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.
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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
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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.
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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).
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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

[Q] ext4 vs ext3 for sdext partition?

Is there any major difference between an ext3 partition on one's sd card and an ext4 one? Is there any point in converting an ext3 to and ext4 (using 4ext recovery)?
Also, if I did this, can I restore a backup made from my old ext3 partition into an ext4?
Edit: This has been covered before, I only just spotted the suggested existing threads feature. Damned if I can find the way to delete this thread though.

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