Develop Bugs

What directory is A2SD apps stored on the SD Card?

I want to reformat my SD card to make a bigger ext3 partition for more app storage using slidemeroot ROM. I want to copy the current apps on the a2sd partition to my desktop so after i reformat the ext3 partition I can just paste them back onto it. So which directory on the SD card can I find my apps? Thanks!

Typically they are on /system/sd
but, with my later rom they are on /sd-ext

Thanks Eugene, also, I can only browse the ext3 directory that my apps are on using Linux like Ubuntu correct? Would my method previously posted work with copying and pasting the apps back onto the new ext3 partition?

[Q] Question A2SD & OpenDesire 4.0.34

Hi,
I'm using OpenDesire 4.0.34 and have partitioned my sdcard to have 3 partitions:
1 - FAT32 14GB
2 - EXT3 512MB
3 - SWAP/CACHE 32MB
Now I have one question:
I have enabled the "Allow application moving" setting in Settings->CyanogenMod settings->Application settings and selected Install location: Internal the same screen.
My question is: I've installed a bunch of apps I often use and they used to leave me with only 19MB free in internal phone memory. Now it shows free internal memory around 120MB?! I've checked all the apps in the Manage applications and they are on the phone (at least it says so). I've mounted /sd-ext in recovery and all the apps are there...
Can anyone explain me what's goin' on here?
Thanks for your help!

Uhm... you do know that the partition of an ext3 sd-ext system is exactly to provide greater storage space for your applications, don't you?!

Guess not...
The /sd-ext is the mount point of my ext3 partition on the sd card?
Anyway, I didn't move any app to sd card (at least explicitily).

z7x8c9 said:
Guess not...
The /sd-ext is the mount point of my ext3 partition on the sd card?
Anyway, I didn't move any app to sd card (at least explicitily).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you use Ext3 partition youll get "A2SD+" and both your internal memory and your Ext3 partiton will become your new "internal" space on phone. So if the setting is set to "internal" the apps will go to ext3 and internal phone memory.
The internal phone memory counter however only show how much space you have on the internal phone memory where only small parts of the apps is installed.

I just removed my sdcard to see what would happen and all my apps are gone.
As such I assume they are all on the sdcard...
So when using the ext3 partition, how can I choose if an app is installed to the phone memory or to the sdcard? Is this possible at all?
Also, when I go to manage applications, I can "move to sd card" any app, but what does this do then?
I'm a bit confused...

Moved to Q&A as not development.
Please do not make new threads in development to ask questions

z7x8c9 said:
I just removed my sdcard to see what would happen and all my apps are gone.
As such I assume they are all on the sdcard...
So when using the ext3 partition, how can I choose if an app is installed to the phone memory or to the sdcard? Is this possible at all?
Also, when I go to manage applications, I can "move to sd card" any app, but what does this do then?
I'm a bit confused...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you are getting apps2sd confused with the native android move to sd function!!, when you create an ext partition and use a rom that supports apps2sd, the developer has used a script that point the device to the /sd-ext as the INTERNAL STORAGE location, where as if you use the move to sd function in android, the apk's are move to the Androidsecure folder in the root of your sd card, as aposed to being stored in /data/app

I think I've got it...
On an a2sd enabled rom, I'm not required to do anything in order to install apps on the sdcard.
The move to sdcard button is the native android method to move apps to the sdcard.
I got confused because in OpenDesire in the Settings->CyanogenMod settings->Application settings there is an option to allow application moving, but all this does is enable me to move any app to the .android_secure using the move to sdcard button. It's got nothing to do with a2sd, right?
Thanks for your help!

[Q] How to get widgets to run from SD card

i got my last question solved but I read somewhere that usin darktremors script would allow me to run widgets from sd card because the system thinks they are still in the correct place.
running GV1.5 partitions fat32/ext3/linux-swap.
I installed the script after mounting /data and /system from the recovery. After that I rebooted and ran the script commands. Moved a widget to sd card and it vanished from screen just like froyo.
what am I doing wrong?
I know you need to move the dalvik-cache for this to work. but recovery can't find sd-ext.

Huh? From what i know widgets will not work if u put them in the micro sd.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

lainvalenajr said:
Huh? From what i know widgets will not work if u put them in the micro sd.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using stock froyo a2sd (apps2fat) will not allow you to run widgets. If you partition your sdcard (ext partition) and use the old style a2sd (apps2ext) using darktremors a2sd package you can run widgets from the sdcard. Along with putting the entire app, not just 1/2 or 1/4 of it, on the sdcard plus all of it's data (optional).
If it's easy for you to understand it as the phone thinking the ext partition is part of the internal memory, that's good enough since it's basically what's going on.
Spastic909 said:
I installed the script after mounting /data and /system from the recovery. After that I rebooted and ran the script commands. Moved a widget to sd card and it vanished from screen just like froyo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you did wrong is moving the app to the sdcard. The commands you run in terminal move the apps to the sd ext partition. Specifically this one:
Code:
#su
#cd /system/bin
#a2sd cachesd
It will still show it as installed to the internal memory because it thinks it is. Even in a file explorer under data/app it shows the apps but that's part of the *trick*.
If you go into applications and move it to the sdcard it puts it on the fat32 partition which is where the froyo version puts them - don't do that. That's what you did wrong.

KCRic... huh i didnt know that. Ill try that. Spastic u should try that lol
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

i installed the busybox 1.18.0.git
wiped everything in recovery and from recovery ran the script. After I rebooted I ran the commands in terminal.
then my phone rebooted...does that mean it worked?

Spastic909 said:
i installed the busybox 1.18.0.git
wiped everything in recovery and from recovery ran the script. After I rebooted I ran the commands in terminal.
then my phone rebooted...does that mean it worked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. You can use titanium backup to make sure. Just open it and you should see a bar at the bottom showing sdext available/free. Also you can use a file explorer - got to /sdext and you should see an app, app-private, dalvikcache, data, and one or two other folders listed. If you do then it worked.
You can also use terminal to have a2sd check and make sure it's working but I don't want to load the thread with commands I'll post them if you want to learn a bit though

Sorry to resurrect this thread, I thought it better than making my own.
I'm running CM 6.1.3 and have an 8GB SD card inside.
1) How do I check how the SD card is formatted? And if it doesn't have an EXT3 partition, how do I partition it property?
and 2) Is there an easy, non-terminal way to send apps to the EXT3 partition, akin to hitting "move to SD card" in android settings. And since, as you said, it moves all the data to the EXT3 partition, not just some, is it best to keep most of my apps there, to free up internal memory as best as possible?
And PS, when I'm partitioning my SD card, will I need to create a SWAP partition? 1GB for an 8GB stick?
Thanks so much.
EDIT: I'm on an X10 if that helps..

info about app 2 sd

does anyone know for sure where apps are stored when we move it to sdcard?

sd-ext partition..
if u need to have a look, get root explorer> /data/sdext2(similar)

just go to app 2 sd then go to sd card, if you want to move most of your app to sd card then you should download move2sd enabler(for root only). here is the link
app 2 sd pro: http: //www.4shared.com/file/LWfqfkKv/App_2_SD_Pro__233_.html
move2sd enabler: http://www.4shared.com/file/DnI91mzh/Move2SD_Enabler.html
(dont download it to market because it will say not compatible to your sgy)

and what is the forder .android_secure on sdcard.i am very comfused and try to understant some thing.i have partition ext3 on my sd.folder data/sdext2 say its empty.link2sd says that on ext partition is only 10mb.i cant understant...where are stored the apps if they aren't in ext parttion?
(i create ext partition with linux)

termagazis said:
and what is the forder .android_secure on sdcard.i am very comfused and try to understant some thing.i have partition ext3 on my sd.folder data/sdext2 say its empty.link2sd says that on ext partition is only 10mb.i cant understant...where are stored the apps if they aren't in ext parttion?
(i create ext partition with linux)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.android_secure contains files and references to all the apps on SDcard (I guess )
contents of data/sdext2 are hidden.. use root explorer if you can..

i used root explorer.i cant see the contains of data/ext2 but it say that there is used 10mb from 400+ that is whole space.but where are the others apps.all my apps are more than 180mb and i have moved them to sd.internal memory usage is 50-60mb.where are the others?maybe in sd card but not at ext partition?

termagazis said:
i used root explorer.i cant see the contains of data/ext2 but it say that there is used 10mb from 400+ that is whole space.but where are the others apps.all my apps are more than 180mb and i have moved them to sd.internal memory usage is 50-60mb.where are the others?maybe in sd card but not at ext partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure but maybe the moveable were moved to SD main partition..

[Q] Using Link2sd correctly

Hey People,
As the title shows I have some questions about using Link2sd correctly.
First off my phone is rooted and is using a standard VM rom with most of the bloatware already removed and apps2sd built into the rom.
I am only using a 4 gig SD card that has 2 partitions.
In Link2sd SD(/mnt/sdcard) card shows total .97GB and SD Card 2nd Part (/data/sdext2) has total 2.84GB.
I think I have them backwards, should /mnt/sdcard be the larger partition since that is the one I have access to?
And what is the difference between Linking something to the SD card and just moving it to the SD card?
From what I have gathered when something is Linked to the SD card it gets moved to the /data/sdext2.
And if you just move it to the SD card it gets moved to the /mnt/sdcard partition.
When would you choose one over the other?
Thanks

Quick study Links2SD can move any app; A2SD can only move apps written to be moved to SD [/sdcard]. I prefer to use the ext2 or ext3 [/sdext] as much as possible for apps as its a native file system [android is a linux branch after all]. The fat32 can cause longer delays at boot time imo. I believe your partition sizes to be a good choice though. Your fat32 will fill up with nandroids, downloaded roms and mods, music, documents and such before you know it
Hope that helps.
Rob
Sent from my HTC_A510c using Tapatalk 2

I think your ext partition is to big for a 4gb sdcard, you may want to reduce it to 1gb or 2gb if you have plenty of apps. Let me tell you more about this link2sd, app2sd and data2sd so that you will understand better and be able to decide which is suitable for your phone.
As mentioned above, link2sd moves apps to your ext2/ext3/ext4 partition. But not only apps or the apk's, it also moves the dalvik, cache, and library files supporting the apps. The advantage of link2sd is the freedom to choose which of those you want to move. You can easily check or uncheck this options during the linking process.
Native app2sd moves apps to the fat32 partition (/sdcard). And it only moves the apk, leaving cache, dalvik and library files in the internal memory. If you have several applications moved in this manner, a certain portion of your internal memory is still being consumed.
There's also Data2Sd, it creates a link of the entire /data folder and moves everything to the ext partition. Logically speaking, your ext partition becomes your /data partition. The original data partition now becomes a useless space. The advantage of this is the size of your internal memory, which is only limited to the size of your ext partition. But there's also a disadvantage, to use app2sd you need a fast sdcard (category 6 and above is recommended) because everything is now residing on the sdcard which is normally slower than the built-in memory and may result to lagging on some applications.

I have a new SD cart I have partition it like the 1i use know
How do I copy all of my staff from one card to another? So that link 2sd will work with no problem?
Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using Tapatalk 2

anhelogr said:
I have a new SD cart I have partition it like the 1i use know
How do I copy all of my staff from one card to another? So that link 2sd will work with no problem?
Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I you mean the apps linked into your old sdcard, then do this:
1. Backup all your apps using titanium backup. The backup will be stored in your /sdcard under "TitaniumBackup" folder.
2. Use a card reader to copy that folder to your new sdcard.
3. Insert your new sdcard to your phone, then download and reinstall titanium backup.
It will automatically scan for backup up files in your sdcard and will allow you to restore all your apps.

Ok thanks s I will try this
Send from my Wildfire S Rom : Wildchild Lite v1. 1

Why is link2sd not finding my ext 2 particion ?
Is this because I used cwr to particion my SD card ?
I have made a 2gb ext2 with 512 swap I have linked a lot of apps to SD card but when I get the memory status I get the SD particion not detected
What can I do? The think is that the phone works fine
Send from my Wildfire S Rom : Wildchild Lite v1. 1

2GB is probably more that you'll ever need. I've always used 1GB and it has not yet run out.
Could you clarify what you mean when you say that you have linked a lot of apps but the SD partition is not detected?
Does Link2SD say that the apps are on the sdcard or the apps are LINKED to SD?

AceRoom said:
2GB is probably more that you'll ever need. I've always used 1GB and it has not yet run out.
Could you clarify what you mean when you say that you have linked a lot of apps but the SD partition is not detected?
Does Link2SD say that the apps are on the sdcard or the apps are LINKED to SD?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the problem is this when I open the link2sd a windows pops up and tells me to choose
Ext2 ext 3 ext 4 fat 32 if I choose ext 2 it say that it can't found the ext2 and I have to do a restart then it finds the ext2 and tells me to restart again if I do not turn the phone off there is no problem but if I turn the phone off at night I have to do this again:banghead: in order for the link2sd to find the ext2 partition if I go to link2sd settings storage use the 2end partition is not available only if I do 2 restarts
Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using Tapatalk 2

Did you ever use data2sd or s2e or anything else which uses the sd-ext partition? It sounds like there might be a conflict between different startup scripts.
Could you open a root explorer (Or terminal or adb) and find the init.d folder.
On my CM9, the folder is at /system/system/etc/init.d
Post here a list of all the files inside that folder.

AceRoom said:
Did you ever use data2sd or s2e or anything else which uses the sd-ext partition? It sounds like there might be a conflict between different startup scripts.
Could you open a root explorer (Or terminal or adb) and find the init.d folder.
On my CM9, the folder is at /system/system/etc/init.d
Post here a list of all the files inside that folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I haven't use anythink
I have a new rom Installed with link2sd ready for use
I have a lot of free space the rom is what I wanted the only promplem is this :banghead:
The solution is never turn off my phone (I think this is no good for any phone )
Send using Htc Wildfire S
Rom Wildchild v1.1

anhelogr said:
No I haven't use anythink
I have a new rom Installed with link2sd ready for use
I have a lot of free space the rom is what I wanted the only promplem is this :banghead:
The solution is never turn off my phone (I think this is no good for any phone )
Send using Htc Wildfire S
Rom Wildchild v1.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got confirmation that the Link2SD/a2sd in this ROM are working just fine. Many users have reported that; and a few users have even told me that Data2SD also works just fine (I dunno... I only use Link2SD) with the only point being that you can't delete/uninstall any of the app2sd scripts that come bundled with the ROM. If you must use Data2SD (why??) then simply install it and you're off and running. Other than that, Link2SD should work just fine (it does for me and, literally, hundreds others).
I suspect this has to do with what/how you restored from Titanium Backup... or the fact that you partitioned with CWM. No offense, but CWM's strength is in backup/recovery, not partitioning (or even partitioning WIPING, if you read a few key posts on this forum).
I suggest you format with MiniTool Partition Wizard (lots of good tutorials on XDA). I'm using ext2fs myself and it works just fine (of course, ext4fs also works... I've tried it myself).
Good luck,

Tigger31337 said:
I've got confirmation that the Link2SD/a2sd in this ROM are working just fine. Many users have reported that; and a few users have even told me that Data2SD also works just fine (I dunno... I only use Link2SD) with the only point being that you can't delete/uninstall any of the app2sd scripts that come bundled with the ROM. If you must use Data2SD (why??) then simply install it and you're off and running. Other than that, Link2SD should work just fine (it does for me and, literally, hundreds others).
I suspect this has to do with what/how you restored from Titanium Backup... or the fact that you partitioned with CWM. No offense, but CWM's strength is in backup/recovery, not partitioning (or even partitioning WIPING, if you read a few key posts on this forum).
I suggest you format with MiniTool Partition Wizard (lots of good tutorials on XDA). I'm using ext2fs myself and it works just fine (of course, ext4fs also works... I've tried it myself).
Good luck,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I though the same that the problem is the partition method I use I will try the mini tool
Send using Htc Wildfire S
Rom Wildchild v1.1

I found the problem I was selecting ext2 for link2sd but when I use mini tool it said ext3 so I load up again the card start link2sd ext3 reboot and vouala all ok know I really enjoy my phone
Send from my HTC Wildfire S
ROM. Wildchild. v2. 0