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How to Partition your Sd Card??

How to partition your SD Card for us Newbies.
how can i do that? Ext2 , Ext3
i have a 8 gb sd card class 6. someone guide me please with a link
Thnx

acronis disk manager can do that but the card wouldnt boot in my phone, so i used the phones internal boot up manager to do it, unlocker.com has a video guide. i only been doing this my self passed 3 days and its been really confusing so good luck

Page 2 of the Q&A Forum
oMaRcO said:
How to partition your SD Card for us Newbies.
Thnx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Introductory Remarks:
- Ext Partition is only needed if your rom uses App2SD+ (Froyo app2sd works with basic Fat32 partition)
- "Install apps to sd" (ext) must sometimes be configured in your ROM, check the thread for your rom for infos...
- Backup your SD card before you start ! The following steps will wipe the contents !
- Ext partitions are only visible in Linux = Windows can't see it.
- Swap Partitions are no longer useful.
- You can check if you have a working ext partition with Quick system info (in app market)
- On first reboot after partition, android will move some apps to the SD, this will take a lot of time. Some people have reported a bootloop on green HTC Screen, one reported a need to Battery pull 4 times before it finally worked), so be patient!!!!
- If the device is plugged into a PC when you try to boot with the partitioned SDCard it never gets past the white HTC sceen & logo.
Now the tutorials:
A. Easiest way is to install Rom Manager:
1) install rom manager
2) choose partition sd card
- 512mb ext
- 0 swap
3) let RM do the rest... ;-)
- I believe Rom Manager (as of end of July) creates an ext2 partition, therefore if you want ext3 or 4, easiest is to go through Gparted, or if you have amonRa Recovery, I believe this function is present.
B. Another one is using Gparted:
(copied this from http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=Apps2SD)
You can use a livecd of GParted, or use it from within Ubuntu (vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVK-t...eature=related)
+ You can do this using your phone to mount the SD card or a Card adapter directly connected to your computer.
1) Connect your phone to your computer (or use an SD Card adapter...., in this case skip to 4))
2) Pull down the notification bar and mount the phone
3) Start Gparted
4) Gparted will search available drives. (Your phone should show up as a USB drive, and will be something like /dev/sdb1 or /dev/sdc1, etc..)
Warning: double-check you've not selected a hdd by mistake!
5) In the upper right corner, select the correct USB device for your phone. (i.e. check to make sure it is correct size for your SD card)
6) Right click on each partition and select 'unmount'
7) Right click on each partition and select 'delete'
If you know what you are doing, you can re-size the partitions and add a new 2nd partition formatted as ext2/3/4
8) Right click on the big gray bar (should say unallocated x.xx gb) and click 'new'
9) Enter configurations
Free Space preceding = 0
Create as = Primary
New size = [don't touch]
File system = fat32
Free Space Following = 512 (or whatever you want)
10) Click add
11) Right click on the big gray bar (should say unallocated x.xx gb) and click 'new'
12) Enter configurations
Free Space preceding = 0
Create as = Primary
New size = [don't touch]
File system = ext3 or 4 (recommend ext4)
Free Space Following = 0
Click add
13) [CHECK AGAIN you are working on your SD card and not your Hard Drive!!!!] Click edit, then 'Apply All Operations' to write changes to disk
14) Quit GParted
15) Unmount your SD Card
16) Reboot your phone and wait (see introductory remarks)
C. Recovery Images
Some Recovery Images also have a option to format your SD card from the recovery screen. (see http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=721792).
I have not tried that.
As long as you have an ext2/3/4 partition and the ROM you're flashing has A2SD support (check before you download the ROM), you are not required to do anything more.
D. How to check if it worked?
To check whether A2SD is working once you've flashed your ROM,
1)Download Quick System Info from the Market, and check under A2SD Storage, it should give you enough informations.
2)download the Android Terminal Emulator app from the market and use the following commands
Code:
su
ls -l /data
You should see your app directory pointing to /system/sd/app and app-private pointing to /system/sd/app-private (courtesy of ikkokusenkin)
E. Further Infos
See: http://geeks.pirillo.com/profiles/blogs/how-to-partition-an-sd-card or :
http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f...rtition-14232/ or:
http://theunlockr.com/2009/10/15/ho...-android-when-using-swap-hero-and-or-apps2sd/ (With Rav Recovery...) or:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=534714 (most complicated way.... )
related thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=731432&page=2
F. Open Questions:
What I don't know:
- If the size of the ext partition matters (if you have to choose 256/512 or 1024, and can't have 600mb for example?
- What ROMs require ext partitions? (all with app2sd+, basic froyo app2sd doesn't require ext partition).
- If Class 6 SD cards really are that important (some webpages say that class 2 cards are not able to handle ext2 partitions and end up bricked.
- How to manage the contents in the ext partition when changing SD Cards... (do you need any management of your ext partition?) or you have to reinstall those apps????) See here.
- How to check if you bricked your sd card...
- etc...
Good Luck

Use Rom Manager
Completely painless, took less that 2 mins to do mine
PS - It may appear to stuck at the HTC white screen after completion, I just left it and
it booted up normally after about 3 mins
50 apps installed and 132MB spare!!

The first time round the Rom manager worked for me. But I again formatted the card thinking i had not followed the right partitioning so i tried again but i get stuck on a black screen with SU request written forever which needs to be force closed.
Please advise. thanks

I recently bought a 32gb sandisk and want to get that working heres what I have done with no luck:
I inserted the new memory card and it picked up fine on the phone then I went to rom manager to partition the card, 512mb and 0 swap it reboots but only stays in clockwork mod, from here I dont know what to do.
If I connect the phone to the computer with the card mounted it displays the card as raw not fat32 but music files drag and drop and easily play.
I could format it from the computer to fat32 but I'll wait and see what you guys say.

Chan_B said:
I recently bought a 32gb sandisk and want to get that working heres what I have done with no luck:
I inserted the new memory card and it picked up fine on the phone then I went to rom manager to partition the card, 512mb and 0 swap it reboots but only stays in clockwork mod, from here I dont know what to do.
If I connect the phone to the computer with the card mounted it displays the card as raw not fat32 but music files drag and drop and easily play.
I could format it from the computer to fat32 but I'll wait and see what you guys say.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to format the card back to fat32 using:
http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/sd/download/index.html
Then check out the Windows way of using parted to partition
http://androidandme.com/2009/08/news/how-to-manually-partition-your-sd-card-for-android-apps2sd/
After partitioning I use clockworkmod to upgrade ext2 to 3.
And you can't always set a linux swap of 0 so calculate 1MB for that part.

I got it to fat32 but then the windows way of using parted to partition seems difficult. How can I tell if I have partitioned my card successfully? How can I partition using clockworkmod only, when I go to partitions menu it only says mount or format, this is frustrating...

Chan_B said:
I got it to fat32 but then the windows way of using parted to partition seems difficult. How can I tell if I have partitioned my card successfully? How can I partition using clockworkmod only, when I go to partitions menu it only says mount or format, this is frustrating...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gparted has a live cd to partition your sd card
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/download.php

Hi, i see you all set swap as 0 does that mean its using phone internal storage as swap how fast is read/write of phone ram ? i have class2 32gb card i used the phone boot with the r5 windows.bat to get into it and i set 256 swap/512 ext2/ rest 32bit all seems to work fine.
i note that writing to the sd card is about 2MBps and read is 10MBps.
i have a class4 8gb that writes at 10MBps reads about 17MBps i have had both in the phone and i cant say that i notice lag on the 32GB but i havent had it more than a few days and coming from xda orbit its a big difference.
if i use the card as storage the phone becomes very lag but maybe thats cause in that mode it would have no swap file? might change that when i finally flash to froyo.
gparted kept saying it was unformatted when windows said it was formatted so i gave up with it.

gianton said:
gparted has a live cd to partition your sd card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but I think I sorted it. Fingers crossed.

Just rooted my htc desire and used rom manager to partition my sd card (the one I got when I bought the phone). Everything fine.
then I bought a new Transcend micro sdhc 8GB... this memory card is not recognize by windows if using card reader. So..:
- I inserted into blackberry and connected using usb cable. My windows (Windows xp) can see and access it.
- formatted the new memory card to Fat32
- copy Open Desire and and Official Sense Froyo ROMs, both by Adam
- flashed to Sense Froyo ROM, and when it rebooted, it freezed.. cant get into the system
- flashed to OpenDesire, it worked.
- Download ROM Manager
- choose "Partition SD Card"
- Swap 0, Ext 512mb
- ERROR...
what should I do?

Did you download Clockworkmod recovery through ROM Manager before that?

If you create a partition using rom manager do you lose all your apps and settings that you already have in use.
thanks

jankos said:
Did you download Clockworkmod recovery through ROM Manager before that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes.. cos when i clicked partition sd card, it asked me to download clockworkmod first.
it goes to recovery screen but with "unsucsessfull" message. cant find sdcard/cache/update.zip ...
the funny thing is, if I copied update.zip from my old memory card into new one. and run update.zip from recovery screen... then it worked.
but when I checked with quick system info, app2sd only shows around 400mb. is that rite?

aoisora said:
yes.. cos when i clicked partition sd card, it asked me to download clockworkmod first.
it goes to recovery screen but with "unsucsessfull" message. cant find sdcard/cache/update.zip ...
the funny thing is, if I copied update.zip from my old memory card into new one. and run update.zip from recovery screen... then it worked.
but when I checked with quick system info, app2sd only shows around 400mb. is that rite?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its showing around 400mb for me aswell, but how exactly can I tell if it is working. If I go to manage applications and click on sd card I have a couple that I moved over i.e rom manager but some apps are unmovable to sd card. Are these apps unmovable by design. I hope I haven't done it wrong.
BTW neophyte is the best rom I've used yet.

I made partition with Rom Manager.
Do I need now to "swap" ext2 to ext3?
If so, how do I do it?!

mattan said:
I made partition with Rom Manager.
Do I need now to "swap" ext2 to ext3?
If so, how do I do it?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think rom manager does that as ext3.

mattan said:
I made partition with Rom Manager.
Do I need now to "swap" ext2 to ext3?
If so, how do I do it?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ROM Manager makes directly ext3 format. Do not worry about that

jankos said:
ROM Manager makes directly ext3 format. Do not worry about that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it doesn't it makes a ext2 partition, you have to format to ext3... I have used gparted live cd to do this.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

SD card works in windows but not in Recovery

so here is the deal. did s-off today, had a FAT32+ EXT4 on my sdcard. i tried to install rcmixS (cm7 hboot) but i got a bootloop. so i read it might help to format ext4 to ext3, and there was a flashable .zip that was supposed to do it. flashed the zip and after that my EXT partition no longer works (not even in gparted - like it wasnt there, 1gb of storage just isnt visible) and my FAT32 works only in windows... if i enable usb mass storage in CWM 2.5.1.8 i can copy files to SD but then in recovery it says 'no files found' when i want to flash a rom.
so i took my second SD card, it worked in CWM, so i ran gparted and did FAT32+EXT3 (no .zip's this time) and the same thing happend, but this time i can still see EXT3 in gparted, formatted it back to FAT32 but still windows can see it but not the recovery...
gosh help me please :<

Flash a newer recovery, might stop this issue. Also, recovery is gay and soemtimes files don't appear for me so I just reboot the recovery. If you want a quick fix for the partitions, just boot into your rom you have installed, go to Settings > Storage > Erase SD. It will wipe the lot and just put it all to a single FAT32 partition. You will need to format again but at least if partitions go missing, you can do this and you just partition it again.

since i had no rom when my sd broke i ran a RUU, and formatted SD from android, and it worked ! 1GB that was M.I.A. is now back, big thanks man!
so now i am rooting with unrevoked and cwm 2.5.0.7 which never let me down
so while s-offing again, can i stay with 2.5.0.7 or des it have to be 2.5.1.8 ?

[Q] HTC Desire bricked?

Hey guys,
I decided to root my HTC desire today but I got a problem. I used this tutorial: http://theunlockr.com/2010/09/20/how-to-root-the-htc-desire-unrevoked-method/
Then I tried to load up this ROM: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=988570
It said the installation was successful but I am unable to boot up the device now (stuck on the screen where it says 'HTC' in green).
Any help would be appreciated.

First of all try shutting it down and turn it on by holding down vol-down and pressing power while keeping vol-down pressed. This will make your phone enter fastboot. In this menu you use the volume keys and power to chose recovery.
From here you just flash another rom like leedroid(just for now).
And no it's in no way bricked. The reason the rom isn't booting is probably, because you need to make an ext-partition on your sd-card. you can do this from rommanager once you get it to boot again

Yes, I can see the clockwork mod menu.

Dont worry mate, it's not bricked, once you get the hang of it you will be changing ROM's daily =P.... just install another ROM and pay attention to the partitions each ROM require

Did you reformat SD card to have FAT32 + 1GB+ ext3/ext4 partition?
And no its not bricked.. you cannot brick anything just by flashing ROM's its not that easy.
You either flashed CM7 version (you need custom HBOOT and S-OFF for that) or you didnt partitioned SD card.
Just wipe everything and try again.

Look at my reply again edited it, as i didn't read all the way through at first.
edit:
You either flashed CM7 version (you need custom HBOOT and S-OFF for that)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not correct the hboot is not required, and the only difference is a larger data-partition, which allows for more user installed apps You are right about the ext-partition though, as this is very likely the problem in this case.

k3lcior said:
Did you reformat SD card to have FAT32 + 1GB+ ext3/ext4 partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I didn't. How should I do this?
mortenmhp said:
Look at my reply again edited it, as i didn't read all the way through at first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.

Sumii said:
No, I didn't. How should I do this?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Backup your data from SD Card. (it will be wiped)
Enter Recovery.
Go Advanced/Partition SD Card.
Choose 1024MB Ext partition size, and 0 for swap. (you dont need that)
Now wipe everything, from the phone (data/factory reset and cache wipe)
Go mounts & storage and mount USB.
Now you can restore your files from PC to SD Card and Flash ROM.
Enjoy.
And if you want RcMixS 2.0, download this: http://rom.robocik.mobi/Desire/RCMixS/v2.0/RCMixS_v2.0_A2SD+_BravoHboot.zip
Do not download CM7 Version. ;-)

k3lcior said:
Backup your data from SD Card. (it will be wiped)
Enter Recovery.
Go Advanced/Partition SD Card.
Choose 1024MB Ext partition size, and 0 for swap. (you dont need that)
Now wipe everything, from the phone (data/factory reset and cache wipe)
Go mounts & storage and mount USB.
Now you can restore your files from PC to SD Card and Flash ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see the partition SD card option. The only options in the advanced menu are:
- Reboot Recovery
- Wipe Dalvik Cache
- Wipe Battery Stats
- Report Error
- Key Test
- Restart adbd
- Process dump

Damn you must have some old version, then partition your card just anywhere (im doing it on Ubuntu using gParted)
Just make sure to make 2 partitions:
Primary FAT32 - all available space (-1024MB)
Primary EXT3/4 - 1024MB
Remember Ext partition has to be second partition after FAT32.

k3lcior said:
Damn you must have some old version, then partition your card just anywhere (im doing it on Ubuntu using gParted)
Just make sure to make 2 partitions:
Primary FAT32 - all available space (-1024MB)
Primary EXT3/4 - 1024MB
Remember Ext partition has to be second partition after FAT32.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay thanks a lot. Now I only need to find a way to partition an SD card on a mac.

Download rom manager to make your cwm recovery do it. (cwm does have the tools for it, they are just no present in the interface)
It only allows for 512mb ext though, but usually it's enough.

RCMixS 2.0 requires 1GB+.

[Q] Partition SD

Hi!
I got some question related to Partition SD card.
Running RCMix S v2.0 CM7
Right now i have 6.42 Gb fat32 and 1Gb Ext 3.
I partition this using CWM-Alpharev recovery 2.5.1.8
When i try to use Gparted to partition to Ext 4 while am on Rcmi. The rom wont able to read the sd and it restart. After it got stuck at "why so serious" screen so i pulled battery out and get into recovery to flash the rom again. Thats when i ran you another problem i get cant mount error. "E:Can't mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p1 (or /dev/block/mmcblk0) (No such file or directory) E: Can't mount SDCARD:" I has tried all the usb fix thing but no luck. The only way i fixed it turn it back to 1 Gb Ext 3 partition.
My question is!
Is there a a way to partition to Ext 4? and is Ext 4 better than Ext 3. Can i stay with Ext 3 since the ROM am using a2sd doesn't work since i keep getting Low on internal storage.
Also, I cant make gold card since i cant put new sd card in phone. The phone wont boot up after it get stuck at "why so serious."

hi try to flash different recovery and format (not wipe) all partitions and flash it again... at the moment im using 4ext recovery:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1154221
or RMD recovery:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1137763
what hboot you using?

Does RcMixS boots if you are using ext3? If yes, stick with it. Ext4 is just faster than ext3, but you should not get any problems. RcMixS requires only an ext partition, not a special type.

Hboot-0.93.0001
Bravo PVT3 SHIP S-OFF
Radio-4.08.00.09
and yes RcMixs work fine with ext3 and that only ext that work with the recovery.
It is safe to flash new recovery?

It depdends. Are you S-OFF? If, then yes. If not, then no.

Bravo PVT3 SHIP S-OFF
It said it off so that mean it safe?
And if it is. How can i flash new recovery?

If you how what you do when using fastboot and check the md5 after downloading the recovery.img, I would say: Yes, it's save.
Flashing new recovery via fastboot is very easy:
1.) Download the recovery you want. In my opinion 4EXTRecovery and RMD Recovery are currently the best ones.
2.) After downloading, check the md5!
3.) Install adb on your computer. An installation can be found in my signature.
4.) Boot your phone into fastboot mode (Turn it off, press and hold back and power button a few seconds until a white screen with FASTBOOT in red highlighted letters appears).
5.) Connect your phone to your computer via USB (FASTBOOT should change to FASTBOOT USB).
6.) Open cmd in computer (I assume you are using windows) and enter
Code:
fastboot devices
The output should say
HT********** fastboot devices. The **** are placeholders for numbers. If you get this output, fastboot sees your phone.
7.) Now type
Code:
fastboot erase recovery
to delete the recovery.
8.) When finished, type
Code:
fastboot flash recovery C:\recovery.img
I assume the recovery image you want to flash is stored on partition C: and named recovery.img.
9.) You are done.

Thanks you so much. It worked. I got a another questions. It regard of updating radio. My current radio version is 4.08.00.09. It is important to update to latest version or am fine at current radio?

You only really need to update your radio if there are problems. So if you really need to update your radio, make sure your hboot has >40 mb on cache partition. Otherwise, it will fail and can cause big problems. But mostly nothings happens. So if you have a /cache partition with <40 mb, you have to flash radio via fastboot. A guide can be found here on xda.

Do you know how to check if hboot have more than 40 mb or less on cache partition?
There no problem right now. I just want to know just in case later in future something wrong, and i know what to do.
And thank you very much for helping out.

Download quick system info pro from market.
SwiftKeyed from dGB using Transparent XDA App

One last question. Sorry for so many questions.
Do you know how make goldcard? I tried to make one following instructions on web but it said i need put spare SD card in phone and boot up but the thing is the current rom am using. Which is RCmix 2.0 it need sd ext to boot up or phone will get stuck at S-OFF screen.

Creating a goldcard is very easy:
http://android.modaco.com/topic/308798-pc-application-goldcardtool/

Put the microSD card in your device and boot it.
That part i got stuck at. The thing is went i put a new sd card in phone and boot up. It wont boot into the phone just get stuck at the splash screen. Like i said before. I believe the rom am currently using (RCmix 2.0) need sd-ext to run.

Overread that, my bad. You are right, RcMixS needs ext partition to boot up. Configure your sd card appropriate.

What do you mean configure my sd card? You mean to make my spare sd fat 32 and ext 3 but dont i need copy the content from ext 3 on my other sd card to the spare one?

Configure=partition. I thought you were not be able to start the rom? So there won't be any data on sd-ext because this partition is only for apps. All other content have to be copied to FAT32 partition.

Ok ill try that then. Does it matter if there contents and ext 3 partition in sd card while make a goldcard?

Partitioning a card will break gold as it rewrites the boot of the card, where the goldcard.img is. Although I haven't tried it myself, I believe creating a gold card after partitioning should be fine.

Well that what i mean partition so phone boot up and create the phone. Can i also make one using Sd card reader to make goldcard rather than put sd card in phone and make it there?

[Q] Troubles with sd-ext / sd card mounting

Hey @ all,
ive got a HTC Desire with these specs:
ClockworkMod Recovery v5.0.2.0
HBOOT 6.93.1002
Radio 5.11.05.27
rooted, s-off
I tried ICS Beta with an ext4 partition for about 2-3 months, the performance was too slow, so i decided to get a faster GB-Rom. I did a full wipe and formatted my sd-card with Panasonic SD Formatter (Full Erase).
Then i tried to create a new ext4 partition with Mini Partition Tool Wizard.... (1. Move/Resize, 2. 2048MB of unallocated space - so i got a fat32 partition with 6GB and the 2nd unallocated partition will be turned into a EXT4 Primary Drive with 4kb Clusters) 3. Mini Partition Tool tells me that everything is done and without failure.
Then i boot in my Recovery and go to (mounts and storage/mount usb storage) win7 tells me that a new drive was found with 6GB (8GB SD Card - 2GB ext4). I copy my choise of ROM on it (in my example RSK bravo 7.4.3) - everything works.
Then i unmount USB storage and go to install zip from sdcard/choose zip from sdcard) and then a failure appears: Can´t mount /sdcard/
If i format the SDcard once again (without ext4) it works, i can install .zip´s and i can mount the sd-card.
Im really mad, cause i tried this 100times without success. Also tried a other card, same thing.
Could this be an sd-brick? (But everything works fine without ext4). Is it a problem of partitioning? Or can i solve this problem with another software or what would you try?
Sorry for my bad english
Please help me

Oh and maybe it helps to discover the issues... when i power on my desire it starts the revolutionary boot loader, without pressing the VOL- button...
Anyone got a idea what i could try? Im so

hello friend , this problem was also occur with me
Solution: run gparted and remove all partitons and create new fat32 partition then apply, your problem solved

If i format the SDcard once again (without ext4) it works, i can install .zip´s and i can mount the sd-card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx for your awnser but it also works without gparted (but just with a fat32 partition, without ext4). Have you created ext4 also with gparted and it worked?

I solved it
Tryed to format and partition with the sd card in my girlfriends unrooted desire z.
1st the desire z cant read the sd card and i thought it wouldn´t work again, but after formatting, partitioning i inserted the sdcard again in my desire - and then i go to install from sd-card, and see there: i could choose the rom
Maybe the unmounted usb from recovery was the reason, i dont know but im really happy that it worked