Develop Bugs

Ext3 vs ext4

Hello to all.
I have a question:what is the differences between the two file system in object of this thread?
I read that some Roms support ext4 and now I have ext3.
I need to change this?is better for performance?
Thanks
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=ext3+vs+ext4&aq=0&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=ext3+vs+&gs_rfai=&fp=f4657a9573528472

I would like to know this also

Ext4 is the newer Linux file system. Much like Windows 95 moved to Fat32, Vista moved to the NT file system. Linux is now moving to version 4 of their file system. The new file system is more efficient, has journaling and is more secure. It really will not have any noticeable affect on operation.
It must be noted though that native Linux file systems are a lot faster than Fat Windows file systems, however they are not accessible when you put your SD card into a Windows computer. This is why only part of the card is partitioned to Ext3/4 along with the benefit of not having to unmount a file system with your apps on it.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

I ve read a post with a very good explanation a week ago .
I will search !
Edit : hum sorry its about a2sd+ , but a little about ext3 and ext4
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7458565&postcount=8

So it's not really important to make the upgrade to ext4 for me?it's only a problem about security and not affect the performance?
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

i think it doesnt matter on a sd card which ext you use
sdcards are too slow

Check out this article for extensive info.
It is increased journalisation, and better handling of bigger volumes/files.

All the above is absolutely right, but totally wrong. The technical aspects are not important here. For the HTC Desire user the main difference between those filesystems is simple: stock kernel and recovery does not support ext4. That's it.
If you never plan to use stock kernel and/or recovery or skiled enough to enable ext4 support for them, then go ahead and read all those technical articles and do (or do not) change the FS type. If the words "stock kernel" and "stock recovery" mean nothing to you at the moment, you better stick to ext3.
P.S. in theory, ext4 gives you better write performance (and slightly longer SD card life) only if you frequently write the data to the ext partition. But this is not the case for A2SD partition, where the apps are installed occasionally. Unless you plan to give the Desire or the SD card to your grandchildren after many-many years.

[Q] Pros and Cons of sd-ext?

Hi!
Just would like to know the pros and cons of formatting into ext4 on my SD.
As far as I can find :
Pros : Supports files larger than 4GB as Fat32 cannot
That's about it I think...
Cons : Windows cannot natively detect such a partition
Why I ask this is I just saw a this post
blahbl4hblah said:
Having sd-ext partition on your sdcard will always be benefical, the phone will run so much better believe me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm ready to go ext4 if there's any performance gain, who wouldn't? But what gain is there, and what would I lose in return?

ArmedandDangerous said:
Hi!
Just would like to know the pros and cons of formatting into ext4 on my SD.
As far as I can find :
Pros : Supports files larger than 4GB as Fat32 cannot
That's about it I think...
Cons : Windows cannot natively detect such a partition
Why I ask this is I just saw a this post
I'm ready to go ext4 if there's any performance gain, who wouldn't? But what gain is there, and what would I lose in return?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're mixing things up here a bit I think. Sd-ext referrs to having a partition on your sdcard to allow support for Apps2SD (basically being able to move apps to your SD card and run them from there in order to free up space); you'd basically repartition the card so that there's an ext3/4 partition for apps and a FAT32 partition for data.
As for the ext4 filesystem, it does allow for larger file sizes and is also a bit faster but you're correct in the fact that you won't be able to natively mount it on a Windows system.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

OriginalGabriel said:
You're mixing things up here a bit I think. Sd-ext referrs to having a partition on your sdcard to allow support for Apps2SD (basically being able to move apps to your SD card and run them from there in order to free up space); you'd basically repartition the card so that there's an ext3/4 partition for apps and a FAT32 partition for data.
As for the ext4 filesystem, it does allow for larger file sizes and is also a bit faster but you're correct in the fact that you won't be able to natively mount it on a Windows system.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But don't we already have Apps2SD in GB, + all the apps that do it for you. How is this different, apart from some apps that can't natively be moved? And why is it faster? Internal memory should always load faster, should it not?

ArmedandDangerous said:
But don't we already have Apps2SD in GB, + all the apps that do it for you. How is this different, apart from some apps that can't natively be moved? And why is it faster? Internal memory should always load faster, should it not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GB has the ability to do Apps2SD but it requires the partitioning as, I believe, a symlink is set up so that partition on the sdcard acts as a part of the devices internal storage.
As for speed, just moving apps to your sdcard won't speed up your phone; what that poster you quoted was talking about (most likely, I'd have to see the original thread) was converting your devices partitions (/system, /data, /cache, etc.) from ext3 to ext4. ext4 is a bit faster however some ROMs do not fully support it.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Ok, let's clear this up. GB has Apps2FAT32 (a2sd) natively. A2EXT is completely different but none of that is the point of the OP's question.
When it comes to our phones - there is almost no notable performance gain when using EXT4 over any other EXT format. Our phones don't utilize FAT32 internally - just on the sdcard. EXT4 is designed for use with massive file systems. A couple Gigs really doesn't access it's full potential.
While the question is interesting, I'm not really sure what you're planning on doing. Don't format your sdcard entirely in EXT format, and don't attempt to format your phones partitions as FAT32. The result would be... just don't do it.

Just read this on the portal
http://www.xda-developers.com/andro...hd2-data-successfully-moved-to-ext-partition/
This has two main advantages: larger sized data partition and more speed as EXT is inherently faster for I/O purposes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I go about formatting a section of my SD into ext4, with existing SD data intact.
And how do I move apps that area already in my phone's internal memory to the ext4 partition? I know there's an option in ROM Manager and CWM, but just don't want to mess anything up

ArmedandDangerous said:
Just read this on the portal
http://www.xda-developers.com/andro...hd2-data-successfully-moved-to-ext-partition/
How do I go about formatting a section of my SD into ext4, with existing SD data intact.
And how do I move apps that area already in my phone's internal memory to the ext4 partition? I know there's an option in ROM Manager and CWM, but just don't want to mess anything up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, only two ROMs actually support the real A2SD: PyroMod and MexDroid. It's recommended you format the EXT partition to EXT4 before you actually flash either of those ROMs, and you have to rename MexDroid in order to get A2SD working.

blackknightavalon said:
As far as I know, only two ROMs actually support the real A2SD: PyroMod and MexDroid. It's recommended you format the EXT partition to EXT4 before you actually flash either of those ROMs, and you have to rename MexDroid in order to get A2SD working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thankfully I am already using meXdroid~ Guess I'll just wait for the new version in the next few days to do the formatting. Can I backup all my apps with Titanium Backup, flash ROM (wipe data/cache and dalvik cache), restore with Titanium.
Or would I have to reinstall every app again so that it goes into the ext4 partition?

blackknightavalon said:
As far as I know, only two ROMs actually support the real A2SD: PyroMod and MexDroid. It's recommended you format the EXT partition to EXT4 before you actually flash either of those ROMs, and you have to rename MexDroid in order to get A2SD working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a script to accomplish this on pretty much any ROM. It *should* work on current ROMs too. It's called 'darktremor a2sd'. Still find it amazing people forget about that one when this question comes up because it's one oldest methods of obtaining a2sd.
I'm still not understanding the OP's question. Are you wanting to do this for an IO performance gain or for space? I can understand doing it for space if you have a ton of apps but if you're doing it for performance it's a waste of your time. You're internal partitions should already be in EXT4 format (use 4EXT Recovery if they're not).

KCRic said:
There's a script to accomplish this on pretty much any ROM. It *should* work on current ROMs too. It's called 'darktremor a2sd'. Still find it amazing people forget about that one when this question comes up because it's one oldest methods of obtaining a2sd.
I'm still not understanding the OP's question. Are you wanting to do this for an IO performance gain or for space? I can understand doing it for space if you have a ton of apps but if you're doing it for performance it's a waste of your time. You're internal partitions should already be in EXT4 format (use 4EXT Recovery if they're not).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm doing it for the performance. Have been using 4EXT for a few days and loving it. Already converted internal memory to ext4 from ext3. If further partitioning my SD card for performance is really not noticeable, then I guess I've got nothing to worry about

4EXT Recovery not formatting sd-ext?

Hi all,
having quite a few problems with 4EXT recovery, and it formatting my sd-ext partitions. I read quite a few thread on here about using 4EXT to correctly partition memory cards, and I recently (tried) upgrading my rather old 8Gb class 4 Transcend micro-sd to a Samsung 32Gb Class 10, and thought I'd do things properly.
I boot into the recovery, hit Tools, Partiton SD Card, hit the tick to say "I'm ok with it destroying my data" remove all partitions, select 1024Mb for first partition, and after that I've tried about 5 different combinations, including skipping both the second partition and the swap, trying two 1Gb partitions for SD-ext and no swap etc etc. It then prompts me to pick EXT3 or EXT4, and I always choose EXT4.
Everytime I do this however, the EXT partition is never formatted, despite it telling me it completed successfully. This means that when I install my rom (MIUI-XJ Data2EXT one) the rom will not boot as it has no EXT partition to write to (I'm presuming as I get no specific error).
Has anyone else had similar problems or can they point me in a direction where I might be going wrong?
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help shed some light on a user who is rapidly going grey here lol

Which recoveryversion do you use?
Sent from dGB using Transparent XDA App

I suggest you use the rmd recovery. when the recovery is booted it tells you what partitions you have on the sd card. other than that it is by far the best sd-card formatting recovery i have used. the only better option is gparted i think
i have had similar problems with 4ext and i am not using it anymore

There's no such generally known bug in 4ext. if you're facing issues, I suggest you contact Maximillian with logs. I haven't seen anyone with a greater passion for fixing things.. That's the way you contribute to development-by helping fix any issues.

hassand said:
I suggest you use the rmd recovery. when the recovery is booted it tells you what partitions you have on the sd card. other than that it is by far the best sd-card formatting recovery i have used. the only better option is gparted i think
i have had similar problems with 4ext and i am not using it anymore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
RMD is crap. There is a huge bug whereby there are issues backing up .android_secure.
We identified this in the thread yet as far as we are aware, has not been addressed. It would be good if not for that bug.

MatDrOiD said:
Which recoveryversion do you use?
Sent from dGB using Transparent XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using 1.0.0.3 RC3 4EXT Recovery Touch
hassand said:
I suggest you use the rmd recovery. when the recovery is booted it tells you what partitions you have on the sd card. other than that it is by far the best sd-card formatting recovery i have used. the only better option is gparted i think
i have had similar problems with 4ext and i am not using it anymore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll see if this makes any difference. I did try and reinstall Clockwork Mod Recovery over 4EXT but for some reason it didn't work, and I still have 4EXT, but right now I'll try anything lol

Reno_79 said:
Hi all,
having quite a few problems with 4EXT recovery, and it formatting my sd-ext partitions. I read quite a few thread on here about using 4EXT to correctly partition memory cards, and I recently (tried) upgrading my rather old 8Gb class 4 Transcend micro-sd to a Samsung 32Gb Class 10, and thought I'd do things properly.
I boot into the recovery, hit Tools, Partiton SD Card, hit the tick to say "I'm ok with it destroying my data" remove all partitions, select 1024Mb for first partition, and after that I've tried about 5 different combinations, including skipping both the second partition and the swap, trying two 1Gb partitions for SD-ext and no swap etc etc. It then prompts me to pick EXT3 or EXT4, and I always choose EXT4.
Everytime I do this however, the EXT partition is never formatted, despite it telling me it completed successfully. This means that when I install my rom (MIUI-XJ Data2EXT one) the rom will not boot as it has no EXT partition to write to (I'm presuming as I get no specific error).
Has anyone else had similar problems or can they point me in a direction where I might be going wrong?
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help shed some light on a user who is rapidly going grey here lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
U can use Gparted to format your card from pc
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

rootSU said:
RMD is crap. There is a huge bug whereby there are issues backing up .android_secure.
We identified this in the thread yet as far as we are aware, has not been addressed. It would be good if not for that bug.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for backup i use cwm
for partitioning, i have used it many times with 1 ext4 partition or 2 ext4 partitions and a swap and such, it has never failed yet. after i partition the card, i go back to cwm, so i have no experience with backups on rmd

Just for partitioning? How odd?! haha
RMD uses SDparted for partitioning so it does not correctly align the partition, which hinders performance.
Gparted is the best way. Not sure how 4EXT works for partitioning but apparently it does not use SDparted and DOES align. Whether thats by scripts or not I dont know.
Anyway Gparted is the best choice for partitioning

Just to check things out as I've read stories about mislabelled micro sd cards being sold before, I just performed a full surface scan on the card, came up clean. Just tried GParted... still no go.
Could there be a problem with the partition sizes I'm choosing?
Do I need 2 ext4 partitions? (I'm assuming yes as I have two on my 8Gb which was partitioned perfectly fine within Clockwork about a year ago; 1 of 1Gb and one of about 70Mb)
Any other software I can use to partition via the PC?

One fat, one EXT
Whats happening in Gparted?
Tell me exactly how you are setting up and what the problem is please.

rootSU said:
One fat, one EXT
Whats happening in Gparted?
Tell me exactly how you are setting up and what the problem is please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I thought, one of each.
Gparted says completed fine, but looking in 4EXT Recovery it still says my EXT4 is unformatted and I cannot install my rom

no idea then, other than removing all the partitions then create all from scratch.
Create Fat32 at desired size then format fat 32 as fat 32. Create EXT4 as desired size then format ext4 as ext 4...

Using Gparted you need a Fat32 partition (main partition) followed by an ext3 or ext4 partition (just 1-2gb) Make sure its Fat32 first though.
For some strange reason, possibly drivers, I had trouble with Gparted running through VMware, maybe try making an actually bootable CD or Usb stick. Worked for me.

Reno_79 said:
Just to check things out as I've read stories about mislabelled micro sd cards being sold before, I just performed a full surface scan on the card, came up clean. Just tried GParted... still no go.
Could there be a problem with the partition sizes I'm choosing?
Do I need 2 ext4 partitions? (I'm assuming yes as I have two on my 8Gb which was partitioned perfectly fine within Clockwork about a year ago; 1 of 1Gb and one of about 70Mb)
Any other software I can use to partition via the PC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can use PARTED MAGIC but its basically Gparted and Parted put together in 1gui.Some other useful tools in it as well.
Also it runs off the computer ram, which is better than a live cd

Well a little update:
I've managed to get ClockWork Mod back on the phone, and it seems my partitions are working correctly now. Just got a bootloop problem now, I'll get there eventually lol

Looks like it's a bad sd card, no matter what I try and do, even if the software I create the ext partition with say successful, once I get it onto my phone it's not there anymore. Will never buy an micro-sd from ebay again.

Reno_79 said:
Looks like it's a bad sd card, no matter what I try and do, even if the software I create the ext partition with say successful, once I get it onto my phone it's not there anymore. Will never buy an micro-sd from ebay again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't blame the SD card. The Desire is notoriously awkward where using 32Gb cards are concerned, indeed I'm sure it's been said that it only supports upto 16Gb cards though I suspect some may have gotten 32Gb cards to work. Similarly, class 10 cards are a bit hit and miss with the Desire. It's taken me a couple of attempts to get a working class 10 16Gb card and to be honest there's no noticable speed improvement over my class 4 8Gb and 4Gb cards.

Parva4 said:
I wouldn't blame the SD card. The Desire is notoriously awkward where using 32Gb cards are concerned, indeed I'm sure it's been said that it only supports upto 16Gb cards though I suspect some may have gotten 32Gb cards to work. Similarly, class 10 cards are a bit hit and miss with the Desire. It's taken me a couple of attempts to get a working class 10 16Gb card and to be honest there's no noticable speed improvement over my class 4 8Gb and 4Gb cards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That a fair point, so I thought I'd test it in my mates Sensation XL and another's Galaxy SII (Why do all my friends have much newer, bigger phones than me? ) Anyway... long story short, same kinda problems, ebay seller has been shut down, paypal looking into getting me a refund and I've bought another Lexar 32Gb that was on sale at amazon. Should be the end of my problems, but thanks everyone for the help.

same issue here
Hi guys,
I have the same problem. I have 2 Different cards, 8 and 16GB all Class 10 - I tested them and they have the right speed and they seem to work just fine.
I boot a live Ubuntu 11.10 and run Gparted. I then format (the 8GB card) by the book (fat32 first and 1GB ext4 after, both primary partitions).
My 4EXT 1.0.0.4 RC3 doesn't see the partitioning of the SD Card.
If I format the card using 4EXT, I can install the roms and they run fine for a few days but then EACH ROM (I've tried prolly 10...) starts hanging, and when I turn the phone off, the ROM don't boot anymore... wiping cache + dalvik doesn't help at that point.
I start thinking my Desire has an hardware issue?
thanks

Buy better SD Card or try another ROM?

Hey,
I'm a noob basically, always had rooting/flashing in mind though so last night I finally had a go at it to get better performance out of my poor Desire.
I will say I spent too much time thinking what to choose between Cyanogen/MIUI and went with the latter to reward myself visually from the get go. I might have not got the gist of a2sd/d2ext/d2w, but I chose to go with the latest signed MIUI xj- d2ext in the end and partitioned my SD Card like this: 1GB ext4, 2,7GB FAT32.
Now, I've gotten quite a few FC's and things were sort of laggy, but figured it might be the first day and installing/doing everything at once that's causing this. My SD Card is the stock 4GB Class2 one and while the internal storage is 80% free, what bothered me was not being able to store back my music library, running out of space. The SD Card's capacity now is the 2,7GB, I have about 1,3GB of music and 850MBs or so of misc stuff that I do not know about. Like I said, I might have skipped more than necessary reading about d2ext, but what I'm asking now is:
- shouldn't I be able to use all FAT32 space available for music and whatnot?
- if not, would choosing MIUI a2sd be better?
- would another ROM suit my class2 card better?
- should i just get a 16gb class6 instead?
Thank you kindly.

friendlyfires7 said:
- should i just get a 16gb class6 instead?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
Homever keep in mind that ext partition (for A2SD) can be maximum 1-1.5GB, you might have issues with bigger partitions.
So think if you'll need those 14GB for FAT partition, in my case 8GB is absolutely enough, unless you store a movies on it.

k3lcior said:
Yes.
Homever keep in mind that ext partition (for A2SD) can be maximum 1-1.5GB, you might have issues with bigger partitions.
So think if you'll need those 14GB for FAT partition, in my case 8GB is absolutely enough, unless you store a movies on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, the reason I would buy 16GB instead of 8 is a very small difference in price, about 4 euros so why not double the capacity.
What would then be a good partitioning of space? I've read there's scripts, some use 3 partitions, normally I would be tempted to do as before, 1gb ext4, rest ntfs, I guess. d2ext would be the best choice, still, right?

1-1.5gb ext3 or ext4 (for A2SD), rest FAT32 (for your personal files, music, videos etc).
To partition SD use 4ext recovery, or gparted under linux. (you can use ubuntu livecd for example)

friendlyfires7 said:
Thanks, the reason I would buy 16GB instead of 8 is a very small difference in price, about 4 euros so why not double the capacity.
What would then be a good partitioning of space? I've read there's scripts, some use 3 partitions, normally I would be tempted to do as before, 1gb ext4, rest ntfs, I guess. d2ext would be the best choice, still, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best way to partition the SD card is to do it with in the phone itself using a recovery like Clockworkmod or 4ext Recovery. These software take care of the sequence of partitioning and any other errors that may arise if you try to do it manually using a computer based partitioning software.
My personal choice is 4ext recovery touch with 1GB ext4 and rest fat32. Gives best performance.

dvsk69 said:
My personal choice is 4ext recovery touch with 1GB ext4 and rest fat32. Gives best performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you saying 1gb gives better performance than 1.5gb or 4ext rather than 3ext or both?
got cm7r2 hboot s-off on slim ics rom. 1.5gb ext3 rest fat
thx

SD filesystem other than FAT32 on P8000?

I need support for large (10+GB) files, but can't get exFAT or ext2/4 formatted sdcards working on my P8000.
I generally prefer to use exFAT for mac/windows/linux interoperability, but I guess the default kernel has no support for it. Ext2/4 gives the error 'Damaged SD card' and reformats with FAT32.
Any way to currently do this? Am I missing something obvious?

need to write module (exFAT or NTFS) for kernel
I also asked this question, no one helped
no program does not work, I tried everything

Bummer. I was afraid of that.
Thanks for the info.

I have my sdcard as two partitions, a FAT32 partition visible to the phone and an EXT4 partition to use link2sd for moving apps from the phone memory which is not visible to the phone. I am not sure whether there is an application that lets you use files as you wish to by saving to the EXT4 partition.

ShootistUK said:
I have my sdcard as two partitions, a FAT32 partition visible to the phone and an EXT4 partition to use link2sd for moving apps from the phone memory which is not visible to the phone. I am not sure whether there is an application that lets you use files as you wish to by saving to the EXT4 partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did the same two partitions on my sdcard. FAT32 and EXT4 both are working. The P8000 is able to handle EXT4 partitions but i don't now, how big these partitions can be.

Perhaps in Android 6 add this
Of course it is still not known

so does ext4 and fat32 work with link2sd?

gnomified said:
so does ext4 and fat32 work with link2sd?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fat32+ext4 works, and link2sd can be used. Ended up going that route, myself.

Ended up going that route, myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fine if it suits you
not suitable for me
Write to developers do support for the NTFS or exFAT, received a reply
Thanks for your letter and suggestions for Elephone. I will sort out your ideas and report it to my colleague. Maybe it will appear on our phone in the near future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
doubt that it will

64gb
my phone can't recognize my fat32 64gb sdcard :crying:

jasux said:
my phone can't recognize my fat32 64gb sdcard :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The slot seems to be very sensitive.
I've need to try it several times, to insert the card "correctly".
So don't give up...remove the card and insert it again...try reboots and so on...

http://forum.xda-developers.com/ele...rys-kernel-t3226081/post63443302#post63443302
Here's my first experimental exFAT kernel build. I'm obviously not responsible for any damage.

Zormal said:
I need support for large (10+GB) files, but can't get exFAT or ext2/4 formatted sdcards working on my P8000.
I generally prefer to use exFAT for mac/windows/linux interoperability, but I guess the default kernel has no support for it. Ext2/4 gives the error 'Damaged SD card' and reformats with FAT32.
Any way to currently do this? Am I missing something obvious?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try my patch