Best way to set up SD card? - Desire Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

whats the best way to set up SD card?
i have 512Mb EXT4 Partition do i need SWAP as well ?
seen a lot of people using 1GB with different SWAP sizes but not 100% sure
EuroSkank Nightly - CM7.2

ryanraven said:
whats the best way to set up SD card?
i have 512Mb EXT4 Partition do i need SWAP as well ?
seen a lot of people using 1GB with different SWAP sizes but not 100% sure
EuroSkank Nightly - CM7.2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
best way to partition is with gparted or 4ext recovery. 512MB is quite small, i'd recommend larger (up to 2GB max) if you plan on having more apps, saves you re-partitioning later
generally you don't need swap, it's useless, doesn't extend the RAM unless the rom is programmed to do so afaik. don't use swap unless the rom explicitly says so, most don't
a lot of people use swap without knowing what it even is...

1g v/s 2gb ext partition: does it in any way affect performance or it's the same?

yeahman45 said:
1g v/s 2gb ext partition: does it in any way affect performance or it's the same?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maximum of 1.5gb ext4 partition is always recommended. Best is to stick with 1gb.
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda premium

yeahman45 said:
1g v/s 2gb ext partition: does it in any way affect performance or it's the same?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dvsk69 said:
Maximum of 1.5gb ext4 partition is always recommended. Best is to stick with 1gb.
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the actual size shouldn't affect performance, just the number of apps you can install, and depends what you use the partition for (app apks, dalvik cache and / or data)
just pick a size which you think is best according to how many apps you think you'll need. because that's hard to predict, and after rooting allows more space for apps, so go larger to be safer and avoid re-partitioning later. this sacrifices FAT32 space, so may need to be managed depending on the total size of the card. personally i find 1gb ext4 not enough, i use ~1.5GB. 2GB should be more than sufficient for most (some say it won't work, but there are plenty of users running 2GB just fine)

Related

Utilizing ext partitions on the sdcard with the G2

Hey folks,
I spent a long time searching, but I can't seem to find an answer. I'm using my sdcard and the partitions I created from my G1. I'm running low on space on my sdcard and I realized that the ext partition is not being utilized.
I tried to move some apps to the sd card using the native apps2sd (settings > manage applications) but it seems to be moving it to the main FAT partition and not the gig I set aside as ext.
Before I repartition it and get merge the ext partition with my main partition, I wanted to know if there's any point in having an ext on the G2. If so, how do I take advantage of it (for apps and cache)?
Its an 8gb class 2 sandisk with r/w speeds of over 10mbs. Aside from the gig for ext, I also have a wee bit set aside for swap, which is just about useless now - right?
Thanks for all your help!
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Jury is still out over the need for swap with the Desire Z,some say it makes a difference but what is clear is that with the swap partition enabled,on Unity at least there is a display bug on widgets,I would say that the phone runs ok without it.
I don't mean to be rude, but I don't care about swap. The G2's performance is great. I am concerned with space and before I merge the ext3/4 partition with my main FAT partition, I wanted to know how to utilize that gig I set aside as ext.
Thanks again.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
funkeee said:
I don't mean to be rude, but I don't care about swap. The G2's performance is great. I am concerned with space and before I merge the ext3/4 partition with my main FAT partition, I wanted to know how to utilize that gig I set aside as ext.
Thanks again.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok but you did ask about the swap partition being redundant or not,anyway a gig ext is a waste of space with this phone so repartition and make it smaller 128mb or 256mb should be more than enough
When I was on my rooted stock u20j I used a app called 'Link2SD' which made use of the ext2-partion to store apps on... Maybe try looking at that on the market?
Good luck!
I had an ext partition with a2ext on my G2 but honestly it wasn't needed. I have a ton of apps and still have just under 1 GB of internal memory left.
Swap, as I'm sure you're aware, is pointless on this phone. Compcache is about the only thing I'd use and even that is debatable.
MrEzzzkiel said:
When I was on my rooted stock u20j I used a app called 'Link2SD' which made use of the ext2-partion to store apps on... Maybe try looking at that on the market?
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! I will look into it. Do you know if the native apps2sd can be made to use the ext partition?
What I was asking in this thread is: how to make my phone use the ext partition, instead of the main partition.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
funkeee said:
Thank you! I will look into it. Do you know if the native apps2sd can be made to use the ext partition?
What I was asking in this thread is: how to make my phone use the ext partition, instead of the main partition.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
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Click to collapse
No, it won't use the ext just Fat32.
Instead of the market app, use darktremor's A2SD script. You have much more functionality with it. It also can use ext2, 3, and 4. There's an app that I'll try to locate on my computer for you that gives you a GUI to control it all once you have it installed and active.

[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
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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

[Q] Best Practice to extend phone memory

Hi there,
I have successfully rooted and tweaked my Wildfire a few weeks ago and did some fine tuning since then (a lot to be honest).
XDA Developers has been a great help (obviously) but I got stuck at a few points.
There's especially one thing I'm a bit confused about: there seem to exist mainly four methods/ways to gain more internal memory:
re-partition the system, cache and data partitions
use Apps2SD (CM7)
use Darktremor Script
set up an ext partition on the SD card and move apps there (different methods)
Some of them could be used in combination.
I've read and experimented a lot but - as I said - I got stuck and a bit confused so I'll ask here for opinions/hints and probably a bit more clarification.
As you can see in my specs below I've already adjusted my internal partitions. Although I've gained a lot more space with that and being very selective which apps to install I don't feel lucky with my 312Mb.
My questions:
What would you choose to gain more space on the phone? Making an ext partition on SD or simply use CM7s built in Apps2SD?
I've read here about "S2E" - is this a good solution to work with an ext partition?
Any suggestions/hints/experiences?
Phone: HTC Wildfire S-Off By AlphaRevX
Android: 2.3.7
OverClocked: 264MHz-710MHz SmartAssV2
VM Heap Size: 32m
ROM: CM7 Nightly (7.2.0-RC0-buzz-KANG)
Radio: 13.55.55.24H_3.35.20.10
Recovery: ClockworkMod 5.0.2.0
Kernel: 2.6.35.14-nFinity [email protected] #1
Internal Memory: 320Mb Custom MTD Partition
-=V6 SuperCharger=-
Well to me it seems you already have your answer.
I personally use custom mtd settings of 145 10 and use absolutely no sd partition or a2sd what so ever. I've got quite a few apps but my internal memory has well over 200mb remaining.
In my opinion partitioning or moving apps etc just makes your system work a little harder but when using just the internal memory even with custom sizes seems to work best for me.
"sent from me2u"
I perosnaly am just using DarkTremor A2SD and I have about 100MB of free space with over 150 apps installed (140 in the app drawer, as the attachment shows, 4x5 and 7 dots up top)
slymobi said:
Well to me it seems you already have your answer.
...
In my opinion partitioning or moving apps etc just makes your system work a little harder
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As you might have guessed that's not the answer I wanted to hear lol (but why I'm not surprised...?)
Well, in more detail I have quite a few apps I don't use very often - but I want to have on my phone for some reason. At the moment my free space is around 40-60 MB and I have the feeling that performance slightly went down a bit over the past weeks... (might be subjective though)
But anyway: that kind of honest opinion is exactly what I'm after, so thnx for your answer
[OT: regarding the nightly thread I'm not yet allowed to post in: yes, those 2 latest versions have scrolling cache disabled and I've had the feeling that it's a good thing...]
Swyped via XDA app from my HTC wildfire (buzz)
eventcom said:
As you might have guessed that's not the answer I wanted to hear lol (but why I'm not surprised...?)
Well, in more detail I have quite a few apps I don't use very often - but I want to have on my phone for some reason. At the moment my free space is around 40-60 MB and I have the feeling that performance slightly went down a bit over the past weeks... (might be subjective though)
But anyway: that kind of honest opinion is exactly what I'm after, so thnx for your answer
[OT: regarding the nightly thread I'm not yet allowed to post in: yes, those 2 latest versions have scrolling cache disabled and I've had the feeling that it's a good thing...]
Swyped via XDA app from my HTC wildfire (buzz)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,you can use any of the methods you've stated in conjunction with the mtd ,the reason I don't use any apps to SD mods is due to 2 things.1.I have enough space left internally so not needed. 2.although it's very slim the chance of something corrupting in sdcard would simply cause errors for the apps moved to SD so my paranoia strays me from using any a2sd mods etc.I did in the past used dt app2sd and it worked fine.obviously if you are getting so low on memory even after the mtd then you might be best moving some of the lesser used apps to SD. In this case I personally would try the cm7 built in method . Others may differ but this is my opinion.
Ot. The scrolling cache removal in erwinp and cobje latest builds does not play nice on my phone but others are reporting scrolling improvement so I think it may be hit and miss for the benefits.
Anyways hope you find the method which works best for you.
Regards Slymobi.
"sent from me2u"
I was using mtd partition and dta2sd while on cm7, they work fine together. Just make sure if you use them both to do the mtd partition before installing dta2sd.
The amount of internal storage you have (or don't have) is probably not the cause of your system being sluggish, its most likely what is running in the background, yes the built in taskkiller does a good job but the more apps you have the more it has to do to keep things smooth
I recommend an app I use called autostarts, its better than a taskkiller as it'll stop all the apps that you don't want running in the background constantly starting then being killed then starting again.........
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using xda premium
Well, I thought I should complete the thread with my (ongoing) experiences:
Due to the fact that I've been really short on internal storage lately I've decided to give an ext partition on SD a try.
After stumbling over the really sweet & simple sounding "S2E" app I've been a bit shy to give it a go because the last (& rare) posts here @XDA dev about user experience with the app are not very fresh. But after having some issues like another member described here my latest tweaks & changes were lost anyway so I've decided to give it a try while doing everything from scratch anyway.
I'm happy with it so far - all apps on sd-ext now, I'll probably try out (with doing two nandroid backups before...) to move the dalvic cache also but I'm uncertain with that at the moment LOL
Scratch0805 said:
I recommend an app I use called autostarts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
very nice - that's what I've been looking for: preventing all those apps from constantly starting up without need - thx
Next step done: moved the Dalvic cache over.
I'm pretty much satisfied so far. Everything runs smooth, stable and fast.
In numbers: Around 120 apps (100Mb) and dalvic cache (90Mb) on sd-ext, app data left on internal memory. Around 190Mb internal memory free (of 300). More than 100Mb of free RAM @ 15-20 processes running.
So far - so good. I'll watch this a while (and guess what?: I got married to a second wife, her name's "nandroid"...)
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using XDA App
What's your configuration ?
eventcom said:
Next step done: moved the Dalvic cache over.
I'm pretty much satisfied so far. Everything runs smooth, stable and fast.
In numbers: Around 120 apps (100Mb) and dalvic cache (90Mb) on sd-ext, app data left on internal memory. Around 190Mb internal memory free (of 300). More than 100Mb of free RAM @ 15-20 processes running.
So far - so good. I'll watch this a while (and guess what?: I got married to a second wife, her name's "nandroid"...)
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey,What is storage space of your SD Card ?
What's the Ext size and Swap size allocated ?
I have got 2 GB SD Card and I am doing the fresh install.
Should I configure the memory following this :
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/44675-how-to-configure-a-sd-ext-on-htc-buzz-wildfire/
i.e Ext size (1024M) and Swap size(32M) ?????
Thanks
Hi, unfortunately I've been too busy for a few more things to post here...
optimusodd said:
Hey,What is storage space of your SD Card ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is 8GB - when I started with ext partition it has been a class 4 and worked pretty well - now I have a class 10 - which seems to be a bit faster and a bit more stable but not 6 times more (and I haven't done any testing as it runs stable all the time now)
What's the Ext size and Swap size allocated ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AFAIR I've allocated 1024MB - FreeSpace (app by the s2e dev) says I'm having 960MB
I have got 2 GB SD Card and I am doing the fresh install.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you already done the custom mtd stuff? (just because that's what really helped me most to get the performance back...)
Should I configure the memory following this :
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/44675-how-to-configure-a-sd-ext-on-htc-buzz-wildfire/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have done it with CWM recovery like suggested in the thread
i.e Ext size (1024M) and Swap size(32M) ?????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the EXT size yes, for the swap size I'm not sure if I configured an ext swap partition at all (I'm not sure if this is necessary with s2e - thought it just needs the partition and does the rest itself...)
Also make sure that you read the warning about moving app DATA to ext, too. I even didn't try to do so...
What I've also done is setting the SD card cache to 2048KB - you can do a speed test with SD tools and set the optimal cache with SD booster.
HTH
eventcom said:
Mine is 8GB - when I started with ext partition it has been a class 4 and worked pretty well - now I have a class 10 - which seems to be a bit faster and a bit more stable but not 6 times more (and I haven't done any testing as it runs stable all the time now)
AFAIR I've allocated 1024MB - FreeSpace (app by the s2e dev) says I'm having 960MB
have you already done the custom mtd stuff? (just because that's what really helped me most to get the performance back...)
I have done it with CWM recovery like suggested in the thread
For the EXT size yes, for the swap size I'm not sure if I configured an ext swap partition at all (I'm not sure if this is necessary with s2e - thought it just needs the partition and does the rest itself...)
Also make sure that you read the warning about moving app DATA to ext, too. I even didn't try to do so...
What I've also done is setting the SD card cache to 2048KB - you can do a speed test with SD tools and set the optimal cache with SD booster.
HTH
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You allocated 1024MB for Ext coz you have got 8GB Card.
Mine is 2GB so what should be the Ext size for it ?( 256MB or 512 MB would not be enough ?)
What should it be ? Ext2 or Ext4 ?
According to this : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1432459
“Choose Ext2, Ext3 or Ext4 for partition type based on whether your kernel supports Ext4. If it does choose it! If you don't know choose Ext2 to be safe.”
Yes I am done with Custom MTD Partitions.
You didn't try to do "what" ?
What’s up with this “swap” partition ?
It’s so confusing.Some people claim that “swap” is like virtual RAM and more RAM means a more efficient (and faster) device.
Here are the posts supporting “swap” :
http://www.mod2xtreme.com/showthrea...crease-RAM-using-Swap-File-and-Swap-Partition
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/...-the-wildfire/page__gopid__330791#entry330791
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/44675-how-to-configure-a-sd-ext-on-htc-buzz-wildfire/
While according to “Cyanogenmod” (http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Swap_and_Compcache ) and some member swap doesn’t make any diff .on android devices.
If that’s true and swape is useless then why so many forums going gaga over it on XDA at the first place ???It makes no sense. So bewildering.
Please go through my query :http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1738336
optimusodd said:
You allocated 1024MB for Ext coz you have got 8GB Card.
Mine is 2GB so what should be the Ext size for it ?( 256MB or 512 MB would not be enough ?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, let me think about it... When I saw your question the first time I thought that I would find it hard to go with a 2GB card. Here's why: I'm really not a music or video fanatic but 2GB are nothing if you have just a few mp3's or videos on your card (specifically your camera pics and videos for example...).
So if you say you don't need that - it should be ok.
For the size you need I could only tell from my personal experience, too:
I don't have much discipline with deleting or transferring unused stuff or garbage from my phone - so I might have a few apps installed I rarely or never use (anymore). But I don't collect apps just for fun also - so I'd say I've installed an average number of apps. 120 to be more specific. That makes 474MB used for the ext partition including installed & system apps and Dalvik cache (128MB).
So if you don't plan to install more than 120 apps, 512MB might work for you - I'd probably stuck with 1024 - even with a 2GB card - to prevent running out of space (what happens exactly when you just don't need it )
What should it be ? Ext2 or Ext4 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest: I can't remember exactly but I've read something about possible problems and incompatibilities with ext4. But I'm not sure if I faced that question at all when I partitioned my card with CWM... if so I'm pretty sure that I've chosen ext3 (just in case I'd like to install a different kernel some time in the future)
Following Oleg Krikun it should be ext3 or ext4 for S2E...
You didn't try to do "what" ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to move the app data to ext also
What’s up with this “swap” partition ?
It’s so confusing.Some people claim that “swap” is like virtual RAM and more RAM means a more efficient (and faster) device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it might sound confusing - but there are a few things to consider also besides a simple "do it" or "leave it": More RAM is an advantage if it's true original system RAM which can be accessed fast and handled properly and stable. If you already have a fast processor and much system RAM you might also experience some improvement by using an additional swap partition.
For CM7 - especially on the Wildfire - I pretty much agree with that:
In some applications, this makes it seem as if the application never closed at all. This is not much different from traditional swap, except that Android apps are specially programed to write out very specific information, making Android's Memory Manager more efficient that swap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But your mileage may vary.
From my experience it's a bit trial and error to find the best setup and config for your phone - you should also know that there are differences between identical devices sometimes.
HTH
BTW: that's a funny post of user "Arfer":
Here are the posts supporting “swap” : (...)
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/...-the-wildfire/page__gopid__330791#entry330791
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
he cheers about 126MB free memory but has left over 125MB wasted memory in his system partition. (In other words: using custom MTD partitions he would get at least 100MB more if using a CM7 ROM)
Much different from my specs LOL:
Code:
Name: Cache
Path: /cache
SIZE: 15MB
USED: 1MB
FREE: 13MB
Name: Data
Path: /data
SIZE: 300MB
USED: 229MB
FREE: 70MB
Name: Ext
Path: /sd-ext
SIZE: 960MB
USED: 474MB
FREE: 485MB
Name: SD-card
Path: /sdcard
SIZE: 6670MB
USED: 4509MB
FREE: 2160MB
Name: System
Path: /system
SIZE: 150MB
USED: 123MB
FREE: 26MB
Okay,thanks buddy ,I'm gonna give it a try.
Thanks for your helpful, constructive insight.I really appreciate that.
You rock!!:good:
eventcom said:
BTW: that's a funny post of user "Arfer":
he cheers about 126MB free memory but has left over 125MB wasted memory in his system partition. (In other words: using custom MTD partitions he would get at least 100MB more if using a CM7 ROM)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL,I wonder if he is aware of MTD partition.
Okay,off to "Experimenter mode":fingers-crossed:
SD Card alignment
Hey,what's your take on "SD Card alignment "?
Anybody tried that ?
Here :
http://www.hjreggel.net/cardspeed/cs_calign.html
http://www.patriotmemory.com/forums/showthread.php?3696-HOWTO-Increase-write-speed-by-aligning-FAT32
Hmm, if I'm not totally wrong this has only to do with writing speed issues when you use the regular FAT32 partition of your card on your PC while the EXT partition is NOT FAT32 of course (but a system drive of the Android system) ;-)
Swyped from my HTC Wildfire (Buzz)

[Q] SD Card Configuration : Ext and Swap Partition

Hey,I am going to "clean" install CM 7.2 Stable.I am done with Custom MTD Partitions and want to set up an ext partition on the SD card and move apps there.
Preparing for "S2E"(simple2ext:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.krikun.s2e&hl=en )
I have got 2GB SD Card.
What should be the ideal configuration for a 2GB card in terms of :
(1)Ext Size
(2)Swap size
And what should it be ? Ext2 or Ext4 ?
According to this :http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1432459
“Choose Ext2, Ext3 or Ext4 for partition type based on whether your kernel supports Ext4. If it does choose it! If you don't know choose Ext2 to be safe.” Now how to find out whether your kernel supports it or not ?
Does "swap" really make any difference ?What’s up with this “swap” partition ?
It’s so confusing.Some people claim that “swap” is like virtual RAM and more RAM means a more efficient (and faster) device.
Here are the posts supporting “swap” :
http://www.mod2xtreme.com/showthrea...crease-RAM-using-Swap-File-and-Swap-Partition
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/...-the-wildfire/page__gopid__330791#entry330791
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/44675-how-to-configure-a-sd-ext-on-htc-buzz-wildfire/
While according to “Cyanogenmod” (http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Swap_and_Compcache ) and some member swap doesn’t make any diff .on android devices.
If that’s true and swape is useless then why so many forums going gaga over it on XDA at the first place ???It makes no sense. So bewildering.
Any suggestion ?Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
You should try 256Mb or 512Mb ext2 partition as per your convenience with 0 swap size.
After partitioning your card you need to install an a2sd script and use a2sdgui app to move apps.
Or else you could install link2sd app and i guess that moves apps to ext partition without needing a script.(haven't tried it though)
Wasimk32 said:
You should try 256Mb or 512Mb ext2 partition as per your convenience with 0 swap size.
After partitioning your card you need to install an a2sd script and use a2sdgui app to move apps.
Or else you could install link2sd app and i guess that moves apps to ext partition without needing a script.(haven't tried it though)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply,so you mean "swap" doesn't make any difference in speed and efficiency ?
I am a bit baffled.How about "S2E (simple2ext)" method ?
I have read about that here :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1189249
Is that a good idea ?Any suggestion ?Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
optimusodd said:
Thanks for the reply,so you mean "swap" doesn't make any difference in speed and efficiency ?
I am a bit baffled.How about "S2E (simple2ext)" method ?
I have read about that here :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1189249
Is that a good idea ?Any suggestion ?Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have a nandroid backup and give it a try.
Wasimk32 said:
Have a nandroid backup and give it a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay,What about "swap" ?
Why do some guys use swap ?Is it unnecessary ?
Here ost #12:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1189249&page=2
What should it be ? ext2 or ext4 ?
optimusodd said:
Okay,What about "swap" ?
Why do some guys use swap ?Is it unnecessary ?
Here ost #12:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1189249&page=2
What should it be ? ext2 or ext4 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Swap is used when you run out of RAM space.I dont think we need it on our wildfire.Just select 0 as swap size.create SD partition from recovery,that would be easy as you don't need to be confused between ext2 or ext4.
Wasimk32 said:
Swap is used when you run out of RAM space.I dont think we need it on our wildfire.Just select 0 as swap size.create SD partition from recovery,that would be easy as you don't need to be confused between ext2 or ext4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have read in some forums that "swap" increases the RAM i.e more speed and efficiency,no ???
Here is the page:
http://www.mod2xtreme.com/showthread.php?13050-SGY-GUIDE-Increase-RAM-using-Swap-File-and-Swap-Partition
Just wondering,if that can be done on Wildfire.
Android apps are specially programed to write out very specific information, making Android's Memory Manager more efficient that swap.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Scratch0805 said:
Android apps are specially programed to write out very specific information, making Android's Memory Manager more efficient that swap.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That means this "swap" thing is just a hype and of no use on Android devices ?
optimusodd said:
That means this "swap" thing is just a hype and of no use on Android devices ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've kind of answered your own question with the link you've provided, if you think swap may be worth using, backup your SD card create a swap partition and give it a run for a while, if you think it isnt then backup everything again and create a partition without it. I had swap enabled when I first created a partition but saw no benefit at all.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Scratch0805 said:
You've kind of answered your own question with the link you've provided, if you think swap may be worth using, backup your SD card create a swap partition and give it a run for a while, if you think it isnt then backup everything again and create a partition without it. I had swap enabled when I first created a partition but saw no benefit at all.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay,I am thinking of giving this "swap" thing a try.:fingers-crossed:
Again,I have got a 2GB SD Card.
What should be the ideal configuration for a 2GB card in terms of :
(1)Ext Size (What should it be ? ext2 or ext4 ?)
(2)Swap size
Any suggestion ?
I am gonna flash CM 7.2 Stable and use "S2E (simple2ext)".
optimusodd said:
Okay,I am thinking of giving this "swap" thing a try.:fingers-crossed:
Again,I have got a 2GB SD Card.
What should be the ideal configuration for a 2GB card in terms of :
(1)Ext Size (What should it be ? ext2 or ext4 ?)
(2)Swap size
Any suggestion ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am gonna flash CM 7.2 Stable and use "S2E (simple2ext)".
optimusodd said:
I am gonna flash CM 7.2 Stable and use "S2E (simple2ext)".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I successfully made sd-ext and moved apps there (http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/44675-how-to-configure-a-sd-ext-on-htc-buzz-wildfire/), so now I have 170 MB of free space for new apps!!
Question: I noticed that my phone slowed down a lot.... does it depend on SD type (read/write speed)?
Which is the best type / brand of SD?
Is there any other setting I could optimize for speed, when having Sd-Ext enabled?
marcellen said:
I successfully made sd-ext and moved apps there (http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/44675-how-to-configure-a-sd-ext-on-htc-buzz-wildfire/), so now I have 170 MB of free space for new apps!!
Question: I noticed that my phone slowed down a lot.... does it depend on SD type (read/write speed)?
Which is the best type / brand of SD?
Is there any other setting I could optimize for speed, when having Sd-Ext enabled?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Moving Applications data to sd-ext slows your phone down.Don’t move “application data” to sd-ext.
I suppose you are using “S2E”,right ?What’s the format of your sd-ext ? ext3 or ext4 ?
Go through this thread :http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=917377
Personally, I prefer“S2E”(supports mounting sd-ext as ext4)
https://github.com/OlegKrikun/S2E
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.krikun.s2e&feature=search_result
(It works only with CyanogenMod7 and CyanogenMod9 )
Other apps you can use :
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.buak.Link2SD&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.a0soft.gphone.app2sd&hl=en
Yes ,your card’s speed depends on the class of your card. An SD card's speed is measured by how quickly information can be read from, or written to, the card.Speed varies with the class of the card…Class 2 (2 megabytes per second), Class 4 (4 megabytes/second),Class 6 (6 megabytes/second) and so on…
You can find reviews here :
http://www.testfreaks.com/memory-cards/
Will be helpful:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=826836
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/sd-speed-test-2009-10.htm
You might be looking for these apps : (Read the description carefully before installation)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.krikun.freespace
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ales.veluscek.sdtools
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.mehrmann.sdbooster
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vaelek.sdspeedboost&hl=en
Some other hacks you can try : (Do It At Your Own Risk! I have never tried them)
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/0...-200-with-a-simple-tweak-hands-on-benchmarks/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1010807
If you are running out of internal memory,you can increase it through Custom MTD Partition :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1233340
HTH,Cheers!!
I used ext3, what experience do you have with ext4?
marcellen said:
I used ext3, what experience do you have with ext4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's working great and ext3 should work fine too.
Acually ext4 provides better performance with journalling.
If you use an Old CWM recovery, it will convert it back to ext 3 when you backup/restore.
ext3=ext2+journalling
As ext4 is newer file system,new features have improved the performance and reliability of the filesystem when compared to ext3.
Journaling can be bad for the life of an sd-card (coz you do more writes).If you are not worried about life of the card, and the choice is based on filesystem performance only then ext4>ext3>ext2.
Ext4 can be used with journalling switched off.So "ext4 without journalling" will be best in my opinion.
There is a debate going on over it,check that out :http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=800353

SD Partition on 32 GB card?

Hey guys,
I've searched around a lot but haven't found anything explicit to a 32 GB card's ideal partition table. I've read somewhere that the ext3 shouldn't be larger than 2 GB, is this really the case? Or is it device specific? And if thats the case, can the MT3G3 handle a larger than 2GB partition? Also, is there a point to having a swap partition? I know on Linux systems it helps with memory and the XDA SD partition guide mentions that we can have one if we wanted .. but is there a point to it?
My second question is ... should I get data2ext or a2ext? Or some other tool? The choice is pretty confusing, esp since it seems that some of them do the same thing?
I'm thinking about making the partitions equal between FAT32 and Ext3 (if swap won't make a difference).
PS - Its a Class 10 Sandisk card.
eMJaaay said:
Hey guys,
I've searched around a lot but haven't found anything explicit to a 32 GB card's ideal partition table. I've read somewhere that the ext3 shouldn't be larger than 2 GB, is this really the case? Or is it device specific? And if thats the case, can the MT3G3 handle a larger than 2GB partition? Also, is there a point to having a swap partition? I know on Linux systems it helps with memory and the XDA SD partition guide mentions that we can have one if we wanted .. but is there a point to it?
My second question is ... should I get data2ext or a2ext? Or some other tool? The choice is pretty confusing, esp since it seems that some of them do the same thing?
I'm thinking about making the partitions equal between FAT32 and Ext3 (if swap won't make a difference).
PS - Its a Class 10 Sandisk card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
don't know what a mt3gs works with, 32 should work but no larger I doubt. as for an ext partition there is no reason to make it smaller than internal memory and 2gb should be more than enough, I have never even used more than 1gb but 1~2gb should be the perfect point.
not sure if any of the roms here support ext4, if they do I would recomend that over ext3, it won't ware the card much fast (the extra journaling does but not much)
personaly kinux swap doesn't help much, not even on the g1 but give it a shot and see if it works for you, will help with multitasking
use apps2ext for sure, not data as it will be slow
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
Thanks so much for the reply
I'll give this a go! I might as well have a swap partition as well since I have so much space should the swap be smaller than the ext3 partition? I'll also look into apps2ext .. but earlier came across int2ext in CronMod .. would that work?
eMJaaay said:
I'll give this a go! I might as well have a swap partition as well since I have so much space should the swap be smaller than the ext3 partition? I'll also look into apps2ext .. but earlier came across int2ext in CronMod .. would that work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure if creating swap on sd is supported on this device (at least, CM7). When I tried to partition SD using Rom Manager the device didn't see my ext partition if I selected swap partition size more than 0.
As for apps for managing ext partition usage, s2e app worked for me all right on CM9 and CM7. If you device is running CM9 you should be extra careful with such software. In example, Link2SD caused much trouble for me - constant app FC and I had to reinstall the system.
And be careful - it seems that s2e wipes ext partition at the first mount.
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using xda app-developers app
If im not mistaken, your kernel has to support using a swap partition.
Look into darktremors apps2sd. A. Lot of folks seemed to like that. It allows you to choose different setups if I remember right. (A2sd, data2sd, etc)
Data2sd would prob work ok since you have a class 10 card.
Also, if you are needing more space and are running a custom rom, look up mtd partitions in development forum.
Another nice trick is bind-mount data to cache.
Mt3gs does not support higher than 32gb. Ext4 support I think is available but only through kernels or scripts.
Hope that helps.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Different ROMs support different a2sd scripts.....you will have to find a script compatible with your ROM.
I use A2SDGUI on my phone.
A swap partition acts a virtual ram for your phone if you run low on ram memory.Not required though.
Sent from my GT-S5570 using xda app-developers app
Thanks for the replies everyone
I'm running CM7.2 which has built in moving to SD but this hardly does anything :/ I've only got around 7 apps half of which I can't even update cos its running low on space :/
Quite a few partition articles / posts, etc mention ext3 no larger than 2 GB and a swap of 0 MB :/ I've got the CM kernel that came with the last stable release (in June this year) .. does that support swap? Is there even a point of adding a swap of 0 MB .. might as well not make a swap partition at all right? I'm partitioning using Gparted on my Linux! I think S2E supports that!
Seriously guys, thank you so so much for all your replies
Update: Link2SD didn't work. S2E worked on S-ON with a 28 ish GB FAT32 Primary Partition and a 2048 MB i.e 2 GB EXT4 partition.

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