Develop Bugs

Partioning SD Card

Sorry, done a search and looked through all posts but can't seem to find a guide to partition sd card for use with apps2sd.
My phone is rooted and have rom manager installed where it looks I can perform the partition. Can someone point me to a noobs guide to partition or give us a hand. I have read about all different extensions to make the partition to but have no idea what they all are. Any help appreciated.

Swap - 0
Ext3 - as little or as much as you wish (usually 512-1024mb)
FAT31 - the rest

obviously this will wipe the sd card, what about all backups etc. Do i just copy to pc then copy them back when partition is complete?

Yes, but remember you will have less space on for data since a part of it will be taken up by Ext3 partition.

no problem, cheers for that

Make this sticky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
memphisuklf said:
Sorry, done a search and looked through all posts but can't seem to find a guide to partition sd card for use with apps2sd.
My phone is rooted and have rom manager installed where it looks I can perform the partition. Can someone point me to a noobs guide to partition or give us a hand. I have read about all different extensions to make the partition to but have no idea what they all are. Any help appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been trying to make this subject a sticky for a while.
I posted some tutorials in the Q&A Thread: See my post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=713643 (bottom of the page)....
Good luck!

does rom manager create the partition as ext 3 as default?

ok, seems I now have a problem. Did partition through manager 512mb/0 swap seemed to work fine but now phone won't boot, stuck at htc white screen. Any ideas?
Edit
Ok booted after 4th time of pulling battery. Doesn't look like it partitioned though. on windows I only have H: with 3.18gb

I used the Android Recovery Menu from Paul's old rooting tutorial which let me partion the memory card easily.

gave up for now, will have a look later on but don't want to mess with it that much as i`m using my stock sd card

I think you already have A2SD installed. I used Rom Manager to do the partition too and it was straightforward. No problems with rebooting though. If you reinstall your apps now, and if you check with a system info apps, you will find that you now have loads of internal memory.

ah, ok got 115mb free after installs(Used to have 10mb). So the defrost rom i`m using will automatically use apps 2sd when a partition is found?
Thought I had to set this up with spare parts?
How come I cant see the partition through windows?

Windows doesn't recognise linux partitions. Check with Quick System Info if A2SD is working correctly.

haha, feel stupid now. Working fine when checked with quick system info. Cheers for all the help guys, much appreciated

memphisuklf said:
ok, seems I now have a problem. Did partition through manager 512mb/0 swap seemed to work fine but now phone won't boot, stuck at htc white screen. Any ideas?
Edit
Ok booted after 4th time of pulling battery. Doesn't look like it partitioned though. on windows I only have H: with 3.18gb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If u have 4Gb card and in windows you see only 3.2Gb partition, then i think you have ext partition there ok. Windows wont see your ext.
Rom Manager will make ext3 partition in the end of your sd card.
With 512Mb ext + 0Mb swap you will get fat32 partition + ext3 in your SD card.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

On a similar topic, if I install a 2.2 ROM with Google APS2SD and legacy APS2SD, do I only need to create a partition for the legacy version of APPS2SD? If I just wanted to use the Google version can I just leave the card as it is?

yep, no formatting is needed for google app2sd

Here's my experience to Partition the SD card.
1) I rooted my Desire with "UnrEVOked"
2) Flashed the phone with a ROM
3) Then I went to "Market" and download "ROM manager", which has an option to "Partition SD card".
4) Reboot

dexter9898 said:
Here's my experience to Partition the SD card.
1) I rooted my Desire with "UnrEVOked"
2) Flashed the phone with a ROM
3) Then I went to "Market" and download "ROM manager", which has an option to "Partition SD card".
4) Reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a related thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=731531
I developed the most common methods of partition your SD Card, and answered some questions and asked some additional ones.
I would very much welcome it, if anyone wants to participate in assembling the infos about SD cards....

Not the best guide but does work, you may need to adjust the figures depending on what size card you got.

[Q] How to create an Apps2SD partition.

I'm using ClockworkMod Recovery 2.5.0.1 and i've seen a couple of guides where I go into the recovery and do some bits and bobs there to create it, but the only options I seem to get are to mount the sd-ext partition, which fails because it doesn't exist, or to format it.
I'm guessing there is a step beforehand i'm missing?
Thanks

download rom manager from market , open it , then create a ext3 partionion ... done
before you create a partition , backup your sd card!!

y2viks said:
I'm using ClockworkMod Recovery 2.5.0.1 and i've seen a couple of guides where I go into the recovery and do some bits and bobs there to create it, but the only options I seem to get are to mount the sd-ext partition, which fails because it doesn't exist, or to format it.
I'm guessing there is a step beforehand i'm missing?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem.
You can create the partition using the ROM Manager app downloaded from the market as yasars said.
Alternatively, if you want to do it manually, you can format the card on a *nix system. The Gparted Linux app lets you edit the partitions in a nice and simple GUI. Just remember the order of the partitions: first fat32, then about 512 MB of ext2/3/4 (ext4 may not be supported by all ROMs so better to use ext3) and lastly a swap partition of about 32 MB (totally optional). The size of the fat32 partition is whatever is left over after you've allocated the 512 MB for the ext2/3/4 partitions (and the 32 MB for the swap if you decided you wanted it). For instance, for a 2GB card, leaving 512 MB for the ext2/3/4 partition (no swap) leaves us with about 1.5 GB for the fat32 partition. You do the calculations for your card in your head or on paper and use those values in Gparted.
HTH.

Thanks for the help guys
I think i'll just get it up and running using the ROM Manager and if I find the need I'll do a manual version

Foolowing this guide I partitioned my sd card with GParted Live CD.

gianton said:
Foolowing this guide I partitioned my sd card with GParted Live CD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have no Idea how cool it is for me that my tutorial was useful... ;-)

chrysochire said:
You have no Idea how cool it is for me that my tutorial was useful... ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it should be a sticky!

Having a problem when I try to use ROM Manager.
I select the 512 for EXT and 32Mb for Swap and the phone reboots.
It then shows the big triangle with Mr Android next to it until I press some buttons and then I get the recovery screen with the following messages
Finding Update Package....
Opening Update Package....
Verifying Update Package....
E:failed to seek in /cache/update.zip (Invalid Arguement)
E:signature verification failed
Installation Aborted.
I don't have a cache folder on my sd card so i'm guessing it's looking in the internal memory?
Not sure what to do here

BACK-UP sd card before you do this.
For windows users
have clockwork recovery and rom manager on your desire
then format sd in windows.
put it in your desire and go to rom manager.
select Partition SD Card
select your space i used 32 swap 512 ext
than reboot and your sd card has the ext partition.
than put your files back on your sd card and Done

y2viks said:
Having a problem when I try to use ROM Manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem with ROM Manager. My solution was to downgrade ClockworkMod Recovery to v2.5.0.0 (in ROM Manager) and then partition the card. Worked on first try.
When you're done you can upgrade to latest version again if you want.
I don't think you should use a swap partition, so just set it to 0 MB.
Good luck!

Do i just need to find the 2.5.0.0 update.zip file and flash?

going to 2.5.0.0 worked
so now i have the ext partition do I need to do anything for apps to be installed there, or will they install there by default?
Also i've heard that the ext partitions can be 2 3 or 4. I'm presuming higher is better. How do I go about finding what mine is and how can I upgrade it if it need it?
Thanks

chrysochire said:
You have no Idea how cool it is for me that my tutorial was useful... ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I'm also going to give your guide a go. Just one question, do I have to do it with the SD card still in the phone or can i do it with a SD USB adapter?
Thanks,
Joe
I read the tutorial again and you can use an SD adapter, worked a treat. Cheers

y2viks said:
going to 2.5.0.0 worked
so now i have the ext partition do I need to do anything for apps to be installed there, or will they install there by default?
Also i've heard that the ext partitions can be 2 3 or 4. I'm presuming higher is better. How do I go about finding what mine is and how can I upgrade it if it need it?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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. To check whether A2SD is working once you've flashed your ROM, 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
I'm not sure which format ROM Manager defaults to, but you can always check the type of format used by mounting the card in Linux and using the GParted Linux app (you could use a card reader or use the 'Disk Drive' option in your phone to connect it to the computer). Also, ext3 should be fine for most custom ROMs. In fact, not all ROMs support ext4.

ikkokusenkin said:
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. To check whether A2SD is working once you've flashed your ROM, download the Android Terminal Emulator app from the market and use the following commands
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Another quick way is to install quick system info from the Market, it tells you infos about your system, including the use of your a2sd partition.... ;-)
- About ext 2/3/4 I would advise the use of ext3, as ext4 is poorly supported by Roms (even those who pretend seem to have issues...)
cheers

Does the decrease of available internal storage means apps22sd+ is not working? I've partitioned twice and installed seperate 2.2 roms with apps2sd+ included and every time I install more things I see internal storage drop.
You should see your app directory pointing to /system/sd/app and app-private pointing to /system/sd/app-private
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I checked this and it's doing what you said

ikkokusenkin said:
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. To check whether A2SD is working once you've flashed your ROM, 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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I took the liberty of including this information into my tutorial. I added a reference to you. ;-)
I hope this makes it to Sticky one day... ;-)

bloosteak said:
Does the decrease of available internal storage means apps22sd+ is not working? I've partitioned twice and installed seperate 2.2 roms with apps2sd+ included and every time I install more things I see internal storage drop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not in itself, no. Those symbolic links mean that A2SD is working fine. However, from what I understand about the theory, even A2SD installs a part of the app into the internal memory. That may explain the drop you see. By the way, how much free memory do you see on your device? I usually have about 140 MB free on my Desire. I read somewhere that if A2SD wasn't working, that figure would be about 90 MB.

chrysochire said:
I took the liberty of including this information into my tutorial. I added a reference to you. ;-)
I hope this makes it to Sticky one day... ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Although, I can hardly claim to have come up with the idea myself.

ikkokusenkin said:
Not in itself, no. Those symbolic links mean that A2SD is working fine. However, from what I understand about the theory, even A2SD installs a part of the app into the internal memory. That may explain the drop you see. By the way, how much free memory do you see on your device? I usually have about 140 MB free on my Desire. I read somewhere that if A2SD wasn't working, that figure would be about 90 MB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
108 free total of 148
I just recently opened spare parts apps where it allowed me to change where apps2sd installs things. By default it was set to automatic and I'm guessing that was causing the problem. I set it to external and tried installing a browser while my disk was mounted and it wouldn't let me do it. Then I set it to charge mode and it installed normally.
Some roms probably default to external while some automatic.
edit: Just installed an app that I previously installed while using "automatic" and it still uses up internal storage instead of A2SD storage. Dunno what's wrong. I am using ext2 partitioned through rom manager.

[Tutorial] Create SD-EXT Partition W/Clockwork Mod 1.2

No Need To Use G-Parted or other complicated tools!!!!
I have fully tested the new CWM 1.2 and can now confirm that you can now make SD-EXT partition for use with APPS2SD+. Below is a step by step guide on how to do it:
Download the CWM v1.2 from RaiderX's Post and remember to say thanks!!http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=898913
RaiderX Instructions for new user;
1. download one of the partition files, if you don't know which one you need, use the 250M one or check with rom developer.
2. Extract downloaded zip to a folder of your choice
3. Copy contents of copy_to_sd_root (initrd.gz and zImage) to the root of your sd card
4. boot into magldr and select USB Flasher option while phone is connected to PC
5. Run DAF.exe included in the zip and follow onscreen instructions.
6. After complete, again boot into magldr and select "Boot AD SD" option
7. ClockworkMod recovery should load, you can flash a rom from here.
Now once you have done this:
> GO to advance and then partition SD card
> Remember this will wipe the sd card so back everything up if need be
> Choose how much space you want on the partition then then choose 0MB for swap
>PLEASE NOTE PARTITIONING WILL WIPE THE SD CARD SO YOU WILL NEED TO GO INTO USB STORAGE MODE IN MAGDLER AND COPY THE 2 FILES FOR THE SD CARD FROM THE CWM DOWNLOAD
>and hey presto your done
> Remember you need to use an APPS2SD+ rom for this to work!
There are many benifits of this using EXT-Partition such as you apps will automatically transfer to your partition and many others you'll find out for yourself
Please Note: Not every app will get stored on the SD-EXT partition no matter what you do as there meant for the internal memory

i have 2 gb mcard,need help

Just follow the instructions doesn't matter on the size of your memory card, just choose an adequate size for your partition

raymando said:
Just follow the instructions doesn't matter on the size of your memory card, just choose an adequate size for your partition
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you might want to add that this will also wipe the CWM files off the SD card so will need to use the USB Mass Storage option in magldr to copy the files back over

good
Thanks for this simple tutorial, bro. But may I ask. What is swap. What the best recommended size for it. Sorry for noob question.
edit: just know to select 0mb. Thanks

OK thanks for that

the partition is only ext3
is that a problem?

m1167 said:
the partition is only ext3
is that a problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats not a problem as most roms support this its EXT4 that some roms don't support, but check the rom thread just in case

kangmas said:
Thanks for this simple tutorial, bro. But may I ask. What is swap. What the best recommended size for it. Sorry for noob question.
edit: just know to select 0mb. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i selected 256 Mb any problem ?
i have done partitioning before this posts arrival .. works with MDJ ginger bread i think...

I have the same question...whats the swap size ... I put 256

sathara said:
i selected 256 Mb any problem ?
i have done partitioning before this posts arrival .. works with MDJ ginger bread i think...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EclipseX said:
I have the same question...whats the swap size ... I put 256
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not flash yet. Quick question, What the internal storage size after you flash mdj gingerbread.

kangmas said:
Not flash yet. Quick question, What the internal storage size after you flash mdj gingerbread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
total 286
available 237 mbs

SWAP= 0MB
Its to do with having a external ram cache but you need to put 0MB!

i have a 16gb sdcard, and i was amazed at how quickly it formatted and partitioned my sdcard, but when i loaded my rom it hadn't done anything lol. so i tried one more time and then i noticed it was taking a bit longer so i felt it was working and it did. just sharing my experience. might take more than one try

wolfpack612 said:
i have a 16gb sdcard, and i was amazed at how quickly it formatted and partitioned my sdcard, but when i loaded my rom it hadn't done anything lol. so i tried one more time and then i noticed it was taking a bit longer so i felt it was working and it did. just sharing my experience. might take more than one try
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At first if you don't succeed try again!

If we do a SD-EXT partition for use with APPS2SD+, will installing/uninstalling app lag? And how is the performance when compare to installing in phone memory?

10507 said:
If we do a SD-EXT partition for use with APPS2SD+, will installing/uninstalling app lag? And how is the performance when compare to installing in phone memory?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it will not lag and performance wise its should run faster as it has more space to place with and will not decrease the internal phone memory

raymando said:
No it will not lag and performance wise its should run faster as it has more space to place with and will not decrease the internal phone memory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will all applications be installed in this extension? And will it cause any error when application, that required install to phone, are installed in this extension. For example,in MDJ CM7 2.2, Angry bird is required to install in phone memory in order to work.

10507 said:
Will all applications be installed in this extension? And will it cause any error when application, that required install to phone, are installed in this extension. For example,in MDJ CM7 2.2, Angry bird is required to install in phone memory in order to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wont cause any error like i said before not all applications cant be installed to the ext partition so some applications will be installed to the internal phone memory, As for angry birds it will automatically install to the SD-Card partition as i have bot the season and normal version installed and they both run fine on the SD-EXT partiton

where could i get APPS2SD+ from ?

[Q] Big Problem/ lost system

hey guys i want to make with a freind a new rom on his desire and he has root the desire and then we go to recovery, wipe all data and try to install the new rom but then the error comes:
can't mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p2
(file exists)
can't mound sdext:
E: Failure at line 6:
copy_dir Package:sdext Sdext:
Installaion aborted.
we forget to make a backup from the hole system and now he can't do anything with his phone because there is no data an it! **** please help!
i've seen the backup img. from the backup we make after that ****,
now we hope that someone can give us his backup data:
.android_secure.img
boot.img
cache.img
data.img
nandroid.md5
recovery.img
system.img
we need that to restore his system.
or are there any other methodes to run his system, we don't know why the sdext not worked....
we need help very fast, please help!!!!
thanks a lot

I have these backed up on my SD card & PC too. But I'm afraid it has some private stuff also backed up.
I reccomend you installing a stock rom again and root it (installing a stock rom unroots your phone).
Like in this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=918939 Be sure you use the latest ROM and read the full thread!
Also why don't you try another rom, see if it works? ANd make sure you wipe all data (factory/cache dalvik)

how we should install that when we can go only into recovery mod, we can go to sd card but the link you give to us, there is only a rom with is a exe.
can you give us a deteiled introduction? we aren't so good in these things :S pleaase help.
edit2: we can't start the phone so we can't chose htc sync...

http://theunlockr.com/2010/06/07/how-to-unroot-the-htc-desire/
The tutorial and ROM you should use:
http://www.mediafire.com/?bbb7m2b4t5jejhm
If you can't start the phone, then search the forum here for solution...

the problem is, we dont have android on the phone now, no datas nothing, we can pnly good to recovery mod...
we need to install a backup or something from recovery that we have a system on our phone....
so we should need help! ((((((((
edit:
an idea nagypapi :
maybe you can backup you data now, then wipe all your data and flash a completly new rom, then you can make a backup from the completly new rom and than you can give us the backup files bacause these data are without you personal information, thats the one chance ,,,please.....

Download leedroid noA2sd, boot in to recovery, mount the sd, copy the rom to the sd, unmount and flash the rom. You can use a other rom than leedroid if you want but for now just use it.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

A possible solution here in post no.7:
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/6433-solved-messed-up-partitions-on-internal-storage/
Also I can do the thing you suggested to create the files , but since now I am not at home upload would take forever...
Also try first installing the NOA2SD LeeDroid rom.
+ What Rom You want to install? Does it need an ext 2/3/4 partition, maybe that's the cause, also make sure your SD is formatted to FAT32.

Yes I think its the fat, I try it home later.
The main problem was that we can't mount the SD could. Not mounted in the recovery ... I say it already at the top...
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

Yeah, you must make an ext partition on the FAT32 SD card, and it should work.

Can I make that with ubuntu?
Ok then I have two partitions on the sdcart (4gb).
On which partition should I have all my folders?
On which partition should I have my zip data (rom) ?
;D you make me hope
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

Your error is related to a missing ext partition, since the phone doesn't boot i assume you tried to install a sense HD rom. What it said a the top is mounting the ext partition failed, I'm talking about mounting the normal fat partition as mass storing to copy the rom onto the sd card. If that also does not work, take out the sd card put it in a card reader and copy the rom on to it, the put sd back and flash leedroid. This will give you a booting device.
If you want to make and use a ext partition make sure you first have the fat and then the ext3, all files should be on the fat partition and there is no need to do anything else to the ext partition.

DHDLover said:
Can I make that with ubuntu?
Ok then I have two partitions on the sdcart (4gb).
On which partition should I have all my folders?
On which partition should I have my zip data (rom) ?
;D you make me hope
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suggest using GParted for that or anything that works in Ubuntu.
If you have another Android device (i bet you have ) you can dowload ROM manager form the Market and use that to create partitions / format card (it is easier).
"Partitioning your SD Card ready for A2SD+
* Backup all data on you SD card (this will be wiped)
* The card should be formatted with your standard FAT32 partition 1st followed by an EXT2/3/4 partition
* Linux users use GParted or a similar software.
* For everyone else I would recommend using Rom Manager
* Once you have downloaded ROM manager from the market, open the app and click partition SD Card, Select your EXT size (512MB or 1024MB recommended) and set 0mb for swap
* Restore your data to your SD and the job is done."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

GUYS
big thank you to you XD
it works now

DHDLover said:
GUYS
big thank you to you XD
it works now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Our pleasure to make it work

Space Shortage

My phone is rooted and running on cyanogenMod 7.2. The storage problem I am facing is immense. Have very few apps installed but still always keep getting that Low space warning. Any suggestions?

Kabir999 said:
My phone is rooted and running on cyanogenMod 7.2. The storage problem I am facing is immense. Have very few apps installed but still always keep getting that Low space warning. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Create an ext partition on your sd card using this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=37383522#post37383522
Then look for an a2sd script and flash it. Then all apps you install will be automatically installed to the partition on your sd card.

Could you kindly elaborate the second step? A2sd script and flash?
chromium96 said:
Create an ext partition on your sd card using this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=37383522#post37383522
Then look for an a2sd script and flash it. Then all apps you install will be automatically installed to the partition on your sd card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Check out the "using the ext partition" section in the guide.

You should also s-off and change hboot to cm7r2 to use space more efficiently.
I believe you're still on stock hboot, so you have a lot of free space on system partition which is wasted. Change hboot will also increase upper available /data (internal memory) size.
Check everything's working correctly afterwards by installing another app like 'diskusage' to browse all your partitions.