Related
Hey, atm while i was learning more about the G1, I kept the 1 GB in there. I now want to know more about the installing apps to SD part of it. 1st off after I get a memory card. (Which btw I saw I can get a 2 GB model. How do I know if its good? Sandisk work ok or do I need a SDHC or no?
Also after applying the fix that does apps to SD. Would that mean anything I install from the market after that point auto installs to the SD? Also is it worth it? Right now I was comfortable installing to the internal memory this way I could unmount the SD card and not worry about something going horribly wrong that needed access or so. (I like to know about things I do to my phone before doing it.)
Anyways just wanted to get some info on this a lil more and know if its worth it so I can continue looking into it and how to do it. Thanks. =)
1. I'm not sure about sandisk, but the one i use (Transcend) works just fine. I'm not really that too good with sdcard specs lol...
2. Yep, every app you install from the market will be installed to your sdcard. Well, to me, it's really worth it because you can get more apps and not really have to bother with that low memory warning... I also think it removes some lag lol
Ok sounds good, so to confirm, I DO 100% need a 2 GB at least to use? How do I know if its the right type tho?
Also my current apps, is there a way to move them over easy enough or do I need to wipe my phone and reinstall everything from scrath? ( One of the reasons I avoided this since I really did not want to lose a couple of these apps since they are older ones and not "Trial" or they were removed, or just hard to track what I did have)
Mysticales said:
Ok sounds good, so to confirm, I DO 100% need a 2 GB at least to use? How do I know if its the right type tho?
Also my current apps, is there a way to move them over easy enough or do I need to wipe my phone and reinstall everything from scrath? ( One of the reasons I avoided this since I really did not want to lose a couple of these apps since they are older ones and not "Trial" or they were removed, or just hard to track what I did have)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I've read, you only need 500 megs of space on ext partition. More than that, and it'll lag a little bit.
I actually have my sd partitioned 6gb/2gb fat32/ext2 respectively.
A class 6 sd card (you can tell by the small number in the corner... no number, probably a class 2 then) is recommended, but I am using a class 4.
If you put music and video on your sd, I would recommend going with a 4gb or higher card.
So where does it install the apps to? EXT2? So normally you only wanna have 500 megs on ext2?
But 1 GB wouldnt be worth doing this right?
Also any news on if I can move all my apps to it or if it had to be reinstalled?
Also how do you really go about finding a app that is no longer on the market but yet has updates for?
Mysticales said:
So where does it install the apps to? EXT2? So normally you only wanna have 500 megs on ext2?
But 1 GB wouldnt be worth doing this right?
Also any news on if I can move all my apps to it or if it had to be reinstalled?
Also how do you really go about finding a app that is no longer on the market but yet has updates for?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldnt use a 1gb card, but thats because I like to put music and videos on my phone.
All applications downloaded after you create the symbolic link to install applications on sd will be installed on the ext2 partition.
Everytime you wipe (factory reset) your user data, only a few commands are needed to restore the symbolic link. So, no you won't need to reinstall your apps (your unprotected apps anyways).
I would use atrackdog to find apps that arent on the market but have updates
Apps to sd
here ya go dude
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=468959&highlight=(modded)+apps+sd
just follow these instructions, theyre the ones i used.
If you don't know how to use, or setup ADB, then at the bottom there are some instructions to use terminal emulator
Hope this helps
well I use atrackdog. But are you saying I should just use that to reinstall them? Most of my apps are from the market except for some. However while it says it has a update for a app, when I goto the market its no longer there some of the apps.
You wont lose the apps... no need to worry about that, it doesnt affect what apps you have, it just simply moves all the files from the apps to your sdcard... the only thing removed or changed will just probably be a theme and thats it lol...
cool. After that, I assume I would need to turn off the phone to take the card out and add files to it? Also if I wanted to "upgrade" the card later on, how would one move the files over? Use Linux to transfer the files directly to the other SD card or what?
Atrack will sometimes track beta testing versions that are only available to testers, so you wont always be able to utilize atrack dog to install updates.
Trust me, if you like downloading and trying out apps, you'll be glad you made the switch
Woot, I did it, Using a Kingston 2 GB
I updated to the JFvMOD by LucidREM, which I assume I had to do 1st for the SD apps right? Then I did the copy apps and data, seems everything converted over correctly, so Im happy about that, finally have workable space again and my G1 doesnt force close anymore due to lack of space.
Now come some other questions. I know in Linux I can access the memory card with a adapter to put files on. However in windows, how will this work? If I use usb will it only read the fat32 partition or will it try to read both? I know when I plugged it in by a adapter directly, WinXP acts like it doesnt see the memory card. It knows one is there, but it wants to format it. (Which I dont, granted odd since I do have the mod on WinXP that lets me see EXT3 partions)
Now the bigger question. When JF updates his regular version (Whenever G1 updates) will I be required to wait for THIS modded version to be updated before continuing or how does that all work for updates now? I used to know with the regular one but now that I use a mod of a mod version. Kinda confused where I stand. Heh.
But yes, so far I am happy I made the switch, got 58 megs free of internal heh. (I assume thats correct on a normal thing?)
Also later on with new apps etc, will they try to use internal memory or will EVERYTHING run to the SD card now? (How do you even check the EXT2 free space now? Astro or what?) If it does use internal, do I need to somehow do regular transfers over to the SD?
Anyways I know alot of questions, but least after this Ill have a better understanding how to keep proceeding. Thanks. =)
Sorry for the loing post, bare with me
I have installed FRF50 when it came out, after a few day when doing an update of a few app in the market I had one stuck at installation, even after reboot when I tried to update it again it did the same, after a few cleanup of my download folder and retry all the app that where encrypted in the app2sd folder (not sure of the exact folder name) where not properly decrypted by the OS, at the time I taught nothing of it and reinstalled everything (froyo image + reconfig) to do a fresh start with froyo, I also reformatted my SD card to be on the safe side... and had no issue since then...
Then came FRF72, did the exact same problem yesterday and I was able to restart the SD (if I can say so) after a few reboot.
Today same issue is back, but no go so far, all app that belong to flash are there with a generic icon, they appear on the list of app in the SD section but without their icon, it really look like if the OS is not able to decrypt them (If I understand correctly that was the stupid way google decided to implement some kind of DRM on the flash memory)
I am seriously thinkiing about going back to CM and the old way of EXT4 app2sd, it was working ok...
I've had this occur after upgrading to FRF72, it's probably because the OS didn't manage to detect the apps correctly. To solve it, I just plugged in my USB cable, mounted the SD card and then unmounting it after it showed up correctly as a removable drive on my laptop. After waiting a while for the OS to scan the card (check logcat to verify that apps are indeed being scanned one by one), my apps were back.
Another test...
Rebooted the phone without the SD, then shutdown and reboot with the SD, no change but...
If I connect the USB cable, the computer see the new drive right away (it use to take a few second after enabling the USB sharing) but is is not usable and I see no notification of the USB, that's a really weird bug...
if anybody have some idea, I know from my first encounter with this issue that changing the SD card will not fix this either...
@ Zanglang
Thanks for the sugestion, but the PC doesn't see the card, my terminal was on the flash mem and I can not install new app from market
trying a nandroid from the Recovery now... BAD DROID...
I had a problem on Frf50 with app icons turning generic and disappearing from 3d app rolodex. They were still accessible from the generic icons.
Now on Frf72 and issue seems to have subsided. Everything is where it should be. This time around i only added apps to sd they were allowable to move, i didnt force anything. When i first talked about it a while back i heard it was a bug as well as learned that certain things shouldnt go on the SD altogether. Now that i got that straightened out im good and feel like i learned something. lol
crap, no recovery
SBERG117 said:
I had a problem on Frf50 with app icons turning generic and disappearing from 3d app rolodex. They were still accessible from the generic icons.
Now on Frf72 and issue seems to have subsided. Everything is where it should be. This time around i only added apps to sd they were allowable to move, i didnt force anything. When i first talked about it a while back i heard it was a bug as well as learned that certain things shouldnt go on the SD altogether. Now that i got that straightened out im good and feel like i learned something. lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, the funny part is that I did not move rom manager and I did not move anything like widget etc, I am frustrated by Google stupid way of handling memory extension tho... as for not forcing any app i am fine with the idea however too many app are not updated and it piss me off to go thru all app to move them by hand...
What's the point of encrypting the app moved to SD anyway... I can't believe how stupid this is, I hope Cyanogen will find a way to disable this altogether...
P00r said:
Yeah, the funny part is that I did not move rom manager and I did not move anything like widget etc, I am frustrated by Google stupid way of handling memory extension tho... as for not forcing any app i am fine with the idea however too many app are not updated and it piss me off to go thru all app to move them by hand...
What's the point of encrypting the app moved to SD anyway... I can't believe how stupid this is, I hope Cyanogen will find a way to disable this altogether...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well now some of the icons have disappeared again. LOL.
These were all allowable by FRF72. Only one that hasnt changed yet is titanium backup. I tried, thought it was gonna hold.
I managed to do a recovery, I swapped the SD with another one and moved everything from the protected dir of the old card to the new one and all the icon came back.
When checking in the app manager, I noticed a few file marked as flash, I deleted a few and it seem ok but the one in the SD section are still not all there, and some display calculating as in the properties field forever...
So far
Froyo = 7/10 (3 total crash so far all related to the new memory management) since I used the PM setInstallLocation 2 I am not putting 0...
Cyanogen = 9/10
I am really curious to see what he will do with flash memory management!
Now running FRF83 with the first SD untouched, I recovered my nandroid then directly flashed to FRF83 from Paul, all app are there... I am also reverting to setIntallLocation 0 to see if there's improvement...
Having similar issues right now on the latest update with setinstalllocation 2. I guess I have to f around with it to get this to work again. What a pain.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
adb setinstalllocation 2 doesn't seem to do much but make it seem like many apps are actually being installed on the sd card when they are in fact not.
I decided to investigate when I noticed my phone storage at 32mb of internal storage free. Installed flash player. I went to manage applications, installed on sd tab had all 7.7 megs on the sd card. I went to uninstall, the application freed up internal phone storage, all 7.7 megs on uninstall.
I don't believe this method actually does anything useful unless its an app that already allows store to sd.. which is few and far between. Furthermore you don't know what's really an app that supports that now and what isn't because most of the apps now show up in the "on sd" tab of managed applications.
I could be wrong, plan on testing some more soon.. busy for the rest of the day. Will report back
blisk said:
adb setinstalllocation 2 doesn't seem to do much but make it seem like many apps are actually being installed on the sd card when they are in fact not.
I decided to investigate when I noticed my phone storage at 32mb of internal storage free. Installed flash player. I went to manage applications, installed on sd tab had all 7.7 megs on the sd card. I went to uninstall, the application freed up internal phone storage, all 7.7 megs on uninstall.
I don't believe this method actually does anything useful unless its an app that already allows store to sd.. which is few and far between. Furthermore you don't know what's really an app that supports that now and what isn't because most of the apps now show up in the "on sd" tab of managed applications.
I could be wrong, plan on testing some more soon.. busy for the rest of the day. Will report back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The files are encrypted and placed in .android_secure in the root of the SD card (when I crashed that dir had 350MB size...)
so they are there, but I agree that phone memory still didn't get freed as much as it should as well, I suspect it's the way the OS had to place thumbstone so that they appear in the app manager
Also I noticed that they seem to have some kind of naming convention {com.dooblou.WiFiFileExplorerPRO-2} vs {cn.mobgo.filego-1} where some have -2 and other are -1
either way I reformatted and started again from scratch (well partially, titanium backup is very usefull) this time without forcing usage of the SD card I already feel the pain of having to go thru each and every app to toggle the move to sd and this is when it simply doesn't support the feature yet...
I really think that this app 2 sd implementation sucks big time, oh did I mention that the way google implemented it's memory expansion sucks... Also the way they implemented encryption mean that you could end up with a backup from a broken phone not working on a new phone which is quite something, almost sound like an Apple Feature...
They could have to the very least added a tab in the app manager so that we can easily manage the said so option... and made an external app that could decrypt the app moved to flash for backup purpose
P00r said:
I really think that this app 2 sd implementation sucks big time, oh did I mention that the way google implemented it's memory expansion sucks... Also the way they implemented encryption mean that you could end up with a backup from a broken phone not working on a new phone which is quite something, almost sound like an Apple Feature...
They could have to the very least added a tab in the app manager so that we can easily manage the said so option... and made an external app that could decrypt the app moved to flash for backup purpose
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it's a pretty terrible implementation. I think eventually it'll be some sort of transparent thing that the user will never see if the app developer enables it but for the time being it blows big time.
Maybe this is why Froyo hasn't yet released.... Wider audience and feedback on A2SD.
I suspect it'll either get fixed or yanked for 2.2.
I had to reinstall all the apps I moved to the SD card.
Had the same problem with FRF76..all of a sudden I couldn't install new apps from the market...soooo, what I did was:
- downgrade to CM5.0.8
- save all of my apps to apps2sd
- deleted app secure folder
- upgrade to rodrigurez r19 rom with older style apps2sd.
- now, I have all my apps n new ones my sd card n yeap..even widgets are working..
khaytsus said:
Maybe this is why Froyo hasn't yet released.... Wider audience and feedback on A2SD.
I suspect it'll either get fixed or yanked for 2.2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope so, A guy has made a great program to move the app to SD, however on my phone I can move like 10% of all I have installed, I just had to delete co-pilot to be able to install swype
What's weird is that their protected folder system even compress the app, but as far as I am concerned I do not need more space on my SD since almost nothing can be moved there anyway... and even if, I could update my SD as needed...
So Froyo is here and my phone is full... constant messages in the notificication bar saying sms cannot be received because the phone is full etc...
Wasnt Apps to SD meant to sort this, how can it when not even Google uses this feature, only one of my apps (skymap) uses it...
What about maps,earth etc... all the massive files
What a joke
Froyo release isn't even finished (not even really started) and you are complaining now? Just WAIT.
marmankites said:
So Froyo is here and my phone is full... constant messages in the notificication bar saying sms cannot be received because the phone is full etc...
Wasnt Apps to SD meant to sort this, how can it when not even Google uses this feature, only one of my apps (skymap) uses it...
What about maps,earth etc... all the massive files
What a joke
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do know you have to move those files manually right? Goto settings->Applications->Manage Applications->[App name here] then click move to SD Card. This only works with applications that the developer of the app flaged to be able to move to SD card.
I agree, it does suck. Even with the command that allows you to move all apps2sd, it is still horrible in my opinion. This is why I am back to using the old method of apps2sd, much more easier -- and it doesn't take up space on my main SD card partition.
Of course I know you do it manually, I went through all my apps hoping I could find some to move to get a txt message come through, pulling my hair out!
What is this, Apple now?
You're all idiots. Froyo JUST got released. Now devs actually have a reason to implement A2SD in their apps. That's right, the Froyo method requires each app to be made compatible first. And yeah you have to do it manually. So freaking educate yourselves before you start *****ing.
Yes and the froyo method only moves a portion of the app leaving a large portion on your phone. Also if you have to format your sd card then when you restore your back up to your sd card from your computer you still have to reinstall all of your apps because the implementation has some sort of encryption and screws you over. So your right we are all idiots because the google implemented a ****ty half ass version of apps 2 sd!
FaJu said:
You're all idiots. Froyo JUST got released. Now devs actually have a reason to implement A2SD in their apps. That's right, the Froyo method requires each app to be made compatible first. And yeah you have to do it manually. So freaking educate yourselves before you start *****ing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure who need education,
I do feel their implementation is flawed as well. The fact is that it's easy to see that the ext4 partition method is better and simpler.
Glad others have found it to be a pittyfull attempt
Its on par with Apples "multitasking"
I think it is good enough for a normal user. All other use app2sd anyway.
I also use the 'old' method.
I have an EXT3 partitin and it's much smoother and less internal memory is used.
I hate the fact that all apps that are on the SD the FROYO way don't work if you mount your SDCARD.
Im having a hard time of finding the benefits of Google version over the APPS2SD version.
Not knocking Googles version since its brand spanking new...but outside of the need to partition it seems better than Google version.
xManMythLegend said:
Im having a hard time of finding the benefits of Google version over the APPS2SD version.
Not knocking Googles version since its brand spanking new...but outside of the need to partition it seems better than Google version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah after seeing how it works on my nexus I plan on rooting my phone finally so I don't have to be annoyed by it in the future.
So if you install whole apps on the sd card... what happens to those with widgets you are currently using and you mount the sd card? It will totally screw the widgets right?
Edit: Nvm, that's why there's an ext3 partition right?
Grrr...stupid question.
Can I create an EXT partition at this point without wiping my SD card or losing data ?
Well I agree it is not as good as having an ext partition for apps2sd but I have had zero issues with the new version. I installed market manager and choose to install apps to the sd card. Manually move them over and reboot. Once booted I force close adw.launcher with a task manager and all apps show and work just fine. I have over 100 apps on my phone and almost all of them are on sd with the exception of widgets and a couple others for one reason or another. No glitches or problems whatsoever. not sure what you guys are doing wrong.
r0adki111 said:
Well I agree it is not as good as having an ext partition for apps2sd but I have had zero issues with the new version. I installed market manager and choose to install apps to the sd card. Manually move them over and reboot. Once booted I force close adw.launcher with a task manager and all apps show and work just fine. I have over 100 apps on my phone and almost all of them are on sd with the exception of widgets and a couple others for one reason or another. No glitches or problems whatsoever. not sure what you guys are doing wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you explain the bolded ?
Theres so few apps enabled for SD and Im already out of space. There was a way to force all apps to sd googles way but it seemed to cause problems.
BTW the skin switched after I typed this freaked me the hell out...thought I accidently posted this on BangBros forum or something.
xManMythLegend said:
Can you explain the bolded ?
Theres so few apps enabled for SD and Im already out of space. There was a way to force all apps to sd googles way but it seemed to cause problems.
BTW the skin switched after I typed this freaked me the hell out...thought I accidently posted this on BangBros forum or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
market manager gives you the option to pick where you want to install your apps. if you tell them to go to sd and then go into settings, applications, manage applications and click on an app you can click "move to sd" and the app will go there. Essentially it is the google method. I haven't used frf83 yet so I dunno if it's different.
forum skin change just freaked me out too haha!
r0adki111 said:
market manager gives you the option to pick where you want to install your apps. if you tell them to go to sd and then go into settings, applications, manage applications and click on an app you can click "move to sd" and the app will go there. Essentially it is the google method. I haven't used frf83 yet so I dunno if it's different.
forum skin change just freaked me out too haha!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this a seperate app ?
If so I cant find a link here or marketplace.
xManMythLegend said:
Is this a seperate app ?
If so I cant find a link here or marketplace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry, I believe it's called "MarketAccess". I sent my n1 in for dust and don't have it to look at right now. my mistake.
OK, just picked up the Nook Color last night. It's v1.2.0 in its settings, and apparently a blue-dot version (since it only has 1.0 GB free space in its settings panel).
I picked this up because I wanted to make it a low-end cost-effective android tablet.
I'm already getting a bit confused with all the stuff flying around - I read some post that says you don't need to root these things, that you just format/flash right over the existing - more posts talking about how its next to impossible to brick these, other posts talking about bootable SDs, and some other posts talking about ManualNooter for rooting. THen I happened to stumble onto the whole "blue-dot" business.
My questions are fairly simple. I want a low-end android tablet that I can get stuff from the Market (or side-load) and play Netflix videos. I have a 4GB SD card in it now, that's free and empty that I can use to make flashable bootable whatnots.
Do I root? Do I repartition this blue-dot business first? Can some people chime in with exactly what I should be doing? I see things about rooting, I see things about bootable CWM SD cards, (different sizes for different SD cards, but golly if you're blue-dot, get the 1GB eyeballer somethingorother) and it's getting a bit much.
I have an Evo 4G that I've rooted and flashed ROMs, and know my way around CWM for that. I'm not a total noob to this.
I just want to make sure I have my ducks in a row. If I don't need to root, why is there manualNooter? I guess I'd just like to get an android OS going on there (CM7?) that will let me play netflix and get market apps and such. What's the shortest/easiest path to this, and should I repartition first?
edit: as a follow up - can I just install CM7 onto an SD card and always boot from that? Do I have to mess at all with NC's internal business? That would be handier, I think - if possible. I just read that it looks possible in the comments here:
http://www.linux-mag.com/id/8553/
In reading this:
http://quinxy.com/guides/how-to-pick-your-nook-color-operating-system-and-install-options/
I think I want to go the OS on SD-Card option. It protects the warranty, and I can keep it "safe" for now.
Wifflepig said:
In reading this:
http://quinxy.com/guides/how-to-pick-your-nook-color-operating-system-and-install-options/
I think I want to go the OS on SD-Card option. It protects the warranty, and I can keep it "safe" for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that's your decision, which is the same one I made, this is what I learned here:
-The MicroSD card itself can make running android a wonderful experience, or a torurous nightmare of force close issues on everything. All cards are not made equal. You probably want a SanDisk brand card, test your card with Crystal Disk Mark, and read Here and Here for more information on that part of it.
-I am running this Phiremod 6.2 image, dualboot between phiremod and honeycomb. You can just run it by default on the more stable phiremod without ever going into honeycomb if you want. I haven't updated it to phiremod 6.3 yet as the thread gives you the option for, 6.2 runs very well.
A rock solid package that works fantastically well, make sure to thank the people who made it if you like it - you can tell it's a labor of love by how nice it is.
Also, make sure that the battery is charged all the way to full the first time you put your custom SD card in.
To make the custom card:
-put it in your computer, fresh format if possible/necessary
-use WinImage to burn the image to the MicroSD card.
-use EASEUS partition software to extend the /sdcard partition to use the rest of the unallocated space on your MicroSD card.
...and that's really all there is to it. It can get confusing out there with so many options and configuration choices.
You may end up deciding that you like something better, but for a "no strings attached" look at android on the Nook color the image and tools I just linked are a good place to start.
Besides preserving your stock Nook color as-is, running from the sdcard lets you have a couple of different cards with different installs, and swapping between them is as easy as turning the Nook off and then back on again.
While the Nook is booted to it's stock configuration, you can plug it into your computer and transfer whatever you want drag and drop style into the internal memory of the device. When you reboot the Nook into your android sdcard install, you can use a file manager to browse to it and use it. No hassle pictures, music and etc... transfer to your android device.
The google market app "dual file manager" by medieval software is free and great for running back and forth between the internal and sdcard memory.
Also, for an sdcard install, get the google market app "sd speed increase" by diego stamigni. It absolutely makes a noticable difference in running android from the sdcard.
Two last app recommendations are both paid google market apps, but:
The "nook color power button" by otis8 provides you with an on-screen icon that emulates the hardware power button on the side of your nook. I have a case that covers mine, and a lot of searching led to this answer. You may or may not need it, but if you do this is the right answer.
"thumb keyboard" by beansoft, has completely changed my Nook experience in ways I didn't realize needed changing until I used it. The split keyboard makes thumb typing so much easier. The arrow keys I always seem to need were why I wanted a new keyboard, but with the customizable buttons and layout options available through this app...it was worth every last penny spent on it.
Every time I type something on the Nook, I am so glad I got this keyboard.
That should be enough to get you started, just make sure that if you install the image I reference above:
-After it boots into android the first time, let it sit and don't touch it for about 5 minutes. The first time it runs, it has to configure itself on the sdcard, which you don't see happening on the screen. A little bit fo patience this one time can eliminate some possible problems in the future.
-Log into and activate the google market from the app icon on the home screen first. If you delete this icon from the home screen, you may lose market on this install and have to either do something funky to get it back, or re-image the sdcard.
There is so much great information here, I was amazed and overwhelmed when I first started looking into it. This place has taught me so much in so little time - I love it here.
ETA:
One last thing is, I don't know anything about blue dot, i've only seen it in passing. My nook is updated to 1.2 stock. You should be ok, but make sure to read the thread of the image you download to make sure.
...and... by keeping your stock nook, you don't have a problem that others might. If using windows, an imaged sdcard can't be just formatted back to it's full capacity. Windows only reads the first small partition as the whole card.
If you boot the nook into it's stock software, and then insert the sdcard, the stock nook will let you format it right back to it's standard capacity and remove all the custom partitions on it.
Then all you have to do is pop the card out, put it in your computer, and burn a new image to it.
I've spent the past 3 weeks pretty solid working out how I want to transform the 3 Fire's I got for $35 for my boys, 10, 8, and 4. I figure I'd post where I've finally landed along with some other things I've tried both with success and failure, and hopefully save some people some effort. I'd suggest reading through this before you use it as a stepbystep guide to make sure this works for you. I apologize if it's a bit jumbled, but everything should be here for you to convert your Fire. Again, I'd suggest reading through the whole thing to come up with a plan of action for you.
Goal: Turn this Fire into a glorified gameboy, used ONLY by kids, not shared with parent(s) and child
On 5.1.1
Assuming you've purchased an SD card, you will want to repartition in preparation for moving files and content.
Pointers for this:
Make two partitions, 1 which is about 70% of the card formatted as Fat32, must be a PRIMARY partition.
Second partition will be the remaining space, make it ext2, must be a PRIMARY partition. (From what I can tell the reason people suggest using ext2, and not 3 or 4, is because with 3 and 4 there is some built in backup and recovery operations which is great for when you're running a full Linux operating system, but for our purposes all it does is cause more writes which in THEORY will shorten the life of your SD card)
I formatted the Fat32 partition as the first partition, and the EXT partition as the 2nd. Not sure if the order matters or not, but I've had no problems doing it this way thus far.
Reference: http://rootmyandroid.org/increase-internal-memory-phone.html/
Reference: http://rootmyandroid.org/how-to-use-link2sd-tutorial-guide.html/
Note:
During initial setup, don't bother with multiple user profiles (reasons explained later).
Using root junky's super tool (Thanks root junky, you made this all possible!!! http://rootjunkysdl.com/?device=Amazon Fire 5th gen&folder=SuperTool) do the following:
Root
Prevent OTA
Install Google Play
Install NovaLauncher (this is important if you're not going to use the built in Kids Mode in FireOS)
In Google Play Store download the following:
Link2SD (This is assuming you've purchased an SD card)
Kids Place - The VERY SIMPLE reason I went with using this app (which essentially becomes an alternative launcher) instead of using the built in FireOS's profiles and kids mode, is because the built in kids mode will ONLY allow you to use apps which you've downloaded FROM the AMAZON app store. I understand why they do it this way, I mean, the whole point of the fire is to keep you inside the Amazon ecosystem after all. But, I have MANY games I've paid full price for on Google Play that are appropriate for my kids. Since I can't put them into the kids profile built into the FireOS (If anyone can link me to a guide which is different, I'd love to hear about it) I couldn't use the built in stuff. In addition, the built in kids mode really is a pretty awesome feature on the fire, but the icons are freaking huge and kind of a waste of space.... going with this alternative method of Kids Place gives you smaller icons therefore you can "shove" more icons on a single view. Icons which take up half the screen are great, but if you're a dad like me who's going a little overboard and putting 100+ games on these things, it'll be a bit of a pain to scroll through them for your kids using the built in profile in the OS.
Note:
You can get Link2SD from the Amazon app store, but the version there is older than what's in Google Play and ultimately didn't work. Once I got the Google Play version, worked like a champ. NOTEx2: For whatever reason (this was frustrating for me to figure out), even though I partitioned 70% of the 64GB Samsung microSD to Fat32, and the other 30% I partitioned to ext2 (BTW I did the Fat32 first and ext2 second... not really sure if it matters the order or not but that's what worked first time for me so I went with it), when I launched Link2SD and it asked me which partition to use, I had to choose ext4 for it to finally work. Choosing both ext2 and Fat32 would both result in basically it saying: "yeah, you chose the wrong one punk" (or whatever it says).
Kids Place - similar to the one above, there is weirdness in the version on Amazon vs Google Play. On Amazon it actually claims the version there is slightly newer than Google Play, but when I'd launch apps on the one I got from Amazon it would kill the WiFi for that app. I realize that this is a built in option into Kids Place, being able to choose WiFi on or off per app (which is really cool), but the one from Amazon seemed to do it when and how it wanted instead of what I was telling it to do. Google Play's version had no such problems.
(( A word of caution using Link2SD's "feature" of being able to "Link Internal Data". DON'T DO IT. I've not been burned HARD CORE by it. The symptom is that if you POWER DOWN, and POWER ON the tablet, Apps go missing. Through reading and troubleshooting, it appears via this forum (http://androidforums.com/threads/link2sd-missing-apps-after-reboot.858565/) that the culprit is when you choose the Link2SD option to "Link Internal Data" to the SD Card. There's even a nifty batch way to enable it on ALL apps. Well, after powering off and powering back on the tablet (after I was COMPLETELY done putting on 150 games), when it came back up I only had like 15 apps on it. Everything else was POOF, gone. I've noticed sometimes after a power cycle like that the apps might take a few moments to 'come alive', but even after 15 minutes of waiting I had nada. Went in search and found I'm not the only one. I've now since completely redone (including reformatting the SD Card) all 3 Fire's and so far after multiple reboots, I've not lost a single app. So for now at least, this does seem to be the problem ))
You will need to spend the $2.35 on Link2SD Plus (striking out due to my caution above, that being said I'm glad I threw this guy $2.35 because my tablet would basically be worthless without the app), and after you install Kids Place, you'll need to upgrade to premium for $4.99. Here's why:
Link2SD - Plus - This is what allows you to automatically move files and content to the SD card when an app is installed. This is mega important to me because that piddly 5.x GB of usable space gets eaten up ridiculously fast otherwise. Dive into the settings once you have plus, and just go turn everything on. Auto move everything. Be sure to go into all menus and sub menus.
Kids Place - The premium features is key for me. For example: A) You can make this app launch upon reboot, thus it basically "forces" this into a kid only/friendly device. If your kids are sneaky, or bored, they'll try to break out of Kids Place. Then they'll delete apps, make folders, sabotage they're brothers devices, etc. B) You can change the name that's displayed on top from "Kids Place", to something else like their name, give them a fun nickname, whatever. For my 10 year old he won't feel like it's just a little kid thing. C) You can do this part without premium, but it's critical for me to mention it: You can change what the home "button" does so that it directs you back to Kids Place instead of the regular home launcher. The reason you need to install NovaLauncher above is because if you still have the stock firelauncher, you can NOT replace the home button with another launcher otherwise. [Word of caution, if you enable the 'background' premium feature, Kids Place is still running, just more in the background. Took me a few minutes to figure out that's what I had done. I kept thing something was wrong and wondering when whenever I launched Kids Place it kept asking me if I want to shut it down or go into settings.... it's because it was running the whole time already)
Once you've done all that, simply download apps (Amazon Underground still seems too good to be true, but I'm hopeful), sideload apps, get apps from Google Play, then go into the Kids Place settings and choose which apps you want (Manage Apps).
Other things worth noting:
SlimRom. So, this is cool. It's fast, and pretty awesome. For me however, at the end of the day, it didn't make sense to introduce something in addition that could go wrong. If you're like me and you have no intention of using this device yourself and you ONLY want this to be a device for your kids, I don't think SlimRom is worth putting in. If it's a shared device, it might be worth it. The only thing I really forgot to test when I had put SlimRom on one of the devices was how the Amazon App store would work, and whether or not the device would be recognized properly with the Amazon Underground portion.
That's it, I hope you find this helpful. I welcome any feedback or suggestions on how to make this a more gooder guide for anyone like myself who's first jump into amazon tablets has been these fires. They truly are AMAZING devices for the price.
hobojester said:
The only thing I really forgot to test when I had put SlimRom on one of the devices was how the Amazon App store would work, and whether or not the device would be recognized properly with the Amazon Underground portion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems pretty comprehensive guide for those using it the same way, very nice work
And when I had Slim on it worked fine with my amazon app store and underground apps. And the music and video ones for that matter. I couldn't get the kindle app to show my books but someone solved that by using older apk after I went back to stock.
@hobojester, THANKS so much for posting.
I purchased the $35 Fire Tablet for my 3 girls (9, 7, 5).
I've rooted at 5.0.1 and disabled OTA, disabled ads, Installed GooglePlay store, and loaded Nova launcher. Although I haven't taken it another few steps with Kids Place, I feel that I'll start with just locking down and hiding the apps via Nova Launcher will be enough for now. My kids are pretty savvy at navigating interfaces and even when they touch/exit an app, they know how to get back to it. I know there are holes with settings and NovaLauncher settings so when they figure them out, they can reenable certain functionality.
I'll look into Kids Place though, that might be my next step.
Also, about the whole SD card partitioning, I've installed a 32GB card and the tablet stated that it would start using the card as the default storage device. I'm guessing your method moves EVERYTHING to the card, and the default behavior for the Fire Tablet is to install some things on internal memory and 'other' storage is routed to the card? I've installed quite a bit of applications since I plugged in my SD card and it doesn't seem to be full... although I didn't check the storage stats before I wrapped the tablets.
Also, I've heard some good press on the Circle (with Disney) router, so I did order one for the home as yet another piece of the parenting puzzle:
[edit] sorry, didn't have sufficient permissions to post outside links. Google up: "Circle router with Disney"
Pond-life said:
Seems pretty comprehensive guide for those using it the same way, very nice work
And when I had Slim on it worked fine with my amazon app store and underground apps. And the music and video ones for that matter. I couldn't get the kindle app to show my books but someone solved that by using older apk after I went back to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know about Slim and the Amazon store. Again, if I were going to use the tablet in a 'shared' environment where I'm using it AND my kids are using it, I'd totally use Slim. It was awesome. In this particular instance where this $35 device is a glorified gameboy, Slim is just something that is an extra layer of complexity that's really not needed and *could* get in the way. I have no intention of my kids even getting on the internet with this device. Not until there's a real need, and even then, I'd probably go get the K9 browser and use that.
TheTruthKC said:
@hobojester, THANKS so much for posting.
I purchased the $35 Fire Tablet for my 3 girls (9, 7, 5).
I've rooted at 5.0.1 and disabled OTA, disabled ads, Installed GooglePlay store, and loaded Nova launcher. Although I haven't taken it another few steps with Kids Place, I feel that I'll start with just locking down and hiding the apps via Nova Launcher will be enough for now. My kids are pretty savvy at navigating interfaces and even when they touch/exit an app, they know how to get back to it. I know there are holes with settings and NovaLauncher settings so when they figure them out, they can reenable certain functionality.
I'll look into Kids Place though, that might be my next step.
Also, about the whole SD card partitioning, I've installed a 32GB card and the tablet stated that it would start using the card as the default storage device. I'm guessing your method moves EVERYTHING to the card, and the default behavior for the Fire Tablet is to install some things on internal memory and 'other' storage is routed to the card? I've installed quite a bit of applications since I plugged in my SD card and it doesn't seem to be full... although I didn't check the storage stats before I wrapped the tablets.
Also, I've heard some good press on the Circle (with Disney) router, so I did order one for the home as yet another piece of the parenting puzzle:
[edit] sorry, didn't have sufficient permissions to post outside links. Google up: "Circle router with Disney"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you can find this useful.
As far as the storage card piece, you are correct in that "my" method moves EVERYTHING. Some apps are "self contained" as I like to think of it, when you download it. Popular games like Geometry Dash have everything contained in the downloaded app (or the .APK file). That is just the app itself. You can tell the OS to auto put the "app" on the storage card, and that works out great, but it's a little misleading. The problem comes in when you have games like Knights of the Old Republic. That app itself is something like 40 MB or what not, but after you launch the app, it'll download this extra content, which in this particular case is 2 GB. The kicker: it'll ONLY store that "content" (as I call it) into what the device considers "External Storage", which is ACTUALLY on the INTERNAL storage. That whole emulated SDcard business Android does. It's all funky. For fear of sounding like a commercial, Link2SD fixes all of that. Linux (what Android is built off of (oh, and hi iPhone users, so is iOS for the record)) has this thing called "Symbolic Links". You can google it up more about it, but think of it as an uber shortcut. You create a symbolic link on internal storage to the actual physical SD card, and the program THINKS it's writing to internal storage when in fact it's writing to the SD card. The kicker: you can only create symbolic links if you're rooted. The nice thing about Link2SD, is that it'll symbolic link EVERYTHING. The "app", the "content", and all of the saved game data and what not (which take a game like MineCraft, can get pretty big if your kids (like mine) go crazy building worlds). And you can have it to it all automagically. But you will need to pop that SDCard out, put it in your computer, and get it re-partitioned (visit the links I posted in the original guide for more in depth details).
I have heard really cool things about the Disney router. For now, my kids don't really have any need (or business) getting on the internet unsupervised. When they do, I'll probably give them the K9 browser.
Sorry for the questions but I can't figure it out, searching doesn't find it, and I'm trying to get these wrapped.
Do I need to still select Fire OS" install supported apps to sd". Or do I do it all with LInk2DS? I haven't Rom'd these yet and I probably won't until we get back from vacation. They are only rooted with stock rom. I also don't need to do the whole kids place thing as my kids are a little older...Thanks for taking the time to write this all up!
Also I have partitions shown in my Disk usage app that are named "External", "SDcard1", system and "SD Card". I know "SD Card" is the exfat 2 part I made base on the size, but as for the "external" and SDcard1, they are both roughly 5 gb ( my sd was only 8 gigs so I made the FAT 32 5 gigs and the rest the exfat 2. But now I am not sure of the naming and I can't tell based only on size. So, is "External" really the built in amazon storage, and "sdcard1" is my microsd?
Like your thinking.
How are you getting past the "Apps with usage access" request for Kids Place?
howzitnow said:
Sorry for the questions but I can't figure it out, searching doesn't find it, and I'm trying to get these wrapped.
Do I need to still select Fire OS" install supported apps to sd". Or do I do it all with LInk2DS? I haven't Rom'd these yet and I probably won't until we get back from vacation. They are only rooted with stock rom. I also don't need to do the whole kids place thing as my kids are a little older...Thanks for taking the time to write this all up!
Also I have partitions shown in my Disk usage app that are named "External", "SDcard1", system and "SD Card". I know "SD Card" is the exfat 2 part I made base on the size, but as for the "external" and SDcard1, they are both roughly 5 gb ( my sd was only 8 gigs so I made the FAT 32 5 gigs and the rest the exfat 2. But now I am not sure of the naming and I can't tell based only on size. So, is "External" really the built in amazon storage, and "sdcard1" is my microsd?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This will be a good chance for me to point out (I'll edit the guide in a second): DO NOT LINK "INTERNAL" Data via Link2SD. It has caused apps to disappear and never come back. I actually had to start completely over on all there of my devices. That "option" to Link the Internal Data is only available when you purchase the Plus version of Link2SD, DON'T CHOOSE THAT OPTION!!!
Now, with that out of the way, Link2SD is clever in how it works, and I am barely out of the n00b stage on this so I'll give a disclaimer that I may be totally feeding you false information here, but here's how I understand it: First of all, what I did was leave the SD card settings inside the OS all 'defaults', which installs the "App" to the SD Card. Now with that, I believe what happens is Link2SD intercepts that 'transfer' and puts the actual apps on the EXT partition. There is the incredibly critical option in Link2SD to put all other data (except "internal" data of course) on the SD Card. That's what moves the really big parts of those big games and apps. So when the App is relocated, it's put onto that EXT part and the Content on your FAT32 part. To address your question regarding External, SDCard#, and 'where in the heck is the EXT' part.... the EXT partition is mounted and 'located' under the 'local' storage under something like the /data/sdex2 folder. Welcome to the world of Linux... on a computer Linux (if my really old dusty Linux knowledge still works) when you need to access the CD drive you have to MOUNT it, and than LINK that mount to basically a local folder (something like /MNT/CDROM). Your EXT partition is mounted the same way as a folder, and for whatever reason in an app like ES File Explorer you won't see it as another drive, you'll only see the FAT32 drive. Maybe that has something to do with it being FAT32, I'm not sure. ...... the long point here is that Link2SD intercepts or coordinates with the OS's moving of apps to locate the App data to your EXT partition (mounted to that /data/xxxxx folder) and all the other really big stuff to the FAT32 partition. Again, I may be way off here, but hey, makes sense in my brain right now .
Inside of Link2SD there's an option in the menu to see the storage consumption, and THERE it'll actually show you the EXT partition as well as the FAT32 partition.
If my kids were a little older and I truly didn't care about them mucking around in settings, potentially deleting things etc., I'd probably give SlimRom a go for that. I've been messing around with it some more and it is just simply more 'pure' Android OS so it'd give the more 'true' Android experience.... if you really care .
cogito808 said:
Like your thinking.
How are you getting past the "Apps with usage access" request for Kids Place?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not, simply because FireOS doesn't have that option. I just have to hit 'Cancel' and move on. If you were to put on SlimRom you'd have that option. From what I can tell the biggest thing we're missing out on by staying on FireOS and not having this option would be limiting time in Kids Place for certain apps and what not. For me personally, I'll just set a timer, but if it's something you want to use, I'd absolutely suggest putting SlimRom on there and then basically following the rest of the guide. Everything still applies.
If anyone cares, I set up SlimLP for my mom who is a bit less technologically advanced than I am and I put smart launcher on the device and just hid the apps I thought would be bad if she were to accidentally open them and not know what she was doing. (I thought his could be useful for some of the people here as well)
How do I avoid using the "Link Internal Data" feature? I do not see this option anywhere in the App.
Edit: OK. found it. I was looking in settings (before moving anything) but once I move an app the options come up.
chemie99 said:
How do I avoid using the "Link Internal Data" feature? I do not see this option anywhere in the App.
Edit: OK. found it. I was looking in settings (before moving anything) but once I move an app the options come up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I found out the hard way how bad this can be.... like... 6pm on the 24th, type of thing, RIGHT when I had finished it all up. I had some kind of heavenly help nudge me into thinking "you should turn these off completely, and simulate Christmas morning, see how long it'll take to fully boot back up".... and you can imagine my stomach drop when I went from having 150 games down to something like 3... it was painful. So, yeah, avoid that setting AT ALL COSTS!
How do you partition the SD card on the tablet? Also is this worth doing when you can install xposed SD card modules and be able to move obb files
Sent from my KFFOWI using Tapatalk
just wondering on the reason for 70/30 FAT32/EXT2. What gets installed in each partition?
tonyt3rry said:
How do you partition the SD card on the tablet? Also is this worth doing when you can install xposed SD card modules and be able to move obb files
Sent from my KFFOWI using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I"m not familiar with the xposed SD card modules so I can't help there. As far as HOW you do it, I linked to some articles in the first post that might help (Reference: http://rootmyandroid.org/increase-in...ry-phone.html/
Reference: http://rootmyandroid.org/how-to-use-...al-guide.html/)
chemie99 said:
just wondering on the reason for 70/30 FAT32/EXT2. What gets installed in each partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Basically the "app" gets installed to the 30% EXT2, and allt he "content" goes tot he 70% FAST32. Content will typically be data that gets downloaded after the app is installed. Take Knights Of The Old Republic for example, the "app" is like 50MB, but the "content" which gets downloaded upon the first time launching the actual program, is 2GB.
An Alternative Solution
I also gave my kids 3 Fire tablets for Christmas. My kids are mostly older (12,11,4) and the older two have had other Android devices. I went a different direction from the OP, which I'll discuss here for posterity's sake. This is a bit harder than the OP's method but ends up with a more conventional Android environment.
As background, I used FireOS on the Fire Phone for a few weeks, and ran into many problems. I installed CM11 on the Fire Phone and bought another in the final sale. You can read about that on the Fire Phone forum if you're interested.
Also, I've used Screen Time Parental Control for a couple years now, and while somewhat expensive it's great for monitoring without being too invasive. I can let the kids have a lot of freedom with their devices, without having to be worried about them either being on them all the time, or doing weird things. Screen Time nominally works with FireOS but in the end I did not use the tablets as-is long enough to try installing it.
For these tablets, I decided the easiest path was to install CM12. This avoided waiting for Amazon for security updates, and any FireOS incompatibilities, as I'd experienced with the Fire Phone. Also, the kids are familiar with CM, and frankly any replacement Android device will be easier in the future. After my experience with the zombie Fire Phone from Amazon I'm less concerned about CM/ggow/XDA bugs than I am Amazon's.
I decided to create separate user accounts for each child, as opposed to having both my Google account and the child's Google account** under a single user. I've done this before, but it's awkward to have to switch between accounts when using Gmail/Hangouts/Drive/etc., and sometimes things get mixed up.
Thus, for each of the three tablets I went through this process:
[I don't have the tablets in front of me, so if one of these steps doesn't seem obvious ask and I'll look up the exact names/buttons.]
1) Install CM12 using the well-documented methods
2) Boot into CM
3) Configure for my primary Google account
- Download interesting applications that have been purchased on my account
- Open SuperSU, enable multi-user access
- Open Contacts, select "ME", change name to "Dad" (or whatever)*
- Open File Manager
- Settings / Enable multi user access
- Open main Settings app:
- Set screen lock / PIN
- Users / Add user / OK / Set up now
4) "Switching to new user"
- Google Launcher always
- Log in with the "child's" account** in the wizard
- Open Contacts, change "ME" to the child's name
- Open File Manager
- Settings / Switch to Root access mode
- Browse to /data/app/
- Change into interesting packages and pick the .apk file
- Select "Install"***
- Repeat as necessary
Here I installed Screen Time Parental Control from the Play Store and went through the steps for Child device. Also any customization for the account should go here, then you can switch back to your regular user.
To switch user, drag down the system tray, pick the head image in the top right corner, and then the appropriate name.
Notes:
* This is in a wacky place, but this contact is how CM identifies the user name to display in the switch screen. If you don't see "ME" don't add it, just browse around; it's there somewhere.
** Apparently Google only allows accounts for people >=13. Thus, if you are reading from Google, know that these are my own accounts and my children happen to use them.
*** This will actually not re-download the application, but it makes a temporary copy while installing. Application user data is always separate between users, but for the most part download data is shared. For most applications things work on either user; however, Electronic Arts applications don't work with separate users, and Terraria will print an error (but still worked once the core data was downloaded with my purchasing account). I'm sure there are other apps that roll their own security and will be in this situation, but out of a very large family library these are the only apps with which I've had trouble.
Finally, a last note that Screen Time does not presently block creating new users from the system tray. In theory a youngling could create a user that would not have Screen Time limits, but then they wouldn't be able to delete it without getting in to Settings, which you should block anyway. Depends how devious your children are; for me I'm just waiting until they figure it out to do anything about it... just keep an eye on it if you go this route.
Hopefully this helps someone, eventually!
Best,
Tim
I got two fire tablets for the kids for Xmas, one is the kids edition (with the 1yr of apps,etc) the other is a standard fire. Used root junkies tool on both to block lock screen ads and OTA and hide Apps. They were both running OK, occasionally have the odd situation where you try to open an app and it looks like it is reloading it or redownloading it, not sure if this is because internal space has ran out and its redownloading on the fly but its quite frustrating.
Decided to flash slim LP rom on the standard tablet as there were apps that weren't available(better choice on play store and it wasn't tied into the 1year subscription).
So glad I did, was pretty straight forward to get it up and running and the latest build is so solid, fast and stable, was expecting it to be a bit quicker than fire OS as it had a lot less bloat but it seriously impressed me. So I have kids place set up on it to control apps and play time. I also installed hilocker from the play store to help simplify/lock down the lock screen. For example you can disable the status bar in kids place,but the child is still able to turn the screen off and on, they can then access the pull down toggles and mess with things, but with hilocker you can disable it which is great. Battery life is just as great if not better and your also up to date with all Google's security patches to boot.
It is a very good value tablet, as its just been reduced to just £40 in the UK. One thing that would be a major improvement is I just wished they had put 16GB of storage instead of 8GB. I know it has the sd card option which is great but in reality you only get around 5GB of actual internal storage for apps, a lot of which can't be moved to the sd card or still take up internal space when they are. Again I can't recommend slim rom enough as it really makes a big difference to the tablet (besides providing full play store access) and makes it perfect for consuming media, browsing, or just handier for when you want to use a bigger screen than your phone.
Sent from my InFocus M810t using Tapatalk
gsmyth said:
One thing that would be a major improvement is I just wished they had put 16GB of storage instead of 8GB. I know it has the sd card option which is great but in reality you only get around 5GB of actual internal storage for apps, a lot of which can't be moved to the sd card or still take up internal space when they are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@gsmyth, look into Link2SD if you haven't already. Between that and a 32GB MicroSD I don't feel especially constrained by the 8GB onboard.
tdcrone said:
@gsmyth, look into Link2SD if you haven't already. Between that and a 32GB MicroSD I don't feel especially constrained by the 8GB onboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How are you formatting your 2nd partition for links2sd?. I keep getting 'unable to mount' error, trying to setup as ext4, which I thought was the standard on newer hardware. I believe I tried ext 2 as well. Without 2nd partition obb and data stay on internal. Thanks
I wish to thank the OP for this, as I am trying to use, and bought the recommended apps... haven;t had the time to set this all up, and it gets a little confusing having all these other devices, but eventually I'll get it.