Database Users

sd partion

Clear your doubts guys!!!
Ok, so here's the deal, in a very longwinded way that should hopefully explain everything and answer ALL questions.
You have an SD card in your phone and, a bit like normal PC Hard Drives, you can "partition" them (split them into two or more sections of different filesystems). Normally, your SD card is just one big FAT32 partition, which is fine for storing your pics, messages, emails, etc.
Now, other then your Phone's SD card, your phone will have its own internal flash memory (or "NAND") storage. Tradditionally with Android, you could only install applications to this NAND storage, you cannot install them onto your SD card. So if you have an empty 32GB SD card, but only 5Mb of internal phone storage, you still wont be able to install many apps, if any at all.
This was done to protect the apps from things like piracy - it's not easy to access the location where apps are installed on your phone's internal storage (normally impossible without root), so you can't for example buy an app, copy it, refund it, then install it again.
Still, this is no good for those of us who like to install lots and lots of apps, legitimately, as we run out of internal storage very quickly.
So Google came up with a way to install apps to the SD card. A folder is created called something like .android_secure and this stores (I believe) encrypted versions of applications, but there's a few catches:
1) Apps aren't automatically stored here, you have to manually "move" them
2) Not all apps are capable of being moved, in fact most apps aren't, the developer needs to update their app and allow it. Some apps aren't and wont be updated and some developers may not want to allow it for whatever reason.
3) Not all app data is moved, most of it is but some data is left on your phone so many people still run out of internal storage quickly.
4) You can force ALL apps to be moved to this area by default, but it breaks incompatible ones - such as Widgets, which are unable to load due to the SD card not being "prepared".
So that's Froyo's version. Before Froyo existed, some very clever people came up with a thing called "Apps2SD". Remember I said that your SD card normally is one big FAT32 partition? Well, Apps2SD works by having your SD card patitioned into TWO filesystems. A normal FAT32 partition for your usual stuff and a secondary "EXT" partition. EXT is just a filesystem, like FAT32 or NTFS, but it's the filesystem used by Android internally. The SD card is normally FAT32 because it's a "universal" filesystem, that just about any machine will be able to read, whereas EXT filesystems are generally Linux only, but I digress.
EXT has several different versions. The most common one you'll see is ext3. The main difference between ext2 and ext3 is "journaling", which is just a fancy way of saying that should an operation (such as copying, writing or reading) be interrupted unexpectedly (say, by you turning your phone off), then no data should be lost or corrupted. You know how when you turn your phone on, it says "preparing SD card"? It takes a few minutes, but what it's actually doing is checking that the FAT32 partition hasn't been damaged, because FAT does NOT have journaling. If you used a computer back in the Windows 98 days, you may remember that lovely blue "Scandisk" screen that had to run every time you didn't shut your computer down correctly - that's the same thing. But then Windows 2000/XP came along with NTFS, which also has journaling, meaning you had less chance of loosing data. But I digress once more.
So you have your SD card partitioned into EXT and FAT32. Generally it doesn't matter if it's ext3 or ext4, but you don't get any real advantage with ext4 over ext3 in this instance. Apps2SD then runs a special script on your phone which "symbolically links" the folder from your phone's internal storage where your apps are normally stored, to the ext partition on your SD card. A symbolic link is a bit like a shortcut for folders, except it's transparent to the OS: In other words, Android doesn't know that when it's installing it's apps to the internal phone storage, it's actually being stored on the SD card. This effectively boosts your internal phone memory from the previous 5mb that you had in my example above, up to whatever size you made the ext partition on your SD card (often 512Mb or 1Gb, but it depends on how many apps you install).
Plus, because it's "journaled", it doesn't need to be "prepared", meaning it's ready to go as soon as the phone starts - so your widgets and apps work immediately (unlike "forced" Froyo Apps2SD, where widgets disappear).
The catch with Apps2SD is that whatever space the ext partition takes up is taken away from the SD card. So if you have a 4Gb card (with something like 3.5Gb of actual storage) and you make a 512Mb ext partition, your SD card will "shrink" to 3Gb. The space isn't actually lost, it's just being used by the ext partition. If you reformat your card, you'll get it back.
Finally, there's a difference between "Apps2SD" and "Apps2SD+". Remember I said that your apps are stored on a special folder inside your Phone's NAND storage? Well, that was a bit of a lie. It's actually stored in TWO places. There's a second area which is called the Davlik Cache. You don't really need to worry about what this is for (Hint: IT's to do with the Java runetime your phone uses to run apps), all you need to know is that apps use it to store data, which also eats up internal phone memory. Apps2SD+ moves davlik cache to the ext partition on your SD card as well, freeing up even more space. Some people believe that this may come at the cost of performance, as the internal NAND memory should be faster than your SD card (Which is why you also get people arguing over which "class" SD card is better for Apps2SD - the logic being that a faster SD card means less impact from this move), but the truth of the matter is that your applications will be running from your Phone's RAM anyway, so performance isn't really impacted at all. Since most apps are only a few hundred Kb's in size, or a couple of MB at the most, it's a non-issue.
Finally, any recent version of Apps2SD/Apps2SD+ should work with an SD card that is or isn't formatted with an ext partition. It'll check for this partition when your phone first boots and if it's not there, just use internal phone storage.
Having an ext partition WITHOUT Apps2SD+ shouldn't cause any issues, either, so you can format your SD card whenever you're ready.
So in summary:
Apps2SD "fakes" your phone's internal memory and puts it all on a hidden section of your SD card.
Apps2SD+ pushes even more content to the SD card, freeing up even more space on the phone itself.
"Froyo" Apps2SD has various limitations that "old" apps2SD does not, but is much easier to handle as it doesn't involve any kind of "partitioning".

[Q] SD Card Method Android Link2SD

Hello Guys
I would like to know that if my SD Card 16GB has partition into 2 primary drive - FAT32, EXT3; and my android system is running on FAT32 partition, can I run the Link2SD to put all apps into EXT3 partition?
I try it and it shows the manual of the mounting partition. However, it shows the error message of mounting /dev/block/vold/179:2 on /data/sdext2 failed. I would like to use it even it is in SD version of Android so that I can minimize the usage of internal ROM. I use the traditional App2SD and the memory is gradually reduced when I install new apps.
Thanks

Wilson Fung said:
Hello Guys
I would like to know that if my SD Card 16GB has partition into 2 primary drive - FAT32, EXT3; and my android system is running on FAT32 partition, can I run the Link2SD to put all apps into EXT3 partition?
I try it and it shows the manual of the mounting partition. However, it shows the error message of mounting /dev/block/vold/179:2 on /data/sdext2 failed. I would like to use it even it is in SD version of Android so that I can minimize the usage of internal ROM. I use the traditional App2SD and the memory is gradually reduced when I install new apps.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SD Android uses no ROM. The applications are stored on what is read by the system as 'internal storage' but is actually a data.img file which is normally 1gb, therefore you already have 1gb of your SD card dedicated to storage of apps. I don't know if you still would like A2SD despite this, but I thought this would probably influence your decision.

Nigeldg said:
SD Android uses no ROM. The applications are stored on what is read by the system as 'internal storage' but is actually a data.img file which is normally 1gb, therefore you already have 1gb of your SD card dedicated to storage of apps. I don't know if you still would like A2SD despite this, but I thought this would probably influence your decision.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply. When downloading apps, Android will treat it storage at the internal storage, that is, the memory reduces very fast. Using App2SD will help to show higher memory storage, which is similar to NAndroid. However, the memory is still lowered as it seems to move the apps only to outside, keeping data internally. Therefore, it can download up to 60-70 apps, but it is impossible to store like 200apps. Link2SD could solve it, but I cannot link to EXT3 after using it. Any suggestion on it?

[Q] Are apps stored on SD or internal memory?

I am running CM7 on a 16GB Sandisk Class 4 uSD. I'm very new to this, so I hope someone can help me with my question. When I download apps from Google Play, where does it get stored? When I go to Settings -> Storage, I see the following: SD card/Total Space = 13.31 GB, SD card/Available space = 13.22 GB. Under Internal storage/Total space = 0.93GB, Internal storage/Available space = 680 MB. Under Additional storage: /mnt/emmc Total space = 1.0GB, Additional storage: /mnt/emmc Available space 1.0GB.
So it looks like the apps are being stored in "Internal storage", but I'm not sure whether that is in NC's internal memory, or the SD card. On the one hand, the SD card shows 13.22 GB available out of 13.31 GB, so it looks like it is not being used. But on the other hand, Additional storage: /mnt/emmc Available space is 1.0 GB, so I assume that is my 1.0 GB allotted to me by B&N, so it also doesn't look like I'm using up the NC's internal memory.
So where are my apps being stored? If they are not being stored on the SD card, how can I move the existing apps to the SD card, and also how do I set it up so that all apps (and book) downloads go to the SD card in the future?

Your apps are running on your SD card's "internal" partition which is still on the SD card.
Sent from my NookColor using XDA

Size of Internal Storage?
If Internal storage is on the SD card, why is it only 0.93 GB? Shouldn't it be (in the case of a 16GB card) 13 GB? How can I use the 13 GB that is left on my SD card?

voyager28 said:
If Internal storage is on the SD card, why is it only 0.93 GB? Shouldn't it be (in the case of a 16GB card) 13 GB? How can I use the 13 GB that is left on my SD card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In CM terms, internal storage means your /data partition. For SD installed CM, your /data is still on your SD, just in a separate partition. And when play store installs an app, it installs the application files to your /data partition on the SD.
When your SD was first set up, several partitions were created on it, one of which was /data. The size for the /data partition was set when your SD was partitioned. This partitioning is why your 16GB looks like it now only has 13GB. Some of the space was set aside for other uses.
The 13GB is your media partition on the SD. It is named 'sdcard' in CM terms. It is to be used for your media files, books, movies, pictures, etc. And installed apps use it to store any files they need to (like files they download, etc.).
Sent from my Nook Color running ICS and Tapatalk

Re-sizing Partitions
j8048188 and leapinlar, thanks for explaining to this noobie where apps are stored. Is it possible to re-size the /data and /sdcard partitions, to say, 3GB and 11GB, without wiping out the apps I already downloaded? If so, how could I do it?

voyager28 said:
j8048188 and leapinlar, thanks for explaining to this noobie where apps are stored. Is it possible to re-size the /data and /sdcard partitions, to say, 3GB and 11GB, without wiping out the apps I already downloaded? If so, how could I do it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, no, not with Windows and not once you have installed a ROM and there is information stored in /data. Windows does not know how to read the data format that /data uses. Windows based partition managers can manipulate the /data partition if there is no data in it. And the only time that is true is just after you have booted the new SD, but before you have installed your first ROM. (However, if you have Linux, you can use partition manager software there to resize with data in it since Linux knows how to read the data).
So if you have Windows and you want it set bigger, you have to catch it before you install your first ROM on it. You can back up your installed apps with titanium backup, start over with your SD again, manipulate the partitions before installing the ROM and restore your apps later. If you decide to do that, use Mini-Tool Partition Manager and make partition 4 (media) smaller and partition 3 (data) larger. Be sure to copy the titanium backup files to your PC because they will be wiped out if you start over.

leapinlar said:
Unfortunately, no, not with Windows and not once you have installed a ROM and there is information stored in /data. Windows does not know how to read the data format that /data uses. Windows based partition managers can manipulate the /data partition if there is no data in it. And the only time that is true is just after you have booted the new SD, but before you have installed your first ROM. (However, if you have Linux, you can use partition manager software there to resize with data in it since Linux knows how to read the data).
So if you have Windows and you want it set bigger, you have to catch it before you install your first ROM on it. You can back up your installed apps with titanium backup, start over with your SD again, manipulate the partitions before installing the ROM and restore your apps later. If you decide to do that, use Mini-Tool Partition Manager and make partition 4 (media) smaller and partition 3 (data) larger. Be sure to copy the titanium backup files to your PC because they will be wiped out if you start over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Leapinlar, I'm running Ubuntu on one of my computers, so any advice you can give me will be appreciated.

voyager28 said:
Leapinlar, I'm running Ubuntu on one of my computers, so any advice you can give me will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In ubuntu, use gparted to resize the partitions on the sd. Shrink partition 4 (leaving space in front of it) and expand partition 3 to fill it. And usually people say 2GB is large enough for partition 3. If you find later it is not big enough, just do this again.

leapinlar said:
In ubuntu, use gparted to resize the partitions on the sd. Shrink partition 4 (leaving space in front of it) and expand partition 3 to fill it. And usually people say 2GB is large enough for partition 3. If you find later it is not big enough, just do this again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, leapinlar! I will try this tonight!

Help. No internal sd

My milestone 2 a953 gets the insufficient memory error even if storage shows 6.5 gb free. Using xplore app, I see there is nothing in internal sd I can not even copy files to it. I suspect I must have messed up the partitions somehow. Everything works except that I can not access or use the internal sd. I can only install up to 2gb of files before I get out of memory. Is there a way to reflash the partitions? Tia.

reflash your rom or system nand. that will rebuild the partition table. did you try to use your sd in a pc to check if it works? did you format your sd to check if thats the problem? did you try to mount your sd in your recovery, to check if that will work?

lulli1 said:
reflash your rom or system nand. that will rebuild the partition table. did you try to use your sd in a pc to check if it works? did you format your sd to check if thats the problem? did you try to mount your sd in your recovery, to check if that will work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for your reply. yes my external sd card works in all the suggestions you mentioned. my problem is with my internal sd. it does not show up in my explorer programs. i can only install apps up to 2 gb before it says i got insufficient memory. i could not even download anything to the internal sd. i can only use the external sd for it. when i remove my external sd card, the camera does not save pics to internal sd it says i need to put in an external sd card to take photos. all custom roms i flashed give me the same result. is there a specific sbf file i need to flash that will rebuild the partition table?

siakgayyem said:
thanks for your reply. yes my external sd card works in all the suggestions you mentioned. my problem is with my internal sd. it does not show up in my explorer programs. i can only install apps up to 2 gb before it says i got insufficient memory. i could not even download anything to the internal sd. i can only use the external sd for it. when i remove my external sd card, the camera does not save pics to internal sd it says i need to put in an external sd card to take photos. all custom roms i flashed give me the same result. is there a specific sbf file i need to flash that will rebuild the partition table?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you say "internal sd", do you mean the /data partition? Because the MS2 can't use the internal memory for user data like a regular (or an internal, for this matter) sd card.
In this case, it seems to me like a rom issue. Since the moto defy has only 2gb on it's /data partition, and most of the milestone 2's development derives from the defy, it would make sense. Which rom are you in currently?

Lean946 said:
When you say "internal sd", do you mean the /data partition? Because the MS2 can't use the internal memory for user data like a regular (or an internal, for this matter) sd card.
In this case, it seems to me like a rom issue. Since the moto defy has only 2gb on it's /data partition, and most of the milestone 2's development derives from the defy, it would make sense. Which rom are you in currently?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I mean the /data partition. I am currently using aokp. Does that mean I am unable to use the 6.5gb free space of my internal memory.

siakgayyem said:
Yes I mean the /data partition. I am currently using aokp. Does that mean I am unable to use the 6.5gb free space of my internal memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would ask in the rom thread, maybe the dev can help you out.

Thank you.

SD card for app storage

I'm using a 400GB SD card. I saw a comment about creating 2 different partitions on it as I want to use part of it for app storage and the other part for file storage, The second partition would be exFAT so I can remove the card and transfer my books, music, etc. to it by attaching the SD card to my laptop as I understand that Windows would not be able to recognize the partition that would be formatted as internal storage. I did format the SD card using my laptop as two separate partitions. My Samsung Galaxy Tab A saw both partitions. I selected the 96GB partition as I wanted to use that for app storage and selected the option to use it as internal storage. Unfortunately when I did that, it appears that the system set the whole CD card up for internal storage. Does anyone have any insight on how to accomplish this - use part of the SD card for internal storage and part of it for storage that would be recognizable by Windows? Thank you very much.

I have not tried, so take the advice as a suggestion, perhaps android can be "fooled", which I doubt.
After creating a bulk partition in android, move the SD to Windows and resize that partition, and create a second partition on the remaining capacity and hide it.
Now move the SD back to android and see what happens.
If android will reformat the partitions again then I can't advise anything else.
However, if android accepts the memory, then the next step is to discover the partition in Windows and recheck the SD in android.

ze7zez said:
I have not tried, so take the advice as a suggestion, perhaps android can be "fooled", which I doubt.
After creating a bulk partition in android, move the SD to Windows and resize that partition, and create a second partition on the remaining capacity and hide it.
Now move the SD back to android and see what happens.
If android will reformat the partitions again then I can't advise anything else.
However, if android accepts the memory, then the next step is to discover the partition in Windows and recheck the SD in android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I was trying to work on that and now the Android Storage module (in Settings) keeps crashing when I open it. IDK what happened here. I've reformatted the SD card, I've removed the SD card, I've rebooted the table multiple times. I'm almost to the point of having to restore the tablet from scratch ... again.

Try this:
Link2SD - Apps on Google Play
Complete app management, move to SD, clear cache, remove bloatware and more
play.google.com

JR1979 said:
I'm using a 400GB SD card. I saw a comment about creating 2 different partitions on it as I want to use part of it for app storage and the other part for file storage, The second partition would be exFAT so I can remove the card and transfer my books, music, etc. to it by attaching the SD card to my laptop as I understand that Windows would not be able to recognize the partition that would be formatted as internal storage. I did format the SD card using my laptop as two separate partitions. My Samsung Galaxy Tab A saw both partitions. I selected the 96GB partition as I wanted to use that for app storage and selected the option to use it as internal storage. Unfortunately when I did that, it appears that the system set the whole CD card up for internal storage. Does anyone have any insight on how to accomplish this - use part of the SD card for internal storage and part of it for storage that would be recognizable by Windows? Thank you very much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're trying to convert a partition in sd card as internal storage and leave the rest as an external storage. Not possible as far as I know.

TheMystic said:
You're trying to convert a partition in sd card as internal storage and leave the rest as an external storage. Not possible as far as I know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats a bummer but that is what I was feeling was going to be the outcome. I guess I'll just go with it as internal storage then and be rlefated to wireless transfer of my books, etc. To the tablet. Any thoughts on why my Storage module keeps crashing now? Something definitely went nuts somewhere along the way here. It was running fine.. until I start poking around with this. I'll probably just do a rebuild again tonight.. if I can find my steps notes.

I also don't think it's possible to do what you have in mind. It's also important to remember that Windows will only mount the first partition of an SD card. It won't see any other partitions without 3rd party software installed.

JR1979 said:
Thats a bummer but that is what I was feeling was going to be the outcome. I guess I'll just go with it as internal storage then and be rlefated to wireless transfer of my books, etc. To the tablet. Any thoughts on why my Storage module keeps crashing now? Something definitely went nuts somewhere along the way here. It was running fine.. until I start poking around with this. I'll probably just do a rebuild again tonight.. if I can find my steps notes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason people want a micro SD card is to be able to move it around between devices, so it is not a good idea to convert it into 'internal storage' for two reasons:
1. You can no longer move the card around (not without reformatting it again).
2. This process would significantly slow down the system if the OS starts saving apps, data and files on the micro SD card because it sees this space as internal storage.
Because of how you partitioned the SD card and tried converting only a part of it as internal storage, my guess is the process caused corruption somewhere, and the system is crashing because of that. I'm afraid you'll have to do a factory reset and start from scratch. I hope your files are safe.

JR1979 said:
I'm using a 400GB SD card. I saw a comment about creating 2 different partitions on it as I want to use part of it for app storage and the other part for file storage, The second partition would be exFAT so I can remove the card and transfer my books, music, etc. to it by attaching the SD card to my laptop as I understand that Windows would not be able to recognize the partition that would be formatted as internal storage. I did format the SD card using my laptop as two separate partitions. My Samsung Galaxy Tab A saw both partitions. I selected the 96GB partition as I wanted to use that for app storage and selected the option to use it as internal storage. Unfortunately when I did that, it appears that the system set the whole CD card up for internal storage. Does anyone have any insight on how to accomplish this - use part of the SD card for internal storage and part of it for storage that would be recognizable by Windows? Thank you very much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should NEVER use an SD card for internal storage. They are MUCH to slow for that purpose. Today's SoC have RAM chips mounted directly on top and are several times faster than the fastest SD card bus. And low end tablets, which includes ALL Tab A devices, use a USB bus with limited bandwidth. So using faster SD cards is pointless as they will still only be as fast as the bus. SD cards are fine for storing video, audio, text and downloaded files, but NOT for running apps. Doing so will cause the device to be laggy at best, and cause crashes at worst.

blaacksheep said:
I also don't think it's possible to do what you have in mind. It's also important to remember that Windows will only mount the first partition of an SD card. It won't see any other partitions without 3rd party software installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The two partitions on the USB flash drive can be seen* in Windows without third-party software.
*I don't have an English Windows interface.

ze7zez said:
The two partitions on the USB flash drive can be seen* in Windows without third-party software.
*I don't have an English Windows interface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I meant that it won't mount the second partition, although you can see it in Disk Manager.

blaacksheep said:
I meant that it won't mount the second partition, although you can see it in Disk Manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows 10 mounts both of these partitions, assigns them letters and you can use them (read and write).

ze7zez said:
Windows 10 mounts both of these partitions, assigns them letters and you can use them (read and write).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I stand corrected! Previous versions of Windows could not do that.

ze7zez said:
The two partitions on the USB flash drive can be seen* in Windows without third-party software.
*I don't have an English Windows interface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Something strange in that attachment. Since when do Android SD cards have NTFS partitions? As far as I know, the internal storage partitions that Windows couldn't read were formated as Ext3 or Ext4 and the external as either FAT32 or exFAT.

lewmur said:
Something strange in that attachment. Since when do Android SD cards have NTFS partitions? As far as I know, the internal storage partitions that Windows couldn't read were formated as Ext3 or Ext4 and the external as either FAT32 or exFAT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't suggest the volume label. Partition K: is FAT. The example shows that Windows can show two partitions on a USB stick.

ze7zez said:
Don't suggest the volume label. Partition K: is FAT. The example shows that Windows can show two partitions on a USB stick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course it can. It can show several. But NOT the two partitions created on an Android SD card because one of then is formated in a file system Windows doesn't recognize and that is what the poster was talking about.
edit: Disk Manager will actually show the partition but it won't be assigned a drive letter because Windows can't mount it.