Related
Question:
I've noticed I'm pretty much at my limit for space on my current SD card (like 80MB remaining on a 4GB!)...
I've ordered an 8GB card to replace this one... but how can I "clone" my current 4GB card (with a2sd partitions) and then copy it over to my 8GB card, without losing data, settings, apps, etc? Is there a way?
Thanks in advance.
Do this all from within Clockwork Recovery:
1) Make a nandroid backup
2) Connect the phone to a computer
3) Partitions menu > mount USB storage
4) Copy all contents from the old SD card to a temporary folder on your computer (including the clockworkmod folder which contains the nandroid backup you just took)
5) Unmount and disconnect from computer.
6) Pull battery to shut the phone off, or if you would prefer you can boot the phone and then turn the phone off immediately afterward. Pulling battery just saves time.
7) Put new SD card in
8) Boot into clockwork
9) Format the card with Clockwork w/ ext partition
10) Connect to computer, mount USB storage again, copy all files back to the phone
11) Unmount and disconnect cable from computer
12) Nandroid > advanced restore > Restore sd-ext only
13) Reboot and you're done.
And if something goes wrong, it's not really a big deal since you will still have the original files on the old SD card so you can try again or ask for help to try another method.
Sounds complicated enough to work. I'll try when the card comes and let you all know. Thanks!
gfinockio said:
Sounds complicated enough to work. I'll try when the card comes and let you all know. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha yeah, I think it's the easiest way to do it with Windows, since you can't read the ext partition from the computer. You could probably just copy the contents of both partitions through Linux if you're comfortable doing that.
Doesn't a nandroid backup the ext partition too?
If you're using windows you could just backup your fat32 partition on your PC and partition your new card and then copy all your files back and do your nandroid restore.
I think this would work...
jdwhite87 said:
Doesn't a nandroid backup the ext partition too?
If you're using windows you could just backup your fat32 partition on your PC and partition your new card and then copy all your files back and do your nandroid restore.
I think this would work...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clockwork does not back up my ext partition. It can't mount it or anything. Not sure why. Might be because its ext4, but when I do nandroids the sd-ext backup always fails.
I have to use Ubuntu and mount as storage. Then both of my partitions mount on my computer and I can do as I please. For me this seems easiest anyway. Simple copy and paste and it can be done from a live cd for those that dont already have Ubuntu.
Sent from my cm7 Aria.
drumist said:
Do this all from within Clockwork Recovery:
1) Make a nandroid backup
2) Connect the phone to a computer
3) Partitions menu > mount USB storage
4) Copy all contents from the old SD card to a temporary folder on your computer (including the clockworkmod folder which contains the nandroid backup you just took)
5) Unmount and disconnect from computer.
6) Pull battery to shut the phone off, or if you would prefer you can boot the phone and then turn the phone off immediately afterward. Pulling battery just saves time.
7) Put new SD card in
8) Boot into clockwork
9) Format the card with Clockwork w/ ext partition
10) Connect to computer, mount USB storage again, copy all files back to the phone
11) Unmount and disconnect cable from computer
12) Nandroid > advanced restore > Restore sd-ext only
13) Reboot and you're done.
And if something goes wrong, it's not really a big deal since you will still have the original files on the old SD card so you can try again or ask for help to try another method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm stumped on step 9 - what menu option in Clockwork will format the ext partition? What menu?
gfinockio said:
I'm stumped on step 9 - what menu option in Clockwork will format the ext partition? What menu?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Partitions menu
CallMeAria said:
Partitions menu
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version has that menu option? I don't see it.
Interesting. I was sure you could format a card with ext partition through Clockwork but apparently you can't. You can do it through ROM Manager though, so I guess you may have to boot into the phone to get to it.
The programs on the ext partition won't show up yet of course. Don't be alarmed. Just partition the card through ROM Manager, then once you're done doing that, do the nadroid advanced restore. If there are any problems after a reboot (i.e., it didn't work correctly), go back and try doing the regular full nandroid restore.
gfinockio said:
What version has that menu option? I don't see it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
v2.5.0.1
This doesnt create a partition though. It just formats an existing partition. You'll have to use drumist's method of going through Rom manager to actually create the ext3 parition from the phone.
CallMeAria said:
v2.5.0.1
This doesnt create a partition though. It just formats an existing partition. You'll have to use drumist's method of going through Rom manager to actually create the ext3 parition from the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried running ROM Manager - of course, it's installed on the 4GB card which isn't on my phone when I have the 8GB in to format. So then I re-installed it using the APK... but I get the exclamation mark when it boots to recovery to format... probably because a2sd is installing the same program on the ext part which it is now trying to format.
I think I'm going to have to format/partition it using Linux somehow instead, no?
gfinockio said:
Tried running ROM Manager - of course, it's installed on the 4GB card which isn't on my phone when I have the 8GB in to format. So then I re-installed it using the APK... but I get the exclamation mark when it boots to recovery to format... probably because a2sd is installing the same program on the ext part which it is now trying to format.
I think I'm going to have to format/partition it using Linux somehow instead, no?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
someone recommended in another thread that when that happens you just pull out the battery and then use volume down+power to boot back into recovery and it should then work.
But the method I use is to do it from Ubuntu (a linux version). If you dont want to install Ubuntu on your computer you can make a bootable CD or USB drive with Ubuntu on it (directions for this are on the Ubuntu download page) and actually run Ubuntu from the CD/USB without ever installing it on your computer. From there you can use gParted to create paritions. And while I recommend making backups, gparted even allows you to resize and move partitions without deleting anything.
gfinockio said:
Tried running ROM Manager - of course, it's installed on the 4GB card which isn't on my phone when I have the 8GB in to format. So then I re-installed it using the APK... but I get the exclamation mark when it boots to recovery to format... probably because a2sd is installing the same program on the ext part which it is now trying to format.
I think I'm going to have to format/partition it using Linux somehow instead, no?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's what I was worried about. My suggestion then is to format the card through linux if you have a SD card reader. Easiest way is to use an Ubuntu LiveCD. Do you know how to do this on your own?
Also, definitely do a full nandroid restore once the SD card is reformatted. Since you booted the phone and tried to install an app, it's possible something got screwed up -- nothing to worry about though because a full nandroid restore should revert everything.
drumist said:
Yeah, that's what I was worried about. My suggestion then is to format the card through linux if you have a SD card reader. Easiest way is to use an Ubuntu LiveCD. Do you know how to do this on your own?
Also, definitely do a full nandroid restore once the SD card is reformatted. Since you booted the phone and tried to install an app, it's possible something got screwed up -- nothing to worry about though because a full nandroid restore should revert everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm reverting back now, going to sleep on it, and then investigate formatting it via LiveCD tomorrow morning. It's been several years since I've had to go near anything Unix.
By the way, another option is to just do a clean install on your phone with a ROM that has ROM Manager built in. Use that to do the format on the SD card.
drumist said:
By the way, another option is to just do a clean install on your phone with a ROM that has ROM Manager built in. Use that to do the format on the SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That got me thinking...Ive never had a problem adding an ext partition using Rom Manager. Ive done it to 3 SD cards now without a single issue. BUT, Ive also always done it while on cm6/7 which both came with Rom Manager pre-installed with the rom and quite a bit of integration with the rom manager app...just a thought...
EDIT: Scratch that, I used it for 2 SD cards, the 3rd was done with Ubuntu.
Here's my post from the other thread
jdwhite87 said:
Rom manager - partition SD card - choose your partitions. It will reboot into recovery and try but fail to partition your card. Pull battery. Replace battery - hold volume down and power. Wait for it to try and find the libde. Img then press volume down and it will highlight recovery then press power. It will boot into recovery and finish partitioning your card.
I think that's how I got it to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did this with two different SD cards on fr008. Both were sandisks. One was a 16 gb class 4 and the other was an 8 gb class 6. I couldn't get gparted to partition the 8 gb for whatever reason. I didn't know what Ubuntu was when I partitioned the 16 gb
It seems like an oversight that maybe of the masses of people with Android devices that one day the general (non-xda) population would want a simple way to transfer their sd card data to a larger card...
I Imagine there are a bunch of people out there clueless.
Hell, I read XDA and there was still no clear simple way in this thread.
(I got here from a Google search for SD CARD CLONE)
Got it to work, finally. Required some back-and-forth with the Nandroid backups, but I have everything running off of my 8GB SD card now, without reinstalling!
Now, to sell off my 4GB card... anyone?
So this was solved by using a tool from sdcard.org to format my sdcard in a PC. Once formatted with that tool cwm started seeing correctly.
-------
I'm running 3.1 rooted
I've flashed Thor's 1.4.2 recovery.
I have two sd cards: a 2g and an 8g.
Both work when accessed on a PC and on the iconia.
Neither work in cwm so I can't flash any roms.
I have tried formatting the sdcards on two different PCs. for the 2g I tried both fat and fat32. The 8g is fat32. In every case cwm says it can't mount it.
Additionally, I can't seem to use a USB key, although that may be that i don't know how to use it.
Thanks for any help.
-Bert
When in CWM and you go to install zip from sdcard do you see any folders where you choose the zip. Just wondering if it isn't mounted already. Physical sdcard is in /mnt/external_sd
and not /mnt/sdcard.
PsychosisNC said:
When in CWM and you go to install zip from sdcard do you see any folders where you choose the zip. Just wondering if it isn't mounted already. Physical sdcard is in /mnt/external_sd
and not /mnt/sdcard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply. I'm prety sure It's not mounted already.
I'm attaching a screenshot to show the exact message I get when trying to browse for a zip. I get a similar message when I go to mounts and storage and try to mount the sdcard.
im bumping this because I'm really becoming concerned that the device is defective in some way.
I'm hoping that someone can give me some guidence on what I may be doing wrong.
So, brosell, did you figure out a solution? I have the exact same problem - cannot mount sdcard in recovery and I get the exact same message.
When the system is booted normally, the internal storage mounts ok as /sdcard
EDIT:
It seems CWM treats the external sdcard as /sdcard, not the internal storage. So, to flash an update, you need to place it on an external SD card
I always get that error, and I never had to mount anything using cwm, just booted it selected the zip to flash and flash. I still don't mount anything...?
And the zip goes on the external sd not the inturn
Can't format SC Card in Window. If won't mount.
Guys,
Unfortunately SD cards for Android must be formatted by Android. If the card is not properly formatted CWM can not mount it, nor can CWM format it. The best way to get it properly formatted is to put it into an Android Phone and use its format functions. There really is no way on the Icona Tab to reformat an improperly formatted card or a new formatted card. If you don't have an Android phone borrow a friends. You will know that it is properly formatted when you see a lost files folder created on the card by the Android phone formatting process. This is a common problem that many people encounter when performing their first ROM flash. If it was formatted under windows as FAT 32 you can access it and store on it in normal operation mode. But ClockWorkMod can not mount it in recovery mode. Hope this helps. Good luck.
Can mount SD card in Recovery
I should have also mentioned last night in my post here, that my experience has been that it is much easier to flash a new custom ROM from a USB thumb drive. Flashing a custom ROM from USB seems to be less problematic than from an SDCard that appears otherwise to be good and formatted with FAT32, but CWM can't mount it. You can fast format the thumb drive on Windows to clean it off. Then copy your custom .zip ROM to be flashed on to the thumb drive from within Windows then insert it into the USB port of your Icona Tab, boot into CWM recovery (I'm assuming you know how to do that so I won't go into it here.) I forget exactly where in the CWM menu it is, it might be under the CWM advanced sub-menu but it say's something to the effect of Install zip from USB. It always works for me with no problem. The advantage is that you do all your prep work on Windows and then flash from the thumb drive which I believe has an ISO standard across all platforms and usually comes already per-formatted. This is an alternative method if you can't get your SDCard properly formatted (see my previous post in this thread for how to get it properly formatted so that it will mount under CWM.) Again, good luck!
I want to cry!!
I tried re formatting! Nothing! Cmw is not on sd card! Nothing is working! Still stuck on acer start screen! Yes i am a noob! But i read alot into this stuff b4 i do it! I wish there was someone i can have come to my house and do this for me! I have tried everything!!!!!!!!!!! So frustrated!!! Someone pls help me!!!!
in CWM recovery, there are 2 options,sd and "internal sd" i think(for me atleast). i chose the internal sd and it mounts.
brosell said:
So this was solved by using a tool from sdcard.org to format my sdcard in a PC. Once formatted with that tool cwm started seeing correctly.
-------
-Bert
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank You Sir! been looking for this fix for a long time
brosell said:
So this was solved by using a tool from sdcard.org to format my sdcard in a PC. Once formatted with that tool cwm started seeing correctly.
-------
/QUOTE]
thanks brosell, for the solution,
I have a 512MB SD card in the g5360, was FAT formatted. reformatting the sdcard with the tool from sdcard.org worked for me as well, afterwards it could be mounted by the stock recovery
and could install update.zip (prior to install CMW)
kr, Erik
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damnit.. My company required encryption of the data on my Nexus S when I was testing ICS Beta with Email / Exchange.
Went ahead and encrypted the device.
Then, I wanted to install ICS Combo Beta 11, so I formatted /system /data /boot and tried to install from /sdcard/*.zip.
No luck.
Clockworkmod recovery cannot mount /sdcard anymore.
Wanted to try and format it, but the clockworkmod tries to mount it first, before formatting
HELP!
I'm stuck with only recovery now and no way to get the update package installed
Is there a way to install from zip via the command line?
You should be able to use fastboot to load the rom on your device. I haven't tried it this way before but it should work:
Code:
fastboot update rom.zip [-w if you want to erase data too]
Give it a spin.
The SDCard not being able to be mounted has been covered a few times but I can't recall the proper fix by heart - search around and you'll definitely get some results that can help you with that.
Greetz
Sounds like it's busted.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium
Can you still enable USB Mass Storage in recovery? Try reformat the SD from your desktop?
Si_NZ said:
Can you still enable USB Mass Storage in recovery? Try reformat the SD from your desktop?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thought about that, but what filesystem? FAT32?
Sure
Greetz
I had the same problem with one of the first ICS betas.
Formatting to FAT32 on my Mac was not enough, I had also to reformat under Android. Hope, you backed up your data
dr911 said:
I had the same problem with one of the first ICS betas.
Formatting to FAT32 on my Mac was not enough, I had also to reformat under Android. Hope, you backed up your data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definately backed up..
This was a real scare.. I couldn't mount or format from clockworkmodrecovery. All I had was the adb shell and the builtin /sbin commands.
LUCKILY I found this article;
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/...mmcblk0++mkfs++ext2__fromsearch__1#entry56396
It didn't exactly match what I was experiencing, but the key was the parted program.
Using it, I was able to reformat my media (partition 3) and am now able to repush things to it.
Stupid sdcard encryption..
Reinstalling ICS Beta 11 now
Blood pressure slowly decreasing.. damn that was a nightmare
So some lessons learned;
DON'T try to partition your SDCARD from clockworkmod or Windows or Mac. The USB storage presented to your computer is a single partiton from you mmcblk0 sd storage. If you partition it, you've got a partition inside a partition which will only make sense to your windows/mac system. Inside of Android, the partition is essentially corrupted and it won't mount.
Formatting from Windows only makes it appear to be working.. in reality you've created a second partition and it's corrupted from the Android point of view.
parted is the only way to fix it. from parted do mkfs type fat32 partiton 3 (media) that will reformat the partition correctly and give you access from Android and external USB hosts.
That's weird...
People have been able to format the SD as ext4 on a desktop using Ubuntu for example. I don't understand how that is different to mkfs.ext4 vs mkfs.vfat. I mean why am I confined to formatting on the phone itself? I'm really confused now.
On a side note. What you experienced is totally expected if you think about it carefully. It's like you have just lost the key to open your SD content by wiping the phone, of course it can no longer be mounted. But I'm not sure why it cannot be simply formatted in CWM.
nauckwj said:
Formatting from Windows only makes it appear to be working.. in reality you've created a second partition and it's corrupted from the Android point of view.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That means, I should check my SD Card, which I formatted under OSX with Disk Utility?
Maybe I'll do it next time I flash a new ROM, because for now it works fine.
nauckwj said:
Blood pressure slowly decreasing.. damn that was a nightmare
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I had a similar situation a few weeks after I got my beloved NS when I tried Whispercore. The hole NS got encrypted and formatting the system partition in CWM didn't work, but what I read it was luckily due to a problem with the CWM version. Flashing a newer Version of CWM solved the problem. First I was dying!
So, when I encrypted with ICS and got this problem I calmed down much faster
Si_NZ said:
That's weird...
People have been able to format the SD as ext4 on a desktop using Ubuntu for example. I don't understand how that is different to mkfs.ext4 vs mkfs.vfat. I mean why am I confined to formatting on the phone itself? I'm really confused now.
On a side note. What you experienced is totally expected if you think about it carefully. It's like you have just lost the key to open your SD content by wiping the phone, of course it can no longer be mounted. But I'm not sure why it cannot be simply formatted in CWM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My problem was I used the Windows fdisk partitioning utility to repartition my /sdcard partition. That was part of the problem. I did also read how some people were repartitioning the /sdcard partition, which is kind of weird. I can understand why someone might want to reformat it as an ext4 filesystem, but why would you want to partition a partition?
The /sdcard partition is actually the third partition on your mmcblk0 device. If you partition it, most utilities will fail to recognize it as a valid media device anymore, because they expect to be able to read the filesystem data structures when they mount it. These won't exist if a partition table is sitting at the beginning of the blocks.
I couldn't reformat from within CWM because it first tries to mount the partition. if it fails to mount, CWM won't reformat it. Only way to reformat it was with parted, unless you have a working system installation.
Last night I was also able to reformat it from within ICS. Had to do a full factory-wipe from within ICS, then it indicated the sdcard was no longer valid and asked me if I wanted to reformat it. Once I said yes, all was back to normal.
Fun fun
Hi mates,
When we are flashing a Custom Rom from the CWM, we are normally instructed by the Devs only to do few steps on CWM like “Wipe Data/Factory Data Reset, Wipe Cache etc.. which we simply follow, but most of the people don’t know, including me, what these options and many other options of CWM are really standing for.
When I googled, I could not find a thread which explains about these options in a single thread, so I would like to share with my friends about what I found the Common Options of the CWM here...
Obviously these are commonly applicable for all the devices which are having CWM, but I am always concern about my favorite Galaxy S II.
People who are completely new to Recovery and these options, I suggest them to read this thread first and give a thanks to it's author.
What Is Recovery & Download Mode?
The oder and segregation of the below items in the CWM menu may vary or some of them may be removed in different custom recoveries designed by respective Developer.
CLOCKWORKMODE BASED RECOVERY MENU
1) Reboot Menu :
reboot system now
This one is self-explanatory.
2) Install Menu :
choose zip from (internal/ external) sdcard /
Lets you install any zip file (with any name) from any location on your SD card. The file can be for a ROM, a kernel, an application, a theme or any mod as long as it is in recovery-flashable zip format.
apply /sdcard/update.zip
This one is essentially the same as the ‘apply update from sdcard’ option of the main menu. widely used option for installing a ROM that you have downloaded and copied to your SD card. Entering this option will bring up a screen that will allow you to browse your SD card for the zip file.
apply update from sdcard
This can be used for installation of any official or unofficial update, ROM, kernel, theme etc. that is in a zip format installable from recovery, as long as the file is named update.zip and it has been placed on the root of your SD card (i.e. not in any sub-folder). Selecting this option will bring up a rather annoying confirmation prompt but this has saved us on multiple occasions from a lot of trouble we would have been into due to accidental key presses.
toggle signature verification
Turns the signature verification on and off. When signature verification is on, you will not be able to install any custom ROMs that haven’t been signed by the developers (most custom ROMs aren’t signed). Switching it off skips the signature verification check and proceeds with the installation.
toggle script asserts
Seldom-used option for a vast majority of users. It simply turns script asserts on or off. If you don’t know about these (I don’t), it’s best not to change this option.
3) Wipe Menu
wipe data/factory reset
This option wipes all user data on the device as well as cache. Doing this will leave your phone in the state it was in when you bought it or when any custom ROM was first installed. It will also wipe any sd-ext partition that you might have setup. (see more about sd-ext below under partition)
wipe cache partition
This is a good practice to do this before flashing any ROM. The /cache partition just stores temporary files that are not critical to device operation and can be re-generated easily, this Wipes the cache partition of the device to clear all the data accumulated there over use. This is often used before installing a new ROM, app, kernel or any similar mod via recovery.
Wipe Dalvik Cache
Allows you to wipe the cache for the Dalvik virtual machine. The dalvik cache wipe is quite similar to cache wipe but it stores the post ran java applications. Since Android is JAVA based, it uses the same java virtual machine for compiling. The dalvik cache just stores post-compiled applications in order to speed up the system. Wiping this just forces the system to re-cache those application. It causes no problems but a slight hint of lag on first boot. This is required before most ROM installations and at other occasions too, for fixing some problems.
Wipe Battery Stats
Wipes the saved battery usage statistics and effectively recalibrates the battery. Useful in various scenarios when Android isn’t showing correct battery levels.
4) Nandroid menu
backup and restore Undoubtedly one of the most important features provided by a custom recovery, the backup and restore feature – also known as Nandroid backup – allows you to take a snapshot of your phone’s entire internal memory including all partitions, and save it on the SD card.
Backup
Takes a Nandroid backup, as explained above.
Restore
Lets you restore a previously taken backup. Entering this option presents you with a list of existing backups from the SD card that you can choose from for restoration.
Advanced Restore (new options are available separately to restore from external or internal SDcard in the latest CWM)
This option is similar to the Restore option but once a backup has been selected to be restored, this option allows you to choose what parts of it to restore. You can choose to restore the boot, system, data, cache and sd-ext partitions.
5) Storage menu
mounts and storage
Allows you to perform maintenance tasks on all the internal and external partitions of your android device
mount/unmount /system, /data, /cache, /sdcard, /emmc.
These options let you toggle between mounting or unmounting these respective partitions. Most users don’t need to change these options.
format system, data, cache, sdcard or sd-ext
These let you directly format any of these partitions. Take extreme care with this option as formatting any of these partitions will result in losing all data on them, especially the boot and system partitions. Formatting the system partition will remove your ROM and leave your phone without an operating system while wiping the boot partition may brick your phone unless you restore or flash another one before rebooting your device. See below more explanation about these partitions.
mount USB storage
Lets you enable USB mass storage mode for your SD card right from recovery so that you can connect it to your computer via USB and transfer any files to/from it without having to leave recovery.
6) Advanced
This section contains a few options most users will not require, Here are the options from this section:
Report Error
In case of errors, this feature can be used to save a log of recent ClockworkMod recovery operations on the SD card that you can later report from Android using ROM Manager.
Key Test
Lets you press any of the hardware keys to see if they are properly functioning, and to see their key codes.
Partition SD Card
This option gives you a no-frills way to partition your SD card properly for use with ROMs that support data2ext (a very handy hack for low internal memory devices that enables an /sd-ext partition on the SD card to be used as the internal user data storage i.e. as the /data partition). Once this option is selected, you will be given options to choose the sizes for the /sd-ext partition as well as an optional /swap partition on the SD card, and will then automatically format it for you, leaving the remaining space for normal SD card usage. This option will wipe all data from your SD card so use it with caution!
Fix Permissions
Fixes the file permissions for the internal memory partitions back to default. This is very useful as a fix for several errors and Force-Closes that start appearing after you or an application you installed and provided root access end up messing up the permissions of important files.
PARTITIONS :
The Android uses several partitions to organize files and folders on the device. Each of these partitions has a distinct role in the functionality of the device, but not many Android users know the significance of each partition and its contents. In this guide, we will take you on a tour of Android partitions, what they contain and what can be the possible consequences of modifying their content.
Let’s start with a list of standard internal memory partitions on Android phones and tablets. These are:
• /boot
• /system
• /recovery
• /data
• /cache
• /misc
In addition, there are the SD card partitions.
• /sdcard
• /sd-ext
Note that only /sdcard is found in all Android devices and the rest are present only in select devices. Let’s now take a look at the purpose and contents of each of these partitions.
/boot
This is the partition that enables the phone to boot, as the name suggests. It includes the bootloader and the kernel. Without this partition, the device will simply not be able to boot. Wiping this partition from recovery should only be done if absolutely required and once done, the device must NOT be rebooted before installing a new one, which can be done by installing a ROM that includes a /boot partition.
/system
This partition basically contains the entire operating system, other than the kernel and the bootloader. This includes the Android user interface as well as all the system applications that come pre-installed on the device. Wiping this partition will remove Android from the device without rendering it unbootable, and you will still be able to put the phone into recovery or bootloader mode to install a new ROM.
/recovery
The recovery partition can be considered as an alternative boot partition that lets you boot the device into a recovery console for performing advanced recovery and maintenance operations on it. We have already learnt about this partition and its contents above.
/data
Also called userdata, the data partition contains the user’s data – this is where your contacts, messages, settings and apps that you have installed go. Wiping this partition essentially performs a factory reset on your device, restoring it to the way it was when you first booted it, or the way it was after the last official or custom ROM installation. When you perform a wipe data/factory reset from recovery, it is this partition that you are wiping.
/cache
This is the partition where Android stores frequently accessed data and app components. Wiping the cache doesn’t effect your personal data but simply gets rid of the existing data there, which gets automatically rebuilt as you continue using the device.
/misc
This partition contains miscellaneous system settings in form of on/off switches. These settings may include CID (Carrier or Region ID), USB configuration and certain hardware settings etc. This is an important partition and if it is corrupt or missing, several of the device’s features will will not function normally.
/sdcard
This is not a partition on the internal memory of the device but rather the SD card. In terms of usage, this is your storage space to use as you see fit, to store your media, documents, ROMs etc. on it. Wiping it is perfectly safe as long as you backup all the data you require from it, to your computer first. Though several user-installed apps save their data and settings on the SD card and wiping this partition will make you lose all that data.
On devices with both an internal and an external SD card – devices like the Samsung Galaxy SII – the /sdcard partition is always used to refer to the internal SD card. For the external SD card – if present – an alternative partition is used, which differs from device to device. In case of Samsung Galaxy S series devices, it is /sdcard/External_sd while in many other devices, it is /sdcard2. Unlike /sdcard, no system or app data whatsoever is stored automatically on this external SD card and everything present on it has been added there by the user. You can safely wipe it after backing up any data from it that you need to save.
/sd-ext
This is not a standard Android partition, but has become popular in the custom ROM scene. It is basically an additional partition on your SD card that acts as the /data partition when used with certain ROMs that have special features called APP2SD+ or data2ext enabled. It is especially useful on devices with little internal memory allotted to the /data partition. Thus, users who want to install more programs than the internal memory allows can make this partition and use it with a custom ROM that supports this feature, to get additional storage for installing their apps. Wiping this partition is essentially the same as wiping the /data partition – you lose your contacts, SMS, market apps and settings.
Now whenever we install a ROM or mod that requires we to wipe certain partitions before the installation, we should be in a better position to know what we are losing and what not and thus, we’ll know what to backup and what not.
Best Regards
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1134290
Yep. Been done before a long time ago. Tho I do admire your initiative in putting the info together
Stifler69 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1134290
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No Doubt this one should be on the top of this thread,
What a simple and awesome explanation about the Recovery & Download mode, many thanks to pulser_g2
I know, majority of users only need the simple steps and shortcuts, they don’t care what’s happening internally and theoretically, but some are really curious to know…
Many thanks mate....
zaheedahmed said:
No Doubt this one should be on the top of this thread,
What a simple and awesome explanation about the Recovery & Download mode, many thanks to pulser_g2
I know, majority of users only need the simple steps and shortcuts, they don’t care what’s happening internally and theoretically, but some are really curious to know…
Many thanks mate....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah mate you do what you have to do. It is a good thread and provides good information. Nice work. Just wanted to show you Pulsers thread as well though because he has done something similar to yours long time ago..But anyway good work and if you need any help let me know
Thanks, will save later text in PDF and keep it on PC just to have one more tutorial about things
Awesome write up!! Brilliant!
As you are so knowledgeable about CWM, perhaps I can ask you a question?
When I do a backup, it says that no external SD card was found, so it skipped the external?
When I check under mounts, the only option for the external SD card is to UNmount.... This would suggest that the card is mounted, correct?
So how would I go about backing up the external card too?
Thanks!
Sent from my SGH-I727R using xda premium
Question, if i do nandroid backhp through CWM, i suppose it saves files that i dl such as apps/games, or i need to download later again 600mb+?
Sent by powaaaaah of GT-I9100 Taparatatatalk!
shaggyskunk said:
Awesome write up!! Brilliant!
As you are so knowledgeable about CWM, perhaps I can ask you a question?
When I do a backup, it says that no external SD card was found, so it skipped the external?
When I check under mounts, the only option for the external SD card is to UNmount.... This would suggest that the card is mounted, correct?
So how would I go about backing up the external card too?
Thanks!
Sent from my SGH-I727R using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your appreciation,
I would like to express once again as I mentioned in the starting of the thread that this is only a humble effort of the undersigne that I searched for such information and combined at one place here....
As far as I know about your problem of SD card storage, this is a compatibility issiue which varries on one custom recovery to another, also one SD card to another. such issues are fixed by developers in their latest versions of recoveries.
I experienced once the same issue which was resolved when I changed my SD card.
And my current (touch) recovery of Redpill v1.3 allows me to Backup and restore from external SD card with all available options flowlessly.
Thanks
X-Plosiv said:
Question, if i do nandroid backhp through CWM, i suppose it saves files that i dl such as apps/games, or i need to download later again 600mb+?
Sent by powaaaaah of GT-I9100 Taparatatatalk!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Between CWM & Titanium, you should not have to download anything.
Sent From my Two Tin Cans & String Device on The Wookie Network
X-Plosiv said:
Question, if i do nandroid backhp through CWM, i suppose it saves files that i dl such as apps/games, or i need to download later again 600mb+?
Sent by powaaaaah of GT-I9100 Taparatatatalk!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course it backs up all your installed apps and system data along with the ROM, but it do not back up the additional data which is downloaded and stored in User's partition of your SD card by the applications, such data will remain on your SD card untill you format it, available to support your apps when you return to the previous ROM.
awsome eplanation
as above posts say awsome explinationculdnt b clearer now then all
zaheedahmed said:
Of course it backs up all your installed apps and system data along with the ROM, but it do not back up the additional data which is downloaded and stored in User's partition of your SD card by the applications, such data will remain on your SD card untill you format it, available to support your apps when you return to the previous ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but when I do format/wipe all, I guess then it deletes all that is on SD card as well, such as game files and music? If so, I'd rather just copy paste it on my PC, then after doing all wipes and formats, just copy back from PC
Zaheed, you are far too humble! Your post was brilliant, informative & timely.
Sent From my Two Tin Cans & String Device on The Wookie Network
X-Plosiv said:
Yes, but when I do format/wipe all, I guess then it deletes all that is on SD card as well, such as game files and music? If so, I'd rather just copy paste it on my PC, then after doing all wipes and formats, just copy back from PC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you do normal wipes (data/ factory reset, cache, dalvik) before installing/restoring ROM, it won't touch any data which is saved in your SD Card normally, but it is more safer if you back such application data to you PC which normally find in a folder "Android/ Data /xxx" in the root of SDcard
Thanks for info.
I have read a lot on this but am still nor clear whether a wipe data/factory reset includes a full cache wipe. Most rom install instructions tell you to do both, but it seems a wipe cache is redundant if you factory reset.
SimboXXX said:
Thanks for info.
I have read a lot on this but am still nor clear whether a wipe data/factory reset includes a full cache wipe. Most rom install instructions tell you to do both, but it seems a wipe cache is redundant if you factory reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you are right, I also understand the same, but the option for merely wiping cache is kept for using in some odd situations, like when we fingered to the ROM and got some error, then we got a no-wipe version of the existing ROM to reflash, such case we need only to wipe cache…. I have got an error recently on CWM when I reflashed my no-wipe Checkrom v6 without wiping anything, then I wiped only cache, problem solved…..
what ever may be the theory, do as the developers directed for their ROM…..NO RISK
shaggyskunk said:
Zaheed, you are far too humble! Your post was brilliant, informative & timely.
Sent From my Two Tin Cans & String Device on The Wookie Network
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks mate...
Thanks for the thread, you can never know too much. On second thoughts, there's probably no danger of that.
What would be really good if you have the knowledge, is a detailed guide on CWM Edify scripting. I'm sure many people would find that useful, especially me. There doesn't seem to be a lot of good guides or information on the language, at least I can't find them yet. If you have any good links I'd definitely appreciate it as well.
Here's another bit of information, that answered a question I had....
In case anyone else has this question...
Here is the answer from:
http://android.stackexchange.com/qu...ter-no-sd-ext-found-skipping-backup-of-sd-ext
" This means you do not have an ext3/4 partition on your sdcard. This really ins't a big deal, this is like a legacy part of the nandroid backup process. CM doesn't "officially" support the sd-ext partition any more anyhow."
Hope it helps someone else... In the end, the answer is pretty straight forward.
Sent From my Two Tin Cans & String Device on The Wookie Network
Sent from Down The Rabbit Hole, using Tapatalk 2
Hi everyone!
I just got CM7 (latest stable release) installed on on external sdhc card. I have wifi issues with CM7 (and looking around the forums tells me that CM7 can be finicky with certain routers) so I would love to be able to use Nook's stock ROM (4.1.4) when I am having issues.
But, when I am on NC ROM, I don't see anything except the small boot partition on the SD and when I am on CM7, I don't get access to this boot partition. I am wondering if there is a way to either create another partition or make the currently existing partitions accessible on both ROMS so that I can share data between them.
I am a n00b without any Android experience so thanks in advance for your patient responses.
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions &
Read the Forum Rules Ref Posting
Thanks ✟
Moving to Q&A
andrandom said:
Hi everyone!
I just got CM7 (latest stable release) installed on on external sdhc card. I have wifi issues with CM7 (and looking around the forums tells me that CM7 can be finicky with certain routers) so I would love to be able to use Nook's stock ROM (4.1.4) when I am having issues.
But, when I am on NC ROM, I don't see anything except the small boot partition on the SD and when I am on CM7, I don't get access to this boot partition. I am wondering if there is a way to either create another partition or make the currently existing partitions accessible on both ROMS so that I can share data between them.
I am a n00b without any Android experience so thanks in advance for your patient responses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look in my signature for a link to my tips thread. I explain there how to make the SD media partition available to both ROMs (item B3).
leapinlar said:
Look in my signature for a link to my tips thread. I explain there how to make the SD media partition available to both ROMs (item B3).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*That's* the one I wanted to point them to.
leapinlar said:
Look in my signature for a link to my tips thread. I explain there how to make the SD media partition available to both ROMs (item B3).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
Do you mean step #3 in Section B? I could edit it without running your script too, can't I?
andrandom said:
Thanks.
Do you mean step #3 in Section B? I could edit it without running your script too, can't I?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If whatever you have on emmc is rooted, you can manually edit it. If you have unrooted stock, then you need to flash the zip since without root you cannot edit those files manually. And I did mean item B3. Each item is a different topic, they are not steps. One topic does not depend on another. Just do B3 and no others if you want.
Yes, item B3. My mistake...
I should be able to do flash the zip from my current CM7 SD card's boot partition, shouldn't I?
So I put the update-stockemmc-vold-fstab-modified-for-partition4.zip file in the boot partition of the SD card, rebooted to Recovery mode and then booted to NC's stock ROM. NC is still using the tiny boot partition on the SD card as my external storage instead of the much larger CM7 partition. This was the same partition that was under 'My Files / Memory card' before I flashed so nothing has changed. I did this twice to double-check.
Am I doing this wrong?
andrandom said:
Yes, item B3. My mistake...
I should be able to do flash the zip from my current CM7 SD card's boot partition, shouldn't I?
So I put the update-stockemmc-vold-fstab-modified-for-partition4.zip file in the boot partition of the SD card, rebooted to Recovery mode and then booted to NC's stock ROM. NC is still using the tiny boot partition on the SD card as my external storage instead of the much larger CM7 partition. This was the same partition that was under 'My Files / Memory card' before I flashed so nothing has changed. I did this twice to double-check.
Am I doing this wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you are doing it wrong. You need to flash that file with a CWM card, not put in the boot partition of your SD. And since you did that, you need to re-flash your latest ROM on SD to correct your mistake. (I will edit my instructions to make it a little clearer that you use CWM to flash that file.)
I got NC stock ROM to see my SD card partition by following item A10. That is most excellent and thanks again!
Unfortunately, I no longer see the boot partition when I attach NC to my computer whether NC is running off stock ROM or CM7. My guess is that this is due to my failed attempt to flash from my CM7 SD card yesterday. Am I right?
I thought I could reverse that by copying the update-stockemmc-vold-fstab-return-to-stock.zip file to CM7's boot (and then booting to the recovery mode) but that seemed to have nothing.
If I understand your previous message correctly, I should re-do my entire SD card but... I have already spent a few hours downloading and customizing the Android apps. Is there a way to preserve all that before Win32diskimager destroys the contents of the SD card?
Is there a way to manually mount the /etc folder from a unix prompt and alter the file?
Does it even matter if I don't see boot while I attach NC to a computer? Are there any caveats to 'let it be'?
Questions, questions and more questions...
That leads me to the obvious question, is there a book that explains Android to someone who is not interested in programming it but wants to understand the architecture and design of the OS (and custom ROMs)?
Thanks for being patient with all these n00b questions.
andrandom said:
I got NC stock ROM to see my SD card partition by following item A10. That is most excellent and thanks again!
Unfortunately, I no longer see the boot partition when I attach NC to my computer whether NC is running off stock ROM or CM7. My guess is that this is due to my failed attempt to flash from my CM7 SD card yesterday. Am I right?
I thought I could reverse that by copying the update-stockemmc-vold-fstab-return-to-stock.zip file to CM7's boot (and then booting to the recovery mode) but that seemed to have nothing.
If I understand your previous message correctly, I should re-do my entire SD card but... I have already spent a few hours downloading and customizing the Android apps. Is there a way to preserve all that before Win32diskimager destroys the contents of the SD card?
Is there a way to manually mount the /etc folder from a unix prompt and alter the file?
Does it even matter if I don't see boot while I attach NC to a computer? Are there any caveats to 'let it be'?
Questions, questions and more questions...
That leads me to the obvious question, is there a book that explains Android to someone who is not interested in programming it but wants to understand the architecture and design of the OS (and custom ROMs)?
Thanks for being patient with all these n00b questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do not need or want to re-set up the whole SD installation. Just put the same CM7 zip file back in the boot partition and boot to SD recovery. It will put the correct vold.fstab back on the SD. You will not lose any settings or apps you have already set up. (And putting the return to stock zip there was also the wrong thing to do. The vold.fstab for stock and CM7 are different. But don't worry, it will fix that too.)
You are not supposed to see the boot partition on the PC when you plug the nook in with the cable. You are only supposed to see 'emmc' and 'sdcard'. Under the original setup, your stock system thought the boot partition was 'sdcard' and that was why you saw it on your PC. Since you modified stock to see partition 4 as 'sdcard', partition 4 is what the PC sees, not the boot partition.
Most people have to physically take the card out of the nook and put it in the PC to see the boot partition on the PC. If you don't want to do that, use my script in item B4. But since you are on CM7, you will not be adding many things to the boot partition to install with SD recovery in the future. So it is probably best to leave things be.
And I don't know of any books to help you.
Sent from my Nook Color running ICS and Tapatalk
That is excellent news!
A bit of playing around with Astro tells me that I was wrong about seeing the 'CM7 SDCARD' partition when I was on CM7 ROM. I am only seeing the boot. Anyway, I am going to flash the CM7 ROM again and I am hoping it would fix everything.
Also, yes, I can see the boot partition when I put the SD card directly on my computer but I was also able to see it when I hooked up the NC to my computer via USB before I did my unintended tweaks but... I'll survive.
I'll be back after I flash. (Famous last words??)
Mission accomplished!
Thanks again for all your help.
For future reference after you alter stock's fstab... all you have to do is:
mkdir /sdcard/boot (only have to do this one time)
mount /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /sdcard/boot (do this every time you want to put something on the boot partition)
put anything you want on boot partition in /sdcard/boot
DizzyDen said:
For future reference after you alter stock's fstab... all you have to do is:
mkdir /sdcard/boot (only have to do this one time)
mount /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /sdcard/boot (do this every time you want to put something on the boot partition)
put anything you want on boot partition in /sdcard/boot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, there is one big advantage to using that method. I think it allows the boot partition to be seen not only on the nook, but also on the PC when you plug in the usb.
leapinlar said:
Yes, there is one big advantage to using that method. I think it allows the boot partition to be seen not only on the nook, but also on the PC when you plug in the usb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We could probably come up with a symlink to /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 to /sdcard/boot and avoid having to mount it everytime as well.
DizzyDen said:
We could probably come up with a symlink to /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 to /sdcard/boot and avoid having to mount it everytime as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you Dizz, your suggestion got me to thinking and I was able to come up with an init.d bash script that does the trick. I just temporarily mounted sdcard and created the sdcard/boot directory and the mounted the boot partition to it, then unmounted sdcard so it could be mounted again by the system later in the boot sequence.
The only problem is now sdcard will not mount on the PC using UMS mass storage. Must be because of having a second mount within the mount. But it does mount with MTP. But that may be acceptable. I will test some more, including using Goo Manager tomorrow.
EDIT (6-21): Goo Manager works. But I think I have figured out why sdcard is not mounting in UMS. Once it is mounted in my script and the boot partition mounted under it, it cannot be unmounted. And since it cannot be unmounted, it cannot be mounted later by the system as vold. If it cannot be mounted as vold, it does not show in UMS. For now I think I will leave it as I have it in Rev 2 of my script (symlinking to the root directory with full r/w permissions). If people want to see the boot partition on the PC, just use my modified for CM9 NookColorUMS available in my tips thread.
Sent from my Nook Color running ICS and Tapatalk
Help!
When CM7 is running, my computer is no longer mounting any of the partitions when I connect NC to my computer via the USB cable.
If the NC stock ROM is running, my computer mounts all three partitions (MyNook..., boot and CM7SDcard) but calibre is not recognizing the external partitions for transfers.
Further, when I boot to my NC stock ROM, I am no longer seeing my SD card's contents in the NC's library.
This may have something to do with the fact that NC stock ROM seemed to have updated itself to 4.1.3.
Should I re-run the scripts again or am I missing something else?
When it was updated to 1.4.3, you lost the emmc mods. Just re-flash my zip with the CWM SD. You may have lost CWM on emmc too.
On CM7, you have to select the turn on storage button after you plug it in. It is not automatic like stock. Pull up the notification area and touch the turn on button.
Darn, I forgot about that 'USB' option under notifications. Enabling it allows me to find the partitions. I will run your scripts again when I find a spare mUSB card.
Thanks again for your help!