i need a bit of help in partitioning. - Windows 8 General

sorry if in the wrong section but i need a bit of help in partitioning a hard drive.
see attachment
i have shrunk a partition and i want to put it back but has somehow been separated from it's host (C: drive) and the efi drive is now in the way so now i cant merge the D: partition back to the C: partition because there no longer neighbors. how can i move the EFI partition over or the D: partition so that i can merge them back together?

xdarkmario said:
sorry if in the wrong section but i need a bit of help in partitioning a hard drive.
see attachment
i have shrunk a partition and i want to put it back but has somehow been separated from it's host (C: drive) and the efi drive is now in the way so now i cant merge the D: partition back to the C: partition because there no longer neighbors. how can i move the EFI partition over or the D: partition so that i can merge them back together?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not believe you can merge partitions while the system is running. If i remember correctly, you have to reformat the entire hard drive in order to do that. Taking away from one partition is an operation which usually has no way of undoing without losing data.

You need a couple of utils.
MiniTool Partition Wizard (freeware) http://partitionwizard.com
Acronis True Image 2014 (trialware) http://acronis.com/homecomputing/trueimage
Make a bootable USB from each of the provided tools. The TrueImage boot USB will work w/o limitation (trialware only affects the Windows app). You only need the boot images; once that's done, you can uninstall the tools.
Am assuming that D: is empty. Boot to USB and use TrueImg to back up the ESP (EFI system partition). If C: has user data, back it up as well (onto a separate storage device). Use PartWiz to nuke the D: and ESP partitions, recreate a 200MB partition at the end of the drive, and expand C: to fill the rest. Use TrueImg to restore the ESP to the 200MB partition.

This kind of thing can also be done from any Linux liveCD worth mentioning; they all include parted and usually a graphical front-end to it (either gparted or qtparted, sometimes something else too). Parted is capable of moving partitions and of resizing them.

Related

Is it possible to backup the hidden vista partition onto dvd?

Shift is not shipped with any cd/dvd for system recovery
In case of hard drive crash, how are we gonna restore the system?
Is it possible to make system recovery disks by ourselves, just like what sony has been asking their nb buyers to do (to burn recovery disks by themselves)?
I think you could backup the restore partition to a DVD using something like Acronis Trueimage and then use Partition Magic or similar to delete the partition and extend the primary partition into this space increasing its size.
To be honest you may be as well do a full image onto another harddisk as a backup and have a suitable Acronis or similar bootdisk to allow a full image restore if the worst happens.
Recovery Partition
I have used BartPE to boot off an external USB DVD Writer.
From within BartPE you can then use Ghost to capture the ENTIRE drive.
The ***Hidden*** restore partition cannot be see by anything, not ghost, not partition magic, not acronis, it simply is not there.
My belief is that this is due to a BIOS restriction and the FN+F3 boot that does allow the restore is either.....
1. A special mode where the bios can see the hidden partition
2. The actual recovery image is on a separate flash area that we can't see.
Either way having the ghost will recover the hard drive.
I have installed both XP and Linux on the Shift and still been able to reboot, press FN+F3 and do a vista re-installation.
This makes me believe the image is on a separate flash device that only the BIOS section can see.
Hope this helps.
Blitz

[Q] Failed to get ext2 partition in any way i tried!

I have tried all kinds of ways to partition my sd card to get data2ext to work on b 0.5.
- Partitioning through rom manager
- Partitioning through paragon partition manager (didn't even work)
- Manually partitioning by running commands through terminal emulator
I manage to get the linux swap and fat32 partition but no matter which method i tried, i just can't get the ext2 partition. On the emulator, it asked if my file system was an ext2 system.
By the way, i am using an 8gb sd card that came with Nokia 5800. Is this the cause of not being able to create the ext2 partition?
Easiest way I can think of is to use the live distro of Gparted.
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php
Awesome partitioning tool and has a gui anyone can follow.
E.E.
i just partioned my 8gb yesterday with paragon, no problems. what kind of problem did you have?
@eepunk I will try that later... i'll see if there is any solution in the current software(s) i have...
@haha123 the problem i'm facing is i cannot see the sd card when i click format partition... Maybe i'm doing it wrong. Here is how i do..
1. Plug my phone into USB and click Disk Drive
2. Open up Paragon Partition Manager 11 Personal
3. Click on Partition Manager on the left tabs and launch the partition manager
4. At the bottom, click on Basic Hard Disk (HTC Android Phone USB Device)
5. Click on Format Partition in the Disk View tab.
The problem is when i click format partition. It just shows the hard disk in my PC but not the HTC Android phone USB Device.
I even tried skipping the format partition to try creating a partition but i still cannot see the HTC Android Phone USB Device.
The Error i get is "The disk already contains four primary partitions. Basic hard disks can contain only four primary partitions, including extended one.
Eh...
Why not just boot into Clockwork and use the Partition menu
spicyjoe said:
@haha123 the problem i'm facing is i cannot see the sd card when i click format partition... Maybe i'm doing it wrong. Here is how i do..
1. Plug my phone into USB and click Disk Drive
2. Open up Paragon Partition Manager 11 Personal
3. Click on Partition Manager on the left tabs and launch the partition manager
4. At the bottom, click on Basic Hard Disk (HTC Android Phone USB Device)
5. Click on Format Partition in the Disk View tab.
The problem is when i click format partition. It just shows the hard disk in my PC but not the HTC Android phone USB Device.
I even tried skipping the format partition to try creating a partition but i still cannot see the HTC Android Phone USB Device.
The Error i get is "The disk already contains four primary partitions. Basic hard disks can contain only four primary partitions, including extended one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I followed this step by step guide:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=512873
I had the card formatted to fat32 (using windows) before partitioning, maybe you can try that?
pjgodd said:
Eh...
Why not just boot into Clockwork and use the Partition menu
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, i was looking around in that menu but there isn't any saying create partition... just format and stuff... :S
@haha123 Hmmm, give that a try.... i've just downloaded the gparted software so will try that first...
EDIT: Given up all hope, i can't even get gparted to boot with USB...
Check the GUIDE...
Thanks blayo, i tried that and it crashed all the apps on my phone until i had to format my sd card and restore nandroid... hmmm... mysterious, but thanks, i'll let data2ext pass.... wouldn't want to brick my phone...
spicyjoe said:
Thanks blayo, i tried that and it crashed all the apps on my phone until i had to format my sd card and restore nandroid... hmmm... mysterious, but thanks, i'll let data2ext pass.... wouldn't want to brick my phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, this is the formatting guide... what the hell did you expect? There are certain files on SD fat32 partition that some of apps use. If you unmount SD card and reformat it, those files are not available any more. Right?
Yeah true but even when i restore it doesn't work. Alright man, thanks for the guide anyways.

[Gparted] Nook Simple Touch resize partitions non-destructive

!! Important: Make a backup of your Nook device first !!
Resize partitions
1. Download Gparted LiveCD
2. Extract onto FAT / FAT32 USB memory stick or burn to CD-ROM
3. If on a USB memory stick, run \utils\win32\makeboot.bat from the memory stick.
Do NOT run makeboot from a hard disk!
4. Boot computer from USB device into Gparted
5. Connect your Nook running Noogie of a Micro USB card (this will make the partitions visible to Gparted).
6. Resize the last partition (nr 8) labelled "data" (= Barnes & Nobles content)
Make sure to move the partition to the far right.
7. Move the next-to-last partition (nr 7) labelled "cache" without resizing it.
8. Extend the next-to-next-to-last partition (nr 6) labelled "nook" (Side loaded content) to fill the gap.
9. Remove USB cord, Micro USB card and boot your Nook.
10. In Settings you can inspect the amount of storage space.
I received errors when the partitions were about to be moved on the disk.
I changed the partitioning resize to field where it says "Align to:" from "MiB" to "Cylinder". After a 2nd attempt and doing each partition individually all worked out well.
For those only with Windows, download Gparted LiveCD iso image and use virtualbox to boot from it. It still worked well.
Edit: I successfully repartitioned two of my Nook Simple Touch using the method above + virtualbox + Gparted LiveCD iso.
Surprisingly, the size of partitions in my two NST were slightly different, suggesting that the physical size and location of partitions don't matter as long as their order and type in the partition table are as expected and the size is big enough to hold files there. I resized and moved the last three partitions as I wanted several times and made sure they work well.
Factory reset, upgrade to 1.2.1 (this seems to require the cache partition to be big enough to hold the firmware update file: something like 128MB worked for me), rooting all worked well with resized partitions. I ended up shrinking the cache partition down to 32MB and the data partition to 128MB, reserving 1.11GB for the side-loaded contents. I'm sure the system partition can also be shrunken, but I didn't go that far.
Why a live cd? Does installing gparted to whatever linux flavor you're using not work?
I don't use linux on my PC... only on hacked router & nas.
Goggles2114 said:
Why a live cd? Does installing gparted to whatever linux flavor you're using not work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So dump Noogie on a microsd card run noogie and while noogie's running plug nook into pc? Do you just plutg it in and it does everything auto, or does something in noogie need to be run? Does this work on a nook touch glow?
Sorry to sound so dense but rooted using NookManager.
Edit more to the point it's throwing up an error when trying to move sdb8 around. It shrank fine just won't move. Not sure why. Not getting any useful error messages. Just 'can't have overlapping partitions.'
Odd. I was able to move it twice and get it to behave. Yet do the same n one move and Nothing. Apologies for the rinning Log just. Meh. The rest of the partitions resized in one step. sdb8 was the one that needed two steps.
Aaaand Success. Showing up as having 913MB free as opposed to like 212 or whatever.
Edit: now I'm getting a constant 'low space' warning from nook (understandable.) And installing apps is hit/miss on if they'll actually install. Keeps claiming space issues.
Query. Do apps install to the BnN partition or where?
Good to hear another success story. In my case I squeezed all the way to 1.45GB for the side-loaded contents. boot/rom/system/cache/data partitions are shrunken, and factory partition is busted. I had to use fdisk instead of GPartED to completely recreate the partition table, though.
I think, apps are installed to the data partition (the 8th one) under /data/app. Before being installed it's downloaded to cache partition (the 7th one). In my case I gave 16M for cache and 128M for data. If you are low on the data partition and have some space left on the system partition, you can move apps from /data/app to /system/app.
Goggles2114 said:
So dump Noogie on a microsd card run noogie and while noogie's running plug nook into pc? Do you just plutg it in and it does everything auto, or does something in noogie need to be run? Does this work on a nook touch glow?
Sorry to sound so dense but rooted using NookManager.
Edit more to the point it's throwing up an error when trying to move sdb8 around. It shrank fine just won't move. Not sure why. Not getting any useful error messages. Just 'can't have overlapping partitions.'
Odd. I was able to move it twice and get it to behave. Yet do the same n one move and Nothing. Apologies for the rinning Log just. Meh. The rest of the partitions resized in one step. sdb8 was the one that needed two steps.
Aaaand Success. Showing up as having 913MB free as opposed to like 212 or whatever.
Edit: now I'm getting a constant 'low space' warning from nook (understandable.) And installing apps is hit/miss on if they'll actually install. Keeps claiming space issues.
Query. Do apps install to the BnN partition or where?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's the point of doing all this?
You gave a list of instructions, but not the goal they achieve.
L_R_N said:
What's the point of doing all this?
You gave a list of instructions, but not the goal they achieve.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which post are you referring to?
Troute said:
Which post are you referring to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.c0.'s original post.
His instructions describe how to use gparted to resize the partitions on the NST to make full use of the memory available after you have rooted it. I've used gparted before so maybe they were clearer to me than to others but the thread title was the main clue.
Troute said:
His instructions describe how to use gparted to resize the partitions on the NST to make full use of the memory available after you have rooted it. I've used gparted before so maybe they were clearer to me than to others but the thread title was the main clue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I kind of thought that Nook's internal 2GB flash is already sanely formatted (i.e. most space is dedicated to the partition that is mounted at /media). If that is not the case, then that should be noted in the first post. It would also be cool if it said exactly how much space each partition has (I think i saw these partitions back when i've used Noogie to make initial backup of my device, but i don't remember the details), and how much space you would gain, and on which partition (and where it is mounted).
L_R_N said:
I kind of thought that Nook's internal 2GB flash is already sanely formatted (i.e. most space is dedicated to the partition that is mounted at /media). If that is not the case, then that should be noted in the first post. It would also be cool if it said exactly how much space each partition has (I think i saw these partitions back when i've used Noogie to make initial backup of my device, but i don't remember the details), and how much space you would gain, and on which partition (and where it is mounted).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! i did the work 880MB for side loaded content now!!!
on one of my NST i had an issue resizing the FAT32 partition and i had to format it to make it work.
Other than that all went ok!
Thanks
How to maximize RAM available for apps
I found this easy to read table here.
I doubt that I will ever download books from B&N. I want to minimize the space for that. I infer that I should minimize partition 8 that gets mounted to \data. Is there a practical / actual minimum for this?
I see that anything I copy in from my PC over USB is going into media. 100MB should be more than I need. I could put in an SD card for this sort of thing if it grows.
My question is, which partition do I want to increase to make the maximum available to apps downloaded from the google marketplace?
If an application requires a minimum of 512 MB of RAM, which partition(s) do I need to set >= 512?
New additional question: Upon some further research, I see that you can use sd cards for swapfiles to increase system RAM up to a maximum of 4GB. Does anyone know if it is possible to use this built-in storage for the same purpose?
.c0. said:
!! Important: Make a backup of your Nook device first !!
Resize partitions
1. Download Gparted LiveCD
2. Extract onto FAT / FAT32 USB memory stick or burn to CD-ROM
3. If on a USB memory stick, run \utils\win32\makeboot.bat from the memory stick.
Do NOT run makeboot from a hard disk!
4. Boot computer from USB device into Gparted
5. Connect your Nook running Noogie of a Micro USB card (this will make the partitions visible to Gparted).
6. Resize the last partition (nr 8) labelled "data" (= Barnes & Nobles content)
Make sure to move the partition to the far right.
7. Move the next-to-last partition (nr 7) labelled "cache" without resizing it.
8. Extend the next-to-next-to-last partition (nr 6) labelled "nook" (Side loaded content) to fill the gap.
9. Remove USB cord, Micro USB card and boot your Nook.
10. In Settings you can inspect the amount of storage space.
I received errors when the partitions were about to be moved on the disk.
I changed the partitioning resize to field where it says "Align to:" from "MiB" to "Cylinder". After a 2nd attempt and doing each partition individually all worked out well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a little (maybe big?) problem. Can't partition with Gparted Live, as gparted scans my /dev/sdb (nook) infinitely. If I plug out my nook, other partitions (in my case: /dev/sda) become visible and ready. Looks like my nook hangs gparted. Tried on 2 different PCs and no effect. Tried different version of Gparted Live (i486 & amd64) - still nothing.
Of course noogie is inside the nook unit, ready and steady. Already made a backup of (non-rooted) device, plus partitions are visible in Minitool Partition Wizard on Windows 7.
What to do in this situation? Is Linux the only safe way to repartition device? Or maybe Minitool would be as effective and safe?
If Linux is the only way to go, how to make nook visible to Gparted?
Please, experts.
DJ Athlon said:
I have a little (maybe big?) problem. Can't partition with Gparted Live, as gparted scans my /dev/sdb (nook) infinitely. If I plug out my nook, other partitions (in my case: /dev/sda) become visible and ready. Looks like my nook hangs gparted. Tried on 2 different PCs and no effect. Tried different version of Gparted Live (i486 & amd64) - still nothing.
Of course noogie is inside the nook unit, ready and steady. Already made a backup of (non-rooted) device, plus partitions are visible in Minitool Partition Wizard on Windows 7.
What to do in this situation? Is Linux the only safe way to repartition device? Or maybe Minitool would be as effective and safe?
If Linux is the only way to go, how to make nook visible to Gparted?
Please, experts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If Gparted doesn't work for you, I'd highly recommend Minitool Partiton Wizard - it's what I used to partiton my Nook. Nice, easy UI, too.
Yeah, I often work with Minitool, but is it as safe as Gparted when it comes to nook?
DJ Athlon said:
Yeah, I often work with Minitool, but is it as safe as Gparted when it comes to nook?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it is. Just make sure to make a Noogie backup before repartitoning.
Sorry for bugging you, but can't shrink userdata(ext3). What to do? Delete that partition and re-create it or...?
DJ Athlon said:
Sorry for bugging you, but can't shrink userdata(ext3). What to do? Delete that partition and re-create it or...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, delete and recreate is the way to go.
Please, people, help me
Write step to step guide for work with Minitool Partiton Wizard
I want to free the reserved space for B&N books of my NST ver. 1.2.1
The device is already rooted.
I installed Minitool Partiton Wizard on my PC, but after connecting it thru USB cable with my Nook, it only see "official" 240MBs.
Cannot find other around 750 MB reserved storage for B&N books ?
What to do
Explain to me, please

[Q] Unable to sideload to sd card...help please?

Hi,
First off if this is answered I am sorry.
I did a lot of searching and was unable to see the answer to this...
I am running CM7.1 off uSD. Install went well, and have no issues. That being said, I am unable to find out where on the card to sideload books. I have booted into CM7.1, turned on USB storage, and have 2 drives appear in win: MYNOOK and CM7 SDCARD. I used the size agnostic image, and it appears that there is only the single partition on the card, and in file explorer, it shows the correct card size for memory, but only the single partition.
The only folders appearing on the card are:
.android_secure
Android
LOST.DIR
I tried to manually copy the books, media, etc. folders into a My Files folder on this drive, without success.
There is no other partition to repartition (shouldn't have to do that with size agnostic?). I have no problem loading books into the MYNOOK book folder, which I assume is the internal device memory.
Here is my question. How/where do I sideload books to use the storage on the uSD card? Do I have to create the folders somewhere? If so where?
My goal is to utilize the storage available on the card, but be able to read the titles in the stock software. Is it possible to do this without rooting, or do I need to root for any reason to access the right folders on the card for storage?
THANK YOU ALL!!
klewlessnoob said:
I tried to manually copy the books, media, etc. folders into a My Files folder on this drive, without success.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In what way was it not successful? Did the files copy and just can't find them with a reader? If so which reader?
The book I transferred over was not found in the stock software when I opened my library. Is there somewhere specific I am supposed to place it on the card for the Nook to see it? Thanks!
For the stock reader, I think you must use the 1gb area of the internal memory drive, which shows up as a separate drive on your PC when you plug it into the computer. When you are in CM7 and connect to the pc, cancel when it tries to install a device for the NC. Check the notifications on the NC, you need to click a button to enable copying files from your pc, and take care to properly safely remove/eject before disabling that and disconnecting the cable from your pc. Better to get a separate reader and install it from the market (e.g., Cool Reader). You can also install the Nook app from the market, but then books need to go within (possibly in a specific subdir) of the "Nook" folder on SDCARD.
So there is no way to use the card memory to store books if I want to use the stock reader??
Should there have been a "NOOK" folder created on the SD card as part of the CM7 process? Is that a file that the user needs to create? If so, does it go in the same partition as the CM7, as that is the only partition my machine is able to see?
thanks again
Hopefully you'll get more input on this, but I think the point of keeping the Nook stock available (aside from not voiding your warranty) relates to use of B&N books. However you can eject your CM sd card and use another sd card if you want more space for user media for use with the stock app. I thought the media drive was the 1gb area, but now I'm not so sure because on mine the MYNOOK disk is much smaller.
When you are in the stock firmware... you are seeing the boot partition of the uSD...
You can write the boot partition... resize it... then run the installer...
I have done it in the past... set up a 2GB boot partition... then setup the ROM on uSD. You then have a 2GB partition you can use when in stock.
Thanks for the info. I am a bit confused by your suggestion, can you please offer a bit more?
By writing the boot partition, then resizing it, does that mean I can resize now, after I have already set everything up? If so, what do you mean by the installer? Or do you mean I have to wipe the card and start over? If that is the case (start over) do you mean wipe the card, create a small partition for the boot to install on? Would that requre the use of an image that is not size agnostic?
Either way, how do I get the file structure in place on the non boot partition for the nook to see files that are saved there?
Thanks again for any help you can provide!
I have never had luck resizing it after it has been booted in the Nook and all the partitions created...
I have written the size agnostic image to the card... resized the only partition created at that point... then put the ROM on it and booted it in the nook so the installer script (size agnostic recovery) can do the partitioning and install the ROM.
For the question of getting the file structure... I'd have to ask how you wrote the files on the uSD... were you CM or stock?
I had always planned on running cm from the card, so when I wrote the files to the card, I was stock.
If I follow what you are saying, then steps for me to try at this point would be:
1. Reformat card
2. Write the disk image to the card
3. Shrink the single partition on the card (where the image is)
4. Add the CM ROM to same partition as the image
5. Install card and boot device
If this sounds right, I have 2 questions.
What size should the partition be for the image and CM ROM, maybe 2GB?
Will the Nook "see" the non-CM partition and create the file structure for saving files on the 2nd partition at some point? In my searches I saw that in early versions, there was a requirement that the 4th partition on the card be expanded to use for storage, won't I only have 2 at this point?
Thanks again so much for the help!
When you write the image to the card... it will only be about 114 MB.... you will probably want to increase the size to avoid any possible size issues later (with ROM's getting larger)
If you plan to use the stock nook ROM as well as CM7... you will probably want 2 GB boot partition... otherwise if you plan to only run CM7 you probably only want about 250 MB.
You can modify vold.fstab on the stock ROM to use partition 4 of the SD for its SD use... then you could avoid the 2 GB boot partition.
What happens when you use VG's SASD... the boot image is about 114 MB... when you boot it in the nook it creates partitions 2, 3 and 4... 2 and 3 are ext3 partitions, partition 4 is fat... partition 4 is the one set for sdcard in the ROM booted from SD...
This is why you can modify stock vold.fstab to point to partition 4... then both ROM's will be putting stuff on the same partition for "SD Card"
I think I follow that, but my issue is that currently I am unable to see partition 2,3 or 4 which I think is part of my problem.
When I set up the card, I used the SASD method, and all I can see in both win explorer and partition software is the single partition on the card. Should there also be partitions 2,3, and 4? Do I have to do something to make those partitions viewable?
I am not comfortable enough with my skill level to attempt to modify the stock vold.fstab file on the device, and was hopeful that by properly setting up the card, I would be able to keep stock as is, and use the card to multipurpose, ie run cm7 on part and use the remaining space on card to store books to be read in stock firmware. I am still hoping to do that....thanks
As far as only seeing partition 1.... that is a limitation of Windows.
By following the advice pertaining to starting over and increasing the size of the Boot partition immediately after writing the image... before doing anything else... you can provide more space for the stock ROM to use on the SD... it will use partiton 1 (the boot partition) without the other modifications to vold.fstab
ok, confused again
If I start over, write image, then resize that partition with the image, am I going to use the "rest" of the card, NOT in that partition to use with storage? OR am I going to resize the partition with the image to be big enough to use as the partition to put books on?
If it is the former, don't I again run into the problem of how to find the other partitions, or will I create them when resize the first partition after writing the image?
Thank you!
You will only ever see the first partition of the sd card when booting from the stock OS. Also with the card inserted in a usb flash card reader on Windows you can only mount the first partition as a drive letter. But you can see and resize partitions with contiguous unallocated space using MiniTools Partition Wizard.
OK thats good to know. Do you know if the SASD install should have created other partitions when I installed to the card? The reason I ask is that even in Partition Wizard, I am still only able to see the 1 large partition with everything in it.
If I start over again, will I need to use the wizard to create partitions first, then write the image to the resized 2 GB first partition, or should I write image to card, resize the first partition? If the latter, will resizing the first partition autmatically force the other partitions to be seen? I am not sure of this option, as I can't see where in the process the other partitions are created? Is this part of the process when CM7 boots?
Thanks!
Write the image. Safely remove from pc. Reinsert to pc. Use minitool partition to resize the (only, at that point) partition to the size you want. Use Apply in minitool software. Quit minitool and resume with the card setup.
does the minitool at that point (resizing) create the other partitions, or will the card setup do that? Do I have to do anything else to the other partitions to make them visable to the stock nook so that they can be used to access books while in stock os?
The card setup will create the other partitions. The stock os is never going to see anything but the 1st partition. You would need a terminal emulator or rooted file explorer installed in the stock os in order to mount another partition.
If that is the case, that stock os will never see anything other than the 1st partition, then there really is no way to accomplish what I am trying to do, correct?
In other words, put CM7 on the card, then when I want to use stock, boot into stock and have the reader find books saved on the card?

[Q] Unbricking Nook Simple Touch after lost partitions - I've made it!

Hi, I have a Nook Simple Touch device with a traditional problem of improper backup of 76 MB before rooting.
Now I have managed to retrieve files from the /rom partition (/devconf folder with 20 files like serial no, public key etc.) - I have them in my laptop as regular files as well as 16 MB partition image on SD card.
Would anybody be so kind to offer a full recovery method? I believe backup of somebody's full image and then overwriting the /rom partition would revive the device?
How much of your partition table is left, if any, and how familiar are you with linux?
Were it me, I might have a go at creating just the first partition - boot from noogie, connect to a linux box, and use fdisk to create the partition.
I'd then try doing a
dd if=single.partition.backup.img of=/dev/mmcblk0p1
(writing my boot backup to the partition I just created) and see if that file wasn't enough to bootstrap the other partitions. Depending on how you created the backup, you may have the boot flag set and the partition table stored; so long as you haven't actually put data on the other partitions yet, it may be possible to at least trigger the onboard restore.
These are values that work on the glow, and I believe on the touch as well:
Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 2000 MB, 2000683008 bytes
128 heads, 32 sectors/track, 954 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 4096 * 512 = 2097152 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/block/mmcblk0p1 * 1 38 77808 c Win95 FAT32 (LB
A)
Of the partitions, I still have:
- boot (I believe it is somewhat corrupted, but this I can restore from the backup)
- NOOK (FAT32) - should be OK, I see files in it;
- cache (Ext3)
- data (Ext3) - seems to be corrupted
Missing: factory (Ext2); one untitled partition and one unallocated segment.
Backup was created with Roadkil's DiskImage, with a source being the locigal drive (original boot partition).
I'm not good at Linux, but I know how to create partitions using Windows tools.
OK, I can try to recreate the boot partition and the rom partition, and restore the backup to it, then I'll see what happens.
Disk configuration for NST is different from the NSTG:
Cylinters: 238 Heads: 255 Sectors: 63
Nook is resurected!
Yes, I have managed to revive the Nook Simple Touch who had survived deletion of all partitions and restore of just the boot partition!
You will need for this:
- an micro SD card and card reader;
- Noogie;
- Minitool Partition Wizard (or other partition management software, if you like and it can do partition recovery and copying);
- ClockworkMod (sd_2gb_clockwork-rc2.zip)
- Alpha-FormatTouch-2.zip - to be copied onto ClockworkMod SD card;
The principle is this:
- first of all, do a PROPER backup of your device - backup ENTIRE PHYSICAL DISK (2 GB) into the image file.
- Using Minitool Partition Wizard, do a partition recovery operation - you should find all your deleted partitions - but do not apply changes yet!. However, due to improper restore of logical disk to a physical disk, the disk config info probably became corrupted and disk size appears to be 78MB, so you won't be able really restore the partitions. So, using Minitool Partition Wizard, do a copy of the recovered partitions one by one onto the SD card - and start with the most important rom partition. From Partion Wizard, you should be able, using Explore function, to check if the partition has all necessary files (20) like serial no, public key, mac address etc.
- from SD card, you can create a backup image of each partition on your hard disk.
- after you have copies of all necessary partitions (boot, rom, nook are vital; others are optional), you need to do a wipe on the NOOK disk to delete all partitions and the disk to obtain the original size of 2 GB.
- on an empty disk after wipe, you have to restore the partitions in the order:
1. restore, by copying using Minitool Partition Wizard, the boot partition (78 MB, FAT32, Primary, set it Active)
2. restore, by copying using Minitool Partition Wizard, the rom partition (16 MB, FAT32, Primary)
3. create manually new partition factory (190 MB, Ext2, Primary)
4. create manually new partition (no label) (288 MB, Ext2, Logical)
5. copy from backup partition NOOK (240 MB, FAT32, Logical)
6. create manually new partition cache (Ext3, 240 MB, Logical)
7. create manually new partition data (Ext3, 801 MB, Logical).
Then, boot the Nook from ClockWorkMod SD card, and format /system, /cache, /data partitions;
afterwards, install from zip card - Alpha-FormatTouch-2.zip.
And, hopefully, your Nook will be alive again!
(Now, I'm sure, you won't forget to do a proper backup of your working Nook :fingers-crossed
Yes, you save my nook. Thanks to your method i could revived my /rom.
but all is not done for me . i have a UK NST Glow and the glow is not working. I would like to update to firmware1.2 and may be this glow will function again. But When i plug the usb, windows cann see the drive but i don't have access to it. i have the message "please insert disc in F: drive"
wow wow wow . At last i successed to update to FW 1.2 for my almost bricked UK NSTGL. Now i have a US NSTGL but nevermind. now time to backup correctly.
but i'm not sure your method is fully working. I had to make a partition table with renater script "nookparted.sh" and then use roustabout's comment "dd if=boot.img of=....". and after that i put update 1.2.
In one week i have learn so much with my broken backup.
Hello, new here so hope it's ok to hijack this thread slightly, seems the original issue has been solved and I think my problem is similar although I'm way out of my depth here... I've managed to brick my nook, and although I took a backup which is AFAIK correctly sized 1.86gb I can't restore it. I've tried putting noogie and cmw on the sd card but it's refusing to boot, I suspect I nonced the partition table up and can't even get the nook to register when I plug it in to the PC now. I suspect is obvious I'm a dumb noob but if anyone could help point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated
welcome to the brave new world of the "bricked forever" and endless nights.
Nobody blames you since everybody and their mothers seem to fall into the trap even if they are told to make a good backup.
i had read so much threads to resurect my nook that i don't exactly know how i made it through, but here are some indications:
Here are the objectives:
1) make a correct backup of your bricked nook: -> you can make after all stupid commands and you 'll come back to this point.
2) you'll have to resurect your /rom or your rombackup.zip (inside factory).
3) have the correct partition of your nook
4) reinstall the rom
for 2) this thread gives a way to get back your /rom. read carefully even roustabout's comment can really help
for 3) thanks to Renate NST in this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1805936&highlight=to+stock and her script "nookpart.sh" i could have a correct size for my partition. (method with wizard partition gives wrong cylinders alignement). read all of this thread it is really rich.
for 4) if you reach that point that should be easy.
Thanks for the welcome and the reply jjinkou2.
I'm guessing I need to work on the nook through a PC. I've currently got 2 PCs, one running window 7 and one on vista, I'm mainly working on the W7 machine. When I plug the nook in to it, a device briefly shows up as the h: drive in My computer but then immediately disappears and so I can't actually access it yet. I note that roustabout mentions working in Linux, if I had a Linux machine available would it be easier to get it to recognize the nook?
Edit: Just tried plugging the nook into my vista machine (which it has not been used on before) and the Found New Hardware window briefly pops up but then vanishes and I get a message on the taskbar: Device driver software was not successfully installed - OMAO3630 Device unplugged. Is there a fix for this pelase?
Some easy instructions here http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/BN_Nook_Simple_Touch/Installing_ADB
you'll need to install android sdk and check usb install in the extra.
Search for a file named "ADB + Fastboot + Drivers.zip" in the forum to easily have the adb.
With windows the usbdriver can be tricky to install. i had to use usbdview (look for it in google) and uninstall all B&N mass storage and OMAP3630.
The driver for usb inside the previous zip might not work also. i found one in the forum but can't find it right now.
Edit
found the usb driver that worked for me
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1125094
Excellent, thanks very much! Not entirely sure how I managed it but I managed to get to a point where I could use the method shown by budriunas and my nook is now working again, albeit with an older firmware and the glow light isn't working but at least it's not bricked! Now just to get the light working and then root the damn thing without killing it....
budriunas said:
Yes, I have managed to revive the Nook Simple Touch who had survived deletion of all partitions and restore of just the boot partition!
You will need for this:
- an micro SD card and card reader;
- Noogie;
- Minitool Partition Wizard (or other partition management software, if you like and it can do partition recovery and copying);
- ClockworkMod (sd_2gb_clockwork-rc2.zip)
- Alpha-FormatTouch-2.zip - to be copied onto ClockworkMod SD card;
The principle is this:
- first of all, do a PROPER backup of your device - backup ENTIRE PHYSICAL DISK (2 GB) into the image file.
- Using Minitool Partition Wizard, do a partition recovery operation - you should find all your deleted partitions - but do not apply changes yet!. However, due to improper restore of logical disk to a physical disk, the disk config info probably became corrupted and disk size appears to be 78MB, so you won't be able really restore the partitions. So, using Minitool Partition Wizard, do a copy of the recovered partitions one by one onto the SD card - and start with the most important rom partition. From Partion Wizard, you should be able, using Explore function, to check if the partition has all necessary files (20) like serial no, public key, mac address etc.
- from SD card, you can create a backup image of each partition on your hard disk.
- after you have copies of all necessary partitions (boot, rom, nook are vital; others are optional), you need to do a wipe on the NOOK disk to delete all partitions and the disk to obtain the original size of 2 GB.
- on an empty disk after wipe, you have to restore the partitions in the order:
1. restore, by copying using Minitool Partition Wizard, the boot partition (78 MB, FAT32, Primary, set it Active)
2. restore, by copying using Minitool Partition Wizard, the rom partition (16 MB, FAT32, Primary)
3. create manually new partition factory (190 MB, Ext2, Primary)
4. create manually new partition (no label) (288 MB, Ext2, Logical)
5. copy from backup partition NOOK (240 MB, FAT32, Logical)
6. create manually new partition cache (Ext3, 240 MB, Logical)
7. create manually new partition data (Ext3, 801 MB, Logical).
Then, boot the Nook from ClockWorkMod SD card, and format /system, /cache, /data partitions;
afterwards, install from zip card - Alpha-FormatTouch-2.zip.
And, hopefully, your Nook will be alive again!
(Now, I'm sure, you won't forget to do a proper backup of your working Nook :fingers-crossed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much. My nook is back. I described my work in http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34746242#post34746242.
jjinkou2 said:
wow wow wow . At last i successed to update to FW 1.2 for my almost bricked UK NSTGL. Now i have a US NSTGL but nevermind. now time to backup correctly.
but i'm not sure your method is fully working. I had to make a partition table with renater script "nookparted.sh" and then use roustabout's comment "dd if=boot.img of=....". and after that i put update 1.2.
In one week i have learn so much with my broken backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how did you do a partition table?? i have run nookpart.sh but i still get the problem : "When i plug the usb, windows cann see the drive but i don't have access to it. i have the message "please insert disc in F: drive"
nookpart.sh will partition the internal memory exactly like it was.
This is important if you actually still have valid data but the partition table was destroyed.
If partitions are not looking correctly they may need to be formatted.
Don't be too quick to repartition/reformat until you know what the situation is.
i have used nookpart.sh but still no good, here is the result when i execute nookpart.sh. Everything works except internal storage not mounted correctly i think, i want to update to 1.2
edit: see my thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=48015536#post48015536 for more details

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