Database Users

Corrupt Cache Partition - help needed

Hello,
my setup:
- CM 11 unofficial Build3 by vertigo running with ART and the whatsapp fix ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2498084 )
- latest banks gapps
- latest TWRP (2.6.3.2)
What I wanted to do
I simply wanted to install the new official CM11 nightly, booted into TWRP, installed the rom and the gapps without wiping, which shouldnt be a problem - i didn't revert to dalvik for this, if that makes any difference.
I suspect there was an error while downloading the new nightly rom, it gave me an error msg while updating. (ill use MD5 from now on...)
So i just reflashed the build3 from vertigo with the gapps - but now i have the problem that the phone doesnt boot.
It shows the LG Logo unusually long and then shows the CM Boot Logo forever.
Whats the situation now:
i can mount every partition, except cache - wiping also fails obviously
i can enter TWRP and flash stuff
i have made a backup before my update attempt
i also have every file needed for a clean flash on my sdcard
What I tried already:
Wiping everything but the internal sdcard - clean install - still wont boot
restoring the backup works aswell, but still doesnt boot
help gladly appreciated, i think i only need to fix my cache partition and then restore everything and it should work again...

nfin1te said:
Hello,
my setup:
- CM 11 unofficial Build3 by vertigo running with ART and the whatsapp fix ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2498084 )
- latest banks gapps
- latest TWRP (2.6.3.2)
What I wanted to do
I simply wanted to install the new official CM11 nightly, booted into TWRP, installed the rom and the gapps without wiping, which shouldnt be a problem - i didn't revert to dalvik for this, if that makes any difference.
I suspect there was an error while downloading the new nightly rom, it gave me an error msg while updating. (ill use MD5 from now on...)
So i just reflashed the build3 from vertigo with the gapps - but now i have the problem that the phone doesnt boot.
It shows the LG Logo unusually long and then shows the CM Boot Logo forever.
Whats the situation now:
i can mount every partition, except cache - wiping also fails obviously
i can enter TWRP and flash stuff
i have made a backup before my update attempt
i also have every file needed for a clean flash on my sdcard
What I tried already:
Wiping everything but the internal sdcard - clean install - still wont boot
restoring the backup works aswell, but still doesnt boot
help gladly appreciated, i think i only need to fix my cache partition and then restore everything and it should work again...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you clear it the slow way? Untick -rm rf option in settings, then clear cache. The partition itself shouldn't have been changed by installing a ROM, it must be some kind of problematic content.

Incep said:
Can you clear it the slow way? Untick -rm rf option in settings, then clear cache. The partition itself shouldn't have been changed by installing a ROM, it must be some kind of problematic content.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, as I can't mount it, none of those 2 ways is possible.
Just says
At the beginning:
updating partition details
then:
E:unable to mount /cache
several times,
and somwhere inbetween
Running boot script...
and
Finished running boot script

nfin1te said:
Nope, as I can't mount it, none of those 2 ways is possible.
Just says
At the beginning:
updating partition details
then:
E:unable to mount /cache
several times,
and somwhere inbetween
Running boot script...
and
Finished running boot script
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't think it needed to be mounted in order to be cleared the normal way.
It sounds like it must be repartitioned, or fixed with some kind of disk scan before it can be normally mounted. Maybe there is a way to ssh into the phone and run fsck on the disk?
(ssh is a remote shell for unix, fsck is the linux "scan disk" tool for recovering errors, you can connect to your phone if it has an ssh server running by downloading Putty for windows or through the terminal on mac)
I'm not an expert on android partitions, so maybe someone else want to chime in on this.

Incep said:
It sounds like it must be repartitioned, or fixed with some kind of disk scan before it can be normally mounted. Maybe there is a way to ssh into the phone and run fsck on the disk?
(ssh is a remote shell for unix, fsck is the linux "scan disk" tool for recovering errors, you can connect to your phone if it has an ssh server running by downloading Putty for windows or through the terminal on mac)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm more than willing to try, but i'd need some sort of instructions, i have no experience with this.
thanks!
What i want to avoid, if somehow possible, is to reflash a stock rom, reroot and reinstall TWRP and go thru the whole procedure again.

nfin1te said:
I'm more than willing to try, but i'd need some sort of instructions, i have no experience with this.
thanks!
What i want to avoid, if somehow possible, is to reflash a stock rom, reroot and reinstall TWRP and go thru the whole procedure again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure if my method works, but atleast you have a running adb server on your phone when in TWRP, which is the android debugging protocol. It has a lot of tools, some which might be useful. You should google a bit around on the subject.

Incep said:
I'm not sure if my method works, but atleast you have a running adb server on your phone when in TWRP, which is the android debugging protocol. It has a lot of tools, some which might be useful. You should google a bit around on the subject.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, thats what im doing atm... but i didn't have success finding someone with a similar problem so far.
All i ever have done in ADB is enable/disable fastboot on my old nexus and sideload some images.

nfin1te said:
Yeah, thats what im doing atm... but i didn't have success finding someone with a similar problem so far.
All i ever have done in ADB is enable/disable fastboot on my old nexus and sideload some images.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me too, I'm not really an android developer, just worked a lot with Linux earlier, and it's conceptually the same thing! Hopefully I pointed you in the right direction.

ok i entered adb shell alrdy, but when i try to use the parted command, it says
~ # parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
/sbin/sh: parted: not found
~ #
Edit:
Apparently, i need to push parted first.
Im currently trying this: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/htc-droid-eris/78650-internal-storage-partitions-screwed-up.html

nfin1te said:
ok i entered adb shell alrdy, but when i try to use the parted command, it says
~ # parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
/sbin/sh: parted: not found
~ #
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you don't have parted installed on your phone. Each command is actually it's own program, which lies in a folder which is either /bin for normal apps, and /sbin for system-changing apps. So probably check /sbin if there is a binary file called 'parted' there. But be careful of this program… It can be very destructive.

Incep said:
Maybe you don't have parted installed on your phone. Each command is actually it's own program, which lies in a folder which is either /bin for normal apps, and /sbin for system-changing apps. So probably check /sbin if there is a binary file called 'parted' there. But be careful of this program… It can be very destructive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah thx, i just managed to push the necessary files.

Ok, now im looking at this partition table:
(parted) print
print
Model: MMC 032G96 (sd/mmc)
Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 31.3GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 16.8MB 83.9MB 67.1MB fat16 modem
2 83.9MB 84.9MB 1049kB sbl1
3 84.9MB 85.5MB 524kB dbi
4 101MB 101MB 524kB DDR
5 117MB 118MB 1049kB aboot
6 118MB 120MB 1049kB rpm
7 134MB 151MB 16.8MB boot
8 151MB 152MB 1049kB tz
9 152MB 152MB 1024B pad
10 168MB 171MB 3146kB modemst1
11 171MB 174MB 3146kB modemst2
12 174MB 174MB 1024B pad1
13 185MB 201MB 16.8MB misc
14 201MB 235MB 33.6MB ext4 persist
15 235MB 252MB 16.8MB recovery
16 252MB 255MB 3146kB fsg
17 268MB 269MB 524kB fsc
18 269MB 269MB 524kB ssd
19 269MB 269MB 1024B pad2
20 269MB 270MB 524kB encrypt
21 285MB 294MB 8389kB ext4 drm
22 294MB 302MB 8389kB ext4 sns
23 302MB 336MB 33.6MB laf
24 336MB 369MB 33.6MB fota
25 369MB 403MB 33.6MB ext4 mpt
26 403MB 403MB 524kB dbibak
27 403MB 404MB 1049kB rpmbak
28 404MB 405MB 1049kB tzbak
29 405MB 405MB 8192B rct
30 419MB 3322MB 2902MB ext4 system
31 3322MB 3959MB 638MB cache
32 3959MB 4043MB 83.9MB tombstones
33 4043MB 4060MB 16.8MB spare
34 4060MB 4110MB 50.3MB ext4 cust
35 4110MB 31.2GB 27.1GB ext4 userdata
36 31.2GB 31.3GB 62.9MB grow
(parted)
I assume, the problem is, that cache seems screwed as it doesn't show any filesystem right?
So if i make this partition ext4, it should work again?
If i check pt31/cache, it says:
(parted) check 31
check 31
Error: Could not detect file system.
(parted)
So, im assuming, im right.

lol, man this is frustrating
(parted) mkfs ext4
mkfs ext4
Warning: The existing file system will be destroyed and all data on the
partition will be lost. Do you want to continue?
parted: invalid token: ext4
Yes/No? yes
yes
Partition number? 31
31
File system type? [ext2]? ext4
ext4
No Implementation: Support for creating ext4 file systems is not implemented
yet.
(parted)

It's alive again!
ext2 worked aswell, as i/we thought - the problem was the cache partition got f'ed up. Making a new FS using parted solved the problem.
THANKS bro for pointing me in the right direction.
Edit: restored backup and everythings fine again

I have the same issue , i am running on ubuntu i but i dont quite get the instrations ?

emrexcem said:
I have the same issue , i am running on ubuntu i but i dont quite get the instrations ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi mate i had the same problem and after a long struggling i got this working again.
-Use a Windows computer and install the SDK tools
-Check OP's link to find the "parted" file
-Connect phone in recovery
-Open cmd in windows and type adb shell, you'll get a new console with a #
-Push your parted file to /sbin using adb push command:
In my case i had the parted file in E: drive so i used adb push E:\parted /sbin/parted
-If you try to execute parted you'll get a "permission denied" error, so after pushing the file you need to fix the permissions so type "chmod 777 /sbin/parted"
-Execute parted and just follow OP's steps and you'll be fine.
Hope it helps

Don't use parted to create a filesystem
nfin1te said:
It's alive again!
ext2 worked aswell, as i/we thought - the problem was the cache partition got f'ed up. Making a new FS using parted solved the problem.
THANKS bro for pointing me in the right direction.
Edit: restored backup and everythings fine again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You saved my but but as far as I know it is not recomended to use parted to create a filesystem.
Use
mke2fs -T ext4 [partition]
instead

nfin1te said:
It's alive again!
ext2 worked aswell, as i/we thought - the problem was the cache partition got f'ed up. Making a new FS using parted solved the problem.
THANKS bro for pointing me in the right direction.
Edit: restored backup and everythings fine again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you please provide more detailed instruction please, i have apparently the same problem, i not familiar with adb, i have now pushed all necessary parts to phone what should i do now.
I am stuck please please help.

pingwinpower said:
You saved my but but as far as I know it is not recomended to use parted to create a filesystem.
Use
mke2fs -T ext4 [partition]
instead
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you please provide more detailed instruction please, i have apparently the same problem, i not familiar with adb, i have now pushed all necessary parts to phone what should i do now.
I am stuck please please help.

redkib said:
Can you please provide more detailed instruction please, i have apparently the same problem, i not familiar with adb, i have now pushed all necessary parts to phone what should i do now.
I am stuck please please help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cant really provide any more information than this, please be more specific with your problem.
Since apparently you have pushed all the files via adb already, you just need to use the "mkfs" command to create a news filesystem, just be sure to select the right partition number (the corrupted one). You can find the correct command via google or take a look at my post
(parted) mkfs ext2
Warning: The existing file system will be destroyed and all data on the
partition will be lost. Do you want to continue?
Yes/No? yes
yes
Partition number? 31
31
File system type? [ext2]?
ext2
(parted)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

[HOWTO] Fix and prevent severe system freezes without wiping the device

Not so long ago I started experiencing severe freezes and lockups on my I9300. The symptoms were well known as pre-SDS lockups. Before SDS workarounds have been released such symptoms would mean a death sentence for the device. While this is not the case any more the freezes still make the phone virtually unusable.
So far the only way to bring the phone back to usability was a full wipe of the device combined with filling the partitions with some data in order to ensure that every sector has been written to. Some have also succeeded to get rid of such behaviour after flashing stock firmware (after having been running AOSP).
Some technical background
The reason for the freezes (at least on my device) were block read errors. This is roughly equivalent to a situation where you HDD starts having bad sectors, however flash memory is a bit different to a magnetic disk drive. The read errors encountered most likely due to data corruption resulting in CRC errors during read. In my case the dmesg (kernel log) showed the following errors:
Code:
[ 5896.313473] c0 mmc0: it occurs a critical error on eMMC it'll try to recover eMMC to normal state
[ 5896.482283] c0 mif: set_hsic_lpa_states: 304: called(exynos4_check_usb_op+0x84/0x100):
[ 5896.482469] c0 mif: set hsic lpa enter: active state (0), pda active (0)
[ 5896.665712] c0 mmc0: Fixing MoviNAND SDS bug.
[ 5896.708336] c0 mmc0: Verifying SDS patch.
[ 5896.794283] c0 mmc0: recovering eMMC has been done
[ 5896.794412] c0 brq->sbc.opcode=23,brq->cmd.opcode=18.
[ 5896.794539] c0 brq->sbc.error=-131,brq->cmd.error=0, brq->stop.error=0,brq->data.error=0.
[ 5896.794789] c0 mmcblk0: unknown error -131 sending read/write command, card status 0x900
[ 5896.795869] c0 end_request: I/O error, dev mmcblk0, sector 21590248
[ 5896.796034] c0 end_request: I/O error, dev mmcblk0, sector 21590256
[ 5896.796182] c0 end_request: I/O error, dev mmcblk0, sector 21590264
[ 5896.796379] c0 CMD aborting case in MMC's block layer ret 0.
[ 5896.796512] c0 mmcblk0: CMD18, ARG=0x14970e8.
[ 5896.796613] c0 packed CMD type = 0.
[ 5896.796700] c0 mmc0, request returns 4.
Instead of doing a full wipe of the device's internal flash memory partitions I've tried out another method. I was looking for a program that would rewrite all the data without actually wiping it. Such operation would cause the data to be written again and additionally the wear levelling algorithm inside the eMMC controller would have the chance to relocate the data to another physical block on the flash memory chip.
It turned out that the program I was looking for is already there - just not fully thought of being the right one to use in such case.
When bad blocks encounter on a HDD on your PC you normally need to scan the whole media and mark all the bad blocks found on the filesystem so that they can no longer be allocated for file storage. On Linux this task is performed by the e2fsck system utility which uses another utility called badblocks to do the scan and report the unusable blocks. It is the latter that is interesting.
Among several options found in the badblocks utility there are three methods for discovering such broken blocks:
- read-only where the program will attempt to read all blocks one-by-one.
- non-destructive read-write in which case the program will for each block: read it, fill it with a pattern and write back the original content.
- destructive write where all blocks will be filled by pattern(s) destroying any existing content.
The two last modes are interesting for the purpose of rewriting your device's memory partitions to get rid of bad blocks.
The non-destructive read-write mode can be used to attempt to recover without wiping the contents of the partition. This is mostly relevant to the /data partition (and possibly /efs) as all other ones can be easily restored. Note however that when a read error occurs the data in that sector is already lost. When you attempt to recover such partition it will appear to be working again, but some apps may be crashing randomly as some of their data is corrupted. The non-destructive read-write mode can also be used to prevent freezes from happening. All you need is to treat the /data partition this way once a while (not too often - every 6 months without a factory reset).
The destructive write mode can be used in case you don't care for the data. This is equivalent to the methods used so far (wiping the partition and filling it with random junk). This mode can also be used to securely* wipe your phone before selling it or giving it away.
* Due to wear levelling this is actually not a secure wipe as some of the data will still persist on the Flash memory chip. However it is secure from a user point of view as the data is no longer visible and recovering it will most likely require advanced and expensive procedures.
Fix and prevent
Rewriting your flash partition data will fix freezes due to bad blocks. However when freezes start to happen this usually means that some data is already unreadable and therefore - lost. In order to refresh the data the non-destructive write test in badblocks can be used periodically to rewrite the data. This will result in a small speedup of your phone.
Important: You must be careful not to rewrite your partition too often as each flash memory block has a limited number of erase cycles (around 100,000 for SLC and 10,000 for MLC chips). Doing this too often will actually damage your chip in the long term making your phone unusable. I believe that rewriting your /data partition every 6 months without a factory reset should prevent any issues. You do not need to do this if you periodically factory-reset your phone as in such case the data is rewritten anyway.
Step-by-step instructions
DISCLAIMER: This may be a dangerous operation if not executed properly. I do not accept any responsibility for damage that it may cause. Please do this on your own risk.
Prerequisites
Before you begin there are some requirements that need to be fulfilled:
A recent backup of your phone. Remember - there are three kinds of people in this world - those who make backups, those who have not yet lost their data and those morons who still refuse to make backups despite loosing data.
SDS-proof recovery. This is true for all recent recoveries these days, but better make sure. The recovery must also allow ADB connections. While this is true for all recoveries, some have problems with it. In my case I couldn't connect to CWM 6.0.4.4 as ADB kept complaining that the connection is unauthorized. Flashing latest Philz Touch (6.00.8 in my case) solved the problem.
ADB installed on your PC. Please search forum or internet to find instructions.
badblocks binary for Android recovery. Since this utility is not included in the recovery by default you need to obtain it elsewhere. The one I've built is attached to this post.
Instructions
These assume we're working on the /data partition. For other partitions please check their corresponding device node and modify the instructions accordingly.
Reboot to recovery.
Do a nandroid backup if not done before.
Connect to your phone using the USB cable.
Run adb push badblocks sbin/badblocks. In case you have just downloaded the attached ZIP file unzip it first to extract the badblocks binary.
Run adb shell to enter a shell on your phone.
Run chmod 0755 sbin/badblocks to make the badblocks binary executable.
Make sure your /data is not mounted. The quick way is to run mount. It will list all mounted filesystems. If /data on /dev/block/mmcblk0p12 is among them you'll need to unmount it by running: umount /data. If it complains about the filesystem being busy you'll need to reboot the phone and enter recovery again. After that repeat all the steps.
Once you are sure that /data is not mounted run: badblocks -b 4096 -n -t 0xFF -s /dev/block/mmcblk0p12. This command is where the main magic happens. What it does is it reads every sector, fills it with 0xFF bytes and then writes back the original data. This way the data is unchanged, but every block gets rewritten. After running badblocks you should see some percentage indicator about the progress. The operation on /data should take around an hour. Observe any errors that may occur. In my case there were none, but if the flash is heavily worn out there may be some unrecoverable sectors.
In case there are no errors everything should be done. Optionally you may want to trim the /data filesystem as all blocks have been rewritten and the eMMC conroller will think that there are no unused blocks on the device. You can do this by mounting the /data filesystem (mount /data) and running fstrim (fstrim -v /data).
You're good to go. Type exit in the ADB shell and reboot your phone into the system.
In case you do not care for the data on the partition you may run badblocks in destructive mode. In such case in step 7 replace "-n" with "-w" in badblocks command line: badblocks -b 4096 -w -t 0xFF -s /dev/block/mmcblk0p12
The same procedure can be repeated for other filesystems (/system, /cache). I would not recommend doing this on the partitions containing the kernel, recovery, efs or bootloader unless you're asking for trouble.

Reserved for future use.

This should seriously be stickied. Works better than using the dummy file generator that everyone recommends.

Actually, if you're getting SDS freeze on patched firmware with V2 fix (XXEMB2+) it is SDS fix recovering bad block. It's even stated in your kernel message.
This method is good if you want to get rid of misc freezes and fix all blocks at once. Because badblocks forces kernel to rewrite all blocks instead of only one/affected block (during normal freeze).
May be useful, but it's not a magic trick. If somebody gets freezes and kernel can't fix it itself then magic badblocks binary won't help him, unfortunately.

I wonder if you could use e2fsck to mark some permanently broken blocks as bad blocks on the filesystem so that they won't be used for filesystem data. A similar thing used to be done on HDDs. The problem that I see here is that the FTL may relocate that block somewhere and it may end up being reused somewhere else and keep doing damage.
I'm really curious how does the eMMC controller on the I9300 handle permanently broken blocks. Does it have some reservoir of usable blocks (like in modern SSD disks) that can be used as a replacement?

KrissN said:
I wonder if you could use e2fsck to mark some permanently broken blocks as bad blocks on the filesystem so that they won't be used for filesystem data. A similar thing used to be done on HDDs. The problem that I see here is that the FTL may relocate that block somewhere and it may end up being reused somewhere else and keep doing damage.
I'm really curious how does the eMMC controller on the I9300 handle permanently broken blocks. Does it have some reservoir of usable blocks (like in modern SSD disks) that can be used as a replacement?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is actually a very good question, I'm wondering as well. If you're clever enough then you may download my latest ArchiDroid 2.X Experimental ROM with built-in debian and try to discover that with native linux gnu utilities.

JustArchi said:
This is actually a very good question, I'm wondering as well. If you're clever enough then you may download my latest ArchiDroid 2.X Experimental ROM with built-in debian and try to discover that with native linux gnu utilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Desctructive mode? Will that be equivalent to a lets say factory reset? ie losing all user made data.

Wow, this really helped. I am using SM-G355H (not really made with exynos but with sc8830 from spreadtrum but still by samsung) and was afraid that the phone has failed for good. Though the partition failing was the /system/ not the /data/, OP's badblocks build and instructions definitely fixed it, like magic.
Additional note: To identify which partition is failing
Take note of the failing sector, in my case it's at 1879872
Code:
mmcblk0: error -110 transferring data, sector [B]1879872[/B], nr 256, cmd response 0x900, card status 0xb00
and find the partition using the output of this command where /dev/block/mmcblk0 is the block device
Code:
sgdisk --print [B]/dev/block/mmcblk0[/B]
It will print something like:
Code:
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 52444E41-494F-2044-4D4D-43204449534B
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 7618526
Partitions will be aligned on 512-sector boundaries
Total free space is 21949 sectors (10.7 MiB)
Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
1 8192 15871 3.8 MiB 0700 FIXNV1
2 15872 23551 3.8 MiB 0700 FIXNV2
3 23552 27647 2.0 MiB 0700 SBL1
4 27648 31743 2.0 MiB 0700 SBL2
5 31744 41983 5.0 MiB 0700 WDSP
6 41984 52223 5.0 MiB 0700 WDSP_BACKUP
7 52224 72703 10.0 MiB 0700 MODEM
8 72704 93183 10.0 MiB 0700 MODEM_BACKUP
9 93184 93695 256.0 KiB 0700 FOTA_SIG
10 93696 110079 8.0 MiB 0700 OTA
11 110080 117759 3.8 MiB 0700 RUNTIMENV1
12 117760 125439 3.8 MiB 0700 RUNTIMENV2
13 125440 131071 2.8 MiB 0700 PARAM
14 135680 176639 20.0 MiB 0700 efs
15 176640 186879 5.0 MiB 0700 prodnv
16 186880 187391 256.0 KiB 0700 Odin_reserved
17 187392 218111 15.0 MiB 0700 KERNEL
18 218112 248831 15.0 MiB 0700 RECOVERY
19 248832 494591 120.0 MiB 0700 CSC
20 494592 2829311 1.1 GiB 0700 system
21 2829312 2890751 30.0 MiB 0700 HIDDEN
22 2890752 7609343 2.3 GiB 0700 userdata
Find the partition whose start and end sectors contain that failing sector. In my case it's the system since
1879872 in within 494592 to 2829311
Code:
20 [B]494592 2829311[/B] 1.1 GiB 0700 system

Flashing and repartitioning Xiaomi MI2S running MIUI6

After upgrading from MIUIv4 to v6, I've discovered that the new version comes with a bootloader that
reflashes the recovery partition each time it's run with the stock recovery, which makes it impossible to use a custom recovery in order to install unsigned .zip patches,
doesn't support download mode, which makes it impossible to connect the phone to a computer as a block device and repartition it.
Since resolving this wasn't completely trivial (to me) and required a bit of research, I took some notes for future reference. I later decided to publish these notes, since someone might find them useful. Keep in mind that, while I do have technical background, I'm not intimately acquainted with the inner workings of Android and there was some trial and error involved. As a result, certain steps may be too heavy-handed or even unnecessary and I encourage comments on that.
Prerequisites
The guide presumes one has the adb, fastboot and parted binaries installed on an OS that enables access to connected block devices via the filesystem. For most users, that means a linux box.
Download mode
Booting into download mode appears to be disabled in MIUI6 v5.8.6. You will therefore need to boot into a custom recovery (see Booting into a custom recovery mode) and flash an alternative ROM (it would likely suffice to flash only certain partitions?):
Code:
$ adb push cm-11-20150802-NIGHTLY-aries.zip /storage/sdcard0
To boot into the download mode with an alternative ROM, consult [3] or run adb reboot dload against the phone in the system or in the recovery mode.
Repartitioning the internal flash memory
In my experience, the default size of the /system partition is insufficient to accommodate all the system applications along with the ever-growing Google Apps. The original inspiration came from [4]. To adjust the partition sizes, I used the parted command-line tool, since it comes with full support for GPT partitions and labels. Gparted used, but (as of v0.19.0-2) appeared to be much slower compared to parted and didn't seem to fully support GPT partition labels. Keep in mind that, unlike gparted, parted applies the changes to the block device immediately. Proceed with caution.
Before starting, it's best to backup the current partition table for a reference:
Code:
# gparted /dev/sdc
GNU Parted 3.2
Using /dev/sdc
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) unit MiB
(parted) print
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 0,02MiB 85,0MiB 85,0MiB fat16 modem msftdata
2 85,0MiB 170MiB 85,0MiB fat16 modem1 msftdata
3 170MiB 171MiB 0,50MiB sbl1
4 171MiB 171MiB 0,50MiB sbl2
5 171MiB 172MiB 1,00MiB sbl3
6 172MiB 173MiB 1,00MiB rpm
7 173MiB 174MiB 1,00MiB tz
8 174MiB 175MiB 0,50MiB DDR
9 175MiB 179MiB 4,00MiB aboot
10 179MiB 180MiB 1,00MiB misc
11 180MiB 182MiB 2,85MiB logo
12 182MiB 183MiB 0,76MiB m9kefs1
13 183MiB 184MiB 0,76MiB m9kefs2
14 184MiB 184MiB 0,00MiB m9kefsc
15 184MiB 192MiB 8,11MiB bk1
16 192MiB 193MiB 0,76MiB m9kefs3
17 193MiB 256MiB 63,2MiB bk2
18 256MiB 271MiB 15,0MiB boot
19 271MiB 286MiB 15,0MiB boot1
20 286MiB 301MiB 15,0MiB recovery
21 301MiB 312MiB 11,0MiB bk3
22 312MiB 320MiB 8,00MiB ext4 persist
23 320MiB 832MiB 512MiB ext4 system
24 832MiB 1344MiB 512MiB ext2 system1
25 1344MiB 1728MiB 384MiB ext4 cache
26 1728MiB 5312MiB 3584MiB ext4 userdata
27 5312MiB 29820MiB 24509MiB ext4 storage
Mind that /dev/sdc refers to the block device of my phone and will differ on your system depending on the amount of other block devices connected and the type of your system. It's also best to backup either the entire block device (/dev/sdc) or at last the specific partitions you are going to be messing with (/dev/sdcXY) – this is doubly important for partitions <= 22, the correct content of which may be difficult to retrieve when damaged. Labels (most likely) aren't important, the partition numbers are, so make sure you keep the order of the partitions when fiddling with them.
After finishing, reconnect the phone to make the kernel recognize the new partition structure and create the filesystem (mkfs.ext4) for any partitions you have created. The following example makes the system and system1 partitions 1GiB each and the userdata partition 4GiB at the expense of the storage partition:
Code:
# parted /dev/sdc
GNU Parted 3.2
Using /dev/sdc
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) rm 23
(parted) rm 24
(parted) rm 25
(parted) rm 26
(parted) rm 27
(parted) mkpart physical ext4 320MiB 1344MiB
(parted) mkpart physical ext4 1344MiB 2368MiB
(parted) mkpart physical ext4 2368MiB 2752MiB
(parted) mkpart physical ext4 2752MiB 6848MiB
(parted) mkpart physical ext4 6848MiB 29819MiB
(parted) name 23 system
(parted) name 24 system1
(parted) name 25 cache
(parted) name 26 userdata
(parted) name 27 storage
(parted) quit
# sync
And then, after reattaching the phone to the computer:
Code:
# for i in /dev/sdc2[34567]; do mkfs.ext4 $i; done
# sync
Recovery mode
For booting into recovery, consult [3].
Booting into a custom recovery
Use the process described at [2], with steps 7-8 interchanged with 9-10. I used the emms_appsboot.mbm and recovery-clockwork-6.0.5.0-aries-20140718.img files (see List of files) from the fastboot mode as follows:
Code:
$ fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-6.0.5.0-aries-20140718.img
$ fastboot flash aboot emmc_appsboot.mbn
$ fastboot boot recovery-clockwork-6.0.5.0-aries-20140718.img
If the phone gets stuck at booting during the last step, restart the phone and try again.
You should now be in the custom recovery. For me, this only lasted until a reboot. Then, the recovery was replaced with the stock one and it became impossible to boot into the system, effectively softbricking the phone. To fix this, flash the stock emmc_appsboot.mbm bootloader image extracted from the .zip of the MIUI ROM you are using and flash it from the fastboot mode:
Code:
$ fastboot flash aboot ./the/original/emmc_appsboot.mbn
$ fastboot continue
Fastboot mode
To boot into the fastboot mode, either:
Reboot the phone while holding the volume down button.
Run adb reboot bootloader against the phone in the system or in the recovery mode.
List of files
You don't need these files, it's only what I used, which should enable the reproducibility of my results.
xiaomi.eu_multi_aries_5.8.6_v6-5.0.zip – The MIUI6 v5.8.6 Czech ROM. Downloaded from [5].
emms_appsboot.mbm – A fixed bootloader for MIUI6 v5.8.6, which allows for the installation of recoveries other than the
built-in one (see Reinstalling the recovery). Downloaded from [2].
recovery-clockwork-6.0.5.0-aries-20140718.img – A recovery image of a custom version of the clockworkmod. Extracted from the archive downloaded from [1].
cm-11-20150802-NIGHTLY-aries.zip – An alternative ROM (Cyanogenmod 11). downloaded from [6].
Links
[2014-07-08] ClockworkMod Recovery 6.0.5.0
[Tools, Tips & Tutorials] [Device Team] How to get Custom Recoveries working again on Mi 2/2S with MIUI 6
[Tips & Tutorials] [Mods' Insight] Understanding Recovery mode & Download Mode
[SCRIPT] Fix partition table for Android 4.4
MIUIV6 OFFICIAL RELEASE
Browse Files for Samsung Galaxy S - aries

Hi, I updated partitioning tutorial to install Android 10: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/guide-tutorial-howto-xiaomi-mi-2-2s-stock-to-android-10.4391775/

[Guide] Repartition Nexus7(2013) to increase system partition - Extra Space for Rom

Hi, this is my first time posting here. I noticed there is no guide to increase the system partition size in Nexus 7 (2013). The system partition is only around 880MB making it impossible to flash new ROMs and large package of GApps. This guide is for Nexus 7 (2013) wifi 32GB but it should work for other Nexus 7 (2013) editions and even Nexus 7 (2012) with some numbers changed.
My guide is based on this guide for Nexus 5. Check it out. The only issue with Nexus 7 is that the recovery partition is between the system and userdata partitions in the partition table. So deleting the partitions (which includes recovery partition) and then recreating them with offsets might leave your tablet bricked. If you have a way to unbrick the tablet or you are manly enough, you can try the guide written in the next comment. I haven't tested it. Leave a comment if it works. Anyway from the Nexus 5 guide:
The high-level procedure here is, since filesystems must be contiguous and in order so they can be addressed properly, we need to delete every partition inclusively from system to userdata, then recreate them with new storage offsets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This part is not very accurate. I am not sure about Nexus 5 but in Nexus 7, I have changed the order with great success. Only thing is that you need to restart at the end so that the recovery mode updates the mounting configuration. I am not sure if it works with the stock ROM but it definitely works with a custom ROM.
The downside of my way is that you end up with around 880MB unused memory. You can give it to the cache partition. Otherwise, you have to do the untested one in the next comment.
Before we start, I am not liable if it doesn't work or makes your device unusable. The tested guide below works for me.
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Tested Guide starts here:
Prerequisite:
1. PC (any OS) with adb and fastboot
2. Nexus 7 with TWRP recovery connected to the PC via USB.
3. Get parted from iwf1.com/iwf-repo/parted.rar and extract it into any directory
4. (Optional) System and userdata partitions are wiped out. So backup system and/or data partitions using TWRP recovery
Steps:
1. Open TWRP recovery mode in Nexus 7. Make sure to have the system partition read/write.
2. Go to mount and unmount all partitions you are going to modify (for now system and data).
3. Open PC's command line in parted's directory
4. The next steps are on the command line unless stated:
Code:
adb push parted /
adb shell
~ # chmod +x parted
~ # /parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
(parted): unit b
(parted): p
I used unit b to get partition sizes in bytes. So you can resize accurately this way. You will get the following partition table by default. Keep a copy of this partition table (and one with unit compact for easy readability) as reference if you mess up or want to restore to default.
Code:
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 67108864B 156745727B 89636864B fat16 radio
2 201326592B 204472319B 3145728B modemst1
3 204472320B 207618047B 3145728B modemst2
4 268435456B 283795455B 15360000B ext4 persist
5 335544320B 336343039B 798720B m9kefs1
6 336343040B 337141759B 798720B m9kefs2
7 402653184B 403451903B 798720B m9kefs3
8 403451904B 406597631B 3145728B fsg
9 469762048B 471298047B 1536000B sbl1
10 471298048B 472834047B 1536000B sbl2
11 472834048B 474931199B 2097152B sbl3
12 474931200B 480174079B 5242880B aboot
13 480174080B 480698367B 524288B rpm
14 536870912B 553648127B 16777216B boot
15 603979776B 604504063B 524288B tz
16 604504064B 604505087B 1024B pad
17 604505088B 606041087B 1536000B sbl2b
18 606041088B 608138239B 2097152B sbl3b
19 608138240B 613381119B 5242880B abootb
20 613381120B 613905407B 524288B rpmb
21 613905408B 614429695B 524288B tzb
22 671088640B 1551892479B 880803840B ext2 system
23 1551892480B 2139095039B 587202560B ext4 cache
24 2147483648B 2148532223B 1048576B misc
25 2214592512B 2225078271B 10485760B recovery
26 2281701376B 2281709567B 8192B DDR
27 2281709568B 2281717759B 8192B ssd
28 2281717760B 2281718783B 1024B m9kefsc
29 2348810240B 2348843007B 32768B metadata
30 2415919104B 31272713727B 28856794624B ext4 userdata
5. Rename the system partition to disable it
Code:
(parted): name 22 unused1
6. Now you need to delete userdata partition:
Code:
(parted): rm 30
7. You need to create 2 primary partitions in place of userdata. First one will be the system partition. Second one will be the userdata partition. I recommend to have the system partition to start with the same byte userdata started and size divisible by 4096 bytes. Leave some space between the 2 divisible by 4096 bytes (block-size). Then have userdata partition start with a number divisible by 4096 bytes, size divisible by 512 bytes and ends where user data ended. I increased my system partition to around 2.93GiB (you can resize it whatever you want). I don't really need a lot of userdata. So my configuration would be:
Code:
(parted): mkpart primary 2415919104B 5570068479B
(parted): mkpart primary 5637144576B 31272713727B
8. Now you need to rename these 2 partitions:
Code:
(parted): name 30 system
(parted): name 31 userdata
(parted): p
9. Finally you need to create ext4 filesystem for system and userdata.
Code:
(parted): quit
~ # mke2fs -b 4096 -T ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p30
~ # mke2fs -b 4096 -T ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p31
~ # /parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 p
10. Have a final look at the partition table to see if everything is correct. Then Reboot into Recovery. This is a very important step. The mount configuration (/etc/fstab) doesn't update until you reboot.
Code:
~ # exit
adb reboot recovery
Done! You have a new system partition with a larger size ready for a ROM. The Size of the ROM will shrink after flashing a new ROM, Using TWRP, Wipe -> Advanced Wipe -> select system -> Resize File System -> Swipe.
Note: You might need to wipe cache/dalvik (might need wipe system too for mount to work), then unmount and remount system/cache/data for everything to work (for example, I had tablet's internal storage not showing on PC initially). But once everything works, it will always work
Final partition table looks like this:
Code:
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 67.1MB 157MB 89.6MB fat16 radio
2 201MB 204MB 3146kB modemst1
3 204MB 208MB 3146kB modemst2
4 268MB 284MB 15.4MB ext4 persist
5 336MB 336MB 799kB m9kefs1
6 336MB 337MB 799kB m9kefs2
7 403MB 403MB 799kB m9kefs3
8 403MB 407MB 3146kB fsg
9 470MB 471MB 1536kB sbl1
10 471MB 473MB 1536kB sbl2
11 473MB 475MB 2097kB sbl3
12 475MB 480MB 5243kB aboot
13 480MB 481MB 524kB rpm
14 537MB 554MB 16.8MB boot
15 604MB 605MB 524kB tz
16 605MB 605MB 1024B pad
17 605MB 606MB 1536kB sbl2b
18 606MB 608MB 2097kB sbl3b
19 608MB 613MB 5243kB abootb
20 613MB 614MB 524kB rpmb
21 614MB 614MB 524kB tzb
22 671MB 1552MB 881MB ext2 unused1
23 1552MB 2139MB 587MB ext4 cache
24 2147MB 2149MB 1049kB misc
25 2215MB 2225MB 10.5MB recovery
26 2282MB 2282MB 8192B DDR
27 2282MB 2282MB 8192B ssd
28 2282MB 2282MB 1024B m9kefsc
29 2349MB 2349MB 32.8kB metadata
30 2416MB 5570MB 3154MB ext2 system
31 5637MB 31.3GB 25.6GB ext4 userdata
To increase cache size:
You have 880MB unused storage from the old system partition. You can keep it the way it is as you have the old system partition here which can be re-enabled quickly in the future. OR You can give this unused partition to the cache partition without messing around a lot. I recommend keeping a small unused partition in place of the old system partition to avoid messing with the order of recovery partition.
Code:
adb push parted /
adb shell
~ # chmod +x parted
~ # /parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
(parted): unit b
(parted): p
(parted): rm 22
(parted): rm 23
(parted): mkpart primary 671088640B 671096831B
(parted): mkpart primary 671096832B 2139095039B
(parted): name 22 unused1
(parted): name 23 cache
(parted): p
(parted): quit
~ # mke2fs -b 4096 -T ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p23
~ # quit

Edit: Deleted

rkhat said:
If you have a way to unbrick the tablet or you are manly enough, you can try the guide...
I haven't tested it. Leave a comment if it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, there is no way to unbrick the tablet.
Here is a likely comment "So I took the jump in the name of exploration, and bricked my tablet"
Now, are you manly enough to try your own guide?
/EDIT 1
2018 - Unbricking method is available.
/EDIT 2
Here is a Non-destructive repartition script which you can simply 'install' from TWRP.

k23m said:
No, there is no way to unbrick the tablet.
Here is a likely comment "So I took the jump in the name of exploration, and bricked my tablet"
Now, are you manly enough to try your own guide?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you checked the comment write below the second link, you will see a link to a repair option with RIFF JTAG box (costs >100$). I am not going to invest into a repair kit on a device that is probably worth less than the box, but hopefully someone who has the box and tablet can test the solution in the "name of exploration" and help others
Anyway, I am going to buy a chromebook in a year. Tablet market is dead. I might try the second solution on the N7 if some realtive doesn't steal it.

Didn't know that parted on works on android partitions in the way you describe.
My n7 2013 is in pretty bad shape, it has severe touch screen problems which sucks (its gone back to ASUS three times! pretty much gave up... haha they don't want to see it again).
So maybe I'll be game enough to try out the guide someday, but not today

There are something strange after I follow this guide.
If I copy files to /system and /system usage space is over 1GB.
/system will become read-only and mount as ro.
I try to remount /system as rw. But if I copy files into /system, it will become ro again.
Only I can do is format /system. Anyone can help?
Thanks.

I assume to do this you only need custom recovery and root?

OK, I've done the repartitioning. Looks good.
But, I can't seem to flash via TWRP. I try to side-load ROM and I see:
detecting filesystem ext4 for ...
Patching system image unconditionally...
E1001: Failed to update system image.
Updater process ended with error: 7
Any ideas?

RedBullet said:
OK, I've done the repartitioning. Looks good.
But, I can't seem to flash via TWRP. I try to side-load ROM and I see:
detecting filesystem ext4 for ...
Patching system image unconditionally...
E1001: Failed to update system image.
Updater process ended with error: 7
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which ROM did you use? I don't think it works with stock ROM. I use lineageOS.
Btw if you attempt to update the ROM instead of reinstalling it, the system partition will shrink back and you can't use the following step to fix it:
The Size of the ROM will shrink after flashing a new ROM, Using TWRP, Wipe -> Advanced Wipe -> select system -> Resize File System -> Swipe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found a solution to skip this whole resizing step. I am going to post it after some testing.

rkhat said:
Which ROM did you use? I don't think it works with stock ROM. I use lineageOS.
Btw if you attempt to update the ROM instead of reinstalling it, the system partition will shrink back and you can't use the following step to fix it:
I found a solution to skip this whole resizing step. I am going to post it after some testing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, I was flashing lineage. I eventually got it. I wonder if my partition shrunk back also... What's easiest way to check?
Oh and what do you mean by update vs re-install? I am just flashing via sideload

RedBullet said:
Yea, I was flashing lineage. I eventually got it. I wonder if my partition shrunk back also... What's easiest way to check?
Oh and what do you mean by update vs re-install? I am just flashing via sideload
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use parted to print the partition table. First four steps in my guide. Then check the system partition. If it's like the original size, it shrank.
LineageOS supports updating. Let's say you are now on LineageOS 20170801. You want to update to 20170829. When you sideload the newer version, it will attempt to update the previous version (basically only update the differences between the 2 versions). You retain any modification to the system partition (like gapps). Reinstalling means you wipe the system partition then sideload the ROM.
So when updating LineageOS, the system partition will shrink again and I wasn't able to resize it back. Thus corrupting the system partition.

would it not be easier/safer to use parted's resize command to shrink the userdata partition, and then use the move command to move partition 23-29, and then use the resize command again to increase the size of the system partition?

theistus said:
would it not be easier/safer to use parted's resize command to shrink the userdata partition, and then use the move command to move partition 23-29, and then use the resize command again to increase the size of the system partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think you can do it with parted's move command because according to move's documentation, these are the only supported formats:
ext2 (provided the destination partition is larger than the source partition)
fat16, fat32
linux-swap
reiserfs (if libreiserfs is installed)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Partitions 24-29 don't use a file system supported by parted. They definitely contain data (for example recovery partition has your twrp recovery image ).
I think there is a way to do what you are suggesting. In fact, the solution in my 2nd post was about moving the partitons. However, the solution had a mistake which is why I removed it. I had to use dd command to move all the bytes from the old partition to the new partition.
Also, it is somewhat risky. If you do any mistake with the recovery partition (not sure about the other 5 partitions), you pretty much bricked the tablet. If I had anyway to unbrick it, I would do it. Since not, better lose the 840MB.

rkhat said:
I don't think you can do it with parted's move command because according to move's documentation, these are the only supported formats:
Partitions 24-29 don't use a file system supported by parted. They definitely contain data (for example recovery partition has your twrp recovery image ).
I think there is a way to do what you are suggesting. In fact, the solution in my 2nd post was about moving the partitons. However, the solution had a mistake which is why I removed it. I had to use dd command to move all the bytes from the old partition to the new partition.
Also, it is somewhat risky. If you do any mistake with the recovery partition (not sure about the other 5 partitions), you pretty much bricked the tablet. If I had anyway to unbrick it, I would do it. Since not, better lose the 840MB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's the one that scares me. That recovery partition is smack dab in the middle, and it's very ... inconvenient.

Anyone try this with the Nexus 7 2013 LTE version?

better 64gb
https://forum.xda-developers.com/picture.php?albumid=14541&pictureid=56454

Rather than move the system partition, I just moved the cache partition ahead of userdata and extended my system partition by 587MB. This allowed me to keep the same partition numbers and have no unused space.
And after flashing an image if you want to extend the logical drive to fill the partition manually, the command is:
Code:
resize2fs -f /dev/block/mmcblk0p22

Magendanz said:
Rather than move the system partition, I just moved the cache partition ahead of userdata and extended my system partition by 587MB. This allowed me to keep the same partition numbers and have no unused space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you explain a bit more how to do that ?
I have read on a few websites that Android Oreo doesn't use the cache partition anymore. If this is true, could it also be simply removed instead of moved ?

Non-destructive repartition script
rkhat said:
The only issue with Nexus 7 is that the recovery partition is between the system and cache partitions in the partition table.
Code:
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
22 671088640B 1551892479B 880803840B ext2 system
23 1551892480B 2139095039B 587202560B ext4 cache
24 2147483648B 2148532223B 1048576B misc
25 2214592512B 2225078271B 10485760B recovery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have another look at the table - recovery is not between the system and cache partitions.
k23m said:
No, there is no way to unbrick the tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wrote it a year ago, but now we do have a way to unbrick the tablet, so read on and feel free to experiment
wline said:
I have read on a few websites that Android Oreo doesn't use the cache partition anymore. If this is true, could it also be simply removed instead of moved ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point. N7's cache is oversized anyway, all my relatively new Xiaomi phones use only 256MB cache. There is no need for complex re-partitioning if we opt for decreased cache. I just did this...
Code:
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
22 640MiB 1780MiB 1140MiB ext2 system
23 1780MiB 2040MiB 260MiB ext4 cache
24 2048MiB 2049MiB 1.00MiB misc
25 2112MiB 2122MiB 10.0MiB recovery
Code:
Filesystem Size Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/block/mmcblk0p30
26.4G 7.0G 19.4G 27% /data
/dev/block/mmcblk0p22
1.1G 607.0M 517.3M 54% /system
/dev/block/mmcblk0p23
258.8M 19.0M 226.7M 8% /cache
Now I have 1.1GB non-destructively resized system and 260MB cache. No changes to other partitions and original OS still works without any backup/restore. It was only a test because personally I have no need for larger system partition. I install LineageOS with pico gapps and later add other Google apks as non-system in the data partition space. I attached a script for the 1.1GB/260MB re-partition. While it is non-destructive, you should do a backup and copy it to your PC first.
Use the latest TWRP and just install sysrepart.zip. The script will create a backup of your original gpt partition table and a log file in the root of internal storage. If you have any issues, post the log.
If you wish to restore original partitioning, install sysrepartundo.zip. This script will attempt to non-destructively resize system again but if you installed some mega-gapps, it will obviously fail. In this case, use TWRP and manually format the system partition, then restore system's backup.
:good:

k23m said:
Have another look at the table - recovery is not between the system and cache partitions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was a typo. It should be between system and userdata because I am taking from userdata to increase the system partition. I'll edit the main post.
k23m said:
I wrote it a year ago, but now we do have a way to unbrick the tablet, so read on and feel free to experiment
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is your guide for soft-unbrick only?
I don't think fastboot can resize or rename a partition. So if you resized the recovery partition to a smaller size or forgot to name a partition "recovery", will your solution be able to handle these situations?

[TUTORIAL] How to resize system partition on Galaxy S3 for larger GAPPS

On newer Android versions, the system occupies more of the system partition and with GAPPS upgrades, larger GAPPS packages (such as stock and mini) cannot fit on the system partition of the 2012 Galaxy S3. You can just use pico or nano, but sometimes you want the full GAPPS, the real deal. This is also necessary for upcoming ROMs that come with GAPPS preinstalled, such as Pixel Experience. To do this, you must resize the system partition. You can do this by taking some of the space from the cache partition and giving it to the system partition.
PLEASE NOTE: This process is not risk-free! If you do not know what you are doing, I strongly advise against this procedure. I am not responsible for any bricked devices or issues you may face. You have been warned.
Requirements:
A Samsung Galaxy S3. I have the i9300 model, where I have tested it.
parted, downloadable from here. If it downloads as a txt file, delete the extension by renaming it without the txt.
TWRP installed on your device (available for i9300 from here.)
A computer with ADB installed and relevant drivers.
First of all, you must boot TWRP. Once booted, wipe all partitions in TWRP, including system. Reboot back into recovery. Then go into mount and deselect all devices, and uncheck the box saying "Mount system partition as read-only"
Secondly, connect your S3 and send parted to the device with the following command:
Code:
adb push <path_to_parted> /
Thirdly, enter the ADB shell with the following command:
Code:
adb shell
Now, give executable permission to the parted file with the following command:
Code:
chmod +x parted
Now run:
Code:
./parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
Run the print command and you will get a list of partitions. It should look something like:
Code:
Model: MMC VTU00M (sd/mmc)
Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 15.8GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 4194kB 8389kB 4194kB BOTA0
2 8389kB 12.6MB 4194kB BOTA1
3 12.6MB 33.6MB 21.0MB ext4 EFS
4 33.6MB 41.9MB 8389kB PARAM
5 41.9MB 50.3MB 8389kB BOOT
6 50.3MB 58.7MB 8389kB RECOVERY
7 58.7MB 92.3MB 33.6MB RADIO
8 92.3MB 1166MB 1074MB ext4 CACHE
9 1166MB 2777MB 1611MB ext4 SYSTEM
10 2777MB 3364MB 587MB ext4 HIDDEN
11 3364MB 3372MB 8389kB OTA
12 3372MB 15.8GB 12.4GB ext4 USERDATA
Make a note of the Start and End points for partitions 8 and 9 (CACHE and SYSTEM). In my case, the start and end points for partition 8 are 92.3 and 1166 and the start and end points for partition 9 are 1166 and 2777.
What we're going to do is delete these two partitions, then recreate them, but make the new partition 8 (Cache) smaller and allocate the space left to partition 9 (System).
Remove them with the following commands in parted:
Code:
./parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 rm 8
./parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 rm 9
Now recreate them with the following commands:
Code:
./parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 mkpart primary <cache_start> <cache_start+200>
./parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 mkpart primary <cache_end> <system_end>
Replace <cache_start> with the start of the former cache petition. In my case, it would be:
Code:
./parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 mkpart primary 92.3 292
./parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 mkpart primary 292 2777
Now name the partitions.
Code:
./parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 name 8 CACHE
./parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 name 9 SYSTEM
Then format them as ext4:
Code:
mke2fs -T ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p8
mke2fs -T ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p9
Run ./parted, followed by print, to check if the changes have been applied. If so, well done! You have successfully enlarged the system partition. Exit parted with the quit command.
Now configure and exit:
Code:
mount -a
exit
Reboot back into recovery and install any ROM of your choice. Once you've installed the ROM, reboot into recovery once again, and navigate to wipe --> advanced wipe, select system, tap repair or change filesystem, then resize.
You can now install any GAPPS of your choice. I've gotten LineageOS 16.0 working with mini gapps (Google Play Store + some Google apps) and it is working fine. You could make the system partition bigger by borrowing some more MB from the cache partition, or experimenting further by taking some from the HIDDEN partition. Remember, I am NOT responsible for any damage done when doing this. You assume full responsibility for any problems with the device. I hope this tutorial did help you, feel free to post here if it did or ask for help if you need it.

Did you experiment this process for a long time ? With so small a cache what could be the consequences ?
A finally do you know what is the use of HIDDEN partition ?
Great tutorial anyway.

barbe31 said:
Did you experiment this process for a long time ? With so small a cache what could be the consequences ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Newer Android versions don't use up as much in the cache partition. If you're on say stock ICS or JB you may encounter some issues but if you're using LOS 15 or 16 it should work fine. I've used LOS 16 with GAPPS using this method for a while on my S3 and it's been fine.

ChasTechProjects said:
parted, downloadable from here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Link says file doesn't exist.

petera703 said:
Link says file doesn't exist.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
parted
drive.google.com

Cheers for that. I've been trying for some time to do the same thing on a Galaxy S4 Mini, working from a few variations of this process that I've found here and there, but never with any success. All appears to go well, with no errors, but it doesn't stick--the device just reverts to the previous partition sizes on reboot..
I've been using parted 3.2. I wondered if it would work with the parted you were using, but the one from your new link is 1.8 and doesn't even get as far for me (tried that one previously and it gets errors on my device).
If anyone know how to overcome the issue of resized partitions not surviving a reboot on Android, please help! I've been unable to solve it.
If it was plain Linux, it would be something to do with fstab, but fstab is never mentioned in the posts where people succeed in resizing Android partitions, so I think it must be something else, and perhaps something that varies from one device to another. Looking forward to any suggestions--thanks!

Can this idea/technique be applied to other *droid based devices
like Nook HD ?
[ Having same 'not enough space for the gaps' issue]