Which partitions should be formatted in f2fs ?
And what difference does f2fs make?
Please explain in simple words.
Thank you.
/data and /cache
Supposedly it's more efficient and faster, although the difference in real-life scenarios is negligible.
epraes said:
/data and /cache
Supposedly it's more efficient and faster, although the difference in real-life scenarios is negligible.
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Why can't we use f2fs on system and internal memory partition?
I'm no expert at this, just a regular user. But my understanding is that f2fs is suited best for read/write filesystems. As /system is a read-only partition, it makes no sense to use f2fs instead of ext4. There may be some technical reasons behind it apart from this that I'm not aware of, though.
As for the internal storage, you can indeed format it with the f2fs filesystem. In fact, it's just a part of the /data partition. If you format /data, you format /data/media and your internal storage becomes f2fs.
That's all I know. Maybe some ROM developers or experts can give you some more insight about it.
Related
Hy all!
I found a very interesting post over at samdroid.net
My question is its possible to port this mod for our hero?
Link:
http://forum.samdroid.net/f55/i-o-performance-boost-migrate-your-spica-ext2-2218/
Info:
What does it do?
Reformatting /data as ext4 (as it needs journaling for safety), and /system as ext2(as it is mounted ro all the time).
Thx for the answer.
Regards
Wenner
It gives performance boost on Samsung phones because Samsung has it's own filesystem which slows down whole system. Reformatting it to ext gives boost because ext is faster. HTC Android devices has ext partitions as default so it isn't needed.
Wrong, on all counts.
The storage partitions on the HTC Hero and other devices is nand memory, not a block device. ext filesystem is designed for block devices. The filesystems on /data /system /cache etc are all yaffs2, a filesystem designed specifically for Memory Technology Devices like the NAND in our phones.
Furthermore, even if you could format /data, /system etc as a filesystem other than yaffs2 you'd have to do it from outside the ROM, either via recovery or hboot somehow. A journalling filesystem is destructive to flash memory because flash memory has a finite number of writes before it fails. You'd also have to have a custom kernel if the default kernel doesn't support the filesystem you want to switch to.
If you use old style apps2sd and therefore have a partition for it on your sdcard, they're set up to emulate block devices and you should use ext2 for the reasons pointed out earlier. sdcards are still flash memory at heart and thus journalling is destructive.
Thanks for explanation, but i have question - why we don't use yaffs2 for app2sd (which is designed for flash memory)?
And which is faster - yaffs2 or ext2? On Samsung devices reformatting whole system to ext2 gives performance boost (in comparision to RFS).
There seems to be a lot of confusion or pr people aren't being clear enough. At the moment there's one build found here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=65193930&postcount=1302 that has F2FS as an option to change to. But I recall there being a problem with the /cache partition too small for F2FS to work, and if you look into F2FS's internal operation a bit, if /cache isn't F2FS then it's pointless.
So I'm asking, is there any TWRP build that supports formatting system/cache/data partitions as F2FS? Is there a way to fix whatever the problem is with /cache unable to be formatted to F2FS? The error I get when I try to format with F2FS is this:
Code:
mkfs.f2fs -t 0 /dev/block/mmcblk0p38 process ended with error: 255
Unable to WIpe Cache
Error changing file system.
Do we need ROM/kernel makers to specifically make their projects with F2FS support? What is the technical issue with getting /cache formatted as F2FS?
bobbarker2 said:
There seems to be a lot of confusion or pr people aren't being clear enough. At the moment there's one build found here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=65193930&postcount=1302 that has F2FS as an option to change to. But I recall there being a problem with the /cache partition too small for F2FS to work, and if you look into F2FS's internal operation a bit, if /cache isn't F2FS then it's pointless.
So I'm asking, is there any TWRP build that supports formatting system/cache/data partitions as F2FS? Is there a way to fix whatever the problem is with /cache unable to be formatted to F2FS? The error I get when I try to format with F2FS is this:
Code:
mkfs.f2fs -t 0 /dev/block/mmcblk0p38 process ended with error: 255
Unable to WIpe Cache
Error changing file system.
Do we need ROM/kernel makers to specifically make their projects with F2FS support? What is the technical issue with getting /cache formatted as F2FS?
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Click to collapse
Old post, but F2FS requires a minimum of 100 MB to be used on a drive. Ours is 99 MB.
I was wondering that with TWRP 3.0, it is possible to convert the file system to f2fs. The performance in f2fs seems to be far greater when compared to ext4. Has anyone tried converting the x play to f2fs? If so, what all ROMs are compatible with it?
varounmirchi said:
I was wondering that with TWRP 3.0, it is possible to convert the file system to f2fs. The performance in f2fs seems to be far greater when compared to ext4. Has anyone tried converting the x play to f2fs? If so, what all ROMs are compatible with it?
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I don't think it's possible to convert a filesystem to another, you'll probably need to format your partition in f2fs, so make a backup first.
Also, note that f2fs is designed to take advantage of nand-based storage. Have a look at http://www.xda-developers.com/f2fs-put-to-the-test-against-ext4/
claudineimatos said:
I don't think it's possible to convert a filesystem to another, you'll probably need to format your partition in f2fs, so make a backup first.
Also, note that f2fs is designed to take advantage of nand-based storage. Have a look at http://www.xda-developers.com/f2fs-put-to-the-test-against-ext4/
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As far as I know, you do need to format in order to convert. I don't think any kind of conversion tool exists at this point, or may ever exist. I remember reading that there's only really a benefit to making the data partition f2fs (and perhaps the cache as well? I'm pretty tired atm so I can't confirm that.) If so, you should be able to format Data without reinstalling the ROM. Correct me if I'm mistaken!
Be aware that while f2fs is definitely faster, filesystems are relatively simple things that wind themselves into complex knots when put into action. So, despite f2fs being optimized for NAND, it hasn't been thoroughly tested the way EXT4 and others have. You could always run into some issues with data loss or other confusing bugs. Because of this, it's probably also safer to leave the System partition as EXT4, if you even can/would want to make it f2fs.
I'd also like to know if anyone has gotten f2fs working on the Moto X Play, @squid2 has f2fs driver updates listed in the changelog for his kernel, although it may also take support in the ROM to fully implement. Please let us know if you get it running! The performance is significantly faster, and it's also less wear-and-tear on the memory, if I understand correctly.
JohnHorus said:
As far as I know, you do need to format in order to convert. I don't think any kind of conversion tool exists at this point, or may ever exist. I remember reading that there's only really a benefit to making the data partition f2fs (and perhaps the cache as well? I'm pretty tired atm so I can't confirm that.) If so, you should be able to format Data without reinstalling the ROM. Correct me if I'm mistaken!
Be aware that while f2fs is definitely faster, filesystems are relatively simple things that wind themselves into complex knots when put into action. So, despite f2fs being optimized for NAND, it hasn't been thoroughly tested the way EXT4 and others have. You could always run into some issues with data loss or other confusing bugs. Because of this, it's probably also safer to leave the System partition as EXT4, if you even can/would want to make it f2fs.
I'd also like to know if anyone has gotten f2fs working on the Moto X Play, @squid2 has f2fs driver updates listed in the changelog for his kernel, although it may also take support in the ROM to fully implement. Please let us know if you get it running! The performance is significantly faster, and it's also less wear-and-tear on the memory, if I understand correctly.
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Actually TWRP allows to convert the file system to f2fs (yes by formatting it obviously). Its usually recommended to convert the /data and the /cache partitions for optimum results. I had a Yu Yuphoria before this, and I had converted the file system to f2fs, and the performance was whooping fast.
And I did see that @squid2 has mentioned f2fs support in his kernel (i guess it comes directly from CAF) but I wanted to know which ROMs do support it? So far I don't see "f2fs supported" mentioned in any of the ROMs for our device and thats why I am still on hold.
We're already using f2fs. Even the stock ROM uses f2fs for the userdata partition.
So can we use f2fs with your Kernel and CM13? Data and cache partitions?
squid2 said:
We're already using f2fs. Even the stock ROM uses f2fs for the userdata partition.
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Cache shows up as ext4 in TWRP, for me at least. Would that benefit from switching to f2fs?
Edit: Tried formatting the cache as f2fs, no boots.
F2fs does use a log, but still, it took up 128MB of the cache partition, seems kinda weird unless the partition actually grows to accomodate that. Maybe I did something wrong, idk.
Quick question, when having the Moto G4 Play, does it already come with F2FS already set? Or do I need to change the EXT4 to F2FS via TWRP? Just curious, that's all.
The /data partition is f2fs by default. Unfortunately the stock ROM doesn't seem to support f2fs for SD cards though.
spiked_mistborn said:
The /data partition is f2fs by default. Unfortunately the stock ROM doesn't seem to support f2fs for SD cards though.
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Lame. So do I have to format it to f2fs to support it via TWRP?
zeeBomb said:
Lame. So do I have to format it to f2fs to support it via TWRP?
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TWRP will likely support any filesystem on the SD card, but the stock ROM only supports exfat/fat32. CyanogenMod is usually much more tolerant of different filesystems and should support f2fs.
spiked_mistborn said:
TWRP will likely support any filesystem on the SD card, but the stock ROM only supports exfat/fat32. CyanogenMod is usually much more tolerant of different filesystems and should support f2fs.
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Great! Whats the best system I should change? /data? /system?
zeeBomb said:
Great! Whats the best system I should change? /data? /system?
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Click to collapse
These are partitions, and they can be formatted with different types of filesystems. The /data partition is already f2fs, and the /system partition only supports ext4. No changes necessary here. The only change that you might want to make would be to your external SD card, and then only if you will be using a custom ROM. The stock ROM only supports exfat/fat32. If you only plan on using custom ROMs you might see some improvements by formatting your SD card f2fs.
spiked_mistborn said:
These are partitions, and they can be formatted with different types of filesystems. The /data partition is already f2fs, and the /system partition only supports ext4. No changes necessary here. The only change that you might want to make would be to your external SD card, and then only if you will be using a custom ROM. The stock ROM only supports exfat/fat32. If you only plan on using custom ROMs you might see some improvements by formatting your SD card f2fs.
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Ooohhhh I see. Would it be a good idea to change the system to f2fs on CM?
zeeBomb said:
Ooohhhh I see. Would it be a good idea to change the system to f2fs on CM?
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Pros:
Possibly faster, but by how much, who knows?
Likely less wear on the flash, but for a typical usage scenario in a phone it probably doesn't matter.
Cons:
The card can't be accessed directly in Windows, only Linux (maybe Mac?)
Stock ROM doesn't support it.
You could end up in the situation I'm in where you change phones and the new one only has the stock ROM that does everything you need it to, and you have to copy 55GB of stuff off your f2fs SD card, contemplate if you want to make it adopted storage or just exfat, and then copy everything back.
spiked_mistborn said:
Pros:
Possibly faster, but by how much, who knows?
Likely less wear on the flash, but for a typical usage scenario in a phone it probably doesn't matter.
Cons:
The card can't be accessed directly in Windows, only Linux (maybe Mac?)
Stock ROM doesn't support it.
You could end up in the situation I'm in where you change phones and the new one only has the stock ROM that does everything you need it to, and you have to copy 55GB of stuff off your f2fs SD card, contemplate if you want to make it adopted storage or just exfat, and then copy everything back.
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I meant /system and f2fs on the SD which u answered. Good points tho you never know.
I converted cache and data f2fs but system not change f2fs.How can I do it ? ( Sorry my bad english )
Ottoman61 said:
I converted cache and data f2fs but system not change f2fs.How can I do it ? ( Sorry my bad english )
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You can't. At least not without a proper OS support.
LineageOS supports F2FS only on cache and data partitions.
F2FS should only improve write speeds (debatable, I haven't done any benchmarking), and since /system is read-only it doesn't really make much sense.
IMO it's not really worth the hassle, even for /data or /cache.
Electry said:
You can't. At least not without a proper OS support.
LineageOS supports F2FS only on cache and data partitions.
F2FS should only improve write speeds (debatable, I haven't done any benchmarking), and since /system is read-only it doesn't really make much sense.
IMO it's not really worth the hassle, even for /data or /cache.
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I understand.Thank you so much @Electry