!! 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
Hello all,
Now that we have root on our aesthetically unique device, I believe our next problem is storage space. I don't know about you all, but my aquos crystal has about 4 gb to work with when it comes to apps. Folder mount works well for me, as far as linking the obb files of large apps to the external sd card, but I still have to store a portion of any particular app on the phone's internal storage, which for me is no bueno. There has to be a better way. (For the sarcastic among you, buying another phone is not an option for me.)
Back in the day of Gingerbread, I remember having a whopping 300 mb of app storage to work with. I was able to partition a portion of my external sd to be used as internal storage for the device, solving all my storage woes. It worked so well, that I was sure that I would be able to find a similar method for the aquos crystal.
Now, I see that Link2sd is able to work with ext2, ext3, ext4, and fat32 partitions, so I figured I would attempt to create a ext2 partition on the micro sd to link to my internal storage directory. I used the Partition Wizard mini tool to create a ext2 partition in windows. Unfortunately after starting up Link2sd and selecting the format of my ext partition (ext2), Link2ds gives me an error telling me that the mount script was unable to be created. I've read that if we get this error, we can select ext4, even if we are using a different partition format. This got rid of the error. Mount script was successfully created. Autolink is selected, which should install new apps directly to the new partition. It doesn't, not for me at least.
I've read several guides around the internet dealing with this issue, as well as completely different methods besides Link2sd, and nothing seems to work for me. My goal in this is to supplement the capacity for apps. I would love to find a way to store all the library, devlik, and app files for each app on the external card, rather than having to keep some of each app on internal, and its larger counterparts on external. As you know, apps are constantly updated, and what seems to happen is if you install an app, then link it to the sd card, and the app gets updated in the future, the updated portion will get installed on the internal card, making your 'linked' app kind of pointless. What I'd really like to do is disregard the phone's internal storage altogether and use something like a 64 gb card as the phones internal storage. This may or may not be possible.
I'm not a programmer. I have a very basic understanding of how these things work. When it comes to things like this, I am literally standing on the shoulders of giants, and benefiting from their tenacity and willingness to share the fruits of their labors. Their exploits, and the internet that tells their story, have allowed me to root and modify practically every console and android device I've ever owned. With that being said, thank you to all that have been involved in unraveling the real potential of this device.
So, do any of you fine saints and scholars know of a way to get around the feeble storage capacity of our aquos crystal?
I have an SM-T380 with a 32GB MicroSD card in it and I ran into an issue a few weeks ago where I was extracting a large amount of data to the MicroSD card, everything was going well until I hit a directory with the name CON, at that point the extraction failed. Upon further investigation I found that I could not extract to the directory, nor create the directory call "CON" I also found this to be true with the directory "PRN" and I am positive there are a few others that won't work.
What's so special about these directory names? These are reserved names from the old MS-DOS days and Android is using a FAT32 filesystem (MS-DOS compatible). I did find that if I tether the tablet to my Linux workstation I can (using Gnome files) create either directory, populate them, and the Android OS will happily use them, but I can not create them with the Android filemanager.
The problem does not exist on the internal storage and I tried to format the MicroSD card as an ext3 filesystem but the tablet doesn't recognize the filesystem. I do know that if I were to enable adoptable storage the issue of the reserved filenames goes away probably because it's the same filesystem as the internal storage, BUT I can't enable adoptable storage.
Because of what I use the tablet for I would rather not root the device, especially while Samsung is still issuing updates (last update was a security patch dated Jan 1 2020).
My questions are
1) anybody know how to get around the reserved file name in Android? (eg different recognizable filesystem type?)
2) Any way I can enable adoptable storage WITHOUT root? (I did this on a SM-T315 before updating the software and once enabled it kept the adoptable storage after the software update)
Thanks,
-TL
My search-fu seems to be lacking but I can't locate information on resizing the partition of an external disk.
I have a shield 2019 pro. I had been using a 128gb San Disk Extreme Pro USB drive and decided to upgrade to a Samsung PSSD T7 1TB drive. I successfully DD'd an image file and copied it to the new drive without issue. The Shield works just fine with the new SDD, but now I can't figure out how to resize the partition.
I saw the post here about someone successfully doing the same, but they didn't give any real details. I'm a Linux user and figured they used standard tools to resize, but Neither GParted or Gnome-Disks seem to know how to handle the Android partition.
Are there any guides around for this, or is it even possible?
Thanks!
So this doesn't like fully decrypt the adoptable storage/private data or anything quite like that, instead you are to format your sdcard as fat32 and then I have a script that magisk can run from the /data/adb/service.d/ directory called startup.sh that will mount specific folders that you specify - in my case Android for data & obb files as well as an Emulation folder which I intended to use for RetroArch. The only issue I had with RetroArch though was that it would not see the Emulation folder like other apps would so I ended up also writing a script to update the playlists files so that all the rom files I have can be found.
The point of all this is just to make your apps and things as portable as possible while also being unencrypted. If any of yall like this or have any ideas then please contribute away and fork the project. I will accept PRs if I think it adds useful things. I may also work on setting up a way to watch the /data directory for new apps being installed to the internal storage & maybe automatically relocating them to the sdcard to save space, but I dunno if that'd really work or not, I suspect it would though.
rbreaves/AndroidTV-Decrypted: Specific to Onn 4K, Dynalink & similar Android TV 10+ devices. Rooted, decrypted, mounts fat32 for internal use. (github.com)
I kept having a lot of issues with the adoptable storage sdcards becoming corrupted in a normal Android TV setup and it was extremely irritating because the process to get all the files back on it intact was always too long and drawn out. Now if the sdcard ever becomes corrupt I can quickly and easily restore back to how it was & also make backups of the entire SD card without any issues.
The on boot mounting script is located here btw.
AndroidTV-Decrypted/startup.sh at master · rbreaves/AndroidTV-Decrypted
Specific to Onn 4K, Dynalink & similar Android TV 10+ devices. Rooted, decrypted, mounts fat32 for internal use. - AndroidTV-Decrypted/startup.sh at master · rbreaves/AndroidTV-Decrypted
github.com