Hi, I have an old phone and want to install a custom rom on it. My phone is set up so the /system and /data partitions are on a micro SD card and are mounted from there (so if I remove the micro SD card, the phone won't switch on).
So here's the question, can I install a ROM by moving all the files and folders that are in the ROM zip in the System folder into /system or are there any other parts needed to install a ROM?
I don't want to flash a ROM because I don't want to risk bricking my phone but I don't mind messing with /system and /data partitions since they are on the SD card and are backed up.
Thanks!
crazyhack said:
Hi, I have an old phone and want to install a custom rom on it. My phone is set up so the /system and /data partitions are on a micro SD card and are mounted from there (so if I remove the micro SD card, the phone won't switch on).
So here's the question, can I install a ROM by moving all the files and folders that are in the ROM zip in the System folder into /system or are there any other parts needed to install a ROM?
I don't want to flash a ROM because I don't want to risk bricking my phone but I don't mind messing with /system and /data partitions since they are on the SD card and are backed up.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats a really complex implementation you got there, why would someone want system on the sd card? Flashing will/should break all the changes that make your current configuration work, so, keep that in mind.
Thanks for responding! The reason for using the sdcard is rather complicated but doesn't matter much so I wont get into it. I want to keep the mounts as it is but I thought that I could use a custom rom without boot.img and only modify /system partition. I don't know if that's possible but that's why I came here
I tried mounting the partitions on my PC (using Linux File System Mounter) and then extracting the contents of system folder in custom rom to the partition but I get error because Windows cant handle symlinks.
I'd really appreciate any help on this. Thanks!
Related
Currently I have a Sprint HTC hero running MoDaCo v 2.2 (has A2SD included). My SD is partitioned with ext 2 and swap. If I was to get a larger SD card to replace the one that's currently in the phone, is there a way I can completely copy all the partitions from the old one to the new one without having to do any maintenance on through phone's recovery image? Or will there always be a few things that need to be done through the recovery image (re-partition the new card, etc)? Is this process listed somewhere already (changing SD cards)? Thanks.
You could use droid explorer, Linux, adb shell, or Android commander to pull the data from you extra and swap partition. Then format and push to your new card.
EasierLikeThis said:
Currently I have a Sprint HTC hero running MoDaCo v 2.2 (has A2SD included). My SD is partitioned with ext 2 and swap. If I was to get a larger SD card to replace the one that's currently in the phone, is there a way I can completely copy all the partitions from the old one to the new one without having to do any maintenance on through phone's recovery image? Or will there always be a few things that need to be done through the recovery image (re-partition the new card, etc)? Is this process listed somewhere already (changing SD cards)? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've got it backwards. You need to do EVERYTHING through the recovery image... don't know why you'd have a problem using it.
Make a Nandroid + EXT backup of the phone.
Turn on USB-MS, mount the phone on your computer.
Copy the contents of the sdcard to your computer, *including* the Nandroid backup.
Unmount the phone, turn off USB-MS.
Now power-off the phone.
Replace the sdcard, boot the phone back to recovery. Do NOT allow the phone to boot Android, all you'll get is endless FC errors and you'll have to reboot it again anyway.
Partition the new sdcard.
Turn USB-MS on, mount the phone on your computer.
Copy the sdcard files, including the Nandroid backup, back to the sdcard.
Unmount the phone, turn off USB-MS.
Now restore the Nandroid backup. This puts your apps back onto the EXT partition.
And now you can allow the phone to boot Android.
posguy99 said:
You've got it backwards. You need to do EVERYTHING through the recovery image... don't know why you'd have a problem using it.
Make a Nandroid + EXT backup of the phone.
Turn on USB-MS, mount the phone on your computer.
Copy the contents of the sdcard to your computer, *including* the Nandroid backup.
Unmount the phone, turn off USB-MS.
Now power-off the phone.
Replace the sdcard, boot the phone back to recovery. Do NOT allow the phone to boot Android, all you'll get is endless FC errors and you'll have to reboot it again anyway.
Partition the new sdcard.
Turn USB-MS on, mount the phone on your computer.
Copy the sdcard files, including the Nandroid backup, back to the sdcard.
Unmount the phone, turn off USB-MS.
Now restore the Nandroid backup. This puts your apps back onto the EXT partition.
And now you can allow the phone to boot Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have a problem using it, its very robust and easy to decipher. I just wasn't sure what steps would go into changing SD cards and keeping everything the way they are. What you've described here is perfect. Thanks very much. Time for me to go get a bigger, higher classed SD card to replace this stock 2gb card. Thanks.
I read, and read, and read. Most of the chefs cook this mod into their ROM's but i am using the desire from modaco, so i`m left out.
As far as i understand, you have to create 3 Partitions on the SD Card:
- swap
- Ext2/3?
- FAT32
After that you do some shell editing and that's about it.
I`m sure some are wondering as i do if:
- Can i create the partitions in Windows and then place the card back into the phone?
- If i install apps2sd is backup still required? Or will a new ROM Flash automatically use the installed apps?
So this is an appeal to someone with the heart and knowledge to help us out with a guide.
Thanks
Found this thread, so basically it should work after flashing that ROM on top of the current OS.
You do not need the swap partition... just an ext partition (size your choice)... the rest vfat... and you partition it using Amon_RA's recovery...
And when you flash a new ROM, you might need to re-enable App2SD in that ROM to see the apps installed in the sd ext partition...
a related question.... can the files of the existing apps be moved from /data to the new partition /sd and still function.....or do they need to be reinstalled?
I highly doubt you can just move them...
britoso said:
a related question.... can the files of the existing apps be moved from /data to the new partition /sd and still function.....or do they need to be reinstalled?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tried this... was not successful!
I can't even get the "SD Secondary" to show up?!?
I've wiped everything
partitioned:
swap 0
ext 640
then installed a fresh rom I copied over and no "SD Secondary" showing up on the phone... any ideas?
I followed these steps exactly... (minus the memory number difference)
part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P3T2mf5Pu8
part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdKBmWU-ALg
Guys,
If you want to use A2SD. Enothmer's new ROM seems to be the easiest at the moment, BUT many smart devs are putting efforts towards this.
Basically.
Copy your SD to your computer.
Partition it via Recovery.
512mb 96 swap our my settings
do an EXT2 to 3
I did a 3 to 4, you can use 3 though.
Re copy your stuff from computer BACK to your SD.
WIPE everything via recovery. factory, EXT partition, battery, davlik.
Flash Enom's 1.7.1 rom, Log in, Go into spare parts, click disk mgmt, check A2SD stuff, reboot. Your good to go. Use titanium back up, download, whatever.
Again, other good versions should be coming out soon. I think of the current models Enom's seems to be the easiest.
Yeah I pretty much gave up on it for now... it will be more worth it in the future when I get a larger SD card and my list of install apps goes up. For now I just don't go download a ton of apps...
Has anyone worked on putting bootloader on the G1 Rom, then have the OS install on a partition on the SD card? That might make in possible to run the newer rom updates.
JustNic said:
Has anyone worked on putting bootloader on the G1 Rom, then have the OS install on a partition on the SD card? That might make in possible to run the newer rom updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want /system to be from SD you need to make a ram disk mount part of the SD to /system. .
This is Linux hackery not bootloader hackery.
No such home made bootloaders have been made for the g1 to the best of my knowledge.
I could see usefulness in a bootloader that loaded the partitions from SD before boot for booting multiple android versions w/o using recovery (dual boot)
And we could if needed tweak the partition layout. .
But the bootloader wont be able to remap physical partitions to the SD card.. so if the OS mounts it (system /cache/userdata) it must be either dealt with by Linux/android or be copied to internal storage before the system is booted.
Hi everyone!
I just got CM7 (latest stable release) installed on on external sdhc card. I have wifi issues with CM7 (and looking around the forums tells me that CM7 can be finicky with certain routers) so I would love to be able to use Nook's stock ROM (4.1.4) when I am having issues.
But, when I am on NC ROM, I don't see anything except the small boot partition on the SD and when I am on CM7, I don't get access to this boot partition. I am wondering if there is a way to either create another partition or make the currently existing partitions accessible on both ROMS so that I can share data between them.
I am a n00b without any Android experience so thanks in advance for your patient responses.
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions &
Read the Forum Rules Ref Posting
Thanks ✟
Moving to Q&A
andrandom said:
Hi everyone!
I just got CM7 (latest stable release) installed on on external sdhc card. I have wifi issues with CM7 (and looking around the forums tells me that CM7 can be finicky with certain routers) so I would love to be able to use Nook's stock ROM (4.1.4) when I am having issues.
But, when I am on NC ROM, I don't see anything except the small boot partition on the SD and when I am on CM7, I don't get access to this boot partition. I am wondering if there is a way to either create another partition or make the currently existing partitions accessible on both ROMS so that I can share data between them.
I am a n00b without any Android experience so thanks in advance for your patient responses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look in my signature for a link to my tips thread. I explain there how to make the SD media partition available to both ROMs (item B3).
leapinlar said:
Look in my signature for a link to my tips thread. I explain there how to make the SD media partition available to both ROMs (item B3).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*That's* the one I wanted to point them to.
leapinlar said:
Look in my signature for a link to my tips thread. I explain there how to make the SD media partition available to both ROMs (item B3).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
Do you mean step #3 in Section B? I could edit it without running your script too, can't I?
andrandom said:
Thanks.
Do you mean step #3 in Section B? I could edit it without running your script too, can't I?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If whatever you have on emmc is rooted, you can manually edit it. If you have unrooted stock, then you need to flash the zip since without root you cannot edit those files manually. And I did mean item B3. Each item is a different topic, they are not steps. One topic does not depend on another. Just do B3 and no others if you want.
Yes, item B3. My mistake...
I should be able to do flash the zip from my current CM7 SD card's boot partition, shouldn't I?
So I put the update-stockemmc-vold-fstab-modified-for-partition4.zip file in the boot partition of the SD card, rebooted to Recovery mode and then booted to NC's stock ROM. NC is still using the tiny boot partition on the SD card as my external storage instead of the much larger CM7 partition. This was the same partition that was under 'My Files / Memory card' before I flashed so nothing has changed. I did this twice to double-check.
Am I doing this wrong?
andrandom said:
Yes, item B3. My mistake...
I should be able to do flash the zip from my current CM7 SD card's boot partition, shouldn't I?
So I put the update-stockemmc-vold-fstab-modified-for-partition4.zip file in the boot partition of the SD card, rebooted to Recovery mode and then booted to NC's stock ROM. NC is still using the tiny boot partition on the SD card as my external storage instead of the much larger CM7 partition. This was the same partition that was under 'My Files / Memory card' before I flashed so nothing has changed. I did this twice to double-check.
Am I doing this wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you are doing it wrong. You need to flash that file with a CWM card, not put in the boot partition of your SD. And since you did that, you need to re-flash your latest ROM on SD to correct your mistake. (I will edit my instructions to make it a little clearer that you use CWM to flash that file.)
I got NC stock ROM to see my SD card partition by following item A10. That is most excellent and thanks again!
Unfortunately, I no longer see the boot partition when I attach NC to my computer whether NC is running off stock ROM or CM7. My guess is that this is due to my failed attempt to flash from my CM7 SD card yesterday. Am I right?
I thought I could reverse that by copying the update-stockemmc-vold-fstab-return-to-stock.zip file to CM7's boot (and then booting to the recovery mode) but that seemed to have nothing.
If I understand your previous message correctly, I should re-do my entire SD card but... I have already spent a few hours downloading and customizing the Android apps. Is there a way to preserve all that before Win32diskimager destroys the contents of the SD card?
Is there a way to manually mount the /etc folder from a unix prompt and alter the file?
Does it even matter if I don't see boot while I attach NC to a computer? Are there any caveats to 'let it be'?
Questions, questions and more questions...
That leads me to the obvious question, is there a book that explains Android to someone who is not interested in programming it but wants to understand the architecture and design of the OS (and custom ROMs)?
Thanks for being patient with all these n00b questions.
andrandom said:
I got NC stock ROM to see my SD card partition by following item A10. That is most excellent and thanks again!
Unfortunately, I no longer see the boot partition when I attach NC to my computer whether NC is running off stock ROM or CM7. My guess is that this is due to my failed attempt to flash from my CM7 SD card yesterday. Am I right?
I thought I could reverse that by copying the update-stockemmc-vold-fstab-return-to-stock.zip file to CM7's boot (and then booting to the recovery mode) but that seemed to have nothing.
If I understand your previous message correctly, I should re-do my entire SD card but... I have already spent a few hours downloading and customizing the Android apps. Is there a way to preserve all that before Win32diskimager destroys the contents of the SD card?
Is there a way to manually mount the /etc folder from a unix prompt and alter the file?
Does it even matter if I don't see boot while I attach NC to a computer? Are there any caveats to 'let it be'?
Questions, questions and more questions...
That leads me to the obvious question, is there a book that explains Android to someone who is not interested in programming it but wants to understand the architecture and design of the OS (and custom ROMs)?
Thanks for being patient with all these n00b questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do not need or want to re-set up the whole SD installation. Just put the same CM7 zip file back in the boot partition and boot to SD recovery. It will put the correct vold.fstab back on the SD. You will not lose any settings or apps you have already set up. (And putting the return to stock zip there was also the wrong thing to do. The vold.fstab for stock and CM7 are different. But don't worry, it will fix that too.)
You are not supposed to see the boot partition on the PC when you plug the nook in with the cable. You are only supposed to see 'emmc' and 'sdcard'. Under the original setup, your stock system thought the boot partition was 'sdcard' and that was why you saw it on your PC. Since you modified stock to see partition 4 as 'sdcard', partition 4 is what the PC sees, not the boot partition.
Most people have to physically take the card out of the nook and put it in the PC to see the boot partition on the PC. If you don't want to do that, use my script in item B4. But since you are on CM7, you will not be adding many things to the boot partition to install with SD recovery in the future. So it is probably best to leave things be.
And I don't know of any books to help you.
Sent from my Nook Color running ICS and Tapatalk
That is excellent news!
A bit of playing around with Astro tells me that I was wrong about seeing the 'CM7 SDCARD' partition when I was on CM7 ROM. I am only seeing the boot. Anyway, I am going to flash the CM7 ROM again and I am hoping it would fix everything.
Also, yes, I can see the boot partition when I put the SD card directly on my computer but I was also able to see it when I hooked up the NC to my computer via USB before I did my unintended tweaks but... I'll survive.
I'll be back after I flash. (Famous last words??)
Mission accomplished!
Thanks again for all your help.
For future reference after you alter stock's fstab... all you have to do is:
mkdir /sdcard/boot (only have to do this one time)
mount /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /sdcard/boot (do this every time you want to put something on the boot partition)
put anything you want on boot partition in /sdcard/boot
DizzyDen said:
For future reference after you alter stock's fstab... all you have to do is:
mkdir /sdcard/boot (only have to do this one time)
mount /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /sdcard/boot (do this every time you want to put something on the boot partition)
put anything you want on boot partition in /sdcard/boot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, there is one big advantage to using that method. I think it allows the boot partition to be seen not only on the nook, but also on the PC when you plug in the usb.
leapinlar said:
Yes, there is one big advantage to using that method. I think it allows the boot partition to be seen not only on the nook, but also on the PC when you plug in the usb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We could probably come up with a symlink to /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 to /sdcard/boot and avoid having to mount it everytime as well.
DizzyDen said:
We could probably come up with a symlink to /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 to /sdcard/boot and avoid having to mount it everytime as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you Dizz, your suggestion got me to thinking and I was able to come up with an init.d bash script that does the trick. I just temporarily mounted sdcard and created the sdcard/boot directory and the mounted the boot partition to it, then unmounted sdcard so it could be mounted again by the system later in the boot sequence.
The only problem is now sdcard will not mount on the PC using UMS mass storage. Must be because of having a second mount within the mount. But it does mount with MTP. But that may be acceptable. I will test some more, including using Goo Manager tomorrow.
EDIT (6-21): Goo Manager works. But I think I have figured out why sdcard is not mounting in UMS. Once it is mounted in my script and the boot partition mounted under it, it cannot be unmounted. And since it cannot be unmounted, it cannot be mounted later by the system as vold. If it cannot be mounted as vold, it does not show in UMS. For now I think I will leave it as I have it in Rev 2 of my script (symlinking to the root directory with full r/w permissions). If people want to see the boot partition on the PC, just use my modified for CM9 NookColorUMS available in my tips thread.
Sent from my Nook Color running ICS and Tapatalk
Help!
When CM7 is running, my computer is no longer mounting any of the partitions when I connect NC to my computer via the USB cable.
If the NC stock ROM is running, my computer mounts all three partitions (MyNook..., boot and CM7SDcard) but calibre is not recognizing the external partitions for transfers.
Further, when I boot to my NC stock ROM, I am no longer seeing my SD card's contents in the NC's library.
This may have something to do with the fact that NC stock ROM seemed to have updated itself to 4.1.3.
Should I re-run the scripts again or am I missing something else?
When it was updated to 1.4.3, you lost the emmc mods. Just re-flash my zip with the CWM SD. You may have lost CWM on emmc too.
On CM7, you have to select the turn on storage button after you plug it in. It is not automatic like stock. Pull up the notification area and touch the turn on button.
Darn, I forgot about that 'USB' option under notifications. Enabling it allows me to find the partitions. I will run your scripts again when I find a spare mUSB card.
Thanks again for your help!
I'm trying to understand the most convenient way to make a copy of an SD card that has an EXT partition on it. This would need to be done anytime you upgrade from a smaller to a larger SD card, so I have to believe a number of people on these forums have dealt with it.
This is what I'm expecting to be done... please confirm if it's correct:
Make a nandroid backup, stored on the old SD card
Copy the nandroid backup to PC
Install new SD card and partition it accordingly
Copy nandroid backup to new SD card
Perform a nandroid restore
At this point, everything should be as it was, with the larger SD card. Correct? I've also noticed an alternative that would probably work, that being a partition management program like EaseUS.
My 32Gb SD card arrived so I downloaded Mini-Partition to set it up. Then when I went to copy the EXT3 partition from my 8Gb SD card, the option wasn't possible. Apparently I can't copy it into a larger EXT3 space, only unallocated space. So, I removed the target EXT3 partition, making it unallocated, and then tried to copy and resize. Apparently the tool won't let you resize an existing EXT3 partition. I installed EaseUS to try this operation and encountered the same thing.
From what I've just experienced, I'm now thinking that if I try to restore a nandroid backup onto my new card, it will override the newly minted EXT3 partition with the smaller EXT3 partition.
Searching around turned up a lot of Ubuntu/Linux information, requiring one to boot up in those operating systems and execute a long series of commands to enlarge the EXT3 partition. I'd rather not go down that path right now. Is there some easier way of doing this? If not... then I'm thinking what I need to do is move as many apps having data I need to my phone, then just opt not to restore the EXT3 partition and go back to manually move apps to the EXT3 partition again.
* bump * .... anyone?
cytherian said:
* bump * .... anyone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What rom are you running?
Shelnutt2 said:
What rom are you running?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Presently running CM7.2, which supports EXT3. I'm just not getting how I can manage the EXT3 partition. When I switch to a new ROM and wipe the system, then all apps installed on the EXT3 partition would be deleted, correct?
So, what this ultimately means is that each and every time I switch ROMs, the EXT3 partition must be wiped and applications manually moved back there. It's annoying, but I haven't found any other way around this.