Develop Bugs

[Q] A2SD+ Confusion

I'm pretty confused at the moment about the differences between stock froyo a2sd, A2SD+ and 'old A2SD+'. so far from what i'm seeing, using A2SD+ seems to be the best idea, but i'm not sure why this is better, or how to install it as there seem to be tons of different ways.
1. Which one should i use
2. How do you partition your SD card
3. what is this all about ext 2,3,4?
4. Can i set up the partitions using the clockwork mod recovery or rom manager? and how.
Just Sorry if this is repeated else where but i've found it pretty hard to find what i'm looking for (yes even using the search function)

I'd also like to know the answer to this, especially q3
i partitioned my sd card using Rom Manager but i didnt get an option for Ext 2/3/4 when i installed LeeDroid 1.6.
Seems like the new Froyo Roms say Ext 4 is the way to go.

I too would like to know this.
Also, do I need to format into partitions before / during / after flashing a ROM?

I can't partition with ROM Manager at all. It reboots into clockwork recovery mod, and it says
Finding update package Finding update package update package... E:failed to seek in /cache/update.zip (Invalid argument) I:verify_file returned 1 E:signature verification failed Installation aborted.
edit: fixed by nandroid restoring back to 2.1 and trying again

1. A2SD+ is probs the best to use
2. create ext2/3/4 within ROM manager
3. the extension is a portion of your sd card to store your apps i dont know the difference between the 3 but essentially you create the ext2/3/4 so your apps can be forced to the sd card, the froyo apps2sd is designed for apps that are coded to go on the sd card, the Dev of the app has to make it able to run on an sd card. that's why on some apps, you will see the option to move to sd card is shaded out, that is because the Dev has not coded that particular app to run on the sd card
4. see #2
hope this helps

DesireableHTC said:
1. A2SD+ is probs the best to use
2. create ext2/3/4 within ROM manager
3. the extension is a portion of your sd card to store your apps i dont know the difference between the 3 but essentially you create the ext2/3/4 so your apps can be forced to the sd card, the froyo apps2sd is designed for apps that are coded to go on the sd card, the Dev of the app has to make it able to run on an sd card. that's why on some apps, you will see the option to move to sd card is shaded out, that is because the Dev has not coded that particular app to run on the sd card
4. see #2
hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If i create the partitions in Rom Manager, does this create ext 2/3 and 4? what partitions size / swap etc settings should i use? I have a 4gb card so what ever is best really for that?

DesireableHTC said:
1. A2SD+ is probs the best to use
2. create ext2/3/4 within ROM manager
3. the extension is a portion of your sd card to store your apps i dont know the difference between the 3 but essentially you create the ext2/3/4 so your apps can be forced to the sd card, the froyo apps2sd is designed for apps that are coded to go on the sd card, the Dev of the app has to make it able to run on an sd card. that's why on some apps, you will see the option to move to sd card is shaded out, that is because the Dev has not coded that particular app to run on the sd card
4. see #2
hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In ROM Manager if you Select "Partition SD card" in Utilities, you pick the size etc but you dont get to pick Ext 2, 3 or 4, does this matter?

coriron said:
I'm pretty confused at the moment about the differences between stock froyo a2sd, A2SD+ and 'old A2SD+'. so far from what i'm seeing, using A2SD+ seems to be the best idea, but i'm not sure why this is better, or how to install it as there seem to be tons of different ways.
1. Which one should i use
2. How do you partition your SD card
3. what is this all about ext 2,3,4?
4. Can i set up the partitions using the clockwork mod recovery or rom manager? and how.
Just Sorry if this is repeated else where but i've found it pretty hard to find what i'm looking for (yes even using the search function)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so here's the deal, in a very longwinded way that should hopefully explain everything and answer ALL questions.
You have an SD card in your phone and, a bit like normal PC Hard Drives, you can "partition" them (split them into two or more sections of different filesystems). Normally, your SD card is just one big FAT32 partition, which is fine for storing your pics, messages, emails, etc.
Now, other then your Phone's SD card, your phone will have its own internal flash memory (or "NAND") storage. Tradditionally with Android, you could only install applications to this NAND storage, you cannot install them onto your SD card. So if you have an empty 32GB SD card, but only 5Mb of internal phone storage, you still wont be able to install many apps, if any at all.
This was done to protect the apps from things like piracy - it's not easy to access the location where apps are installed on your phone's internal storage (normally impossible without root), so you can't for example buy an app, copy it, refund it, then install it again.
Still, this is no good for those of us who like to install lots and lots of apps, legitimately, as we run out of internal storage very quickly.
So Google came up with a way to install apps to the SD card. A folder is created called something like .android_secure and this stores (I believe) encrypted versions of applications, but there's a few catches:
1) Apps aren't automatically stored here, you have to manually "move" them
2) Not all apps are capable of being moved, in fact most apps aren't, the developer needs to update their app and allow it. Some apps aren't and wont be updated and some developers may not want to allow it for whatever reason.
3) Not all app data is moved, most of it is but some data is left on your phone so many people still run out of internal storage quickly.
4) You can force ALL apps to be moved to this area by default, but it breaks incompatible ones - such as Widgets, which are unable to load due to the SD card not being "prepared".
So that's Froyo's version. Before Froyo existed, some very clever people came up with a thing called "Apps2SD". Remember I said that your SD card normally is one big FAT32 partition? Well, Apps2SD works by having your SD card patitioned into TWO filesystems. A normal FAT32 partition for your usual stuff and a secondary "EXT" partition. EXT is just a filesystem, like FAT32 or NTFS, but it's the filesystem used by Android internally. The SD card is normally FAT32 because it's a "universal" filesystem, that just about any machine will be able to read, whereas EXT filesystems are generally Linux only, but I digress.
EXT has several different versions. The most common one you'll see is ext3. The main difference between ext2 and ext3 is "journaling", which is just a fancy way of saying that should an operation (such as copying, writing or reading) be interrupted unexpectedly (say, by you turning your phone off), then no data should be lost or corrupted. You know how when you turn your phone on, it says "preparing SD card"? It takes a few minutes, but what it's actually doing is checking that the FAT32 partition hasn't been damaged, because FAT does NOT have journaling. If you used a computer back in the Windows 98 days, you may remember that lovely blue "Scandisk" screen that had to run every time you didn't shut your computer down correctly - that's the same thing. But then Windows 2000/XP came along with NTFS, which also has journaling, meaning you had less chance of loosing data. But I digress once more.
So you have your SD card partitioned into EXT and FAT32. Generally it doesn't matter if it's ext3 or ext4, but you don't get any real advantage with ext4 over ext3 in this instance. Apps2SD then runs a special script on your phone which "symbolically links" the folder from your phone's internal storage where your apps are normally stored, to the ext partition on your SD card. A symbolic link is a bit like a shortcut for folders, except it's transparent to the OS: In other words, Android doesn't know that when it's installing it's apps to the internal phone storage, it's actually being stored on the SD card. This effectively boosts your internal phone memory from the previous 5mb that you had in my example above, up to whatever size you made the ext partition on your SD card (often 512Mb or 1Gb, but it depends on how many apps you install).
Plus, because it's "journaled", it doesn't need to be "prepared", meaning it's ready to go as soon as the phone starts - so your widgets and apps work immediately (unlike "forced" Froyo Apps2SD, where widgets disappear).
The catch with Apps2SD is that whatever space the ext partition takes up is taken away from the SD card. So if you have a 4Gb card (with something like 3.5Gb of actual storage) and you make a 512Mb ext partition, your SD card will "shrink" to 3Gb. The space isn't actually lost, it's just being used by the ext partition. If you reformat your card, you'll get it back.
Finally, there's a difference between "Apps2SD" and "Apps2SD+". Remember I said that your apps are stored on a special folder inside your Phone's NAND storage? Well, that was a bit of a lie. It's actually stored in TWO places. There's a second area which is called the Davlik Cache. You don't really need to worry about what this is for (Hint: IT's to do with the Java runetime your phone uses to run apps), all you need to know is that apps use it to store data, which also eats up internal phone memory. Apps2SD+ moves davlik cache to the ext partition on your SD card as well, freeing up even more space. Some people believe that this may come at the cost of performance, as the internal NAND memory should be faster than your SD card (Which is why you also get people arguing over which "class" SD card is better for Apps2SD - the logic being that a faster SD card means less impact from this move), but the truth of the matter is that your applications will be running from your Phone's RAM anyway, so performance isn't really impacted at all. Since most apps are only a few hundred Kb's in size, or a couple of MB at the most, it's a non-issue.
Finally, any recent version of Apps2SD/Apps2SD+ should work with an SD card that is or isn't formatted with an ext partition. It'll check for this partition when your phone first boots and if it's not there, just use internal phone storage.
Having an ext partition WITHOUT Apps2SD+ shouldn't cause any issues, either, so you can format your SD card whenever you're ready.
So in summary:
Apps2SD "fakes" your phone's internal memory and puts it all on a hidden section of your SD card.
Apps2SD+ pushes even more content to the SD card, freeing up even more space on the phone itself.
"Froyo" Apps2SD has various limitations that "old" apps2SD does not, but is much easier to handle as it doesn't involve any kind of "partitioning".

@neoKushan Thank you very much. I understand the theory behind it a lot better now. Didn't actually realize EXT was a kind of file system so it makes a lot more sense now. So seemingly Apps2SD/+ is a lot better than the froyo (in certain situations). What is the best method to partition your sd card and install Apps2SD+? I think i've seen that a lot of the ROMS now will install the Apps2SD+ for you if you have partitioned your SD card, so i'm guessing thats the only step i need to take.

As far as I have seen, all of the recoveries out there have a way to partition the SD card. So AmunRA's or ClockworkMOD's (ROM Manager).
My personal preference is ROM Manager as it's very easy to do from the GUI.
Word of Warning, though: Partitioning your SD WILL DELETE ALL DATA ON IT!
Do what I did: Copy the contents of your SD card to your PC, partition the SD card, then copy the contents back.

thanks, that is superb! thanks for taking the time to type it up
this should be posted in the faqs section as it will might stop a lot of these recurring threads
one other question, some ROMs ask you to wipe your Ext partition, where do you do this ?
If i reboot to ClockworkMod Recovery there is a Wipe cache Partition, is this it?
thanks
neoKushan said:
Ok, so here's the deal, in a very longwinded way that should hopefully explain everything and answer ALL questions.
You have an SD card in your phone and, a bit like normal PC Hard Drives, you can "partition" them (split them into two or more sections of different filesystems). Normally, your SD card is just one big FAT32 partition, which is fine for storing your pics, messages, emails, etc.
Now, other then your Phone's SD card, your phone will have its own internal flash memory (or "NAND") storage. Tradditionally with Android, you could only install applications to this NAND storage, you cannot install them onto your SD card. So if you have an empty 32GB SD card, but only 5Mb of internal phone storage, you still wont be able to install many apps, if any at all.
This was done to protect the apps from things like piracy - it's not easy to access the location where apps are installed on your phone's internal storage (normally impossible without root), so you can't for example buy an app, copy it, refund it, then install it again.
Still, this is no good for those of us who like to install lots and lots of apps, legitimately, as we run out of internal storage very quickly.
So Google came up with a way to install apps to the SD card. A folder is created called something like .android_secure and this stores (I believe) encrypted versions of applications, but there's a few catches:
1) Apps aren't automatically stored here, you have to manually "move" them
2) Not all apps are capable of being moved, in fact most apps aren't, the developer needs to update their app and allow it. Some apps aren't and wont be updated and some developers may not want to allow it for whatever reason.
3) Not all app data is moved, most of it is but some data is left on your phone so many people still run out of internal storage quickly.
4) You can force ALL apps to be moved to this area by default, but it breaks incompatible ones - such as Widgets, which are unable to load due to the SD card not being "prepared".
So that's Froyo's version. Before Froyo existed, some very clever people came up with a thing called "Apps2SD". Remember I said that your SD card normally is one big FAT32 partition? Well, Apps2SD works by having your SD card patitioned into TWO filesystems. A normal FAT32 partition for your usual stuff and a secondary "EXT" partition. EXT is just a filesystem, like FAT32 or NTFS, but it's the filesystem used by Android internally. The SD card is normally FAT32 because it's a "universal" filesystem, that just about any machine will be able to read, whereas EXT filesystems are generally Linux only, but I digress.
EXT has several different versions. The most common one you'll see is ext3. The main difference between ext2 and ext3 is "journaling", which is just a fancy way of saying that should an operation (such as copying, writing or reading) be interrupted unexpectedly (say, by you turning your phone off), then no data should be lost or corrupted. You know how when you turn your phone on, it says "preparing SD card"? It takes a few minutes, but what it's actually doing is checking that the FAT32 partition hasn't been damaged, because FAT does NOT have journaling. If you used a computer back in the Windows 98 days, you may remember that lovely blue "Scandisk" screen that had to run every time you didn't shut your computer down correctly - that's the same thing. But then Windows 2000/XP came along with NTFS, which also has journaling, meaning you had less chance of loosing data. But I digress once more.
So you have your SD card partitioned into EXT and FAT32. Generally it doesn't matter if it's ext3 or ext4, but you don't get any real advantage with ext4 over ext3 in this instance. Apps2SD then runs a special script on your phone which "symbolically links" the folder from your phone's internal storage where your apps are normally stored, to the ext partition on your SD card. A symbolic link is a bit like a shortcut for folders, except it's transparent to the OS: In other words, Android doesn't know that when it's installing it's apps to the internal phone storage, it's actually being stored on the SD card. This effectively boosts your internal phone memory from the previous 5mb that you had in my example above, up to whatever size you made the ext partition on your SD card (often 512Mb or 1Gb, but it depends on how many apps you install).
Plus, because it's "journaled", it doesn't need to be "prepared", meaning it's ready to go as soon as the phone starts - so your widgets and apps work immediately (unlike "forced" Froyo Apps2SD, where widgets disappear).
The catch with Apps2SD is that whatever space the ext partition takes up is taken away from the SD card. So if you have a 4Gb card (with something like 3.5Gb of actual storage) and you make a 512Mb ext partition, your SD card will "shrink" to 3Gb. The space isn't actually lost, it's just being used by the ext partition. If you reformat your card, you'll get it back.
Finally, there's a difference between "Apps2SD" and "Apps2SD+". Remember I said that your apps are stored on a special folder inside your Phone's NAND storage? Well, that was a bit of a lie. It's actually stored in TWO places. There's a second area which is called the Davlik Cache. You don't really need to worry about what this is for (Hint: IT's to do with the Java runetime your phone uses to run apps), all you need to know is that apps use it to store data, which also eats up internal phone memory. Apps2SD+ moves davlik cache to the ext partition on your SD card as well, freeing up even more space. Some people believe that this may come at the cost of performance, as the internal NAND memory should be faster than your SD card (Which is why you also get people arguing over which "class" SD card is better for Apps2SD - the logic being that a faster SD card means less impact from this move), but the truth of the matter is that your applications will be running from your Phone's RAM anyway, so performance isn't really impacted at all. Since most apps are only a few hundred Kb's in size, or a couple of MB at the most, it's a non-issue.
Finally, any recent version of Apps2SD/Apps2SD+ should work with an SD card that is or isn't formatted with an ext partition. It'll check for this partition when your phone first boots and if it's not there, just use internal phone storage.
Having an ext partition WITHOUT Apps2SD+ shouldn't cause any issues, either, so you can format your SD card whenever you're ready.
So in summary:
Apps2SD "fakes" your phone's internal memory and puts it all on a hidden section of your SD card.
Apps2SD+ pushes even more content to the SD card, freeing up even more space on the phone itself.
"Froyo" Apps2SD has various limitations that "old" apps2SD does not, but is much easier to handle as it doesn't involve any kind of "partitioning".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

@neoKusha
Top post! Thanks very much.

So if you're using A2SD+, do the "move to phone" and "move to SD card" buttons actually do anything or are they just left there from legacy A2SD? And what does the "Auto" setting of ModInstallLocation actually do? How does it decide whether to install to internal or external?

chipyy said:
So if you're using A2SD+, do the "move to phone" and "move to SD card" buttons actually do anything or are they just left there from legacy A2SD? And what does the "Auto" setting of ModInstallLocation actually do? How does it decide whether to install to internal or external?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Move to SD would still work, all it would do is move from the ext partition on the SD card to the FAT32 partition (in the .android_secure folder).

neoKushan said:
Move to SD would still work, all it would do is move from the ext partition on the SD card to the FAT32 partition (in the .android_secure folder).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doh, so essentially they mean the opposite?!
What about the ModInstallLocation app, if you leave that set on Auto, how does it decide where to install things?

Rom Manager asks me to set the partition sizes, then reboots into clockworkmod recovery. No partitioning appears to have been done to the phone though. What am I supposed to do? Or is this a bug?

+1 THX very much to neoKusha! couldn't be explained on a better way!
just one question: ROMmanager makes an ext3 partition, isn't it?
THX again
Dg

chipyy said:
Doh, so essentially they mean the opposite?!
What about the ModInstallLocation app, if you leave that set on Auto, how does it decide where to install things?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think about it like this. When using "old" Apps2SD (or Apps2SD+), you're installing your apps to a hidden part of the SD card, a part so hidden that even Android itself doesn't realise it's there, it just thinks it's your phone's internal storage. So when it says "move to SD", it doesn't realise that it's already ON the SD.
As for the ModInstallLocation, I don't use it so I can't comment, but no matter what it picks, it'll always end up on the SD card if you're using Apps2SD, all that changes is which partition it'll end up on. "Internal" storage will be the EXT partition and "SD" will be the .android_secure folder.
However, if you're using Apps2SD, you're better off installing to "internal" storage (As in, the EXT partition) as it's more compatible than Froyo's SD card storage.
irishdroid said:
Rom Manager asks me to set the partition sizes, then reboots into clockworkmod recovery. No partitioning appears to have been done to the phone though. What am I supposed to do? Or is this a bug?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure, perhaps it's already partitioned. Have you tried doing it from within Clockwork recovery itself?
Dave_G7 said:
+1 THX very much to neoKusha! couldn't be explained on a better way!
just one question: ROMmanager makes an ext3 partition, isn't it?
THX again
Dg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe so.

from another post I have this sizes:
0mb swap
512 mb ext

neoKushan said:
Ok, so here's the deal, in a very longwinded way that should hopefully explain everything and answer ALL questions.
You have an SD card in your phone and, a bit like normal PC Hard Drives, you can "partition" them (split them into two or more sections of different filesystems). Normally, your SD card is just one big FAT32 partition, which is fine for storing your pics, messages, emails, etc.
Now, other then your Phone's SD card, your phone will have its own internal flash memory (or "NAND") storage. Tradditionally with Android, you could only install applications to this NAND storage, you cannot install them onto your SD card. So if you have an empty 32GB SD card, but only 5Mb of internal phone storage, you still wont be able to install many apps, if any at all.
This was done to protect the apps from things like piracy - it's not easy to access the location where apps are installed on your phone's internal storage (normally impossible without root), so you can't for example buy an app, copy it, refund it, then install it again.
Still, this is no good for those of us who like to install lots and lots of apps, legitimately, as we run out of internal storage very quickly.
So Google came up with a way to install apps to the SD card. A folder is created called something like .android_secure and this stores (I believe) encrypted versions of applications, but there's a few catches:
1) Apps aren't automatically stored here, you have to manually "move" them
2) Not all apps are capable of being moved, in fact most apps aren't, the developer needs to update their app and allow it. Some apps aren't and wont be updated and some developers may not want to allow it for whatever reason.
3) Not all app data is moved, most of it is but some data is left on your phone so many people still run out of internal storage quickly.
4) You can force ALL apps to be moved to this area by default, but it breaks incompatible ones - such as Widgets, which are unable to load due to the SD card not being "prepared".
So that's Froyo's version. Before Froyo existed, some very clever people came up with a thing called "Apps2SD". Remember I said that your SD card normally is one big FAT32 partition? Well, Apps2SD works by having your SD card patitioned into TWO filesystems. A normal FAT32 partition for your usual stuff and a secondary "EXT" partition. EXT is just a filesystem, like FAT32 or NTFS, but it's the filesystem used by Android internally. The SD card is normally FAT32 because it's a "universal" filesystem, that just about any machine will be able to read, whereas EXT filesystems are generally Linux only, but I digress.
EXT has several different versions. The most common one you'll see is ext3. The main difference between ext2 and ext3 is "journaling", which is just a fancy way of saying that should an operation (such as copying, writing or reading) be interrupted unexpectedly (say, by you turning your phone off), then no data should be lost or corrupted. You know how when you turn your phone on, it says "preparing SD card"? It takes a few minutes, but what it's actually doing is checking that the FAT32 partition hasn't been damaged, because FAT does NOT have journaling. If you used a computer back in the Windows 98 days, you may remember that lovely blue "Scandisk" screen that had to run every time you didn't shut your computer down correctly - that's the same thing. But then Windows 2000/XP came along with NTFS, which also has journaling, meaning you had less chance of loosing data. But I digress once more.
So you have your SD card partitioned into EXT and FAT32. Generally it doesn't matter if it's ext3 or ext4, but you don't get any real advantage with ext4 over ext3 in this instance. Apps2SD then runs a special script on your phone which "symbolically links" the folder from your phone's internal storage where your apps are normally stored, to the ext partition on your SD card. A symbolic link is a bit like a shortcut for folders, except it's transparent to the OS: In other words, Android doesn't know that when it's installing it's apps to the internal phone storage, it's actually being stored on the SD card. This effectively boosts your internal phone memory from the previous 5mb that you had in my example above, up to whatever size you made the ext partition on your SD card (often 512Mb or 1Gb, but it depends on how many apps you install).
Plus, because it's "journaled", it doesn't need to be "prepared", meaning it's ready to go as soon as the phone starts - so your widgets and apps work immediately (unlike "forced" Froyo Apps2SD, where widgets disappear).
The catch with Apps2SD is that whatever space the ext partition takes up is taken away from the SD card. So if you have a 4Gb card (with something like 3.5Gb of actual storage) and you make a 512Mb ext partition, your SD card will "shrink" to 3Gb. The space isn't actually lost, it's just being used by the ext partition. If you reformat your card, you'll get it back.
Finally, there's a difference between "Apps2SD" and "Apps2SD+". Remember I said that your apps are stored on a special folder inside your Phone's NAND storage? Well, that was a bit of a lie. It's actually stored in TWO places. There's a second area which is called the Davlik Cache. You don't really need to worry about what this is for (Hint: IT's to do with the Java runetime your phone uses to run apps), all you need to know is that apps use it to store data, which also eats up internal phone memory. Apps2SD+ moves davlik cache to the ext partition on your SD card as well, freeing up even more space. Some people believe that this may come at the cost of performance, as the internal NAND memory should be faster than your SD card (Which is why you also get people arguing over which "class" SD card is better for Apps2SD - the logic being that a faster SD card means less impact from this move), but the truth of the matter is that your applications will be running from your Phone's RAM anyway, so performance isn't really impacted at all. Since most apps are only a few hundred Kb's in size, or a couple of MB at the most, it's a non-issue.
Finally, any recent version of Apps2SD/Apps2SD+ should work with an SD card that is or isn't formatted with an ext partition. It'll check for this partition when your phone first boots and if it's not there, just use internal phone storage.
Having an ext partition WITHOUT Apps2SD+ shouldn't cause any issues, either, so you can format your SD card whenever you're ready.
So in summary:
Apps2SD "fakes" your phone's internal memory and puts it all on a hidden section of your SD card.
Apps2SD+ pushes even more content to the SD card, freeing up even more space on the phone itself.
"Froyo" Apps2SD has various limitations that "old" apps2SD does not, but is much easier to handle as it doesn't involve any kind of "partitioning".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One last question... When I let ROM Manager create a Ext partition it also ask for the swap setting? What to choose here, I have chosen the default now.

[Q] After partitioned my SD card, where the space had gone ?

Hi all "I am new at this stuff so apologies for my ignorance in the following explanation"
I have a rooted desire phone with a 4GB class 4 SD card and clockwork recovery
The internal free phone storge was 51.2MB, and I decided to partitioned my SD card in order to free more space for the app. "which is 90% of them are on the SD card" and for using some custum room "I actually dont konw the use of partitionning in custum room" but that what I read
So, I partitioned my SD card using Rom Manager with 512mb ext and zero swap with no errors, after that I put all the app. back to the SD card with no problem and all app. run smoothly from the SD card
I checked the internal phone storge using "DiskUsage" and it was as follows
Data 147.6MB
Application 35.4 MB "some of this app. can not move to the SD card & the other I wanted on the internal memory like Astro"
System data : 61.0MB
Free space 51.2MB "which is the same as befor partitioned as well as all the above sizes "
And the SD card total space was 3.21 GB which mean that the 512 MB suppose to be ext. partion right now
The Qustion is where is the 512 MB that suppose to be ext. partion ? Should this partitionning prosses free the internal memory of the phone ? and what is the use of partitionning in custum room ?

It is kind of weird at first when your new to it all. Took me a few weeks to get use to it and understand how it roughly works.
When you partition your SD card so you have an ext partition, it won't actually show up as internal memory. The internal memory is being read off of the /data partition. To make it simple, the ext partition acts like it's "hidden" so to speak. To get it working you would need an A2SD script at least. Depending on what rom you have, the script could be an addon, where you have to flash it after the rom, or it would be built in so it's just up and running anyway.
You can check to see if the ext partition is working. Apps can see if it's working, just search around in the market. To get the apps onto the ext partition, you would probably have to move them, but don't use the moving feature in Settings > Manage applications.

Thanks for your reply
I actually didnt flashed any custom rom yet "I am planning to" and I am running the stock rom froyo 2.2 which have the move 2 SD card feature, and the only app. that I had in this matter is "Move 2SD Enabler" which with It I moved almost all the application that I want to the SD card "some app I cant like the maps"
But even after the moving of all app. the internal phone memory is the same
I mean I cant feel any deference after the partitionning
So How can I use this 512MB ext partition or when ?
and also are these free space on the internal phone healthy ? or may I suffer a space problem when I tried to flash a rom? and what kind of ext does the rom manager do ext.2 or 3 or 4 ? and does it matter when flashing a rom ?
Sorry for the dozen of questions

With most roms it comes with A2SD (there are other deviations of it but the same principle). This is a script which tells the rom to install apps to the ext partition on your SD card instead of the internal memory. Thus, you get more app storage.
When you have A2SD, only the apps get put on the ext partition. Other things like the data for the apps and the dalvik cache stay on the internal memory and will (eventually) fill up the internal memory. That's where d2ext for example comes in. (You can read about all this stuff in your own spare time).
Recovery/rom manager uses ext3 but you can upgrade it to ext4.

Link2SD Partially working?

Well, the last time I installed Link2SD, it all went well - I partitioned, and got it set up working. Then I disabled it because I didn't really need it. Now after a few CM7 updates, I've found that I want to use Link2SD again.
So I partitioned my SD card again - 7GB FAT32 for normal storage, 456MB EXT4 for Link2SD.
I set up Link2SD and it created the mount script, I rebooted and found that if I looked at my internal memory size, it's still 150MB. Last time I used Link2SD the partition of my SD card was added onto my internal storage. I can still link apps to the SD partition, but my internal memory still comes up as 150MB, which makes me unable to install any more apps because it thinks it's full.
What have I done wrong? I'm using the latest CM7 build with a class 4 8GB SD card.

Link2SD doesn't adding your external storage to internal, it's just transfer everything you want to external storage. Your phone will say that you have 150 internal memory which is true but the catch is your free space there - if you set your link2SD options like they should be free space shouldn't change almost at all.
My guess is that you had data2SD with you previous ROM you used, that one do just that what you mentioned - add external space to internal (teoreticaly).

kobredabre said:
Link2SD doesn't adding your external storage to internal, it's just transfer everything you want to external storage. Your phone will say that you have 150 internal memory which is true but the catch is your free space there - if you set your link2SD options like they should be free space shouldn't change almost at all.
My guess is that you had data2SD with you previous ROM you used, that one do just that what you mentioned - add external space to internal (teoreticaly).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see, looks like I got the two confused then. Thanks for clearing that up for me
I cant really see the point of Link2SD then, since the phone thinks its installed on the internal memory when its installed on the SD partition. Android thinks the internal memory is full and doesn't allow you to install any more apps...
Sent from my Wildfire S using XDA

dudeman1996 said:
I see, looks like I got the two confused then. Thanks for clearing that up for me
I cant really see the point of Link2SD then, since the phone thinks its installed on the internal memory when its installed on the SD partition. Android thinks the internal memory is full and doesn't allow you to install any more apps...
Sent from my Wildfire S using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm it shouldn't be like that at all, something is wrong with you link2SD setup there...
Try this, open link2SD, hit Multi-select and choose Select all. Then hit Actions and choose Create link. That should transfer all apps that could be transferable to external storage (application files, dalvik-cache files and library files) and check your free internal space then (changes maybe not be visible immediatly, do one reebot just for case)
And i guess that you, before that, choosed right file type of your internal storage in link2SD (ext4 in this case). You can see external partition in link2sd's storage info, right?

kobredabre said:
Hmm it shouldn't be like that at all, something is wrong with you link2SD setup there...
Try this, open link2SD, hit Multi-select and choose Select all. Then hit Actions and choose Create link. That should transfer all apps that could be transferable to external storage (application files, dalvik-cache files and library files) and check your free internal space then (changes maybe not be visible immediatly, do one reebot just for case)
And i guess that you, before that, choosed right file type of your internal storage in link2SD (ext4 in this case). You can see external partition in link2sd's storage info, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah EXT4 is fine, it all shows up. Thanks for you help, I'm just gonna go with Data2SD

Newb question regarding ext2 format for sdcard

Newb question, why format the sd card with ext2 or ext3 if the rom is still being put on the phone?

If you are partitioned, the speed will be vastly improved and your space will double. Every time you install an app, it goes to external storage instead of internal storage, thus giving you more space. It also keeps the program. From closing every time you exit. For example, if you close a game with the app on internal, it exits and closes the app from memory leaving any non-saved progress gone. When on external, it caches the progress leaving the game running while using the phone for other purposes.
So in the end, the partition is better than no partition. :thumbup:

gbdavidx said:
Newb question, why format the sd card with ext2 or ext3 if the rom is still being put on the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The benefit of partitioning your sd card is it saves alot of internel space on your phone and using a htc evo,you will benefit tremendously,because the OG has very little memory to begin with,by this i mean it will move all of the apps/cache/delvik/temp files to your sd card,hence the sd ext.Alot of the OSes 3.5 sense/ICS/JB arent meant for the OG,they just take up way too much memory,so partitioning is the best thing to happen to the evo and all of the latest recoveries and roms are being built to be compatible with ext 4 and swap,with partitioning and a2sd combined,it gives you the needed internal memory for those memory hogs they call android operating systems,lol.

[Q] Internal storage space used for SD apps?

Hey,
As probably lots of you guys, I suffer from a lack of internal storage space (180mb, where 150mb was already taken after 2 hours of usage, having only installed 2-3 apps :s). As I want to avoid having to mount my SD in some tropical ways, I try to install as much as possible on the SD.
I however noticed that installing apps on SD also uses some internal storage? E.g. after installing Cut The Rope & Angry Birds, both apps +- took 30mb each on the SD, but also 5mb on the internal storage.
Is this normal?
Also, if you guys have any hints on how to decrease internal usage, you're welcome.. (already installed cache cleaners, no pics are on the internal storage, ..)
Thanks in advance!
Sven

the solution is to create a ext4 partition in sd card and use link2sd app available in play store, but after some time the memory will get full aswell.
another method is int2ext4 script that increase the internal storage and the internal memory will stay clean but you must have a good sd card atleast a class 6 : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1716124
you must have a rooted phone to use these things

porozex said:
the solution is to create a ext4 partition in sd card and use link2sd app available in play store, but after some time the memory will get full aswell.
another method is int2ext4 script that increase the internal storage and the internal memory will stay clean but you must have a good sd card atleast a class 6 : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1716124
you must have a rooted phone to use these things
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks!
I've read some stuff on both options, isn't link2sd a more 'dynamic' & safe option? You can specify manually which app you run on your internal/sd, allowing you to keep the most important apps on the faster internal storage?
If you use link2sd & choose to link EVERY app to the external sd, wouldn't that also cause the internal memory to be +- empty?

link2sd is better but after some time the internal memory will get full.
if you install a ton of apps and games use int2ext4 (without the +)

Sven_Vl said:
Hey,
As probably lots of you guys, I suffer from a lack of internal storage space (180mb, where 150mb was already taken after 2 hours of usage, having only installed 2-3 apps :s). As I want to avoid having to mount my SD in some tropical ways, I try to install as much as possible on the SD.
I however noticed that installing apps on SD also uses some internal storage? E.g. after installing Cut The Rope & Angry Birds, both apps +- took 30mb each on the SD, but also 5mb on the internal storage.
Is this normal?
Also, if you guys have any hints on how to decrease internal usage, you're welcome.. (already installed cache cleaners, no pics are on the internal storage, ..)
Thanks in advance!
Sven
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it because link2sd just only link apk file not dalvik file and cache
porozex said:
link2sd is better but after some time the internal memory will get full.
if you install a ton of apps and games use int2ext4 (without the +)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
because you just use link2sd like usually user do, there is more way you can do with link2sd that make you have more bigger storage
folow this Link2sd More Advanced. this trick can be use for stock too.
if you using link2sd than 2nd partition using fat32 file type :victory: