[Q] Installing a ROM using External SD Card - Vibrant Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I recently made a mistake on my phone & got it stuck in a boot loop. I figure the easiest fix is to just wipe system & install a new ROM from the CWM Recovery Menu. My problem is I cannot access the external sd card.
When trying to navigate install zip from sdcard > choose zip from sdcard > external_sd/ it simply returns "No Files Found". I'm assuming because that's probably just a symlink.
If I go to Mounts & Storage and attempt to mount /sd-ext, I get "Error mounting SDEXT :!.
Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way, so any help would be appreciated. I'm still fairly new to the whole Android scene.
I should note that my USB Port is broken so using that is out of the question. I've already attempted twice to replace it (damn thing wont desolder), but that's a whole other bag of worms.. That I won't bother re-visiting unless it's my only option.

RayG210 said:
I recently made a mistake on my phone & got it stuck in a boot loop. I figure the easiest fix is to just wipe system & install a new ROM from the CWM Recovery Menu. My problem is I cannot access the external sd card.
When trying to navigate install zip from sdcard > choose zip from sdcard > external_sd/ it simply returns "No Files Found". I'm assuming because that's probably just a symlink.
If I go to Mounts & Storage and attempt to mount /sd-ext, I get "Error mounting SDEXT :!.
Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way, so any help would be appreciated. I'm still fairly new to the whole Android scene.
I should note that my USB Port is broken so using that is out of the question. I've already attempted twice to replace it (damn thing wont desolder), but that's a whole other bag of worms.. That I won't bother re-visiting unless it's my only option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You install a rom with cwm through the internal sd, not external; so yeah, you're going about it the wrong way.

*tear* Just what I didn't want to hear.

a little help
you could try flashing a different kernal ie siyah pr cm9 these have different versions cwm included so you might be able to access your ext sdcard just a thought.

It depends on the version of CWR you have flashed. Whenever I run ICZen the version of CWR (5 something) that Deficient Development bakes in lets you flash zips from the external SD; very convenient.

Can the OP use DroidExplorer, and transfer a rom to the internal? I've not used DroidExplorer, but have heard it talked about.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA

If there isn't a ROM on the internal SD card to install from recovery, and the current kernel version does not support install from the external SD. Then I would assume you would need to ODIN to stock.
Good luck!
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda premium

Why can't you use something like Dropbox or Box and upload it from your PC, then download it to your phone and transfer to the sdcard of choice with a file explorer? Then flash away. In fact I just did this the other night bc I was too lazy to go to my PC and hook up my phone. I just uploaded it with my tablet and then downloaded it to my Vibrant.
Edit::: I just re-read your OP.
If I go to Mounts & Storage and attempt to mount /sd-ext, I get "Error mounting SDEXT :!.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is NOT the external sd card. SD-ext is another partition that has to be set up on the sdcard with something like Gparted or MiniTool Partition Wizard. It is for when you do not have the standard Samsung 2gb partition or the /datadata partition set up. FWIW, I have never seen this particular partition set up in the Vibrant.
I can't remember what the actual Mount option is in CWR but I definately know this is NOT it. Not sure if you remember seeing it or not but when you do a Nanadroid backup, it will always skip the SD-Ext part b/c there is nothing there. This is more mainly for older phone that were running Eclair and did not have native App2sd support. It was used as a hack to force that support.

i think go to a shop get your USB port repaired and get back to STOCK if you dont have any rom on your internal sd or do a (wipe cache etc etc) so that the phone will run on the ROM's kernel

Related

Cant flash zip files anymore

I wiped everything, re-partioned sd-card and tried to install a new ROM..
But something have happend..
After i re-patrioned / wiped... and flash the rom (have tried a lot of ROM's now) i get errors..
Install from sdcard
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
E:Can't open /sdcard/Cronos-2-0J_.zip
(bad)
Installation aborted.
Happends now on every rom i install, have already tried again to re-partion.
What is the most basic way to re-partion ? settings i mean?
Anyone know what could be the problem..
The zip files cant be corrupt either.
* I also noticed that if i upload a ROM-file, then re-partion and wipe everything..
The rom is still on the sd-card..
I then deleted the rom from sdcard and re-partion again, and still..even duo i already deleted the file.. its there?
Maybe it is because of the SD Card.. So if you have another one try it
I had this same problem i had to do a full format of the SD card then all worked fine never had the problem again strange
If you ecejt the SD card before its done (or eject it wrong) you may and up with a bad file.
What you could do is:
Format your SD card.
Then put a rom on it.
Then go to my pc, and find ur card, then right click and select eject
Yea something strange with your sdcard.
Try as they stated above. Remove the sdcard from your phone. Insert it back in.
Try to reformat it with a different sdcard setup like: no swap, no ext only fat32.
Then check if the card is still behaving the same if not good. If so maybe the sdcard is just defect?
Good Luck.
Arranmc182 said:
I had this same problem i had to do a full format of the SD card then all worked fine never had the problem again strange
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
same issue here, solved this way.
Did you flash an exotic recovery image by any chance?
You can always reflash 1 back by pushing it to /cache/ and flashing from there.
A radical way to overcome this would be to delete the partition table on your SDcard and let your current rom reformat it.
Im bumping my own thread.. Last time i bought a new sdcard..
Now this **** have happend again.. I get the same error as before!
How should i do this? Is there any other way then whats posted now?
Happens on all Roms
This is quite obvious but you make no mention of what recovery image is on you sd card?
I assume you saved the old image you were using and put it back on your sd card
Yes,maybe you recovery image is damaged.
Try to install again!
It sounds like your sd card is not actually partitioning since the rom is still on the sd card. To partition the sd manually try this:
I'm going to assume the following:
You are using Amon Ra recovery
You have not downloaded Clock Work recovery
You can still get into recovery using Amon Ra
You have SDK and JDK installed
You're using windows
Plug your phone into the computer. Open a command prompt (hit start and type cmd and press enter). Direct it to read from the tools directory of sdk " cd C:\android-sdk-windows\tools" for most people. Now follow the directions from this how-to http://androidandme.com/2009/08/news/how-to-manually-partition-your-sd-card-for-android-apps2sd/. Stop after step 4 and type "quit" unless you plan on repartioning your sd card (in which case, choose which partitions you wish to make). Move the new rom you want to boot to the sd card and try again.

[Q] SD ext Partition: What did I miss?

First of all, I apologize in advance. I searched through everything and can't find my question. I'm a complete smartphone noob (got my first one a couple days ago--Canada's wireless providers are criminally expensive and I boycotted them as long as I could) and, while I'm reasonably good at technical things overall, I'm totally inexperienced here, with smartphones in general, Android, and it's parent OS Linux.
That out of the way: I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace, with Gingerbread 2.3.4 on it, through the provider Koodo. I am loving this phone, but I'm not entirely sure why certain things didn't work. There were apps I couldn't download due to a lack of space (despite a mostly empty 16GB microSD card), and apps that wouldn't install for other reasons. And always that frighteningly small 158MB system drive staring me in the face. So I decided to try to fix it.
I carefully read every bunch of instructions I could find and understand. Successfully rooted the phone. Installed ClockworkMod Recovery. I repartitioned the SD card with a big ext partition and swap space using CWM. I installed CF-Root-S5830_dtapps2sd-v1.2.zip successfully, and App2SD from the market.
This hasn't helped my free space at all. Nothing seems to be using that new ext partition. My available space did not go up at all...but (of course) my SD card space went down by the size of the new partitions.
I was under the impression there were kernels that could help your phone treat the SD card ext partitions like system space, but I can't figure out where or how for the life of me. Everything has worked, but it hasn't actually done anything.
-NoobGrrl
ur cf-root is not the latest, and I think if u make sd card partition by using cwm, the format will be ext3 not ext4.. so, u should try this step :
1. flash the latest cf-root v37-b82 through cwm from this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1158197
2. partition ur sd card by using minitool partition wizard (google it) and make ext4 format.
3. flash the latest darktremor through cwm (don' forget to mount system n sd card) from this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=715116
4. install a2sd gui from market... done..
You probably forgot to move the dalvik cache to sd-ext from A2SDGUI.
To begin with, as you haven't done this before, I recommend you download the app link2sd rather than app2sdgui. Your system will be ext3 from CWM. Select and reboot. Then return to link2sd and you can move apps one by one or by batch installation to your partition by creating a "link". This method gives you finer control over which apps to move. It shows file sizes and how much of the app will be moved. After moving the apps reboot and hey presto - free internal memory.
I also recommend getting an app called DiskUsage to see what is taking up space and a file browser with root functions. I use Root Browser by jrummy16 - free on market.
Sent from a phone with an app.
First of all, thanks for the replies! I like the detailed instructions from musf especially...step-by-step for me is really the best way.
Okay, tried to follow those directions exactly. Minitool Partition Wizard has reformated the little 2GB partition I made on the SD card to ext4. Most recent CF-Root and dtapp2sd zips seemed to install fine. I think I mounted all the drives...I just do it from CWM, yes?
Downloaded A3SDGUI and it gives me an error:
Exiting A3SDGUI
Could not start for one of these reasons:
1. Your device is not rooted (it is, superuser shows access granted to A3SDGUI)
2. A3SD scripts could not be found (if so, no idea why.)
3. No EXT partition found (again, no idea why.)
Edit: Tried Link2SD and it gave an error as well, "Mount script could not be created. No such device."
Okay, so obviously it doesn't see my SD card's partition. So I put it back in my PC and recreated it again. No change at all...
yes from cwm, choose the "mount n storage" menu, then moutn system, then mount sdcard, then instal the darktremor zip file..
That seems to have almost worked...yes, I was mounting the drives after running DT. Duh. (I assumed somehow that DTapp2sd allowed me to set up the drives and I was telling the phone to mount it afterward so it could be used. I didn't realize DTapp2sd just needed to write to the drive.)
Almost. Almost worked.
Now, app2sd actually starts up successfully, no errors. (link2sd still gives the same error.) However, App2SD can't actually move anything. All items remain disabled, even after selecting them.
So then I remember the post above about the dalvik cache. So I go into App2SD and try to move it to the sd-ext folder, and it tells me there is not enough space. I have 124 MB of system memory left right now...and the SD card is mostly empty.
Follow the following instructions and tell me if they work:
(redo the steps even if you have done them already)
1. download cwm5 from the forum and place it into your sd card.
2. make a backup of your sd card and reboot your phone into recovery.
3. flash cwm5 file and reboot the recovery.
4. from the recovery, re-partition your card with a ext partition (you dont need more than 256-512mb. I have 16gb card and mine is only 256mb).
5. select swap if you want it.
6. ~partitioning complete~
7. Connect your phone to your computer with usb wire (while in recovery.)
8. mount usb storage from recovery.
9. copy the cfroot file to your memory card from pc.
10. unmount the usb storage.
11. mount system,sdcard, sd-ext (just to be on safe side) and flash with cfroot.
12. reboot.
13. open a2sdgui.
14. click yes, apps are on sd!, zipalign on boot is on!.
15. set swap if you want it.
16. from dalvik, click on dalvik cache on sd-ext and click move and rebuild.
17. your phone should reboot and you will be done
Notes: Its normal that after flashing a2sd script, your phone restarts a coupe of times so just leave it alone for a moment.
Don't forget to give superuser permission to a2sdgui.
If you still get some error, sty flashing the script again.
If it still doesn't get through, search for the dt a2sd beta 4 script and flash that from recovery. Other steps are the same!
Happy FLASHING
I'm using Clockworkmodace. That's 4, not 5, right?
I can't find a zip for CWM5 that is designated for the galaxy ace...
Here is CWM 5 : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1291327
Then , i would recommend you to use cyanogenmod 7.2 RC1 , it is better than a stock ROM
2 mistakes from redlag's instruction (cmiiw) :
first, cwm 5 is for cm7 based rom, dunno what'll happen if used on stock gb.. n second, point 4 can't be used, it'll make ext3 not ext4..
uninstall the link2sd then reflash the dta2sd (mount!) or uninstal the dt then reflash link2sd.. can't use both, they're like fire n water, lol.. u must choose..
musf said:
2 mistakes from redlag's instruction (cmiiw) :
first, cwm 5 is for cm7 based rom, dunno what'll happen if used on stock gb.. n second, point 4 can't be used, it'll make ext3 not ext4..
uninstall the link2sd then reflash the dta2sd (mount!) or uninstal the dt then reflash link2sd.. can't use both, they're like fire n water, lol.. u must choose..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think cwm5 should work and i made it using point 4 and it works perfectly.
p.s. sd-ext are normally ext2, not ext3 or ext4. ext4 is normally used in internal.
EDIT: No it dsn't. Use cwm4. I guess that one has partitioning option too right? O easy way out, flash to ics1.2
aymi60 said:
Here is CWM 5 : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1291327
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Edit: Ah, missed clarifications of my worried on the second page.
Then , i would recommend you to use cyanogenmod 7.2 RC1 , it is better than a stock ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is cyanogenmod?
musf said:
2 mistakes from redlag's instruction (cmiiw) :
first, cwm 5 is for cm7 based rom, dunno what'll happen if used on stock gb.. n second, point 4 can't be used, it'll make ext3 not ext4..
uninstall the link2sd then reflash the dta2sd (mount!) or uninstal the dt then reflash link2sd.. can't use both, they're like fire n water, lol.. u must choose..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No go...no change at all.
IrishRed said:
What is cyanogenmod?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to recovery, Wipe cache/system/data. (make sure you have made a backup of your data.)
Mount the stuff and flash with http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1258830
You have a new rom with dt a2sd running within
I'm going to try a different version of dtapp2sd first.
Should the ext and swap partitions be logical or primary?
I'm starting to think my EXT partition is not formatting properly in mini partition tool. Unfortunately CWM uses Ext3 and I'm told it's worse than Ext4 and Ext2 is better than both for an SD card.
Both primary. 1st one should be fat32 and second one should be ext2.
Well, good news and bad news. After some work, reformatting the partitions again, reflashing a new kernel, I finally got it working.
Trouble is, it's not stable. Apps keep crashing, the "Gallery" app only shows a black screen, and it randomly loses access to the FAT32 partition when running, and the SIM card occasionally says "Unrecognized" (forcing me to "restore to factory.")
*sighs*
Flash to the rom i linked you to.

Rom Manager with CM7

Does this work on the Nook Tablet? Mine doesn't appear to function when I try to do a backup.
ROM Manager
I am using ROM manager on CM7 alpha12 without problems. I use it to boot to CWM recovery and back. I use TB and CWM for backup so I can't verify backup with ROM manager.
dshafer85268 said:
I am using ROM manager on CM7 alpha12 without problems. I use it to boot to CWM recovery and back. I use TB and CWM for backup so I can't verify backup with ROM manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you are saying that you did the newest CM7 upgrade and your CWM works without using a SDcard? When I try to do a backup in ROM Manager my tablet will reboot and then it comes up with a screen saying to power cycle again and if this don't fix it call B&N support
ROM manager
Correct - if I want to use CWM I just start THE RM app and select to reboot to recovery. The tablet reboots into cwm and I do what I need,for example,backup and repartition data and media then select to reboot to regular CM7 ROM w/o changing SD card.
dshafer85268 said:
Correct - if I want to use CWM I just start THE RM app and select to reboot to recovery. The tablet reboots into cwm and I do what I need,for example,backup and repartition data and media then select to reboot to regular CM7 ROM w/o changing SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bummer Mine doesn't work and I have no idea how to fix it
I cant do a backup directly from ROM manager either.
BUT if you follow his directions and boot into CWM first, you can do a backup from there without a hitch.
If you want to name it yourself you need to go to the file in your file manager of choice, and change it there.
Can someone tell me where backups to internal storage are stored?
Thanks.
sdcard/clockworkmod/backup
I do believe you need a sd card for your backups.
It sounds like you do not have one, thats why you are not able to do a backup?
I have one and it creates a backup via internal. But when I try to backup to sd card, it tells me it failed to mount. So I backup via "internal storage." I can then go to restore and I see my backup from the internal there.
Dont have my tablet in front of me but it somehwere like: /mnt/emmc/clockworkmod/backup
You should find a clockwordmod in that general area if its like CM7 for other devices
You can manually mount and unmount your SDcard through clockwordmod as well. Have you tried to mount it manually before backing up
I just decided to try it again, booted into CWM and clicked "backup" and now its backing up to sd (free space showing as 30017MB, 32gb card so that makes sense).
Earlier when I tried manually mounting the sd card it was giving me an error (failed to mount). I have no idea what fixed it but its working now and I'm sure I'll be able to find the sdcard backup at the very least.
Thanks for your help.
The SD card doesnt always mount on its own in these devices. I HAVE noticed that..
Hell,it doent even want to mount with guidance, as you have just shown, and I have experienced as well..
Glad it worked this time..
sd mount
As has been noted in other threads, sometimes you have to take the card out and reinsert to get it to mount. I have had times when using the CWM menu option to mount sdcard failed. Turn the tablet over,click the card out and back in and it will mount
dshafer85268 said:
As has been noted in other threads, sometimes you have to take the card out and reinsert to get it to mount. I have had times when using the CWM menu option to mount sdcard failed. Turn the tablet over,click the card out and back in and it will mount
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely the case, but when in CWM it doesnt always mount even by ejecting and re-inserting the card.
At least from my experiences.

How can I erase the internal storage of my Tab?

Hi xda,
I'm not a typical android user and this was one of my firsts in messing around with my Tab 10.1. I have GTP7500 which I recently loaded up with CM10 and it's working fine except for the camera. Leave that and what I was going to say is that I'd like to remove my entire Internal Storage ( all the downloads, music, videos ) and stuff, i.e, like formatting the sd card. I'd like to know a way to format the internal storage of my Tab without affecting the system files as I don't want to create any troubles here. So, my questions are:-
1. Whether I can delete all the stuff shown inside the internal storage from my PC directly and would it affect the system? I cannot see any format option when I connect my tab to my PC so, I was hoping if I could manually delete all the files inside the storage and then doing a factory reset from cwm and installing the rom once again?
2. Or is there any app to do this?
3. Or if it is quite simple to do it the hard way, well, entering the fastboot and wiping the whole system (Read it somewhere before) and installing all the stuff again, then please do tell me that too. Otherwise, I'd go with the easy method, i.e, just format the internal storage.
Also, what about the format /sdcard option in the mounts and storages menu in CWM? I'm using CWM 5.5.0.4.
I think doing the "format /sdcard" in CWM should do what you are looking for as I have done that in the past. I would also temporarily back up the /sdcard contents onto your computer as a precaution in case an app was depending on any folders there, but I think it should be fine.
Thanks but still...
astrojo3 said:
I think doing the "format /sdcard" in CWM should do what you are looking for as I have done that in the past. I would also temporarily back up the /sdcard contents onto your computer as a precaution in case an app was depending on any folders there, but I think it should be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick reply. But would it remove other stuff including the boot files and other core files of Android? I've somewhere seen similar posts and whom did the format /sdcard but they proclaimed they lost whole files and had to do bootloader and install cwm and other stuff all over again to gain access. I've already managed to do format the sd card while installing the ICS official ROM for my tab but I did that via Samsung's recovery menu, i.e, one you get when installing their official ROMs and did a factory reset which erased all my internal storage files. But the same option won't remove internal storage in cwm. So, is format /sdcard the option to do this? I'd be glad to get a clear answer.
sangeeth96 said:
Thanks for the quick reply. But would it remove other stuff including the boot files and other core files of Android? I've somewhere seen similar posts and whom did the format /sdcard but they proclaimed they lost whole files and had to do bootloader and install cwm and other stuff all over again to gain access. I've already managed to do format the sd card while installing the ICS official ROM for my tab but I did that via Samsung's recovery menu, i.e, one you get when installing their official ROMs and did a factory reset which erased all my internal storage files. But the same option won't remove internal storage in cwm. So, is format /sdcard the option to do this? I'd be glad to get a clear answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, format sdcard in CWM. It will only wipe the data stored there. Your bootloaders and ROM will remain unaffected, however I would still backup the sdcard to your computer before doing this just in case.
bkress said:
Yep, format sdcard in CWM. It will only wipe the data stored there. Your bootloaders and ROM will remain unaffected, however I would still backup the sdcard to your computer before doing this just in case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was wondering about this, too. Thanks for helping!
Sent from my GT-P7500 using XDA Premium HD app
The method above does work. However, if you really want to wipe the whole device completely clean, using Odin to flash stock firmware will blow it all out and make you factory-fresh in one operation.

Trying to install a rom?

I'm having some trouble right now.. I rooted my phone, I put Hellybean onto my microsd card. I booted to android system recovery > reinstall packages, and then i deleted cache, formatted system, deleted the other cache etc.
I tried to find the hellybean zip on my microsd card but it was no where to be found.. So I rebooted my phone and now I have no OS, and when I boot into recovery and go to reinstall packages to try and get back to clockwork mod recovery menu it's not there either (assuming I'm missing the files to go there now).
What can I do guys? Do I need to get 2.3 back on here again and redo everything.. when I get back to where I'm going to flash the hellybean rom how do I find the file on my sd card? I went to SD folder and it wasn't there but I checked my sd card and it is there on the computer.
The ROM zip needs to be on your internal storage.
Mount on your PC, if your internal storage shows move ROM there with update.zip for Clockwork Mod.
Reinstall packages and once in cwm you'll be able to install HB from the zip.
If you can't see internal storage I'd Odin back to stock and then try again.
Toast6977 said:
The ROM zip needs to be on your internal storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I've come to realize this
Toast6977 said:
The ROM zip needs to be on your internal storage.
Mount on your PC, if your internal storage shows move ROM there with update.zip for Clockwork Mod.
Reinstall packages and once in cwm you'll be able to install HB from the zip.
If you can't see internal storage I'd Odin back to stock and then try again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I didn't understand what you meant in the beginning. Mount on your pc? Explain a little?
If that doesn't work how do I use Odin to flash back to stock, what do I need to do, i don't need a full detailed guide but just what files and what buttons to press on odin.
There are lots of very detailed Odin guides. Look around. I wasn't real clear at first if you could get in CWM recovery. If you could, then you could Mount Storage and your PC would have seen the internal storage, thus allowing you to put the ROM.zip on it..
Look in the stickies for Odin guide. They are easy to follow. I'd tell you how to do it, but if you read it yourself you'll understand what your doing, and it will help you in the long run.
blasteryui said:
I'm having some trouble right now.. I rooted my phone, I put Hellybean onto my microsd card. I booted to android system recovery > reinstall packages, and then i deleted cache, formatted system, deleted the other cache etc.
I tried to find the hellybean zip on my microsd card but it was no where to be found.. So I rebooted my phone and now I have no OS, and when I boot into recovery and go to reinstall packages to try and get back to clockwork mod recovery menu it's not there either (assuming I'm missing the files to go there now).
What can I do guys? Do I need to get 2.3 back on here again and redo everything.. when I get back to where I'm going to flash the hellybean rom how do I find the file on my sd card? I went to SD folder and it wasn't there but I checked my sd card and it is there on the computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It concerns me that you said: "Do I need to get 2.3 back on here again"
The t959 never received an official 2.3 update. Does your device have a front facing camera? If so you have the t959v which is a very different device and is in a different section on xda.
sent from the depths of helly bean
The guide to ODIN back to factory stock is in the first sticky thread of this section: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=849028
But also make sure you are using the Vibrant and flashing roms for it, not the S 4G.

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