I have so many apps installed on my SD card using the builtin Gingerbread apps2sd that when I start my phone or switch from USB disk drive mode I can't access my SD card apps for about a minute or so while Android checks the SD card (or so I'm assuming).
Will switching to an Ext partition on my SD card make startup faster? It drives me nuts that when my phone reboots (which it tends to do when it overheats) it starts up pretty quick but I can only access the apps on the phone for the first minute or so.
Btw, I'm running CM7.1 nightly 213 for the Evo. Thanks!
Bump ... anyone have any experience?
To answer my own question, a resounding YES
I partitioned my SD card with Paragon Partition Manager using resize so I didn't lose data and formatted the new partition ext4. I used S2E which made the process super simple, although I had to move all of my SD card apps back to "internal phone memory" (now pointing to the sd-ext partition), but Titanium Backup made that batch job easy. Starting up apps are accessible MUCH quicker and I don't have to worry about widgets and keyboards being screwed up due to being on SD. DO IT!
Related
app2sd vs link2sd?
link2sd, you can keep application on intern storage, so you can unplug µsd card
Blouw73 said:
link2sd, you can keep application on intern storage, so you can unplug µsd card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, but the linked apps might get messed up, if you pull the µsd card out, while the phone is turned on. better do that when your phone is turned off.
link2sd
Once app2sd is installed, every app gets installed to SD. With link2sd, you only move apps of your choice to sd.
I chose to leave Titanium Backup, Root Explorer and Fancy Widget in system memory. Every other app I moved to SD.
Link2sd
Edit: It is an application so you just install it like any other .apk (and with your ext* partition). You can choice the applications you want to link to your sd
I'd installed App2SD before seeing link2sd appeared around the internet.
I have no intention of reverting everything just for the sake of link2sd since both working the same principle only that link2sd have the option to choose which app to install where..
However, all my apps specially titanium backup, root explorer, fancy widget and etc are running fine even they all were installed in the sdcard. All I do is assuming I have that extra storage by default(app2sd installed) and leave it anonymously in the background.
This is just based on my experience and Opinion.
Link2SD hassle free, user configurable.
App2SD hassle to install, all apps are moved to SD(not user configurable)
Link2sd, no doubt
I prefer Link2SD !
Before I've trying to install app2sd but when I reboot (I use a class 2 SDcard ><') my home doesn't launch and my phone was unusable because of the forceclosed of Launcherpro... But now with Link2SD I let my home on the phone and link all the other applications
Finally Link2SD is a software ! you can remove it easier and safer than app2SD
Link2sd , without hesitation .
link2sd, I need to have the choice
Prefer Link2SD,have choice on my side.
another argument here: Link2SD can move apk and dex files only. Data folders remains on the phone. you will notice that the more apps you install, even though you move them to ext*, your internal storage will eventually get smaller.
App2sd moves everything, so you will save more space that way.
preference then. if you need more internal space, go for app2sd. if you need some apps on the internal storage like i do (widgets, utility tools like root explorer, call meter, poweramp), use Link2sd.
I use link2sd and it works well. I know on my phone storage is such an annoyance. So I am quite happy to use it.
I have a couple questions for you all.
I had the fat partition of my card become unreadable by my phone but the ext was fine but trying to reformat the fat partition I messed up the ext partition because without being able to mount the sd through the phone I could not get the computer to recognize it correctly to use a program like EASUS Partition Master and fearing regular windows format would kill both so I tried the phones format and it did the whole card too...a shame.
Is there an easy way to back up the fat and ext partition of your sd cards?
What is the highest class card that makes a difference on performance of apps?
When a card is linked to sd and data is still on phone is the cache as well and is there program that can link caches to sd card or something like that?
necrohades said:
another argument here: Link2SD can move apk and dex files only. Data folders remains on the phone. you will notice that the more apps you install, even though you move them to ext*, your internal storage will eventually get smaller.
App2sd moves everything, so you will save more space that way.
preference then. if you need more internal space, go for app2sd. if you need some apps on the internal storage like i do (widgets, utility tools like root explorer, call meter, poweramp), use Link2sd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is just my opinion regarding the app2sd and link2sd.
I think the argument is like more on a performance vs space argument,
though link2sd only move apk and dex, since data is on a fast storage. the performance will not be affected.
I think you will not benefit much on app2sd, performance wise if you are using class 4 or lower sd. and might even force close application on class 2.
its not likely you'll install 90 to 100+ apps on your phone anyway.
but in end, its still a matter of preference.
no doubt , link2sd better
if you use like 80+ apps
i recommend apps2sd for 1 reason
backup and restore using apps like MyBackup pro is done easily by only one touch
BackUp app with Astro BackUp Manager and Link2SD functionary like a charm.
both apps are awesome but for my needs, link2sd is more practical......
Clear your doubts guys!!!
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".
IF U LIKE HIT THANKS
Good idea, mate
Dear Masters,
Need your help again.
I am using the application LINK2SD for transferring my applications to SD card. But what I see is, there is some memory still used from the phone memory even after moving that application.
So, I want to know what can be the reason for that and is there any way to move that data part to SD card?
Please do guide because as per me this is not making any sense in rooting the device as still my phone memory gets low.
Hope that solution gets resolved as always.
Chin2.
Sadly Link2SD cannot link app data, and so internal memory will still be taken up by this. The only way around it is to install JaggyRom (or else install a custom kernel with ext2/3/4 support and a data2SD script, but JaggyRom would be simpler I think) and use it's app2SD functionality instead of Link2SD.
There are various ways to move app data to SD, but they all seem to require the second partition on your SD card to be an ext partition, rather than a FAT partition, and ext partitions are not supported by the stock kernel. I have yet to come across any app or script which will move app data to a FAT formatted 2nd SD card partition.
Thanks
SifJar,
Thanks for your reply, I have already got JaggyRom in my HTC explorer and also downloaded APP2SD from play store, will this suffice? Or I need to add any Kernel or anything like that?
And what about the partitioning of SD card? can you put some light on that as I am a newbie to Android.
Thanks once again.
Chin2.
If you have JaggyRom, you don't need any app from Play Store. It comes with A2SDGUI preinstalled and has an apps2SD script already configured. All you need to do is create a second partition on your SD card. You need to connect your SD card to a computer (via a card reader, NOT your phone), get a partition manager (e.g. MiniTool Partition Wizard) and shrink your current FAT32 partition. Then make a new partition (not sure which is the best format, I think ext4, but ext2 and ext3 should work too) and make sure you also make this partition primary. (So both partitions will be primary). You'll want to make this partition reasonably large. Mine is about 700MB and I use about 500MB roughly with about 85 apps installed.
Once this is done, put it in your phone and start it. Then use A2SDGUI to move apps to SD card (don't move system apps, I don't think it will allow you to anyway), and I think it should automatically move any new apps you install in the future.
chin2h said:
Dear Masters,
Need your help again.
I am using the application LINK2SD for transferring my applications to SD card. But what I see is, there is some memory still used from the phone memory even after moving that application.
So, I want to know what can be the reason for that and is there any way to move that data part to SD card?
Please do guide because as per me this is not making any sense in rooting the device as still my phone memory gets low.
Hope that solution gets resolved as always.
Chin2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is normal to have some kilobytes left there.I have a sensation and it always leaves some data on the phone and it isn't a lot.
The stock kernal can support ext2 partition so even without jaggyrom u can do it.
htcexplorergames.blogspot.com
All compatible HD games for explorer
This is my blog all the games are tested by me and working fine,If you want old games just post it here and I will add it both the apk and sd data with instruction
mohan1331 said:
The stock kernal can support ext2 partition so even without jaggyrom u can do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure? I have never seen that anywhere else, everywhere else says stock kernel only supports FAT32.
Low internal memory
I had Recently installed Jaggyrom for my explorer but having application problems.I had Already Created ext2 partion and Fat32 both are primary.I have also Enabled app2sd on sd card but application still consumes my Internal memory.Please Help me out !
Hahahaha ! If you are clever enough so try modifying apk of sims freeplay for explorer !
Regards !
%%%SAY NO TO RACISM%%%
chin2h said:
Dear Masters,
Need your help again.
I am using the application LINK2SD for transferring my applications to SD card. But what I see is, there is some memory still used from the phone memory even after moving that application.
So, I want to know what can be the reason for that and is there any way to move that data part to SD card?
Please do guide because as per me this is not making any sense in rooting the device as still my phone memory gets low.
Hope that solution gets resolved as always.
Chin2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Follow this guide
http://androidgamingcentre.blogspot.com/2013/01/trick-how-to-increase-internal-memory.html?m=1
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e
Have you made ext-2 partition on your sd card ?
Okay do you have more than 50 apps installed to SD (/mnt/sdcard/.android_secure)? If so that's probably your problem. Apparently all versions of Android since 2.3.5 (and including 4.0.3) have a major bug where you can't have more than 50 apps installed on SD or you'll get either 1) random SD card dismounts or 2) random reboots (or Sense Rosie restarts). The solutions are either use a ROM with A2SD support (or A2SD+) or, even better, use Link2SD. Both of these solutions require re-partitioning your SD card. I have fully-embraced Link2SD on my Evo3D and so far everything is running great. I have a SanDisk 64GB microSD class 10 card and I think the phone may actually be faster with all the apps linked to the second partition on my SD card than having them installed locally! I used MiniTool PartitionWizard in Windows to shrink my existing FAT32 partition on the card and created an 8GB FAT32 partition for linked apps with Link2SD. So far I've only used about 3.5GB of that but maybe I'll install all my digital kids books on it too (though mostly I want those on my tablets, obviously). I thought the random reboots or Rosie restarts were something wrong with the custom ROMs I was using but then I discovered that this happens with ANY ROM that is Android 2.3.5 or later and it's not specific apps causing it but rather having too many apps on SD (via Apps2SD/Titanium). Incidentally, another advantage of Link2SD is that the second partition of your SD card isn't mounted when you plug the phone into a computer so those apps keep working and don't disappear. ROCKS!
Hello all..
My question is about the SD card you keep on your phone to save apps and run them from it, in order to free internal storage. My question is because I tried to install apps on the sd card, but they kept crashing upon start, while other people says they work normally running from sd cards. But when i installed the apps on internal memory, they did work just fine. I'm wondering if this is because the the file system of this type of setup should be other than fat32??
Also, Androidwise, is there a use for ext4 format other than recovery and stuff like that? like a daily android use?
I just moved to Android less than a week ago. my phone runs kitkat, and it's rooted..
Thanks in advance.