Root Do i need to partition my sd card before I flash a custom ROM?

[johnbhoyc]

I'm getting conflicting instructions from the faqs.

 

[Meh]

Nope. From my understanding it's only if you want to force whole apps to the sd card. I've flashed CM7, GingerVillain, Oxygen, and Redux without partitioning.

 

[Hadron]

There are some that don't work if you do not. Depends on the a2sd script used. The a2sd version of LeeDroid used to be one that would not - I don't really follow Sense ROMs so don't know whether that is still the case.

As you say, many work without. Some (e.g. CM) don't even come with a2sd by default, but have it as an add-on. And the DarkTremor script used by GV (and which I'm now using with CM) does not cause problems if there is no partition.

 

[williamj1]

In short, No.

It depends on the ROM, some do, some don't.

But if you are flashing a custom ROM anyway, I fail to see why you wouldn't want to? It is really quite easy to do, and then you can store way way way way more apps than before using A2SD or even D2SD

 

[johnbhoyc]

In short, No.

It depends on the ROM, some do, some don't.

But if you are flashing a custom ROM anyway, I fail to see why you wouldn't want to? It is really quite easy to do, and then you can store way way way way more apps than before using A2SD or even D2SD

So you wild recommend I partition? What's the easiest guide to fillow?

 

[williamj1]

So you wild recommend I partition? What's the easiest guide to fillow?

Well yes. Presumably like everyone else with a Desire, you find the internal memory a bit of an issue? If you have rooted already, and are willing to flash a custom ROM, you might as well do the full works and use A2SD. I've got over 120 apps and still got 60mb free.


As for the best guide, this one probably....

(Taken from SuRoot's guide - http://androidforums.com/desire-all-things-root/220627-faq-apps2sd-updated-16th-may-2011-a.html )

" Assuming you are rooted;

1) Backup your SD card contents to your PC
2) Download GParted Live cd, burn to CD and boot to it GParted -- Live CD/USB/PXE/HD
3) Connect your device in Recovery mode and mount as USB mass storage
4) Resize the existing FAT32 partition from the back, leaving space after it and create an EXT partition in the space. Steps for the GUI are below.
In the drop down menu (top right) select the SD card (be careful not to select your HDD)
Right click on the FAT32 Partition and select resize
Press the Up arrow on "Free Space Following" until you have the desired sizes
Click Resize
right click in unallocated space and select New> EXT format of your choice
Click Apply

5) now you just need to flash your ROM with a2SD+ support.

Alternatively, you can download and ROM manager to partition the SD card, however you cannot easily check the partition is correct. Also, I do not recommend using ROM manager at all. It looks easy to use (and it is) but people using this can get into trouble and it takes away the requirement of knowledge on what it is doing, which is useful to help you get out of trouble. "

SUroot

It's not my guide, so remember to say thanks to him ^

 

[johnbhoyc]

That's the guide I was looking at but I don't gave any cd's. Is there any other way doing it?

 

[williamj1]

That's the guide I was looking at but I don't gave any cd's. Is there any other way doing it?

Yes, you can use the app ROM Manager from the market (free). But there are some issues with it I think, and all the experts on here don't recommend it.

Having said that, I did mine that way without any issues.
I've asked SuRoot to advise, so i'll let you know when he replies.

 

[SUroot]

Gparted uses the extended file system (ext) as its from linux, therefore its the native file system (this is why not to use windows apps as ext is alien to windows.

As to why not use rom manager? well 1) you have rom manager which causes issues with all sorts of things - may add temptation to use it for other things..

2) It doesnt always work, but you cant delete or fix a dodgy partition its created without gparted.

You can use gparted to make a bootable USB stick. Just see the website link.

Or use one of the bootable usb tools linked in the download thread. I used Yumi and it worked well.

 

[johnbhoyc]

Gparted uses the extended file system (ext) as its from linux, therefore its the native file system (this is why not to use windows apps as ext is alien to windows.

As to why not use rom manager? well 1) you have rom manager which causes issues with all sorts of things - may add temptation to use it for other things..

2) It doesnt always work, but you cant delete or fix a dodgy partition its created without gparted.

You can use gparted to make a bootable USB stick. Just see the website link.

Or use one of the bootable usb tools linked in the download thread. I used Yumi and it worked well.

Thanks again for replying. I think partitioning my SD card and s-offing using a usb stick are probably beyond my capabilities just now. Is it possible fir me to go ahead and install a custom Rom without s-offing and partitioning? I'm mainly interested in a new sense/gingerbread based Rom

 

[SUroot]

You dont need s-off at all to flash roms.

Some roms as mentioned earlier have more modern a2sd+ scripts that allow boot regardless of whether the partition is present or not. Before, a2sd+ scripts would prevent boot without a partition.

As to whether of the GB sense roms have that feature, I'm not best placed to answer that

Edit. Making a bootable usb stick is easy if you have one spare. Download the gparted ISO from the site.

Download yumi from my dropbox thread (in signature)

Here is the yumi site http://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/

All you do is you run yumi, select which drive letter is your usb. Then find gparted in the list then browse to it*(note the version is different so rename your .iso file to be the same version as the one in the list) then hit create. Its dead easy

 

[Usta]

@johnbhoyc,
As others have already mentioned, don't worry about S_OFF or creating partitions for now.
Just check the custom ROM requirements and flash it.
However, I would highly recommend you to create a 1GB primary ext partition, because this will fix the internal storage problem.


@SUroot,
I've always used re-writable CDs for boot matters, but I think next time I'll give yumi a go. Thanks.

 

[GingaB]

Johnboyc if you have AmonRa recovery on your phone Id suggest you partition your sd card through it. Ive done that myself and recommended it to few people before. In case you dont have it I highly recommend it [Recovery] [14-Nov-2010] RA-desire-v2.0.0 [GSM] - xda-developers

 

[SUroot]

@johnbhoyc,
As others have already mentioned, don't worry about S_OFF or creating partitions for now.
Just check the custom ROM requirements and flash it.
However, I would highly recommend you to create a 1GB primary ext partition, because this will fix the internal storage problem.


@SUroot,
I've always used re-writable CDs for boot matters, but I think next time I'll give yumi a go. Thanks.

Thank infernalbyte for that one

 

[Rastaman-FB]

i used unetbootin, worked a treat.
yummi seems more successful though

 

[SUroot]

There's a bug in unetbootin where sometimes you get "missing OS" on boot. I got this everytime I tried on Windows and Linux.

 

[johnbhoyc]

Thanks everyone for the replies, very kind of yous

We it seems so far in this root procedure I've run in to every problem imaginable lol. As yous know I'm rooted now but have been eager to s-off and partition before installing any custom roms.

Well the problems just keep continuing lol. After going out today and buying blank cd's I've finally burned gparted and alpharev to disks. thing is now however I don't have a working keyboard for my pc. I normally use my netbook but for rooting because I need a disk drive I've also set up my pc which has been lying dormant for months. I've been using the onscreen keyboard but this cant be used when the pc is in booting mode so the cd's I've made are worthless until I go out and get myself a keyboard tomorrow.

In the mean time I've been trying to use the yumi method, I click on

"select the driver letter of your usb device"

G:\

2."Select a distribution from the following box to put on your usb"

I've tried all 5 options

3. Select iso

When doin this I browse to where the iso is stored(desktop) but it doesn't show up

Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

 

[johnbhoyc]

Hi folks.

I've went ahead and unstalled redux on my phone so no need to answer my last question. Ill get a keyboard later today and get it done that way.

Thanks again for your help guys

 

[johnbhoyc]

Thats me all s-offed and partitioned. Thanks to everyone for their help.

How do I move my apps to my sd partition now? do I need to download an app?

Also my partition is ext4 I'm sure. Some of the roms are requiring ext3. Will that be a problem for me?

 

[Hadron]

The phone will think your ext partition is part of the internal memory. So you need to move your apps (if they aren't already) to internal, i.e. "to phone".

Install Quick System Info from the market and use it to check your partition is being used (a2sd storage). Chances are that for most of your apps have been put there without you doing anything.

Did you flash the dalvik2ext add-on from the "other downloads" link in the redux downloads page? That will save you more internal space.

 

[johnbhoyc]

The phone will think your ext partition is part of the internal memory. So you need to move your apps (if they aren't already) to internal, i.e. "to phone".

Install Quick System Info from the market and use it to check your partition is being used (a2sd storage). Chances are that for most of your apps have been put there without you doing anything.

Did you flash the dalvik2ext add-on from the "other downloads" link in the redux downloads page? That will save you more internal space.

Thanks.

No I haven't flashed with dalvik2ext. I had no idea I had to, it's all new to me and I'm just trying to get to grips with flashing lol. So even after I've installed a custom rom do I need to flash it further with add-ons?

Maybe thats why redux didn't seem to have flash on my device.

I'm going to install a gingerbread/sense rom now as I didn't really like redux. It crashed on me twice today while browsing on Dolphin hd using mobile internet. Going to stick with something more farmiliar to me.

Could you recommend and gb/sense roms? I like the look of the new sense

Will my partition being ext4 be a problem?

 

[Hadron]

You didn't have to flash dalvik2ext, it really is an extra. It just saves a few 10s of MB, depending on how many apps you have. Most ROMs work out of the box, though there are a few which more-or-less require extras (e.g. no google apps with CyanogenMod unless you do). Those of us who've been doing this for a while are usually flashing a number of other things, but it's not essential

I'm surprised at Redux crashing though - I've run it for several days on a couple of occasions and found it absolutely stable.

I don't think ext4 will be a problem. Unfortunately I'm not a Sense person, and have never used any of the GB Sense ROMs, so can't offer a recommendation. Have a browse or search through this forum though, I'm sure you'll find some opinions.