Root SD partition balls-up

[kac]

Hey folks

I tried to partition my SD card and install VillainRom 11.9.1 using the 'normal installation' method described at this linkcreate an ext partition. Something went wrong and my SD card was pretty much wiped clean. I lost pics and files (which isn't much of a problem) but I'm more concerned about losing nandroid back-ups and everything else that was put by the rooting process like the amon-ra recovery stuff. Can someone let me know what I should have and where I can get it?

Thanks

kac

 

[Xyro]

Are you sure it went wrong? Partitioning does always wipe the card.

 

[kac]

That's what I thought but I can't find the files etc anywhere... Tried looking with Astro and dont know how to access the phone memory.

 

[daveybaby]

Dude, read xyro's post again, slowly. Your files are gone. Forever. Partitioning a card will wipe it clean.

 

[Xyro]

Yeah, unfortunately everything on the card before the partitioning has been deleted.

The only stuff on there now will be your apps (which you can't actually see via astro/windows) and anything you put back after partitioning.

Were there any nandroid backups you particularly needed? All you can do now is flash ROMs anew. If you're worried about your original nandroid backup, the one that contains the stock rom, it's also possible to flash those again via the custom recovery menu.

 

[kac]

Cheers folks

Luckily I'd backed-up a while back and saved an early nandroid on my laptop. Just lost most recent stuff. Guess it always pays to back-up eh!

 

[nydrumboy]

So if you want to partition your SD card, can you copy all the files with the directory structure onto your PC, then partition and copy everything back? Does that mess up the apps?

 

[Slug]

So if you want to partition your SD card, can you copy all the files with the directory structure onto your PC, then partition and copy everything back?

Yup, that'll work fine.

Does that mess up the apps?

I assume that you haven't already partitioned the card, in which case apps are installed to internal memory and will be unaffected. Once you've partitioned and rebooted, if the ROM supports Apps2SD then all your apps will be moved to the new ext partition automatically during the startup. This can take several minutes if you have a large number of apps installed, so be patient.

 

[nydrumboy]

Yup, that'll work fine.



I assume that you haven't already partitioned the card, in which case apps are installed to internal memory and will be unaffected. Once you've partitioned and rebooted, if the ROM supports Apps2SD then all your apps will be moved to the new ext partition automatically during the startup. This can take several minutes if you have a large number of apps installed, so be patient.

Thanks for the quick reply.

I am already using App2SD, so what are the implications of parking my SD card data and apps to my PC and then moving them back?

 

[Xyro]

If you're running apps2sd already then it's a bit more awkward. You can't back up those files to the PC; the apps are stored in a separate partition you don't have direct access to. So if you use apps2sd and you parititon the card, your apps are getting wiped and there's not much you can do about it.

One option is to backup all your apps using titanium backup and restore them again once you put the card back in. You might not have to wipe the phone, but I've never tried it without a wipe.

You could also do a nand + ext backup before wiping and then restore it after partitioning. But I've never tried that, so I can't guarantee it works.

 

[Slug]

One option is to backup all your apps using titanium backup and restore them again once you put the card back in.

This should work fine. At least it had better, as I'm about to do it myself with the 8GB card that came with my new Z. It's already using the 16GB one that was in the Hero. Stay tuned for news.....

 

[Xyro]

that came with my new Z

Traitor....

 

[Slug]

Traitor....

Harsh, dude..... I'm hurt. I've no intention of neglecting my trusty Hero, don't worry.

On topic, the restoration was indeed successful.

1. Remove ALL widgets from home screens.
2. Backup all User Apps with Titanium Backup. Also copy com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup.apk from /data/app to /sdcard
3. Copy contents of SD card to the PC.
4. Boot handset into recovery and partition the card as desired.
5. Wipe cache/dalvik-cache
6. Copy contents back to SD card
7. Reboot handset normally and allow it to restart completely.
8. Reboot again for luck!
9. Install Titanium Backup using the .apk previously backed-up (requires a file manager in /system; Elelinux ships with OI File Manager)
10. Restore required apps from Titanium Backup archive