I am going to install cm7 and it seems to me that is 'good' to partition my SD card.
I did some reading but I am not sure if ext partition will become accessible as mass storage when an Android phone is connected to the computer.
I still want to transfer files from / to my SD card via computer. How can I backup files if they are on an ext partition?
How big ext partition is good if my sd card is 16GB?
HTC Desire on Android 2.1
Answer
I'm on a rooted Samsung Spica running the stock Samsung 2.1 Eclair version.
Since my internal memory was limited to around 160 MB, I was hunting around for a simple enough solution and preferably freeware. I have an 8 GB card and IMO, allotting 1 GB would be more than adequate for all the games / apps that I'd want to keep for posterity but couldn't afford to occupy space within the limited internal memory that I had.
Enter Link2SD - it's freeware and works with Android 1.6 and above.
You will also need a partitioning tool - I used the excellent freeware Easeus Partition Manager (EPM) to ensure no data was erased during the repartitioning / resizing.
- First, download and install EPM.
- Pop your storage card into your card reader.
- Start EPM
- Your card should be visible amongst the other drives/partitions in your PC.
- Select the partition on your card - it should cover the entire length by default. Right-click & choose RESIZE/MOVE and then REDUCE the Partition Size (this is what shows in Windows) until the Unallocated Space size is of a suitable size. (The Unallocated space will be allocated as the partition on which your apps will be stored.) Click OK.
An aside - even though Link2SD supports the usage of the second partition (in which your apps will reside) created in the FAT / FAT32 format, Windows only recognizes the first PRIMARY partition which is why this newly created partition won't show within Windows inspite of it being FAT / FAT32. We shall be using either ext2 / ext3 or ext4 as the file system in any case.
Onward...
- Right-click this new Unallocated Space and choose CREATE. Click YES on the warning that describes what I've said above.
- Now, in the Partition Label, type in a label like "AndroidApps" or whatever suits you.
- This is CRITICAL - the CREATE AS should be PRIMARY
- Choose File System as EXT3 and click OK.
- Click APPLY in the main window's TOP LEFT corner (big blue check mark icon). EPM will carry out the operations. Congrats! You've just re-partitioned your card and without any data loss too. (Hopefully!)
Assuming you've installed Link2SD in your phone and the SD card has been re-inserted. 11. Reboot your phone.
Start Link2SD and it should detect your partition.
A list of apps is now displayed. Click the app you want to move to the card and then click CREATE LINK.
That's it.
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