ROM Developers: Please switch to ext3 for a2sd!

[cyanogen]

99% of the problems users are having with Apps2SD are caused by the unclean shutdown of the ext2 filesystem, because Android does not unmount it when rebooting or shutting down the system, and there are no tools on the device to fsck the filesystem on boot. Ext3 is journaled and this isn't an issue because the journal will simply replay on boot.

I'd like to put an end to this.

Attached is e2fsprogs (tune2fs, e2fsck, resize2fs, and mke2fs) built for Android/ARM. You should also use the "-t auto" mount option so that it's still backwards compatible with ext2.

To convert your ext2 to ext3, you can simply run "tune2fs -j /dev/block/mmcblk0p2" after you have these tools on your device, and reboot (assuming your ramdisk allows for mounting as "auto"). You should unmount and e2fsck the partition first, if it's not been checked for errors.

Step by step by neoobs

 

[Joeriginal]

can we have a noob-friendly guide to this preferably through terminal.

 

[Beast84]

99% of the problems users are having with Apps2SD are caused by the unclean shutdown of the ext2 filesystem, because Android does not unmount it when rebooting or shutting down the system, and there are no tools on the device to fsck the filesystem on boot. Ext3 is journaled and this isn't an issue because the journal will simply replay on boot.

I'd like to put an end to this.

Attached is e2fsprogs (tune2fs, e2fsck, resize2fs, and mke2fs) built for Android/ARM. You should also use the "-t auto" mount option so that it's still backwards compatible with ext2.

To convert your ext2 to ext3, you can simply run "tune2fs -j /dev/block/mmcblk0p2" after you have these tools on your device, and reboot (assuming your ramdisk allows for mounting as "auto"). You should unmount and e2fsck the partition first, if it's not been checked for errors.

Will this work with ADP JF1.5?

Before I try it, let me get a few things straing. I have to put these files in the corresponding folders, reflash, then type type the commands from terminal on the phone? Or does this have to be done with adb?

 

[sir*mez]

Will this work with ADP JF1.5?

Before I try it, let me get a few things straing. I have to put these files in the corresponding folders, reflash, then type type the commands from terminal on the phone? Or does this have to be done with adb?

its already working for ADP. I have both my phones running on EXT3 and I havent found a problem. Its more reliable and I have gotten a Force Close or Wait screen with all the speed his build has.

 

[Henchman]

To convert your ext2 to ext3, you can simply run "tune2fs -j /dev/block/mmcblk0p2" after you have these tools on your device, and reboot (assuming your ramdisk allows for mounting as "auto"). You should unmount and e2fsck the partition first, if it's not been checked for errors.

Huh?
Can you explain this in English please?

 

[cyanogen]

Huh?
Can you explain this in English please?

I mainly intended this for other ROM makers, so they can incorporate these features into cooked ROMs.

 

[djdeviance]

So this basically means all of us with ext2 partitions will have to get a new card or is there anyways for us to convert to ext3?

 

[pershoot]

So this basically means all of us with ext2 partitions will have to get a new card or is there anyways for us to convert to ext3?

please re-read the first post.

"To convert your ext2 to ext3, you can simply run "tune2fs -j /dev/block/mmcblk0p2" ....

 

[djdeviance]

please re-read the first post.

"To convert your ext2 to ext3, you can simply run "tune2fs -j /dev/block/mmcblk0p2" ....

Yes I did read that and tried as well. Was unsuccessful that why I asked.

 

[arqueware]

Premature SD failure from frequent journal commits?

I wondered why this solution wasn't inplemented from the beginning. However, In one of the threads on A2SD, I read that moving /DATA/DATA to SD would negatively affect the longevity of the SD cards because of the frequent write/re-write cycles of files in that directory, particularly sqlite database commits . One contributor suggested that a using a journalled filesystem in this context would have a similar effect in that there would be repeated writes to the specific area of the SD where the journal is stored.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[Beast84]

Once we run the commands in terminal, will that wipe everything off the ext partition? Or will it just convert the ext2 to ext3 & leave all my apps intact?

 

[Beast84]

its already working for ADP. I have both my phones running on EXT3 and I havent found a problem. Its more reliable and I have gotten a Force Close or Wait screen with all the speed his build has.

I am not on his build. I am on ADP JF1.5
Which is why I asked if it will work on JF's build & not his build. I know it works on his. He's the one who brought it up

 

[cyanogen]

I wondered why this solution wasn't inplemented from the beginning. However, In one of the threads on A2SD, I read that moving /DATA/DATA to SD would negatively affect the longevity of the SD cards because of the frequent write/re-write cycles of files in that directory, particularly sqlite database commits . One contributor suggested that a using a journalled filesystem in this context would have a similar effect in that there would be repeated writes to the specific area of the SD where the journal is stored.

Any thoughts on this?

Most Class 6 cards support wear leveling these days.

 

[sir*mez]

I am not on his build. I am on ADP JF1.5
Which is why I asked if it will work on JF's build & not his build. I know it works on his. He's the one who brought it up

aaahhhh... ;p no i dont think jf has made his EXT3 compatable which is why cyangen is asking every dev to use EXT3.

 

[Beast84]

Cyanogen

Can I put these files in my ADP JF1.5 update.zip & flash that? Or does something else need to be done to have it see the ext3 partition? Also your boot.img with the noatime change, can I put that in also? Or could you possibly take the boot.img from JF1.5 & change it for me?

 

[haykuro]

ext3 is built in ;P

$ adb shell cat /proc/filesystems
nodev	sysfs
nodev	rootfs
nodev	bdev
nodev	proc
nodev	debugfs
nodev	sockfs
nodev	pipefs
nodev	anon_inodefs
nodev	tmpfs
nodev	inotifyfs
nodev	devpts
	ext3
	ext2
nodev	ramfs
	vfat
	yaffs
	yaffs2

 

[cyanogen]

Your ramdisk needs to mount the partition with "-t auto" (or "-t ext3" if you don't want backwards compatibility) instead of "-t ext2" for it to be effective. My build is the only one that does this so far AFAIK. In the JF builds, you need to change the "runme.sh" script.

 

[Beast84]

Your ramdisk needs to mount the partition with "-t auto" (or "-t ext3" if you don't want backwards compatibility) instead of "-t ext2" for it to be effective. My build is the only one that does this so AFAIK.

I'm guessing that wouldn't be an easy change to do? Well I guess I will have to try one of the new roms which supports this since JF doesn't update his releases like the other guys do

 

[cyanogen]

I'm guessing that wouldn't be an easy change to do? Well I guess I will have to try one of the new roms which supports this since JF doesn't update his releases like the other guys do

It requires a little bit of hacking.

http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=HOWTO:_Unpack,_Edit,_and_Re-Pack_Boot_Images

 

[Beast84]

It requires a little bit of hacking.

http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=HOWTO:_Unpack,_Edit,_and_Re-Pack_Boot_Images

Wow all I see is matrix code! Thanks anyway I will read up, see what I can make of it. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction at least