yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
You normally run programs from internal storage (different than internal memory...internal storage is a NAND chip that is strictly used for storage...similar to your SD card). On the older phones, that internal space was rather limited (192MB if I recall). This would severely limit the number of apps you can put on your phone.

Even phones like my HTC Sprint Hero, which has 256MB of internal storage, was still lacking. So, Cyanogen created a method to trick Android into running programs from the SD card. The trick is the EXT partition. Android's core OS is Linux, and EXT partitions (EXT2 and EXT3) are native to Linux (EXT4 is on later versions).

Google, until Froyo came around, restricted the SD card to only store information. You couldn't run a program from there, so you couldn't take advantage of a 4GB SD card to install programs to. The EXT partition works around that as Linux sees this partition as native, meaning you can run programs from it.

Even with Froyo, Google restricts the use of the SD card to a secure area that Froyo creates. If you ever jump back to Eclair, the programs are, technically, "lost". This is because Eclair doesn't understand the Froyo apps2sd system. But, the classic Apps2SD (the one that uses the EXT partition) is understood by all current and future versions of Android.
[HTC Aria Android Development] unshad:
Thanks for an explanation, but at me a problem that doesn't work A2SD. I installed the rom and partitioned the sd card. But programs continue to be put in memory of phone, not memory SD card.
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
One of three scenarios exists:

1. Rom doesn't support it (which isn't the case here)

2. EXT partition is messed up and won't mount (I've heard this happening in Clockworks Recovery. You may try to initiate a repair or use another recovery such as Amon_RA)

3. If you ran Liberated before you setup the SD card, it would be more than likely Apps2SD is off (this is part of Boot Protection). If that's the case, it's an easy fix:

Go into adb shell and type: a2sd reinstall

That will turn on Apps2SD again.
[HTC Aria Android Development] superman2112ms:
I get permission denied when I tried a2sd reinstall. Any suggestions

Nevermind I went to your sprint section and read your directions. I needed su permission enabeled. It works thanks
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
No problem. I've done that many times, especially when using a terminal app instead of adb shell.
[HTC Aria Android Development] dandrumheller:
Hey Guys,

Quick question about the interaction of A2SD and Clockwork recovery - specifically clearing Dalvik Cache when it is stored on the SD card.

Up until recently the only times I had installed a new ROM along with A2SD I had been doing the full data/cache/dalvik wipe process, and had been working from a cleanly formatted SD card. However, a couple days ago I flashed one CM6 nightly over an earlier one, only clearing cache and dalvik. After installing the new ROM I forgot to re-install A2SD initially. Upon reboot (before A2SD was reinstalled) All my apps seemed to work fine from the SD card, however dalvik was on the device memory rather than the SD card. I saw the reduction in on-device available space and realized what I had forgotten to do. I then proceeded to re-install A2SD from clockwork, and then moved dalvik cache back to the SD card.

So far, all seems to be working normally. However, while going through the process, I started to wonder whether the Dalvik cache on the SD card actually got wiped using the command in clockwork, or if it perhaps just got written over when I re-moved it from on-device memory to the card after reinstalling A2SD?

Anyone know if the on SD dalvik cache can be wiped effectively through clockwork? Should I have plugged the SD card into a PC and deleted whatever dalvik files are on the ext partition (if that is even feasible)?

At any rate, so far with no problems I'm just curious how this works....

Thanks. Guess it wasn't all that quick a question afterall...
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
If you don't want to go back through Clockworks recovery and ensure that the dalvik-cache is clean, you can clear it using the following command: a2sd resetcache.

The resetcache command simply erases the dalvik-cache...it doesn't move the cache unlike cachepartreset, cachesdreset and nocachereset.
[HTC Aria Android Development] dandrumheller:
Thanks...I wasn't aware of all of those cache control commands in a2sd. I guess a simple RTFM would have been a more than reasonable answer to my question :-) excellent app by the way!
[HTC Aria Android Development] hokkeung:
Hi,

Im using Aria with ClockworkMod v2.5.0.1 and my SD card was partition with ext3, I have try to flash both updated Apps2SD file and alternate file but cannot work properly, I execute the command "a2sd check" and got the following result:

[ ] GetProp Command = /system/bin/toolbox getprop

[ ] SetProp Command = /system/bin/toolbox setprop

[ ] Mount Point = /system/sd

[ ] Starting Apps2SD Check Program.

[ ] Checking for ext partition

[] Ext partition found, but not mounted.

Your rom may not be setup to run Apps2SD.

Check with your rom developer if the boot image

is programmed to run Apps2SD.

Your partition may be using an EXT4 partition,

but your rom may not support EXT4. Repartition

your SD card to use EXT2 or EXT3.

Then I try to run the "a2sd reinstall" command and got the following result :

[ ] GetProp Command = /system/bin/toolbox getprop

[ ] SetProp Command = /system/bin/toolbox setprop

[ ] Mount Point = /system/sd

[ ] Starting Darktremor Apps2SD Version 2.7.5.2

[ ] Launching Apps2SD Start Program with reinstall

[X] No a2sd.swap environment variable found.

[ ] Starting Darktremor Apps2SD in reinstall mode

[X] SD Card not mounted.

Cannot reinstall applications to SD card.

Also, execute "a2sd repair" was not success, what can I try to make it work?

Thanks so much!!
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
So....what rom are you using?

Right off the bat, I can tell you that the rom you are using isn't loading Darktremor when it boots. It may not be Apps2SD (or Apps2EXT if you are running Froyo) compatible.
[HTC Aria Android Development] eagle0042:
Hi,

I've been running Darktremor A2SD on a ext4 partition for a couple of months now, and its been great. I'm currently using CM6.1.0-RC0. I am looking to upgrade my rom to CM6.1.1.

Can I just flash the rom update? Or do I need to reflash Darktremor after I flash the rom update? And, will I lose any existing apps?

Thanks for the help.

UPDATE: I flashed the rom update, and flashed the dtapps2sd zip after that, and I didn't have any problems. Of course, I had a Nandroid backup in case I screwed something up, but all went well. :)
[HTC Aria Android Development] barisahmet:
First I am using Liberated 2.2 008 on my Aria.

I have been using A2SD (apps and dalvik cache on SD), just figured out that gmail is trying to sync non-stop when I move dalvik cache to SD card. since F+ is using gMail push notifications, it is working non-stop also. and it drains battery pretty fast. so I uninstalled and it is OK now (a2sd remove), because without dalvikcache on SD, it doesnt affect free space so much. I dont know if anyone else experiencing this but it is good to check for. If anyone has solution, it would be awesome!
[HTC Aria Android Development] BuckMulligan:
I simply cannot figure out how to move the Dalvik cache to the /cache partition. I've tried it after wiping the /cache partition, and I've tried it leaving the /cache partition untouched; I've tried it with various combinations of partitions mounted or unmounted; I've tried using the plain vanilla cachepart command and with the cachepartreset command - in short, I've tried everything I can think of and nothing works. Either the command fails outright (typically repeating the error message "mv: write error: no space left on device" 80 or 100 times), or it goes into a boot loop, or it boots into a zombie state in which there is no phone service and no app launcher. I'm running FR008. Anyone have any idea what I might be doing wrong?
[HTC Aria Android Development] drowningchild:
The aria is s-off aka nand locked can't modify internal system files when not in clockwork recovery
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
But performing an a2sd cachepart or an a2sd cachepartreset doesn't change anything on the system partition. I wouldn't think the cache or data would be locked...I would think that would cause issues.

My question is...how much space is really on the /cache partition. Some phones have very little cache partition available and, thus, cachepart or cachepartreset won't work (runs out of space).
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
Aria has 40MB /cache partition. It is very possible your dalvik-cache data is bigger than that size or you have other data on the /cache partition.
[HTC Aria Android Development] dandrumheller:
Yes, this is likely - When I have moved Dalvik from /data to the sd card, it typically frees up 100 - 120 MB on my /data, so I suspect tkirton is correct regarding this being a size issue. (I have about 170 apps on my device for reference re: dalvik size)
[HTC Aria Android Development] BuckMulligan:
Yes, I knew that. I was booting the phone into recovery, connecting to laptop by USB, and running a terminal session on the laptop.

Hmm. I had no idea that the /cache partition was so small. If that's the case, it would certainly explain my problem.

I don't have anywhere near 170 apps, but I have a few - I'm sure more than enough to over-fill a 40 MB /cache partition. I might try to move the Dalvik cache to the SD card, but it's only a class 4 so based on what I've read I'd expect a performance hit. Maybe I should just leave things as they are. Thanks for the help, all of you!
[HTC Aria Android Development] dandrumheller:
it will probably depend on actual performance of your card...i did my trial install of cm7 build 0 on a 2gb class 2 card, and was barely able to notice a performance difference relative to my current 8gb class 6 card. I did not run benchmarks though so don't have hard numbers for you. Worst case, just try it and move dalvik back to data if it is slow.

Edit: probably obvious, but I had dalvik on sd in both cases.
[HTC Aria Android Development] DanGeorges:
New to Anroid question

Do I need to install the Dark Tremor App2 SD if I'm using CM7?

Please forgive me if this is a dumb question, but I see that this appears to be a flash-able file (zip).

With CM7 I can already move apps to the SD card -

What is the scoop with the "script" DT app2 SD?

Please point me in the right direction for a good explanation.

Thanks,

Dan
[HTC Aria Android Development] dandrumheller:
2 options in cm7.

1) keep it stock, and you can move apps to the regular (fat32?) partition on the sd card. Will free up some internal memory on device, apps on sd will take a while (1 minute or so) to start up on boot. Widgets will not work if parent app is on sd card in this manner.

2) re-partition your sd card with rom manager if you do not already have an ext partition in the second position on your sd card (back up your card prior to doing this). Install dark tremor apps2sd via flashing in clockwork. I am currently using the most recent beta version with success, other versions may work as well. This will allow you to move all or none of your apps to the ext partition you created. Selecting individual apps is not possible. You can run widgets from apps on the ext partition, and they start up much faster than the stock method. With dt you can also move your dalvik cache to the sd card. If you are compulsive collector of apps like me this is a big benefit on this device...currently have around 170 apps and 140 mb free on device storage.
[HTC Aria Android Development] mosamjc:
Dt mounts earlier in the boot process making it suitable for Widgets and programs that need to initiate quickly. Plus, since it fools the system into thinking it is installing to native system memory, you can install any program as well as the dalvik cache itself.
[HTC Aria Android Development] mosamjc:
Also, to be on the safe side you should reflash dt after every nightly update to avoid a bootloop. If not be prepared to reboot to recovery and flash it if you get stuck at the HTC screen.
[HTC Aria Android Development] jeebuz:
Question: How do I clear dalvik from the sd-ext? Probably a simple answer but... /)_-

EDIT: Nevermind, overlooked something. Found it!!
[HTC Aria Android Development] Darius_bd:
Yeah? where? Wiping dalvik from recovery screen doesnt give me a status msg after I did it, so not sure if it succeeded.
[HTC Aria Android Development] jeebuz:
I forgot I had Root Explorer. Just deleted it from there. Lol
[HTC Aria Android Development] Darius_bd:
Wiped Dalvik while phone was on? Uhm, I'll keep searching...
[HTC Aria Android Development] jeebuz:
Dalvik is located on /data or /sd-ext. Both are writeable so you can delete while the phone is on.
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
I could be wrong with these faster phones, but I don't think you'll take that much of a performance hit. You'll take the hit when the SD card is being written to (that would be installing/removing an app and changes to the dalvik-cache [related to installing/removing apps]) You shouldn't see any issues reading from the card.
[HTC Aria Android Development] BuckMulligan:
Interesting. That being the case, I might have to give it a try. I still have almost 30% of my internal memory free, so it's not a desperate situation right now, but I do have a bit of a problem with compulsive app installation....
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
I know the feeling regarding compulsive app installation.
[HTC Aria Android Development] ladios:
Has anyone tried out the new datasd feature? I am thinking about swapping dalvik-cache and data: move data to sd and move dalvik-cache back to internal.
[HTC Aria Android Development] jeebuz:
I was actually about to try that just now. Lol
[HTC Aria Android Development] DanGeorges:
Thanks for the information. I'll try moving the Dalvik Cache to SD.
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
bump---new version available.
[HTC Aria Android Development] lilhaiti:
Quick Question:

I am using beta 3 on CM 7, and just now I was surfing through the file systems using Root Explorer, and noticed the the /Data/App folder is linked to sd-ext/App. Does this mean that even my internal apps also install to the SD card? I saw a couple of my internal only apps (namely LauncherPro) in the sd-ext/App folder.

If that is the case why is my internal storage space decreasing when I install apps?
[HTC Aria Android Development] BuckMulligan:
For those of us who did not install A2SD directly but had it installed as an element of FR008, is there any trick to installing the updated version?
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
Yes, that means your internal apps go to the SD card.

Unless you moved Dalvik-cache, that is still on your internal storage.

Also, other caches and program data is also on your internal storage.

To move dalvik-cache to the SD card, type a2sd cachesd

To move program data to the SD card, type a2sd datasd. This command is experimental.
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
What you are talking about is Froyo Apps2SD. That is completely different than this Apps2SD. Froyo Apps2SD can only be upgraded by upgrading Froyo versions or going to Gingerbread.

This is a classic Apps2SD and can be used in conjunction with Froyo Apps2SD.
[HTC Aria Android Development] jeebuz:
Partition, flash the zip, and all of your downloaded/installed apps (minus the system apps) will be moved to the partition.
[HTC Aria Android Development] ladios:
Liberated launches a2sd from init.rc and it doesn't run-parts init.d
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
What I was talking about was two different Apps2SD - native Apps2SD which is found in Froyo and Gingerbread, and classic Apps2SD, which is this program.

Many roms use both together to insure that all applications reside on the SD card (and that the dalvik-cache can be moved to the SD card).
[HTC Aria Android Development] lilhaiti:
Thanks for the answer. I was under the impression that if you do not have a certain class of SD Card, moving the Dalvic Cache would actually make the phone slower. I have a stock grade SD Card so logic tells me that moving Dalvic to the SD Card could be detrimental. Tell me if I am wrong.
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
Actually, you'll take the performance hit when you write, so the higher the class, the less of a hit you'll take. Reading depends a lot on the brand of card itself since read speed is faster than write speed. Not sure which brand is the best out there. I use RiData that I got from Newegg and it works just fine for me.
[HTC Aria Android Development] BuckMulligan:
No, I'm not talking about Froyo Apps2SD; I'm talking about DT A2SD bundled with Liberated Aria. My use of the term "FR008" was probably confusing.
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
Yea...that FR008 was throwing me off.

To upgrade the version in Liberated Aria, simply flash the new version on top of it. The Darktremor Apps2SD is designed to run both directly and through run-parts.
[HTC Aria Android Development] Darius_bd:
I have a class 6 memory and seems moving the Dalvik to the SD doesnt have an impact on performance, tested both trough normal use of the cellphone and games and by running benchmarks. So at least you dont need a super-duper memory.
[HTC Aria Android Development] BuckMulligan:
Thanks! Sorry about the confusion.
[HTC Aria Android Development] jrckt320:
Works well, thanks...
[HTC Aria Android Development] CallMeAria:
I have a cheapo class 4 sd card and have my apps and dalvic moved to sd and I didn't notice any performance hit. My apps open quickly and run smoothly.
[HTC Aria Android Development] BuckMulligan:
Hmmm. For some reason, I can't seem to successfully install the zip. Hangs on reboot.

On the other hand, I did finally get around to using the cachesd function with the old version, and I'm happy as a clam. Lots of newly free space in internal memory, and no noticeable decrease in performance, even with my cheap Class 4 card. Very cool!
[HTC Aria Android Development] mr_cowboy1:
apps2sd hanging on fr008

after doing the update to the latest DT apps2sd, everything said sucess, I reboot the phone and it hangs at the HTC screen. never gets to the second htc screen. have to remove the battery to turn off and try again and it still hangs. how do you take the update out if the phone won't go? I don't want to have to reflash everything at this point, but if I can't undo it, I guess it will be my only option. hoping someone can help before I wipe.

thanks.
[HTC Aria Android Development] jdkelley53:
Mine hung at HTC screen as well. I put dtapps2sd-2.7.5.2-signed.zip on my sd card, reinstalled in recovery and mine came back to life.
[HTC Aria Android Development] mr_cowboy1:
I went around and started poking around using adb and it came back to life but now it says that a2sd might not have been run when I try to do anything in it. looking to upgrade my clockworkmod now since I'm at v2.5.0.1 on my aria. found references to more since I have a 16gb card and want to repartition it for optimal use. enter wormhole here. don't have parted, according to sdparted, can't find it, appears it might be part of a recovery, update, can't update, a2sd doesn't work. ugh. I hate being a putz.
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
I made a correction for Miui that seems to work (Miui has the same issue). I was going to wait until Beta 04 to release, but I decided to modify an existing Beta 03 package with the fixes.

Download the following: http://www.darktremor.info/files/a2sd/dtapps2sd-2.7.5.3-beta03b-signed.zip

This has the fixes for that particular issue.
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
You're not a putz. Unfortuantely, this sometimes happen.

Try the newer update: http://www.darktremor.info/files/a2sd/dtapps2sd-2.7.5.3-beta03b-signed.zip
[HTC Aria Android Development] BuckMulligan:
For me, it still hangs at the first HTC screen.
[HTC Aria Android Development] jdkelley53:
With betas 3 and 3a my Aria hangs at the HTC screen. With beta 3b it boot loops at "HTC quietly brilliant" Flashed back to dtapps2sd-2.7.5.2-signed.zip and mine came back to life again. FR008
[HTC Aria Android Development] dandrumheller:
No issues for me on beta 3a...worked fine with a flash of cm7 nightly 18, flashed over 17 (which had the older dt beta 1 onboard). Wiped only cache and dalvik prior to flashing.
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
Try 04 Beta...I did exhaustive testing on Miui (as well as CM) to make sure they boot.
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
Try Beta 04...it may work better for your circumstance.
[HTC Aria Android Development] hi2u2:
Running CM 6.1.1; beta 3a works just fine. However, my phone freezes at the white HTC screen with beta 4.
[HTC Aria Android Development] jdkelley53:
Beta 4 works for me. Booted normally and work great. Thanks!
[HTC Aria Android Development] BuckMulligan:
That did the trick - I'm good to go. Thanks!
[HTC Aria Android Development] dandrumheller:
Just switched to beta 4 while flashing to latest cm7 nightly (21). This was the first time I haven't had to re-run cachesd after re-flashing. Not sure if this is intentional or not but I like it!
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
Haven't ran it with 6.1.1, but I did run it with 6.1.2 and it was working fine with that version. Some of those initial boots may take up to a couple of minutes.
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
When you set up your dalvik-cache in Darktremor, it is suppose to transfer between versions. This wasn't working well before Beta 2 and I was able to get it partially working in Beta 3 by rebuilding the cachesd, cachesdreset, cachepart, cachepartreset, nocache and nocachereset code.

In Beta 04, I rebuilt large segments of the code (eliminating most duplicate code). Repair calls up the individual commands now rather than handling this on its own (reinstall, remove, datasd, nodata, cachepartreset, cachesdreset, nocachereset). My thought on Beta 04 is: if the individual commands work without issue, then why not make repair call those commands as well.

I was trying to make the code run faster with the separation approach, but this caused the program to degrade with each new release, not to mention it being bloated. This approach shrank the zip file from about 3.2MB to 2.7MB, even after adding a new Busybox and the fix_permissions script.
[HTC Aria Android Development] hi2u2:
Hm, just reflashed with 4a and it boots fine. What did you change?
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
Nothing relating to that.

Difference between Beta 04 and Beta 04a is adding the following lines:

in convert-ext3:

ext3part=`$gpcmd a2sd.ext3`

in convert-ext4:

ext4part=`$gpcmd a2sd.ext4`
[HTC Aria Android Development] Googa:
Hmm. Tried to flash beta 4 when flashing cm7 n22 last night, but got bootloops.

Should i have to do something special in order to do a new DT install with these betas?
[HTC Aria Android Development] dandrumheller:
Fwiw, I flashed 21 over 19, clearing cache and dalvik, and flashed beta 4 with 21, and had no issues. You were unplugged from usb when entering clockwork?
[HTC Aria Android Development] Googa:
Hmm, well I have 22 installed now w/o DT. Will make another attempt.
[HTC Aria Android Development] tkirton:
No, you shouldn't have to...however, if you are flashing a new CM nightly, keep in mind that the kernel that you use may affect Darktremor (some kernels don't have EXT filesystems active). I'm not saying that's what happened to you, but I'm starting to see this issue becoming more common.

Also, if this is a fresh install of Darktremor, then the program will perform two reboots, the first one is to do a realign of the apps, dalvik-cache and data (actually, more apps than the rest). The second one is to clear dalvik-cache. Final boot will take a while as dalvik-cache is rebuilding.

However, I'm not so sure how reliable is the dalvik-cache clear...I've seen it not execute.

Try clearing dalvik-cache again and, if that doesn't work, clear /data partition (factory wipe).