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I've read a bit here on Android Enthusiasts and I've been able to partition my sdcard.
A partition FAT32 and another one ext3, using the AmonRa Recovery for Acer Liquid Metal.
Everything looks fine and if I start titanium backup I see on overview screen:

Internal: 193 mb (60.2 mb free).
SD card: 6.87 GB (520 mb free).
SD card (a2sd): 958 MB (958 MB free)

So it looks like I'm not using that partition, right?
I've tried moving application with app2sd pro and titanium backup to sd card but the ext3 partition does not get filled.

What's wrong?

Izzy
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Pitto
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3 Answers3

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You would need a custom ROM that supports moving apps to the Ext3 partition. I would recommend searching the development section of xda-developers forums for your handset for such a ROM.

If a ROM does not support apps2ext natively, you can try your luck with a script (example for HTC Dream/Magic here) that can be installed on top of another ROM.

[Edit]: just adding stuff from my comments to the answer.
If you are on Android version 2.2 and above, you can use the built-in "Apps-to-SD" functionality to move apps to SD Card. Go to Menu -> Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications then tap on any app and under the "Storage" section tap the "Move to SD" button. After a few seconds you will see the button's name change to "Move to Phone" and size of the app decrease significantly.

This method is not without drawbacks. First off, an app needs to be explicitly coded to support this functionality. Second, widgets and apps that run as a service (e-mail, virtual keyboards, weather notifications, etc.) don't work when moved to SD, and must reside on the phone's internal memory. Furthermore, not the entire app moves to the SD Card. A part of it stays on the phone, along with its cache and data/settings. If you have a phone with a small amount of internal app storage, using the built-in Apps-to-SD will just prolong the inevitable "out of memory" errors.

The Apps2ext scripts resolve most of these shortcomings. It "fools" the phone into thinking that the Ext2/3/4 partition is part of the phone's internal memory. This means that widgets and services will work just fine with this method. Also, since you can make your partition as large as you wish (recommended not to exceed 2GB), the space issues disappear. The scripts also provide options for moving caches and data to the Ext partition in order to free up even more internal memory.

The drawback of the Apps2ext method is that it's well, a hack. First off, your phone needs to be rooted. Second, you will no longer be able to un-mount and remove the SD Card from the phone, since ALL of the apps (including system ones) reside on the Ext partition. Third, you are putting a lot more strain on the SD Card from increased writing, which may shorten its lifespan. Finally, as with any hack it may make your phone less stable.

Chahk
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  • Thank you, mate! I will try to make and ext2 partition and get back to give you correct answer. I just don't understand what's the point to use ext instead of standard fat32... – Pitto May 16 '11 at 22:32
  • I think you misunderstood me. Simply creating a partition does not automatically mean that your phone can use it to store apps. Android OS needs to be modified to support moving apps to Ext2/3/4 partition. This was a very useful hack pre-Froyo (Android 2.2) when apps could only be stored on phone's internal memory. The script I was talking about basically "fools" the phone into thinking that the Ext partition is part of the internal memory. In Android 2.2 and above, Google implemented Apps-to-SD functionality that uses Fat32 partition, so this hack is not really necessary anymore. – Chahk May 17 '11 at 00:13
  • In the end I've just wasted time partitioning? O_O – Pitto May 18 '11 at 13:00
  • Well, it depends. Android's Apps2SD solution is not perfect. The biggest drawback is that widgets and apps that run as services don't work if you move them to SD Card (Fat32 partition), so developers of these apps don't allow moving them to SD card to begin with. Also, space is still being taken up by apps that were moved to SD (cache, dalvik-cache, data/settings) so it's still possible to fill up the phone's internal memory. With aps2ext hacks, the entire app resides on the Ext partition, and there are options to move caches and data as well. – Chahk May 18 '11 at 13:55
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You can also opt for an easier way as described in this answer, if all you're looking for, is to shift apps from your phone's internal memory to SD Card.

A free app called Link2SD will help in this case. It has a decent GUI and makes it easier to move apps between SD Card and internal memory - also fixes the market links so that updates from the market are automatically moved to SD Card if the app was previously on SD Card.

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Sparx
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  • Is there any kind of difference storing apps on the exy2 with link2sd and storing apps on fat32 with standard froyo? – Pitto May 17 '11 at 14:58
  • You can use FAT with Link2SD too. – Sparx May 17 '11 at 18:14
  • So.... What's the point of having ext2? O_O – Pitto May 18 '11 at 08:02
  • If you're on a Windows machine, and insert said partitioned card into a reader, I don't think the ext partitions will be shown. That's the caveat. ExtFS is faster and less prone to fragmentation, IIRC as compared to FAT. – Sparx May 18 '11 at 14:19
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    @Pitto: ext2/3/4 are Linux's native file system (or rather, they're the most widely used file system in Linux). Many manufacturer ships SD Card in FAT for since Windows cannot read ext3 without extra software. For internal memory, there are more variability; some phone ships with ext3 while others with YAFFS/YAFF2. The advantage of using ext3 is Android can put permissions on ext3 partition (apk/data stored in FAT partition is read- and writable by every app), is more resistant against file corruptions, and some says it is faster. FAT is inherently insecure for storing apps. – Lie Ryan May 18 '11 at 14:37
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    @Pitto, @Lie Ryan is absolutely correct. In fact, Froyo's Apps-to-SD method basically for each app that you move is setting aside a tiny virtual "drive" on the Fat32 partition and mounting it in a secure manner. The article here explain all the details: http://ydal.de/android-2-2-froyo-apps-to-sd/ – Chahk May 18 '11 at 19:00
  • Please, you experts: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/14696/link2sd-boot-loop-at-reboot – Pitto Oct 23 '11 at 19:43
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No matter what you try, you are basically stuck with the limitations of your phone. There are other procedures on Android forums to force apps that usually can not be put on your sd card therefore freeing up more internal memory. I only have 200mb of internal memory, over 100 apps and still have 105mb of internal memory. I have room for more apps than I will ever need. Again, you do not have to root your phone, as some you can not due to upgrades in the OS like mine, but there are other workarounds. Good luck !

Pete
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