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Root [How-to] Enable Sd-Ext for the Commando

Willster419

The Casio Smartphone Guru
*This guide is currently revision 3 as of 9/1/13*
Hello Users in "G'Zone" of the Commando, <--I'm running out of greetings

Somewhere on the forums here someone asked me a question about moving apps to the SD card, but loosing the widgets or start up items. There is a way to fix this, called the SD-Ext partition.

The reason why widgets and start up scripts for apps are lost is because the apps that are moved to the SD card are still part of the FAT32 system. That system of storage does not support journaling, and therefore must be checked on start up for errors before it is mounted. Therefore, it is mounted after the phone is "ready".

What does this mean? It means that the phone may be "loaded", but you have to wait for the .android_secure folder part of the SD card to be mounted! The way to fix this is to partition the SD card with a Linux file-system, ext4, that supports journaling, and that can be mounted before the phone is fully booted. So, you get to keep your widgets on your home screen, plus no more waiting after the device is "ready".

Ok enough explaining, let's get to it!

The only requirement is that your device is rooted.

1.) Go to the play store and install Link2SD.
2.) Power off your phone. Take out the SD card and put it into your computer.
3.) Install minitool partition wizard.
4.) Inside that application, split the FAT32 Partition, so you have the partition, and some unallocated space. I recommend to have at least 1GB unallocated space minimum, however I use 1.5GB. If you have over 100 user apps (more than me), then go even larger.
5.) Make an ext4 partition out of said unallocated space. Keep it on the primary option, and make sure to use all the unallocated space. I do not recommend changing anything else unless you know what you are doing or it looks obvious.
6.) Once it is created, put it back into your phone and reboot. Launch the Link2SD app and it should ask you which file-system it is. Select ext4, then reboot.
7.) After it is done rebooting, begin the task of moving your apps from the "On SDcard" filter to the "Linked" filter. To do this, press the filter button, and select On SDcard. Then press the phone's physical menu button, then batch actions=>select all=>create link, and link all three options to the SD card.
8.) Reboot your phone. It will be a long time to load the partition for the first time, please be patient.

Enjoy having widgets again!!!

*If you look in your /data/app partition, you will still see them, but they are linked, like a shortcut for a windows application. They say they are taking up space but they are not.

Link for minitool partition wizard:
MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition - CNET Download.com

Want some new cool boot animations, or want to enable the "bootanimation.zip" files on your phone while you wait? Check out this thread! http://androidforums.com/commando-all-things-root/731589-official-bootanimation-zip-thread.html
 
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