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Root [MetroPCS] [MOD] External To Internal Storage For CM11

Trevor Philips

Android Enthusiast
CM11 External to Internal!



After searching around the interwebs, I think i may have found a working storage solution for CM11. I'd appreciate it if you guys use this and test this out.

First things first, You will have to Format and create 2 partitions for your sd, fat32 and ext4, We will also need to use link2sd,(Practically the same way we have been doing already.)

This time it you will require a computer since it seems the external sd card can't be unmounted on Kit Kat.

You can use any partion application on a desktop, in my case i used minitool partion wizard.

Use Gametheory's guide located below for a full setup.
*Aparted can not be used anymore*

*Gt's Guide: How to setup Link2sd

Onto the next step,

Download the New CM11 storage mod and flash it in recovery.

Boot back into CM11 and go into settings/storages
If you did everything correctly, You will see that external sdcard is empty and the internal is still the 1gb. From now on, data will be downloaded into your sdcard and the internal storage shouldn't be effected.(aslong as you set link2sd to automatically link apps to your sd card)
Happy downloading :)

To install apks from your sd card, read post #23

Thanks to GT for his guide, the creator of the mod Crashdjent and Jokerpks for the sd card install fix
 

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I found 1 problem, and it's kind of a big deal, I can't seem to be able to install apks downloaded from the internet, but the playstore is fine
 
Found a temporary solution! move the apk file somewhere else from your sd card, for example, i moved recovery.apk from my downloads folder
(/storage/sdcard0/downloads) into /storage
 
I have been reading another thread in tips/theory section. and here it says.


I want to thank JVene for his work and confirm that I implemented this successfully. JVene's posts are informative, but long-winded, so here is a TL;DR for people that want to try this. I'm assuming you vaguely know what you're doing (comfortable with linux command line), so I'm not going into extreme detail. Read all the steps first and if it doesn't make sense, I wouldn't recommend trying it as you could mess something up.

1. Partition and format an SD card with a Fat32 partition (1st) and an Ext4 partition (2nd). Choose your size for each. Fat32 will be your new "sd card" and Ext4 will be your new "internal storage".

2. Download and extract the app_process binary that JVene attached to one of his posts.

3. Mount /system read-only ("mount -o remount,rw /system", you need root). Rename your original /system/bin/app_process to something else for backup. Copy JVene's app_process to /system/bin/app_process.

4. Create /system/etc/init.d/zinit.sh (in a nutshell, JVene's modified app_process runs this script before Android initializes) and chmod 755 zinit.sh.

5. Insert "#!/system/bin/sh" as the first line in zinit.sh, then insert your boot-time commands below it. You have several options for your commands, what I personally did was mount the ext4 partition at a temp mount point, copy /data to it, then mount it at /data. This will copy /data to the ext4 partition of the sd card while keeping your original /data partition intact. You can also enable USB debugging beforehand and enter sleep x as your command where x is the number of seconds you want the device suspended prior to loading Android. This will give you time to connect with ADB and manually perform file operations. You could also just mount the new partition at /data and start with a clean slate. The ext4 partition on the sd card is /dev/block/mmcblk1p2, so to mount it at /data: "mount -o rw -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk1p2 /data".

6. zinit.sh will be executed during each boot. If you added commands to temporarily mount your sd card partition and copy your current data partition to it, remember to remove them after the first reboot. Your first reboot will also take a fair amount of time at the boot screen as your /data partition is copied. The only command that stays in your zinit.sh file after the first boot is the mount command (unless you want to do more).

It's pretty specific to start. but then goes kinda general. i.e. 1-3 no problem, 4 split, first part I get second part I don't. First part of 5 I think I understand, the second part not sure where to insert what it's talking about. Hopefully the Dev team can figure this out.
 

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Nice. Are you using the paid version of link2sd? guess I wait till they get the CM11 up and running. or is it ready?
 
Nice. Are you using the paid version of link2sd? guess I wait till they get the CM11 up and running. or is it ready?

I have not purchased link2sd yet, doesn't seem like i need it at the moment.
It is pretty much usable but it is still in need for some fixing, gps doesn't work at the moment, and bluetooth is said to be quite glitchy
 
Well link2sd is not a very good alternative. We will run out of storage using it.

Nope if you purchase plus version you can link internal app data. Never going to run out of storage this issue has been resolved already. No point of bringing it up because there won't be an alternative.
 
I'm feeling confident enough to remove [testing] from the Thread name, anyone else?

I seem to have put more memory for ext4 than i should have lol
 

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What file manager are you using @trevor? I have ran I extract in storage/sdcard0/downloads/ no problem bit I can't move to said storage to get apk to install although if I try to install in same folder I extracted it runs but no install. What am I doing wrong? I am using es with root enabled on it. File manager doesn't even show the apk with root on or off. Thanks keep up the great work.
 
What file manager are you using @trevor? I have ran I extract in storage/sdcard0/downloads/ no problem bit I can't move to said storage to get apk to install although if I try to install in same folder I extracted it runs but no install. What am I doing wrong? I am using es with root enabled on it. File manager doesn't even show the apk with root on or off. Thanks keep up the great work.

I use root explorer but that is a paid app, give me a second and ill test it out on es
 
I use root explorer but that is a paid app, give me a second and ill test it out on es

Thanks I have no way to recover any backed up apps. So this tiny issue is messing with me. Also quick? How do I get photos off camera if I can no longer use internal because external is internal now? I don't see where they are on phone when hooked up to pc but I do see on phone gallery.
 
Thanks I have no way to recover any backed up apps. So this tiny issue is messing with me. Also quick? How do I get photos off camera if I can no longer use internal because external is internal now? I don't see where they are on phone when hooked up to pc but I do see on phone gallery.

Images should be in dcim/camera/.

Tried ES and it worked but it requires a set up (detailed below) (Root explorer does not need require a set up)

Here is a detailed guide :)

Do exactly what i do, go into wherever the apk is located, hold the apk, press "more" then "move to".

Touch where it says /storage/sdcard0/download, it will then move you back. keep pushing it until you see 2 images... a sd image saying 0 and a phone saying / ... Touch the / and move onto storage. Hit ok.

Open es settings then app manager and enable install apk automatically.

You should now be able to install the app.
 
Any way to undo the storage mod? I did it and its Working but i cant install apps from my sd i tried the method but i doesn't work for me when i use the app installer it says there's a problem parsing the package? It there another way too install apps thanks in advance
 
Try moving the apk into /, then move it again into /storage again. I did realize that it will work if you see the actual image of the apk and not an image of an android.. You can try to turn on R/W where it says root explorer if it still doesn't work

Also try holding down the apk and choosing properties and setting r/w
 
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