Formatting Sd Card.. Fat16 Vs Ext2

[dougeeebear]

I have an SL-5500 running standard Sharp Rom 3.13.
My SD card has been formatted as FAT16 and working perfectly.
I formatted it as ext2 (just to see what it would do).
During format I got the message "6269 blocks (5%) reserved for superuser".
A folder was created on the SD card "lost+found".

First, what is the folder for, and second what is the advantage/disadvantage of having the card formatted as ext2?

I seem to have had a bit more space formatted as FAT16.

Thanks, Doug

[ThC]

with your card formated as ext2 you can install programs on it, create symlinks, manage rights on it etc ... disadvantage is that you can't use it directly in a camera or with a computer running windows ... there's also some SD cards wich don't work well when ext2 formated (like sandisk's) so if you experience problems with it you'd better switch back to FAT16 or try an "ext2-in-a-file" solution (search the forums for a how-to)

[dougeeebear]

with your card formated as ext2 you can install programs on it, create symlinks, manage rights on it etc ...

I have been able to install some (not all) programs on it formatted as Fat16.
I really don't understand all the other stuff.

I also don't know what the "lost+found" folder is.
Any clues?

[nmos]

I also don't know what the "lost+found" folder is.

You know how in Windows when you do an improper shutdown and scandisk runs it dumps a bunch of *.chk files in your root directory?  Well in Linux with Ext2 the equivilant stuff ends up in lost+found.

[macroexp]

when you format the card with mke2fs you can pass the option -m 0 and it will not reserve any space for the superuser - this will make df show the "right" size (i.e. the same size you'd see on a fat16 format)

Since I think most Zaurus distributions run as root anyway, I think it is more appropriate to *not* reserve the default 5%, that is, to format using -m 0.

HTH!

[dougeeebear]

when you format the card with mke2fs you can pass the option -m 0 and it will not reserve any space for the superuser - this will make df show the "right" size (i.e. the same size you'd see on a fat16 format)

Well, whatever that command is, it did my sd card in.
It is no longer useable on my z.. system info shows it half full when it is empty, and I can't fdisk it or format it to either fat or ext2 on the z.
All I get are error messages for everything...

#umount /dev/mmcda1

#fdisk /dev/mmcda
Unable to open /dev/mmcda

#mkfs.ext2 /dev/mmcda1
mkfs.ext2: Device size reported to be zero. Invalid partition specified, or partition table wasn't rereadable after running fdisk, due to a modified partition being busy and in use. You may need to reboot to re-read your partition table

(rebooting does no good)

#mkfs.mdsos /dev/mmcda1
mkfs.msdos 2.8 (28 Feb 2001)
mkfs.msdos: Attempting to create a too large file system

It works ok on my laptop though... go figure.

Luckly, I have another card that I can use on my z.
I'M LEAVING THAT ONE ALONE!!

[dougeeebear]

Well, I think I found out what the problem was.
I am running standard Sharp Rom 3.13 on SL-5500.
I had the updated Cacko kernel installed for the battery monitor use.

I re-flashed the ospack WITHOUT the cacko kernel, restored, and now the card seems to work ok.

Apparantly, there is a problem with the kernel that affected it.

I just thought I would pass this along.

Doug

[macroexp]

very bizarre... glad you got things back working -  I assure you mke2fs is the right way to make an ext2 filesystem, and that -m 0 isn't an option that would make any difference except to the filesystem created... Sounds like the kernel got confused on how to deal with the sd slot...

[dougeeebear]

I assure you mke2fs is the right way to make an ext2 filesystem, and that -m 0 isn't an option that would make any difference except to the filesystem created...

I used mkfs.ext2   --not--   mke2fs.
I didn't even realize there was a mke2fs.
I guess this was my mistake.

[macroexp]

I assure you mke2fs is the right way to make an ext2 filesystem, and that -m 0 isn't an option that would make any difference except to the filesystem created...

I used mkfs.ext2   --not--   mke2fs.
I didn't even realize there was a mke2fs.
I guess this was my mistake.

ah, well, one should be a symbolic link to the other - I don't think that could've made any difference.

[Cassie6]

I assure you mke2fs is the right way to make an ext2 filesystem, and that -m 0 isn't an option that would make any difference except to the filesystem created...

I used mkfs.ext2   --not--   mke2fs.
I didn't even realize there was a mke2fs.
I guess this was my mistake.

ah, well, one should be a symbolic link to the other - I don't think that could've made any difference.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=59458\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

 Hi there, I am quite (very) new in using more linux on my sl5500 with ROM3.1. Some time ago I placed sd=card but without any practical usage, sofar. Sionce my successful rom-upgrade I want to run more programms. So now I want to use this sd-card, but how do I format it, using which program? Please help me out, I am just less than a novice with Linux. thnx

[Ram]

Well, whatever that command is, it did my sd card in.
It is no longer useable on my z.. system info shows it half full when it is empty, and I can't fdisk it or format it to either fat or ext2 on the z.
All I get are error messages for everything...

#umount /dev/mmcda1

#fdisk /dev/mmcda
Unable to open /dev/mmcda

#mkfs.ext2 /dev/mmcda1
mkfs.ext2: Device size reported to be zero. Invalid partition specified, or partition table wasn't rereadable after running fdisk, due to a modified partition being busy and in use. You may need to reboot to re-read your partition table

(rebooting does no good)

#mkfs.mdsos /dev/mmcda1
mkfs.msdos 2.8 (28 Feb 2001)
mkfs.msdos: Attempting to create a too large file system

It works ok on my laptop though... go figure.

Luckly, I have another card that I can use on my z.
I'M LEAVING THAT ONE ALONE!!
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=58899\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

My SD Cards is stuffed, it's stuck in Read Only mode, unable to reformat it with the Z or from Windows / Linux Desktops. Taking it to work in the morning, maybe someone may have a Camera that will format it.

Ram

[Greg2]

My SD Cards is stuffed, it's stuck in Read Only mode, unable to reformat it with the Z or from Windows / Linux Desktops.

Did you check the little switch on the side that locks it in read only? I only ask because I have read where some users have found this locked! ('slightly moved'... enough to lock)

Greg

[Ram]

My SD Cards is stuffed, it's stuck in Read Only mode, unable to reformat it with the Z or from Windows / Linux Desktops.

Did you check the little switch on the side that locks it in read only? I only ask because I have read where some users have found this locked! ('slightly moved'... enough to lock)

Greg
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=77949\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Switch checked numerus times, I asked a friend to see if he can format it in his camera.

Ram