Which filesystem should I use for the Pandora on my SDHC card ?

[TooCoolToRule]

I understand that some of you will put Fat32 but I have had issues with the Pandora (random crashes/lockups) which I have mentioned in two previous posts. I have gone and bought a third card just to make sure it is not the Pandora at fault. The first two were formatted in Fat32 but I want to try ext2 (unless someone has a better choice). I am not sure which cluster size to use (ext2) and I am using EaseUS Partition Master from Windows 7. The card is an 8gb SDHC Extreme (30mb) from Sandisk. Thank you for your help and time.

 

[skeezix]

I (and most) have always used FAT; ext2 works pretty well, and ext3 I wouldnmt' suggest, just for sync-times and stability during crashes/reboots.


FAT, for all its worts, handles system crash pretty well; ext2/3 not so much.


but of course.. _whatever works_ is best


I used to have crashes every 20mins during certain work I Was doing, and FAT survived okay; the others, trashed all the time.. but this was years ago, so take with salt.


jeff

 

[TooCoolToRule]

Thanks for the reply and the advice, Skeezix. If there are any users running Windows that have used ext2 with their SD cards and Pandora's, do I just drag and drop files to the Pandora using USB ? I've noticed that although EaseUS Partition Master will allow me to format in ext2 (cluster size 4k), Windows will not recognize the filesytem and therefore not let me drag and drop files to the card. Guess I should bite the bullet and use Fat32.

 

[thatgui]

Thanks for the reply and the advice, Skeezix. If there are any users running Windows that have used ext2 with their SD cards and Pandora's, do I just drag and drop files to the Pandora using USB ? I've noticed that although EaseUS Partition Manager will allow me to format in ext2 (cluster size 4k), Windows will not recognize the filesytem and therefore not let me drag and drop files to the card. Guess I should bite the bullet and use Fat32.

If you still want to try ext2, you do have two options (well actually three, but I guess you aren't in the mood to change to Linux on your PC):

• set the Pandora to mass storage mode, and fill your card via usb
  
• you could use a ext2 driver for windows like http://www.fs-driver.org/
  

 

[TooCoolToRule]

Thanks, thatgui. I Have tried Ext2 IFS from that link but it's not compatibile with Windoze 7. I've just bought a USB 'A' socket extension cable so I can connect my Pandora up to my PC and I will get it in a day or two so I will try the Pandora's mass storage mode. I'd love to try a Linux Distro on my PC but (other than my Pandora, of course) I have had no experience with Linux. I'd want to dual boot but it's too much hassle backing up my data (in case something goes wrong with the boot loader) and then re-sizing my existing partitions and creating a new one for the Linux distro to reside on. I'm gonna try Ext2Fsd 0.51 till my cable arrives, though. Thanks once again, m8.

 

[Lao Rebel]

I understand that some of you will put Fat32 but I have had issues with the Pandora (random crashes/lockups) which I have mentioned in two previous posts. I have gone and bought a third card just to make sure it is not the Pandora at fault. The first two were formatted in Fat32 but I want to try ext2 (unless someone has a better choice). I am not sure which cluster size to use (ext2) and I am using EaseUS Partition Manager from Windows 7. The card is an 8gb SDHC Extreme (30mb) from Sandisk. Thank you for your help and time.

use FAT b/c you may not be able to unmount. i cannot unmount my sdcards luckily they are all formatted in FAT32 so i can just push them out w/out unmounting. but if you use anything other than FAT and you can't unmount then you r screwed

 

[TooCoolToRule]

Thanks for the advice, Lao Rebel. That card will always stay in my Pandora as I do not intend to use it for anything else. As long as (should things go wrong) I can format it to another filesystem via my PC , EaseUS Partition Manager (or something like it) and a card reader and/or it won't cause issues with my Pandora I am not really fussed (but I have no clue what you mean by mount/unmount and why not being able to unmount it would cause me problems). I have nothing to put on that card that I cannot replace.

 

[skeezix]

You can use a live-CD, or a linux that is installed within your windows partition (so no re-partitioning your windows drive.) The linux distros put a lot of effort into making it painless to try


I used a ext2 driver for Windows at one point okay, but not sure if XP/Vista/7 .. I mostly live in linux full time.


jeff

 

[sswam]

I am using ext4 at the moment. I'll post the commands used later when I get home.


If you partition and format SD media just like a normal disk, it does not give best performance or lifetime.


I'm also interested to try zfs with Pandora, for USB HDD.


I'm not sure how well it would work on SD media.

 

[TooCoolToRule]

Thanks for the advice and your time, Skeezix. Linux installed within Windows ? Do you mean by using a Virtual Machine ? My CPU has HVT (hardware virtualization technology) so I might have a mess around. What's a good distro for beginners ? Mint ?


Thanks sswam for the advice and your time as well. I might try ext4 if ext2 doesn't work well for me. ZFS ? In simple terms, what advantages does that filesystem have over any other ?

 

[sswam]

ZFS is a very advanced filesystem with many advantages. It was developed at Sun, and is used on high-end Solaris servers, not usually on pocket computers! I built ZFS on Pandora, but it isn't quite working yet perhaps due to incompatible with the Pandora's pre-empt kernel. There are some patches for that, so I'll try it again, I can also try zfs-fuse. This is more of a fun experiment than a practical filesystem at this stage.

 

[skeezix]

Mint is a pretty decent distro, in that it comes ready to use with codecs for instance.. so stuff like Flash and video watching and dvd playing should probably just work; I've not really used it much, but from a new-to-linux side its probably a very good choice.


I thyink it has mint4win or something, that sets up 'wubi' .. it basicly lets you run a Windows installer (like any other windows app), and sets up a big file in your disk; inside that file is a linux filesystem. So you fire up the Mint app inside Windows, and it basiclky 'takes over' and you're in Linux .. but with no 'heavy set up' (disk partitioning etc.) If you end up really digging it, you can then go for a heavier set up, but a wubi setup is basicly painless .. no risk, no screwing with your disks, just install and try it out. Theres limits to what linux can do in that 'contained' situation, but its a pretty good way to try things out.


Otherwise a 'live cd' approach is good as well .. boot linux fro a CD/DVD/USB thumb, and good to go; some of them let you write data to a windows disk as well, so that state can be maintained.. but a lot of livecds just let you fiddle around, but when you shut down, eveyrthing is 'gone' again (ie: CD/DVD/etc is mostly read only.)


Check out Mint .. I think Mint 64bit version includes the wubi options, but take a look at their FAQ. "mint4win" and "wubi" are the keywords you're looking for I think.


jeff

 

[TooCoolToRule]

Thanks skeezix. I think i'll have a little play with Mint over the weekend. Not sure about Mint4win, though. I know the bootloader is stable but i'm not sure. I'll have to try putting it on a USB stick or using Virtual Box/VMWare first and see if I like it enough. Considering I got a friend who repairs computers who gave me a Windows 7 Pro MAK activation for free, I don't think it will persuade me to give up Windows entirely. But, you never know.


Thanks sswam. The information in that wiki link is way over my head, but i'd be interested in hearing how your 'fun experiment' goes.

 

[skeezix]

No need to give it up completely; and if you like windows (win7 is not half bad!), then no need to switch at all. Linux (and the BSDs and other OSes) are fun to play with, and are full OSes that you can live in 99-100% of the time .. but don't let anyone twist your arm into it There _is_ a learning curve, and it takes time, and sometimes thats just not hard ot achieve.


The only thing I "miss" about Windows is gaming, but I do a lto of it through 'crossover' (or 'wine', the free version) which lets you run Windows apps in linux/bsd. Or I reboot to Windows once in awhile, but rarely


jeff

 

[Christoph.Krn]

I thyink it has mint4win or something, that sets up 'wubi' .. it basicly lets you run a Windows installer (like any other windows app), and sets up a big file in your disk; inside that file is a linux filesystem. So you fire up the Mint app inside Windows, and it basiclky 'takes over' and you're in Linux [...]


Otherwise a 'live cd' approach is good as well [...]

This is a bit misunderstandable, as the application does not just take over when it's fired up. I have never used Mint4Win (if that's really what you're talking about), but if that uses wubi, then it's probably not a virtual machine monitor, but actually allows to natively boot off the file that's on the HDD (as that's what wubi is supposed to do).


I'd rather recommend using a virtual machine, where snapshots can be used to revert each and every experiment that affects the guest system.

 

[kirkanoss]

are you putting the os on the card, if not then why not use ntfs? just have to install the community codec pack can dl here http://openpandora.org/downloads/CodecPack.pnd and install it use ntfs for my 64gb sdxc class 10. have crashed a few times and never had any data loss

 

[TooCoolToRule]

Thanks Jeff. Unfortunately my mind isn't as fertile as it used to be. I used to be into programming a long time ago. I'm 43 now and my first experience of programming was teaching myself to learn BASIC on a ZX81. BBC BASIC was awesome (because of the DEF PROC/DEF FN commands). I miss programming using that even though I could never make decent use of the envelope command on the BBC Micro. I've been a hardened gamer ever since the Atari VCS came out though. I guess that like you I would only miss Windows for gaming (particularly my STEAM purchases). I am going to be tested for Aspbergers syndrome soon and although my attention span isn't great, I will give Linux a good go on my PC and try to educate myself.


Christoph.Kn, You are right, It's not like I can just click on a shortcut and have Linux just fire up within Windows using mint4win. A virtual machine will let me do that though so I will try that as well as booting Linux from a USB stick like I mentioned before, though.


Kirkanos. Thanks for the advice. I haven't put the OS on the card but like I put in my first post, I'll stick with whatever is the most stable for me. I have formatted my card using ext2 but have yet to try it out. Maybe i'll have better luck this time.

 

[skeezix]

Wine (open source free/Free) is available in Crossover (one of the commercialized versions, which makes it much easier to set up and maintain imho) .. Steam works quite well in vanilla wine and has special help in Crossove r(or other Wine helpers.) I keep Steam up with a dozen games in it (Civ IV, Civ V, Halflife 2 series, Portal / Portal 2, etc and so on.) Steam works well, but of course, you never can tell on a game by game basis (though crossover's website has a good 'does it work' type index.) I've had pretty good luck with wine, but a few misses as well. In truth, when a new 'AAA' game comes out, it ,may or may not work in Wine, but it has a good chance of working soon (once wine hackers get their hands on the game -- but more indie or lesser common titles may not get picked up as supported, but often just work anyway.


A VM won't work with gamign in linux (generally), but certainly lets you fire things up easily with almost no effort/risk; ie: get virtualbox (free VM system) and install Mint or Ubuntu or somethign into a VM, piece of cake, for sure.


Or try the Mint4Win, etc.


The trick is .. if you're interested, find some method and try it out; its not that painful or risky, so have fun Just dive in


jeff

 

[Grench]

For the Pandora...


ext2 is the easiest from a pure-Linux perspective.


If you're ever going to need to use the card on a Windows box, use Fat32.


If you want it to be, "as fast as possible" try ext4 (some have had good luck - others not).


For desktop distributions...


I want to go to Mint 13 KDE, but Grub2 doesn't like my workstation.


I installed and tried Ubuntu 12.04 - works off of the install disk. Update brings grub to version 2+ and sinks it.


I have been using Mint 12 KDE for over a year now - Grub 1.99 is fine with my hardware. Works -great-! So - I migrated back to it last night.


Mint has become the refuge for Linux users who want the commonality of Ubuntu but can't stand the worthless unity interface. Made simple by removing the ability to even see installed programs in any sense of order or hierarchy. Huh?


The Unity interface, Windows 8, iPad, mobile company skinned Android, etc... They're all based on the principle of, "The best way to make something easy for people is to deeply hide or remove any control options."

 

[TooCoolToRule]

Thanks for the help and advice, Jeff. Had a look at Crossover. It runs a few games I have and some of them run quite well. £38 is beyond me financially ATM but i'll look into it when I have more cash to spare.


Thanks also for the advice and help, Grench. Ext2 and Mint it is .