Extending ROOL Pi Image

I’ve just purchased my Pi 2, along with a 64GB card. After burning the ROOL image on, I find that RISC OS reports the disc size of being only 1.97GB. Is there anyway of extending this to fill the entire 64GB, without reformating the drive under RISC OS?

I used Win32Imager to burn the image to the card, but have since found that my Mac’s Disc Utility may also be able to do the same thing. I was also looking at creating a 64GB image and cloning the ROOL image into it…but I ran out of time (so I may have answered my own question there!).

Cheers,

Gerald.

Is there anyway of extending this to fill the entire 64GB, without reformating the drive under RISC OS?

http://piccolosystems.com/disctools/systemdisc

Is it the only way available? Is there any way to extent on Windows/Linux box (for example this one used to flash SD card with ROOL image)?

To do it yourself is a daunting task. System Disc is inexpensive and probably better value for money than several months of progrsmme development to do it yourself. There are two overlapping partitions on the SDcard and getting that right is non-trivial.

Alternatively you can create a dual partition card under Linux relatively easily and then format the filecore partition under RISC OS taking care not to format beyond and onto the FAT partition but then you will not be able to see the FAT partition from RISC OS so easily. (FAT32fs would probably see it OK). RISC OS has no knowledge of partitions so you need to know what you are doing.

Alternatively you can create a dual partition card under Linux relatively easily and then format the filecore partition under RISC OS

Well, that’s exactly what I was thinking about. I could use GParted to set two partitions (one of them only as a reservation for filecore or just one FAT and leave the rest untouched). After setting up partitions I’d only have to copy whatever’s needed (!Boot, Apps etc).

How can I use HForm to do filecore part of this?

You should use SystemDisc. Is the better way.
If you format your card with HPForm, change the settings to get a smaller filecore partition.
With GParted format a FAT Partition at the free part at the end of the card.
A todo (in German) you find at ArcSite.
I have play around with before SystemDisc was released. The SystemDisc created cards are more stable.

You format a part of the disc with HForm, then you make a partition for the other part of the disc with GParted.
Geometry will be different with both tools, so you’ll need to make some calculation.

You format a part of the disc with HForm, then you make a partition for the other part of the disc with GParted.
Geometry will be different with both tools, so you’ll need to make some calculation.

It’s not quite that simple, though.

While Fat32 knows about its partition (the GParted one), Filecore has no idea that there’s anything else on the disc as it doesn’t do partitions. Left to its own devices, it will therefore write all over the Fat32 partition with RISC OS files.

The sequence is therefore to format with HForm, then use GParted to place a partition in a location that Filecore can accept as a file. You then need to edit the Filecore disc map to place a file which exactly covers the GParted partition. It’s this file which protects the Fat32 partition from Filecore.

The last stage is the fun bit, but as Raik points out, SystemDisc will do all the work for you. It’s well worth the money for that alone…

If you format an SD card with two partitions, one of roughly the size you want for RISC OS (something Linux-like that FAT32fs won’t see) and a smaller FAT one. Then use HForm to make a filecore partition no larger than the first one, you will get RISC OS to think the card is just a bit smaller than it really is and the FAT partiton will just appear as a FAT partition. The only way to look at it from RISC OS is to use Fat32fs explicitly selecting the right partition.

The SystemDisc solution is much more elegant and stable.

… or use RISC OS “FAT only”…