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I have a 32 GB SD card with one FAT32 partition and one Ext4 partition. If I mount the SD card to the computer I can read the FAT32 partition in Windows just fine. But how do I read the Ext4 partition?
I have installed Ext2Fsd which is said (link 1, link 2) to support Ext4 partitions. But it is said to only partially support Ext4 partitions and it is best at reading them, writing to them is not recommended as data corruption may occur. I don't need writing anyway, but I can't even read it.
I don't see the Ext4 partition of my SD card when I start the Ext2 Volume Manager. Why is it not showing up?
Update
Okay, here's a short update.
- Ext2Fsd is NOT working (as you can see by my own answer down below).
- Ext2Read is NOT working (which is the most up-voted solution in the above mentioned link).
Ext2Fsd is not assigning drive letters to mount the FS on Windows (Explorer).
After choosing a drive letter, this is what I get in return:
Nothing! I just get an empty dialog box.
And as for Ext2Read, it doesn't seem to understand removable devices.
This is what I get when I launch the EXE as admin (required):
If it's a real HDD it can see it and I can browse it. In the image below my Ubuntu disk is shown with two Ext3 (I think it is) partitions and one Swap partition.
But if it's a removable device like a SD card with Ext partition mounted to a SD card reader, it does NOT show up at all (evidently).
So no support for removable devices then in Ext2Read? Right? And I don't know what's going on with Ext2Fsd, that thing can't assign a drive letter to a partition on a removable device. Is this how it is by design? It was also unable to mount my internal HDD with Ubuntu.
The only thing that really worked was the Linux Reader by Diskinternals, as suggested by Chris down below. Thank you Chris!
This is how removable drives show up in Linux Reader:
It's very nice. It even has a Hex viewer for those who want to geek out at it. Not only does it show Linux partitions but Windows partitions as well.
Here's some info on my partition/SD card/card reader.
It's very easy to use and has plenty of features.
Update
Okay, I just found out that Ext2Read DOES work! I was not reading properly. You can see in the screenshot that those are two different devices.
/dev/sda1
/dev/sda2
/dev/sdf2
Device sdf2
is my Ext4 partition on SD card. So I give some credit to Ext2Read! It actually works! But Ext2Fsd does NOT.
Here's another one I found to be working: Ext4Explorer.
I get the same results with Ext4Explorer. I can see the two partitions on one device (internal HDD) and the one partition on the SD card. Here's a screenshot.
But unlike both Ext4Explorer and Ext2Read, the Linux Reader actually shows you how many files you have and some basic information about a file when you open up a folder. The former two do not. If you want to know how many files there are when using either one of the two you have to count the files.... ridiculous!
So I say go with Linux Explorer!
Does Ext2Fsd support mounting Ext partitions from removable devices?... – Samir – 2013-05-24T14:56:33.060
What alternatives to Ext2Fsd are there? I mean come on! This is version 0.51 released in 2011! It's over 2 years old! Seriously? No need for bug fixes and new updates, it's just perfect now? At least I would like to see a "Ext4Fsd". That would be great. – Samir – 2013-05-24T14:59:57.930
This question relates to the use of Ext partitions on SD cards. But generally speaking, is there nothing for Windows that will fully support reading/writing from/to Ext4 partitions? – Samir – 2013-05-24T15:03:15.380
In the first link you provided, one of the answers refers to "ext4explore(r)". Did you try that as well? Really though, this is the same question as Link 1, and unless you edit it down to being about "EFS2Read" specifically then I foresee this as being closed as a duplicate. – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2013-05-24T15:27:53.353
@techie007 Alright, close it then. I just thought that this maybe was a special case because the Ext partition is on a removable device. And Ext2Fsd as suggested by most users (not just on the linked page but on others too) does not work (as you can see by my answer below). Can you tell me if this has to do with removable devices? Or is it a general problem with Ext2Fsd even on regular HDD internals? – Samir – 2013-05-24T16:04:18.153
I can only vote to close it, and it takes 5 votes to close (or a diamond moderator). So there we go -- the masses will decide the fate. ;) – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2013-05-24T19:12:09.087
People need to know about Linux Reader. It's a really great app and it's freeware. I have added a comment to that other question to let people know about this great app. If I could I would give Chris one more up-vote for this app tip. – Samir – 2013-05-24T20:47:01.657