It's advice intended to help save a lot of pain and suffering. Based on the content of the first post, it seems to me that Diesel probably doesn't have the time or inclination to start down this road, so I'm flagging him away before he starts down it.

Cloning to SD isn't a simple procedure, and certainly isn't intended for everybody. The reality is is that there are many procedures that shouldn't be attempted by every single tablet user, and cloning to SD is one of them. Working under the assumption that everybody should try everything just leads to a lot of reboot loops and a lot of frustration.

Now, if he really wants to invest the time to learn enough to be able to understand the process, then that's fine, but I judged that he didn't and based my advice on that judgement.

No, don't, clearly you're more interested in starting another flamewar and not in being constructive. So just stop right here.

now that i understand the whole point of cloning, it makes sense. the n810 has only 256mb of storage, which after all the programs i install and try everyday, runs low pretty quick. I have to get a large memory card first but, I am looking to do that in the near future. Even though I am a newbie, every once in a while I get tempted to try the tough stuffs.

A word if caution is definitely justified here. one of the main reasons i've never tried booting from an SD card is because i'm afraid of messing things up during cloning and losing data when i am left with no choice but to reflash, and i consider myself a power user (not a developer, but not a newbie, and pretty comfortable with the tablet jargon). One more thing to consider here, though: there's nothing to lose if your tablet is brand new, right? reflashing is one of the easiest things to do with a tablet. nokia's wizard (in windows) walks you through. if i could go back, knowing all of the benefits, i might have tried cloning much earlier on in my tablet journey.

That being said, I'd advise against cloning UNLESS you consider yourself the kind of person that really wants to "play" with the tablet--trying to "fix" things that aren't "broken", messing with settings, trying lots of different programs, trying to do things not officially supported by nokia (like plugging a USB keyboard and mouse into your tablet), and you don't mind if your fiddling results in putting your device temporarily "out of commission" on occasion--for it to be worth your while to dive into something like that. you would learn a few things along the way, but it could also be a frustrating and time-consuming process.

I second that Penguinbait made an easy DEB (package) that you just click and install and voila.. you've cloned your tablet. It's already been linked to.

I mimick both GA and Benny in that... Just because someone did make it easy.. doesn't make it flawless.. You are likely to lose data you didn't anticipate (IE: your entire SD card)... and you may very well end up in a reboot loop where you'll have to reflash to fix it.

If you didn't understand this post... You need to have the time to do some serious research before attempting this. If you are a professional in another field.. use specifically the stuff on your tablet that helps you in that area... and keep the basics.

Granted.. you could always go to PB's thread.. click install.. break everything.. and come back here explaining your problem. There's a dozen people here that will help you - although a few will laugh at you at the same time as helping you - but you're likely to wind up fixed at some point... if you have patience.

Diesel -- I'm with you, friend...

Relative newbie here. Got my 810 a few months ago (w/Diablo 4.2008.30-2). Spent days reading through various internet tablet boards trying to learn how to best exploit its abilities. With a 4 Gb card installed, I spent a couple of days downloading various apps (including applet showing status of available memory for internal and SD card) from the hundreds listed on Maemo.Org. Unlike with my N95-3, which prompts me EVERY TIME to assign each download to either the internal memory or the microSD card, I was never able to successfully figure out in the 810's application manager a method to assign a download to the SD card. Thus, after every download, the memory applet continued to show my SD card still with 3.8 Gb of available memory. Predictably, and as other contributors to this thread have intimated, in short order my internet tablet experience came to a crawl. Or locked up, requiring reboot. Not fun.

Earlier this evening I decided to start over, so I reflashed (and updated to 4.2008.36-5). Now I am where you are -- trying to determine what to assign to internal vs. external memory. I suppose cloning is an option -- I'm probably game in attempting the exercise -- after all, "life's a journey, not a destination," and I'd be wiser for it, even if I fail in the attempt -- but I'd prefer to avoid ending up where I was before -- with basically a useless, doggedly slow device.

I considered the 810's memory card slot to be a huge selling feature (over, say, the fixed memory of an iPhone), and thus I intended to store my apps for weather, maps, RSS feeds, etc., on this card. But if these apps are to be stored internally, and if every app upgrade notification from Nokia goes straight to the internal, then what's the point..? If I'm wrong in making this assumption, please correct me. Similarly, if there is a relatively simple method to ensure that a downloaded app (and, just as importantly, its update) is assigned to the external card, I'd appreciate a link.

And to the regulars here -- please don't assume that all newbies are idiots who have made no attempt to find answers to their questions before posting here. I'm sure I'm not that different from many who lurk here who have spent not just hours, but days trying to find answers from many internet threads. Like Diesel, we post here only after exhausting other avenues. We post because we want to learn.

Ok, I think that people are talking too fast here. Its really confusing.

This is the "Cloning" in a super simple nutshell...

1) The N810 has two types of memory:

Flash
SD Card (One internal, one external)

2) The flash is where all the programs are stored, but it is VERY small.

3) Programs can NOT be stored on the SD Card, because they are not "Linux" file systems, they are "Windows".

4) How to work around this roadblock? Simple, change the "Windows" into "Linux." This was called UnionFS, and it was not the best solution.

5) Now, what if we simple forget about the flash, and put everything on the SD card? That would work, right? So, we make one half of the card "Windows," and one half "Linux." Then, we copy everything into the "Linux", and trick the tablet into thinking the "Linux" is the flash.

It works, and it is faster. This is because Nokia, realizing that the flash is very small, compresses everything. No longer is this needed!



For me, cloning was very easy, and Penguinbait is even making a GUI installer!

Just run "Install Tools." Then, for added reassurance, run "bootmenu installer". Done!

"And to the regulars here -- please don't assume that all newbies are idiots who have made no attempt to find answers to their questions before posting here."

That is a two way street my friend, don't assume that people are not trying to help you just because you are not getting the answer you wanted to hear.

Speaking of reboot loop, help! No, I have not tried the clone to sd card. For some odd reason this morning my N810 started doing that. I had maemo mapper running for the last couple of days and yesterday I downloaded some maps trying to get some clear view of NYC at the different zooming levels and I think from there I ran out of memory. Still everything was working fine as long as I didn't download any more maps until this morning on my way to work I was playing music using Mediabox and at one point it just frozed. When I tried to closed all the running apps to start over, it started this reboot loop thing. Why does this happen? Thanks