3444 2012-11-15 18:21:01 +0000 Use sparse files for images 2016-02-11 11:45:47 +0000 1 1 7 Build System, Metadata & Runtime OE-Core deployment unspecified x86 Multiple RESOLVED NOTABUG Medium enhancement 2.1 M3 1 dvhart ross.burton bluelightning ross.burton --- --- Yes (doc changes required) oldest_to_newest 27489 0 dvhart 2012-11-15 18:21:01 +0000 Many of our images have a lot of empty space in them. There are projects around that take advantage of sparse files and filemaps to create a better image writer which only writes the necessary data to the target device. This should result in smaller images and faster device write times (and longer flash life as well). 34687 1 dvhart 2013-07-19 01:09:56 +0000 Tom is going to try and find the MeeGo solution reference... 45850 2 ross.burton 2014-09-25 15:25:54 +0000 So the bare filesystem images are sparse already: $ du -h core-image-sato-nuc-20140916184231.rootfs.ext3 444M core-image-sato-nuc-20140916184231.rootfs.ext3 $ du -h --apparent-size core-image-sato-nuc-20140916184231.rootfs.ext3 984M core-image-sato-nuc-20140916184231.rootfs.ext3 But when that gets wrapped up into a hddimg most of the sparseness disappears: $ du -h core-image-sato-nuc-20140916184231.hddimg 1000M core-image-sato-nuc-20140916184231.hddimg $ du -h --apparent-size core-image-sato-nuc-20140916184231.hddimg 1014M core-image-sato-nuc-20140916184231.hddimg 58872 3 ross.burton 2016-02-11 11:45:47 +0000 *Most*, this is due to wrapping an ext in a fat in a... and it's filesystems all the way down. There's a problem with wic in that it *doesn't* do sparse, but there's a patch for that already.