Recalbox partitions

[aftermath]

I put the latest Recalbox image on my 1TB Sandisk SD Card. I used Raspberry Pi Imager. That went well. When I look at the card, there is only one partition (RECALBOX), which is FAT32. Then there is 950GB unallocated. I thought Recalbox also had a SHARE partition? I don't have my Raspberry Pi yet. Do these partitions get created after I boot it? Or do I need to create it? I just want to make sure before I extend my card to use the free space. Thanks!

[Alvin]

@aftermath
Why not simply put your SD Card in your Raspberry Pi, boot it up and see what happens ?

[aftermath]

@alvin Because I'd like to expand the partition to use the entire 1TB. I don't want to do that if other partitions are going to be created (because those might be the ones that need to be expanded). I also don't have the Pi 4 yet, it will be here in a week or so.

[Alvin]

@aftermath
Oh Boy !
So why not wait till the Raspberry arrived
put in the SD Card
boot up the Raspberry
see what happened
shut down the Raspberry
take out the SD Card
put the SD Card into your PC
see if some Partitions are created
expand Partitions if needed

https://wiki.recalbox.com/en/basic-usage/preparation-and-installation:

2 - Installation
Raspberry Pi / Odroid Go Advance / Odroid Go Super

• Insert the microSD card in the device you want to use Recalbox with.
• Turn on/plug in your board and the installation of Recalbox will start automatically.
• Installation takes a few minutes and varies depending on your hardware.

[Nanaki]

Hello,

Flashing Recalbox WON'T create and expand share partition.
Starting Recalbox for the first time WILL create the share partition and expand it to the maximum space available.
At first startup, there's even a loading screen saying share partition is being created

Enjoy

[Nanaki]

By the way way, please note we recommend to use a small sized SD card to install Recalbox on it (16 GB is enough) and to use an external storage device (USB key or hard drive) to put the games on.
This way, you can update or reinstall Recalbox on your SD card without backing up your roms, saves and bios first.

Having Recalbox + roms + bios + saves on the same SD card, you'll have to move all these files to a safe location first. Then format/flash your SD card with Recalbox. Then putting back your files to the new installation of Recalbox.

[aftermath]

@nanaki THANK YOU very much for the responses. You are extremely helpful. That is very good advice and I'll consider an external USB device for the storage of my roms, etc. Now I need to figure out what to do with my 1TB SD Card

[Nanaki]

@aftermath You're welcome
Yeah, a 1TB SD card is probably a little bit overkill ^^
One idea is you could use the SD card as an external storage to store your roms if you use a USB card reader.
Or if you want to invest in a handheld retrogaming console in the future, you can use it for Recalbox + roms (for this kind of hardware, you don't have the choice generally)

Have fun with Recalbox