怎么解释有些拆机料的EMMC的容量明显减少的情况（通常是减半）！

由于之前对EMMC这块不懂，所以折腾了两天的时间。

首先上sansung  flash datasheet上的原话，这样比较有说服力：

3.1.1.2 Enhanced Partition (Area)
SAMSUNG e·MMC adopts Enhanced User Data Area as SLC Mode. Therefore when master adopts some portion as enhanced user data area in User
Data Area, that area occupies double size of original set up size. ( ex> if master set 1MB for enhanced mode, total 2MB user data area is needed to generate
1MB enhanced area)
Max Enhanced User Data Area size is defined as (MAX_ENH_SIZE_MULT x HC_WP_GRP_SIZE x HC_ERASE_GPR_SIZE x 512kBytes)

外面比较通常的一种说法就是容量减半。其实这是完全不正确的。还有各种说法就是加密啊，隐藏啊，说什么的都有。

以下是网上查阅的相关资料：

百科名称解释：

SLC 和MLC分别是是Single-Level Cell 单层单元和Multi-Level Cell多层单元的缩写，SLC的特点是成本高、容量小、速度快，而MLC的特点是容量大成本低，但是速度慢。MLC的每个单元是2bit的，相对SLC来说整整多了一倍。不过，由于每个MLC存储单元中存放的资料较多，结构相对复杂，出错的几率会增加，必须进行错误修正，这个动作导致其性能大幅落后于结构简单的SLC闪存。

HTC一个论坛找到的答案：

The Missing 2GB

11-12-10: The following is our best understanding of the issue at-present. Scotty2 says this is "99.9%" the issue and "the only explanation that makes sense."

What Missing 2GB?

Although marketing from T-Mobile claim the phone contains 4GB of internal storage (not including the removable micro-SD card), once the phone was released, users quickly noticed that only ~2GB appears to exist.

Several theories for the "missing" flash memory storage were proposed, including a possible "shadow" installation of the operating system being hidden somewhere, as well as a possible 2GB limitation of the card when in "byte" rather than "sector" mode. Still a third theory proposed that perhaps the extra 2GB were somewhere outside the normal block device where the Android kernel's flash controller couldn't find it.

Apparently, none of these theories were correct.

So where is the missing 2GB?

To answer this, it is first necessary to understand a bit about how internal flash cards, such as the Sandisk card (also known as an "emmc") on the HTC Vision, store information.

Luckily, Sandisk has provided a helpful video. Pay particular attention to the discussion of SLC (single-level cell) and MLC (multi-level cell) in Chapter 5.

In an SLC configuration, a single bit is packed into each memory cell. In a multi-level cell, you can fit 2, 3, 4 or more bits in each cell. You get a lot of capacity with more bits per cell, but at the expense of speed and reliability.

In trying to figure out where the missing 2gb went, scotty2 noticed that most of the Sandisk card's block device (that is, the part with Android on it) had been partitioned within the regular "User Data Area" as an "Enhanced User Data Area".

Note that when we talk about partitioning the emmc, we're not talking about regular MBR partitions like /dev/whatever. An emmc partition is a very low-level partition of the flash. Each emmc partition constitutes a full block device, which can then be further partitioned into a bootloader, /system, /data, etc.

The card's datasheet wasn't too clear about what the "Enhanced User Data Area" did that was so different from the regular User Data Area, although one thing was clear-- once its parameters was set, you couldn't "un-set" it. To quote the datasheet, the Enhanced User Data Area "can be programmed only once during the device life-cycle (one-time programmable)."

But why was the entire Sandisk partitioned in this special "Enhanced" User Data area? No one knew.

Then tmzt found this. It's an article by Toshiba that suggests what's going on:

Those areas requiring better reliability are SLC or can be programmed as SLC. . . the Enhanced User Data Area, which may store, for example, system log files, are SLC. The User Data Area, which may store music, pictures, videos and other files is MLC. . . Each 1 bit configured as SLC results in 2 bits less of MLC. Theoretically an 8GB e-MMC device (densities are defined in MLC terms), could be configured virtually all as SLC and thus would be approximately 4GB. In most cases, it is more likely that the majority of the memory would be configured as MLC to support higher density.

You've probably figured out by now what's likely happened here. Assuming the Sandisk emmc works like Toshiba's, the 4GB flash has probably been, save for a few tiny partitions such as the radio, irreversibly configured to use SLC, rather than MLC. If so, the benefit is faster performance and perhaps greater stability (and more read/write cycles). But its capacity/density would be cut in half.

And that, my friends, may very well be where your 2GB has gone.

对于是不是one-time programmable，有sandisk datatsheet的描述：

2.8. Partition management
The iNAND offers the possibility for the host to configure additional split local memory partitions
with independent addressable space starting from logical address 0x00000000 for different usage
models. Therefore memory block area scan be classified as follows9
:
• Factory configuration supplies two boot partitions, each 1MB in size, implemented as
enhanced storage media and one RPMB partitioning of 2MB in size
• The host is free to configure one segment in the User Data Area to be implemented as
enhanced storage media, and to specify its starting location and size in terms of Write
Protect Groups. The attributes of this Enhanced User Data Area can be programmed only
once during the device life-cycle (one-time programmable).
• Up to four General Purpose Area Partitions can be configured to store user data or sensitive
data, or for other host usage models. The size of these partitions is a multiple of the write
protect group. Size and attributes can be programmed once in device life-cycle (one-time
programmable). Each of the General Purpose Area Partitions can be implemented with
enhanced technological features.