Android Super Partition (Dynamic Partitions)
| Format | Android Super Partition (Dynamic Partitions) |
|---|---|
| Short name | super |
| Category | filesystem |
| Platforms | Android |
| Crush support | Not yet supported |
| Status | Reviewed |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-05 |
Forensic relevance
The 'super' partition of Android devices with dynamic partitions, holding logical partitions such as system, vendor and product (per slot on A/B devices). After 4096 reserved bytes it contains the partition geometry and a backup copy, followed by the partition metadata (with backup copies per slot) describing each logical partition's name, attributes and extents. The metadata is needed to locate and extract the individual partition images. Images from factory or update packages are often stored as Android sparse images and must be expanded first.
Signatures
| Offset | Hex | ASCII (non-printable as .) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| offset 4096 (0x1000) | 67 44 6C 61 | gDla | Geometry magic 0x616C4467 (after 4096 reserved bytes) |
| offset 12288 (0x3000) | 30 50 4C 41 | 0PLA | Primary metadata header magic 0x414C5030 (after geometry and its backup) |
Known extensions
None recorded
References
- Dynamic partitions (Android Open Source Project) https://source.android.com/docs/core/ota/dynamic_partitions
- liblp metadata_format.h (AOSP, GitHub mirror) https://github.com/aosp-mirror/platform_system_core/blob/main/fs_mgr/liblp/include/liblp/metadata_format.h
Cite this entry
Crush Format Reference, “Android Super Partition (Dynamic Partitions)”. https://kalink0.github.io/crush-forensics/formats/super/ — source: crush/data/build_formats_db.py at commit 640a2a9928f4e36a976b89901512a8dce824d093, built 2026-10-21 06:46:19 UTC.
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