Whats the equivalent to reformatting a PC - Vibrant Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi, I just wanted to know if there is an equivalent for android phones to reformatting and reinstalling windows on a pc?
Thanks.

wiping the phone and flashing a new ROM (or stock)?

Search odin

Nandroid backup would do the same. If you made one in the beginning.

Factory Format.
Download My app and press factory format. Beware this will erase everything on your phone and restore it to factory state.
Get the app from the downloads section of my website in my signature.

Related

[Q] CWM Nandroid and a sticky device admin app

Hi,
I am trying to restore a couple of nandroid backups, but a Device Administrator app gone "quirky" seems to materialize no matter what I do. I did a CWM Wipe, restored the nandroid backup before the app went bad. However that did not work, the app was still misbehaving. So I wiped again, restored a nandroid backup from before I had installed the app. Still the app shows up again. It has in effect locked me out of the device.
Can anyone tell what can I do to get rid of the app?
Are these Device Admin app supposed to persist like this? Or am I doing something wrong?
Do I need to choose a different wipe mode (I chose the normal one, which wipes /data/, /cache etc). I did not try to wipe /cache separately, as the first wipe does that by itself. Neither did I wipe the dalvik cache, as I thought they are not relevant here. I don't see any relevant files in the sdcard either, though how the app reappears in the nandroid restore before it was installed is a mystery.
Should I mount more partitions before wiping, like the data/cache etc.
Since the wipes don't seem to make it go away, I am not even sure flashing a different ROM would get rid of this app either, however I can try that (since I was planning to anyway, before this mishap). If that doesn't work either, I might just have the most unusual case of bricking ever.
The XDA forum does not seem to be much info about device-admin apps and my search-fu is not good enough today to find anything directly relevant about the other stuff.
PS. btw the app actually modifies the lockscreen. So I don't actually see the files it has with the pre-app restore, however the lockscreen still comes up, perhaps because of some remanant of the app or because of a setting it left in there somewhere.
efs?
Just to add more info, I see some files in /efs, which look relevant to the lockscren/ They have file names like this "/efs/cryptoprop_lockscreen".
Would these files store the data this app stored. I fortunately have an EFS backup, should I consider restoring these files.
If someone doesn't know the answer, can they suggest which devs would be good to ask about this.
AnDruid said:
Hi,
I am trying to restore a couple of nandroid backups, but a Device Administrator app gone "quirky" seems to materialize no matter what I do. I did a CWM Wipe, restored the nandroid backup before the app went bad. However that did not work, the app was still misbehaving. So I wiped again, restored a nandroid backup from before I had installed the app. Still the app shows up again. It has in effect locked me out of the device.
Can anyone tell what can I do to get rid of the app?
Are these Device Admin app supposed to persist like this? Or am I doing something wrong?
Do I need to choose a different wipe mode (I chose the normal one, which wipes /data/, /cache etc). I did not try to wipe /cache separately, as the first wipe does that by itself. Neither did I wipe the dalvik cache, as I thought they are not relevant here. I don't see any relevant files in the sdcard either, though how the app reappears in the nandroid restore before it was installed is a mystery.
Should I mount more partitions before wiping, like the data/cache etc.
Since the wipes don't seem to make it go away, I am not even sure flashing a different ROM would get rid of this app either, however I can try that (since I was planning to anyway, before this mishap). If that doesn't work either, I might just have the most unusual case of bricking ever.
The XDA forum does not seem to be much info about device-admin apps and my search-fu is not good enough today to find anything directly relevant about the other stuff.
PS. btw the app actually modifies the lockscreen. So I don't actually see the files it has with the pre-app restore, however the lockscreen still comes up, perhaps because of some remanant of the app or because of a setting it left in there somewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do a CWM wipe, and turn off the phone when done by selecting "Power Off"
Now enter download mode, and ODIN flash a stock ROM.
Then re-root with CF-Root and install custom ROM if desired.
pulser_g2 said:
Do a CWM wipe, and turn off the phone when done by selecting "Power Off"
Now enter download mode, and ODIN flash a stock ROM.
Then re-root with CF-Root and install custom ROM if desired.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the help pulser_g2. I am still concerned about the files i saw in /efs related to the lockscreen (see my second post). Would the stock ROM overwrite settings/configuration inside /efs (I guess since the IMEI etc are all in there, that might not be the case)?
Got through finally.
pulser_g2 said:
Do a CWM wipe, and turn off the phone when done by selecting "Power Off"
Now enter download mode, and ODIN flash a stock ROM.
Then re-root with CF-Root and install custom ROM if desired.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK this worked.
However after I Odin flashed the stock rom and rebooted, I got this
1. First got a different kind of lockscreen.
2. I entered the wrong password five times (after trying the Device Admin alternate password, my Google password, a new 2-step auth password from google) .
3. it said something about wiping sd card. I couldn't catch it (I should probably have videoed this using my point and shoot camera, but this did not strike me then as it was 2am).
4. I was hoping that the stock ROM will boot, cause it stayed on the Samsung logo for too long. (I had already ordered my USB Jig on ebay anyway, but it could have taken time because of my being far off from the seller.). Finally I got the Android Welcome screen and I let out my breath.
In any case, things seem to ok right now. I feel a slight slowness in the rooted stock ROM from my earlier rooted stock ROM, but I am gonna flash a custom ROM later anyway. Thanks a lot for your help pulser.

[Q] Any way of recovering data after doing a factory reset?

A couple of weeks ago, my SGS II crashed really badly and affected my phone in that I kept getting force close messages as well as "System UIDs Inconsistent" ones plus I couldn't access the partitions within my phone in Windows Explorer even though the phone was recognised by it.
It looks as though I may need to do a factory reset which to me is going to be a pain in the ass especially where videos and MP3's are concerned.
Another problem is that even though I installed VillainROM and followed the rules to the letter concerning its installation, supposedly I didn't install the system recovery that was unique to it and which would have made things a lot easier for me.
I don't even know if there is a way to backup data from the partitions to a 16GB or bigger micro SD card within the regular system recovery or not.
If I do need to a factory reset, are there any Apps out there that will let me recover data from the internal partitions as long as I don't write over the lost data concerned? (I know there's software available for PC that does something similar with data stored on hard drives)
Well on Cutom ROM you can use Titanium Backup Pro for Backup and Restoring. On Stock ROM's even Kies would do.
Regards.
ithehappy said:
Well on Cutom ROM you can use Titanium Backup Pro for Backup and Restoring. On Stock ROM's even Kies would do.
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the irony, I actually had Titanium Backup installed on my VillainROM custom ROM and I'd even bought an upgrade to the Pro version but for some reason, it wouldn't let me upgrade to the full version even though I had a license for it that I paid for, and as a result, it wouldn't let me do a full backup without having to do it slowly.
If I did reinstall Titanium Backup and managed to get my problem sorted out, would it recover deleted data or not?
Titanium Backup would only restore what it previously backed up.
The most easy way would be to just dump your data partition into a tarball (given you have root access on your phone).
Just hop into a terminal or adb shell and do
Code:
su
busybox tar zcvf /sdcard/data.tar.gz /data
That will give you a full .tar "backup" of all the data on the internal data partition.
Restoring that to app after a wipe and reinstall can be a bit pain in the poo, but it's better than nothing - and a recovery of previous files after a wipe would at best give you the same.
HellcatDroid said:
Titanium Backup would only restore what it previously backed up.
The most easy way would be to just dump your data partition into a tarball (given you have root access on your phone).
Just hop into a terminal or adb shell and do
Code:
su
busybox tar zcvf /sdcard/data.tar.gz /data
That will give you a full .tar "backup" of all the data on the internal data partition.
Restoring that to app after a wipe and reinstall can be a bit pain in the poo, but it's better than nothing - and a recovery of previous files after a wipe would at best give you the same.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I go into a terminal or adb shell? I'm using Windows 7 if that's any help?
For Terminal install a Terminal App from the marketplace on your phone and run it directely on it.
ADB you get from the Android SDK.
HellcatDroid said:
For Terminal install a Terminal App from the marketplace on your phone and run it directely on it.
ADB you get from the Android SDK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I take it that once I do the factory reset on the phone and install a Terminal App on it via Android Market, I just need to run the command that you recommend that I do and I should be able to recover the data that was on my partitions, pre factory restore?
(Apologies for asking all these questions as I'm still a newbie when it comes to Android and I'm just pissed that this happened in the first place because of the overheating that caused it to happen in the first place)
What if I select advance restore in CWM recovery and restore data? Will it affect the flashed rom?
borgmanjayce said:
I take it that once I do the factory reset on the phone and install a Terminal App on it via Android Market, I just need to run the command that you recommend that I do and I should be able to recover the data that was on my partitions, pre factory restore?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you run the command BEFORE the factory wipe and use the tarball you got to restore any data you still need.
kryptoner said:
What if I select advance restore in CWM recovery and restore data? Will it affect the flashed rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should work too, but depending on *what* borked up the install (might be some setting/config/piece-of-data somewhere) it will be restored as well - but definitaly worth a shot and pretty much "a must" to do those backups (I do them regulary).
gillian07 said:
It is possible to restore deleted files deleted from samsung galaxy s2 android phone after factory reset, take a look at this guide: recover data after android phone factory reset
You'd better do not use the phone before you get back lost files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blair Miller said:
You can check this related atciel recover files after restore factory settings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No program is free without compromise. If you factory reset without backup, there is not much you can do to recover deleted files. That's why such warnings exist before reverting back to a clean state.
You can try a Recuva download the program connect as storage device and try to scan Hope it helps
ma11221 said:
You can try a Recuva download the program connect as storage device and try to scan Hope it helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Recovery programs such as recuva work best on magnetic media such as pc hard drives. Flash storage on mobile phone are different as there are no moving parts, so recovery is not that easy. There is also a much higher likelihood of corruption on flash storage too when restoring deleted files, so that's why there is really no 'best' method for recovery.
How to Recover Deleted Data from Android after Factory Reset
When you perform a factory reset on Android, you will return the device to the condition it was when shipped from the factory. A factory data reset can help fix most issues that occur on Android. Any incorrect settings, glitches, bugs, viruses, or software problems on the device will be wiped clean.
But the files deleted from an Android phone aren’t actually wiped from its memory. Instead, the files are only marked as deleted and invisible. The system will write data over those files in the future. You can later use specialized data recovery tool to scan the Android memory for deleted files and try to recover them.
mendywen0322 said:
When you perform a factory reset on Android, you will return the device to the condition it was when shipped from the factory. A factory data reset can help fix most issues that occur on Android. Any incorrect settings, glitches, bugs, viruses, or software problems on the device will be wiped clean.
But the files deleted from an Android phone aren’t actually wiped from its memory. Instead, the files are only marked as deleted and invisible. The system will write data over those files in the future. You can later use specialized data recovery tool to scan the Android memory for deleted files and try to recover them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got any tips on what software?

[q] couldnt open directory/sdcard/nandroid/

I DID some cache wipe and dalvik cache wipe and accidentaly included data wipe too..the phone rebooted and ask for goole etc etc to be filled up but then the phone died and when i tried to reboot it. I get stuck at CM7 boot screen. I tried recovery pressing power-volume down-menu all at onece and when i try to restore back up it says E: Couldn't open directory/sdcard/nandroid/ please help me please i dont know what to do
Did you move the nand backup elsewhere on your card or to your computer? Toggle USB storage and copy the nand backup back to the sdcard (and to the same folder).
no.backup was not moved ever since i created it using nand backup.and upon checking..it is still there
my guess is that the rom has become corrupt (somehow), so this is what i would do:
1. wipe everything again (as if you were going to do a fresh install of new rom)
2. flash cm7
3. once everything has booted properly, reboot into recovery and try to restore the backup
Im gonna try that one out sweet...anymore suggestions or solutions or is there anyone out there who knows exactly what to do?
Hoping your suggestion would solve this problem...Rebooting now after re-installing cm7......
Re-installed CM7 and phone went On..Tried to restore backup but to no avail....anyone who can suggest what to do?
did you rename the folder of your backup? i know that the name cannot have "invalid" characters, such as asterisks and spaces.
also try reflashing your recovery and try again.
I think I know what went wrong. Yesterday I used Amon Ra to wipe cache and dalvik cache and battery stats coz I've seen somewehere here in this forum that CWM recovery doest completely wipes caches so I used it but I forgot to return to CWM. I think that causes the problem "couldnt open file directory". Upon reinstalling CM7 rom, I flashed CWM and tried to restore backup and it did.
Nope..I never did anything with the backup...reflashing recovery solves the problem
so everything is now up and running? glad to hear that
yeah..up and running thanks

How do I delete all my data

I'm selling my Galaxy Tab (wifi) and I have already dropped the stock rom on the device and done a hard reset. Is there any way to delete all the data (in the sdcard mount) through the UI? Or do I need to go back and install a console so I can do it with the command line?
almus said:
I'm selling my Galaxy Tab (wifi) and I have already dropped the stock rom on the device and done a hard reset. Is there any way to delete all the data (in the sdcard mount) through the UI? Or do I need to go back and install a console so I can do it with the command line?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Factory reset.
almus said:
I'm selling my Galaxy Tab (wifi) and I have already dropped the stock rom on the device and done a hard reset. Is there any way to delete all the data (in the sdcard mount) through the UI? Or do I need to go back and install a console so I can do it with the command line?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What the guy above me said, Factory reset should work but it won't actually wipe the data inside it, Best bet would be to flash CWM and wipe it clean of it's /datadata, But don't wipe the system files.
OR
Flash a pit file and stock firmware. The pit file (Should be on the overcome site or sammobile) should repartition the device and make it all brand new with just the contents of the stock firmware.
?
Misledz said:
What the guy above me said, Factory reset should work but it won't actually wipe the data inside it, Best bet would be to flash CWM and wipe it clean of it's /datadata, But don't wipe the system files.
OR
Flash a pit file and stock firmware. The pit file (Should be on the overcome site or sammobile) should repartition the device and make it all brand new with just the contents of the stock firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure if that is an accurate statement. When I soft-bricked my Samsung galaxy S phone and had to reuse a stock pit and firmware file, it left my data intact that was not related to the OS (pics, vids, etc.). There may be an option in Odin or Heimdall to wipe the drive clean,but I don't know enough to give advice on that.
ninor9 said:
I am not sure if that is an accurate statement. When I soft-bricked my Samsung galaxy S phone and had to reuse a stock pit and firmware file, it left my data intact that was not related to the OS (pics, vids, etc.). There may be an option in Odin or Heimdall to wipe the drive clean,but I don't know enough to give advice on that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's cause of repartitioning wipes it clean.
here is how I did it.
Installed stock rom via odin.
entered recovery mode
apply everything that says wipe on it.
You can probably still see any information on your sdcard if that's all you did. might want to check to make sure.
If you can read this it was sent using my GT-P7510.
Afaik, Just getting rid of your Google Account should render the tab to be like a stock, HC is very dependent on a Google Account to save things. Other than that I don't see how "Free Apps" can be a threat. Just clear the data via Application Settings on those apps you don't want to keep your personal data on.

[Q] Think I'm bricked...Help please

I was trying to flash this thing back to stock to sell to someone from CM7, and for some reason, it seems like I'm bricked. Here's the method I used:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1663836
I did everything step by step up until:
"Now DONT do anythign to your Nook - Just sit back and relax
Once Nook finishes installing IMG, a "Green Checkmark" will appear on top right hand corner
Remove your SD card from your Nook Tablet
You will see Nook will restart itself"
I didn't see a green checkmark, I saw a red x instead. Would this be the problem? I redownload the img a few times now and tried this a few times, so I'm kind of giving up. It won't boot up at all unless I have the card in and it doesn't boot past what's described above.
I tried to use this method as well:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1470910
But the download said it had reached it's limit for the day. I can try it if someone has a mirror?
Try https://github.com/succulent/acclaim_recovery_sdcard, see its README file for an annotated index/description of the resource/tools and usage instructions. See also http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=37515697&postcount=31 before selecting some "unbricking" tool.
No luck yet ugh
1000cleverlines said:
No luck yet ugh
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the repart image didn't work you have a few options. Use the Adam Outlers Ubuntu Total ReFlash Method to try and recover the stock operating system. If that doesn't work than maybe you erased some important information such as serial number etc. Take it to Barns and Noble for fixing.
Finally got the Ubuntu recovery to download, i'll report back if it works.
taking it back to b&n probably isn't an option. it's over a year old, so i think that would make it out of warranty, but correct me if i'm wrong.
datallboy said:
...
Use the Adam Outlers Ubuntu Total ReFlash Method to try and recover the stock operating system. If that doesn't work than maybe you erased some important information such as serial number etc.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FWIW, the /factory partition which gets wiped by AdamOutler's "Ubuntu Total Wipe & Reflash" contains backup copy of the NT device-specific data such as serial number, WiFi MAC address, etc., in archive format (romdata.zip) -- and there is no indication in Adam's post that this data gets saved (for later reflashing) before the partition gets wiped.
Hey guys iam new to this whole rooting and jailbreaking but ever since I read about it I realy want to do it so I tryed it on my NT and in the last step it my NT didnt want to read my sd chip so I was stuck in boot mode so I just hit the factory reset and everthing was fine but when I turned it back on 2 days ago I got a please restart your device and try again if encounter again call customer support so I tryed the method he described above but I got green check mark but when I took out my sd chip the same error message pops up help will be greatly appceated thx.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda app-developers app
On the Adam Outler post is says.
"So, as a result of my work, I would like to present the first ever Ubuntu Recovery. This will totally wipe your device. With the exception of the ROM Partition which contains serial information, every single partition will have zeros written to it then flashed with just enough to preform an initial recovery reflash. Normally when you preform an update or flash the device, it is simply formatted. A formatted device can be unformatted. A zeroed device cannot be unformatted. All information is overwritten with zeros."
The Ubuntu recovery tool won't flash over the serial number. Only write zeros over the current partitions and attempt to reformat your system correctly.
If the ROM partition is gone( meaning serial number, Mac address etc) the options are to somehow recover and flash a ROM partition onto the Nook (which would be a problem if multiple people had the same information) or take it to Barns And Noble.
So in other words am screwd I dont know how to flash is there a tut on flashing cwm file and what are some good free flash programs
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda app-developers app
Go to the Nook Tablet General forum. There are tutorials for setting up CWM recovery and ROMS.
The Ubuntu unbrick tool worked.
1000cleverlines said:
The Ubuntu unbrick tool worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright! (If you dont mind helping me out) How did you get it to boot from the SD card? I've made a Ubuntu Card in hope of just testing out the operating system, but it won't boot from the SD. Tried plugging in the USB and waiting, but nothing. Tried without and booted to stock. Any extra steps involved?
K thx hopefully ill get it
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda app-developers app
datallboy said:
On the Adam Outler post is says.
"So, as a result of my work, I would like to present the first ever Ubuntu Recovery. This will totally wipe your device. With the exception of the ROM Partition which contains serial information, every single partition will have zeros written to it then flashed with just enough to preform an initial recovery reflash. Normally when you preform an update or flash the device, it is simply formatted. A formatted device can be unformatted. A zeroed device cannot be unformatted. All information is overwritten with zeros."
The Ubuntu recovery tool won't flash over the serial number. Only write zeros over the current partitions and attempt to reformat your system correctly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The /rom partition contains the working copy of the NT device data (factory installed device info (ProductID, manufactured data, etc.) and individual device data (serial no., MAC address, security encryption keys, etc.)), and the /factory partition contains the backup copy of the same data and well as the stock ROM in zip archive format, which are to be used by the stock recovery to restore the NT to factory fresh condition.
So, although Adam's tool itself does not zero out the /rom partition, its content is still subject to loss/corruption due to stock recovery's process of automatic reformatting and re-flashing the /rom partition with a non-existent (or possibly Adam NT's?) backup copy -- as it attempts to restore the NT to factory fresh condition.
If the ROM partition is gone( meaning serial number, Mac address etc) the options are to somehow recover and flash a ROM partition onto the Nook (which would be a problem if multiple people had the same information) ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No kidding!!!
... or take it to Barns And Noble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck with that, especially if the NT is out of warranty.

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