[Q] How to perform a full wipe? - Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi there! Forgive my noobishness but I have a (seemingly) dumb question....
When a developer says "A Full Wipe is REQUIRED before flashing this rom," how do I go about doing so? I don't want to lose root but I'm not entirely sure what this means. Does it mean that I should restore the backup I made from ROM manager (when I first rooted it)?
I've tried reading up on the forums, but I think this question is so basic that nobody has asked/answered it in a foolproof manner.
Thanks, and good night!

When you click to install a ROM through ROM manager, it'll ask you if you want to do a backup and/or wipe. Practically always do a backup, and generally do a wipe between different ROMs. Usually upgrading a ROM doesn't need a wipe (unless it's from a major version ... Froyo -> Gingerbread, etc ... or if they specifically tell you to.)
To wipe through ClockworkMod Recovery, just select "wipe data/factory reset".
And I always backup before wiping. That means your phone will go to factory condition, so if I forget about my texts or an app I had or whatever, it's useful to be able to go back.
Just as a heads up: Since wiping deletes everything off of your phone, you might want to consider getting Titanium Backup and backing up the apps you want and the data they have. A good example of this is SMS texts. Some people like to keep them.

Related

[Q] How do I restore my data / cache after wiping and flashing villainrom?

This might be a stupid question, but is there any way to get my backup restored? I just tried to restore a backup through CWM but it wiped my villainrom flash and went back to what I had before.
Bmmaximus said:
This might be a stupid question, but is there any way to get my backup restored? I just tried to restore a backup through CWM but it wiped my villainrom flash and went back to what I had before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that not the whole point you backup XX try ZZZ decide you dont like it and restore the backup of XX which wipes ZZZ .
jje
yes I realized that eventually, I thought the point was to save your data like apps, themes, etc. so you can load them in the new rom. my apologies
You should not restore cache. When you boot up to a new rom, it will just redo the cache anyways.
As for Clockwork Recovery backup and restore, it does a full backup of the rom, including cache and user settings and apps. It restores back to the original rom as well.
I think you want to restore your settings and applications of your old rom into villainrom. I wouldn't recommend it as it settings for stock and custom might be different and can cause weird issues.
on that note, is there any way to access that information after flashing the new rom (to see what apps i'm missing and download them all again so I don't have to just redownload each one as I realize i need it?) without restoring the backup
nevermind I ended up just going back to my old rom, thanks for the replies guys
There is this wonderful app called Titanium Backup, it backup all your wonderful apps. This way, when you switch ROMs, you can just restore all those wonderful apps that you have been stockpiling.

[Q]Nandroid Backup...

On my stock rooted ROM, after wiping data, cache and dalvik cache, I've created a Nandroid Backup.
My question is, if someone restores this backup to there phone, which is the same as mine, will it have any of my information, or could it possibly cause any problems?
I was simply going to upload it, so that if anybody has any problems installing the latest OTA or hasn't got a working Nandroid backup, they can use it.
Just Me said:
On my stock rooted ROM, after wiping data, cache and dalvik cache, I've created a Nandroid Backup.
My question is, if someone restores this backup to there phone, which is the same as mine, will it have any of my information, or could it possibly cause any problems?
I was simply going to upload it, so that if anybody has any problems installing the latest OTA or hasn't got a working Nandroid backup, they can use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Em well first off, if you done the wipe data ect first then you will not have a NANDROID Backup as there is nothing there to back up,
Second i wouldn't recommend anyone but yourself use the back up but if its between friends ect from with in the phone in settings go to factory reset and that way your data will be clear for the most part and safe to share with friends you trust in-case anything is left behind but i would not release to public in any capacity and then proceed to create your NANDROID backup from within your recovery app.
If you really had to do it that way, you would want to create a NANDROID backup for yourself, reboot your phone go to settings factory reset, then boot back to recovery make another NANDROID Backup (This one for Friends clear of your data)
dstylazz said:
Em well first off, if you done the wipe data ect first then you will not have a NANDROID Backup as there is nothing there to back up,
Second i wouldn't recommend anyone but yourself use the back up but if its between friends ect from with in the phone in settings go to factory reset and that way your data will be clear for the most part and safe to share with friends you trust in-case anything is left behind but i would not release to public in any capacity and then proceed to create your NANDROID backup from within your recovery app.
If you really had to do it that way, you would want to create a NANDROID backup for yourself, reboot your phone go to settings factory reset, then boot back to recovery make another NANDROID Backup (This one for Friends clear of your data)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The whole point of me doing the wipe data etc first, was to clear any personal data from the phone.
The Nandroid backup was so that there was a working stock rooted rom.
My question should have been does it keep any data that cannot be manually deleted. e.g. Serial numbers etc....But I think I found the answer. Apparently it does and it can cause problems when restoring.
The only reason I was going to do it was because, I have seen a couple of people using the HTC One X, that are trying to get from stock rooted 1.26, to stock rooted 1.28 and this backup would get them there.
Backup
If you take the boot.img and system.img from your backup and then use dsixda's kitchen to create a flashable rom.
dsixda's Kitchen Here - h t t p ://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1227549
(remove the spaces, can't post links yet lol) its the download and tutorial
There should be no information or data in your output rom so anyone can use it etc

[Q] Are Nandroid backups obsolete after ROM update?

Hi,
4.2 of Jelly Bean update could be imminent for my Nexus 7, and I'm wondering about what and how to backup before the update. The question I think is a general android one though... which is why I'm posting it here.
This was going to be a question about factory reset... but reading other posts I think I now understand that factory reset just deletes data/cache, so I think any time you do that it's just gonna return the device to a clean ROM state without changing the ROM. (whatever flavour/version ROM is)
When a ROM update is applied (either official or manually flashed), I guess it wipes everything, is it like a disk format or something like that? I have installed CWM recovery and rooted my device, I think the update will unroot it, but will the CWM recovery still be loaded?
And then, what backup should I take before the update... I think a Titanium Backup is a must, I understand how that works. But a Nandroid backup too? Or is that more like taking a disk image, would that be useless to restore after the ROM has been updated? And if so, does that mean any old Nandroid backups should be discarded?
Once the new update to 4.2 is installed, is it advisable to take a Nandroid backup immediately, or better to download the stock 4.2 image and keeping it as a starting point? (does this amount to the same thing?) I guess this is where a factory reset would return it to stock (providing I haven't moved anything to the system apps)?
Or is it possible/better to use a Nandroid backup as a point in time image of everything that's been installed on the device after adding back all the apps etc? I guess that leads me to wonder if the Nandroid backup is needed at all if I'm going with the Titanium Backups...
Thanks a lot and sorry for the lengthy question, I've seen many posts touching on this
stillchimp said:
Hi,
4.2 of Jelly Bean update could be imminent for my Nexus 7, and I'm wondering about what and how to backup before the update. The question I think is a general android one though... which is why I'm posting it here.
This was going to be a question about factory reset... but reading other posts I think I now understand that factory reset just deletes data/cache, so I think any time you do that it's just gonna return the device to a clean ROM state without changing the ROM. (whatever flavour/version ROM is)
When a ROM update is applied (either official or manually flashed), I guess it wipes everything, is it like a disk format or something like that? I have installed CWM recovery and rooted my device, I think the update will unroot it, but will the CWM recovery still be loaded?
And then, what backup should I take before the update... I think a Titanium Backup is a must, I understand how that works. But a Nandroid backup too? Or is that more like taking a disk image, would that be useless to restore after the ROM has been updated? And if so, does that mean any old Nandroid backups should be discarded?
Once the new update to 4.2 is installed, is it advisable to take a Nandroid backup immediately, or better to download the stock 4.2 image and keeping it as a starting point? (does this amount to the same thing?) I guess this is where a factory reset would return it to stock (providing I haven't moved anything to the system apps)?
Or is it possible/better to use a Nandroid backup as a point in time image of everything that's been installed on the device after adding back all the apps etc? I guess that leads me to wonder if the Nandroid backup is needed at all if I'm going with the Titanium Backups...
Thanks a lot and sorry for the lengthy question, I've seen many posts touching on this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. OTA updates should let you retain your apps.
2. Clockworkmod will still be installed following the update.
3. Nandroid backups are like a system image it makes a backup of everything on your phone (Minus sd card external) at the exact point in time when you make the backup. If you restore the backup it will restore your phone to the exact state it was in when you made the backup. You only need to keep a couple of your recent nandroid backups on your phone.
4. After the 4.2 update you can either make a backup or use a factory restore image it will make no difference. Factory reset would return it to stock.
5. You can use nandroid to make a backup after you install your apps in fact I would recommend this that way you have a convient restore point. You can also backup your apps with titanium backup.
Hope this answers some of your questions .
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
shimp208 said:
1. OTA updates should let you retain your apps.
2. Clockworkmod will still be installed following the update.
3. Nandroid backups are like a system image it makes a backup of everything on your phone (Minus sd card external) at the exact point in time when you make the backup. If you restore the backup it will restore your phone to the exact state it was in when you made the backup. You only need to keep a couple of your recent nandroid backups on your phone.
4. After the 4.2 update you can either make a backup or use a factory restore image it will make no difference. Factory reset would return it to stock.
5. You can use nandroid to make a backup after you install your apps in fact I would recommend this that way you have a convient restore point. You can also backup your apps with titanium backup.
Hope this answers some of your questions .
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent, thanks for the fast reply, you did answer my questions!
I was misunderstanding then about the 4.2 update, thinking it was equivalent to flashing a new ROM... you clarified it for me, seems it's less severe than that.
I think I'll go with your point 5 to use a Nandroid image for a convenient restore point after the OTA happens

[REF][NEW-USER] A guide to switching between ROMs

One reason why I chose to buy this device (aside from official Google support) is the overwhelmingly large amount of developer enthusiasm for it. And with that enthusiasm comes a lot of custom ROMs.
I haven't had time to test all of them, but I will - and here's a guide I made that'll hopefully make testing different ROMs easier.
Prerequisites
Before continuing with this guide, make sure that you have:
a LOT of free time, depending on how many ROMs you want to test;
unlocked and rooted your device;
downloaded all the ROMs you want to test;
have installed a good recovery - I would recommend the latest version of TWRP;
common sense.
(OPTIONAL) a spare microSD card of at least 8GB. This'll make everything easier, as you won't have to delete stuff in order to fit all your ZIPs and backups.
Things to remember
Make sure you know how exactly to restore your device to how it was before following this guide.
You should know what you're doing. One small mistake can lead to your device being completely unusable!
You should know what features you're looking for in a ROM. It's never nice to have gone all the way to flash a different ROM, only to discover that feature X doesn't work. Ask questions in the ROM thread, if you like.
You can always ask help from others, should you have any trouble with your device.
When using custom ROMs (or any customization, for that matter), do NOT ask for ETAs. Our developers are doing their work at their own leisure and during their own time, and they don't get their pay from you.
Ready? Let's get going!
Getting started
A good Android user always backs up before doing anything radical to their phone, and that's precisely what we're going to do. There are three ways to go about this:
The easy way
The easy way is through making a Nandroid backup. This is particularly easy to do in TWRP, as all you need to do is reboot into recovery, press Backup, select the partitions you want to back up and whether to compress them, and start backing up. Simple as that.
Pros: Easy to restore your data once you're finished testing ROMs.
Cons: It's somewhat hard to restore individual pieces of data (such as messages and apps) instead of the whole thing.
The (slightly) more complicated way
This way deals with TitaniumBackup, an absolute must-have app for every Android user out there.
With TitaniumBackup, you can choose to back up individual apps (and even update their individual backups). TB isn't limited to backing up/restoring data, though; it can do so much more - remove bloatware, freeze apps you don't use, make a flashable ZIP out of your backups... the list goes on.
Pros: Finer control over what data gets backed up. Very powerful tool in migrating ROMs.
Cons: Somewhat outdated and intimidating interface; and features are reduced without buying the PRO version.
The Google way
This one is the simplest way of all three, though it only works if you have a) GApps and have signed in to your Google account, b) if you've agreed to let Google back your data up when you first set up your device, and c) if you have Settings > Backup & reset > Back up my data enabled.
Google automatically backs up almost all of your data to its servers, ready to be restored when you do a factory reset/switch to a new phone. A list of all data that are backed up can be seen by going to Settings > Accounts > Google > (your email address).
Notable exceptions to the data backed up are messages, which you have to back up yourself - I recommend SMS Backup & Restore for that.
Now that you have your data backed up, let's get flashing.
Flashing
Put your ROMs/kernels/GApps on your SD card, then reboot to recovery.
1. Wiping / factory resetting
This is why we back up your data in the first place. Different ROMs need different data, and data left over from one ROM can cause another ROM to get stuck in a bootloop.
Tip: If you're using TWRP, try enabling Use rm -rf instead of formatting in Advanced settings. Formatting doesn't really have any perceivable advantages over simply removing the contents of your data partition (unless you somehow corrupted it), and it actually causes higher wear on your storage chip. (Storage doesn't last forever - I've had my old Samsung bricked because I reformatted too much.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In CWM, it's called wipe data/factory reset; in TWRP, it's simply called Wipe. Wipe your data, dalvik-cache, and cache partitions.
2. Flashing the ROM and other addons
In CWM, it's called install zip (from sdcard); in TWRP, it's simply called Install. Browse to your ROM zip and install.
Tip: If you're using TWRP, you can add ZIPs to the ZIP queue in this order: ROM > GApps (if any) > Kernel (if any) > Addons/Patches (if any).
Users of CWM must manually flash each ZIP, in the same order.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3. Finishing up
Now all that's left to do is pray for the best and reboot.
Testing
If you flashed GApps, do NOT let Google restore data yet. We'll do that later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After initial setup completes and your newly-installed ROM settles down, it's time to get testing. It would be helpful if you listed down all the features you need and check/cross them out one by one if they work or not. For example, I need working screen cast and usable video recording, both of which do not work in all the CM-based ROMs I've tested.
Some ROMs, especially sprout4 ROMs, require patches when installing on sprout8 devices in order to provide the most optimal experience. Try flashing those to see if the ROM gets any better for you.
Rinse & repeat?
So, have you decided that this ROM is for you?
Yes, this ROM is awesome! I love it!
If you backed up earlier using Google, do another factory reset and this time, let Google restore your data.
If you used Titanium for backup, you can safely restore your data now.
If you made a Nandroid backup, you technically can restore your backup as-is since most of the ROMs available for sprout are CM-based; but I wouldn't recommend this as this can cause bootloops. Otherwise, you can manually restore your data one-by-one - but this is a time-consuming process.
I'm not quite sure I like this ROM yet.
Well that's okay, just repeat this guide from the start.
Finishing up
Now that you've decided on what ROM to use, you can safely delete your backups and ZIPs - though it would be better to keep them as they might come in handy if your device starts having problems.
Notes
If you're flashing a Marshmallow ROM, don't flash Xposed right after you flash your ROM as this may cause a bootloop.
Never ask for ETAs on ROM threads. That's rude.
That's it for this guide! Happy flashing! :fingers-crossed:​
Reserved 1
Reserved 2
Reserved 3
Awesome post. Enjoyed it!?
aureljared said:
Reserved 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sry for digging up this old thread. I was wondering if there is a tutorial for Titanium Backup specifically targeting a switch between custom roms, having different versions of android.
I'm in the midth of moving from cm 13 to lineageos 15 and just tried to backup apps+data in Titanium Backup and restore them and the new system is now somewhat buggy..I'm not sure if the restored backup is the reason for this or not....Maybe there are specific settings to be set..... I mean it's common sense for me not to backup and restore system data but maybe I am missing other important things to be set prior to a backup in Titanium Backup.
trohn_javolta said:
Sry for digging up this old thread. I was wondering if there is a tutorial for Titanium Backup specifically targeting a switch between custom roms, having different versions of android.
I'm in the midth of moving from cm 13 to lineageos 15 and just tried to backup apps+data in Titanium Backup and restore them and the new system is now somewhat buggy..I'm not sure if the restored backup is the reason for this or not....Maybe there are specific settings to be set..... I mean it's common sense for me not to backup and restore system data but maybe I am missing other important things to be set prior to a backup in Titanium Backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's hard to say, some apps might work improperly or refuse to terminate in the background due to a mismatch in the restored data. I only backup/restore game data nowadays, as Google Backup takes care of my contacts, SMS, settings, and customization. No problems encountered so far.
The only setting I change in TiBkp is the compression method, as the default (gzip, I think) produces somewhat large backups. I use bzip2.
If you really need to restore everything, it might help for you to wipe /data and restore apps in TiBkp one by one until you find the culprit.
aureljared said:
It's hard to say, some apps might work improperly or refuse to terminate in the background due to a mismatch in the restored data. I only backup/restore game data nowadays, as Google Backup takes care of my contacts, SMS, settings, and customization. No problems encountered so far.
The only setting I change in TiBkp is the compression method, as the default (gzip, I think) produces somewhat large backups. I use bzip2.
If you really need to restore everything, it might help for you to wipe /data and restore apps in TiBkp one by one until you find the culprit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trying the Google Way was also my thought, unfortunately it does not work for me. I posted this today in the rom I used until now:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=76022005#post76022005
The initial setup was quite some time ago and now I cannot recall what I may have done to insult the google sync service
Thanks for this.
Can I ask something?
If I'm on stock rom and have magisk and modules installed. To switch rom, do I need to uninstall those first?
or when using nandroid backup... is its okey to backup with magisk+module on it?
watatara.102 said:
Can I ask something?
If I'm on stock rom and have magisk and modules installed. To switch rom, do I need to uninstall those first?
or when using nandroid backup... is its okey to backup with magisk+module on it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might want to uninstall your modules first to be safe, but if you're sure they're compatible with the ROM you're switching to, then you might be fine keeping them. As always, backup before trying anything dangerous. :good:
Nandroids are whole-device backups, so if you backup while Magisk is installed, Magisk and your modules will still be there when you restore the backup. If that's what you're aiming for, then go ahead and backup. Just make sure to backup the boot image too, since that's where Magisk is installed.
Sent from my starlte using XDA Labs
Can I install a nandroid backup of a totally different ROM to replace the current ROM I'm using with TWRP?

[WITHOUT ROOT ACCESS] Full Backup, Wipe and Restore App?

Hi All,
I posted in the wrong forum, so reposting here in Q&As.
I'm looking for a way to backup a full image of my android device, and be able to wipe, then do a full restore (apps, settings, cache, etc..). I know there are great options for Rooted devices and recovery, but any for stock?
I have a personal phone that I also use for consulting, and travel quite a bit, but CBP has been searching phones more often (used to be mostly laptops and tabs in the past), and I want to have a clear stock device so i don't distribute my client's data (and my personal).
So ideally, I would:
1. Backup and wipe phone before heading to airport/TSA
2. Restore once landed overseas and cleared customs/immigration, and use as normal
3. Backup and wipe phone before heading to airport/int'l security
4. Restore once landed in the US and cleared customs, and use as normal.
I have a stock Galaxy Note 8. Searched on here and on google, but only found solutions with root access (i.e.: Titanium Backup)
Thanks everyone!!

Categories

Resources