[Q] General rule when flashing a new ROM? - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hey guys,
So, I've only recently rooted my Galaxy S II and started flashing ROMs (currently on the official release of MIUI), and noticed that there is different practices for different ROMs when it comes to flashing from recovery...
For example, some ROMs (like the MIUI one) required you to perform a factory reset in recovery before flashing, while I've seen others (I believe CyanogenMod is an example of this) where you need to clear pretty much all of those settings (Dalvik cache, battery stats, etc. etc.).
Now, to me this seemed a little bit of a hassle to have to look up the flashing requirements of each ROM before you do so (I understand the instructions would be on the page for the ROM, but I'm thinking more along the lines of if you already had the ROMs pre-downloaded)... And I've come to learn, in the Android community more than any other, that if a procedure seems to complex, there's always an easier way to go about it.
In this case, I'm referring to a general rule-of-thumb for flashing new ROMs from recovery -- is there such a thing? For example, wiping all options (factory reset, Dalvik cache, battery stats, etc.). Or would this actually cause problems?
Sorry for the remedial question
screamworks.

I wipe everything other than battery before flashing any new ROM. 3 generations of android and ive always done the same thing. I only wipe battery stats if I forgot to unplug the phone during flashing the ROM because that can screw the stats up. There is a right time to wipe battery stats not just with a random amount of charge. You can do that any time, the way I do it (others may tell you different) is to let the battery run out completely, let it charge with the phone off untill its full then reboot into recovery and wipe battery stats.
Luckily we don't have to worry about re-partitioning nand and things like that.

Hi,
generally a wipe is all time the recommend if you flash between Rom!
If you flash from Rom to next version it's ok to make in with non-wipe.
Personal I wipe:
- wipe data / factory reset
- wipe cache partition
+ under "mount and" storage:
- format system
- format data
- format cache
+ under "advanced":
- wipe dalvik-cache
you can delete bat stats in advanced to but with a full charge an letting turn off self by getting empty is also fine. (recommend 1-2 times after a fully new flash)
CHEERS
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

I do the same as Hannibal226

Sorry for the delayed reply..
Thanks for your input guys, I've ended up going with Hannibal226's (and cooza's ) method
And thanks for the info on the battery stats esk02k, I'll give that a shot tonight!

I wipe nothing. Just flash the other ROM on it, if it's not something totally different. It worked for me many many times, and I hadn't even encountered any bugs that people were complaining about. Guess I'm just lucky

Related

loosing rom customisations

for some reason every time i try a new rom i just end up with the basic android desktop and icons and all the rom customising has vanished apart from the extra apps.
i`ve tried this with a few various roms with the same effect, and i am wipeing the data/factory reset from the recovery menu before i flash.
any ideas whats causing this and is there another or more thorough way to wipe the phone before i flash a new rom ??
pcs333 said:
for some reason every time i try a new rom i just end up with the basic android desktop and icons and all the rom customising has vanished apart from the extra apps.
i`ve tried this with a few various roms with the same effect, and i am wipeing the data/factory reset from the recovery menu before i flash.
any ideas whats causing this and is there another or more thorough way to wipe the phone before i flash a new rom ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a bit confused here! You say you are losing all your ROM customizations when you flash a new ROM, but you also say you are wiping before flashing, and this is *exactly* what I'd expect if you wipe every time!
Regards,
Dave

[Q] Is it good to wipe dalvik's cache before flashing new rom?

As you all know, before installing new rom we we have to wipe data and cache in recovery...
But do we have also to wipe dalvik's cache?
As you read on every ROM thread, it is advisable to do a CLEAN wipe meaning all of it before installing a different rom. I personally don't find any difference between wiping and not wiping.
When upgrading CyanogenMOD nightlies wiping is pointless, and a waste of time. When switching between Sense-based ROMs and CM etc. then a full wipe is recommended, but not always needed. Wiping dalvik cache will never hurt
Just a thought here, but isn't DC in /data ? So if you wipe data you wipe DC as well, no?
I've been flashing Mdj Droid L2.1.110210 rom but the only thing I am seeing is the HTC screen for over 10 minutes. Is there anybody helps me to solve this issue? I am newbie so I cannot post in Mdj Droid L2.1.110210 topic.
Thank
I always wipe because it cleans the dust. As GrammarFreak said, when switching between CM nightlies, it is pointless as of the minor changes that come with them. But switching to an entirely new ROM (like stock -> CM) I thin it is better to wipe everything. The cause: Android DO collect junk, and a clean system is always nice.
Regarding contact, sms and other app data: backup to phone and cloud, simple as hell.
thanks for the advice. so if you flash anew rom, do u lose all ur apps every time? i'm flashing ics on my g2 alpha 8 right now. so i will find out soon enough
shinobi3432 said:
thanks for the advice. so if you flash anew rom, do u lose all ur apps every time? i'm flashing ics on my g2 alpha 8 right now. so i will find out soon enough
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my experience (using a HTC Desire HD) you only lose your apps and settings when you perform a full-wipe before flashing a new rom. When you update your rom without wiping, your settings and apps are not removed. However, I personally like to do a full-wipe before flashing a rom, because it clears out al the dust and gives you a fresh new phone.
If you don't want to lose your apps and data, but you do want to wipe, you can offcourse always use Titanium Backup to make a backup of the apps and data.
Just do it! It's free (costs only a slightly longer startup the first time after you wipe dalvik)!
aiuvoanh said:
I've been flashing Mdj Droid L2.1.110210 rom but the only thing I am seeing is the HTC screen for over 10 minutes. Is there anybody helps me to solve this issue? I am newbie so I cannot post in Mdj Droid L2.1.110210 topic.
Thank
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in my experience, this happens when you dont clear the cache prior to updating the rom. in my case, I had to re-apx mine, since I didnt figure this out until I had tried the factory rom. good thing I had the SBK and CPUid, or it would have been even a more painful experience!

My phone is locking up & tossing FC errors everywhere. No random reboots.

By way of troubleshooting: I'm on Nottachtrix 1.3.1, CWM recovery, stock AT&T kernel (no overclocking).
First it showed up in the dialer & contacts, but truly the issue can show up while running any app. Suddenly it has to think REALLY hard to complete a task; if it waits long enough the phone tosses a FC for the app. (Sometimes clicking "Wait" actually clears the problem, but it'll re-occur within the hour.) This happens in airplane mode, or with mobile data and/or wifi active. Has also happened at various signal strengths and battery levels.
- Fixed permissions.
- Wiped data, cache, dalvik, reinstalled the rom from scratch -- still there. In fact, this gave me nearly a week of trouble-free phone but the problem just reappeared yesterday without any changes on my part. No idea what's causing all these hangups.
- Wiped data, cache, dalvik, installed the older 1.2.6 version -- problem still exists.
Options? a) If I fastboot erase (boot, system, cache, userdata) and reboot, will I still be able to flash the rom through CWM?
b) Good lord, I'd love to avoid flashing an SBF. Anyone have other advice?
Yes just erase everything through recovery, you will be able to flash new ROM.

Proxmity sensor on P500

I have asked a few times on the forum if this could be related to the baseband of my device. Basically what happens is in call, he proximity sensor seems to cause the touchscreen to go haywire. I receive what amounts to phantom button presses. Basically voiding the functionality of the proximity sensor to begin with, the calls get put on hold, muted, dropped or whatever. A new symptom has now appeared, the dreaded black screen bug. When a call gets dropped, screen goes black and nothing but a battery pull solves this. Contacts are suddenly missing and I need to resync to get them back
I have tried many different roms, every single kernel. The only solution I personally can think of, is disabling the proximity sensor altogether. Can anyone tell me which line in the build.prop would disable this?
Its my everyday phone, so this is rather urgent, any help would be appreciated
You need to add either of these 2 lines (not sure which, or if it matters):
gsm.proximity.enable=false
gsm.proximity.enable=0
Oh, and apparently MIUI ROMs have that option in the settings.
I can spend 20 min to try solving this or just give you a clue
Try this:
-install ROM Manager and install the custom recovery for your phone if you already haven't got one
-go into recovery, wipe dalvik cache and cache, and most importantly WIPE DATA...
Now flash the custom rom and wait for it to boot...
Wiping data should delete everything from the old rom, so incompatible data when sw roms will be erased...
Backup your sd apps, contacts trough google servers - do not forget...
Sent from my LG-P500, GingerSnap 2.3 using xda premium !
Left4DeadMW said:
I can spend 20 min to try solving this or just give you a clue
Try this:
-install ROM Manager and install the custom recovery for your phone if you already haven't got one
-go into recovery, wipe dalvik cache and cache, and most importantly WIPE DATA...
Now flash the custom rom and wait for it to boot...
Wiping data should delete everything from the old rom, so incompatible data when sw roms will be erased...
Backup your sd apps, contacts trough google servers - do not forget...
Sent from my LG-P500, GingerSnap 2.3 using xda premium !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I usually mount and format /system when i do flash a new rom. Thanks for your reply, but as I stated before, this happens on every rom I have flashed before

[Q] Forseeable problems upgrading from ICS Pasion to Jelly Bean?

Hi,
Apologies if this thread is redundant, I kind of found what I was looking for scattered around here after reading til my eyes bled, but not quite the reassuring, specific answer I am after...
We have 2 Vibrants that we are looking to move to a Jelly Bean ROM from ICS Passion.
At this stage it looks like either Helly Bean or Slim Bean, people seem to be getting reasonable GPS service with these and our two phones seem to get good GPS lock on ICS, so here's hoping...
I am mainly interested in knowing if I should take any intermediate steps before flashing the JB ROM.
Both phones were taken out of the box, rooted, CWM'ed and flashed with ICS Passion when new, so I am not sure if that leaves the file system etc ready to be flashed with JB? Obviously they won't have Gingerbread bootloaders, which may or may not be important depending on what you read?
Both phones were flashed with the wipe data / wipe cache partition / wipe dalvic cache method. No format system or anything else.
If I use the same method to flash Helly Bean or Slim Bean from where we are at am I looking for trouble LOL? Or should I expect it to be smooth as silk?
Thanks in advance for any help..
You should be fine. GB boots aren't necessary so don't worry about that. You should wipe all the things you mentioned and do a system format, its in mounts and storage. When you flash it will take 3 flashes, you only need to wipe on the first.
So wipe, install ROM zip. It will not complete, pull battery then 3 button to recovery. Flash it again, this time it may or may not complete. If not, do battery pull etc, if it does complete, reboot recovery. Flash ROM zip again, then gapps zip and reboot. Allow 5-10 minutes then set device up and reboot again for safe measure.
***I wouldn't overlook Paranoid Android, its a great ROM. I prefer it to helly bean.***
I approve this message.
Awesome. Thanks heaps.
So, wiping in this order is correct?
Wipe data
Wipe cache partition
Wipe dalvic cache
System format
Or does the order not really matter?
Second question, does the system format clear everything out? Will I lose my current nandroid etc?
Also, when you say no need to wipe after the first flash, does that mean to do none of the 4 wipe operations?
Sorry to be so painful, just trying to remove as many variables as possible!
wendleburger said:
Awesome. Thanks heaps.
So, wiping in this order is correct?
Wipe data
Wipe cache partition
Wipe dalvic cache
System format
Or does the order not really matter?
Second question, does the system format clear everything out? Will I lose my current nandroid etc?
Also, when you say no need to wipe after the first flash, does that mean to do none of the 4 wipe operations?
Sorry to be so painful, just trying to remove as many variables as possible!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The wiping order isn't important. Formatting system doesn't mess with backups or anything other than /system. That's where the ROM apps and gapps are installed.
You are correct, after the first set of wipes it isn't necessary to wipe again. Basically the first two flashes setup the partition scheme and new kernel/recovery. The third installs the ROM completely.
Good luck!
I approve this message.
Cool bananas. Thanks man...
Now just need to make a decision on which ROM to try first...
SammyBigBananas to the rescue!!
wendleburger said:
Cool bananas. Thanks man...
Now just need to make a decision on which ROM to try first...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're willing to spend some time test driving JB roms, I would recommend this progression:
* CM10 Nightly ~ plain jane (but it's the heart & soul of it all).
* AOKP JB ~ ROM Control will set you free.
* Helly Bean ~ DerTeufel is a true Master Chef.
* Slim Bean ~ Slim, lean, & lightweight (my daily driver).
* Paranoid Android ~ Most who go PA ... stay PA.
I put PA last because that potentially requires the most time to investigate & discover all the possibilities. Tweaks galore and check out the GPS fix discussion in that thread.
Kernels:
* Semaphore ~ solid kernel, excellent rom performance, & Semaphore Manager available via Play Store.
* Devil ~ the only JB kernel with Voodoo Color. Very tweakable.
Enjoy.
yosup said:
SammyBigBananas to the rescue!!
If you're willing to spend some time test driving JB roms, I would recommend this progression:
* CM10 Nightly ~ plain jane (but it's the heart & soul of it all).
* AOKP JB ~ ROM Control will set you free.
* Helly Bean ~ DerTeufel is a true Master Chef.
* Slim Bean ~ Slim, lean, & lightweight (my daily driver).
* Paranoid Android ~ Most who go PA ... stay PA.
I put PA last because that potentially requires the most time to investigate & discover all the possibilities. Tweaks galore and check out the GPS fix discussion in that thread.
Kernels:
* Semaphore ~ solid kernel, excellent rom performance, & Semaphore Manager available via Play Store.
* Devil ~ the only JB kernel with Voodoo Color. Very tweakable.
Enjoy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, thanks. Not sure how much time I'll get to play around and try out different ROMs, but I did put Slim Bean on one phone last night, so hopefully that has brought it up to a more contemporary file system and stuff so flashing from here won't have to have everything wiped and will be a bit of a quicker process?
Slim Bean seems nice, definitely smooth and fast, but being stripped down as it is I didn't get that awe-inspiring, new car smell that I could when first flashing ICS from Eclair :laugh:
I need to sort out a couple of things to keep using Slim Bean.
One is where to add alarm tones, it comes with two. One is way too subtle, I used that this morning and would have slept through it if the phone didn't vibrate its way onto my keys and start rattling them LOL...The second one is that stupid rooster that will wake my whole family, the neighbours family, and all the local wildlife.
I also need to find the download for the autumn leaves/water live wallpaper that was bundled in Passion, I miss that already... :laugh:
Battery life is good, between 11pm last night and 5am this morning it lost 2%
samsgun357 said:
You should be fine. GB boots aren't necessary so don't worry about that. You should wipe all the things you mentioned and do a system format, its in mounts and storage. When you flash it will take 3 flashes, you only need to wipe on the first.
So wipe, install ROM zip. It will not complete, pull battery then 3 button to recovery. Flash it again, this time it may or may not complete. If not, do battery pull etc, if it does complete, reboot recovery. Flash ROM zip again, then gapps zip and reboot. Allow 5-10 minutes then set device up and reboot again for safe measure.
***I wouldn't overlook Paranoid Android, its a great ROM. I prefer it to helly bean.***
I approve this message.
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Click to collapse
The only thing I had to do different from this was do 2 flashes in a row without powering down. Every flash after powering down just returned to the status 7 / incompatible partition error. 2 flashes back to back pushed past that and got the semaphore recovery up and going..
So I ended up doing;
Wipe data
Wipe cache partition
Wipe dalvic cache
Format System
Flash ROM
Power down
Flash ROM
Power down
Flash ROM
Flash ROM
Flash Google Apps
Boot
Cheers...
Lol, you shouldn't power down in between. Glad you got it up and running!
I approve this message.
samsgun357 said:
Lol, you shouldn't power down in between. Glad you got it up and running!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But you told me to!
So wipe, install ROM zip. It will not complete, pull battery then 3 button to recovery. Flash it again, this time it may or may not complete. If not, do battery pull etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may end up trying one of the other ROMs in the next day or so. Slim Bean is nice, but every time I go to use my phone for something I seem to need to install something else LOL... The stripped down nature of the whole thing is killing me...
What I meant is if it goes into a boot loop. My bad, I should have been more specific. Either way your there now. That's what matters!
You should try paranoid android!
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samsgun357 said:
You should try paranoid android!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I think I will.
When I get a chance I'll read it's thread and see if anyone is having any problems with the current release and if not, I'll flash it.
Hopefully it's a bit more of a streamlined changeover now I am on a current kernel and recovery?
Yeah just a normal wipe/format system and flash. I'm running it without issue, and GPS works! Flash the 360 version, you won't be disappointed.
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