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Hi xda,
I'm not a typical android user and this was one of my firsts in messing around with my Tab 10.1. I have GTP7500 which I recently loaded up with CM10 and it's working fine except for the camera. Leave that and what I was going to say is that I'd like to remove my entire Internal Storage ( all the downloads, music, videos ) and stuff, i.e, like formatting the sd card. I'd like to know a way to format the internal storage of my Tab without affecting the system files as I don't want to create any troubles here. So, my questions are:-
1. Whether I can delete all the stuff shown inside the internal storage from my PC directly and would it affect the system? I cannot see any format option when I connect my tab to my PC so, I was hoping if I could manually delete all the files inside the storage and then doing a factory reset from cwm and installing the rom once again?
2. Or is there any app to do this?
3. Or if it is quite simple to do it the hard way, well, entering the fastboot and wiping the whole system (Read it somewhere before) and installing all the stuff again, then please do tell me that too. Otherwise, I'd go with the easy method, i.e, just format the internal storage.
Also, what about the format /sdcard option in the mounts and storages menu in CWM? I'm using CWM 5.5.0.4.
I think doing the "format /sdcard" in CWM should do what you are looking for as I have done that in the past. I would also temporarily back up the /sdcard contents onto your computer as a precaution in case an app was depending on any folders there, but I think it should be fine.
Thanks but still...
astrojo3 said:
I think doing the "format /sdcard" in CWM should do what you are looking for as I have done that in the past. I would also temporarily back up the /sdcard contents onto your computer as a precaution in case an app was depending on any folders there, but I think it should be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick reply. But would it remove other stuff including the boot files and other core files of Android? I've somewhere seen similar posts and whom did the format /sdcard but they proclaimed they lost whole files and had to do bootloader and install cwm and other stuff all over again to gain access. I've already managed to do format the sd card while installing the ICS official ROM for my tab but I did that via Samsung's recovery menu, i.e, one you get when installing their official ROMs and did a factory reset which erased all my internal storage files. But the same option won't remove internal storage in cwm. So, is format /sdcard the option to do this? I'd be glad to get a clear answer.
sangeeth96 said:
Thanks for the quick reply. But would it remove other stuff including the boot files and other core files of Android? I've somewhere seen similar posts and whom did the format /sdcard but they proclaimed they lost whole files and had to do bootloader and install cwm and other stuff all over again to gain access. I've already managed to do format the sd card while installing the ICS official ROM for my tab but I did that via Samsung's recovery menu, i.e, one you get when installing their official ROMs and did a factory reset which erased all my internal storage files. But the same option won't remove internal storage in cwm. So, is format /sdcard the option to do this? I'd be glad to get a clear answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, format sdcard in CWM. It will only wipe the data stored there. Your bootloaders and ROM will remain unaffected, however I would still backup the sdcard to your computer before doing this just in case.
bkress said:
Yep, format sdcard in CWM. It will only wipe the data stored there. Your bootloaders and ROM will remain unaffected, however I would still backup the sdcard to your computer before doing this just in case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was wondering about this, too. Thanks for helping!
Sent from my GT-P7500 using XDA Premium HD app
The method above does work. However, if you really want to wipe the whole device completely clean, using Odin to flash stock firmware will blow it all out and make you factory-fresh in one operation.
Hello,
I got my international S3 2 months ago and I would now like to try a new ROM.
I am worried about looding data.
I did backup my device using CWM and Titanium Backup but it seems to me that neither backs up all of the contents of the internal SD.
Shall I worry about backing up these folders;
.AllSharePlay, .aptoide, .clipboard, Alarms, Andoird/data/(many files under this directory), Gameloft and many many more folders.
How do I know all was backed up with Titanium / CWM
Another irritating issue is that via Windows 7 browser it is impossible to tree size or Beyond compare the phone storage, (both internal and external SDCards). Am I missing something?
If you
Wipe data (factory reset)
Wipe cache
format system
then your internal sd card stays as it is and you dont have to worry about backing it up
CuttyCZ said:
If you
Wipe data (factory reset)
Wipe cache
format system
then your internal sd card stays as it is and you dont have to worry about backing it up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Half right, CWM will not wipe the internal SD with a factory reset, but stock recovery will.
And I don't think Titanium backs up the internal SD, all you can do is copy the files to your PC.
delsus said:
Half right, CWM will not wipe the internal SD with a factory reset, but stock recovery will.
And I don't think Titanium backs up the internal SD, all you can do is copy the files to your PC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By saying stock recovery you mean flashing new ODIN?
The thing about copying files to my PC as you stated is a pain, tree size or beyond compare cannot work on the phone's memory, also some files are in use by the system causing the copying to stop and then you have to start guessing what was / not copied.
Consumes a long time, I'm sure there should be an easier way.
Are these files seen in the img I attached needed at all or all is covered by the TIT and CWM backup?
Thanks
rmetanes said:
By saying stock recovery you mean flashing new ODIN?
The thing about copying files to my PC as you stated is a pain, tree size or beyond compare cannot work on the phone's memory, also some files are in use by the system causing the copying to stop and then you have to start guessing what was / not copied.
Consumes a long time, I'm sure there should be an easier way.
Are these files seen in the img I attached needed at all or all is covered by the TIT and CWM backup?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock recovery is what is included with stock ROMs, can't remember exactly what it's called.
I have never had problems backing my internal sd up on my PC, and the files in your pic seem to be your files and some app data, CWM does not back up the internal SD, but it also does not wipe the internal sd, if you wipe data in CWM, it only wipes the data partition and cache partition, 100% not the internal SD. I also don't know Titanium will backup app data from the SD.
delsus said:
Stock recovery is what is included with stock ROMs, can't remember exactly what it's called.
I have never had problems backing my internal sd up on my PC, and the files in your pic seem to be your files and some app data, CWM does not back up the internal SD, but it also does not wipe the internal sd, if you wipe data in CWM, it only wipes the data partition and cache partition, 100% not the internal SD. I also don't know Titanium will backup app data from the SD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Delsus, so you only copy and paste the Internal SD to your PC I guess.
rmetanes said:
Delsus, so you only copy and paste the Internal SD to your PC I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty much.
Internal SD card Backup
If U use apps like Lexicomp and Medscape
The file size for lexicomp is about 850,225,187 bytes (only for med not for dental) and number of files are 32037 and Medscape are 60,843,144 bytes and number of files are 2926. It takes more than 1 hour for the PC to determine the time to calculate the duration, to copy the files to PC.......android is still in its infancy comparing to PALM OS
Main Phone is Centro after treo 680, My secondary phone is SIII (a phone with lots of bugs, no one never denies it)
Thank you all guys.
I did rest to FD and you were right the internal SD was not wiped and I have also successfully installed Omega Rom on my S3.
I have to much junk and empty folders on the phone. I tried format through CWM, format system, cache, data, emmc...everything is still there. I want to clean (as in new) my internal storage.
Does "factory reset" does that, or is it just for deleting any 'personal' data (pics, files) etc?
Thanks.
Wipe data/factory reset only wipes the data partition. What you want is to format the internal sdcard. Go to Settings | Storage and select "Format SD card."
creepyncrawly said:
Wipe data/factory reset only wipes the data partition. What you want is to format the internal sdcard. Go to Settings | Storage and select "Format SD card."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
Will I then be able to boot into recovery, or CWM will no longer be there and I'll have to use ODIN?
Also, am I losing ROOT when doing that?
No. No. No.
You can format the root files from CWM recovery. You said you tried that and it didn't do what you want.
Formating the internal sdcard will remove all your personal files from the phone, including pictures and any other files and directories you have created. If that's not what you want to do, then don't format the internal sdcard.
Formating the internal sdcard will not touch the system, kernel, data partition or any other root files. You will not lose root. So yes you will be able to boot into cwm recovery, or even into whatever system you have installed after formating the internal sdcard.
sbi1 said:
Thanks.
Will I then be able to boot into recovery, or CWM will no longer be there and I'll have to use ODIN?
Also, am I losing ROOT when doing that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Common sense, make a backup (meaning copy and save your personal info to somewhere else first, you can delete them later if you really don't need them).
Also, adding to what creepy has said, be sure "SD card" is your internal storage, not external uSD.
I suggest you removing the external uSD card first, just in case.
The reason I said so because with CwMR and Task's AOKP, format SD card is formatting the external uSD card, while "format /emmc" will be do the internal one.
Just precaution.
Thank you both.
Yes, I already 'discovered' that formatting SD Card in CWM formats the external ...luckily I didn't have anything important there.
I still don't get it though. Looks like we are talking about two different things.
I have my internal storage fully backed up. I want to wipe it clean, as in a PC Format. Is there a way to do that, or can I simply remove empty folders in file explorer? Too much junk has been collected there in a year and a half of many custom roms and different apps that I tried and removed.
sbi1 said:
Thank you both.
Yes, I already 'discovered' that formatting SD Card in CWM formats the external ...luckily I didn't have anything important there.
I still don't get it though. Looks like we are talking about two different things.
I have my internal storage fully backed up. I want to wipe it clean, as in a PC Format. Is there a way to do that, or can I simply remove empty folders in file explorer? Too much junk has been collected there in a year and a half of many custom roms and different apps that I tried and removed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Refer to 2nd post. Your internal storage has 2 partitions. One is where all the system data is, and the other is where all the personal data is (where apps install to). If you do what's written in the 2nd post, it will completely wipe clean the personal partition.
dsmboost said:
Refer to 2nd post. Your internal storage has 2 partitions. One is where all the system data is, and the other is where all the personal data is (where apps install to). If you do what's written in the 2nd post, it will completely wipe clean the personal partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will I still be able to access CWM and install custom rom from Ext SD?
sbi1 said:
Will I still be able to access CWM and install custom rom from Ext SD?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, formatting internal sd card (doesn't matter which partition) does not touch either of those.
After some 2+ years of constantly changing ROMs, I've noticed that my i9100 shows more often than not the message of "your storage is getting full" or whatever it says. It does not work by clearing apps' data or even removing some of them because it ends up showing the warning soon. Also, factory reset has proved not to do much, since it just does a data wipe.
So I have decided to proceed with a format by entering Recovery > Mounts & storage > Format sdcard.
I just want to check first wether I will be able, after the format has finished, to flash CyanogenMod back from the same recovery (having placed it in the external SD card, which I understand is not formatted together with the internal storage) and have it working all ok, or the format will disable me from doing something else.
So my questions are:
That 'format sdcard' option in the Recovery means the internal storage, right?
The external SD card (the actual physical one) is not affected by the format, right?
Will I be able to flash CyanogenMod back again from the same Recovery after the format?
In case yes, any reboot in between the format and the flashing would brick my phone?
Help is much appreciated! :laugh:
jago84 said:
After some 2+ years of constantly changing ROMs, I've noticed that my i9100 shows more often than not the message of "your storage is getting full" or whatever it says. It does not work by clearing apps' data or even removing some of them because it ends up showing the warning soon. Also, factory reset has proved not to do much, since it just does a data wipe.
So I have decided to proceed with a format by entering Recovery > Mounts & storage > Format sdcard.
I just want to check first wether I will be able, after the format has finished, to flash CyanogenMod back from the same recovery (having placed it in the external SD card, which I understand is not formatted together with the internal storage) and have it working all ok, or the format will disable me from doing something else.
So my questions are:
That 'format sdcard' option in the Recovery means the internal storage, right?
The external SD card (the actual physical one) is not affected by the format, right?
Will I be able to flash CyanogenMod back again from the same Recovery after the format?
In case yes, any reboot in between the format and the flashing would brick my phone?
Help is much appreciated! :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well as i had flashed a lot of Roms too, maybe i can help you...i'll try!
after formatting sdcard, u wont lose ROM. u will just format your sdcard(12 gb i think).
1) i think the "format sdcard" option is supposed to mean the internal storage. but in some roms that i flashed, sometimes the sdcard mean the external sdcard and EMMC means the internal sdcard...so first take a look. go to install zip and select install from internal sdcard or external sdcard and look up in the screen, if it shows that u are in /sdcard or in /emmc, so u can know what sdcard are u really going to format
2) if u select to format the internal sdcard, it will only format the internal sdcard. nothing else.
3)well, as i said in the beginning, you won't lose rom in the format...u just formated sdcard, the rom and its stuff are still there, in the device storage(not sdcard or external sdcard, but in a card that is only for system/phone stuff(its like the phone has 2 cards. one u can use and send stuff(12gb) and the other one is for system files(2gb))
4) i think it would not brick it, since u just formated the sdcard, the rom is still on your phone but in the device storage, like i said above.
the ROM files arent stored in internal sdcard or external sdcard(those u can send files by usb), they are stored in the storage of the device that is only for system files. so if u do a format it wont affect Rom or Recovery.
hope it helped a little...cheers
Short notice from my side: I doubt formatting your sdcard will help to solve your original problem (low memory). This message appears if the /data space (those 2GB where all the system settings and application data are stored) is almost used completely. The easiest way to clean up this data is a system reset (which will make you loose all your data) or you need to look whether there are applications occupying much data there and remove these apps / tell them to store their data on /sdcard (if this is possible) or to selectively remove some log files / temp data. But in this you should be very careful, because removing the wrong data might cause strange system behaviour.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
AndDiSa said:
Short notice from my side: I doubt formatting your sdcard will help to solve your original problem (low memory). This message appears if the /data space (those 2GB where all the system settings and application data are stored) is almost used completely. The easiest way to clean up this data is a system reset (which will make you loose all your data) or you need to look whether there are applications occupying much data there and remove these apps / tell them to store their data on /sdcard (if this is possible) or to selectively remove some log files / temp data. But in this you should be very careful, because removing the wrong data might cause strange system behaviour.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that is not quite the problem I am faceing now. I explain myself: when I get that "storage almost full" message, if I check on Settings > Storage, the Internal Storage section (1,97 GB in total) shows an availability of only 205 MB and the bar is half full (see attached). First incoherence. I try to update any small app such as, for example, Bitcoin Wallet (1.3 MB) and it says it can't be updated because there is not enough space. Incoherent with the bar shown. Also, if I navigate to /data, it shows there is an amount of 2.31 GB inside that directory (incoherent with the amount shown by the Storage Manager. Other data folders, such as the one in /sdcard/data or the one in /data/data, are always smaller (3 MB and 425 MB respectively, also don't match any of the figures shown by the Storage Manager).
Some ROM installs ago, I remember I was able to install around 190 apps and no problem at all, and now I'm 160 and have to keep removing apps when I want to install more.
That's why I think my problem is not related to data, or fixed by a data wipe or factory reset. I understand there are too many files inside that are just lost from ROM to ROM, and not even the system know where do they belong to. It is running everything but fluent. I don't even remember what Project Butter is :silly:
RonDelonge182 said:
well as i had flashed a lot of Roms too, maybe i can help you...i'll try!
after formatting sdcard, u wont lose ROM. u will just format your sdcard(12 gb i think).
1) i think the "format sdcard" option is supposed to mean the internal storage. but in some roms that i flashed, sometimes the sdcard mean the external sdcard and EMMC means the internal sdcard...so first take a look. go to install zip and select install from internal sdcard or external sdcard and look up in the screen, if it shows that u are in /sdcard or in /emmc, so u can know what sdcard are u really going to format
2) if u select to format the internal sdcard, it will only format the internal sdcard. nothing else.
3)well, as i said in the beginning, you won't lose rom in the format...u just formated sdcard, the rom and its stuff are still there, in the device storage(not sdcard or external sdcard, but in a card that is only for system/phone stuff(its like the phone has 2 cards. one u can use and send stuff(12gb) and the other one is for system files(2gb))
4) i think it would not brick it, since u just formated the sdcard, the rom is still on your phone but in the device storage, like i said above.
the ROM files arent stored in internal sdcard or external sdcard(those u can send files by usb), they are stored in the storage of the device that is only for system files. so if u do a format it wont affect Rom or Recovery.
hope it helped a little...cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your help, dude! Much appreciated.
Anyway, I feel that, if formatting sdcard does not wipe everything, maybe then what I need is to go Recovery > Mounts and storage > format /system, format /data, etc. All of them except for the actual physical sdcard (wether it is /emmc or /sdcard) and the directory in which the recovery "lives".
So I have new questions now:
If I formatted /system, would the phone be bricked or the Recovery would still allow me to install a CM ROM stored in the sd card?
Is there any of the directories shown in Recovery > Mounts and Storage that represents the actual Recovery partition/space?
There's no recovery partition you can format.
You can format system, preload, and data partition.
But flash a ROM right after.
There are flashable scripts (ROM wipe or ROM nuke) you can use. It does all the formats and wipes, and even back up some of your folders.
Envoyé depuis mon Nexus 10 avec Tapatalk
jago84 said:
I think that is not quite the problem I am faceing now. I explain myself: when I get that "storage almost full" message, if I check on Settings > Storage, the Internal Storage section (1,97 GB in total) shows an availability of only 205 MB and the bar is half full (see attached).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a known bug, that Android's performance is decreasing very much as soon as there is less than 10% free on /data. Additionally I wouldn't trust the graphics you see, because especially if you have man small files, the space occupied on "disk" is much higher than the file size. If they are only adding the file size of the files stored there this will be misleading. As far as I know the block size is 4kb, so each file takes at least 4kb of the memory. You can try to move some apps to /sdcard, but this works only to an external one, so you can free some space. Otherwise have a look on /data/system/dropbox or /data/system/usagestats if you can find some files which can be removed.
jago84 said:
Thanks for your help, dude! Much appreciated.
Anyway, I feel that, if formatting sdcard does not wipe everything, maybe then what I need is to go Recovery > Mounts and storage > format /system, format /data, etc. All of them except for the actual physical sdcard (wether it is /emmc or /sdcard) and the directory in which the recovery "lives".
So I have new questions now:
If I formatted /system, would the phone be bricked or the Recovery would still allow me to install a CM ROM stored in the sd card?
Is there any of the directories shown in Recovery > Mounts and Storage that represents the actual Recovery partition/space?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, as Sergeileduc said, u can't format Recovery. so answering your questions:
1) yes, you would still be able to flash any other Rom, since formatting /system does not affect recovery. Wiping this partition will remove Android from the device without rendering it unbootable, and you will still be able to put the phone into recovery or bootloader mode to install a new ROM.
2) i dont think so...u can't format recovery...
hope it helped you...cheers!
well the 4rth question is no it wouldent brick your phone it will just hang at the galaxy s logo p.s thanks for helpin me on the other fourm
Just to add my own experience.....
Some months ago, my phone was suffering from poor performance (I was running CM10.1 at the time)
I decided to do a full format to totally "pristine" wipe my phone and start fresh. I copied a fresh version of the rom and gapps to my removable micro SD card and rebooted into CWM. I formatted cache, dalvic, preload, emmc and sd.....then just to be certain, I factory reset too.....
After that and while still in CWM, I flashed the rom and gapps and rebooted without issue......I believe this is what you want to do, so to answer your question. ...yes it is safe and possible to do this.....my phone is proof of that.....
Sent from my Rooted, De bloated Stock JB powered S2 via PhilZ kernel and Tapatalk 2....
keithross39 said:
Just to add my own experience.....
Some months ago, my phone was suffering from poor performance (I was running CM10.1 at the time)
I decided to do a full format to totally "pristine" wipe my phone and start fresh. I copied a fresh version of the rom and gapps to my removable micro SD card and rebooted into CWM. I formatted cache, dalvic, preload, emmc and sd.....then just to be certain, I factory reset too.....
After that and while still in CWM, I flashed the rom and gapps and rebooted without issue......I believe this is what you want to do, so to answer your question. ...yes it is safe and possible to do this.....my phone is proof of that.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Great feedback.
Just to complete my question, did you notice a significant performance improvement after the wipe-and-reinstall process?
It seemed to help a bit, but not as much as I'd anticipated. ..
Sent from my Rooted, De bloated Stock JB powered S2 via PhilZ kernel and Tapatalk 2....
I want to remove files that have accumulated from other roms. In others words like stock, but with custom rom. I like Beanstown106 with SD swap.
Thats a little tricky with sd swap but you will have to painstakingly go file by file and see if it's something you have deleted to something that you are still using. If you have any apps that created a folder and are gone for good then you are safe to delete. But avoid any system app folders and anything that you are still using like pictures, music and so on avoid.
M.A.D.NoTe.||
thx for help
I'm installing cleanrom ace 4.9 my goto rom next to beanstown106. No SD swap and I was thinking of formating SD card. Now how do I erase what a factory reset won't delete.
I usually wipe EVErYTahING wenever i flash something new sd card and all just to start from scratch but all i got on sd card is pix and music so its easyily backed up
SAPPERJD said:
now how do I erase what a factory reset won't delete.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
from recovery, format internal and external sd. that will wipe everything out completely.
I did consider formating from recovery. I'm just scare of deleting the OS and my phone ending up being useless. I did research and what I read it won't. Any advise is welcome THX to everyone.
SAPPERJD said:
I did consider formating from recovery. I'm just scare of deleting the OS and my phone ending up being useless. I did research and what I read it won't. Any advise is welcome THX to everyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How would it end up being useless? Its no different than a pc...your reformatting and installing the OS on a clean slate.
I was thinking if I formated the internal it would delete recovery as well. And had no way of installing a new rom. Thx again really help full.
Wipe Everything
droidstyle said:
from recovery, format internal and external sd. that will wipe everything out completely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to clean up my directory structure. If I format the internal and external sd using recovery (TWRP) to wipe everything, what rom will boot? Will my custom rom boot or will the original verizon rom boot? Will I have to unlock the bootloader again? Thanks.
rechbo said:
I want to clean up my directory structure. If I format the internal and external sd using recovery (TWRP) to wipe everything, what rom will boot? Will my custom rom boot or will the original verizon rom boot? Will I have to unlock the bootloader again? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you will lose all data and need to reflash the rom in recovery...no you will not have to unlock again, nothing performed from recovery will overwrite the boot.img.
I was scared of the losing my OS as well, but it's not that hard. Treat it as two steps. Formatting your sDCard, and then prepping your SdCard by doing a Nandroid backup to your SdCard, and copying a flashable ROM (and kernel if your ROM does not flash a kernel) to your SdCard. Before formatting your SdCard copy anything you want to keep to your computer. I just copy the whole card to my computer.
Reboot and do your data resets and wipes, including internal storage (format data in twrp) Then flash your ROM that you put on your ext SdCard. Your nandroid backup is your insurance. Worst case you boot into recovery and restore your backup.
(But you should still have a working toolkit or ADB on your computer and you can recover from any screw up)
As long as you have what you need on your (ext) SdCard before wiping internal storage, and you only do a data reset and cache wipes and only do 'format data' you will be fine.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium