Hi all. I'd really really like to delete all my internal memory before trying my next custom rom!!!
As I search for different custom roms to try it drives me a bit nuts that my internal memory has loads of stuff left there from previous installs of apps, ROMS and whatever-the-hell-else-I-can't-recognise etc. I delete the folders I'm sure I don't need but it still bugs me the amount of rogue, seemingly uneeded folders and files sitting there. All these folders and files from old apps despite doing the standard factory reset, cache, dalvik cache steps makes me crazy!
So here's my question: can how can I safely nuke all my internal memory before putting my next custom ROM on to try?
I suppose I'll I have to leave the actual custom ROM .zip on the internal memory somewhere - I've read that clockwork recovery can't access the external sd card. I was sure clockwork recovery could access the external sd card on my old Nexus 1. .
Anyways, any advice would be much appreciated! I'd like to avoid software bricking my phone if I can avoid it!!!
If you are on stock Rom > turn off your device > hold volume up+ home + power till it boots into android recovery.. perform a data wipe from there.. it'll wipe everything (not the external storage).. your phone will be like it was when u bought it.
And older versions of the official clockworkmod recoveries don't support external storage. Newer version do I think. ( needs clarification!!).
Alternatively you can also use chainfire's clockworkmod recovery. It supports external storage.
(Note: clockworkmod recovery only wipe the system partition. All your personal data will be intact.. but the stock android recovery wipes everything!!)
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Thanks for the reply!
Unfrotunately I'm long gone from having a stock recovery. I have "clockworkmod recovery v5.8.4.3" although I'm not sure whether it's the chainfire one or the other one. It has the hat with the circle icon in it and is the blue monochrome menus. While it does have an option to mount an external sd, I can't seem to browse to my external sd when I choose install zip from sd card. Despite whichever folders I mount on the external sd card, only my internal memory appears to come up when browsing for install zip from sd card.
It would be nice if one of the recoveries out there could do a full wipe of internal memory! Unless that would delete the recovery too. Is recovery installed in the internal memory or somewhere else on the galaxy s3?
Bump! Not just because I like my post at the top but seriously, don't all those silly, un-necessary folders and files drive anyone else crazy!!!! Maybe I'm just getting a bit OCD... I've even tried a bunch of cleaner apps but to no avail. Damn apps not cleaning up after themselves...
Try this
*2767*3855#
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
If you know a script called "superwipe"recommended for flashing new CustomRoms, flash this script in clockworkmod recovery menu by choosing instal zip from SD CARD,and the internal memory will be completely vanished,while the EXTERNALSDCARD stays Untouched.
if i helped you feel free to press thanks!!
LargePiece said:
Bump! Not just because I like my post at the top but seriously, don't all those silly, un-necessary folders and files drive anyone else crazy!!!! Maybe I'm just getting a bit OCD... I've even tried a bunch of cleaner apps but to no avail. Damn apps not cleaning up after themselves...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use Megawipe script from the General Section..search it there..put it on your extsdcard and flash via CWM..all you data will be wiped just the extsdcard will be left..
Well chainfire's 5.5.0.4 CWM recovery "1.5" loads from my external sd card instead so assuming I have my ROM files on there, I should be able to use that script without bricking my phone! Wish me luck! Lol. Thanks for the help.
Related
Hi everyone,
I've booted into recovery, wiped the dalvick, wiped the cache, wiped the data+factory reset, then installed villain rom,
and sure enough, my /sdcard folder is still full of junk... even though the phone didn't come with an SDCARD (slot is empty, if I add and sdcard it mounts in external_sd).
So i'm wondering, how can you, totally, permanently, irrevocably, delete absolutely everything from the phone, without exception
Thank you!
Input *2767*3855# into dialpad.
This will leave the sd card untouched right? Right now when I install roms I back a few apps up seperately to external, run Ti, then do a nand. I take the whole internal sd and transfer it over to my pc and that is my backup. I have been leaving the sd in with the phones internal wipes and it is untouched. This is what I want, I have my music and wallpapers, ringtones etc there and they can sit through a wipe without being touch and its saves having to move them back onto the phone. Wasn't sure if the hard reset would also wipe the sd card which is why I have been pulling it. I think on my next flash I may just back up the sd card and let fly if no one has tried it yet.
krabman said:
This will leave the sd card untouched right? Right now when I install roms I back a few apps up seperately to external, run Ti, then do a nand. I take the whole internal sd and transfer it over to my pc and that is my backup. I have been leaving the sd in with the phones internal wipes and it is untouched. This is what I want, I have my music and wallpapers, ringtones etc there and they can sit through a wipe without being touch and its saves having to move them back onto the phone. Wasn't sure if the hard reset would also wipe the sd card which is why I have been pulling it. I think on my next flash I may just back up the sd card and let fly if no one has tried it yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This will wipe everything apart from your external SD Card! It will be like the device came from the factory.
Yes, this is why I do it and I knew that, I like a completely fresh start on a new rom and Ti makes it pretty painless. I just wasn't sure if it also wiped/formatted the sd card which is what I don't want. This way I can leave all my music and such there that just moves from one rom to the next and not have to mess with it so this is exactly what I was hoping to hear.
Well looks like my thread was highjacked :-(
I'm trying to delete everything, including the SD
cigaro78 said:
I'm trying to delete everything, including the SD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just format the SD card manually.
Thats what i do format SD card via |Windows .
Plus for overkill via CWM advanced format system sd card etc .
jje
Will This un root my phone ?
cigaro78 said:
Well looks like my thread was highjacked :-(
I'm trying to delete everything, including the SD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is kind of what I suggested the hard reset will do. It will wipe everything!
did you try this?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=6948568&postcount=6
this will really wipe everything, including internal storage
How do I Completly whipe my phone? I've cleared the cache, and done a factory reset, i've re-flashed with Odin to the stock rom, and yet, when I reboot, and go look under "My Files" , there is still crap there from before ( Most notably, 4 or 5 diffrent folders for Go Locker, Go STore.. etc ).
How do i clean this thing out for a 100% restart?
are the things your seeing on an external SD card?
No. The Directories are ( And i'm ommitting quite a few here, just to give you the idea ).
Android
Application
bluetooth
camera360
...
...
DCIM
external_sd
...
...
...
etc ad nausium..
So since i have the external_sd mount there in the middle, this must be the internal right? WHen I select the external_sd directory, that does contain my external card, and that's fine. I expected that to have stuff on it since i've not formatted it yet.
My DCIM dir still has all the pictures etc in it as well.... ( which I would not have expected since I did a factory wipe, yet there they are too ).
Any idea?
timgt said:
are the things your seeing on an external SD card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He's saying he wants to wipe his internal SD because it has all his app data from previous ROMs/installations (such as stock). He's probably going to a new ROM and wants maximum storage space and getting rid of all the leftover trash.
Exactly. Just want to make sure the wipe is complete or previous issues will just haunt me.
Look in those folders they should be empty.....The phone creates the folders upon turning on (by factory),,those are the essential folders needed...check it out let us know...they should be empty
They all have stuff in them, and many are not from the os. GoLocker, GoLauncher, etc all have dir's there with data in them, all some , those in particular, i don't have loaded. I've not re-loaded anything yet.
Try going here; Settings > Storage > Format USB Storage
Thats the ticket Thank you.
Or in cwm recovery, go to mounts and storage, and format sdcard
clockcycle said:
Try going here; Settings > Storage > Format USB Storage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can doing this cause any unwanted and/or unexpected problems?
Nope. It just wipes sdcard storage, like you just took it out of the box
studacris said:
Nope. It just wipes sdcard storage, like you just took it out of the box
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I'm confused about erasing external sdcard storage and/or internal storage.
"Formatting USB Storage" is which one of these?
And which storage location can you get yourself into trouble with "wiping/formatting?
Maybe neither?
Thank you!
Neither as far as I could tell. I did both. The SD Card is just that, your external memory card. The USB is the "user" storage on the phone, so nothing critical there either. Wipe away safely
Neither as mentioned. As long as youre doing it do from the storage settings from within the stock rom's menus. It only wipes your user data on the external sd and internal storage, if you chose to do so. You may lose any programs installed/moved to sd card also.
Going into CWM youre opening yourself a whole 'nother can of worms. I highly do not recommend going this route if you are not 100% sure of what youre doing. You can seriously render your device useless, aka brick (a term used too lightly).
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk
Incorrect.
All you could do in cwm is wipe the os.. In which case just button combo into recovery and flash a ROM.
A Brick is missing or corrupted bootloaders. you cannot format bootloaders in cwm.
And avoiding something because it could be dangerous...instead of taking the maybe 5 minutes to understand what's happening add ya know, actually learn something is just not in the spirit of xda AT ALL.
Read. learn. Try. Share.
So, first of all, a big hello to the community! Spent the last 2 hours digging around the forum, as I'm a new user and I'm amazed with this big things Galaxy has to add! I came from a Symbyan platform, and the only thing I done was Flash my Nokia 5800 with a C6 FW by PHNT.
Few days ago, I moved to this awsome Android world, where I see alot fo stuff new to my eyes, and that I wish some replys from you guys.
You all gonna say this questions are answered elsewhere, but I digged the forum, and I find the most various kind of answers for the same questions, which I'm now pretty much confused.
The thing is, I want to apply this CM7.1(or , dunno which is better), from what I see, it improves greatly our Galaxy Ace, but on the other hand, I saw a post that says taht this is simple as Root(Which I've done already), and apply a CWM or something, and apply the CM7.1 same way as Rooting.
The fulcral questions is which is the safest(and noobier-frindly) way to apply that CM 7.1?
Also if someone can aid me, what CWM does exactly? Its a backup app like TitaniumBackup?
I think you did not read This my friend.
And CWM is a custom recovery which has a lot more features than stock recovery.
CWM5 can be found Here
The tutorial is at the first link I gave you. But if you didn't understand,
I'll tell you step-by-step
1. Download the rom and CWM and put it in your phone.
2. Enter recovery and choose install zip from SD then choose CWM.
3. Reboot and enter recovery again.
4. Your now in CWM Recovery, before flashing any rom, doa wipe data.
5. Choose install zip fom SD card and choose CM7.1/2
reboot then voila
Hited Thanks for you!
Really helpfull thread! How did I missed it lol!
So the thing taht really caught my attention was the option to don't waste internal memory, which is exactly the only reason I wanted to Cyan Mod.
If it's not a hassle to you, can you pinpoint me the EXACT file to run from CWM? I really don't wanna mess up my phone(though I will only apply it after I buy my 16GB SDcard soon).
Here's where I stand:
1-> I rooted my device with some root I found over youtube, worked fine, then google play said me to update the superuser app, so I did. I guess it's updated, no problems there.
2-> Now I need CWM(I got a file named "recovery-clockwork-5.0.2.6-galaxyace-fix.zip", should I use that one or try to find the v4 one?
3-> Then I need to run on Home Button+Power to install that mod, but here comes 4 questions:
"You need to extend the internal app storage to the sd card. The FIRST thing you need to do is go back to Clockworkmod recovery mode and partition your sdcard so that it has a ext4 extension. Then update from ketut.kumajaya's post with cf-rootdtapps2sd???.zip(forgot the full name). That defaults all downloaded apps to run from the sd card."
3.1-> Does CWM have the partition option already? And does it formats the SDcard?
3.2-> Can u direct me the EXACT file so I don't mess this up?
3.3-> This doesn't wipes any data from the phone right?
3.3.3-> And what about the apps alraedy installed and using the internal memory even though they are "in SD card, as phone shows", i need to reinstall them right?
Ty again for any hassle done! And I will thank you agani, just for wasting the time here with me
2. Ok flash that. Some roms are compatible with that but not on v4
3. No. Don't use CFRoot. It's for stock roms only.
3.1 Yes, you can partitition SD card on CWM.
And yes, it wipes everything in your SD
and after you have partitioned it, download Link2sd from the market, choose ext4 then link every app (except system apps of course)
I guess that answers all, just didn't get what u meant by that, do i use taht version 5 or the v4 of CWM? And what is a stock rom? I never changed nothing on my phone except the Rooting.
NunoPitbull said:
I guess that answers all, just didn't get what u meant by that, do i use taht version 5 or the v4 of CWM? And what is a stock rom? I never changed nothing on my phone except the Rooting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
stock roms are roms made by samsung. Your currently in a stock rom but you are going to CM7 so don't use it anymore. Use v5
Wait, can't I have that Mod to save all in SDcard and save internt memory? I just want that thing, I dont have Cyan mod if I can do that without it
Can u pinpoint me to the correct file please?
NunoPitbull said:
Wait, can't I have that Mod to save all in SDcard and save internt memory? I just want that thing, I dont have Cyan mod if I can do that without it
Can u pinpoint me to the correct file please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After you partition your sd card thorough cwm recovery, do a factory reset and then install cm7.2. Then you can use either s2e or link2sd or a2sd to free up your internal memory.
If you are asking for exact cm7.2 file, there are many of them. Try cm7.2 by vo1 first. Thread will be in development section created by Lovetz.
It seems your not really getting what I mean
First I wanted the CM7 mod, BUT after reading that thread you showed me, I saw its possible to free up internal memory WITHOUT the need of installing CM7, and installing that other file right?
I just wanted to know which is the right file so I don't mess up. I just want to have the option to save all to SDcard, and not to use Internal memory. That was the reason I wanted CM7. Understand now?
use minitool partition wizard to repartition your sdcard. create two partition, both as primary, first partition as fat32 and second partition as ext2/ext3/ext4
http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html
then flash this from clockworkmod recovery. before flashing do mount system and data manually
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=715940
then install this
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.elgubbo.a2sdGUI&hl=en
NunoPitbull said:
It seems your not really getting what I mean
First I wanted the CM7 mod, BUT after reading that thread you showed me, I saw its possible to free up internal memory WITHOUT the need of installing CM7, and installing that other file right?
I just wanted to know which is the right file so I don't mess up. I just want to have the option to save all to SDcard, and not to use Internal memory. That was the reason I wanted CM7. Understand now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I FULLY understand what you want And I am telling you that you do not need those files to transfer apps to sd. ust partition your SD via CWM, doanload Link2sd choose ext4 then link all of them
an0nym0us_ said:
use minitool partition wizard to repartition your sdcard. create two partition, both as primary, first partition as fat32 and second partition as ext2/ext3/ext4
http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html
then flash this from clockworkmod recovery. before flashing do mount system and data manually
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=715940
then install this
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.elgubbo.a2sdGUI&hl=en
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doo:DAce said:
I FULLY understand what you want And I am telling you that you do not need those files to transfer apps to sd. ust partition your SD via CWM, doanload Link2sd choose ext4 then link all of them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See what I mean? One guy tells me totally different apps to download + a PC program and to flash another app then you say, and you say with only 1 app + the Link2SD I can do it That's why I get confused ;p I guess both apps are good, which one the safest and best?
Doo:DAce said:
I FULLY understand what you want And I am telling you that you do not need those files to transfer apps to sd. ust partition your SD via CWM, doanload Link2sd choose ext4 then link all of them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it's only that? No need for that "update from ketut.kumajaya's post with cf-rootdtapps2sd???.zip(forgot the full name)" zip?
Also which CWM I use, v4 or the one I have?("recovery-clockwork-5.0.2.6-galaxyace-fix")
Lol they are many ways to partition your SD card ...cwm recovery eliminates the need of a PC but Mini tool partition wizard is recommended ( though I trust cwm recovery blindly )
Dragonoid said:
Lol they are many ways to partition your SD card ...cwm recovery eliminates the need of a PC but Mini tool partition wizard is recommended ( though I trust cwm recovery blindly )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you tell me how is it partitioned?
First partition will be for photos etc, the 2nd will be for apps?
Can you pinpoint me the .apk file for CWM you use?
Also, what should I expect when doing the partition trought CMW? Its just an option saying to do the partition? I read taht is needed to mount/unmount things,I have NO IDEA on how to achieve that.
If u got access to pc, better do it on pc with minitool after making backup of your whole sdcard. Yes cwm can do it but who know when disaster strike u'll lose all your sdcard data. Better to be safe than sorry mate.
NunoPitbull said:
Can you tell me how is it partitioned?
First partition will be for photos etc, the 2nd will be for apps?
Can you pinpoint me the .apk file for CWM you use?
Also, what should I expect when doing the partition trought CMW? Its just an option saying to do the partition? I read taht is needed to mount/unmount things,I have NO IDEA on how to achieve that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well cwm 5 can be found by Googling ( cwm 5 for Samsung galaxy ace)
2. It's not how you think ..once you partition your SD card the partition is inaccessible to you ..example if on a 2 gb card if u create a partition of 512mb when u go to settings the phone will read your SD card as 1.5 gb
3. Cwm guides are readily available on you tube
4. As the other guys have said b4 u need to use apps like link2sd to be able to use the partition ..entirely for apps alone ...s2e is the best but works ONLY on cm7
5. During the partition process your SD card will be formatted !!!
Backup your Data first! !!!!
6. Anything else???
P.S. I can't provide links as I m on my phone and even on a PC I would have advised u to Google
So, in your example, on a 2GB card, the phone will read only 1,5GB, so what will be that 1,5GB for? And the 512MB what will they be for?
Thanks for the reply
NunoPitbull said:
So, in your example, on a 2GB card, the phone will read only 1,5GB, so what will be that 1,5GB for? And the 512MB what will they be for?
Thanks for the reply
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1.5 gb will be for your media -photos videos files etc that 512 MB is accessible only through s2e,link2sd and other such apps( u see I know only these 2 ) this 512 MB can be used to store your apps ---I.e. move the dalvik cache to the SD card which in turn results in a lot of free internal space....
Once upon a time I had 120 apps on my phone and 50 MB was still remaining.
P.S. please don't ask what dalvik cache is ...Google it instead ..ull get better info
Dragonoid said:
1.5 gb will be for your media -photos videos files etc that 512 MB is accessible only through s2e,link2sd and other such apps( u see I know only these 2 ) this 512 MB can be used to store your apps ---I.e. move the dalvik cache to the SD card which in turn results in a lot of free internal space....
Once upon a time I had 120 apps on my phone and 50 MB was still remaining.
P.S. please don't ask what dalvik cache is ...Google it instead ..ull get better info
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So u still loose internal space even after this patchs?
Hey
my phone (running CM9) thinks that I have 0.90gb free out of 11.36 of total storage space.
I actually have about 7Gb. ( I can see it: apps+pictures+downloads+audio)
something is wrong...
anybody has any idea how to fix?
thanks!
READ THE FAQ's on the ROM's thread....
this is standard on CM9 and AOKP. go to storage under system settings, tap the menu button and change the storage configuration to "use internal storage".
I know I dont care for this either. It also causes issues will some apps that look for a standard file system, and are unaware of the /emmc folder. But I find both CM9 and AOKP ROM's far superior to others, so I just put up with it
Thanks dude but the thing is that it's already on "use internal storage" but yet the issue persists....
Plug phone into PC. Backup all data to PC. Format SD card. Put data back on. Profit. Well at least it seems to have helped some. I don't use external SD cards but I've read this fix has worked.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2
Hey dude.
I don't use the external sd card.
the problem is in my internal memory
K. Same solution, using internal storage. Take everything u want to keep (pics and vids) off then wipe that thing clean.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2
problem
i have a similar question, my i777 send me the error: E: can't mount /emmc/ , and that happens when i try to enter to the internal sd, not load my OS, also not work the reinstall os, i also install the previews os version same issue, use cwm 5.0.2.3 and that is the only way i'm able to access the recovery-
I want to install CM7 internal rom but fail to boot from SD after I increase the card space to full capacity. The screen remains black for 20-30 seconds after plugging the cable. And then it will bypass the CWM and launch directly to rooted OS. However, I cannot place the ROM without resizing the card space.
One more question: is it safe to remove the SD card after the system is booted into CWM mode?
Any advice to install CM7 will be much appreciated
Thanks in advanced.
adlist said:
I want to install CM7 internal rom but fail to boot from SD after I increase the card space to full capacity. The screen remains black for 20-30 seconds after plugging the cable. And then it will bypass the CWM and launch directly to rooted OS. However, I cannot place the ROM without resizing the card space.
One more question: is it safe to remove the SD card after the system is booted into CWM mode?
Any advice to install CM7 will be much appreciated
Thanks in advanced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, Then just put another card in and zip off of that .
adlist said:
I want to install CM7 internal rom but fail to boot from SD after I increase the card space to full capacity. The screen remains black for 20-30 seconds after plugging the cable. And then it will bypass the CWM and launch directly to rooted OS. However, I cannot place the ROM without resizing the card space.
One more question: is it safe to remove the SD card after the system is booted into CWM mode?
Any advice to install CM7 will be much appreciated
Thanks in advanced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same issue with a few cwm image files. Finally found the cwm files in zip format. Then I just copied them to the root of a blank SD card. I will try to zip them and upload them somewhere tomorrow. Its nice to have an 8gb cwm card.
Thanks guys. Yes a 8gb CWM image will be useful. Anyway, I just copy the CM7 beta zip file to the device internal memory and get it installed. Despite some technical errors (like google play not working), CM7 runs fine basically.
Ugh. Managed to trash my partitions and spent the most of the night learning a crash course of adb. Got things back to normal now. Will try to find my SD stuff tomorrow! Sorry for the delay!
Sent from my Nook Tablet using xda app-developers app
EDIT! --
Right, so FINALLY got my NT back to proper working order.
I'm pretty sure I downloaded this file FROM these forums, however, a few searches turned up nothing, so I dropboxed them.
Here
Format your SD card, giving yourself the full partition to work with. Then unzip that file, and copy the contents (4 items, 1 folder) to the ROOT of the SD card.
That will make your SD card bootable, and acutomatically load the CWM recovery stuff. From there, you can backup your NT's current config.
Also, RE: your Google Play issue, you need to install the proper Gapps for your ROM,
To do that, click HERE then go down to the bottom of the first post, that's Veronica, and she rocks. I've learned more from her about all this stuff than most anyone else, and we've never talked.
ANYHOW. Go to the bottom of her post, and see her "My XDA FTP" link? Click that ( I didnt want to direct link it without her permission).
In there, you'll see a folder called gapps, navigate to there, and down load the gapps-gb-20110828... zip file. Copy that to your shiny, new CWM recovery SD card, and then boot from it, "install zip from SD card" "choose zip" choose that zip file, install it, and you'll have access to the google play (after market updates automatically) and all the other google features!