[Q] Wiping phone (for real this time) - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

HI,
I've recently rooted my phone, installed new ROMs/Kernels. Prior to installing the ROM, I wiped my storage, my cache, my dalvik cache, etc. However, when I was looking around my folders, I noticed files from pre-wipe - in other words, it didnt really wipe my phone out. Now obviously I dont want dead applications taking up space - how can I properly wipe the phone before installing a new ROM?
Thanks !

Try to do a factory wiped from the phone. I think that does the trick.
Sent with ALOHA from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

you can use SUPER WIPE script from Android Revolution HD. This will wipe everything on your phone internal SD-card. Don't forget to backup. You can find it here >> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1797334

you can also use this tool. I guess it is the same as revolutionHD from above member posted whereas you have different options/stages of wiping the phone.
You can either use super or mega wipe (leaves you without anything on the phone!! so be careful)

Thanks guys - I used superwipe (from Android HD). Now running a clean system, without all the residual crap from applications (that took up 4GB of space!).

Will this super wipe android HD also wipe the efs folder and nandroid backup or are these in a separate partitions and remain untouched?
Thanks

luger77 said:
Will this super wipe android HD also wipe the efs folder and nandroid backup or are these in a separate partitions and remain untouched?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As what I have read, it wipes whatever a full wipe will and should not wipe nandroid backups.. However I have not used it before and it's better to wait for confirmation from someone who used it.

luger77 said:
Will this super wipe android HD also wipe the efs folder and nandroid backup or are these in a separate partitions and remain untouched?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm it doesn't wipe the efs partition - as that could well and truly screw up your phone, especially if you didn't have a backup stores somewhere.
Superwipe wipes your data, cache, preloaded and system partitions - pretty much your entire internal sd card, if I'm not mistaken. I really like the megawipe tool that's been mentioned here too. You should give that a try when next updating.
As to the backups - I've no idea. It all depends on where the backups are created. I think CWM backups are created in data partition which would mean that if you did super wipe they'd also be deleted.
I never back up though so I can't be 100% sure as I've never needed it.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Related

Wipe / Full Wipe

Maybe alot of newbies ask of this already but i just wanna ask it again
What is a Full wipe is that the same as wipe?
and how do u do a full wipe properly?
Wipe
1. Wipe data/factory reset
2. Wipe Dalvik-cache
3. Wipe SD:
4. Wipe battery stats
5. Wipe rotate settings
Should i do (1.) or (1. & 2.) or (1. 2 & 3) on the amon ra boot screen
A full wipe is wiping all of those, however it is not always needed depending on whether or not you actually use Apps 2 SD etc
Most of the time you only need to wipe option 1 (with the occasional 2 as well)
2 is included by 1, for a full wipe do 1 (and 3 if you have an ext partition on your sdcard).
I've been flashing custom roms and updates for a about a month now, with once every 3 days on average. Wipe option 2 never finished successfully, and showed a message that I had to use adb to perform it or something. (not sure of the message though).
Anyway, out of no where, it worked today for the first time. I was on aHero v0.3 Rom.
What could be the reason? Is it the Rom? The only thing different I've done in this Rom was use Root Explorer.
this is a know bug in the recovery image. it tries to wipe dalvik-cache on the ext partition, which ofcourse fails if you don't have one. nevermind, the wipe works regardless of the error message.
kendong2 said:
this is a know bug in the recovery image. it tries to wipe dalvik-cache on the ext partition, which ofcourse fails if you don't have one. nevermind, the wipe works regardless of the error message.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did partition my sd card recently but never actually made use of it. (unless some rom used it automatically) .. anyway that should explain it.
Thanks
kendong2 said:
this is a know bug in the recovery image. it tries to wipe dalvik-cache on the ext partition, which ofcourse fails if you don't have one. nevermind, the wipe works regardless of the error message.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never get an error when I wiped mine and I don't have an ext partition
What have I done wrong
I've only ever used option 1. No issues to report here.
does Wipe SD literally deletes the content of the SD card? like formatting?
When it's recommended to use that?
no. it is called "wipe SD:ext" because it wipes only the ext partition of the sdcard. not sure what it does exactly, but i am pretty sure it just deletes the "app" and "app-private" folders on the ext partition, i have other files there that are not deleted when i wipe it.
Cool, I hope that this fixes the problems with my rom.
OK, if I understand it properly I have to lose all my apps and data to install or update a new ROM? Of course I may use Titanium backup but that is quite long process to restore all apss and data again, right?
Yes, mostly you have to wipe all. Sometimes it says that you only need to wipe cache/ dalvik cache if coming from a previous version. Do you have the free version of Titanium Backup? If you do I would suggest downloading either the paid version or MyBackup Root (it's free). Then you get one click restore. It still takes a lot of time, but you can do other stuff while it's doing it
Oh, yes, it is a good feature to restore on one click. I thought it is weird. No I understand when it is just in paid version. One more thing. Once I was restoring apps, I used app2sd script but TB restored somehow in the wrong place because the notification about low space appeared. Even though I did not get it before when I used the script. How to make sure thet TB restore apps to the right place? Thanks!!
Full wipe required?
OK, so for the RCMixHD v3.6 with Data 2 Ext(4) they say a
"Full wipe is required"
What does that mean? It is totally unclear and not being explained anywhere in the ROM tutorials. Pretty weird, because it seems rather important.
I have the ClockworkMod Recovery bootware on my HTC Desire, so how does one perform a "full wipe" without also wiping HBOOT and such (when it is S-OFF I would understand a "full wipe" actually wipes *everything* on the internal NAND/SD) ?
jult said:
OK, so for the RCMixHD v3.6 with Data 2 Ext(4) they say a
"Full wipe is required"
What does that mean? It is totally unclear and not being explained anywhere in the ROM tutorials. Pretty weird, because it seems rather important.
I have the ClockworkMod Recovery bootware on my HTC Desire, so how does one perform a "full wipe" without also wiping HBOOT and such (when it is S-OFF I would understand a "full wipe" actually wipes *everything* on the internal NAND/SD) ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Wipe data/factory reset
2. Wipe Dalvik-cache
3. Wipe SD:
4. Wipe battery stats
full wipe
Im doing leedroid full wipe right one and its been a good hour now froze the HTC screen. Can anyone tell me how long it normally takes?
bringonblink said:
1. Wipe data/factory reset
3. Wipe SD:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's strange how both of these are rarely really required, while I STILL see this "full wipe required" being advertised for most roms. It's nonsense. Why would you need to wipe your entire SD? If a certain formatting would be required for the rom to function properly, it should include a script that does that for you and prompt before wiping your SD-card.
Also, the Factory reset is only required in very rare cases.
jult said:
It's strange how both of these are rarely really required, while I STILL see this "full wipe required" being advertised for most roms. It's nonsense. Why would you need to wipe your entire SD? If a certain formatting would be required for the rom to function properly, it should include a script that does that for you and prompt before wiping your SD-card.
Also, the Factory reset is only required in very rare cases.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well if I am updating from the same rom I will do cache and dalvik only.
When cm 7.1 hits ill do full because of updated android
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Every time I flash a new ROM or restore a nandroid backup, I do the following:
1. Wipe Dalvik cache
2. Wipe data/factory reset
The second step formats /data, /cache, /sd-ext, and /sdcard/.android_secure, so that's a pretty thorough wipe if you ask me. I wipe the Dalvik cache as well to be as thorough as possible.
Optionally, you can format /system under mounts and storage in CWM recovery.

[Q] Format internal sd

Hello
I recently rooted and flashed LiquidSmooth onto my SG3 I747M and i would like to get rid of all the junk on my internal harddrive. I was wondering what the procedure would be to wipe my internal harddrive (So i do not have any random folders or old app files) on TWRP without losing my custom rom and root. Would i have to save the backup (just incase), custom rom and root on my sd card and just install it right after I wipe my harddrive?
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated
Thank you!
Wipe cache and go to /system/app and /data/app and delete unwanted apps. That should be enough.
Astu04 said:
Wipe cache and go to /system/app and /data/app and delete unwanted apps. That should be enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Id like to just format my internal harddrive completely. Is there anyway of doing this without losing my custom rom, root and bricking my phone? Ive been searching everywhere and i havent been able to find a clear answer.
2trainz said:
Id like to just format my internal harddrive completely. Is there anyway of doing this without losing my custom rom, root and bricking my phone? Ive been searching everywhere and i havent been able to find a clear answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
boot into twrp, go to the wipe menu, and wipe everysingle thing. Then reflash your rom. That will wipe everything, and reinstall liquid smooth.
Doing this wont brick your phone or make you lose root.
chromium96 said:
boot into twrp, go to the wipe menu, and wipe everysingle thing. Then reflash your rom. That will wipe everything, and reinstall liquid smooth.
Doing this wont brick your phone or make you lose root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! This is exactly what i was looking for. What would i be wiping though? Obviously Cache, Dalvik and Factory Reset but do i have to wipe System, Internal storage and format data? (What does format data do)?
2trainz said:
Thank you! This is exactly what i was looking for. What would i be wiping though? Obviously Cache, Dalvik and Factory Reset but do i have to wipe System, Internal storage and format data? (What does format data do)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah wipe everything including system, and internal storage. format data formats the data partition of the phone, which is also necessary.
The only thing you dont have to wipe is your external sd card (if you even have one). Press thanks if i helped.

Using TWRP....

Hi Everbody!
This is my first post, so i apologise if i do something wrong...
Here it is my problem...
Last week i buy a S3 I9300. I flash Sentinel Rom 4.XX. Before that i did make root and did intall TWRP, since is less problematic than Recovery...(in opinion of the developer).
Now comes my problem....
The developer says in their instructions:
5 Factory Reset and wipe Cache and Dalvik Cache
6 Format System Partition
Im looking at TWRP at this moment...and i have no doubts about Wipe Cache and Dalvik Cache.Ok.
Format System Partition.....now, here it is my big problem. Do i press System? Do i Wipe System?
Or do i press: Internal Storage?
What i want is a FULL Clean of the S3. I really don`t care about backups, programs, since i have all on my PC......i want a ROM clean without any trash from previous room...
I have some experience with flashing, with 3ยบ party softwares, but this room uses a zip file...with is for me more complicated, since i never now if im making a fresh install, or a "mix" of files....
Resuming:
On TWRP, except the SD EXTERNAL where i have some backups, and the ROM.zip, what is the best option do format/Clean ALL internal storage?
And yes i read the tread about 4.2.2 new system of data lost..(wich i still think is to confuse, but that`s another question).
Thank you in advance!:good:
P.S: - I don`t have (or don`t see) the famous /data/media/0.......
Im using at this moment Sentinel 4.50. No problems.
What i want is a FULL Clean of the S3. I really don`t care about backups, programs, since i have all on my PC......i want a ROM clean without any trash from previous room...
TWRP / wipe cache dalvik system internal sd card and data .
jje
JJEgan said:
What i want is a FULL Clean of the S3. I really don`t care about backups, programs, since i have all on my PC......i want a ROM clean without any trash from previous room...
TWRP / wipe cache dalvik system internal sd card and data .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi.
Hi didn`t understand your statement. I forget to tell that i also do/did Factory Reset.
I says this because one of the occasions, making this 3 steps, didn`t erase previous files from the previous ROM....
What`s the best opcion to erase internal and SD Card, with exception of external card?
Thks in advance.

[Q] Ultimate wipe

I was about to upgrade to the 10.1.3 stable (from 10.1 stable) of cm when i strumbled across several gigs of old files, app date, media and backups from my old n long gone cm9 install (under /data/media).
clearly all the wipes i performed since cm9 did not remove any of these files which include old apps i'd installed but havent used since cm-10.
Is there a way to do a complete wipe and get rid of all this excess garbage I have no more use for?
jbonetwo said:
I was about to upgrade to the 10.1.3 stable (from 10.1 stable) of cm when i strumbled across several gigs of old files, app date, media and backups from my old n long gone cm9 install (under /data/media).
clearly all the wipes i performed since cm9 did not remove any of these files which include old apps i'd installed but havent used since cm-10.
Is there a way to do a complete wipe and get rid of all this excess garbage I have no more use for?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wipe the internal sd, don't forget to backup your files before.
Tectas said:
Wipe the internal sd, don't forget to backup your files before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've done a data wipe/factory reset several times with cwm but this hasnt gotten rid of a lot of files...
jbonetwo said:
I've done a data wipe/factory reset several times with cwm but this hasnt gotten rid of a lot of files...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because a factory reset keeps the /data/media folder untouched, to be able to wipe, without losing the files from your internal sd, that's why i suggested a wipe of the internal sd, not a factory reset.
Tectas said:
Because a factory reset keeps the /data/media folder untouched, to be able to wipe, without losing the files from your internal sd, that's why i suggested a wipe of the internal sd, not a factory reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never done this before so please bear with me.
Is there anything specific I need to do before I wipe the internal sd? I've backed up the cwm zips that i need and the efs folder. anything else to keep me from bricking my phone?
A link to a guide of some kind would be very helpful.
1. backup efs and cwm backups to extsd
2. remove extsd
3. boot into cwm recovery, wipe internal sd
4. insert extsd and flash cyanogen 10.1.3 and gapps from it using cwm recovery.
does this sum it up or am i missing something?
Sorted it out:
1. backup to extsd
2. download & copy megawipe to extsd
3. copy roms & gapps to extsd
4. boot into cwm recovery. install megawipe from extsd. DO NOT RESTART.
5. install rom & gapps from extsd and reboot.
For anyone else reading this, please read general > sticky roll-up thread > flashed 4.2? Can't find /sdcard data?
-----------------------
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I do NOT reply to support queries over PM. Please keep support queries to the Q&A section, so that others may benefit

About wiping

I generally just wipe the data, cache and dalvik then flash the ROM. I have seen in a few threads to also wipe internal and SD. My question is what is getting wiped if I did do internal and SD. I've never done this before and wanted to ask before I did something I might regret later lol. Thanks.
Edde3d said:
I generally just wipe the data, cache and dalvik then flash the ROM. I have seen in a few threads to also wipe internal and SD. My question is what is getting wiped if I did do internal and SD. I've never done this before and wanted to ask before I did something I might regret later lol. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anything you keep on your internal SD card...like pictures/music/documents. I would recommend not doing this at all. If you keep a ROM or other flashable zips in these locations and wipe them before you flash them, they'll disappear. It is kind of like formatting.
RMarkwald said:
Anything you keep on your internal SD card...like pictures/music/documents. I would recommend not doing this at all. If you keep a ROM or other flashable zips in these locations and wipe them before you flash them, they'll disappear. It is kind of like formatting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wiping internal clears out everything. meaning you wont be able to reboot into the OS from recovery unless you have a rom on your external SDS to flash before rebooting. I would recommend it unless you know what you are doing and want to start fresh.
08BajaBoy said:
wiping internal clears out everything. meaning you wont be able to reboot into the OS from recovery unless you have a rom on your external SDS to flash before rebooting. I would recommend it unless you know what you are doing and want to start fresh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wiping internal is wiping the internal sd card . . . so as the first person said, you'd lose all the pictures/movies/etc. one may have in their sd card...
Edde3d said:
I generally just wipe the data, cache and dalvik then flash the ROM. I have seen in a few threads to also wipe internal and SD. My question is what is getting wiped if I did do internal and SD. I've never done this before and wanted to ask before I did something I might regret later lol. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i wipe internal storage on every clean flash. if you get in the habit of using auto backup apps like g+ for pics, and move anything useful from downloads to the sd card as you get it, its really no haste to wipe it. i also have titanium do full backups every night while im sleeping, for system and app data.
im sure some people wil say they havent wiped it in 10 years and never have an issue. i can tell you, i dont have a fraction of the random issues most people have that arent known bugs.
08BajaBoy said:
wiping internal clears out everything. meaning you wont be able to reboot into the OS from recovery unless you have a rom on your external SDS to flash before rebooting. I would recommend it unless you know what you are doing and want to start fresh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have never tried it, but im pretty sure thats not accurate.
wiping internal storage should be nothing more than an advanced data wipe. instead of only deleting user data, you are deleting system data too. but you arent wiping any system files, so the system data should rebuild on boot.
bweN diorD said:
i wipe internal storage on every clean flash. if you get in the habit of using auto backup apps like g+ for pics, and move anything useful from downloads to the sd card as you get it, its really no haste to wipe it. i also have titanium do full backups every night while im sleeping, for system and app data.
im sure some people wil say they havent wiped it in 10 years and never have an issue. i can tell you, i dont have a fraction of the random issues most people have that arent known bugs.
i have never tried it, but im pretty sure thats not accurate.
wiping internal storage should be nothing more than an advanced data wipe. instead of only deleting user data, you are deleting system data too. but you arent wiping any system files, so the system data should rebuild on boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you probably are correct. I only replied because I recent had an experience with it. I passed my G2 on to a friend. I offered to load up what ever ROM he wanted and he chose CM12. I got it all loaded up and working fine. Then I decided to go back into recovery to erase any data I had on the device. I selected Internal Storage in TWRP, rebooted and it wouldn't go beyond the lg screen.
If I am correct, you would never notice it since you wipe then flash.
08BajaBoy said:
you probably are correct. I only replied because I recent had an experience with it. I passed my G2 on to a friend. I offered to load up what ever ROM he wanted and he chose CM12. I got it all loaded up and working fine. Then I decided to go back into recovery to erase any data I had on the device. I selected Internal Storage in TWRP, rebooted and it wouldn't go beyond the lg screen.
If I am correct, you would never notice it since you wipe then flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
weird, maybe you are right. ill try it next time i clean flash and see what happens.
none of the rom code should be stored there, so it should rebuild.
if you accidentally wiped system, it defiantly wouldnt boot then.
I NEVER wipe Internal or External sd. I wipe cache, data & dalvik from time to time. I'll wipe system as well if I'm flashing a new rom. I tend to keep all of my media and app backups on my External sd just in case something ever happens. For example, if you have to revert back to stock, your Internal sd is completely wiped.

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